This joke always makes me smile.....don't worry, it's not rude. The elephants and jungle bugs had a football match [ soccer for any American readers ] During the first half the elephants were all over the bugs and by half time the score was 20 goals for the elephants and none for the bugs. . The bugs made a substitution and brought on Charlie the centipede for the second half. Well, Charlie was up and down the field, banging in goal after goal and at full time the bugs had won by 30 goals to 20. The elephant captain congratulated the captain of the bug team on their win and asked why they hadn't brought Charlie the centipede on sooner, ' Well, it's like this ,' said the bug captain , ' we would have done so, but it takes him all of the first half to put his boots on!' .....................Go on, smile !
The Cushag [ Manx Gaelic ] is the Isle of Man's National Flower...a bright yellow flowered plant of the ragwort family. How on earth did the intelligent, forward looking Manx choose for their national flower, an invasive, toxic weed that chokes up fields and can be fatal to animals if eaten . It grows wild everywhere on the Island and in the UK there are constant programs to eradicate the pesky plant. But not in the Isle of Man...it was chosen to be the Manx National Flower. So how come? The following story is true !
Many, many years ago, the 24 wise men we had in Government at that time , were debating long into the night, the choice of a plant to be the Manx National Flower. These Isle of Man worthies, probably all suffering from the dreaded Manx affliction of...traa dy liooar....discussed and debated the pros and cons of numerous plants and flowers without reaching any decision .
Eventually, one guy, obviously fed up to the back teeth with the whole business, and probably wanting to get home, remarked sarcastically and jokingly , ' Why not choose the cushag as our flower. It grows everywhere on the Island.'
They all must have thought this a grand idea and promptly voted this yellow weed as the flower of the Isle of Man. In those far off days perhaps they were not fully conversant with the toxic qualities of this plant....or perhaps they all just wanted to go home ! I don't know, but as I said, this story is true.
Anyway, America and England both have the Rose as their flower. Wales has the Daffodil, Canada the Maple leaf , Ireland the Shamrock and France has le fleur de lis....the Lily , and the Isle of Man has some pesky, invasive , yellow , toxic weed . Ye gods !!
Just a few facts about the Isle of Man for those who may have an interest. The Isle of Man [ Ellan Vannin ] is self governing with 24 elected members [ yn kiare as feed.... the twentyfour ] and comprise the House of Keys. Many are in charge of different Government departments, responsible to the Chief Minister. The Manx Government is known as the Tynwald, a name that comes from the Viking words thing [assembly] and vollr [field ] ....[Thingvollr....meeting or assembly field ] The Vikings who invaded and settled here 1000 years ago, set up the original assembly and so it has continued without a break to the present day. The Isle of Man has the longest , continuously running Parliament in the world . Indeed, the Government still meet , once a year on 5th July, in a field and sit on an artificial earthen mound to conduct business. It is largely ceremonial but still classed as an official sitting of the Island's parliament . If 5 July falls on a weekend, Tynwald Day, as it is known, is held on the Monday. Huh , our MHK's don't sit at weekends. Tynwald Day, 5th July, is the Isle of Man's National day .
The Government is responsible for the good running and financing of all the Island services. That is, free health and education , social security and postal and police services, harbours , public transport , forestry and many others. The free Isle of Man National Health Service is run on similar lines to that of the UK but we finance it entirely .....and a first class service it as , as well . I don't think we do too badly for such a small place with no help from the UK and the EU. I know this bit of info may be boring to some , but there again it may be of interest to others.
The Three Legs of Man is an ancient sun sign ...Triskele,.... similar to the Three Legs of Sicily and the Swastika, which is also an ancient sun sign but has four legs and was adopted by the Nazi's. The Island first used the Triskele about 700/800 years ago as the National emblem though they dressed up the original design in armour.....the Sicilians left their legs bare......probably warmer down there !!!
More trivia another time .
I would like you all to meet my friend Charlie. I tried to get a video of him onto this blog, but no go ! So a still picture will have to suffice , He is a bit of a character, a complete show off, but a bit nervous. He will gently take food from my hand but if any strangers are present, even my Grandkids, well , he is off like a flash . Lately , he has been bringing his lady friend, Chloe, round for lunch [ and breakfast and tea] and like the gentleman he isn't, bosses her about , unashamedly shows off in front of her and generally tries to eat as much of their meal as he can !! Gulls are scavengers and will eat almost anything. I suppose Charlie is the same but he does like his shredded wheat and milk eaten out of a bowl I hold for him. I must be as daft as he is !! Once I was feeding him out of a large plastic container and he grabbed it and flew off with it ....... probably thought it was a take away meal !!!! And don't leave full plastic rubbish bags out too soon for collection ....Peel's gulls will reduce them to shreds in a few seconds and spread the contents all over the place.
