Nigel Newman 's avatar

Nigel Newman

@beardyeccentric.bsky.social

359 followers 413 following 129 posts

Beardy bloke, Francophile, borderline eccentric. Living in Normandy, cat-herd (13 currently in the flock). A glass of red would be nice, or a Ricard....OK, I'll have a Ricard! Santé!! #FBPE, #GTTO

Nigel Newman 's avatar Nigel Newman @beardyeccentric.bsky.social
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With Red Mollie?

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Nigel Newman 's avatar Nigel Newman @beardyeccentric.bsky.social
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Certain movies are good sources of names nowadays - we've got a Hagrid, a Ron Weasley & an Arthur Weasley (and ferals that we feed named Remus and Snowbelle) A couple with typical French names - Hervé and Minou, and various other descriptive names such as Smudge & Panda.

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Nigel Newman 's avatar Nigel Newman @beardyeccentric.bsky.social
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Yes, back in the 1980's! Drove up from the South Coast of England in my old camper van, top speed 56mph. Took forever!

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Nigel Newman 's avatar Nigel Newman @beardyeccentric.bsky.social
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Having a bit of a thunderstorm here in Normandy right now! #thunderstorm

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Nigel Newman 's avatar Nigel Newman @beardyeccentric.bsky.social
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Visited many years ago - incredibly atmospheric, especially being the only people there at the time!

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Nigel Newman 's avatar Nigel Newman @beardyeccentric.bsky.social
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Is that Callanish?

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Nigel Newman 's avatar Nigel Newman @beardyeccentric.bsky.social
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If you see this, post a pet pic 😸

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Nigel Newman 's avatar Nigel Newman @beardyeccentric.bsky.social
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Quick wash programme, no spin, easy on the softener 😹

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Nigel Newman 's avatar Nigel Newman @beardyeccentric.bsky.social
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Reciprocated!!

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Nigel Newman 's avatar Nigel Newman @beardyeccentric.bsky.social
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Guessing that's instead of the habitual plague of frogs or locusts or whatever...

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Nigel Newman 's avatar Nigel Newman @beardyeccentric.bsky.social
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Never known a start to the year like this! Very glad we're quite high (300m) and not near any rivers - although the water table must be almost that high!! However, no doubt come summer we'll be talking secheresse again, and the Loire will be virtually dry downstream!

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Nigel Newman 's avatar Nigel Newman @beardyeccentric.bsky.social
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Wow! Apparently Meteo France are saying the next 3 months are likely to be warmer than normal (new records possible) but they're being remarkably reticent as to whether the rain is going to stop!!

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Nigel Newman 's avatar Nigel Newman @beardyeccentric.bsky.social
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Sure most of us could still find a decimal happenny down the back of a sofa or in a drawer somewhere!! 😆

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Reposted by Nigel Newman

Disillusioned With Conservatives's avatar Disillusioned With Conservatives @neverevertory.bsky.social
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This is exactly what the Tories are doing, destroying everything as much as possible so the next goverment cant do anything until all the mess is fixed, which will take a very long time.

#Tories

bylinetimes.com/2024/03/28/r...

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Reposted by Nigel Newman

Nigel Newman 's avatar Nigel Newman @beardyeccentric.bsky.social
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When I was a kid in the 60's, I thought we were posh, as we had two TVs, but no - one had sound but no picture, and the other had picture but no sound!! 😆

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Nigel Newman 's avatar Nigel Newman @beardyeccentric.bsky.social
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Remember when this first came out - couldn't afford it (I was still at school) but one of the music papers (NME probably) gave away as a freebie one of those floppy plastic 7" samplers for it, same sleeve etc. Still got it somewhere, doubt it plays any more!!

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Nigel Newman 's avatar Nigel Newman @beardyeccentric.bsky.social
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Yes, back in the day, tickets were pocket-money prices, usually (in the UK) around £2, and cheaper than the associated LP!!

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Nigel Newman 's avatar Nigel Newman @beardyeccentric.bsky.social
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Imagine you're 16 years old, and going to your first ever proper gig. We'd booked tickets for Deep Purple (Portsmouth Guildhall), and the support band was Nazareth (just after Broken Down Angel was released as a single). What an introduction to live music that was!! Blown away!!

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Nigel Newman 's avatar Nigel Newman @beardyeccentric.bsky.social
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The noise a horny cow makes when calling out in hope to other horny cows is quite something.... especially when there's one either side of your house!!

