Billy Cobham

Nic - one of the world's best drummers - check his web site and go to see him! Have fun but take your plugs

We are going Bus crazy

As we have a bus stop opposite the house, we have been taking full advantage of the new FREE RIDES for the over 60's and already we have been on the Tour bus which passes the house every half hour, doing a 40 minute circular tour fom Ryde to Ryde via Wooton and acrosss the Downs. Yesterday we did a shopping trip to Newport and it is lovely not to have to drive or pay parking fees. Cost of petrol is rising so we will be using the free bus more often.
Lovely to see the work being carried out Julian - will you be straight in July as my plans are changing from day to day and we may be able to bring June with us early (say on 20th or 21st July) before meeting the gang in Meze. Revised plans could be to get the TGV as far as Avignon and hire a car to come and see you. Wadja fink? I think Mum would be happier not to fly, but you never know.
Pompey gets out of the drop. Panic on the South Coast yesterday as Portsmouth or Birmingham were condemmed to lose Premier status. Pompey beat Wigan and B'ham lost so now Reading and Pompey will be in next year's Premier div. All gobbledegook to those of you with no decent football team. Good old Boro' hey? Trouble is I cannot even pronounce many of the names in our English football teams. At least the Rugby team are mainly English. Delaglio?
I heard Peter Grant on the redio, yesterday. What a lovely voice for a teenage Brit. I have even bought his CD I was so impressed. I can't think of the last time I bought a Pop CD. ? a successor to Matt Monro??
Can't sleep so I am down here blogging. 6 am and time for a cuppa.

Billy Cobham comes to Singapore

Steve, reading the reviews on this jazz drummer, sounds like something that shouldn't be missed. He will be here in Singapre mid May, should I go?

Up tha 'boro!

"They say lightning never strikes twice but it has here tonight!"

That's a quote from the ever-so excited commentator on BBC Radio Cleveland following Massimo Maccarone's last minute headed goal for Boro against Steaua Bucharest last night. In an amazing game, Boro came back from two down on the night (and three down on aggregate) to score four in a row and on to the final in two weeks (in Eindhoven, versus Sevilla). The lightning reference is because Boro were in exactly the same position against Basel in the quarter finals and fought back to win (with the bald eagle Maccarone also grabbing the winner with the last kick of the game). It's a funny old game!

All this excitement is serving as a nice warm-up for the World Cup, although we're in no rush, as we're still a bit hoarse after all the cheering and shouting last night!

Who needs Big Phil, we've got Stevie Mac!

Clive (in case you we're worried Gemma had morphed into John Motson!)

the chantier continues

Julian is doing the electrics and plumbing and the paintings will just have to go on hold. God Forbid that he should have, at a later date, to break this very special membrane.....
So excited you are all going to be here and see it in July!

Hurry Hurry

Flybe to Avignon from Southampton Dates are available NOW!

splishy splashy?

A fiver for your thoughts! Who's this little cutie? Ruby brought her Mum and Dad to the Trout and was very brave when the peacocks kicked off with their mournful crying. The waitress warned us about being 'blessed' as the naughty foul like to perch over the door to the bar and deposit sh one T on unwary patrons!

18 degrees of absolute freedom...

Windy weekend!

Lovely sunshine in Altea...

but it was a bit windier up on the ridge!

(If you know what I mean).

Thanks Ruth - We reckon Yves has to be...

the dude in the white cotton/linen! What's the story about his past life as a dancer?

yves for gem

guess the guru

Home again . . .

We got home at about half-seven, and we're safe, boared, tired, frustrated and hungry, but safe non-the-less.
We made quite good timing, considering we: spent two hours in "West Quay", a HUGE shoping center; got confused as to where we were supposed to go in southampton; neerly took several wrong turnings between southampton and the M4; had to turn off the M4, into Mythur Tydful, and couldn't get back on; and got lost somewere in the Breakon Beakons, as we tried to explain to dad:
T: "Hello Dad"
D: "Hello Thomas, where are you?"
T: "Dunno, we're lost, somewere in the Breakon Beakons!"
D: "Right, so are you lost?"
T: ". . . YES! I just said that!"
D: "But your in the car . . ."
T: "YE"
D: "So where are you then?"
Ah-well.
Edmund

work begins

I thought you might want to get the next spider down Steve!

Back to Wales

After a lovely three days plus two days travelling, Cathy and family are returning home today. It was certainly nice to have them with us and we will miss them. Thanks to Steve too, for putting off his return to Oxford in order to give us all a lovely day at Totland. Saturday we all got sunburned as we were out in the sun all day in Ryde. Yesterday was a bit overcast but we didn't let that stop us from going to Puckpool.
May starts next week, which starts with the Mayday Bank holiday and is quickly followed by Edmund's 15th BIRTHDAY on the 2nd. Thomas has to wait until 4th August for his 13th birthday. Kate puts up with both boys, even at 10!! Supermum Cathy looked after us all beautifully. Bye now.

