Evening!

See, I haven’t forgotten about this place; I’ve just not had anything worth saying. If I’m honest, I still don’t have anything worth saying! It really has been that quiet.

The weather has stopped just about everything that I may have done over the past couple of weeks. The rain has made it virtually impossible to do anything in the garden, it has stopped me going to two autograss meetings - and will almost certainly stop me going to a two day meeting this weekend - the thought of going out birding in constant downpours doesn’t appeal so, I’ve been sat around in front of the TV, or the computer screen.

Cycling to work has also been abandoned at the moment and that, combined with everything else, has turned me into a bit of a couch potato! Things had to change and, seeing as how the rain looks like being here for the next 10 or 15 years, I’ve had to get off my backside and start going to the gym again - what a shock to the system that was!

I made a rather uneasy return to the gym last Thursday and found it very hard going, but it did feel good to be active again. On Saturday morning another couple of hours was spent back in the gym, followed by yet another trip on Sunday morning! If I can keep up the enthusiasm then I might just get back into something like average condition by Christmas - just in time to eat like a pig again!

There you have it, the past couple of weeks all caught up with. Told you it had been quiet!

Time to go and find more stories, and photos, about the good old English weather now…

Three photos taken in North Derbyshire today. Photos from Radio Derby news story.

Hampshire and London...

I guess it’s time I posted an update from the weekend’s trip “down South”!

The drive down to Andover on Wednesday evening was quick - 2½ hours for 150miles - and uneventful with only minor hold-ups in the last of the rush hour traffic. I still need Lynda’s guidance for this trip even after doing it for the best part of 20 years or more!

On Thursday, we joined Lynda’s aunt and uncle, and their strolling group, for a morning stroll around the village of Monxton and the surrounding countryside. Monxton is a typical Hampshire village… approached down narrow country lanes, full of gorgeous old cottages - many of them with thatched roofs - and with a great little village pub! What more could you ask for on a Thursday morning?

One of the cottages in Monxton.

The walk lasted for just under 2 hours and finished back at the pub, where we had lunch and a pint. It sure beat being at work! The rest of Thursday was spent resting up, and sleeping off the rather large lunch, ready for Friday’s trip into London.

We caught the Andover to London Waterloo train at just after 9am on Friday and arrived in the capital at just before 10:30am. The first part of the day was taken up by a guided tour of the old streets around St. Paul’s Cathedral, the financial district and the Millennium Bridge. Following the very informative walk around the streets - guided by an American! - we headed down onto the shoreline of the River Thames for a little beachcombing. Yes I know, I thought that it was a bit strange too but it proved to be one of the highlights of the day!

After a brief history lesson from our American guide - who certainly knew his stuff - we were let loose by the river to see what we could find. It was just like being a little kid again! We were shown bits of old roof tile that would have dated back to the Great Fire of London - 1666 - and also the remains of clay tobacco pipes that would have been made around three or four hundred years ago. It was these tobacco pipes that grabbed my interest and I was soon engrossed in the search to try to find a complete bowl or even a complete pipe. I never did find a complete pipe, but one day…

Some of the tobacco pipes we found.

After the beachcombing, we left our American friend and headed off towards the Royal Albert Hall and Kensington Gardens, where we ate a picnic lunch before having a guided tour of the Albert Hall. This was one part of the day that I wasn’t too bothered about leading up to our trip but in the end, it proved to be very interesting. The guide was very informative without being “boring” and gave us the history of the building in a light hearted and humorous way. We were able to see inside the Royal Box, saw the private entrance halls and rooms used by the Queen and Royal Family and saw a few moments of a rehearsal that was taking place in readiness for that evening's show.

After the Albert Hall, we decided to walk back to the railway station via some of the other sights of London. We took in Kensington Gardens, the Albert Memorial, the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain, the Serpentine, Hyde Park and the Cavalry Memorial. We then arrived at the Mecca for all London tourists, Buckingham Palace! This was the first time I had seen “Buck House” and I have to say that it did not grab me quite as much as I’d imagined it would. Yes, it is a BIG house and yes it does look rather imposing but it was not quite as impressive as I thought it would be - either that or I was starting to get a little tired by then! The gardens surrounding the approach roads were rather nice though.

Buckingham Palace.

The final part of the day saw us walk past Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament and then the London Eye. By now, it was getting on for 6:45pm and the sun was slowing starting to set over the London skyline. Our last glimpse of London, apart from Waterloo Station, was the sun going down behind the London Eye.

The London Eye.

Saturday was a day of leisure, I don’t think any of us could have walked too far even if we had wanted too! In the evening, we went to a quiz held by the local scout group to raise funds for a camping trip. We didn’t win but we certainly did a lot better than we thought we would - we even learnt a thing or two as well! Quite why Lynda and I couldn’t remember that Fluffy, the dog in the Harry Potter books, had three heads I will never know!

On Sunday, after a late breakfast in the garden, Lynda and I visited her cousin for a while before returning to her aunt and uncle's for lunch. After a gorgeous Sunday dinner, it was time for us to hit the road and head for home, unfortunately ending a great weekend.

The rest of the photos are HERE!

Well, here’s a thing… I’ve nothing to say! Well, very little!

It’s been a week with nothing to talk about, nothing to get excited about.

Next week we only have to work Monday to Wednesday and then we are off to Hampshire until Sunday afternoon. We will be staying with Lynda’s aunt and uncle.

Whilst there we plan to join them, and their walking group, for a walk on Thursday, on Friday we are going into London and on Saturday we are going to a quiz! Sunday may be a quiet day, apart from facing the motorway traffic on the way home!