Trick or Treat?

Both Sara and I have had our reservations about the Halloween "celebrations" in the past and the local Christian community in Winterlsow frowns upon Halloween very much. Hence the local churches have discouraged Halloween and encouraged children to attend Christian light parties. Here in the United States, Halloween is a much more intensely celebrated occasion and very much a family affair. Our day started late (after such a late night last night) and David cooked us a wonderful American breakfast of eggs over easy, patties, grilled baloney and link sausages with fruit and coffee. We had a fairly lazy day, reading and chatting. Tonight at 6.00 p.m. we dressed up again and took the children out with two teenage neighbours - girls aged 14 - Jess and Hayley. The street was filled with children all going around the neighbourhood to trick or treat and were met by wonderful receptions from the neighbours who had decorated their houses and gardens with spooky items including smoke machines, a flying bat, a graveyard set out on a lawn, bonfires and lots of other wonderful effects. Absolutely superb and like nothing I've ever seen in the UK. It was all such good wholesome fun and the kids ended up with two massive bags of candy. It also gave us an opportunity to chat with a large number of David and Andrea's neighbours who were intrigued by our English accent and the fact that Halloween is not such a big thing in England. The children were so brilliantly behaved and did not trespass on any property where there was no light showing or crossing lawns. All good clean fun and nothing sinister at all. It does worry me that sometimes the church comes down on things which really cause no harm and, if anything, alienates the Christian community from the rest of the neighbourhood. Many of the neighbours entering into the spirit of Halloween here were clearly Christians with cars in the drive displaying the "Fish". We finished our trick or treating at around 8 p.m. and watched Game 4 in the World Series which resulted in another win for the San Francisco Giants (4-0). The Giants now lead the series by 3-1.

Halloween, American Style

Our last day at Mrtyle Beach and we needed to be out of our time share aprtment by 10 a.m. today - although we thought it was 11 a.m. After cooking a breakfast to use up some of our groceries and clear the fridge (bacon and omelettes) we madly threw things into suitcases and bags and packed Andrea's car for the long drive back up north to Youngsville, North Carolina stopping only to get some fireworks for Bonfire Night and a couple of comfort/eating stops. We returned to the Raleigh area by a different route to that which we took coming down. This time we took Route 501 and Interstate 95 through Fayetteville rather than the longer route via Wilmington. We arrived back at David and Andrea's around 4.20 p.m. which gave us a couple of hours or so before the Halloween Party started. Sara dressed up as a witch (see picture) and me as a cow (also see picture)! About 50 or 60 friends and neighbours came and we partied until around 1.30 a.m. The third World Series game was also on the TV which resulted in the first win for Texas Rangers (4-2). The series now stands at 2-1 to the San Francisco Giants. There was plenty to drink and eat at the party and we all had a really good time - especially some of the neighbours!

Good Ol' Dixie!

The weather was much cooler this morning and it was really pleasant sitting on the balcony writing up my blog with a cup of coffee. I cooked another American breakfast of bacon, franks and eggy bread with fruit and fruit juice. We went down to the pool area and Mary and I spent some time playing ball in the pool and going on the lazy river. Tom found this all rather boring and took himself off to his room and spent most of the day watching TV on his own. Sara joined in the fun entering the pool fully clothed - she forgot to bring her swimming costume with her! Unfortunately she banged her left knee against the pool ladder and was in terrible pain for quite some time. At 4 p.m. we set off for Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede - a horse show based on an American Civil War theme. We were first of all entertained by an amazing juggler who managed to balance a step ladder on his chin and performed other gravity defying acts for our entertainment. We were served sodas in boot shaped mugs which were were able to keep as souvenirs. After this we entered the main auditorium for the show proper. I have to say that the Americans do this kind of entertainment extremely well. We sat in the horseshoe-shaped auditorium and were served food as we watched the spectacle - creamed chicken soup, a whole rotisserie chicken (very sweet and tasty), a slice of pork loin, herbed-potato and corn on the cob followed by a flaky pastry apple turnover with unlimited sodas served in a mason jar to wash it all down. No cutlery was provied and we had to eat it all with our hands. Whilst doing this we were entertained by some amzing feats of horseman (and horsewoman) ship. The auditorium audience was split into two - North and South. We were Confederates for the evening and had to cheer our Southern team on. Tom had an opportunity to take part in a lasso act but declined. Despite being involved in an anti-slavery charity back home I still cheered for our Southern side which won the evening. A great night out - I really enjoyed it. The Americans show off their patriotism in a way which we English find so difficult. Back home Sara and I finished off the lovely bottle of Woodbridge wine whilst watching the Bond Movie - Goldeneye. I also watched another stormchasing programme. I really love these and would love to go on a storm chase sometime and see really large tornadoes.

