BEING IDLE ON ROSY

Although the Kindle is very convenient, I still prefer reading a 'proper' book. One can acquire books from junk shops, 2nd hand shops, swapsies with friends etc etc. I occasionally buy new books (especially if I know the author), but us OAP's have to take care of the pennies. However, I tend to rely on ABE books (the UK version) which, for the un-initiated, is a website where book sellers can advertise their wares, often at a discount. 'Angela's Ashes' cost about £3 (inc p&p) paper back and £4 hard back at ABE. Interested? UK based book-a-holics should go to www.abebooks.co.uk. If you want to pay in US dollars (and spend a fortune on shipping the book from USA to UK) you could try the USA branch at www.abebooks.com. 

Remember, too, that there are web-sites that cater for those of us who appreciate FREE e-books. Some such sites limit your downloads to so many per month (5 in the case of www.free-ebooks.net, though an unlimited (?) number if you pay a subscription). I've also heard of 'lending libraries' that let you have a book for a given number of days - I assume that the book self destructs on the appointed date. I haven't yet tracked one down, and I won't look for one until I have put a dent into the 50+ books that I have recently downloaded).

WORLD WAR 1. I've been re-reading my collection of books about the First World War battle of the Somme. I was in The Somme Company at Sandhurst, and on a couple of occasions I have visited the site of the battle. Each time I see the site, or read the books, I seem to learn another twist in the tale. Incredibly, the planners (in the rear) rarely visited the front, so were un-aware of the conditions there - e.g. the mud and even, apparently, the fact that the Germans held the high ground! Hence the Brits (and Commonwealth supporters) had to attack up-hill. The same, outline plan was used over and over again, each time with the same result - dead Brit (and Colonial) soldiers. Grrrrr!!

GETTING READY FOR FRANCE. Meanwhile, I'm twiddling around preparing to take Rosy back to France. She needs to have her Small Ships Register number re-applied - they were erased last year during the big re-paint, when I did not envisage returning to European waters. Also, the insurance vultures will soon be wanting an 'out of water' hull inspection.

MUSIC ON 'ROSY'. For various reasons, I have not used Rosy's music system for quite a while. I have just been trying to get it going again. At present, I can play all my CDs. Unfortunately, the ex-car radio that used to play my 300ish cassette tapes no longer wishes so to do. I mentioned this some time ago, with the result that I acquired a rather nice second hand Blaupunkt car radio/tape player at a very good price. Unfortunately this is a bit bigger than the old one, and installing it will take some time and ingenuity.