Bits and pieces

Congratulations to Jackie Andrews! She's won a prize in a competition on Sounds of the Sixties on Radio 2.

There'll be a Political Forum at Talgarth Town Hall on 12th April at 7pm. One of the things they are going to talk about is local health provision.

My informant about Castle Street seems to have got it wrong. The workmen don't seem to have touched the pipes at all. What they have done is fill their trench with cement, which I suppose is meant to stabilise things.

George has finally got his dream house in Portugal! He's been trying to buy a place out there for a few years now, but now he's actually signed the deeds, and it's his. He said it was a very solomn occasion, with everyone involved sitting in a sort of board room - the notary, the translator, George's solicitor, the three sisters who were selling the property and their husbands, and George and his wife. They all had to sign the documents, and it took them nearly two hours. He won't be selling up and jetting off to the sun just yet, though he will be going out there a bit more often now.

"That's lovely celery - it is celery, isn't it?" I'd got a huge triffid of a head of celery at Charlie Hicks' Greengrocers, far more than I need for the recipe I was thinking of - I think I'll be doing a big session in the kitchen and freezing a lot of it. His vegetables are gorgeous, so I couldn't resist it - and they like Islay there, and always make a fuss of her.