Actually it's been a moderately busy week. First and most important, we've had a couple of trips to the vet, Not for me (though some people think that might be a better option than the hospital!) but for Samantha, our black and white cat. She's been in a scrap. And lost. Seriously lost. As a result she's lost the sight in one eye and may have to lodse the ey itself. You can tell she's unwell because she lets me pick her up and put eye drops in and that's something she'd normally run a mile from. You would have thought she'd have had more sense at the age of 16 than to get into fights - Teenagers, Huh!
It's been quite good weather this week, sunny and not too cold, so I've managed to get out in the garden doing some clearing and tidying - the first serious work of the New Year.
I've also lost a few days to ill health. A cold and also my usual heart/lung/nervous system rubbish. Although the cold never fully developed it all helped to drag me down. Overdosing on Vitamin C stopped the cold from ever really getting serious enough to be called man-flu.
One sometimes plays the game of who would you dine with if you could pick anyone from any time. I always pick Oscar Wilde and Mark Twain as two of my dinner guests and after that it tends to vary. I can't ever recall picking David Attenborough but I really should have him as number one and always present. I've just watched part of a series on Madagascar and another programme set in Madagascar about the extinct Elephant Bird. This latter included many clips and stories from David Attenborough's first visit there in the 1960s for Zoo Quest. He has so many great stories I could listen to him for hours and hours on end.Madagascar has cut down 80% of its forests but it was really heartening to hear that in order to join up some of the surviving pieces of forest they have planted a million trees in the last three years.
I've decided another person I'd love to have for dinner is Phil Harding (the long-haired one from Time Team). I imagine he'd be hilarious as well as instructive. Who would you have?
I get Time Team on one of my cable channels and I love watching them dig up your country! I'm sure Phil would be an interesting person to talk to.
ReplyDeleteAs for who I'd love to have for dinner... First of all if I'm the hostess I'll be hiring a Martha to do the cooking and the serving, because I would not want to miss a moment of the conversation. I'd really love to be able to have Tolkien, CS Lewis and Jo Rowling all in one room at the same time.
wow! off the top of my head I don't know who I would want to have dinner with. that is not something I have thought about much. maybe I should!?
ReplyDeletehope your kitty gets better soon. isn't she too old to be out scrapping with others? they never learn........
That's a question worth pondering. I think I'd have to shop around before I found some regulars, but I'd start with favorite authors: people I've already developed an affinity for. (And a few coworker/friends who are my heroes.)-- the word verification for this comment? mates!
ReplyDeleteLet's see - 6 dinner guests (excluding my immediate family who would always be my first choices)
ReplyDeleteMystery writer Hazel Holt
Mark Twain
Princess Grace
Author Bill Bryson
My wonderful friend, the late Sr. Elaine Clarke
Hmm -- one more. How about you, Scriptor?
Canadian Chickadee
I've always been a bit dubious about dinner guest imaginings because the proximity of such greatness would overawe me. However given the spirit of what you are asking I would probably add (to a huge and inexhaustable list) F E Smith (Lord Birkenhead - 1872-1930). I had the privilege of working with some incredibly interesting people during the public inquiries I worked on and, as many stayed on the Island during the Inquiries themselves - which sometimes lasted months - I had the opportunity to listen to many dinner-time stories. I wish that I had remembered more of them.
ReplyDeleteHmmm... good question, who would I have dinner with if I had absolutely free choice? There have been so many fascinating people with interesting stories to tell over the centuries... Maybe Nofretete (Nefertiti) would care to share a plate with me. Or Friedrich II., the German Kaiser who hardly spoke German but grew up in Medieval Palermo. Wernher von Braun belongs on that list, too.
ReplyDeleteOf the suggestions so far I'd definitely add Bill Bryson. And I think I'd put Brian Cox the British particle physicist in there as well.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about Samantha. Please give her a hug from us.
ReplyDeleteNo idea who I'd have to dinner, but shall think about it.
Librarian, I was stunned you mentioned Wernher von Braun. I was introduced to him and shook his hand when he came to the Space Shuttle Assembly facility in Palmdale, California. He was quiet, almost shy, during the introduction (perhaps the language barrier?), but I definitely felt I was in the presence of greatness.
ReplyDeleteYou met Wernher von Braun! The language barrier most likely wasn't a problem - although with a heavy German accent, he spoke fluent English and it was the working language at NASA back then just as much as it is today.
ReplyDeleteEinstein and Robin Williams.
ReplyDeleteWow I never really thought of who I would have dinner with...I am going to think about that one...hope you are feeling better! Oh BTW do you love your Kindel? I want so badly! I love love love to read, I have a wonderful library with beautiful books and shelves but...I just don't want to add any more! I do want to read more and books are sooo expensive now...well the pretty ones LOL. Get well soon!
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