TURN THE LIGHTS OFF!

Just a quick blog to remind everyone
1. Tonight the clocks go forward an hour(spring forward)
Unfortunately, they also go forward in Denmark, so we shall still be an hour behind.
2. Google have "turned the lights off" & ask everyone to join them for an hour tonight
-from 8.00 - 9.00pm - to save energy.
Go out, go to bed early or watch the TV in the dark.

I shall definitely opt for number 3.
The weather is foul - cold, wet & very windy. The wind is booming down the chimney, adding to the overall effect. G has just left to go to a meeting in London with the Karma Endura rally drivers, & will be back late.
I went for a run early this morning, did my accounts, to see if I am solvent (phew!), caught up on housework & baked rock cakes, to get a smile out of G before he left (failed).
I am now watching the boat race, which we always watched with Dad (Cambs 1927 - 30).
As kids, TV coverage was on a very small set, in black & white, & covered only the race.

Today, coverage starts an hour & a half before the race, & includes all of the historical, personal, social & political detail that you could wish for, along with a great deal of discussion.
At Putney it's grey, wet & windy & very rough; sinking is a possibility, apparently.
30 years ago, Cambridge sank!
As a multi-tasker, I am also composing a letter, attempting to book a holiday & drinking tea.

Remember the clocks!

Friday again.

Up early & off to Paula & Adrian's to spend the day with Jessie & Thomas.
We had a lovely day; J was a princess - pink tutu, fairy wings & a Barbie tiara over the jeans & Snoopy tee-shirt for most of the day. (I successfully took a photo on my mobile phone & sent it to G)
Thomas was peckish & cuddly - no change there.
We have cut, stuck, sung, crayoned, played families, dolls houses.......
Foul weather all day, so no chance of J & I pushing the prams around the park.

I have checked the local cinemas & can find nothing that G & I fancy seeing that is on before 21.30pm.
Those in the running are "27 dresses" (chick flick)
"There will be blood" (old oil) DD Lewis
"H...... hears a who?" (Dr Zeus cartoon starring an elephant)
G would only consider no 2, if consulted. He's asleep anyway so I'd better get cooking.
Do not wake up a sleeping husband after a hard day's work unless you have a meal on the table.
He has just woken up with a start as he dropped the remote control/fear of loss of control of the evening's viewing.
Looks like we shall have a relaxing evening!

Images from the chilly north.!

Of course, these are not in the correct order as the second five photos are now first!
Never mind.

It did snow - me, well wrapped up, on Tuesday.

J at Mormor's (danish granny's) birthday party.

The birthday dinner. Well done Bent!

The birthday cake - a pile of rings of baked marzipan. Delicious!

Playing trains with Daddy. Yes, he is on the table. "Welcome to Berlin"

Roskilde - The Viking Ship Museum, the fjord through the window.

W & J on board a viking ship.

Selecting lunch at the museum restaurant.

Roskilde Cathedral - one of the many royal tombs.

The "van " in the drive - any morning over Easter.

T'internet is "on side" tonight.

I have been to Cambridge to visit JR today. We had a scrummy lunch at The Black Bull & caught up on the news.

Home James & don't spare the horses!

We arrived home yesterday after spending the morning in Copenhagen, where we had coffee & a final danish pastry in Illums then walked to Christianhavn & back in the snow before returning to the airport to fly home.

Today, I saw G off to work after breakfast, spoke to Jen on the phone, did boring paperwork, some errands in Coleshill & then spent two hours in the gym, followed by food shopping in Solihull.
Today I changed my shopping tactics, parking & shopping at Morrisons, where parking is free for 2 1/2 hours, if you spend £20 & prices are relatively cheap.
I always find it aggravating that I have to pay £1.90 to park for two hours in the M&S car park, however much I spend.
After two hours the price rises exponentially.
I did write to M&S to explain, but I stil have to pay!
I drove home in torrential rain, cooked a very healthy meal & then dashed off to a Church Council meeting at the Rectory.
Home for dessert & coffee.

I have tried three times to post some photos but, apparently I am not connected to the internet, so I will try again tomorrow.
Welcome to Kath Wall, my dear "old" friend from St John's College, York.

Happy Birthday Ben!

