One last chance in Phnom Penh!

Final photos of Cambodia,I hope.
No, Ben. Looking at these does not excuse you from a fuller viewing of photos on our return.
Failed with photos.
Mozilla Firefox has them but "done" will not click.
She has a lot of my photos now.
I hope that she is not considering blackmail.

Elevenses at the palace!

What a neck!

G at the stuppa, 10 min before the deluge that soaked us to the skin.

As you can see, he did not dress for elevenses today.

I seem to have lost the remaining 6 pics, which I was quite pleased with.
Bother.
I'll try again after this.
I'm in the Business suite at Raffles - Le Royal. Nobody has sussed that it's only me, playing.
Brill hotel, enormous bed, enormous towels, fantastic toiletries, lovely pools & breakfasts, Ben's Breakfast just wouldn't know where to start !
Did the recent history yesterday - gruelling! Massages & a late dinner to finish the day.
G - Thai, G - Swedish & a foot spa (massages, not the meal - we ate green curry & stir fried veg, local)
Royal Palace, stuppa & museum + lots of walking + lots of rain today.
G gone into town for a final massage - bad back & pain in neck!
One day left to go, packing tonight & then tomorrow to "do the town" for the last time

Better chance of elevenses today!

Birthday dinner - cheers!
Angkor Wat G descending from very top - recognise him?
Relief at Angkor Wat
Angkor Thom (the big city) - many big faces

& an extra one!

bah, bah.







Previous attempts a uploads failed becauase of large file size and pathetic connection speeds in the cybershops! Here are some from my birthday and todays Tomb Raiding.
Up & out at 5.30 am to enjoyTa Prohm with only the birds & ants for company.
Magical!
The serious damage was caused by deliberate action in the 1600s when the Thai ruled, the tree damage being minor in comparison and causing more than a few archeological challenges.
Images seem to have a little in common with buses!
Elevenses was water, 35 degrees, so necessary.
I'll do snappy captions, whether I can post them is another matter.
Flight to Phnom Penh tomorrow - I can't write that without checking.

gG

Here they are (I hope)

Happy Birthday to ajen, & me as well

Back in the cyber cafe in Luang Prabang.
Can you believe this?
The squiggles on this keyboard slow me down somewhat from my normal disabled snail pace, still, no worry, G is having his photos put on to disk, so I have the odd hour to kill!
Watch out for the Sunday lunch invitation on return!
Up at 5.00 am to see/ give food to the monks, then to the market to see what we have been eating.
The fruit & veg look great, chickens & ducks sounded OK, (cheep, cheep, quack, quack) but the beetles, grubs, skewered frogs, buffalo bits(complete set of legs, from knee down, ears, lips & noses) didn't look quite as appetising somehow
Brill dinner last night at restaurant where J Oliver has had lessons & eaten ($13 including beer)
Out on bikes from hotel (sit down & beg, I believe)
1 hour up around local villages - dirt roads with potholes/mud outside town. G's chain off every 8 min. Fascinating / entertaining for the locals to see us on bikes (a bit like home, really)
Back to town for repairs. My chain off as well by then. Great mechanic, G covered in mud, sweat & oil.
No problem. We don't dress up much here.
We'll try to post again from Cambodia.
Happy Birthday Jen!

Luang Prabang or bust!

OK, so I won't write the novel after such a resounding lack of faith.
I'm taking a holiday to research my second idea - "grey gap years" breaks for the graduates from The University of Life.
Thailand, Chiang Rai - gentle & relaxing, followed by 2 days cruising down the Mekong, overnight in a bungalow on the banks of the river, like the Jim Thompson house, in Bangkok.
Now in Laos, so no bust!
46 Wats to visit (other 300 are collapsed/in disrepair)
20,000 kips to the pound!
Massages before dinner last night - 9000 kip.
Just off to the national ballet(see how it compares with CPH)
Photos when we've worked it out.

A break from elevenses.

I am taking a break for a couple of weeks, in order to finish my novel before the end of the month.
It is based on the life of a 49 year old market researcher who wins a fortune on the lottery, disappears from home & gets mixed up in the world of high finance.
Lots of sub-plots as her 15 children & 5 stepchildren attempt to find the whereabouts of their much-loved, millionaire mother.
I have put much thought into casting the film, which will undoubtedly follow.
I thought that the 15 children & 5 stepchildren of Michael Aspel may be made for the parts.
Perhaps Jennifer Saunders for the lead, Patricia Routledge as her sister.
Please look me up later.

