Beyond Bournemouth.

Home again on Sunday evening to dinner cooked by W & MK.
KB was cutting the field hedges across the road & took the top off the field hedge for us.
MK & I took J to the playgroup in the Village Hall on Monday morning, he enjoyed it & we met some nice local mums.
After lunch I cleared up some hedge cuttings then took W to the airport & went on to the gym & then home for dinner.
On Tuesday we took DK to the doctors to get a referral to the consultant in Manchester, then went on to Solihull. We parked in Brueton Park & walked to the town centre via the playground in Malvern Park for J to run off some steam. We did some shopping & met Ben, who was there for a business lunch. He brought the baby gym for DK to use.
After coffee in M&S (where else?) & a failed mission to buy J waterproof boots, I walked back to fetch the car & picked up Mk, J & DK at the end of the High street, then home to tea.

Today we went to Manchester for DK to have his plasters replaced.
We had a good journey both there & back by using the Toll road & ignoring the instruction to leave the M6 & drive through the centre of Manchester, in favour of the M62, M60.
The boys were great. We arrived early had a picnic lunch in the waiting room & J made full use of the toys provided. DK slept for most of both journeys & smiled through his bath & plastering session.
We got home just before 5.00pm, have fed, played & watched some poor TV.
There was a good joke about tinnitus & wind chimes.

Bournemouth in the sun.

We came down to Bournemouth on Friday morning, with P.
James' graduation was at the pavilion at 1.30pm, followed by refreshments upstairs,
It was good & not too long - about 90 graduates to be "done"
We went on to the "Durley Dean Hotel", which is to be recommended - charming, with very helpful staff & comfortable rooms & only minutes from the beach.
We walked to Boscombe this morning, played with O on the beach, had lunch at The Pierpoint with P & then I walked back. A picked G & P up as they had done with walking.
Tonight G & I are babysitting O, S & H - childsplay!
All settled, baby-alarm on & dining by 8.30pm.
Presently in the bar alarm works there) watching Prince Charles birthday bash (brilliant) with 15 minute monitoring before I go up again with my book & torch for the duration.
G is getting admiring glances from the women as he listens to the alarm!
Great weather - home tomorrow to see W, MK & family.
G to add photos.

So just how do satNavs work?

Mk & I have been up to Manchester with J & DK, to take him for a visit to the Ponseti clinic to have his legs plastered.
G kindly set up the satnav, phone, aerial & all other technical aids for us last night as we had to be there by 9.45am
All went well & we are now home, having resuscitated with tea & chocolate digestives.
Why did the Satnav take us up the M6, A56 & through the middle of Manchester this morning, in the rush hour, but bring us home down the M60, M62, M6, missing all of the city out?
A couple from Nuneaton told us that their TomTom did this, so just note the route home & do it in reverse next time.
We duly noted the route home - motorways & junctions.
Next Wednesday's trip should be childsplay!

Granville.

I went to school today & had a very pleasant day.
No, really!
I shopped hurriedly on the way home, checking out my own shopping.
I must admit that the machine would not accept my credit card, so I ended up feeding it all of my cash, in order to complete the transaction.
I dashed home, did some of the ironing - the bulky stuff - & went to pick up MK, J & DK at the airport.

All is well, the boys went to sleep, we have eaten dinner, prepared for tomorrow's early trip to Manchester.
And so to bed.

OK, so I'm not worth a comment.

I started early as I had a premonition that Granville School would want me to go in tomorrow.
I made up the beds & "cleaned the house from top to bottom", got logs in & laid a fire.
I went to the doctors to sign DK on & to Denis Walkers to sort out the insurance on the Lotus - still not right though, but now only £272 & falling.
One of the advantages of age!
On the spur of the moment, I went to Kenilworth to shop - nice shops & no parking charges.
Water was pouring down the road by the castle, into the ford, which was impassable, so I had to double back through the old town.
JS has Berio olive oil (my favorite) at half price, with a £25 voucher against a case of wine at Laithwaites.