Ben was born on 24 March 1976, making him 32 today.(I calculated back from today)
I do hope that he found his gift surprising; I bet that no-one else thought to buy him a model phone box containing a quartz timepiece, for his desk.
Heavy snow last night & again today.
You only have to suggest a walk & it starts again - Tim would love it.
We had breakfast, played & encouraged J to do high speed circuits of the house (indoors!).
We then ate a delicious lunch of everything in the fridge, played, read &then G & I ventured out & have done the length & breadth of Ringsted in one & a half hours.
The sun came out whilst we were out & it is now very pleasant.
K & J have gone to feed the ducks before dinner.
An early start tomorrow as everyone is back at work & we fly home.

Happy Easter!

A bright, beautiful morning starting at freezing butthen warming up nicely for a while.
We have exchanged eggs, eaten MK's home made hot cross buns & been to church - a long service with 3 baptisms & communion & little congregation participation (none actually, apart from wishing each other "Happy Easter"), whilst W prepared lunch & G played with J.
After a delicious lunch, with extra calories hidden in every mouthful, (cooked by W) joined by T & B, we went for an invigorating walk around Ringsted.
It was very cold!
J did twice the distance of the rest of us, all at high speed.
We have maintained the Easter tradition by eating a good deal of chocolate - very nice danish chocolate with scrummy fillings.
Diet next week!

Yesterday G & I went to Copenhagen on the train.
It was very cold, windy & snowing, in the main.
We overcame this by taking a long danish lunch until matters improved a little, & then did the expensive shops, looking for a birthday present for Ben!!

In the evening we went to T & B's to celebrate Tina's birthday with a wonderful meal that Bent claimed to have cooked. (but, we saw the caterers van leaving)
We arrived home late & relaxed.
J woke up & gave a running commentary all of the way home.

G has some great photos....later.

Springtime in Ringsted

Well, here are the photos from yesterday.
They have all been roundly criticised by both W & G, but please feel free to add your own criticism if you think that they may have missed something.
As for me, I´m pleased with them - they all have heads & feet, you can tell who they are & only the first one is distinctly blurred.

J waking from hibernation

G admiring William´s brand new, just finished bicycle.

William going for a trial ride on afformentioned bike.


J begging for more gruel, after the hibernation.
Really, G doesn't always scowl.
He does always scowl at me when I take a photo, so it does give this impression.
He has been caught smiling by the odd professional photographer with a quick action.

We woke to two inches of snow this morning.
It is now bright & sunny & I am about to take G for a walk, whilst he is awake & functioning!
We have been to Roskilde to see the Viking boats, which we enjoyed.
Apparently B & E went there long ago under similar climatic conditions.
The setting of the boat museum, on the edge of the water is beautiful & J thoroughly enjoyed rearranging the pebbles around the boats & kami kazi missions, hanging from all of the bridges!
W treated us to a lovely lunch, we visited the cathedral (11th century, red brick, containing the royal tombs) & then drove home whilst all but MK snoozed - it's liquid at lunchtime that does it!
We have had tea & simnel cake , W & MK are making hot cross buns, the sun is shining, all's well with the world!

Thermals not needed.

The anticipated foot of danish snow was a smattering in the vicinity of the airport.
It is chilly, but normal winter clothing suffices & the sun has shone almost all day.
This morning J exercised K & I in the park whilst W & G went for a 42 km bike ride.
J hibernated for the afternoon whilst W completed the bike-build & G read.
Presently, Ian Rankin, "The resurrection men"
W has just test ridden the "Salsa Mamasita" (sounds like it should have a wide saddle!)
It has now started to snow.
I withdraw previous comments regarding the weather.
I brought a Simnel cake, always keen to enlighten others regarding strange English customs
(In this case, fruit cake baked with marzipan in the middle & decorated with marzipan balls
representing Christ & 11 apostles. No Judas)
Photos to follow, when I have persuaded someone to load them onto "Daddie's computer"

Happy St Patrick's day.

I was very taken with the Google logo for today. This is the best I could manage:
I did a number of mundane jobs this morning before going to the gym & on to Bicester.
The family were on good form.
Only Rod Stewart fans need read the next funny "Tim" story:
On a quick car journey, Tim asked to hear "sailing" (He knows which CDs are in the car, 3/6 of them are Rod Stewart).
He then asked to hear "Wake up Maggie, I've got stuck".
I fast tracked through two CDs & Tim Tim picked out"Maggie" after only about three chords.
(Wake up Maggie, I've got something to say to you)
He can only have heard it two or three times, at most.
What a memory!

