We all have a glass and a half in us. Angela, a cool, dry, white. Russell a red with ice. Gary a soft Merlot, no ice and leave the bottle. Robert is more of a Shiraz person, half a glass will be more than enough. My preference is a Californian merlot, more like a bottle and a half, well I have been practising. What does the expression a glass and a half conjure up in our imagination? Cadbury’s?
Just remember everyone, there are two moments in life, those you miss and those you seize. You might miss a few and then again you might hit one, never stop trying.
Lady Helen Cook of Bankside’s, part of the Holt Forest Estate. The family has had the Holt estate for many years - Lord Cook bought it in 2009 and it has been in the same family for all these years.
Anyway, Lady Cook saw the state of my office and knew immediately what to get me for Christmas.
A bookend, now my books are all neatly aligned in random order for easy access. Talking of the Cooks, they also have an estate in Tuscany. Yes, what can I say? This country retreat comes with a swimming pool, Mark did extend it, and a new vineyard. It is new because Mark asked his head gardener to clear out the field and he did just that. 100 years old vines are gone. Oh well, the grapes were not that tasty. Mark now has a vineyard full of Merlot, a dark blue–coloured wine grape variety that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name Merlot is thought to be a diminutive of merle, the French name for the blackbird, probably a reference to the colour of the grape. I look forward to the first tasting.
On a more personal note; I have just played Sailor by Petula Clark and it reminds me of Captain Benjamin and his future. It also makes me think of Angela and her little boy. The lyrics are changed but the message is the same.
Benjamin, never stop dreaming
Benjamin, embrace the sea
Benjamin, when things get down
You can always come home
As you sail across the sea
I am there beside you
In Capri or Amsterdam
You will be in my heart
I will send my love to guide you
Through your travels
Know you can always come home
This is true for all our children as they sail across their seas. We have done what we can and now it is up to them.
Changing the subject. Guns, is it a good idea to allow a gun-carrying society? In South Africa, it seems to be the norm. Ms Kirsten, spokeswoman for something says.
‘Gun culture is influenced by the violent history of the country, which was under white-minority rule until 1994. Black people could not legally obtain guns until 1983.
European colonisers brought guns to the country in the early 1600s. Afrikaners, white descendants of Dutch settlers, adopted a unique frontier gun-owning identity, that is still present today.’
Ms Kirsten says the majority of registered South African gun owners are "mid-30s, white males”
In 2014 women made up 19% of gun owners in South Africa. Though the type of people who own guns may be changing, Ms Kirsten believes vestiges of the colonial gun mentality remain, especially among older white males.
"They think their gun is the last thing between them and the 'Wild West'," she says, a reference to their lack of faith in the black-majority government.
Ms Kirsten has a lot to say, do we agree or not? History will be the judge.
I mentioned in my blog, Dictators and Dinners, that Putin has a bunker, well, the super-rich are busy building underground abodes (bunkers). The latest is Mark Zuckerberg's in Hawaii, costing a whooping £210 million with everything he'll need to survive the whole year while down there. Two above-ground mansions and the bunker has 30-bedroom suites, 12 tree house lodges and anything else you can imagine is there. But why are they suddenly obsessed with bunkers? Are they preparing for something we don't know? One way or the other, we're going to find out.
We have seen quite a few cutter fish bones on the beach lately and it did stir my curiosity as to where cuttlefish bones come from and why so many this time of the year.
Doing some research I found out that after breeding, the female cuttlefish die and a few weeks later their skeletons are washed up on the beach. Some interesting facts about cutter fish. They have blue blood, so-coloured thanks to the copper-rich protein it contains known as hemocyanin, which transports oxygen around the body. They also have three hearts, two supply their gills and the third pumps blood around their body.
Birthdays.
Sally Mead from The Laurels is having her birthday today, we wish her all the best. How old? Ladies never divulge their age but let’s just say she has life experience. Sally does have an answer for everything, she once said to me.
‘It’s weird being the same age as old people.’ Just joking that was me.
I would expect something like this from Sally.
‘My silence does not mean I agree with you, it is just that your level of stupidity leaves me speechless.’
Hopefully, this cheers you up on this happy day.
On another note, Michael and Matilda are flying back from New Zealand, I know, so far away. My feeling is that the further away they can be from me, is never enough. Michael threw himself off a 500-meter bridge to end his misery. Quite extreme but I am known for my good food, solace in that. Matilda took the photos and did will him on, he does have a big life insurance. What a picture, GSP was not that impressed, she does believe that she brought him into this world and should have a say on who takes him out.
On another note, the second, Jenson chased a cat, much to Susan's horror, Susan does not like cats but respects nature, which is her motto, he did get some well-chosen words when he came back.
To finish, I know, a long time coming but I would like to say that in all my years, having a coffee with Susan, going for breakfast with my family, driving to cricket with the boys, living every moment in the motocross years were some of the best days of my life. It was not the coffee, or the food, the overs or the wins. It was that we did them together.
To end, life is who you love and who loves you back.