Not Peter, but Steve

Hi, Nic
Steve came to see us on Thursday 14th April and stayed with us until Cathy came with Edmund, Thomas and Kate on Thursday 21st May. We were able to enjoy a day out at Totland Bay (where some of shots were taken) on Friday before Steve caught a late ferry. Mum and I left them to call in at Yarmouth for a cuppa and they fooled about on Yarmouth Pier - hence the other photos. On Saturday, we went to Ryde with Cathy and the children and visited Flamingo Park, where there are all breeds of water fowl, including three massive pelicans, pink flamingos, penguins etc., as well as some meercats, beavers and wallabies. The sun was out all day and we got very scorched. Who would have thought about that in April. Today was cooler and we went to Puckpool Park to play Crazy golf and enjoyed the day. Sadly, they leave at 10.30am in the morning, but we all had a lovely time.
We, too, enjoyed your lovely photos, Pete, which reminded us of our trip up the Sierra Bernia. Have a good day - love fom Dad

Great photos Peter, and I got no idea what the pier photos are all about with Thomas and Kate, but I assume you are all in the Isle of Wight. See you there in June,

T4's PopWorld

Edmund's Earthworks

What the butler saw!

5 & 6 & 7 & 8

Totty-Land

Today's buy found by accident in Waitrose.

label says...the apellation Cotes du Ventoux covers the vineyards on the southern flank of the Mountain and is made by french winemakers Celine Perrin & Delphine Bistac. Is Bedoin south of the mountain?

Lovely photos Pete.

Fortalesa on the Sierra Bernia

The weather finally spliced with my available holiday time, so we managed to get up onto the Bernia above Altea Vella where Mum and Dad stayed at Sonata's house some months back. The cloud kept threatening but eventually the sun got the better of it and we enjoyed a good tramp to the old fort built by Filipe the Second back in the 17th Century to forewarm of maraunding Ottoman pirates. Nice views and what a great drive we had inching our way up the mountainside! Oh for a nice Honda CR-V or something, (the Citroen didn't appreciate the inclines)

Supposing ... Computers are deliberately wasting our time

by Charlie Brooker Friday April 21, 2006. Fantastic article from todays Guardian...

"According to Parkinson's Law, "work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion" - ie if you give me a maximum of seven days to tidy the house, even though it should only take two hours, I'll stretch those two hours across the week, tidying in slow motion and taking plenty of coffee breaks, because hey, that's human nature.
This is what happens if you work from home: you get trapped within a fuzzy prison of your own construction. "Sorry, can't come out tonight. I'm supposed to be finishing this thing," you say, but then you stay in all evening, pottering about, channel surfing, standing in a corner repeatedly rubbing your head up and down the wall like a depressed polar bear; doing anything apart from "finishing this thing". And this cycle repeats for days on end, until finally the deadline lurches up, grabs you by the scruff of the neck, and forces you to knuckle down and complete it.

Like I say - human nature. Computers, of course, are far more efficient than humans. Nowhere is this more apparent than the field of time-wasting. You might blow a whole hour sitting on the loo reading a month-old Sunday supplement till your legs go numb, but that's nothing next to the swathes of your time your computer can piss down the drain.
I'm not talking about crashes, freezes, or hangs - but rather the endless stream of finickity little tasks a computer will set you without warning. The tiny hoops you have to jump through before it gives you what you want.

Install this driver. Now update it. Now update it again. Register to login to our website. Then validate your membership. Forgot your password? Click here. Now there. Fill out this form. And this one. And this one. Please wait while TimeJettison Pro examines your system. Download latest patch file. Please wait while patch file examines own navel. Remove cable. Insert cable. Gently tease USB port with cable. Yeah, that's it baby. That's the way. Now show us your bum or I'm deleting your inbox.

Maybe it's all deliberate. Maybe the computers are simply preparing us for the sort of life we can expect when they finally rise up and enslave us. They won't make us work in salt mines or use us as human batteries, no: they'll have us endlessly downloading and installing drivers for their own sick amusement.

My pet timewastin' hate is when two or more programs start fighting for your attention: when a bit of multimedia software repeatedly asks you if you want to make it the default player for all mp3 files or whatever, and you say "no", but nonetheless each time you start it, it asks you again and again, like a toddler in a supermarket pestering mum for chocolate, until eventually you give in and click "yes" - at which point another program sits up and says, "Hey! I thought I was your default player?" in a slightly wounded tone of voice, and embarks on a similar campaign of harassment, until you come to dread clicking on an mp3 file at all, or even going near your computer for that matter, for fear of being sucked back into the argument.

In any sane world, the people who wrote that software would be beheaded on live TV. In ours, they're trillionaires. I've said it before and I'll say it again: our world is bollocks."

*Totland Larks - What flavour ice cream you have?

signed Jealous of Oxford!

Totland Larks

One lick and it's LURVE!

















Guess the Advert! We're on the pier at Yarmouth we are!!













Time and Tide wait for no man.













Some of us are fresh from the Hairdresser.. not the usual one.. very nice too!


















it say All Beauty is of God














Two Minghella Toffee tubs with Flake and curly tube biscuit for
Kate and Thomas, Strawberry tub for Edmund and two teas please

Fwd: Yahoo! Picks - April 16, 2006

Julian says ooer! Oooeerr Indeed

April 16, 2006
Postcard From Provence
Want to spend a year in Provence, but don't have the money or vacation time? Allow the paintings of Julian Merrow-Smith to take you on a virtual journey. Through his near-daily posting of small oil paintings, you can measure the march of the seasons and light through the Provençal countryside. Winter brings portraits and indoor still life, spring months overflow with fruit and flowering landscapes, and summer's sea views and bright skies lead to the fiery colors of fall. After gazing at only six months' work, the luscious stills of food or the enveloping landscapes may send you to the grocery store or the nearest airline ticket counter. And if you must capture a piece of Provence to brighten a dusty little corner at home, each new painting is for sale—if you're quick enough to battle his email fan club. (in Visual Arts)

train plane trane plain oh which is it?