Charlie has been coming for two or three years now but their young will be leaving the nest soon and he may disappear for a few months . Gulls colonize different areas at different times of the year....maybe inland , maybe a different stretch of coastline. In the Spring they will nest and breed virtually anywhere, on cliffs, secluded beaches, rooftops ,even inland on the hills ...where they can attack new born lambs.. [ the Greater Black Backed Gulls are notorious for this ] Anyway, gulls are very protective of their young and will swoop down from a great height , missing your head by inches if you go too near to their nests . Quite scary ! ! By the way, Charlie is a herring gull, the most common variety of gull in the Isle of Man. There are many other another varieties, one of which is the COMMON gull, but strangely enough, this one is not so common !!
First time I tried this. Putting a short video onto a blog. So here goes..... It is just a short film of Katie and her friend practicing a dance routine for a show they are in soon in Peel. . The video was taken, outside their house, by my son on a digital still camera with a movie mode. To those viewers who don't know Katie, she is the one with dark hair .
Just a picture of Matthew, number 5 Grandchild, taken recently outside my house. Handsome little guy, ain't he !!!!
I know the price of petrol [ gas ] is rocketing in the States but over here we pay twice what you pay for the stuff. So as a result of this, as my car gently rusts away outside , I have unearthed my trusty mountain bike and am clocking a few miles up on that....and often do the twenty odd miles across the Island and back along the old railway track, [ see pics elsewhere on this blog ] I may be fairly fit physically...but mentally. I am not too sure.....20 miles!!!! Ha ha! I must be mad ! Still, not too bad for a Grandad.
I keep mentioning the Isle of Man....Ellan Vannin in Manx Gaelic.....and various place names , so for those who are not too sure where it is, what it is and how big it is , here goes. Briefly, it is an island, approx. 30 x 10 miles in size , very mountainous and the geographic centre of the British Isles and plumb in the middle of the Irish Sea . It is a self governing , Crown dependency with its own language, currency and laws and is not part of the UK. It has the longest , continuously running Parliament in the world, originally set up by the Vikings when they invaded the Island and settled here 1000 years ago.
The present population of approx. 80,000 [ about half Manx born and the remainder made up from an influx of new residents over the years ] seems large but as the Island has to raise every penny it spends, this is understandable.. Income tax is comparatively low with a free Health Service for all, this being paid for by a small deduction from wage earners during their working life. Though tourism was a main source of income for years , this has lessened in recent times and now the Island is an Off Shore Financial Centre which generates about 30% of the Islands total income .
I could go on all day about the Island's history, folklore , haunted castles, it's many myths and stories but I think this is enough for the time being . Maybe another time !
Another picture , this time from Peel Hill looking South down the West Coast towards Bradda Head with the Calf of Man in the far distance. As Peel lies mid way along the West Coast you can see that the Isle of Man is not such a very large place and as I have said so often before....drive too far and you fall into the sea .! Peel, as we know it today, started of as a jumble of old fishermen's cottages and twisty, narrow streets built on a sand spit alongside Peel's river, the Neb . Dating from late 18 th Century, most of these old houses are still standing , indeed all are renovated with all mod cons. Peel is built on sand, in fact the whole area is sand. Want some? Dig down a foot or so in your back garden and there it is ! Most of old Peel is built of the local red sandstone. [see earlier photo in this blog ] but it doesn't weather very well so all buildings are cement rendered.. The Cathedral is built also of the red sandstone, but of a harder variety which erodes less and the whole Church glows pink in the setting sun .... History lesson over !!! Double click on the picture to enlarge.
Just a few more pictures going back, well, quite a few years .. The single line railway track, on which my son is 'playing at trains ' has now gone and is now the Heritage Trail between Peel and Douglas.....the path I cycle along. I like my mother's outfit in the horse picture [ this was when she still lived on the farm ] .....you never know, that style may make a come back .!! My Grandparent's photo, outside the little hill farm where they all lived .........well, obviously it was all planned....kids are in their Sunday best and the photographer must have come up from the nearest town...probably Castletown . As stated on the picture , three of the kids eventually left the Island to settle in Topeka Ks. along with Wilfred, the youngest, yet to be born. I know some of those who may view this blog, that this will be of no interest to them whatsoever, but there will be some family members , here and in the US, who may like to read my little stories.
