Hello again from from the UK (currently part of the EU)…and lets hope it stays that way after 23 June.

 (….what a strange way to start a report on trivia and nonsense that has come to my attention in the recent past on our excursion to Scotland and the Midlands)

1. More great walks including one special one identified by the Mother in the Yorkshire Dales. Magnificent countryside…only downside was that we were joined by 495,002 other people with the same idea..you can see some of them too close to the edge of the rock on the right..

2. Then on to Chester as a base for day trips to Liverpool, Manchester and North Wales. ….great base and the Mother found the Old Harkers Arms Pub that sell the worlds best sausages and mash.

3. Liverpool …great town and you won’t be surprised to learn that the Beetles are a massive deal. We did tour of the houses that Paul and John lived in…went down "Penny Lane”, past the “Barbours shop” and “The rounabout", past “Strawberry Fields” and saw where “Eleanor Rigby” is buried.

BTW How did the Beetles decide on their name???

4. Manchester. I went on a tour of Old Trafford, Manchester United home ground. It is the second biggest stadium in Uk behind Wembley..seats 70000 and has 3000 staff on match day. Their merchandise shop is huge…48 checkout tills!!. in many respects it is very similar to Emerites where Arsenal play.

Neither side train at their home ground…

When Ronaldo play there for seven years, apparently he spent much of the time in front of a big mirror in the players change room…very keen on appearances. 

As we all know player payments are unbelievable…..last year they paid one player 65m pounds and then sacked him before the end of the season!!

5. Obviously, one important service that women require is somewhere to go to have their nails “done”. In Aust, in France, in England every major shopping centre has such a shop…..but the thing that puzzles me is that only Asian women have the skills to do the job….no matter what country you are in…

6. Have you ever said my “personal PIN number”? If so do you realise you are really saying my “personal personal identification number number” !!

7. This Thythe Barn was built in the Cotswolds in 1301

It has lasted 715 years without any apparent deterioration. Will it last till 2301??

8.  Truisms ..

• -Today a man knocked on my door and asked for a small donation towards the local swimming pool, so I gave him a glass of water.
• -I changed my password to "incorrect" so whenever I forget it the computer will say, "Your password is incorrect."
• --If you can smile when things go wrong, you have someone in mind to blame.
• - Doesn't expecting the unexpected mean that the unexpected is actually expected?
• -Take my advice — I'm not using it.
• -I hate it when people use big words just to make themselves sound perspicacious.
• -Hospitality is the art of making guests feel like they're at home when you wish they were.
• -I bought a vacuum cleaner six months ago and so far all it's been doing is gathering dust.
• -Every time someone comes up with a foolproof solution, along comes a more-talented fool.
• -There may be no excuse for laziness, but I'm still looking.
• -Women spend more time wondering what men are thinking than men spend thinking.
• -Give me ambiguity or give me something else.
• -He who laughs last thinks slowest.
• -Is it wrong that only one company makes the game Monopoly?
• -Women sometimes make fools of men, but most guys are the do-it-yourself type.
• -I was going to give him a nasty look, but he already had one.
• -Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.
• -The grass may be greener on the other side but at least you don't have to mow it.
• -I like long walks, especially when they're taken by people who annoy me. 
• -I was going to wear my camouflage shirt today, but I couldn't find it.
• -If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you.
• -If tomatoes are technically a fruit, is ketchup a smoothie?
• -Money is the root of all wealth.

8. The original distance of the Marathon race in Greece was 26 miles.  In 1908, the organisers of the London olympics wanted the race to finish in front of the Royal box, so they they extended the distance to 26 miles and 385 yards. This has now become the standard distance of the modern marathon.

9. Just near our local village there is another village called North Baddesley. 

35 miles south, there is another village called South Baddesley. As far as I can find there is no village called Baddesley ….

10. On my of our recent walks thro outback Hampshire, I found this perfect backyard in the middle of no where..

11. As you would already have the drift, England has endless numbers of beautiful countryside walks that are use massively. The English also usually have two story houses, with all the associated stairs to provide day in and day out fitness.

Surely they must be the fittest people in the world ??????

12. Royal Birkdale

I have already reported to the Investors who provided me with this great experience….very memorable

..note I failed to qualify for the 2017 British Open at the Course…

13.  English Premier League…one the AFL could learn from and the other a great news story…

At the moment the current season has only 3 weeks to go. …and there are still 4 live competitions…One the top of the league, where Leicester City is 7 points clear of Tottenham, two,  the top 4 qualify for the Euro Championship next year (worth millions of pounds) , three,  the 4th and 5th teams qualify for the the Europa League also worth mega bucks, and finally 4 bottom teams are vying to avoid relegation..the bottom 3 are relegated to 2nd division calle the Championship 

Almost all teams have go much to play for over the next 3 weeks. 

I think it would be great if the AFL expanded to 20 teams and then broke into 2 divisions …with a promotion and relegation system…

The great news story is that last year,Leicester City had to win 7 of their last games to avoid relegation…which they did. Now they look almost certain to win the the League this year…with the big money  Manchester teams, Arsenal and Chelsea out of contention..

8.  KIDS KORNER

Grandma’s new pets ..and some trains have faces.

Little people don’t have to be able to talk to get their message across..Can you match the following statements to the photos?

• "What are you talking about …”
• "That’s funny”
• “Ah oh..it wasn’t me"

Sorry this one is a bit long….I’ll do the next one in landscape…

Dad/Tony

PS :Re the Beetles..apparently Paul and John were keen fans of Buddy Holly and the Crickets in their teen years…hence the Beetles