Which is better for travelling to Europe I wondered,
so googling PLANE V TRAIN popped up this article from the Daily Mirror Mar 12 2006

"VIRGIN Trains have fired the first shots in a war against low-cost airlines, offering a free first-class ticket between London and Manchester in exchange for your old airline boarding pass.
Rail operators on key routes from London to other cities in the UK and the Continent are fighting back against the likes of easyJet and Ryanair wi th competitive fares.

Trains, they say, are also an altogether less stressful experience, offering city centre to city centre travel, no lengthy check-ins and security queues - and reduced fares for kids.

And as worries about global warming heighten, trains are a more environment-friendly way to travel than airlines.
But are they really able to compete against the low-cost airlines? To find out if the train really does take away the strain, Travel Editor GILL WILLIAMS tested six routes for price, times and hassle factor..."

LONDON TO BRUSSELS
PLANE: £118.70, 3hr 35min
THE PLANE: British Airways, leaving Heathrow 2.05pm on Mar 31, returning 3.15pm April 2.
FARE: £89.20 return plus £26 Heathrow Express and £3.50 on bus from Brussels airport. Total: £118.70
JOURNEY TIME: Heathrow Express 15min, check-in 90min, flight time 70min, plus 40min to collect luggage and get to city centre. Total: 3hr 35min.
UPSIDE: Frills, including newspapers and snacks. User-friendly website www.ba.com DOWNSIDE: Heathrow Express expensive.
BOOK: www.ba.com
TRAIN: £89, 2hr 50min
THE TRAIN: Eurostar leaves Waterloo at 3.40pm on Mar 31 and returns 3.56pm April 2.
FARE: £89.
JOURNEY TIME: Check-in 30min, journey 2hrs 20min. Total: 2hr 50min.
UPSIDE: Station in city centre, so you'll have time for Sunday lunch before you return home. DOWNSIDE: Slow online bookings. BOOK: www.eurostar.com
VERDICT: Train is much faster AND cheaper

LONDON TO LYON
PLANE: £224.95, 4hr 30min
THE PLANE: EasyJet from Stansted on Mar 31 at 6.25pm, returning April 2 9.35pm.
FARE: £189.70 return, plus £25 Express and £10.25 bus fare to Lyon centres. Total: £224.95
JOURNEY TIME: 60min train ride from Liverpool St to Stansted, 90min check-in, 60min flight, plus 60min to collect luggage and get to city centre. Total: 4hr 30min.
TRAIN: £154, 5hr 58min
THE TRAIN: Eurostar leaves Waterloo at 1.41 pm on Mar 31 and returns at 1.45pm on April 2.
FARE: £154.
JOURNEY TIME: Including check-ins, 5hr and 58min.
UPSIDE: Stress-free travel, no luggage restrictions and you can sip French wine watching the world go by. Change trains at Lille (although
UPSIDE: Frequent services, easy online booking.
DOWNSIDE: No frills, waiting at airports.
BOOK: www.easyjet.com
VERDICT: Train much cheaper but hour and a half longer

LONDON TO PARIS
PLANE: £230.90, 4hrs 15mins
THE PLANE: easyJet from Luton to Charles de Gaulle airport leaving at 2.25pm on March 31, returning April 3 at 5.05pm.
FARE: For one adult and one child the fares total £179.40 (no reduction for kids). Kings Cross to Luton train £32.90. Bus into city £18.60. Total: £230.90
JOURNEY TIME: 60min train to airport, 90min check-in, 60min flight, 45min bus to city centre. Total: 4hr 15min.
UPSIDE: Charles de Gaulle closer than Orly.
DOWNSIDE: Pricey, lots of messing about.
BOOK: easyjet.com
TRAIN: £177, 3hrs 10mins
THE TRAIN: Eurostar from Waterloo at 3.11 pm on March 31, returning at 3.19pm on April 2.
FARES: Adult £127 return, child £50 return. Total £177.
JOURNEY TIME: Including check-in, 3hr 10min.
UPSIDE: Fast and efficient way to travel, stress-free and good child fares make this the easiest way for families to travel from London to Paris.
DOWNSIDE: Avoid rush hours at Waterloo.
BOOK: www.eurostar.com
VERDICT: Take the train, it's easier, quicker and cheaper

BIRMINGHAM TO AMSTERDAM
PLANE: £275.03, 3hr 50min
THE PLANE: BMIBaby leaves Birmingham at 3.20pm on Mar 31, returning 6.20pm April 2.
FARE: £265.46 plus £5.30 train fare to airport and £4.27 train rides to and from Amsterdam. Total: £275.03
JOURNEY TIME: 15min from Birmingham New Street to airport, 90min check-in, 75min flight and 50min to collect luggage and get to city centre. Total: 3hr 20min.
UPSIDE: Fast.
DOWNSIDE: Pricey.
BOOK: bmibaby.com
TRAIN: £174.40, 9hr 8min
THE TRAIN: Combination of Virgin Trains to London, Tube to Waterloo then Eurostar to Brussels and Dutch rail train to centre of Amsterdam.
FARE: £174.40.
JOURNEY TIME: 9hr 8min.
UPSIDE: A fordable, no baggage restrictions and a pleasant way to travel for a longer holiday.
DOWNSIDE: Lots of changes - too much travelling for a weekend.
BOOK: 08705 186 186
VERDICT: Train is cheaper but much slower