We had beef stew & dumplings when I got home.




Is any of this worth a comment?

Palm Sunday

A rather cold, blustery day which improved as it progressed, to the point that we went for a walk at tea-time - up to the church & back down Moat House lane.
G took his camera to polish his skills.
I got up at 7.00am to finish my sermon ready for 11.00am Mattins at Nether Whitacre.
We have really done little apart from reading the paper & having soup for lunch.
William phoned for a syrup sponge recipe this morning - no doubt this turned out as light as a feather, far better than my well practiced efforts.
A replay of the yorkshire pudding saga (a word I try to avoid nowadays, in deference to G!)
We may go out for a steak as we haven't eaten much & I haven't prepared anything.


Old fashioned double daffodils. These are growing on the verge.

Moley at it again - I shifted five barrow loads of soil from molehills yesterday. Did one little mole really shift all of that with his bare hands?

I do guided tours....

Moat House lane - I told you that it was wet.

This was also on the verge - one for aj.

Sunset across the field - it looked much redder in real life.

Science week, day 4.

Another great day at Kingsbury.
I spent the day in the hall supporting the team from the county, encouraging half of year 9 to build wind-turbines, test them in a wind-tunnel, build a pylon from paper tubes, to support a cable, then give a team presentation.
From looks of bewilderment at the start of the day, the kids worked together & did well.
I did get a rather painful paper cut on my finger whilst helping to make paper tubes. It still hurts, but I am being brave.
Tomorrow, a repeat with the other half of the year group.

After school I shopped a little & then went to the hairdressers.

G is going to be late tonight so I hope that we will have a takeaway (the usual) as I have done stirling work in the kitchen this week so far.

Can you match the images to my day?

All images are only approximate.

Terry Pratchet has alphzeimers disease & has donated £500,000 pounds to research.

His only symptom was that he couldn't find letters on his keyboard.

I have a problem with j, f & k, mainly.

Science week, day 3.

A great day at the chalkface.Science week day 3.
Year 5 & 6 pupils from the "partner primary schools in for the day, studying birds & flight.
This included a visit from a "birdman" with some birds of prey, including a hooded vulture, who flew around the hall, seemingly using my head as a locating point.
He also had two ferrets. Apparently you can almost knot a ferret because they are so flexible.
I taught four other lessons, two at the request of the absent teachers (bottom sets/nutters)
I have to choose a party dress for AR's retirement do.
Any ideas?
Drayton Manor Park was on the TV news - "Thomas Land" opens on Saturday.

Thomas day.

A day in Shirley with Thomas, who has a bit of tummy trouble.
Thomas had his bottle & we watched the end of "Jeremy Kyle " before going for a two hour walk through the park & around Shirley, taking in M&S Food en route.
Do watch "JK" if you are feeling inadequate sartorially, socially, linguistically or any other way really.
By the end you will feel totally adequate, smart, intelligent & realise how charmed your life is & how delightful the people with whom you mix on a daily basis.
The rest of the day was spent with Thomas & I entertaining each other with small talk, food & cuddles.
I came home & made parsnip & apple soup, chicken fillets with cheese & cherry tomatoes,purple sprouting, cauliflower cheese & new potatoes, followed by raspberries & rice pudding (not eaten yet as we were full)
We have been on tinternet to check out the benefits of updating the boiler (special offers available this month), to look at Sarah & Matt's wedding list (not live until April) & to tax the lotus (needs an MOT first)
I now have an appointment with a boiler man next Tuesday, whilst Thomas & I wait in for a parcel, & have to take the lotus for an MOT this week.
Where did work fit in?

Against my better judgement....

OK, so I'm not worth even one measly little comment.
From this I conclude that no-one will get round to reading this either, so I will make this brief (I haven't done much so it would be short anyway) i
I've had a great day at Kingsbury school, covering science staff as they run a science week projects.
Today was year 11, CSI, doing a murder investigation - the school caretaker ruthlessly murdered. He was an inveterate gambler & owed hundreds of pounds to different teachers.
I'm sure that you've already spotted a flaw in the plot!
Of course, the headteacher did it.
The caretaker had winged once too often about the state of the boys' toilets!
I went to the gym after school to recover after a run yesterday, the first this year.
I thought that I used the same muscles on the treadmill but it doesn't feel like it.
A nice healthy tea (salad followed by salmon) then coffee & fruit cake & a little bit of B&G chocolate. Oh well.
A cup of decaf & bed.