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Nigel Newman 's avatar Nigel Newman @beardyeccentric.bsky.social
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I've still got a couple of bits that I collected off our beach over 10 years ago that still haven't dried enough to burn! 😆

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Nigel Newman 's avatar Nigel Newman @beardyeccentric.bsky.social
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I'm seeing the Milky Bar kid - but that might be a purely English reaction!! (...or is it John Denver?) 😆

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Nigel Newman 's avatar Nigel Newman @beardyeccentric.bsky.social
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£10 million? That's not a donation, he's buying a peerage!!

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Nigel Newman 's avatar Nigel Newman @beardyeccentric.bsky.social
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Good morning back at you, from France 🇫🇷 🌧️

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Nigel Newman 's avatar Nigel Newman @beardyeccentric.bsky.social
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June Tabor - amazing voice, so many brilliant tracks to choose from!

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Nigel Newman 's avatar Nigel Newman @beardyeccentric.bsky.social
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Presumably she just took it off when she did the washing-up....

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Nigel Newman 's avatar Nigel Newman @beardyeccentric.bsky.social
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Lovely to see a bit of sunshine in Normandy today, something of a rare commodity of late! The cats are loving it too, and here's a few of them catching some rays on the drive!!

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Nigel Newman 's avatar Nigel Newman @beardyeccentric.bsky.social
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We're in the Bocage, rather than by the coast - nearest big town is Vire, as it happens!! Very green, very rural, lambs in the field right next door......

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Nigel Newman 's avatar Nigel Newman @beardyeccentric.bsky.social
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Dry in Normandy right now, and that's not something we say often!! 🌧️

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Reposted by Nigel Newman

Nigel Newman 's avatar Nigel Newman @beardyeccentric.bsky.social
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It's a good question! We live in France, so when I was back recently I visited quite a few shops for English goodies!! I'm thinking Asda, or possibly B&M....or was it Sainsbury's? Sorry I can't be more specific 🙁

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Nigel Newman 's avatar Nigel Newman @beardyeccentric.bsky.social
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I found flakes in the UK just before Xmas - they do still exist! Nothing else has the right amount of crumblyness for topping a trifle!!

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Nigel Newman 's avatar Nigel Newman @beardyeccentric.bsky.social
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Saw Donovan once at a festival - obvs he did this, but virtually his entire set was his past hits, and it's only at times like that when you realise just how many truly classic songs he had !!

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Nigel Newman 's avatar Nigel Newman @beardyeccentric.bsky.social
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Superb song - written by Ewen MacColl for his partner Peggy Seeger, if I recall correctly!

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Nigel Newman 's avatar Nigel Newman @beardyeccentric.bsky.social
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Blackthorn too! Nice big spikes, and sloes for sloe gin as well!

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Nigel Newman 's avatar Nigel Newman @beardyeccentric.bsky.social
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...and connected to a dot matrix printer that was loud enough to drown out the sound of roadworks right outside!!

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Nigel Newman 's avatar Nigel Newman @beardyeccentric.bsky.social
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Interesting seeing your posts - takes me back to my days of film photography, and all the pitfalls! I don't regret switching to digital, personally, but there was a certain something about film! Some good images you've got, too!

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Nigel Newman 's avatar Nigel Newman @beardyeccentric.bsky.social
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I know! And worse, if you're expecting a msg and it forgets to send it, or whatever, you start getting paranoid as to whether the cat has switched the machine off, or its flooding the house or just generally causing mayhem............

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Nigel Newman 's avatar Nigel Newman @beardyeccentric.bsky.social
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Daughter's new washing machine texts her to let her know it's finished its cycle!! What is the world coming to?? 😆

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Nigel Newman 's avatar Nigel Newman @beardyeccentric.bsky.social
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Love these! That illustration for The Land of Counterpaine sums it up so well!!

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Nigel Newman 's avatar Nigel Newman @beardyeccentric.bsky.social
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Finding the right edition will definitely be the hard job!! I loved being able to read some of my favourite books to the kids (luckily my parents kept a lot of them), and we in turn kept a lot of theirs for the grandkids. That link between generations is brilliant!

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Nigel Newman 's avatar Nigel Newman @beardyeccentric.bsky.social
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A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stephenson sprang to mind from the description, although it was a bit before the 70s that I had my copy! So many different editions of that, though!

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