Home again.

I realise that I have not blogged since Monday, when I spent the evening with aj, overindulging, to celebrate our birthdays.
We did not suffer the next day, so there!
We went into York, on the bus, had coffee & cake, shopped & nattered, then went home, on the bus, via Chapelfields. Wow - wierdoes or what there!
An ideal day out for 49 year olds!
I drove home after the traffic to see G.

On Wednesday morning I left shortly after 6.00am to go to Bicester.
I have had a great three days with Tim & KP.
If you have trouble sleeping I highly recommend spending you day with two small children.
T & KP never stop talking.
Every sentence has a "?" at the end, apart from when T is overruling you.
B was on holiday today - he looked as though he needed it!
We took B's car to the garage for an MOT, B & T to the barbers for a haircut, did Bicester Village, lunching at Carlucciss, where we were complimented on T & KP's behaviour, then on to Waddesdon Manor. T & KP walked miles, ate ice-creams, with minimum mess & toured the house like veterans.
Home for sausage & healthy vegetables, followed by cake. (T, KP & I made this yesterday, very successfully. T did drop an egg!)
Then baths & jim-jams on, ready for bed.

I drove home tonight, have had a takeaway with G, vacuumed, made up the spare room beds & now await J & G's arrival from Leatherhead, around midnight.
I will stay awake!

Happy Birthday to Gill & Jen!

Well, aj admits to 49, so I must be at this great age as well.
What a blow!
I started the day with tea in bed, finished my Rebus novel & then went blackberrying with G around the lanes.
We have just had boiled eggs & toast before I shower, glam up a bit & head for York to spend the rest of the day celebrating with aj.
The mole has returned with a birthday gift - a small hill in the middle of the top lawn!

And still another day's holiday to go.

We have spent two days in the garden, in the sunshine for most of the time.
We have cut the hedges across the front of the house & the field & built an enormous bonfire in the field.
We have bathed/showered at the end of each day & eaten an M&S meal. Tonight we have had roast chicken with new potatoes, runner beans & sweetcorn, followed by creme brulee & coffee with rock cakes, made whilst the vegetables cooked.
I did get to church this morning, St Bartholemews day. Who?
We read the Times, watched some of the Grand Prix, then hit the garden.
We are both knackered!
Tomorrow AJ & I hit a new landmark!

Home & dry.

G has posted the final blog from our holiday in Denmark - many thanks to W & K, T & B for their hospitality.
We flew home on Wednesday evening & were met at East Midlands by Steve & Diane.
We had only eaten a sandwich at lunchtime (rye bread with herring & prawn/ strong cheese - "when in Rome") & so had a takeaway, the usual. Delicious!

On Thursday I went to the dentist, washed, ironed & food shopped. I did stand by the "Dinner for two for £10" at M&S, recommending it to passers by, so I expect an upturn in their share price. (Fresh chickens or moussaka, asparagus, salad & scrummy puds, with wine)
G went to Bournemouth in a big van to complete the J & G removals to Leatherhead, arriving home late & loaded with surplus goods to store for a while.

Yesterday G did organising/tidying jobs outside whilst I gardened. Rain threatened but never arrived.
We popped to see P & A in the evening before they go to Cornwall for a week's holiday. (I wore my new Nike pink/khaki striped polo shirt, pressie from W & K - no beige in sight!)
Thomas was in bed, J was on good form, wellies packed & ready to go.
We picked up fish & chips on the way home as it was late, enjoying them with a bottle of Venetian white & "Poirot".
Perhaps we'll get to the cinema tonight.

We are presently watching the Olympics.
We have just been robbed in the Tai kwonda by four visually-challenged judges.
The Brit fell off in the cross country cycling, but it does look pretty rough. The leader is Absalon of France.
Two questions:
Is he a descendant of Bishop Absalon, the founder of Copenhagen?
Is this what W does?
Surely it is not good for your undercarriage - why not find a smooth flat road to cycle along?
Inspired, we may go for a bike ride before taking to the garden - rain promised for tomorrow & lawns in need of mowing.

A great video of Barrie Scott on internet - best GCSE results ever for Granville School.

Spellcheck available again - Denmark version highlighted 90% of words as mis-spellings!
What do they know?

