The weekend - how wonderful after such a long and at times quite emotional week at work. Weekends seem to get more and more precious as the months go by. Time to do what things that are important to oneself and the family. Saturday mornings, however, do become rather predictable with Mary going off into Salisbury with Sara for her dance lesson and then, usually shopping. Today, Sara had to get her back to the village by noon for a party at her friends house up near the pub. I spent the morning making some urgent phone calls and mowing the lawns. It was fortuitous that I did the latter this morning and more heavy rain fell during the afternoon. I hoisted the Southampton Football Club flag today as Tom and I went to the pre-season "friendly" match at St. Mary's Stadium against the big Dutch league side Ajax who are usually more used to playing UK sides such as Manchester United, Liverpool and Celtic. We were not expecting to win the game but it did give the Saints fans an opportunity to see a big side once more at Southampton. The traffic was very busy as we drove in to Southampton and as we came into the city via Millbrook we saw the crane than had collapsed onto the container ship NYK Themis with its booms removed making the waterfront of cranes look something like a set of rotting teeth. W also saw the giant cruise liners Grand Princess, Independence of the Seas (still the largest passenger ship in the world) and Oceana; the latter moored in the Ocean Dock at the brand new terminal. Tom and I went to our usual fish and chip shop in St. Mary's Road and the two owners were pleased to see us back - they must be so relieved that Saints have survived as their trade (and hence profit) must stem largely from the vast number of football fans (both Saints and away supporters) who use them. Their fare is relatively cheap and good quality. They predicted that Saints would go up this year (wishful thinking?). There was a real carnival atmosphere about St. Mary's when we arrived. It felt like either a cup match or a premier league match with many people milling around. We headed for the shop to get Tom a new home kit shirt and I was delighted that he remains an "Extra Small" adult rather than a "Small" adult - that slight difference saving me £9 after taking into account the discount I get for being a Saints card member. He certainly need a new shirt and as both his season ticket and ticket for the Ajax match were free I couldn't begrudge him it - especially as Saints need the financial support. We spoke briefly to our friend Nikki , who sold us a programme (Ilike the new design and cover) and we took our place sin the Kingsland Stand halfway up on the halfway line. The new owner, Markus Liebherr and manager, Alan Pardew, were introduced to the crowd to rapturous applause. A group of fans in the Northam Stand had designed and presented a huge banner upon which was written "Wilkommen St. Mark. We Thank You" . There was also a giant Swiss flag at the Northam/Kingsland corner. Saints played well in the first half with the strong first team - scoring first but then pegged back to level by an unfair penalty awarded after a clearly fair tackle. In the second half, Ajax seemed to get into top gear and the less experienced Saints players struggled. The final score was 1-4 to Ajax who go back to Amsterdam with the Ted Bates Trophy on their coach. Tom and I returned home after the match via Chandler's Ford where we picked up a copy of Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix on DVD for £5 so we could watch the last film before we go and see the sixth film at the cinema tomorrow. I certainly need to see it to remember where the plot had reached. As we drove home we followed the 2nd Ashes Test at Lords where England closed play some 530 runs ahead of Australia with four wickets remaining of their second innings. They will no doubt declare tomorrow morning and hope to get Australia all out for less than 530 in the two remaining days. As always with Test cricket, the weather will be a major factor in deciding the result. It is, however, extremely unlikely that England will lose this one and a win will put the Aussies on the back foot. Tonight we all sat down and watched the Harry Potter DVD and I now look forward to watching the film at the cinema. A slight panic hit me this evening I was sure that I was the Intercessor at church tomorrow and I couldn't find the rota to check this at first. Eventually I found it to discover that it is next week that I will be interceding. I finished the day writing this blog, my article on flags for the magazine and part of my Night Sky article which I will finish tomorrow. Sara and I watched Michael McIntyre on TV before going to bed.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Back to St. Mary's; Back to Hogwarts; Ashes Coming Back?
The weekend - how wonderful after such a long and at times quite emotional week at work. Weekends seem to get more and more precious as the months go by. Time to do what things that are important to oneself and the family. Saturday mornings, however, do become rather predictable with Mary going off into Salisbury with Sara for her dance lesson and then, usually shopping. Today, Sara had to get her back to the village by noon for a party at her friends house up near the pub. I spent the morning making some urgent phone calls and mowing the lawns. It was fortuitous that I did the latter this morning and more heavy rain fell during the afternoon. I hoisted the Southampton Football Club flag today as Tom and I went to the pre-season "friendly" match at St. Mary's Stadium against the big Dutch league side Ajax who are usually more used to playing UK sides such as Manchester United, Liverpool and Celtic. We were not expecting to win the game but it did give the Saints fans an opportunity to see a big side once more at Southampton. The traffic was very busy as we drove in to Southampton and as we came into the city via Millbrook we saw the crane than had collapsed onto the container ship NYK Themis with its booms removed making the waterfront of cranes look something like a set of rotting teeth. W also saw the giant cruise liners Grand Princess, Independence of the Seas (still the largest passenger ship in the world) and Oceana; the latter moored in the Ocean Dock at the brand new terminal. Tom and I went to our usual fish and chip shop in St. Mary's Road and the two owners were pleased to see us back - they must be so relieved that Saints have survived as their trade (and hence profit) must stem largely from the vast number of football fans (both Saints and away supporters) who use them. Their fare is relatively cheap and good quality. They predicted that Saints would go up this year (wishful thinking?). There was a real carnival atmosphere about St. Mary's when we arrived. It felt like either a cup match or a premier league match with many people milling around. We headed for the shop to get Tom a new home kit shirt and I was delighted that he remains an "Extra Small" adult rather than a "Small" adult - that slight difference saving me £9 after taking into account the discount I get for being a Saints card member. He certainly need a new shirt and as both his season ticket and ticket for the Ajax match were free I couldn't begrudge him it - especially as Saints need the financial support. We spoke briefly to our friend Nikki , who sold us a programme (Ilike the new design and cover) and we took our place sin the Kingsland Stand halfway up on the halfway line. The new owner, Markus Liebherr and manager, Alan Pardew, were introduced to the crowd to rapturous applause. A group of fans in the Northam Stand had designed and presented a huge banner upon which was written "Wilkommen St. Mark. We Thank You" . There was also a giant Swiss flag at the Northam/Kingsland corner. Saints played well in the first half with the strong first team - scoring first but then pegged back to level by an unfair penalty awarded after a clearly fair tackle. In the second half, Ajax seemed to get into top gear and the less experienced Saints players struggled. The final score was 1-4 to Ajax who go back to Amsterdam with the Ted Bates Trophy on their coach. Tom and I returned home after the match via Chandler's Ford where we picked up a copy of Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix on DVD for £5 so we could watch the last film before we go and see the sixth film at the cinema tomorrow. I certainly need to see it to remember where the plot had reached. As we drove home we followed the 2nd Ashes Test at Lords where England closed play some 530 runs ahead of Australia with four wickets remaining of their second innings. They will no doubt declare tomorrow morning and hope to get Australia all out for less than 530 in the two remaining days. As always with Test cricket, the weather will be a major factor in deciding the result. It is, however, extremely unlikely that England will lose this one and a win will put the Aussies on the back foot. Tonight we all sat down and watched the Harry Potter DVD and I now look forward to watching the film at the cinema. A slight panic hit me this evening I was sure that I was the Intercessor at church tomorrow and I couldn't find the rota to check this at first. Eventually I found it to discover that it is next week that I will be interceding. I finished the day writing this blog, my article on flags for the magazine and part of my Night Sky article which I will finish tomorrow. Sara and I watched Michael McIntyre on TV before going to bed.
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