GLASGOW TO LONDON
PLANE: £98.04, 4hr 30min
THE PLANE: Ryanair from Glasgow Prestwick to Stansted leaves at 5.40pm on March 31, returning at 4.05pm on April 2.
FARE: £67.64 plus £25 Stansted Express to London. Train to Prestwick £5.40. Total: £98.04
JOURNEY TIME: 45min to airport, 90min check-in, 75min flight, train to London 60min. Total: 4hr 30min.
UPSIDE: Good website, frequent flights.
DOWNSIDE: No frills, airports miles away from town and lengthy check-in.
BOOK: www.ryanair.com
TRAIN: £94.10, 5hr-plus
THE TRAIN: Virgin Trains Glasgow to London Euston, travelling out mid-afternoon March 31 and returning Sunday afternoon April 2.
FARE: None of the advertised one-way cheapies at £17.50 were available so had to go for a Saver ticket at £94.10 return.
JOURNEY TIME: 4hr 30min on Friday, but longer on Sunday due to engineering works.
UPSIDE: 14 audio channels and chargers for mobile phone. Upgrade to first class at weekends from £10 one-way.
DOWNSIDE: Engineering works at weekends.
BOOK: virgin.com/trains or 08457 222333.
VERDICT: Train is slightly cheaper but journey's longer

LONDON TO MANCHESTER
PLANE: £106.50, 3hr 5min
THE PLANE: BMI from Heathrow at 3.20pm on Mar 31, returning at 2.20pm on April 2.
FARE: £74, plus £26 Heathrow Express and £6.50 train fare to Manchester city centre. Total: £106.50.
JOURNEY TIME: Heathrow Express 15min from Paddington, 90min check-in, 65min flight time, train to Manchester Picadilly 15min.
Total: 3hr 5min.
UPSIDE: Some frills.
DOWNSIDE: Expensive.
BOOK: www.ebookers.com
TRAIN: £57.10, 2hr 15min
THE TRAIN: Virgin Trains Euston to Manchester Piccadilly, leaves 2.05pm on Mar 31, returning 2.11pm on April 2.
FARE: £57.10.
JOURNEY TIME: 2hr 15min on Friday (3hr on Sundays).
UPSIDE: Fast and cheap with plenty of choices of departures (two trains an hour). No restrictions on baggage.
DOWNSIDE: Lower fares at £12.50 each way sell out very quickly.
BOOK: virgin.com/trains or 08457 222333.

VERDICT: Train much cheaper and q uicker

Here's one for you, only a Merrow could do this,

the one on the right is a Doc Martin, the other is not, that's our office carpet in the background, didn't actually notice until stepping out for lunch.

At least they are a left and a right shoe,

Like the pot ezappy,

Jen, if you're reading this, tomorrow when you tie my shoe laces for me, don't forget to check the shoes.

Frog it?

Was this a bargain for ezappy at £2?

We stopped off at a blowy car boot sale in Chale as most people were packing up, but the item grabbed my eye.

Airfields we've known

Imappy and ezappy had an interesting afternoon and evening yesterday talking about old Chinnor and old Haddenham. From familiar locations, we ended up loading Google Earth and checking out the family's current territory: Nic and Jen's Singapore, peter-poppet and Jan's Orapa & Alfaz del Pi and Julian and Ruth's Mont Ventoux all in glorious satellite detail like in the film Patriot Games! (well not quite.. the detail is patchy and confined to topological features, but in Trafalgar Square you get a bird's eye view of Nelson's hat!)


Blogger- "Wasn't that the film you were in with Harrison Ford Steve?"
Ezappy- "Funny you should ask me that but yes Harrison is in most of the films I've been in actually..."
Blogger- "hep hem..hmm nnnyes!"



Cathy Julian and Nic were all born over the road from what was RAF Thame.
Some of us in those days would dis-appear all day up to larks. We used to leap off the roof of said control tower onto a pile of rubberised straw bales and make camps in the air-raid shelters that Martin Green had not been in and 'marked'!
By the 60's all that was left of the MOD installation apart from a number of rat infested air-raid shelters and a ruin of a control tower was a pile of old aircraft wings tyres and radio parts that resembled Nash's Totes Meer!








One fabulous day in 1962 was marked by the arrival and landing of an actual aeroplane, a Handley-Page Herald!

Giclée - according to Wikipedia

Giclée is the use of the ink-jet printing process for making fine art large format digital images. The term — from the French verb gicler meaning "to squirt, to spray" ...

go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giclee for more.

Happy Easter you all

Happy Easter you all. We are back at work today (Monday) but I hope you are all still enjoying your lovely long weekend even knowing how misearble we may be at work. (Mentioned work twice now so as to remind you all that at work, you might be working tomorrow, back to the palette knife and the grinding of ochre etc.)