Completing the tour

Odense was in fact quite interesting though the HCA hus was rather overpowered by the visitor centre and archive. He seems to have spent most of his life as some sort of roving entertainer/houseguest making paper cuts for his hostesses and their guests. Many are archived as well writing and rehearsing his many famous fairytales. We stayed in the City Hotel near the centre and trod the streets looking at the historic buildings,enjoying a coffee in the sunshine. We set off late morning for Nyborg where we visited the slot and walked round the old town. We enjoyed a shared plate of cheesy, tomato/pepper Nachos and apple juice for a late snack lunch and then crossed the Store Baelt over the grand suspension bridge to Korsor back to Zealand . Having decided top take the backroads and call in to look at the shops in Soro (which we have passed many times going to B&T). Only one wrong turn into a supermarket car park thanks to pp navigation before we hit the highstreet where g bought a G Jensen charm ( well I should perhaps refrain from making the obvious comment) and we were pleasantly interrupted by T and her tennis partner Helle (?) who had spotted us and dragged us off for a beer./Later joined by Bendt for another before returning to Ringsted for a BBQ supper.
Up late today, despite W’s early departure for work, K took J off to nursery and health visitr arrived to check out D for about an hour. Said our goodbyes and then to Koge and up the coast to Dragor - a pretty and nicely preserved little community about 5km from CPH airport. Quiet and little evidence of the ‘elephant in the room.’ Traditional Dansk fare for lunch and walk around before returning to CPH for our flight. Steve Goat & D picked us up from EMA (thanks Steve & Di)

touring denmark.......

dutch sailing barge up here


£10k will buy a nice one! Got me thinking.

dinner for two - cheaper dishes and only 1 cheese dish (for Gill!) Twice cut (i.e.seconds of the starter) Grad vlax was particularly good so Gill says, I was quite happy with my simple soup and bread.
Cheese consisted of Berries , radishes, honeyed nuts, onion and some DBlue cheese - mixed with Cognac

Atmospheric
More atmosphere

A land of islands; so far wwe have visited Zealand (CPH, Ringsted),Falster, Lolland, Langeland (Rudkobing), Funen (Odense). Weather has generally been very kind though it threw it down in Svendborg which meant out coffee stop was protracted. Nice ferry trip yesterday about 40 mins (£20) from Lolland to Langeland. If you like flat, this is certainly the country! there being excitement at the merest slope. Might make it good for cycling were there anything much to see but the odd historic building is about as good as it gets outside CPH. W would of course find the numerous bike shops of interest - all manner of exotica being for sale. Beyond that the bakeries are worth a look with some intersting looking breads the like of which the UK just does not see. Photos attached are of our journey and tonights meal in Den Gamble Kro, Odense a traditional Danish resturant about 200 metres from the birthplace of HC Andersen.
He got out as soon as he could - I wonder if he knew something? Tomorrow we will explore and tell. G&g

The Glorious twelth" aka "G day".

Today my lord & master arrives from Amsterdam!
The odd grouse may arise although I doubt that we shall have time to shoot more than the odd one, despite being in the land of the hunter.
We shall meet him at CPH at 12.30, proceed to the city centre to do some touristy things, including a boat ride to see the Little Mermaid, pick up a hire car (a mondeo - I thought that they were meant to be really naff, "mondeo man......", perhaps not if it's Hertz), drive to Ringsted, then on to Soro for dinner.
In the interim, W is going to mow the lawn & I'll weed the edges. J may well help, spasmodically!

This blog seems to be in the wrong tense!

Yesterday, we did some work on the garage, this included walking around on the roof a few times to reach far corners & to prove that it could take the strain.
The weather was good & W managed to wash & dry the laundry for the whole ofRingsted.
Beat that!
I ironed it whilst watching the Olympics last night.
I do get a sense of deja vu with the swimming events. With all of the events, if I'm honest.
There do seem to be a lot of heats & replays & the same guys winning everything, though none of them Danish, I note.
On that note I'll quit & have breakfast.

I Ringsted.

Right, so this world traveller is now using foreign titles, & it only took two advisors to achieve this.(It is not a typo!)
W & MK both have new cameras so every faux pas will be recorded!
Yesterday we went to Holbaek, on the coast & had a great fish lunch. The weather was indifferent, very wet, actually, so we scuppered plans to take a ferry to the little island, where it was also raining, & drove home along a W cycle route, to check out architecture.
Today we went to the outlet centre to buy shoes for J - a short story in itself - then to the DIY shops to purchase garage roof necessities.
After lunch I went on the garage roof to cut down the overhanging willow branches, clear the piles of composting leaves & clear the gutter. W has decided that if it can hold me, then it may have a few years left in lt!
Thank you God!!
The Heavens opened whilst I was up there, so I eventually withdrew, soaked to the skin.
W & MK have since returned to the DIY shops to return this mornings purchases!
J has just had a !pants incident" whilst sitting next to me, so I have had a second soaking for the day.

Dinner calls, homemade lasagne & salad with T & B, who send warm regards to the UK clan.

Ringsted or bust!

Well, it was the former.
I flew Sterling at lunchtime & was met by W & Jeremy - "fetch Grandma"
I managed to transport all of the goods that have been delivered over the last few weeks, plus a nappy bin with refills.
My rucksack was very heavy & I have few clothes!
J loved his stripey socks & put the all on at once.
Everyone is well; the weather is similar to home.

journey's end!

