journal of a grumpy old man

Fits him to a tee...

coming42 — Mon, 29 Sep 2025 10:46:45 GMT

Not in my garden

coming42 — Wed, 03 Sep 2025 12:16:06 GMT

The Life of Riley

coming42 — Sun, 24 Aug 2025 15:22:32 GMT

Thank you, all of you who have posted condolences and compassion about my beloved Riley. I'm sorry I could not reply to you all individually - Too overcome with grief. But thank you from the bottom of my heart...

Riley RIP

coming42 — Fri, 22 Aug 2025 16:35:36 GMT

My beautiful, gentle boy Riley was pts at 3:00pm this afternoon.

I sit in floods of tears.

Heartbroken...

coming42 — Wed, 20 Aug 2025 19:31:46 GMT

It's now the worst possible news. My mind has shut down. Just heard from the vet. All Riley's kidney markers have increased beyond what they were originally. Riley's kidneys. are shutting down and he has little time remaining. He is very subdued. I shall collect him tomorrow and bring him home for however many days he has left.
I am completely broken. All happened so quickly. My beautiful boy....

Riley

coming42 — Wed, 20 Aug 2025 13:36:20 GMT

Thank you all who posted comments about my Riley. I visit him every day for about half an hour. He seems not entirely sure who I am, bless. him, but I cuddle him for as long as I can. He is on Gabapentin, which makes him somewhat drowsy and is for pain relief for any kidney pain. His bloods are harvested every day and there has been a small improvement in his kidney markers. It is unlikely that they will ever be 'normal' again and I have made it clear that he will be coming home with me at the weekend. Irrespective of everything I reckon he will be happier back home with me than stuck in a veterinary hospital. He will continue to receive all the love I have. This might well curtail his life expectancy but better for us both if he is with me if anything untoward happens...

I just want my boy home.

My Beloved Riley - seriously ill

coming42 — Mon, 18 Aug 2025 18:08:13 GMT

My beloved Riley is very ill. All of a sudden. Wasn't eating, drinking a lot. Hawthorn Vets took him today to their practice, ran bloods, and his urea, creatinine and phosphorous are off the scale. Riley needs long term infusion and will be transferred to Coasway as they have the required facilities. This will be for at least five days - and I am totally broken. All this in 12 hours. My home is not a home without my boy. I just don't know what to do - how to cope without him...

Stress

coming42 — Mon, 04 Aug 2025 22:03:52 GMT

The anxiety is increasing as Thursday approaches when I am booked at the Eye Hospital for cataract surgery. I've read the comprehensive booklet they provided so I more or less know what to expect. Needless to say, I am not looking forward to it.

Dave will arrive on Wednesday and will accompany me on Thursday. Sight will be limited for a while so he will be on hand until Monday to help out with stuff at home.

I cannot even have a drink to calm my nerves as I have not consumed alcohol since 15th February...

The Red Fox - ideal body

coming42 — Sat, 02 Aug 2025 12:56:59 GMT

Between Two Points

coming42 — Sat, 26 Jul 2025 13:15:21 GMT

This is the beautiful track called Between Two Points from David Gilmour's Luck And Strange album with his daughter Romany singing the lyrics. This for me is a gently, haunting song and Romany sings it with great feeling.

Hope you enjoy this - from a lifelong Gilmour fan...

Totally Blown Away!

coming42 — Fri, 25 Jul 2025 14:15:59 GMT

Arrived today, this recent 2025 release by David Gimour with his daughter, Romany Gilmour. Essentially this is a track taken from the album Luck and Strange. Side A has "Vita Brevis/Between Two Points" recorded live at the Royal Albert Hall in 2024 with the divine voice of Romany. Followed by the most astonishing, I would say legendary, remix by GENTRY that has seriously blown me away! The B side continues this astonishing remix followed by "Between Two Points", sung by Romany and taken directly from The Luck and Strange album. This 12" disc is presented on crystal clear vinyl.

If you are a Gilmour fan this is a MUST HAVE! with the unmistakeable sound of Gilmour's guitar.

This is going to be played many times!

Not Wanted Here!

coming42 — Fri, 25 Jul 2025 13:06:23 GMT

Nobody in the UK wants you here you retard, with perhaps the exception of the coward Keir Starmer...

Resolved

coming42 — Wed, 23 Jul 2025 13:56:43 GMT

A while back I posted the song Love Won't Let Me Wait by Jackie Moore. So, who was the male voice on this track? I have now acquired an original 1980's CBS release on vinyl of the album With Your Love from a Discogs seller in Sweden. Here is the legend printed on the sleeve:

Male voice on 'Love Won't Let Me Wait' is Winfred "Blue" Lovett who appears courtesy of Scorpicorn Music, Inc.

So, for those interested, there you have it. One of my original two suggestions.

Roxy Music

coming42 — Tue, 22 Jul 2025 15:06:43 GMT

This one in particular is for my friend deborahkla who loves Roxy Music, as do I. This track is from one of my Top 10 albums of all time. - AVALON.

Enjoy!

