I just need a visit from Blue and I'll be a very happy bunny 

Hi Pen,

Blue stories aren't all that easy to come by without researching back into the archives and trusting your bad memory. 

Blue did explain to me how to tell an ignorant person.  It's someone who doesn’t  know the thing you just found out.
Blue used to be scared of hurdles٫ but he got over it.  He says he prefers the English spelling of diarrhea which is diarrhoea because it really looks like you have lost control of your vowels.

A long time ago, Blue decided to join the army.  Towards the end of the first week, the senior drill instructor realised that Blue had gone AWOL. A search party was dispatched immediately. After a few hours, Blue was discovered hiding in some bushes. He was sent back to the base and promptly escorted to the drill instructor's office.

The instructor asked Blue, "Why did you go AWOL?"

Blue replied, "My first day here you issued me a comb, and then proceeded to cut my hair off. The second day you issued me a toothbrush, and sent me to the dentist, who proceeded to pull two teeth. The third day you issued me a jock strap, and I wasn't about to stick around and find out what would follow that, SIR."


Blue does some funny things.  He tried to become a maths teacher but he would only teach subtraction because he wanted to make a difference.  He used to play the triangle in a Reggae band but he left because it was just one ting after another.

My rebus today is a film which is older than I am.

Hi Pen,

I enjoyed your rebus. 

I was in short trousers and walking barefoot to school when your film was made.  I must watch it

I have been remiss in seeking out pickles.



 While I was looking for one, I came across a Brian Bilston post which I think he may have been directing at me.

I’m fed up with people pointing out all the mistakes in my poetry so I’ve written them this poem; it’s called ‘Pedants’.



Did I tell you my grandkids call me grumps.
 
Must try for a couple of hours shut-eye. 

You know me Jack - don't want to make it to easy    At least I managed to get the instructions right this time!!

Hi Pen,

I didn't use the instructions to get the answer.  I was completely flummoxed and it was the middle of the night and I needed my beauty sleep, so I cheated.  The answer was the only one that satisfied the word count.  Now I had the answer I could verify the instructions were technically right if you made the right assumptions.   It would be interesting to find out if others found it as difficult as I did.

You didn't say whether you solved my last rebus.

By the way when I did a google picture search on the rodent, it did give two possibilities.

My rebus is the first line of a song I heard on the radio earlier.  It was a hit in the 1970's.


Please use the character on the right in picture one and make a homophone.  Lose the middle three letters of picture three two and make another homophone.  Please drop the last two letters of picture three and reverse what you have left.  Please reverse picture four and pretend it's all on one line.

For those looking at the problem before Pen gets back online,  I have made a correction which gave me an answer.

As an added clue, I will say the first word of the answer I got was the name of a biblical prophet.

I expect that Carol will have got this because the group that made the song famous had one more dog than her 

Hi Pen,

No problem working out your rebus but what are Dick Dicks. Never heard of it 

I've had a busy morning and I'm just enjoying a cuppa while I do my post 

Hi Pen,

Another great rebus.  You do a great job despite being so busy.

We, too, have been a bit run off our feet for the past couple of days clearing up the jungle between the pool and street behind it, and doing minding duties for the Cleveland mob, and today is going to be even more hectic.  So this is going to be a quick post between trips down the hall 

Do you remember in the COVID panic they used to take your temperature on your forehead as you enter the supermarket.  Blue swears it erased his memory.  He went to Woolworths for macaroni and cheese and came home with two cases of beer and a bag of crisps.

Blue opened a dry-cleaning business next door to the convent.  He knocked on the door and asked the Mother Superior if she had any dirty habits.

Blue was a bit short of cash so I hired him to do some handy man jobs and gave him a list. When I inspected his work, only items 1, 3, & 5 on my list were done.  Turns out, he only does odd jobs.

My offering today is a book from the 18th century and also a telly series.

Hi Pen,

***** ********'s immortal trilogy, containing **** ****, **** ** **********, and ********** *****, is a heartwarming portrayal of country life at the close of the 19th century. This story of three closely related Oxfordshire communities - a hamlet, the nearby village and a small market town - is based on the author's experiences during childhood and youth. It chronicles May Day celebrations and forgotten children's games, the daily lives of farmworkers and craftsmen, friends and relations - all painted with a gaiety and freshness of observation that make this trilogy an evocative and sensitive memorial to Victorian rural England

Trilogy originally published in 1945

The three books were published before the trilogy which has the title of your rebus.

Two Historians have written a book about the original books.

They claim the town in the titles contains elements of Bicester, Banbury, Buckingham and Brackley.  t sounds like something out of "My Fair Lady" but they should be familiar to you

Neither Historian  was particularly impressed by the BBC adaptation of the trilogy, saying it had several historical inaccuracies and softened or ‘prettified’ the life of those depicted.

It was a very clever rebus, Pen, but it needs a bit of editing in the Introduction.


I’ve spent all morning unsuccessfully trying to get the last word in the 7-by-many and I’m knackered.  After a good lunch and a swim,  I might find the motivation to return with a rebus.  It could be injurious to your health to hold your breath while you are waiting.