Curly's Capers

The great thing about weather apps, is that they indicate the week ahead.  The information from 'Yahoo' this week indicated that Tuesday 20th would be a clear, non-wet, bright autumn day and so it proved. D. and I set out to re-visit the Cotswold village of Notgrove, near Stow on The Wold. Leaving the main Cheltenham to Oxford Road, we turned left onto the Stow road (A436). The road leaps upwards and gains the higher grounds. The visibility was excellent; the sky was blue and God was in his Heaven. To me, the Wolds hold a special quality. There is clarity of vision and  a breath of clear and often cold  air.  The word ' Wolds ' used to mean forest, but as the trees were  cleared , the term 'Wolds ' now refers to high ground. Once gaining this aspect, we turned right along a  small country road which led  us to Notgrove. A quaint,  quintessential Wold village, containing farms, houses, village hall and a parish church. It was in th...

A colourful start to the week for you CccccccccccccccccccC In 1969 Neil Armstrong became the first man to land on the moon. He manually took control to achieve the Lunar landing. We now have more powerful computers in our cell phones, than Neil used to land on the moon's surface. Now since 2013, plans are being made for the first human colony  on the planet Mars. The astronauts are due to arrive on Mars in 2027 to establish the settlement. See more details here: Mars This will be a one-way trip; whereas in the film I saw this week ( 15 / 10) it was possible to return. The film was "  The Martian "  starring Matt Damon. In this story scientific workers working on the planet  carrying out experiments including soil and rock sample are hit by a storm. Because of the severity of this incident they were ordered by the commander to return to their pod and evacuate Mars (Matt Damon ) Mark Whatney is hit by debris and believed to have been killed, ...

Liverpool Saga There was a man called Herr Klopp, Who fell in love with the crowd at the Kop. Seeing them saddened with desires flown, He told them, “ with me, you”ll  never walk alone. To the team he said" I’m a magician I’ll soon rectify all omissions." All hopes of trophies you must not douse, I’m going to raise up the mighty  scouse. I’m neither mad nor a German   fool  and I  will  bring life back  to the ‘Pool. From this moment on you will never be a flop, I give you word - signed  . JjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjK Two or three posts ago, I mentioned the late Cornish poet Charles Causley. The above book has always been a favourite of mine. I recently managed to acquire a fresh copy , having lost the  book  years ago. It really is a marvel of a Children's book; being an epic poem about the arrival of a Trinosaur in a country town, told in 24 shakes. It has beautiful drawi...

For Sophie On the eve of the Super moon, Before blood-red dragons would Overcome the sweet chariots of King George. When September had walked  Twenty six steps. From two came one. Sophie entered life's arena. The newness of new Miniature perfection With tufts of hair, arms and long legs. Contented she sleeps. Close to Mother, Who ponders the years Ahead with a family. whilst Dad looks on with loving Luminosity in his eyes And embraces the miracle of a daughter, Sweet Sophie. ****************** Well, I reckon after the shocking display the English rugby gave, they would be lucky to win this plastic cup. Ah well at least we have the Irish, Welsh and maybe the Scots to cheer on in the quarter finals. As usual, have a good week, Cheerio for now Ck.

This is the picture R. sent me yesterday (19 / 09 ) from Lords Cricket Ground; where Gloucestershire defeated Surrey  in the final of the Royal London Insurance 50 overs  Knockout Cup. So a big tip of the hat is required to the team, who losing the toss were put in to bat and made a modest 220 all out in 47.4 overs They never lost heart and finally defeated Surrey needing just six runs to win with three balls to spare.  And there is more great news. Gloucestershire secured a clean sweep of victories at the weekend as the county’s one-day side won the Royal London One-Day Cup and their under-11s boys’ and girls’ teams won the first Gilbert Cup competition. Frampton on Severn and Cam Cricket Clubs secured victory in the boys’ and girls’ categories of the eight-a-side soft ball tournament at the historic Lord’s ground by beating their Surrey counterparts from Spencer Park and Cranleigh Cricket Clubs. As well as playing in front of thousands, the boys and girls tro...

On  Wednesday,  September 9th in San Francisco there was an Apple Event, in which new models of watch, iPad, TV and iPhone were introduced. The picture above is of the iPhone 6s and the new colour rose gold. Like the iPhone 6 and 6+ the  screen sizes remain the same 4.7 and 5.5 inches respectively. The new phones have one new feature known as 3D Touch ( or Force Touch on the iPad ). This allows the user to ' peek and pop ' using increased pressure on the screen. A light touch allows you to peek or look at an item; for example Email, Photo and Message and you then have two choices: 1 lift off pressure and return;  or 2 press harder and pop or enter into  your email; photo; message etc. This an excellent marriage of hardware and software and is fully integrated across many apps. It will make for more efficient navigation. These new iPhones have an enlarged 12Mp ( from 8 MP) camera, bringing greater detail and picture quality but because of size require mo...

Following my piece about automobiles and technology, I noticed this from my Sky News App today (6 / 9 ) "  The Society Of Motor Manufacturers and Traders- reported a rise of 9/6% in new vehicles, compared with August 2014------This performance has again been driven by attractive finance deals and a diverse range of technologically advanced models. "  Once again demonstrating the irresistible  rise of technology in cars And here is a new ' 65 ' plate from (1 / 9 /'15 ) But Sat Navs don't work everywhere ! $$$$$$$$  In last week's Blog I mentioned a walk D. and I made from Badgeworth Church to the nearby M5 Motorway. Near the Lychgate is the grave of a John Barnes . Now I seldom bother with gravestones; but i was struck by the inscription which read thus : " He had determination and courage never bitterness or despair. He saw in life what many of them missed. A Man of Gloucestershire. " A fulsome tribu...