Found a cracking journey planning website. Helps take advantage of low cost flights particularly those to EMA! Dep CPH 19.00 arr B46 06.46.
See details below:

Door-to-door journey planner

Journey(s) found for East Midlands Airport to B46 2RQ
Details

Outward journeys for Wed 20 Aug 08 leaving after 20:00
Car
20:00
20:54
54 mins / 37.3miles


Details: Outward journey 1

check-in

Start

East Midlands Airport

leave
23:48

Walk2 mins

Walk to East Midlands Airport: o/s Terminal Building, St


depart
23:50

Coach 2401 hour 5 mins

Take National Express Airport/240 towards Gatwick Airport: South Terminal (Coach Stop)

arrive
00:55

Coventry: Pool Meadow Bus Stn (Coach Stop)

depart
02:15

Coach 42035 mins

Take National Express/420

arrive
02:50

Birmingham: Coach Stn, Digbeth

Walk12 mins

Walk to BIRMINGHAM NEW STREET Station

Birmingham New Street


depart
05:20

Train 27 mins

Take CrossCountry towards Stansted Airport

arrive
05:47

NUNEATON (rail)


Walk5 mins
to Bus Station, Nuneaton

depart
06:05
Bus 71733 mins

Take Stagecoach in Warwickshire/717 towards Birmingham Airport via Coleshill

arrive
06:38

Green, Shustoke

Walk8 mins


Walk to B46 2RQ

arrive
06:46

B46 2RQ


End

Notes:
"Change" means getting off one vehicle to board another.

EeePC pics.......

Thanks, W & MK & J & D.
They made me smile!
G tried a smile - out of practice.

09/08/08

So I missed the big date, although I had spotted it coming before the Chinese did (I suspect).
I spent Wednesday in Bicester with Tim & KP.
We went to the Teddy Bears' Picnic, which had animals, stalls, a bouncy slide, puppet theatre......
Tim had a "lucky dip", he cheated!
He went down the monster slide 4 times, despite it being "very steep".
KP slept through this.
We then watched the puppet shows - all three of them, 12.00pm, 1.00pm, 2.00pm.
Tim was engrossed, KP shouted all of the responses with great gusto & a big smile - "behind you" etc.
We had our pic-nic & eventually arrived home at tea-time.
We met B at 6.0pm to buy T's school shoes.
The staff in the Clarke's shop will remember T!

I drove to Cambs to see cousin JR on Thursday morning, using the sat-nav. E said that there were a lot of roundabouts - one every mile or so for 50 miles, I estimate.
Even the sat-nav was saying "Another bloody roundabout in 1.2 miles, take the second exit"
JR had BT & security system problems which took up most of Thursday & Friday, with engineers from each alternating visits & denying responsibility.
We did buy JR a new mobile phone & set it up (laughter)
I arrived home in the evening & had some beautiful sunflowers from W & MK

Today has been cool & wet.
We went to Solihull to collect a nappy bin for D & food shop. I have since written tomorrow's sermon (walking on water) & we have dined a la M&S (scrummy!)
G has a new Eeepc with a 7in screen - a little less than average, I guess!
We have taken photos which I will post after this, then go to bed.

The Queen Mum's birthday.

A warm morning with a little breeze, ideal for tennis.
I left in time to collect W's parcels from the sorting office & the Post Office - glad I didn't go on my bike!
I came home & had a poached egg for brunch & am now working up to getting out into the garden for some tidying up.



We went to Bournemouth at the weekend, to enjoy the seaside & check that all was well with J & G's flat.
The weather was much better than forecast, we walked down to Boscombe pier, where we ate our ham sandwiches, sitting on the deck, then on to Bournemouth along the prom, to the pier.



We bought tickets for the show at the pier theatre - "Rockin at Heaven's Door" - a tribute show to Elvis (who was about 6ft 7in), Roy Orbison, Eddie Cochrane, Buddy Holly, the big Bopper & Jerry Lee Lewis.
We watched the regatta from a bar on the prom adjacent to the rowing club (G aseep!), toured the town then walked back along the clif to Boscombe.



A fair old jaunt!
We walked back in the evening for the show (got the bus times wrong), which was great fun, had an Indian meal & took a taxi back.
The driver used sat nav, ended up down a narrow lane blocked for an ambulance, so walked the last half mile.
On Sunday we drove home via Christchurch & Lyndhurst.

I'm hoping to see B,E & family sometime this week, before flying to Denmark .

Home again.

I have spent the latter part of the week in Leatherhead with J, G Oscar & the twins.
Oscar & I have spent some long sessions in the local park, & met some friendly locals.
When in a playground, Oscar is like a monkey on speed!
The twins are thriving - Sebastian is 12lb 1oz, Harriet, 9lb 9oz.
All that on home cooking.
They are all adorable & very good.
J & G had been married 4 years yesterday, so went out for a well deserved break from the family (not me) for a meal.
Planning the weekend & awaiting an exciting take-away. (guess!)