Bingo - American Style

A quiet day today in and around the resort at Myrtle Beach. After yesterday's long and hot excursion down to Charleston we thought a quiet day "at home" was in order. In the morning Sara decided to "carry coals to Newcastle" and have a makeover session with an American cosmetics representative of Mary Kay (the USA's equivalent of Avon I gather) whilst the kids stayed in the apartment watching TV. I wrote up my blog for yesterday on the terrace overlooking the lake and generally tidied up the apartment - how can two children and one wife make such a mess! At lunchtime we went along to Planet Hollywood where they had a special "Bingo Lunch" - a buffet comprising chicken soup and hot dogs with fries. As we entered the restaurant we immediately brought the average age of the participants down to about 75! We were given clappers and bells to ring when certain numbers were called and played about ten games in all. The prizes were truly amazing - the star prize being a toilet brush! Still it was fun and Sara enjoyed looking at all the props from the movies which are dotted about the building in glass cases - e.g. one of the monkey suits from Planet of the Apes a "phaser" from Star Wars etc. etc. as well as some props from Titanic (many of which I had seen on my trip to Fox's studios in Mexico a few years ago. We visited a wonderful golf shop across the road afterwards. Everything possible for the golfer. This is certainly a golfer's paradise and I now understand why so many people travel hundreds of miles to come to Myrtle Beach to play golf. Back at the resort, I spent some time playing ball with Mary in the pool and we also played a game of mini golf. We ate in tonight - pizza, cheese and biscuits and fruit washed down with some of my favourite Woodbridge red wine from the Robert Moldavi winery in the Napa Valley, California. Sara is having a nasty reaction to the sun at the moment and has broken out in a horrible pimply rash. The pharmacist at the local BiLo suggested an anti-allergy medicine which she took last night. It completely knocked her out and she was sound asleep by 9.00 a.m. leaving me alone to watch the World Series Game from AT&T Park, San Francisco with the Giants winning by a convincing 9-0. The series moves to Arlington, Texas on Saturday night - Halloween Night in the States.

Visit to Charleston

Up early again today as we were making the 100-miles trip to Charleston - an historic city where the first shots of the American Civil War were fired. It was a straight forward journey down Highway 17 from Myrtle Beach passing my alligator-laden golf course on the way. We stopped off for breakfast (yes, MacDonald's again - by majority request) arriving in Charleston at around midday. I dropped Sara, Tom and Mary off by the beautiful Customs House and Slave Market in a searing temperature of 89 degrees F (31 degrees C) and then drove back across the beautiful Highway 17 cable-stayed bridge to Patriots' Point on the other side of the bay to the main city. We had agreed in advance that we would split into two - I was going to Patriots' Point Naval and Maritime Museum and Sara was going to look around the shops in downtown Charleston. Both children decided that they didn't want to look around a boring museum albeit one contained in a massive aircraft carrier - USS Yorktown. I parked the car, was given a museum guide, paid my 18 dollars and walked along the long pier to the Yorktown. She is massive. It was at this point that I discovered that I had no charge in my camcorder battery and therefore will have to rely on my own memories of the visit - I had given the stills camera to Sara! The Yorktown is awesome. I went all over the ship - from the depths of the massive engine room up to the captains seat on the bridge. The flight deck was like a hot griddle and I felt like a piece of meat broiling in the sun! There was far too much to see and take in on one four-hour visit. The detailed history of every US carrier was there, together with a giant model of Pearl Harbor in December 1941; even a section of models of famous transatlantic liners - Lusitania, Titanic, Normandie, Queen Elizabeth,Queen Mary. I also found time to have a very quick look on board the US submarine Clamagore. I drove back over the cable stay bridge for the third time and picked up the family at just before 5 p.m. at the same spot as I had dropped them off. They had spent much of the time trying to keep cool - eating ice creams, visiting gift shops and having a ride on one of the horse drawn buggies which patrol the streets. Having filled up with gas near the railroad depot (see I am getting the lingo!) we drove back up north along Highway 17 at a good speed. A massive truck, however, pushed me off onto an exit near Murrell's Inlet and I found myself on Highway 17 (Business) rather than Highway 17 by-pass. It did afford us a good view of the neon-lit highway and all the hundreds of eating places. We chose to eat at an Italian restaurant just around the corner from our time-share resort. I had an excellent claim linguine, Tom a massive pizza, Sara a grilled chicken pasta dish and Mary spaghetti with a giant meatball. Lovely meal. The day ended with watching the first game of the World Series - Texas at San Francisco with the SF Giants winning by a comfortable 11 to 7. Second game is tomorrow night at San Francisco.

Beware - Alligators!