We had a nice day yesterday looking for the Air Museum which we eventually found at the airport that Jen thought it may be at, but I didn't. So we drove around from airport to airport (we have about 4) until we found it. Heh! when the Brits left Singapore they took all their aeroplanes with them, buggers right!, can you image, an indepedent Country without a sniff of any air defence. Anyway, their mates at the Singapore Flying Club lent them a few old Censnars to get the airforce airborne and now we got FXXX somethings and choppers too.

Funnily enough the high light of the day for the children was not the full size aircraft with buttons locked away inside, but the interactive display of nothing very interesting with buttons that you can press till dawn.

Here, we suffer from internationlism, you know, birthdays are spent beating a small horse stuffed with sweets, and Easter is spent playing mahjong (something of a cross between bridge and dominoes) and hunting eggs, not eating chocolate. So I secreted small Cadbury's eggs around the house which the children found for me and I ate, good one eh!

We also played cricket but in the living room, Claire is very difficult to bowl out, and Daniel thinks it's very funny you can just put the bat on the daddies chalk mark on the floor and the ball just hits it instead of the wicket.

Anyway, back to drawing,

Love Nic & the Family

Easter Sunnyday

Well, not quite what was promised as the blue skies have not been cooperating when it was time for walkies, but here's Jess in front of Bell Peak (Puig Campana), better known as Benidorm mountain. Hey, I know Benidorm is a cliche to most people but I've been surprised by its pleasant climate and pretty scenery. The temperature on Good Friday was very pleasant at 10pm as we watched the Catholic processions through the old town...Jan and I watched as the older girls stayed at home and baby-sat. It's nice to be able to get out on our own together sometimes.

Easter has been a nice welcome break. Unfortunately, like the rest of the family most of us are down to our last Cream Egg (actually I'm all out), but hey, we're Merrow-Smiths....and anyway, I caught a whiff of a news report that said cocoa products are good for keeping the cancers at bay! Not so sure the heart poeple would endorse that approach but I back it all the way. Jess is going for a run in the morning she tells me. Not me though. Cricket yesterday gave me serious cramp and off I went hobbling round the living room in the dead of night stuffing myself with sea salt and bananas! It works mind you. Took a really good diving catch to make up for my slogger for two runs batting debacle. Never mind, at least there's always next week assuming it doesn't rain. Oh no, that's England, I forgot.

Will try to Skype anyone who is listening tomorrow morning. TTFN.

Lovely Easter Break

Yes, you are right Clive - It was the Fleur-de-lis. So glad you are enjoying being sic-sic-sic.
Clive, have you managed to work out Julian's reference to giclee? I looked it up in the Oxford bukshonerry and nothing there. Steve thinks it is a French word - Google agrees!
We are salivating as we look through local old photographic books of Thame, Haddenham and Chinnor. Dad is having fun remembering where he grew up.

Back from lunch...

well I had lovely roast beef lunch and C had a tasty steak & old speckled hen ale pie and we shared a white chocolate & baileys creme bruleee v.nice. Grandad the Merry Miller might be the same place you & Grandma visited as its just along from the aerodrome/Wootton. Steve said on his road map it shows that it was called the Fleur-de-Lis. Next village along is Gozzards End and the 'Black Horse'. Glad the weather has been ok for you out there we had sun, rain, hail and now a pink sunset.

Back home now and we've now joined in with the rest of you and treated ourselves to a cup of tea and cadbury's creme egg - mmm 2 left though...only small aren't they...

Happy Easter everyone!!

It's nice and warm and sunny today! Good job we've got a fridge! mmm...chocolate! have fun! xxx

Rain, Rain!

They forcasted sunshine, but gues what? IT'S RAINING!! :(
It's all wet & misrable, and everyone's geting a bit upset.
Happy Easter! - Edmund

Lovely sunshine today

TODAY WE ARE MOSTLY EATING CHOCOLATE.
AFTER THAT WE HAVE GOT THREE MASSIVE STEAKS TO EAT AND WINE TO DRINK

All gone I win!

I finished first!
hmm now I've got nothing left for the rest of the day!

Weeks with no sweeties, and this morning
..I'm like Alfred Molina..














at the end of 'Chocolat'.
How am I going to fit into my 'gunters' at this rate?
















Julian's name for tiny inappropriate german male swim-wear...'GUNTERS' ping!

At least I'm not rolling around in it like the Compte or Sister Assumpta!

Former eating places

Grandma and I used to go to the Greyhound,(?East Hendred) which we called the doghouse, as a dinner treat, and sometimes to a pub in Cothill name unknown but near the aerodrome. Those were the days. 1953!!

Happy Easter - Daffodils are out.

Clive & I are off for lunch at the Merry Miller at Cothill nr Abingdon today. We're meeting Steve, Elaine (C's Mum & Dad) and Steve's brother Stan (who lives near Biggin Hill so not so far from June).

We did very well yesterday to avoid the chocolate eggs in Oxford. Particluar as Thorntons is situated very close to Millies cookies - the air was very heady!

The sun is warm and bright here in Iffley hurrah - Happy Bank Holiday! What's everyone else up to?

The reading thing, not so strange when you think that the education system hasn't been teaching phoenetics for years and that the majority of the words population use characters not letters.

