Birthday News for today, 23 April: Phil Archer and John Gilliver, 1960,
UMRAt, alive.

--
I seem to be the new UBM - mail me for additions/updates/deletions

On Tue, 23 Apr 2024 06:17:59 +0000 (UTC), Birthday Monitor
<nick@leverton.org> wrote:

>Birthday News for today, 23 April: Phil Archer and John Gilliver, 1960,
>UMRAt, alive.

Happy birthday Jpg

On 23/04/2024 07:17, Birthday Monitor wrote:
> Birthday News for today, 23 April: Phil Archer and John Gilliver, 1960,
> UMRAt, alive.
>

Many happies, Jpeg!

--
Best wishes, Serena
If all economists were laid end to end, they would not reach a
conclusion. (George Bernard Shaw)

On 23/04/2024 07:17, Birthday Monitor wrote:
> Birthday News for today, 23 April: Phil Archer and John Gilliver, 1960,
> UMRAt, alive.
>
Delighted to know you are still alive, Jpeg! Long may that state of
affairs continue and I hope to-day lives up to all good expectations.

--
Jenny M Benson
Wrexham, UK

Birthday Monitor <nick@leverton.org> wrote:
> Birthday News for today, 23 April: Phil Archer and John Gilliver, 1960,
> UMRAt, alive.
>

Many Happies jpg.

--
Sally in Shropshire, UK

Birthday Monitor <nick@leverton.org> writes:

> Birthday News for today, 23 April: Phil Archer and John Gilliver, 1960,
> UMRAt, alive.

Hippo Barfday JPEG! May it be a splendiferous one.

Rosie

On 23-Apr-24 11:28, Jenny M Benson wrote:
> On 23/04/2024 07:17, Birthday Monitor wrote:
>> Birthday News for today, 23 April: Phil Archer and John Gilliver, 1960,
>> UMRAt, alive.
>>
> Delighted to know you are still alive, Jpeg!  Long may that state of
> affairs continue and I hope to-day lives up to all good expectations.

Indeed. Quite. Wot she sed.

Many many happies John.

--
Sam Plusnet

In message <20240423070502.0355698774542077@umra.birthday.bot> at Tue,
23 Apr 2024 06:17:59, Birthday Monitor <nick@leverton.org> writes
>Birthday News for today, 23 April: Phil Archer and John Gilliver, 1960,
>UMRAt, alive.
>
Fairly uneventful so far, mostly. I had to pop into my local surgery for
a blood test, and coming out (about 10:10) I saw the sign (chalkboard)
saying something like "recommended by doctor: gardening group here every
Tuesday 9-12"; I looked them out (they work on the area round the
surgery - I'd known about the for years) and asked if I could do
anything unskilled, not committing, for half an hour or so. Ended up
digging until 12 (with break for coffee etc.), and enjoying it and the
company; will probably return next week (then we'll see).
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

It is complete loose-stool-water, it is arse-gravy of the worst kind
- Stephen Fry on "The Da Vinci Code"

In message <lIekUMGPKEKmFw2U@255soft.uk> at Wed, 24 Apr 2024 00:21:51,
J. P. Gilliver <G6JPG@255soft.uk> writes
>In message <20240423070502.0355698774542077@umra.birthday.bot> at Tue,
>23 Apr 2024 06:17:59, Birthday Monitor <nick@leverton.org> writes
>>Birthday News for today, 23 April: Phil Archer and John Gilliver, 1960,
>>UMRAt, alive.
>>
>Fairly uneventful so far, mostly. I had to pop into my local surgery
>for a blood test, and coming out (about 10:10) I saw the sign
>(chalkboard) saying something like "recommended by doctor: gardening
>group here every Tuesday 9-12"; I looked them out (they work on the
>area round the surgery - I'd known about the for years) and asked if I
>could do anything unskilled, not committing, for half an hour or so.
>Ended up digging until 12 (with break for coffee etc.), and enjoying it
>and the company; will probably return next week (then we'll see).