I was up extremely early this morning as I was anxious not to miss my 8.27 a.m. slot at Indigo Creek Golf Club where I had booked eighteen holes of golf. I made tea for Sara and me and then set off down Highway 17 toward Murrell's Inlet. I had been told by the resort staff that the golf course was only a few blocks down the road; ten miles and 25 minutes later I turned into the Indigo Golf Village. I was a little apprehensive when I saw the numerous golfers already assembled there - all looking very professional. I entered the professional's shop and handed over my voucher. I also hired a set of clubs and bought eighteen golf balls. The club is very well organised and I was to join three other golfers to make up a foursome with two carts. My playing partner was Mike from Wisconsin who had an 11 handicap and was on a golfing vacation. I discovered that he worked at a golf course back home and with his GPS for golf courses was clearly bordering on the professional. He did tell me that he had taken part in Ryder Cup competitions in the past. Our two other partners were John and Joseph from New York - also on a golfing vacation. Quite clearly I was amongst some serious golfers - my one day a fortnight golfing with Richard was nowhere near the level of their dedication. Despite the massive gulf in our skills, Mike and the other two were most gentlemanly partners and proved that the game can be played together by people of different skills. We used two carts which we had to keep to the dedicated paths. We started with the back nine first. The course seemed to consist of half water and half fairway - massive lakes which made the 15th at Paulton's look like a puddle. It wasn't until I actually saw a basking alligator on the "shore" of one of these that I believed the warnings about alligators being about. It goes without saying that I didn't go looking too hard for lost balls - five in total. We finished at just after 1.30 p.m. - five hours in total. I played reasonably well - no massive double figure scores - but I found their fairways better than some of our English greens and my second shots let me down. Fortunately my putting kept me from embarassing myself too much. I drove back toward the area of our resort and had lunch of crab cakes and beer at Hooters! Sara and the kids were already back from the beach when I returned to our apartment. I had some quiet time reading my book and also playing some more golf on my Nintendo DS. Tonight, Sara, Mary and I went to the China Buffet a couple of blocks away where we had an all you can eat buffet for $10.99. I also had some more Snow Crab's legs - yummy. An early night tonight as we are off to Charleston tomorrow.

A Wet Carolinan Day

A day spent around the resort today. We awoke to hear heavy rain pounding in the window. Throughout the day it rained on and off in torrential downpours accompanied by thunder and lightning. I cooked us breakfast of American bacon, eggs, fried bread and frankfurters. Sara and I attended a Vacation Owners' update meeting which was, essentially, a discussion to see if we were interested in extending our vacation options. Afterwards, Sara, Mary and I went down to the pool area and Mary and I played some crazy golf. We played one round of nine holes and were on the third hole of a second round when the heavens opened again and we got absolutely soaked. In fact we were so wet that we though tit would be great fun to jump into the pool fully clothed and have a swim! We spent a great hour swimming in the rain and had fun in the doughnuts on the lazy river. This afternoon Tom and I visited the BiLo supermarket again and also brought back some MacDonalds burgers and chicken for a late lunch. More rain and thunder and lightning this afternoon and evening and so I spent the time reading my book on the Ark Royal and having a little nap. Tonight Mary and Tom had a pizza brought in from Mamma Mia and I made cheese on toast. Tom and I watched a bit of the NY Giants v. Dallas Cowboys football game and later I watched Airplane with Mary as well as write up this blog. I have my voucher for tomorrow's golf at Indigo Creek Golf Course so must get to bed reasonably early as my tee time is 8.27 a.m. and the course is about 5 miles south of our apartment.

A Hoot at Hooters!

A nice lazy day today after all the travelling of the last few days. Woke up at around 7.30 a.m. and made tea. I also made breakfast for us all - frankfurters, beans and American bacon. After breakfast we went to reception and organised a couple of events - a rodeo evening on Friday and a game of golf for me on Tuesday. On Wednsday we plan to drive day to Charleston. I phoned Mum in England and we also skyped Sara's Dad in North Carolina to let both know that we arrived safely at Myrtle Beach. This afternoon was spent by the poolside and playing crazy golf at the resort. We were all very hungry again by mid afternoon so decided to eat early today and I drove us all a few block to Hooters - memories of my trip to California a few years ago. Mary had mini burgers and fries, Sara a chicken salad, Tom some hot chicken wings and I ate snow crab legs which I remembered enjoying in Long Beach. Tom was well impressed - American food, American football on the TV and (of course) the stunning waitresses. We bought him a calendar for Christmas as well as some playing cards and me some golf teas. Tonight we watched TV in various rooms and I wrote up this blog. Tom wants to eat at Hooters again! At least he is single and a makes a good excuse for me to go again! After all, its good for fathers and sons to have some bonding time and make sure they are not led astray (is that the father or the son?)

Down to Myrtle Beach Apartment

Awoke at around 6 a.m. this morning. I set about writing up my blog and checking emails and also phoned Mum in England using the Skype system. We had a typical American breakfast of homemade pancakes, maple syrup and streaky bacon with fresh orange juice, coffee and fruit. David accompanied me as I drove Andrea's car around the block to ensure I was comfortable with driving her large Volvo Estate on American roads. After familiarising myself with all the controls we returned back to their house to load the car up with our luggage for the 210 miles drive down to Myrtle Beach in South Carolina. We set off at around 12.30 p.m. and arrived at our time share swap apartment in Myrtle Beach around 5.15 p.m. having stopped off for fuel and some lunch near Benson. We travelled down Interstate 40 to Wilmington and then picked up Highway 17 to Myrtle Beach. It was a straightforward and uneventful journey except for the beginning when we couldn't find our way easily around Raleigh to connect with Interstate 40. We did find it more by luck than judgement. Tonight I took the kids to the BiLo hypermaket for groceries and supper at a Mexican fast food outlet. Sara decided to stay behind and have a bath. I watched the Phillies v. San Francisco Giants baseball game tonight with San Francisco winning by 3 runs to 2 and going through to meet the Texas Rangers in the World Series next week.

Hey! Hey! USA!