I bought odd things to appeal to J, including Humdingers & a cucumber.
I went on to Knowle, through some impressive floods, & to the gym.
I am getting fitter again with regular attendance.
When I got home there was the predicted message from Granville along with some unintelligible mutterings - delete!
G came in later, from the gym in Coventry.
We have had a scrummy dinner of salmon marinaded in soy sauce & honey, with a mixture of green vegetable & jacket potatoes - King Edwards, that were delicious.

Tony Robinson is on the TV with Timeteam in a bunker near Ypres, discovered after 90 years.
G loves a war programme, it is interesting.
Nearly time for bed.

Checking through this I found that I had missed the "S" off "scrummy", which changed the intended message, somewhat!

Can anyone be bothered to comment?

Remembrance Day.

I went to church at shustoke this morning, having swapped services with Steve, who wanted to take the remembrance day services, having just found his grandfather's world War 1 diaries.
He read extracts, which were interesting.

We have no family involvement in war as the family were manufacturing materials needed in the war.
Granny's brother, Uncle Walter, was involved in WW1 - tales of hardship & infestations in the trenches.

We went to Solihull to get more prints of G's Karma Enduro rally to complete his thank-you packages to sponsors & had coffee in M&S. Came home, lit a big fire in the lounge & relaxed.
I still have a lot of the Sunday Times to read as a cousin from Northants phoned, having been contacted by the cousin in Georgia.

She sounded like my mother.
She had met aj & me as children on a couple of occasions & remembered our long, thick plaits.
Granny Glenn was one of ten children, not an only child.

We have maternal relatives in abundance!
I have spoken to the grandchildren of two of Granny's siblings today.
Some meeting & delving to follow.

Tax cuts seem to be on the cards - some good news on the financial front then.
Gordon Brown owes me, big time!

The service from the Cenotaph was superb - something we are good at. The Queen looked fit & very agile for an octogenarian.

Some November colour.

Pyrocantha, a mass of berries awaiting the blackbirds - a little past their best now.

Maple in the corner of the field opposite the kitchen.

Pyrocantha under the dining room window.

Never say passion is over - still flowering in November.

G took these this morning .

This evening it has rained hard & the roads are covered with leaves - we have been to friends in Dorridge for dinner (Jamie Oliver recipes - excellent)

Well done USA!

I have a minimal grasp of politics but Barack Obama's convincing election victory indicates the desire for change that can move the world forward in a new direction, out of the awful mess that greed for personal wealth & power have created.
I wish that the UK had someone of equal stature who we could put our faith in - I can only think of one or two media pundits who would do.
Brown who has spent years sailing us up the creek is now gaining support for looking at ways to fashion a paddle, whilst Cameron comes over as a rather lightweight yuppie, however hard I try to think well of him.
I did like his comment to Brown yesterday as to whether he had mentioned to Obama that "Now is no time for a novice"
I suppose that Cameron does have some merit - at least he speaks well & you don't have to look away when he's on the TV.

Anyway, good news from W about little DK, foremost in my thoughts.
Fully functioning bowels are a basis for a happy life.

7023 hits & not one from me yesterday as I went to Granville, then on to the gym, came home & cooked dinner then fell asleep for a long time, so no contact with my laptop whatsoever.
This achieved when aj has been off-line for over a month, since her laptop was stolen & the library computers will not give access to blogs ("inappropriate")
I paid a high cost for my nap. I was still awake at 4.00am, having heard the milkman come just before 2.00am, G snoring intermittently & the occasional owl.
I did come up with various plans for today, one of which involved going to the matinee at Stratford, hence the early Internet connection, having swept up some of the leaves or gone to the gym - must get on, as my mother would have said, though probably not have acted on.

We are celebrating Guy Fawkes tomorrow night so I hope that we may have a couple of dry days so that the bonfire will be worthwhile.