And thanks for all the good wishes!
(Still waiting for the justice system. Will keep UMRA informed - as far
as I can.)
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

When I went to see Biddy Baxter [Blue Peter's editor] and told her I was
pregnant, her first reaction was 'Oh good, another viewer'. - Janet Ellis, RT
2016/2/27-3/4

Sally Thompson <thompson.stonybrook@gmail.com.invalid> wrote:
> Birthday Monitor <nick@leverton.org> wrote:
>> Birthday News for today, 23 April: Phil Archer and John Gilliver, 1960,
>> UMRAt, alive.
>>
>
> Many Happies jpg.
>

Happy birthday jpg.

The McTs

On Wed, 24 Apr 2024 00:21:51 +0100, "J. P. Gilliver"
<G6JPG@255soft.uk> wrote:

>In message <20240423070502.0355698774542077@umra.birthday.bot> at Tue,
>23 Apr 2024 06:17:59, Birthday Monitor <nick@leverton.org> writes
>>Birthday News for today, 23 April: Phil Archer and John Gilliver, 1960,
>>UMRAt, alive.
>>
>Fairly uneventful so far, mostly. I had to pop into my local surgery for
>a blood test, and coming out (about 10:10) I saw the sign (chalkboard)
>saying something like "recommended by doctor: gardening group here every
>Tuesday 9-12"; I looked them out (they work on the area round the
>surgery - I'd known about the for years) and asked if I could do
>anything unskilled, not committing, for half an hour or so. Ended up
>digging until 12 (with break for coffee etc.), and enjoying it and the
>company; will probably return next week (then we'll see).

I have absolutely no interest in gardening whatsoever: I just do what
I need to do to keep the garden habitable and the plants under
control. But I rather think that if gardening were offered more as a
social activity in the way you have described, it could be rather fun.

Nick

In message <u0un2j56fsl5ss842f9otirtoou509inae@4ax.com> at Fri, 26 Apr
2024 19:55:54, Nick Odell <nickodell49@yahoo.ca> writes
>On Wed, 24 Apr 2024 00:21:51 +0100, "J. P. Gilliver"
><G6JPG@255soft.uk> wrote:
[]
>>a blood test, and coming out (about 10:10) I saw the sign (chalkboard)
>>saying something like "recommended by doctor: gardening group here every
>>Tuesday 9-12"; I looked them out (they work on the area round the
>>surgery - I'd known about the for years) and asked if I could do
>>anything unskilled, not committing, for half an hour or so. Ended up
>>digging until 12 (with break for coffee etc.), and enjoying it and the
>>company; will probably return next week (then we'll see).
>
>I have absolutely no interest in gardening whatsoever: I just do what
>I need to do to keep the garden habitable and the plants under

Me too. I have a small (two by half metre?) plot at the front, in the
middle of a larger area of pebbles over membrane - which I still had to
weed, as dust and presumably seeds blow in and settle between the
pebbles; and a larger (two by three maybe?) at the back, which nobody
can see anyway. I was on the whole delighted when what I call marigolds
(big orange daisy-like) came one year, and proceeded to take over both
the bed and the pebbles around, but other things do appear too. But I
eventually found a (not near) neighbour who both likes gardening and was
willing to do it, so I'm delighted to pay him a small amount monthly
(reminds me - I must raise it due to inflation) to keep them (and the
buddleias - I have one front and one back) in order. The front's looking
nice at the moment - mixture of the orange flowers and clouds of little
blue ones (forget-me-nots I think). (The back is mostly covered with - I
forget the proper name, I remember "elephant's ears" - which another
neighbour suggested a few years ago.)

>control. But I rather think that if gardening were offered more as a
>social activity in the way you have described, it could be rather fun.

Well, I only went last week as I was there anyway, and also thought of
it as a social contribution (to keeping the area around the surgery
looking nice), but I am intending to go back this Tuesday, and who
knows; the exercise will undoubtedly do me good. As long as there's
someone to tell me what to do - like you, I have no interest whatsoever
in the subject. The social aspect seems nice too. Of course, my future
in the judicial system (which has finally creaked into life - something
happening on 8 May) may put the kybosh (sp?) on it.