My alarm woke us at 5.45 a.m. this morning in our hotel room. I got up after making us tea and drove the car around to the parking lot next door but came back rather annoyed - apparently I had been given the wrong information last night by the counter clerk who had told me that all cars are now parked in the prescribed car park next door whereas I should have left my car where it was in the hotel car park - like last year. In any event, the car park took my car in at no extra charge but we did miss out on having a free bus service to take us to the terminal. We therefore had to pay £8 for the bus to Terminal 3. In the end it was an easy enough journey and we were at the airport terminal within ten minutes or so of leaving the hotel. The checking-in process went smoothly enough and once through into departures we took advantage of our membership of Barclay's Premier to spend time in the VIP lounge where we could have a free breakfast, coffee, snacks etc. A quiet oasis from the hustle and bustle of the main departures lounge. Our American Airlines flight took off a tad late (fifteen minutes or so) but we made reasonable progress across the Atlantic although the flight was quite turbulent at times. I did get about half an hour's snooze time. The food was very good - chicken paella and pizza - and we were well looked after by the flight crew. We arrived at Raleigh/Durham at about 3 p.m. but it took us an hour and a quarter to get through immigration and custom formalities - having our fingerprints and photos taken in the process. Sara's Dad and Andrea were waiting for us and we had an emotional re-union. We drove the pretty route back to their wonderful home in the woods. The children absolutely love it here - Mary loves America and Tom loved having his own large room and TV to watch American programmes. We ate barbecued chicken legs and salad and then watched the Texas Rangers v. New York Yankees ball game - NYY have been knocked out of the World Series tonight and Texas Rangers are through. Tomorrow we will probably know who they play - Phillies or San Francisco Giants. Mary, Tom and Sara went to bed early and I followed just before midnight. Long day tomorrow driving down to Myrtle Beach. David and Andrea's hospitality is superb and it is nice to have the family together. I know the children will have some good memories this week.

A night at Heathrow

A second frantic packing day. Mary was off school today - her cold is quite bad and we were anxious that she didn't get too worse to travel. Lots of final arrangements to make - not least on-line checking in and other final travel documentation to see to - completing the correct formalities for entering the United States is so critical these days. Sara organised the pet care whilst we are away and dealt with other local issues. As usual we didn't get away as early as we hoped but did get to our overnight hotel at London Heathrow by 8.30 p.m. - time to get booked in and have a meal in the restaurant. Mary is still feeling unwell but her excitement of going to America tomorrow is helping her to try and forget it.

Getting ready for holiday

A day in the village today. Spent the morning writing up the blog and copying off various documents and copying passports etc. in readiness for our trip. At lunchtime I walked Ben the Gog up Witt Road and around Bentley Wood - following my normal circuit when we go for a short cycle ride. He had a wonderful time - plenty of nice smells and plenty of room to run around. We met Lynne and her black Labrador, Jack or Jake. This afternoon we started the packing process. Mary came home from school with a very sore throat - I do hope she is not going to be too poorly for the flight. When we went to the Bahamas last year Sara coughed her way across the Atlantic. Tonight Sara is off doing another Vie party - this time in Southampton. Unfortunately the party wasn't too successful this evening but she did get a couple of fresh leads.

Sent to Coventry!

Sara spent the day in Coventry today attending a Vie at Home business conference learning how to make her business more effective. Consequently I had the unenviable task of getting two hormonal children ready for school! Ben the Dog is easier to handle! I cooked breakfast for Tom - bacon and hash browns and warmed a croissant for Mary putting some jam in it. I spent a good deal of today dealing with final online paperwork for our trip to the States and dealing with banking matters. I picked Mary up from school this afternoon. The heavens opened today and we had an absolute downpour. Tonight I bought a Chinese takeaway for us which Sara also had when she finally got back from Coventry at around 7.30 p.m I watched some TV tonight - a programme on UFOs and Pete Waterman's documentary about the golden age of British railways. A relatively early night tonight.

Walks and Errands

Rushing around quite a bit today. Spent the morning dealing with mail and tidying up. At lunchtime I took Ben for his walk - again up Witt Road, up to the Green Barns, passing where the old East Kent Regent V bus used to be dumped and along the back of the Sheppard's house and onto to Weston Lane returning via the edge of the barley field (now ploughed) opposite us, along past the Village Hall. I called into home with Ben who enjoyed a few mini sausages as a treat and lapped up a couple of bowls of water. Returning him back home I met up with the Judy W who was taking her dog Jasper for a walk. Back home, I had a quick drink and a beef sandwich before driving into Salisbury to do some errands - haircut, buying Sara a black shrug - I managed to get the ideal garment from East for £10 (reduced from £49!) I also did some banking and bought some US dollars. I finished my errands with a cup of mocha and cream at Caffe Nero. Tonight Sara went to Bournemouth for a Vie branch meeting and took Mary with her. Tom and I stayed at home. I watched a few war films feeling too tired to start getting things together for America. I can do that tomorrow - Sara is away all day in Coventry on another Vie training session.