The calm before the storm

Hi.
G in Bournemouth, so a quiet weekend with little direction until Sunday tea-time when he returns & tells me what I should be doing!
On Saturday my directionless meanderings included some spring cleaning - washing china from the dresser, polishing & washing everything on the bed to dry on the line - no line prop needed, it was too windy.
I meandered to Kenilworth to potter & collected the litter in Hollylands.
It was a cold day.
I spent some time looking for a holiday cottage at the sea-side, on tinternet.
Lulworth cove looked good & near to J & G.

This morning I went for a run - the first this year - I'm a "fairweather runner", but did a good time for me due to my gym activity.
I went to church (Passion Sunday), had a chat & took Auntie Norah home.
I thought that I'd have another look for a holiday cottage whilst I have my breakfast - a dangerous decision as "time flies like a banana" when "lap-topping".
I will make a cake for G (another dangerous decision), finish the ironing & perhaps move a few molehills.
School next week, if it hasn't blown away!

From Granny & Tim.

Granny has Tim sitting on her lap.
Tim is a bit spotty as he has chickenpox, but is being very brave.
Fortunately we found that Cadbury's have just brought out some "Chickenpoxgetbetterquick biscuits, which work brilliantly if taken twice a day. (they look rather like chocolate digestives!)
Yesterday we walked many miles (mainly as a result of getting lost on the way to & from Mandy's house) & gardened & had lunch in Pret a manger(at Tim's suggestion).
He's going to take me there to lunch when he is 17!
Tody we are going to look at CBB's on the computer, any minute, & go on a train, somewhere.

Another hectic day.

I forgot to complete the ordeal that was Friday - a lie-in, the gym, shopping, home for tea by the fire, then into B'ham for a Japanese meal at the Tappanyaki, off Hurst street

Today, people came. The gas man came & put a new circuit board in the boiler, which now lights itself at the first rather than the fiftieth attempt.
Paula dropped in with a lovely bunch of orchids, & Sue.

As I was confined, waiting for the gas man, I did some indulgent housework - ring/watermark removal from the teak work surface in the kitchen, cobweb removal from bedroom & landing walls & a thorough dysoning.
When freed, I went to Kingsbury School to pay for the AR retirement do. The builders had broken a window in the kitchen, causing glass to cascade into the food, just before lunch. Nice one! The cakes & buns escaped, so all hands to the pans to cook chips for all. Chips & cake, so no arguments about healthy food today.
I went on to Ventura Park to buy vests & pyjamas for Jeremy.
M&S was USELESS.
Who wants a big rubber, sweaty picture on the front of their jim-jams?
JS had vests, but jim-jams were cheap & sealed so probably disappointing.
Who buys clothes that you can't feel & scrunch?

I bought some lovely fresh food & then paid £5 to go to the Bannatyne Health club, to save driving to Solihull, & did a good workout before coming home to prepare dinner.
It has been a cold, windy day.
Too cold to garden.

Food glorious food!

No blog on Friday as I don't want sympathy!

A lie-in, two hours at the gym, a little shopping & then home for tea by the fire, as it turned cold & wet.

On Saturday G & I drove to Cambridgeshire to see JR to celebrate his 84th birthday. AJ drove across from York to join us & we all went out for a celebratory lunch at The Bildeston Crown, which was delicious.

We stopped at Lavenham to walk our lunch down.

Then on to JR's for tea & birthday cake.

We had a lazy evening after all that driving (we fell asleep in front of the TV)

On Sunday G & JR went to look at cars, to find JR a model smaller than the Kia Sedona (no big problem there then) as it only just fits the garage & is a pig to park. AJ & I went to Sainsburys , bought lunch, went home & cooked it on the Aga (black-faced border lamb, apple crumble)- beat that!

We came home after lunch so that G could go out on his bike & AJ could get home in daylight.

G set a mole trap. Apparently this is the start of the mole mating season; males make lots of hills, moving around scouting for a mate & then father hoards of molettes* to destroy whatever lawn is left.

* I made this word up!

What is a young mole called, apart from "obscenity" (refer to Ernest Hemingway)