(I do have one houseplant, the hippeastrum [amaryllis]. But that's
because someone gave it to me as a gift one year [big bulb in a box],
and I thought I ought to show willing, so potted it up [though I think
that might have been the following year!]. Apart from the first year
when I added more compost, the only attention it gets is the dregs when
I rinse my mug [it lives on the draining board by the kitchen sink], and
moving to the lounge windowsill when it flowers so the neighbours can
share it. And I pull off the leaves when they die off. It has flowered
every year but one for, might be a decade [and I think it may not this;
the shoot isn't coming as fast as usual].)
>
>Nick
John
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

a joke doesn't become a dad joke until it's full groan

On 26/04/2024 20:36, J. P. Gilliver wrote:
> (I do have one houseplant, the hippeastrum [amaryllis]. But that's
> because someone gave it to me as a gift one year [big bulb in a box],
> and I thought I ought to show willing, so potted it up [though I think
> that might have been the following year!]. Apart from the first year
> when I added more compost, the only attention it gets is the dregs when
> I rinse my mug [it lives on the draining board by the kitchen sink], and
> moving to the lounge windowsill when it flowers so the neighbours can
> share it. And I pull off the leaves when they die off. It has flowered
> every year but one for, might be a decade [and I think it may not this;
> the shoot isn't coming as fast as usual].)

One of my hippeastra threw up a flower stem nearly 4' tall this year and
now has a second step nearly 3' tall with 4 flower buds.
--
Jenny M Benson
Wrexham, UK

In message <l92jbfF9hj1U1@mid.individual.net> at Fri, 26 Apr 2024
22:06:55, Jenny M Benson <NemoNews@hotmail.co.uk> writes
[]
>One of my hippeastra threw up a flower stem nearly 4' tall this year
>and now has a second step nearly 3' tall with 4 flower buds.

Wow! I think mine's usually between 2 and 3'. IIRR the first year it put
out two, each with 3 or 4 big red flowers, reminding me of the
loudspeaker stacks you used to see at village fetes and the like; all
other years except one, just one spike/stack. (That one year - not last
year, it flowered last year as usual - it was only leaves.) The flower
spike, when it does come, is always startlingly fast - about an inch a
day.
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

"Bother," said Pooh, as Windows crashed into piglet.

J. P. Gilliver <G6JPG@255soft.uk> wrote:
> In message <l92jbfF9hj1U1@mid.individual.net> at Fri, 26 Apr 2024
> 22:06:55, Jenny M Benson <NemoNews@hotmail.co.uk> writes
> []
>> One of my hippeastra threw up a flower stem nearly 4' tall this year
>> and now has a second step nearly 3' tall with 4 flower buds.
>
> Wow! I think mine's usually between 2 and 3'. IIRR the first year it put
> out two, each with 3 or 4 big red flowers, reminding me of the
> loudspeaker stacks you used to see at village fetes and the like; all
> other years except one, just one spike/stack. (That one year - not last
> year, it flowered last year as usual - it was only leaves.) The flower
> spike, when it does come, is always startlingly fast - about an inch a
> day.

That will be of the genus Tannoysius Hornus then.😉

--
Toodle Pip, Mike McMillan

On 26-Apr-24 22:06, Jenny M Benson wrote:
> On 26/04/2024 20:36, J. P. Gilliver wrote:
>> (I do have one houseplant, the hippeastrum [amaryllis]. But that's
>> because someone gave it to me as a gift one year [big bulb in a box],
>> and I thought I ought to show willing, so potted it up [though I think
>> that might have been the following year!]. Apart from the first year
>> when I added more compost, the only attention it gets is the dregs
>> when I rinse my mug [it lives on the draining board by the kitchen
>> sink], and moving to the lounge windowsill when it flowers so the
>> neighbours can share it. And I pull off the leaves when they die off.
>> It has flowered every year but one for, might be a decade [and I think
>> it may not this; the shoot isn't coming as fast as usual].)
>
> One of my hippeastra threw up a flower stem nearly 4' tall this year and
> now has a second step nearly 3' tall with 4 flower buds.