A Visit to Salisbury City Church

Woke up early again this morning. Sara and Mary went off to Totton this morning to attend a training course and accreditation for Sara to do wedding make ups. Tom and I had breakfast and then, at the invitation of Bev and Dave from Morning Star, we attended Salisbury City Church instead of going to the All Saints Baptism service. Bev and Dave have been inviting Sara to bring us to their church for several weeks now so we thought that we would go especially as Tom doesn't really like the baptism services. We arrived at South Wilts Grammar School, where City Church is situated, five minutes before it began and met up with Bev, Dave, Sharon and the two new residents. The service was well attended with about 100 or so present with an average age in their late thirties by my reckoning - plenty of children and teenagers too. We started with a few modern worship songs - which Tom liked as they were familiar from Spring Harvest - then prayers, a DVD made by the leader about his call to go to Madrid to plant a church there and finally a very long sermon/talk on Romans 15 v.17-24. The finished with another couple of worship songs and prayers. We stayed a little while for coffee and I had a chat with the leader challenging his figures that less than 1% of the population of Madrid are "believers". I pointed out that Spain was a major Roman Catholic country and that the percentage must be much higher. He countered that by saying that he was talking about evangelical Christians. I have some difficulty with this being concerned that he seemed to be saying that non-evangelical Christians are not Christians. As a main stream Anglican, does that call my Christianity into doubt? The depth of your belief is a matter for the individual and God. I wished him well in his endeavours in Spain although I personally believe his efforts would be better served elsewhere. Who am I to doubt the call he has had. This afternoon Tom and I went into Southampton to the tenpin bowling alley and enjoyed three games - we won one game each and then Tom one the decider. After calling in at Morrison's in Totton to get some horseradish sauce we returned home via Carlo's Ice Cream Parlour for a roast beef dinner (Sara managed to get back home before we did). Sara is working on the parish magazine tonight and I shall have an early night.

Titanic Auction at Devizes

We were up early today as Tom had a home football match this morning against Winchester Under 14s at Barry's Fields. I took Tom up for his training and then came back home to write up yesterday's blog and deal with some mail. I also called upon Julie McE for another subscription form for one of our new team members. I returned to watch the first half of Tom's match. Whilst I was there I saw Clarendon score two goals (the second by Tom) but had to leave at half time to drive to Devizes to get to the Titanic Auction in good time. Sara told me the second half was not so good and the final score was 2-5 to Winchester. I met up with Dave, Sue, Nikki, Amanda and Robert at Devizes and spent the afternoon in the saleroom of Henry Aldrich & Son. The biggest item sold was an original White Star Line poster advertising the Titanic and Olympic's transatlantic service for £53,000 (see picture). Dave bought a couple of original chairs from the Olympic's first class a la carte restaurant for £2,000. I, rather more modestly bought a plaque commemorating the end of the QE2's service and a mounted piece of her turbine blade when her steam turbine engines were removed and replaced by diesel engines in 1986. These items had original been owned by Captain Warwick, one of the QE2's former captains. After the sale, Dave, Sue, their friends Dave and Jim and I went to an excellent Chinese Restuarant called the Bamboo in central Devizes. We had a most enjoyable supper there - sharing a Chinese Banquet. A lovely day out. Unfortunately I discovered, when I got home, that Saints had lost their game at Huddersfield 2-0 and Grimsby had only been able to manage a 1-1 draw against Newport County at Blundell Park. Tomorrow Sara is spending the day at Totton on another Vie training course. Tom and I might go bowling in the afternoon.

Hope for Heroes

A very early morning start when Ed Thomas called for me to give him a lift into Salisbury to attend the special Ambassadors' Business Breakfast at the Grasmere Hotel. It was "Visitors' Day" today and so the meeting was well attended with the MP for Salisbury, John Glenn and a representative from Help for Heroes present. Ambassadors donated the sum of £1000 to that charity and it also gave me an opportunity to quietly hand over a further cheque from the sale of my masonic "Ezra" lecture. I was very impressed indeed with John Glenn who spoke a great deal of sense about the support needed for small businesses and training for the youth of today. After the meeting I drove to Waitrose, parked the car, and went into the city centre to collect my frame water-colour. I was very pleased with the result. I treated myself to a Costa Coffee before returning to Waitrose. In Castle Street I bumped into two former colleagues from my old company - would retired like me and the other on maternity leave. I filled up with fuel at Waitrose and then drove back to the village. I called in at the Lord Nelson's Arms to see Sara. The pub was really busy today and so after a glass of ginger beer (non-alcoholic!) and a chat with a few of the patrons I returned home to write up my articles for the parish magazine. Tonight I took Tom to the Sarum Academy at Bemerton Heath for football practice. He is feeling a bit low about his football (as are several of the other lads) after their last two crushing defeats. A pep talk from the manager, Gary, put him in better spirits. Tonight Sara was over at Potterne, near Devizes, doing a makeover for clients. She retuned home at around 11.00 p.m and we watched a TV programme about a haunted house in the States.

A Great Vie Party

A quiet day again today. Sara took the dog Ben for a walk and in the afternoon worked at the Lord Nelson's Arms for a funeral tea for an old established member of the village. I went into Salisbury to get my water colour painting framed and to pick up some more House Group material from Sarum College. I had a coffee and a pasty at Reeve's for lunch. I picked Mary up from school and delivered some letters around the village. Tonight Sara did a Vie Party at her dentist friend's selling an enormous amount of products thereby earning herself a considerable amount of commission. Tonight's House Group was a Methodist affair - three from the Methodist Church and myself. There is a Team Council meeting this evening so Richard could not make it and others are away. An early start tomorrow for the Ambassadors' Breakfast meeting in Salisbury.