Abducted by aliens on/off the A14!

Elevenses on Tuesday in Horseheath, Cambs, with cousin John Rex, Followed by lunch at The Dog & Doublet, a meander around Saffron Walden, a visit to 15th century Priory barn in Widdington, courtesy of English Heritage & a tootle around the byways of rural Essex.
This was excellent & could only have been improved by a closer reading of the handbook to note that the barn was only open for internal inspection on Sat & Sun.
Problems only arose on the way home; I coped admirably with the first long diversion off the A14, following yellow circles.
I did the same at diversion 2 & found myself going down the A14 in the wrong direction!
Retracing my "steps" I diverted again, took the only alternative & got lost.
It was dark & raining hard; the rest of the world were heading home & I didn't even know where I was. Radio 4 could offer only thoughts on puberty followed by duff toys from China.
At least this was incentive enough to find out how to work the CD player & sing along with Rod Stewart, to keep my spirits up.
As all seemed lost I saw a sign to Lutterworth (Dad went everywhere via Lutterworth, or so it seemed)
He must have been looking over me.
Home via M1, M69,M6, in 3 hours instead of the usual <2>

HSBC stole my elevenses!

HSBC is uncontactable!
The premier account advisor is as useful as a bucket of dry manure in a desert.
I drove to Coleshill, parked & went to the bank. It was quicker & less frustrating.
By this time I had missed my elevenses & was forced to go shopping for holiday necessities to raise my spirits.
I did take the camera, in case a photo opportunity arose.
It may have done, but I was busy shopping & missed it.
I was cheered by going the Lotus, topless.

Elevenses, well-earned

This am I ran around the reservoir.
I was v pleased with myself & opted to shop in Solihull & have my elevenses in John Lewis- a cheese scone & a cup of decaff tea.
I have written tomorrow's sermon on Luke 12,
been to Iain & Kat's evening wedding reception in Tamworth, (best wishes)
had a meal at the Ivory Tusk in Fazeley
tried v hard to put photos on this blog, & failed.
Bother.
I haven't read the paper yet & it's now late.

Bicester For Elevenses

A reasonably early start and not sparing the horses on the way, enabled me to have elevenses in Bicester with Elaine, Tim and Katie.



Tim had a drive in Granny's Lotus, a reward for slaving over the Dyson and minding Katie, while we drank coffee in the garden.




I had my first three Katie cuddles without tears and was rewarded with dinner at Pizza Express


A great day. Many thanks to Elaine, Ben, Tim and Katie.
(Ben helped with this blog entry!!)

Thanks to W, for taking me to CPH,
SAS, for fling me to BHX,
G, for meeting me & bringing me home,
all in record time, I was home by 11.00am, in the kitchen, in bright sunshine, ready to enjoy a cup of tea.
Owing to having to share the room with a mosquito last night, I did not sleep too well. (I did outwit this buzzing terrorist by going to the bathroom & applying insect repellent)
I wrote a poem, mentally about our forthcoming birthday (I share this with ajen, we always have done it this way. We were always told that we were twins & baby photos would seem to support this, although I was always larger than ajen)
I will post this on the poetry blog later.
I anticipate derision, really.
I POSTED A PICTURE!!!!!
Brill!!!

Elevenses a little late..... fish.

Stopped at Reersø to buy some amazing fish for an early lunch/late elevenses at the summer house. & so to the beach.

Very hot followed by very, very wet.

J had an enormous blow up lobster (not available, not even thought of I imagine, in UK). which he loves & walked for miles, in & out of the sea, indifferent to the torrential rain(very localised)

(This is only a symbolic blow-up lobster, not the same as J's thanks Google & W)

Great barbecue at T & Bs to complete the day.

Thanks to K & family for a wonderful, action-packed week.

No Elevenses on the beach!

Pic-nic in the park in Sorø last night, prior to a performance by the Danish National Ballet.

J joined in, showing a naive talent!

On the beach in hot sunshine with J at 11.00am & not hungry, so elevensies was skipped in favour of paddling & stone throwing.

W & I did indulge in pastries for lunch, so this was perhaps no bad omission.

This is just a test post

text here or there or whatever