Bumblebee Mites

coming42 — Mon, 21 Jul 2025 09:16:36 GMT

Mites are small animals which are related to spiders and ticks. Most bumblebees have little mites clinging to their bodies. Most of the time, the mites are difficult to see, but sometimes they can cover large parts of the bumblebee’s body.

The good news is that most of the mites that live with bumblebees are harmless to them and are simply clinging to the bumblebee so that they can be transported to new nests. Research has found that one such species of mite, Parasitellus fucorum, is beneficial to bumblebee nest development.

When in the nest, the mites usually feed on wax, pollen, nest debris, and other small insects, and do not feed on the bumblebees. Then, when the mites reach a certain stage in their lifecycle, they cling to worker bumblebees, and are transported onto flowers. From these flowers, the mites attach to other visiting bees, and are transported to new nests.

Some types of mite, usually the ones we can’t see, can be more harmful. For example, one species, Locustacarus buchneri, lives in the respiratory system of queen bumblebees. This species lays up to 50 eggs and the young develop inside the queen’s body. It is not known if infections like these definitely do harm the bees though.

Talking Back to the Night

coming42 — Sat, 19 Jul 2025 14:23:26 GMT

1982. I had just purchased a copy of the Sheffield Steel CD by Joe Cocker. At the time Ros and I lived in the Netherlands and on a wonderful summer's day we travelled to one of the superb sandy beaches in Zeeland with our friends Silvana and Pieter, complete with ghetto-blaster and CD. Those around us on the beach were entertained by Joe played LOUD!

This track: Talking back to the Night, bears witness to the unmistakeable influence in arrangement and production by Sly Stone.

Enjoy!

Johnny and Mary

coming42 — Fri, 18 Jul 2025 10:16:34 GMT

Johnny's always running around
Trying to find certainty

I love this song composed by Robert Palmer in 1980. Here performed by one of my favourite vocalists, the great lounge lizard - Bryan Ferry. With an almost ethereal quality, his smoky voice is just superb.

Love Won't Let Me Wait

coming42 — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 13:00:13 GMT

The soul legend Jackie Moore who sadly died in 2019. This beautiful love song was Rosalind's favourite and this was her favourite version. First recorded and released in 1974 by Major Harris. There is some debate about who the accompanying male voice belongs too. Is it Blue Lovett of The Manhattans or Gerald Levert? Please let me know if you know.

I too like Jackie's version the best and there have been many.

This is for you my love...

Where We Start...

coming42 — Mon, 14 Jul 2025 11:01:07 GMT

I often play this when I think of Ros. Seems appropriate for today. I will always miss you sweetheart...

Anniversary - alone

coming42 — Mon, 14 Jul 2025 10:35:21 GMT

Today would have been - well - is - my 52nd Wedding Anniversary but nothing to celebrate here without my beloved Ros, who died three-and-a-half years ago. Without her I don't live - I exist. Along with my only comfort - Riley...

Basic Human Decency

coming42 — Sun, 13 Jul 2025 10:16:41 GMT

Ideas from the rain forest...

coming42 — Sat, 05 Jul 2025 12:22:28 GMT

Independence Day

coming42 — Fri, 04 Jul 2025 14:37:29 GMT

I would like to wish all my American friends a happy Independence Day. Just how happy it will be though is perhaps questionable...

The Crying Game

coming42 — Thu, 03 Jul 2025 12:42:10 GMT

A visibly upset Rachel Reeves bore the brunt of Labour anger over the handling of the latest welfare vote yesterday as MPs called for a reshuffle, casting doubt over her future.

The Chancellor admitted she was “clearly upset” but said her job was to support the Prime Minister, who told the press this morning that Reeves will remain in her post for "many years to come".

The pair put on a united front as they joined Wes Streeting to announce Labour’s 10-year plan for the NHS, but the cracks in the Labour Party are widening. And a fractured parliament is not only bad for the government – it's bad for the country,

Dark Side of The Moon

coming42 — Sun, 29 Jun 2025 12:15:23 GMT

Dark Side of The Moon is one of the greatest sonic masterpieces and most commercially successful albums of all time.

Over three decades after its release, Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon remains one of the most acclaimed albums of all time. Its sales total around 35 million copies worldwide and still sells 5,000 copies a week. In its first run, it took up residence in the US charts for a mind-boggling 724 weeks. According to recent estimates, one in five British households owns a copy.

This, however, is only a fraction of the story. Dark Side is rock's most fully realised and elegant concept album, based on themes of madness, anxiety and alienation that were rooted in the band's history and particularly in the tragic tale of their one time leader Syd Barrett.

How many times have I listened to this masterpiece since it was released in 1973? Many hundreds, that's for sure. (I played it again just yesterday.) My teenage great niece Phoebe loves this album. Clearly has a maturity in musical taste.

If you want to know about the background to the band you should read Crazy Diamond: Syd Barrett & The Dawn of Pink Floyd. A comprehensive account of the development of psychedelia in the 60s, the proliferation of LSD use and Barrett's development as a rock star and ultimate fall from grace, his mind addled with acid. He enjoyed an all too brief flash of erratic brilliance and became one of rock's greatest enigmas. He died in 2006.</b>