Lazy Tuesday.

A lazy day, on th internet, on the 'phone, catching up on mail & clearing out a cupboard, at aj's suggestion.
This afternoon I went out, donned wellies & cleared up leaves, to get some exercise & to relieve my conscience for such an idle morning.
I had to give up at 5.00pm as it was too dark to see the leaves.
The drier leaves are on the bonfire, which we may light on Friday, & light a few sparklers.

When poor light stopped play, I came in & made gingerbread with G's ginger from India, some flapjack & did the ironing.
G phoned to say that he was going to the gym & would be late, so I ate the whole prawn salad that I had intended us to share, had a glass of wine, a piece of gingerbread, chatted to aj & watched TV - Kwan with his naked, would be apprentices & poor Prince Charles, having his life dragged through yet again.

An early night as I am working tomorrow & have to get up early to be at Swad. by 8.40am.
I'll hear the election results when I wake up.
I put my money on Obama, an outcome that would have pleased Catch.

Another highlight - I should reach 7000 hits tomorrow. This without aj, who still has no computer, but did manage to get onto the blogs today as the library gave her an emergency connection, after her connection failed.
Apparently, blogs are not "inappropriate" in an emergency, despite my rather rude title yesterday.
Anyone want to come & celebrate.

Bugger Granville

I think that the title may be a little rude, on reflection.
Anyway, I had a call to go to Granville today, two OK technology lessons before break, two horrible maths lessons after break & then a pleasant afternoon with the bottom year 10 maths group, who were said to be the group from hell.
The two nutters on reception duty, next to my classroom, interrupted me at ten minute intervals during the two horrible lessons, despite my best efforts to keep intruders out.

Anyway, I have shopped on the way home at M&S at Ventura Park & am sitting in the lounge with a large cup of tea & two toasted pikelets & cheering up no end.
We are planning to go to see "Quantum of Solace" tonight, & eat out - escapism!
I hope that we can go to Solihull as it's a cold evening.

Nothing booked for tomorrow yet, so I may get to the gym, being as I chickened out tonight.

Freezing.

No blog since Tuesday as I've fallen asleep every time I've had time to sit down.
On Wednesday we went to Drayton Manor Park with A, J & T.
Thomas Land is brilliant: Harold the Helicopter & Jeremy the plane, rides.
Terence the traction engines to ride on - T jammed the whole circuit several times as he could not relate the steering wheel movement to vehicle movement.
The Thomas trains run to the zoo, where there is a great adventure playground.
J & T tootled around, hand in hand, going on selected rides with B & A.
KP & T soaked up the atmosphere.

On Thursday, B, T, KP & I went to Solihull to buy hats & gloves.
We went to John Lewis for lunch, as a treat. I was a good half way through my brochette & salad when I noticed a rather fine slug crawling across my plate towards me.
Ben was magnificent.
When he had stopped laughing, he took my meal back & we were joined by the head chef & restaurant manager, who gave me a cup of coffee & repaid the price of the meals, with many apologies & filling in of forms.
We went home, B, T & KP set off for home, I went to the hairdressers for a cut & blow dry, had a quick tidy up at home & then drove to Heathrow to meet G.
I arrived in good time & had coffee with Steve's wife as we waited for the plane.

Yesterday we had a lazy day; G was up at 4.30am, blogging & sending e mails.
P, A, J & T came to tea - a toad in the hole worthy of W or B - to catch up with Grandad.

It is another very cold day today.
We had another lazy morning, eventually popping into B'ham to the jewellery quarter for a couple of repairs.
Home for lunch & getting in some logs, since when we have sat in front of a good fire & fallen asleep.
The Grand Prix time trials are on the TV, I have tomorrow's sermon to write.
Perhaps another cup of tea will help.
It is nearly 5.00pm, cold, dark & windy.
We were intending to go to see "Quantum of Solace", but have put it off tonight to avoid the rush.