Punch Drunk

After lunch I girded my loins and prepared to do battle with BT. After 45 minutes and an initial misdirection I was helped to access my account by a very helpful assistant named Jen. The problem concerned a different account and I really can’t be bothered to go into it here even if I could get my head around it. Believe it or not the “Bill” I hadn’t been able to access turned out to be a credit.

Having thus cheered myself up I posted https://derrickjknight.com/2021/12/30/a-knights-tale-85-i-was-stitched-up/

I then scanned four more of Charles Keeping’s excellent illustrations to “A Tale of Two Cities”

‘Sydney Carton drank the punch at a great rate’

‘He leaned and elbow on her table, and covered his eyes with his hand’

‘He sat munching and drinking near Madame Defarge’s counter’

‘She laid her face upon his breast’

This evening we dined on tender roast lamb; crisp roast potatoes; crunchy carrots; firm Brussels sprouts, sage and onion stuffing, bread sauce, mint sauce, and meaty gravy. Jackie, Becky, and Ian drank Vineyards white Zesty, while I drank more of the Merlot-Tannat, which involved opening another bottle.

66 comments

  1. I’m glad that you have a credit with BT! I guess that’s the end of your association with them. I’ve never heard of Bread Sauce or Mint Sauce.

  2. Tannat is a new cultivar to me 🙂 With only a day left before we embark on a new adventure in 2022 I wish you and Jackie well in health, happiness, gardening, photography as well as in your relations with family and friends.

  3. I’m sure you’re happy to have the situation straightened out–and with a credit!
    Too bad you had to open another bottle. ? I guess that means you like it, but hopefully you weren’t drinking it the way Sydney Carlton was drinking the punch.

  4. Credits are so much better! We’re glad that you were able to connect with Jen, good over the phone service techs are hard to find! Sher and I both extend warm New Year wishes to you and Jackie!

  5. YAY for it being a credit! 🙂 Whew, too!
    Love the Keepings you shared today! The last illustration made me say “Aw!” 🙂
    YAY for punch! HA! 😉 ? ? ? 😀
    (((HUGS))) 🙂

  6. I guess BT is British Telecom…credit sounds good, but can you access it…and if I was a wine drinker, I would probably open another as well.
    (I once drunk alcohol but now it doesn’t like me at all)!
    Happy New Year…to you both and your garden

    1. Thank you very much, Carolyn. I can’t even be bothered at the moment to check my bank account for the small credit it was. Yes – BT. Your good wishes reciprocated.

  7. What a nice surprise the credit was! My only experience of BT was buying one of their cards so I could use phone boxes and land lines, but they were making changes to something at the time and the thing never worked. I did get my money back after writing an uncivil letter describing in great detail the problems I had and enclosing the useless card because…it was useless and an emblem of their company. I was surprised they refunded it, but perhaps I shamed them. Glad your mess was cleared up.

  8. I’m glad things worked out with the BT issue. Love the last picture: ‘She laid her face upon his breast’ but sad that moonlight was “always sad.”

  9. It may sound strange to you but I am not surprised in the least about the befuddlement manufactured by your telecom provider. The torture you have undergone calls for a certain punishment to the perpetrators which unfortunately is difficult to impart. The tragedy is such uncalled for incidents have become the norm of the day, or as they say, has become the new normal. Mr Keeping keeps delighting us with his ingenious craft. Thanks for those priceless additions.

  10. Happy New Year from the land Down Under. Only 8 and 1/2 hours of the old old remaining here.

    I hope 2022 is an absolutely boring year for all of us; we have had enough of the tension and unexpected events to last for a while.

  11. Happy New Year Derrick … I think we could all do with a few glasses of ‘Punch’ …

    “Another Year Out Of Tune”

    Two thousand and twentyone
    Dramatic events clouded the sun
    Damaging floods, the worst for a century
    But Mother-nature was not the enemy
    Again the foreign virus exploded
    And Earth’s atmosphere corroded
    Our lives were shrouded and uncrowded
    Covid even bloated and reloaded
    No country was immune
    And the World continues to spin out of tune

    Here in Aussie-land normality twirls in dizziness
    As we wait for next year’s unfinished business

  12. My phone bill never changes. I do not have a fixed land line – my mobile phone acts as the modem for my computer so all tele communications are covered by the one charge. I don’t know how it compares with England but there’s nothing much I can do about that. Today the temp got up to 38C or 100 F. Tomorrow will be more reasonable. I believe.

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