Painting Again

A day in the village today - no travelling for a change. Sara wasn't needed at Morning Star today and so busied herself around the house until late morning when she went into Salisbury to buy some bits and pieces for the holiday. I took Ben out for his walk this lunchtime. He has a new short lead which tends to make him pull you along very quickly. We went on a mile and a half walk down Witt Road, across the fields to the Green Barn, along the edge of Barry's Fields overlooking our house and back down via the village hall tennis courts, passed our house and through the twitterns (a Sussex word I know) back to his house. His walk measured 1.49 miles which I am not sure whether that is long enough. It took us about 50 minutes - Ben of course runs about a bit so travels a bit further. Add another half a mile to get to and from his home - that meant a walk for me of 2 miles - like walking from Mum's to Blundell Park and back. I picked Mary up from school as she hadn't returned by the time Mary finished. This afternoon I wrote a lengthy article for the magazine Trolleybus about my trip to Walsall and did a water colour painting of the Sugar Loaf Mountain in Dublin as a birthday present for our good friend Sian who had come to Dublin with us earlier this year. She was unable to buy a print of Dublin and I offered to paint an original water colour of the Sugar Loaf following out trip into the Wicklow Mountains. I am quite pleased with the result although my colours are still rather strident and I need to "pastelise" them a bit. Had a relatively early night tonight but did wake up to watch the final Chilean miners being brought up from the mine at San Jose, Copiapo, Chile and see the wonderful re-unions with their families. 70 days trapped underground. The 33 miners were all brought up within a single 22 hour period. A remarkable achievement.

Deanery Synod

I was woken up suddenly at 7.00 a.m. by the alarm on my BlackBerry and was fully disorientated forgetting that I was sleeping on the floor of the nursery in Peter's house in Hove. Reassuring my self that I needn't actually get up yet I fell soundly asleep until 8.00 a.m. I had a shower and went downstairs and read my devotionals and yesterday's papers over a cup of tea. Peter joined me later and after a second cup we strolled up to Wheelies for breakfast. I left Peter at around 11 a.m. and drove to Salisbury where I picked up Tom's laptop from PC World. It needs to be sent to Acer for repair as it is under guarantee and the problems seem to be various hardware ones and not software. This evening I attended a meeting of the Deanery Synod taking Mike M-J, Ros and Nils with me to Sarum College. Debbie McIsaac had been successfully elected to General Synod and was also elected Lay Chair of Deanery Synod. As I had seconded her nomination for the former I was delighted. We broke into groups to discuss various key aspects of the Deanery Mission Statement and I jointed Peter O-E's group to discuss Mission and Evangelism. Peter is a delightful cleric and has some good modern ideas. He, like me, favours the growth of house groups to grow the church both spiritually and in numbers. After dropping off my passengers on the return trip to the village, I met Richard for a drink in the Lion's Head and to discuss a number of matters which need finalising before I go off to the USA. I have a very busy week ahead of me now with quite a bit of writing to do and also painting Sian's birthday present - a view of the Sugarloaf Mountain in Ireland.

Hove again!

In Brighton and Hove again today. I didn't get up very early at all. After having tea I stayed in bed and didn't actually get up until 10 a.m. having fallen asleep again! Sara and I ate a late brunch before I set off for Hove - arriving at Peter's around 3 p.m. We had tea and a chat before going into Brighton for the Civic Lodge Installation Meeting. We had a very good meeting. I was installed as the Senior Warden and despite a bit of "Wiltshire Working" we got through the ceremony painlessly - indeed, the officers of the lodge were complimented on the work this evening. I sat with the lodge's former secretary who lost his son a year ago. He and his wife are coping well and he said that if it was not for his faith he is not sure how he would have got through it all. We returned to Peter's at about 10.30 a.m. and spent a couple of hours chatting about all sorts of different topics over cups of tea. Finally I went to sleep around 1 a.m. after reading a couple of pages of St. Paul's biography which I started to read at Champney's.