Are you feeding it with some secret formula?

(OK. If it's a secret, you can't tell us - but still...)

--
Sam Plusnet

On 27/04/2024 19:30, Sam Plusnet wrote:
> On 26-Apr-24 22:06, Jenny M Benson wrote:
>> On 26/04/2024 20:36, J. P. Gilliver wrote:
>>> (I do have one houseplant, the hippeastrum [amaryllis]. But that's
>>> because someone gave it to me as a gift one year [big bulb in a box],
>>> and I thought I ought to show willing, so potted it up [though I
>>> think that might have been the following year!]. Apart from the first
>>> year when I added more compost, the only attention it gets is the
>>> dregs when I rinse my mug [it lives on the draining board by the
>>> kitchen sink], and moving to the lounge windowsill when it flowers so
>>> the neighbours can share it. And I pull off the leaves when they die
>>> off. It has flowered every year but one for, might be a decade [and I
>>> think it may not this; the shoot isn't coming as fast as usual].)
>>
>> One of my hippeastra threw up a flower stem nearly 4' tall this year
>> and now has a second step nearly 3' tall with 4 flower buds.
>
> Are you feeding it with some secret formula?
>
> (OK. If it's a secret, you can't tell us - but still...)
>
I don't think rampant neglect counts as a secret formula, does it? I
think I might have been known to administer the occasional dash of
liquid seaweed feed.
--
Jenny M Benson
Wrexham, UK

In message <l95ccmFlq2fU1@mid.individual.net> at Sat, 27 Apr 2024
23:26:30, Jenny M Benson <NemoNews@hotmail.co.uk> writes
>On 27/04/2024 19:30, Sam Plusnet wrote:
>> On 26-Apr-24 22:06, Jenny M Benson wrote:
[]
>>> One of my hippeastra threw up a flower stem nearly 4' tall this year
>>>and now has a second step nearly 3' tall with 4 flower buds.
>> Are you feeding it with some secret formula?
>> (OK. If it's a secret, you can't tell us - but still...)
>>
>I don't think rampant neglect counts as a secret formula, does it? I
>think I might have been known to administer the occasional dash of
>liquid seaweed feed.

Mine gets the dregs when I rinse my mug (coffee, fruit juice, packet
soup) - nothing else. That - plus whatever it fixes from sunlight - seem
to keep it producing leaf pairs after the flower stalk; the stalk
appears about February to April, then the leaf pairs until about
December, then it does a convincing imitation of being dead until the
next year's stalk. (Or, this year, I think, just the leaves - we'll
see.)
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

The voices of Radio 4 continuity and newsreading have been keeping me right
for as long as I can remember. I can call on a million different information
sources, but it doesn't make sense unti I've heard it from Peter, Harriet,
Charlotte and the rest.- Eddie Mair in Radio Times 10-16 November 2012

On 27/04/2024 19:30, Sam Plusnet wrote:
> On 26-Apr-24 22:06, Jenny M Benson wrote:
>> On 26/04/2024 20:36, J. P. Gilliver wrote:
>>> (I do have one houseplant, the hippeastrum [amaryllis]. But that's
>>> because someone gave it to me as a gift one year [big bulb in a box],
>>> and I thought I ought to show willing, so potted it up [though I
>>> think that might have been the following year!]. Apart from the first
>>> year when I added more compost, the only attention it gets is the
>>> dregs when I rinse my mug [it lives on the draining board by the
>>> kitchen sink], and moving to the lounge windowsill when it flowers so
>>> the neighbours can share it. And I pull off the leaves when they die
>>> off. It has flowered every year but one for, might be a decade [and I
>>> think it may not this; the shoot isn't coming as fast as usual].)
>>
>> One of my hippeastra threw up a flower stem nearly 4' tall this year
>> and now has a second step nearly 3' tall with 4 flower buds.
>
> Are you feeding it with some secret formula?
>
> (OK. If it's a secret, you can't tell us - but still...)
>

She that would keep a secret must first keep it secret that she has a
secret. [Sir Humphrey Appleby]

john