As I add more items to this account, earlier posts drop off the bottom and go into an ' older posts ' file. Just click 'older posts ' at the bottom of this page and that file will open . Also , if anyone wishes to, they can enlarge any photo by double clicking on it . And if any one would like to leave a comment on any of the posts, please feel free to do so.....no rude ones please....lol
Weather here today....warm , a bit close [ humid ] and a warm sea breeze.. I must admit, as some of you know , I don't like the warm weather, I would rather shiver than sweat.....and it plays havoc with my hay fever,...I sniffle and sneeze and wheeze all summer long.
Anyway , to all my faithful viewers, keep logging in ....you never know what fascinating, interesting and unforgettable snippets of information you may find here ......lol !
And if Ron and Elaine should read this blog, well, hope you and your family are all well over there ....and what do you think of Katie now? [ video ].
Just a few pictures in and around Peel. The first one shows the little Breakwater kiosk . Just a little wooden hut at the moment, which has been there for years , but plans are afoot to build a more permanent building . They serve a surprising variety of snacks and drinks and people come from all over the Island . Anyway , what could be nicer than sitting in the sun on the Breakwater in Peel on a pleasant Spring day when this picture was taken. The other pictures just show a couple of scenes from my bike rides and a couple taken in the town .
Another first.....if it works! Trying to put a CD on to this blog. If it works you have music to listen to as you read my gossip.... lol If it don't work, well , I'll stick another photo on . Anyway, it is ' Miss American Pie' by Don Maclean. It is one of my favourite songs, full of references to himself, other musicians and tragic past events... I checked it out on line and found a site which explained most of the incomprehensible lyrics. Sad ...aren't I lol....but I love finding out the where's, why's , what's and when's of things I don't quite understand . Anyway, let me press a few buttons and see what happens !!
[ Several minutes later ].................... Ha ha ha ha ha ha! ......it didn't work. You'll have to make do with another picture instead. How about this one. The ' Lady Isabella' ....the great wheel in Laxey in the Isle of Man. It is the world's largest water wheel,,,still working and once used to pump water out of the local lead mines , It was built in 1854 and named after the wife of the then Governor of the Island.
Just a couple of pictures taken on recent cycle rides along the old railway track between Peel and Douglas . Most of the track is a tree lined rough trail but this one section in the lower photo is paved for access to properties. This spot is approx. 5 miles to the sea from either direction and the two hills in the background are Greeba and Slieau Ruy. There is a brass plate with the name Slieau Ruy [ Red Mountain ] stamped on it and fastened to my front door.....but that's another story .! The old railway line follows the Central Valley which runs across the centre of the Island; it is so low lying that a rise in sea level of only a few feet would result in the Isle of Man becoming the Isles of Man 
Just a picture from the hundreds I have taken on my bike rides. The picture shows an old station just outside Douglas, slowly reverting back to nature. The old arched bridge, just visible in the background, carries the main Douglas/Peel road.....all hi tech stuff, eh ! When I used to work in Douglas sometimes I used to travel by train along this line ....rattle, rattle , bounce , bounce at a full 20 mph.....mind you, the same trains had been in service since the 1890's and there is still one running on the South line. They ripped the West and North lines up some years ago .
This picture reminds me of the only fatal accident to occur on the Isle of Man Railway. The Stationmaster at Union Mills, where I took this picture, a certain Mr Hogg, somehow fell in the front of an approaching train coming into the station. This happened a long time ago , probably in the 1920's .....but not too sure about that. Not a very interesting fact, but not a bad record for a transport system over 100 years old .
I suppose many of the viewers of this blog [ ha ha!.....one....if Miss Wisconsin gets to see it ] would like to see the little town where I live and always going on about....yawn yawn ! You can easily see the Castle on St Patrick's Isle and the Breakwater and the town itself, sheltered under the bulk of Peel Hill on the right . Looking on the right of the picture also, you might see a biggish building with a tall chimney. That is the Power Station where yours truly earned his few crusts. And if you look carefully , you might see a certain Manx guy mooching about....unless he is in the pub, of course ! Anyway, he is down there somewhere .
Well, if you are reading this, you obviously found this blog. This is a fairly simple lay out.....they can be made a lot more artistic than this. Anyway,, hope you are enjoying it. By the way, even though Peel is only a small fishing port it is known as a city cos we got a Cathedral....in fact we got two !
Also Peel is known as the Sunset City...some sunsets behind the Castle can be pretty spectacular .
Just a picture of my two kids...Susan and John [Togga ] taken, well quite a few years ago at Bradda Head, in the South of the Island. This photo was originally a 35mm slide and I converted it to what you see . Incidentally, if you double click on any photo, it should enlarge.
This is my favourite photo of Katie .....number 2 grandaughter. I took it several years ago.....when I was taking black and white pictures. It was just a small picture which I blew up and cropped out the image you see.... and now it is hanging in my hallway.