Hove Synagogue Service

I was up very early this morning - my BlackBerry is now working again and the alarm awoke me at 7.00 a.m. After making tea for us, I left Sara in bed and walked to St. John's Church for the Early Morning Eucharist Service being conducted by Elizabeth. She gave an excellent homily on the words "thank you" and how they can often ensure a "second grace" and a deeper understanding of why somebody has done something for which you have thanked them. Returning home after the service I found the family still in bed and obviously not going to All Saints today. I spent part of the morning dealing with some mail from yesterday and then left to drive to Hove where I was attending a synagogue service in New Church Road. I arrived about half an hour early which was as well as parking is appalling in Brighton and Hove - residents parking restrictions everywhere. I had to park about four blocks away - outside St. Philip's Church of England church ironically. The service was extremely interesting - very traditional with very little congregational involvement. A cantor sings various prayers and psalms - a brilliant tenor voice with the music sounding more like an operatic aria than a sacred piece. The rabbi gave an address/sermon on charitable giving and the need to look after one another - very similar message to that of Jesus when he said "love one another as I have loved you" and "love your neighbour as you would yourself". After the service tea and cakes were provided by kosher caterers - the most wonderful cookies. Those of the Jewish Faith certainly know how to feed themselves and others. I called on Peter M as he lives in the same road but he was out. I returned home via Southampton where I stopped off at Town Pier to have a look at the new Cunard liner, Queen Elizabeth, which is to be named tomorrow just before she sets off on her maiden voyage (to the Canary Islands). She is a massive 92,000 tons - similar in appearance to Queen Victoria. I think she, like her sister, look top heavy with a massive superstructure above a shallow charcoal hull. Unlike her two predecessors she is not designed for the harsh North Atlantic run and will be confined to more sedate cruising. I think a name like Caronia, Mauretania or Carmania would have been more appropriate. I took a few photos in the failing light. I returned home around 7.30 p.m.

Another win for Saints

Had a lie in this morning - until 8 a.m. Made tea for me, Sara and Dave. Hoisted the Ugandan flag as today is the anniversary of Uganda's independence from the united Kingdom. Ivan came round with his tractor at 9.30 a.m. to remove the pile of debris and our old outside wooden table to put on the village bonfire for the 5th November. Dave got up late but came up to Barry's Field with me to watch the second half of Clarendon's game (they lost 0-5). Dave went into town with Sara and Mary to catch the bus back to Swindon where he lives. Tom and I drove to Southampton to watch the Saints' game against Tranmere Rovers which they won 2-0. Two wins and a draw in a row - things are now looking rosier for the team - they are only two points off a play-off position. All the sports' pundits are optimistic again. Tonight Sara and Mary went across the road to babysit for Karen and Paul. Tom and I had a Chinese takeaway and he spent to evening recording PlayStation games to post on You-Tube.

A trip to the dentist/Meeting an old friend

A busy day tidying up in anticipation of the visit of an old friend from Liverpool days - Dave. I was cooking a paella tonight and so ordered shellfish from Waitrose's fish counter to pick up later today. I had a dental appointment just before midday and agreed to have three of my top teeth veneered to make them appear straight although there is little that can be done for the bottom ones. At least the cost is much less than originally estimated as I do not now have to have a replacement chrome denture. The work will start on the teeth on 15th November after I return from the States. I had coffee and a pasty at Reeves in the market place before retuning to Waitrose to pick up my fish and drive home. I returned to Salisbury later in the afternoon to pick up Dave from Salisbury Station. He still works for Thamesdown Buses in Swindon but we have not seen each other for over 13 years. He stayed overnight with us and we caught up on each other's world. After dinner we went down to the Lion's Head where we met up with Richard - staying in the pub until about midnight. I didn't get immediately to sleep and watched a programme on Myra Hindley until about 2 a.m.

Wiltshire Provincial Grand Lodge - Annual Meeting

I spent most of today in Salisbury attending the Wiltshire Provincial Grand Lodge Annual Meeting at the City Hall and the accompanying lunch. After breakfast I dealt with any mail and then drove to the London Road Park & Ride car park and caught the bus into the city centre. I called into Vodaphone as my BlackBerry's sound system does not appear to be working. They took the back of it off, took out the Sim card and then it seemed to be working - that is until I tried to phone Sara fifteen minutes after I left the shop. There seems to be a loose connection to the speaker. I will need to take it in again (probably next week) after I've backed up the data. Spent a very pleasant time with old Provincial friends having a cold meat salad lunch with new potatoes and coleslaw followed by apple crumble. I was seated in the light airy part of the room where we had excellent service from the catering staff and stewards - better than those in the main area all crushed together. The meeting lasted just under two hours and was extremely well attended - although there was nobody representing Sussex Province. Two of my lodge's members were honoured today - Rod as Acting Provincial Grand Standard Bearer and Bryant as Past Provincial Grand Registrar. Unfortunately Bryant was unable to attend as he is currently training for lay ministry in the Church of England (Exeter Diocese) and was on a training course. Tonight the House Group met and started the study of The Sermon on the Mount. We began the meeting with prayer and the breaking of bread and sharing of wine. Mary kindly helped with the teas and coffees as Sara was out on one of her Vie evenings - this time at a school fundraising event in Eastleigh - apparently it was not a great success - she paid £15 for a table at the event and collected £18. With the cost of petrol this was not an economical exercise although she did get a few leads.