We celver Meorwrs can adpat to ayninhtg

All the brains are not in Cambridge

Can you read this?

Courtesy of Clive's friend Fiona!

Olny srmat poelpe can read this.

cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

oooooh!

do I like the look of that cake, Grandad!! I love maltesers! hee hee! :P
EASTER HOLIDAYS HA HA! Last weekend we had a (rather) late birthday party for Beth. It was a fancy dress (and sorry no photos taken!!) and a sleepover. We had a water balloon fight outside inc. hosepipe, played games and watched a bit of a movie before bed. Next day we went for a walk down to the nearby farm and then went over to one of the girls' house for a swim! Kinda nippy but all good fun!
Enjoy easter everyone. lotsa love xxx

Gentlefolk of Kent

Mum and Dad outside their country house-Lullingstone Castle, which is only two miles from East Hill and about 1 from Eynsford in the Darent Valley.

Look at my Malteser Cake - made by Rebecca

I would bring one home, but I have not got a pocket big enough ---

By the way, if my mother (Nana) had been alive today, we would be celebrating her 103rd birthday and if my Dad (grandad) had been alive on Wednesday 12th April 2006, he would have been 109!! Just imagine----Dad

Chinese Easter Bunny?

Spoke to Mum, Dad and Steve today and have to admit that I didn't think I had much to put on the blog, so I've been looking through my photos here to look for something interesting so here goes;




This is what you can buy in Xiamen, China

Aha! Spring hath sprung...

Good morning all,

it's holiday season and spring cleaning season all in one at the minute. A couple of days ago I banged a hole through the girls' bedroom balcony (which is on the ground floor) and made access to the sizeable recess beneath. It's about shoulder height down there which, given the limited storgae available inside the house, has really opened up a few possibilities for making all our seldom used stuff invisible. Now to lower the floor, maybe lay some concrete, put in some steps and seal it to make it damp proof. Alternatively we buy some big plastic sacks!

Yesterday I also set about making space in the kitchen by resiting a cupboard. Haven't spent a penny yet so that's all good news. A few shelves and we might eventually get everything off the ground and be able to clean the place properly! It must be spring in the air that's doing it.

The weather turned beautiful midway through last month and although still with a chill in the air when the sun doesn't shine, things are really on the up. We have had several days over 25 degrees and today looks like being another one. There's been a north wind blowing the last two days and the weather was a bit off. Perhaps today we'll get some photographs done for putting on the blog. We need to post some images to show you all just how pretty it is around here. We hope to tackle our local hill next week on a walking outing which could provide a few pics. Puig Campana is taller than Ben Nevis by thiry metres! For the moment though we will stick to El Tossal which is a little lower than Chinnor hill! We'll go for a walk in the woods and see what the day can offer us.

Until later then!

We're on a ley line.. possibly

Had a lovely walk this morning and coming back from near le Mas des Vines (just opened for the season) we had this marvellous view of our house lined up with Crillon.

Off to the Gironde for the weekend... Bliss!!

Dinosaurs in Kensington

These are two shots I manged to take of the living breathing and moving T-Rex at the Natural History Museum in London. What you can't see is the yellow eye focusing on us as we creeped past! The snorts, groans, movement of the forearms as well as the distant sound of cows in distress (t-rex's dinner) made me quite nervous. Clive and I stayed in London for a few days over my birthday. We saw loads inc Science museum, tate modern, portrait gallery, cinema (Saw George Clooney's oscar winning turn in Syriana (torture scene not for the squeamish) and John Soames museum in Lincolns Inn (Clive's favourite and totally recommended). You have to ring the front door bell and ask if you can go in - brilliant.

On the day we went on the London Eye (a beautiful clear English Spring day & the Eye doesn't make a sound - weird), had a trip on the Thames river cruiser, then a fantastic japanese lunch on the South Bank, look round Shakespeare's globe theatre, couple of pubs (on St Martins Lane) and then went off the to theatre to see a fabulous play called 'Pete & Dud: Come Again'. It was all about well Pete & Dud (sketches inc some Beyond the Fringe, bloody Greta Garbo, Alan A-Dale, the end of the world is nigh, and some Derek & Clive). It was really well done and we left with tears running down our faces and so much more than just impressions. Plus we had really good seats the actors were only 10 feet or so away and at the same level as us so they could make eye contact (eek)!!

Thanks for the birthday card Grandma & Grandad and ever so glad you had a lovely time on your Grand Tour . I like the Charles Dickens style episodes!

