Every cloud has a silver lining edition

Hey people did you know this blog has had over 7000 page views since it's conception and is read people people on two continents? Quite something, eh?

Well yesterday was quite something in a bad kind of a way cos I was halfway on the commute to work when I senses an 'aura' the warning sign of  migraine which are a lot worse than just a bad headache and had to make my way back home.

Now that of itself doesn't bother me but for two things I was feeling dizzy, the local taxis were all tied up with school runs so I couldn't get one home and critically I'd left my cellphone at home on charge!

Not good as I had to walk though quiet country roads home.

Anyway I got home taking my time and ensuring I kept to where there were houses that if needed assistance I could get some from and the weather was pretty good  - so good -  that decided to take a picture by the Trent and Mersey canal that I like.

Frilled edition!

A good good while back anything really "girlie" used to really send me skipping off to the table to hide under but over the years things have changed.

Heck I did mention the odd thing about overall changes within some time ago so something I don't usually talk about  and certainly never something you'll see peeking out all ikky on this blog ever but actually some of us do a bit of the frilly albeit in a restrained way possibly cos we're exploring things. Exploring us even.

In my case probably more I just feel like sometimes being more girlie some of the time at least and something that is relatively plain with fully elasticated legs for a snug fit appeals more than some designs and I feel happy in them.

Plus I got a couple of pairs of these white frilly ankle socks to go with them and these do go just above the ankle which I prefer looking a bit more balanced with the skirt lengths I usually wear.

Tumblring Adventures

Another week goes by and while rather busy here, I have a couple of things to mention of which the Child Online safety bill is having an impact on some sites but in less than wholly predictable ways with some requiring work arounds and others you might of thought would of been not.

 
The other is oddly enough my random jottings littles centric Tumblr appears to be taking off when it comes to followers being in the mid 50's so thanks for all there who do follow it.

It's been going for a good number of years having survived the Tumblr purges, inter age regression communities warfare and a fair number of people just dropping away from Tumblr in general.

Meanwhile and not entirely unconnected with some of the above, this was something I just loved doing at school way back when be it solo skipping or playing skipping games to rhymes in threes or more taking turns.

Given it is the resumption of schooling and the Autumn Term it's rather apt for me. 

 
Such fun!

The Barney Mysteries

 

It's a warm post ban holiday day here as I type this weeks blogs so having been at EBS he old adage "You can't but a good book down would seem to apply around these parts of late  as some more new to me books by Enid Blyton arrived recently that cannot be bought now.

These copies are actually editions from the very early nineteen-seventies where while still in hardback form they have been cheapened by printing the frontspiece and spine direct to the jacket and missing off the rear of what would of been the back of the paper dust jacket the original hardbacks had.

 There are six novels in this series of mystery adventures that feature Rodger and Diana Lynton and their cousin Peter, ophaned, who goes under the name "Subby" in the series and his dog Laddie who are also joined by Barney an motherless circus boy who has been on a quest to find his absent father and who has a money called Miranda.

The "Barney Mysteries" is the title these usually are grouped under although some use "R Mysteries" with the "R" coming from the R in the names of all the titles.

The children visit sleepy villages and seaside towns that it transpires are riddled with intregue and it's that they look into.

One of the strengths of this series is the stories are full of atmosphere and good humour, the strong characterization making for much more depth  than most of her work and more sophisticated language that made it the only series Enid herself recommended just for those of eleven years and upward while still staying within child friendly themes.

Cold smiles!

When some likes go back in time would it surprise you to find actually there's something I do really love?

I first encountered this when I was chronologically little usually in folded over cardboard containers from the frozen food cabinet in our nearest towns store looking for something to have with our Sunday main meal.

Called Neapolitan Ice cream, it has the strawberry, vanilla and chocolate flavours all in one arranged so when you slice it, you get equal portions of each flavour and it went well with jelly!

Just marvellous!

I also had Viennetta for the first time in ages last week with cream and chocolate outer shell and that was delicious.

August musings

Take one early August evening  where it's been very hot during the day even if the activities during the course of were anything but and I usually start thinking about  writing up this weeks blog.
It's always nice to see 'old faces' return to sites even though on some there are issues with sub cultures bullying others which meant I needed to report one person!
It's also nice where you can be in a space  that is accepting of you even if as this great manga cell makes the point, it's your life.

Certainly I live mine as I feel to best extent possible for me although everybody's circumstances are different so limiting what maybe you are able to.

Also I discovered my dormant 7Digital download site log ins as it was in late december 2020 in the throes of Covid that I last used it which is a few machines ago, finding most of the downloads were still there available to be  downloaded anew and I did download a few in better quality than I was using then.

I also got some weights so I was able to use an older cartridge I had not used since 2016 as it just wouldn't balance right on the tone arm .

At the record sharp end...

Way back in 2013 I wrote  a bit about how for those of us who use turntables that use removable (SME) type headshells we could have a easy to fit and install cartridge for getting the music on our records  to our amplifiers phono input so we could enjoy and did produce an update in 2016 but we're nine years on and things are a bit different.

There's always been some controversy in audio circles regarding the best cartridges and styli to use over the decades, the earliest being from the days of horn gramophones covering the shape of the stylus, what it is made from, to  the sort of cartridge it is attached to and so on.

Sometimes it is clear one is better overall such as moving magnet cartridge sounds better and causes less wear than a crystal one to your records but on other occasions its been "swings and roundabouts" depending on what you prioritized such as the moving magnets ease of replacing the stylus over the potential advantages of the moving coil although that has to be re-tipped by an expert (or you use a part exchange scheme to get a new one each time).

While more advanced stylus shapes can by being a  closer fit to the record grove wall, sounding better  for tracing the grove more accurately, some find the demands of keeping a record spotless clean to avoid more obvious noise from debris a challenge.

That is one reason I've decided to go slightly backwards and explore one of the best  regular eliptical stylus fitted cartridges, the Nagaoka MP 110 whose tracking is better than most in its price range.

For a good number of years Nagaoka of Japan had no official importer in the UK but that has changed over some 18 or so months, so they are back on sale with proper dealer support.

As purchased, it was pre-mounted into a SME style headshell to screw into my turntables arm so all the fiddly wiring was done for me and I'm looking forward to giving this ago alongside my  Ortofon Concorde 20 and 30 higher spec but more demanding .

I expect it to sound slightly warmer and with a tadge less extreme high frequencies.