Ending August
‘Bangladesh thrashed Australia by nine wickets on the fourth day of the series-opener in Darwin to complete one of Test cricket's greatest upsets’.
First Test, Darwin (day four of five)
Australia 198: (Smith 71; Mahmud 6-55) & 284 (Green 104; Miraz 5-66)
Bangladesh 426: (Tanzid 101, Shanto 84, Miraz 65; Hazlewood 6-89) & 57-1 (Mominul 30*)
Bangladesh win by nine wickets
Enough said, a nation in mourning must be respected.
There is a lovely photo of Lily with the family and Sadie. Lily is now a young lady, eager to take on the world and what she can do with her life. I feel it is time I stepped up and reminded Angela- she is my favourite daughter- to think on what she was like at Lily’s age and then put her parenting skills to use.
I saw a funny Facebook Reel and thought I would share it with you.
Sometimes I look at my grandma and I think WOW, how did she get so lucky to have me.
I can definitely see Sadie in one of these T-shirts soon.
Cruise on a yacht around the Islands
What an amazing afternoon. We were lucky enough to be invited to a cruise on a yacht owned by Captain Edward Payne - SBM and Sue Payne, wife of said captain, around all the islands in Poole Bay. We saw Brownsea Island, Fruzel Island, Brown Island, Green Island and Long Island. Talking of Brownsea Island, that is where Matthew Charles Dickens proposed to my favourite daughter, lucky man; she said yes.
Back to our cruise, Master Mariner Captain Edward Payne - SBM, took us through the rough channels and windy passages. It was at times a rough passage, but through his extraordinary skill in reading the sea, we completed our journey safely. On board, the dynamics changed; Sue Payne deferred to Captain Edward, and he gave his orders in a clear and distinct voice, guiding Sue to greater heights in her journey of mastering her maritime skills.
We passed several luxury superyachts, as you can see in the attached images. They did look deserted and forlorn, but on our return there was a small crew on the one superyacht doing their afternoon workout.
Captain Edward guided us around the green buoys, his understanding of the ways of the sea not even put to the test. All too soon we had finished our journey of the islands, and we were back in the sanctuary of Poole Yacht Club Mariner. This is when the dynamics changed back; Sue decided it was best to have our tea at the clubhouse and issued instructions to Captain Edward to moor up, and we all followed her to the clubhouse for tea and cake.
Lovely cake it was, something with blueberries in, grown by Captain Edward in his allotment.
We sadly bid our farewells, leaving the two mariners time to lock down their vessel for a while until their next great adventure.
Sue and Ted, if or when you decide to sell your fine ocean-going yacht, remember us, and maybe we can have a swan song cruise again, one last time. Thank you for a memorable afternoon; we enjoyed it.
The noblest art is to make someone happy.
Reading that just reminds me how happy I am. I have a message for my children and grandchildren; it is best explained with these lyrics from a Cat Stevens song.
I was once like you are now and I know that it's not easy
To be calm when you've found something going on
But take your time, think a lot
Think of everything you've got
For you will still be here tomorrow but your dreams may not
Now onto more serious news.
The BBC had a reporter go into what has happened since the Truth and Reconciliation Commission had its hearings. 23000 people applied to give their testimony; only 2200 had their say. The ironic part was that they let perpetrators of these horrible crimes testify, hoping to get let off the horrendous act of cruelty they committed. I was surprised to hear that they named everyone who testified.
I am watching Christmas movies and absolutely loving it. I cannot wait for this Christmas to come around. I know a few of you will not be around, some in Australia, some somewhere else, but you know what, the Christmas spirit is one of those things that keeps us going, and I have not many Christmases to go, so I will enjoy everyone I have. If you want to join me, it’s up to you. I’m loving it.
We went to Spain a little while ago, and on one day we went to the end of the Camino De Santiago. Michael and Lauren had cycled from the small town we stayed in, and the strange coincidence is, I watch a film about walking the Camino De Santiago trail tonight. Crazy, not really, just at the right place. Now it gets weird: Anna, a friend of Susan, is walking that trail. I know, who would put odds on that.
There is no greater joy than after a long day you sit in your garden with a glass of red wine and just be there.
It would be remiss of me not to bring you up to date with my brother, Russell Smith, international hotelier and to his grandchildren, a big soft bear. Well, to tell the truth, there is not much to tell. Rumour has it he is writing his memoirs. I do miss him, but we must respect his privacy and are all eagerly awaiting his new book.
Lady Helen of Bankside has just returned to her villa in Italy, after visiting family in Thailand. William and May have had another wee child, and Helen went over to offer support. Well, to be fair, she did stay at the Hilton International Hotel while there; Lady Helen does enjoy helping out when required and is also happy to hand the crying babies back when it gets a little too much.
Talking of those living on the north side of Wimborne, Lady Mally has taken to SUP boarding and has joined a club. They meet regularly, and after their boarding, they always have a glass or two of wine, rightly so; boarding is a very demanding sport. With all her adventures, she seems to have the world at her feet. Enjoy, and when you get off your board, let’s have coffee.
Kimi Antonelli has just won the GP from 19th, and the Italians are going wild. I would expect they will be given a holiday tomorrow. Mark Cook has taken his Nissan badge off his campervan and put a BMW badge on it. What has the world come to?
In ending, Susan went to an amazing posh party. Gary went as well, with Claudia, and when I asked them what the party was like, they said it was fine. Well, high praise indeed.
No animals were hurt in the making of this blog; to be fair, this is where I should stop.
Comments