Enfin

Last page
Tuesday afternoon, we went with June over to Swanley to do some shopping at Asda. Quite a change to visit a large supermarket like that – it has everything, but we can make do with Sainsbury’s on the Island. June insisted on driving us about in her little Micra and we were persuaded to garage the Rover in her garage. It was lovely for us to be spoilt – June is such a spoiler even to the extent of insisting we sleep in her comfortable bed. She has made such a lovely home of her Mobile Park home, and she loves taking us out.
Bluewater was our next excursion – what a fabulous shopping area this is. My main wish was to get to the Apple shop, which we soon found and I spent some time goggling at all the new iPod set-ups – speakers of all kinds and all those marvellous new Monitors, with the Bose and iPod stands getting all the attention. I asked about speakers but was told that my existing speakers would be man enough for my set-up and to spend a lot of money on new ones would be a waste. Who am I to argue with all those experts. We were overwhelmed by all the shops and after a tiring couple of hours, we returned to yet another lovely meal at 42.
Ruth had arranged for us all to meet at Trotters on Sunday, a quaint little old restaurant in Maidstone, not far from the massive walls of the prison. Our table was in the basement and as it was Mother’s Day the place was humming. It was a lovely occasion.
We went on a shopping spree to Tonbridge and both Margaret and June spoilt themselves in Beales. We had a lunch snack in the new Waitrose shop and home to another lovely meal. My birthday on Wednesday and Rebecca invited us to hers and Alan’s bungalow in Maidstone for a birthday dinner and with Ruth’s friend Tin we all set down to a lovely meal with plenty of wine. Up comes a lovely chocolate birthday cake studded with Maltesers (Rebecca knows my weeknesses) luckily for us June was only on spritzers so we got home ok. Next day we were up and packed, ready for our trip south and west to Southampton, keeping off the motorways we enjoyed our drive through the Kent, Sussex and Hampshire countryside, eventually joining the fast road at Petersfield. For the last sprint home.

part IV

We had arranged to visit Lenny on the Friday and we were soon on our way up the M40 and we arrived at Prestwood Nursing Home about mid-day. We spent a couple of hours with Lenny in her room, even having a cup of tea. Linda had been staying in an adjoining room for a couple of days, but had gone home before we arrived.
Lenny looked happy and spoke very well and we were very pleased to see how well she looked and we spent some time talking, before we had to leave. By 3.30 we were again on the M 40. and were back in Cowley just as it was getting dark. Steve had arrived back from Cornwall and we spent a pleasant evening together. Poor chap had to sleep on the settee.
Next morning we set out for Thame and renewed a few acquaintenances and at 2.30pm we went into St. Andrews’ Church in Chinnor, where a service of Birdie and Dave’s thanksgiving was held for 50 years of married life; at the same time they renewed their marriage vows. There were only about 40 near friends present and we all went down to the Reading Room, where a 50th Wedding Breakfast was held, with the lovely cake cut and shared round. We all dispersed about 4.30pm and thanks to our dear Steve, a room had been booked at the Spread Eagle Hotel (Thame’s major hotel). After a rest we dressed for the evening party at the hotel, as Birdie’s daughter Debra had, together with Dave, arranged a secret Wedding Banquet for 70 of their friends. Thinking that she and Dave were going to a distant hotel an hour’s drive away Birdie was so surprised to finally end at the ‘Spread’ to a great welcome. They are both so popular and we all sat down to dinner, having chosen the menu weeks before. We sat down with some good friends and had a super meal and after the speeches we were all up on the dance floor until midnight when we all dispersed, us to our room in the hotel. Thanks Steve.
Next day was again a time of meeting old friends and we spent a couple of hours with our old next door neighbours, Ken and Jean Mason with their visiting sons Paul and family and Neil who had dropped in to see their parents. We also visited Myra and John Bell and spent an hour reminiscing before returning to the “Spread” where Stephen and Gemma, together with Clive and Fay, joined us for dinner. A lovely weekend was had by all, as we had decided to extend our visit to the Spread. Next morning we breakfasted and started out for Stokenchurch to join the M40 for phase III of our holiday. I had decided to take my time and by 12 noon we were in East End Farm where we received the usual welcome from June and another from the motorcylists practising just over the hill at Brands Hatch, In the evening Robert and Sandy, Rebecca and Alan joined us for a lovely dinner, with plenty of food and wine. That was on Monday 20th March.

PartIII

Gemma was pleased to see us.
This is a charming little terraced house, with a super extension, where Steve sleeps and we were soon away
Next morning we were up bright and early as, believe it or not, the blouse did not suit, so we went back into Oxford, round Longwall as the High Street was closed to all traffic but buses, and eventually arrived in Broad Street at 9.15am, where, wonder of wonders there was a vacant parking space in the middle of the road. The first time I can remember such a thing. Luck was on our side. Down Cornmarket and through the Clarendon shopping arcade to Monsoon where, thankfully, the young lady took the blouse back and re-credited the Direct Debit card. Back to Hertford Street where we found our suitcase where we had left it – on the pavement outside Gemma’s house. More LUCK! It had all Margarets STUFF in it! .

GET UP EARLY ON 4TH OF MAY!!

We were having our bi-annual lunch of the Lloyds Bank Luncheon club at Appley Abbey Restaurant yesterday and were seated with a couple we had not previously met. He retired like me, in 1987, only from a much more exalted position, having joined the bank in 1947 at Beaumaris in Anglesey and risen to dizzy heights as Manager of the Bank's Stationery department in Erith. I digress. A very interesting man and he said don't forget to get up early on 01, 02 , 03, 04, 05, 06 (A minute past midnight) as we will never see the like again. I suppose we will never see 05, 04, 06 again but who's counting!
love from p4tri6k

part II

Lower Amble farm is a wonderful place – a converted barn, beautifully furnished, wih many lovely pictures, and carvings almost littering the place. In the very large kitchen/diner, there is a massive electric Aga which keeps much of the house warmed. Hot water is controlled by the Aga plus an immersion heater, each bedroom has ensuite or adjacent bathrooms and is beautifully furnished with lovely comfortable beds. There is also for the sporting minded, a poolroom with its own table. The outside views are beautiful, as the property adjoins a river (either the Amble or the Camel) and the seaside villages of Rock and Port Isaac are only a couple of miles away. Rock is on the east side of the wide estuary of the Camel and is opposite the fishing port of Padstow, wherein lies the empire of King Rick Stein, with his restaurant, school of cookery and fish market. There is a foot passenger ferry which crosses the water, during daylight hours. Steve had booked us in for a gargantuan fish meal at the only available time of 9.30pm, but we decicided that by the time we drove the long way round to Padstow, via Wadebridge, had our meal and rested before returning, it could be late into the night, so instead we bought a variety of fish pieces and seafood at the fish shop in Rock and by adding certain items of veggies and sauces, I managed to produce a tasty fish stew, which we all enjoyed.
Steve was busy painting one of the upstairs bathrooms, but Mum and I amused ourselves by exploring the local seaside ports and villages and enjoying the sunshine from behind the warmth of our car window – it was still early March!. Our short stay over we parted with sadness from Little Amble and Steve and headed up the A30, until we met the M5 at Exeter and on to Oxford. We took the wrong turning off the M 4 past Swindon and made our way up through Faringdon where we stopped at a delightful farm for a cuppa or a P&P as we used to call it on our journeys through France.
The farmyard was filled with fowl of all sorts, geese, chickens, ducks and also a bunch of black cattle (as our American cousins would say). Refreshed we followed the A420 into Botley and popped into town via the Park and Ride as Mum wanted to buy a blouse for the Saturday party. £65 seems a lot for a Monsoon blouse which she thought may not 'go' with her skirt, but such are the wiles of women. Back to the P&R and along the southern by pass to Abingdon Road and thence to Hertford Street where Gemma was there to welcome us. What a lovely girl! Clive joined us soon and prepared a spag and pag for us - we chatted until time for bed. P.s the blouse did not 'go'!!

update

Hello everone.
As I said yesterday we are home after our 1016 mile trip around the mainland. We caught the ferry at Southampton on 12th March, having booked the passage before a ferry had crashed into the S’oton ramp, ruining the ramp and smashing the front of the ferry. This meant that the upper deck of the ferry could not be loaded , or unloaded.
Panic at RedFunnel and all subsequent ferries had to sail half empty as they could not take up to 100 vehicles on the upper deck and only two ferries were serviceable. Added to which the old ramp was ruined and we had to unload at gate 4, round behind the Ocean Terminal, We were told that it would take a fortnight to repair so we were hopeful that all would be ok by 30th March and we duly arrived to catch the 3pm ferry at the old Town Quay only to be sent round to gate 4 just in time to see the 3pm ferry leaving. The next ferry was 5.35.pm!! and after a long wait with no facilities, we were grateful to get on the half empty ferry, leaving many cars on the quay.
Enough of Red Funnel’s troubles. We spent a night at a lovely B&B in Bridport on the way out west and awoke refreshed on 13th to face our journey to Chapel Amble.
Steve had asked us to pick up some paint in Launceston and after a detour we managed to find the shop and went on to Wadebridge. Trouble is road journeys at this time of the year are fraught with Local Councils frantically spending the last of their highways repair fund on road repairs, causing many red light holdups and we had to follow many diversions.
Lower Amble farm is a wonderful place – a converted barn, beautifully furnished. Stop here going out to lunch. tatata

Thankyou Mum..

thankyou so much for my lovely card which arrived today.
It was such a pleasure to have you with us and to be able to be with you again in Thame after Birdy's 50th at he Spread Eagle in Thame.

We're all waiting to hear what you got up to on your trip around the old homestead and down there in Kent with the Fincher clan.
Did you notice the skip and new extension at number 77 by the way?

I've been busy over the last couple of days updating one of my ebay bargains.. I wanted internet access in the loft here (my studio-to-be) without climbing the ladder up and down one handed with my fancy 15" powerbook. So I bought an old G3 series powerbook (circa 1998) for £20 off ebay and got it working with OS X just now (hurrah) and have succeeded in getting it to run wifi too!
..so I'm feeling very buzzy!

Gemm's Pismo G3 powerbook (ebay Xmas pressie) needed a bigger hard drive to get her photos and music on. Fortunately I picked up a 60gb hard drive (ebay) and some more ram (512mb) for her birthday so I fitted the 12gb out of her machine into my PDQ. The next challenge should I choose to accept it is to get this one running Tiger too!

We've been watching breakfast telly and there's news of a new MEGATRAIN service from London to Portsmouth and Southampton off-peak for a pound(£1)... you need to book on line though so there's one for Nic and Jen to get organised for their trip in June and save a few quid perhaps.

Dad's very pleased (sniff) nay delighted with his birthday print from Julian's new and improved International art portal.. Where's mine? What is it of?
We want to see some photos Dad off your new Praktika camera. How did you get on with the chip? You prolly need a USB chip reader now so get down to Maplins. That Jessops one I'll have back as that's only for flash cards.
Right the bathrooms free so time for ablutions... these late nights are starting to bite!
love from 324PP7
over 2 u IMAPPY

Poisson D'Avril!