More Dog Walking/Sarum Installation Night

Sara spent most of the morning at Morning Star and I remained at home tidying up and dealing with post and writing letters and emails. At lunchtime I walked up to The Shripple and took Ben out for his midday walk - this time walking down the bye way to St. John's, along Witt Road and then taking a track off to the left about halfway along which, by a circuitous route, brought us to Bentley Wood near the picnic area. He had a wonderful time dashing about in the woodland smelling all the things that nature can provide to a dog. We walked back along Witt Road and back to his house via the same bye way - a total of 1.8 miles according to my reckoning. With the walk from our house to Ben's that meant a walk for me of 2.6 miles. This afternoon I had a telephone conference with a potential new client - an old colleague from my previous company who left a few years ago and is now being treated badly by her new employers. A possible tribunal case here. This evening I attended the Installation Meeting of Sarum Lodge at Crane Street in Salisbury after having dropped Tom's laptop off at PC world for them to see if they can get him back online. Tonight's meeting was pleasant even if the ceremony was quite poor. Fortunately we had a speaker who gave a very interesting lecture entitled "Masonic Oddities" about some of the more colourful character's in masonic history. We had an excellent dinner afterwards - soup (not sure what it was put possibly carrot and coriander), roast lamb with roast potatoes and vegetables, fresh fruit salad and ice cream and cheese and biscuits etc. I arrived back home at 10.45 p.m. to find that Sara's "Jamie Oliver Party" had broken up - Sara had ten ladies in this evening buying kitchen products under the Oliver label. Plenty of empty wine glasses and nibble remnants around so I guess they had a good time. Beats me how the find pleasure in such things (the kitchen stuff that is, not the wine and nibbles!). Sara's Dad phoned at around 11 p.m. to say that he had got tickets for the ice hockey game between Raleigh Hurricanes and New York Islanders which takes place the week we are in North Carolina. I think, at least, I might have a chance of understanding ice hockey rules.

The Inn of the Sixth Happiness

The weather was brighter again today. Spent the morning in the study and generally tidying up. Received a telephone call from one of my former colleagues in Dorking with some potential new work - assisting another former colleague with an employment problem. One of the local members of my Salisbury lodge called round to give me his letter of resignation - not a surprise as he has not been to a meeting for several years now and will have just received the subscription request showing an increase in dues. I fear we could lose others this way. After a light lunch of boiled potatoes and cheese I went into Salisbury to do some banking for Sara and to pick up some study material on the "Sermon on the Mount" from Sarum College and Sarum Bookshop. We start our studies properly again this Thursday. I also called in at a travel agents in town to make sure that I had completed all the necessary forms for entrance in the United States - their immigration regulations are extremely stringent. I received an email from Nils advising me that the Food for Thought event on Sunday had been cancelled due to lack of organisation and calling a special meeting, either this month or next, to discuss its future. I have already penned a short paper on this wanting to see more biblical teaching. Tonight Sara had a Vie party at Karen's house across the road from us. I entertained the children by making popping corn and we all watched the wonderful film "The Inn of the Sixth Happiness" which Mary particularly enjoyed. A fantastic yet true story of a very courageous woman.

Dog Day

The weather has improved today - everywhere is still wet and soft underfoot but the torrential rain we saw yesterday has stopped. A nice day at home today after my long trek to the Midlands yesterday. Spent the morning balancing off Complex's books as 30th September is our Year End. At lunchtime today we walked Debbie E's black labrador dog, Ben, for a mile and a half walk across Mill Lane and across the fields returning via Easton Common Hill to Ben's home in The Shripple. He was a very obedient dog indeed running off only once when he saw a pheasant. He retrieved his ball throwing toy each time he dropped it. Back home we had a late light lunch of cold meats, salad and hot new potatoes. We visited Mary's school in the afternoon and spoke to her teacher about her maths as Mary feels that the exercises she is being set are too simple for her. Apparently, things will get more challenging after this current term. Tonight Sara and I watched a couple of episodes of The Good Life before having a relatively early night.

Bussing in the Black County

Today marked the 40th anniversary of the closure of the Walsall trolleybus system and the West Midlands Transport Circle had decided to commemorate the event with a tour of the whole of the erstwhile system in a preserved Walsall Corporation motorbus - ironically, one of those bought to replace the trolleybuses. The vehicle chosen was Walsall 116 (XDH 516G) a 1969 Daimler Fleetline CRG6 with NCME body. I had already decided that I would like to join the tour as six trolleybuses from the Grimsby-Cleethorpes system had ended their days in Walsall and I had always wanted to see the routes they had operated on. This meant a very early start as the tour was to commence in Wolverhampton at 10 a.m. I left home at around 6.30 a.m. in absolutely pouring rain - again! There was little or no traffic on the road and so I made good time reaching my destination in Wolverhampton via the same route I had taken to Birmingham on Thursday. Entering Wolverhampton on the Birmingham New Road I had no trouble finding the Bradmore Community Centre using my updated SatNav and passed through the Fighting Cocks trolleybus terminus on the former Wolverhampton system. The rain was unrelenting as I got on the Walsall Fleetline. Being early I was able to get the upstairs offside front seat although a combination of raindrops on the window and internal condensation made it difficult to see out of without constantly wiping the window. One of the other passengers had been thoughtful enough to bring along with him a window scraper which did help. We set off just after 10 a.m. along the Bradmore Road into Wolverhampton where we picked up some more passengers in Stafford Street. From there we made our way along the new ring road to the site of the Wolverhampton-Walsall trolleybus route and then followed that route (No. 29) as best we could (road layouts have made it impossible to follow it entirely) all the way to close to the Walsall terminus in Townsend Street (again a one way system has made it impossible to replicate the route). We took photos of the vehicle in Willenhall, and at the Walsall terminus before systematically covering the routes as follows - 33 to Beechdale, Dudley Fields; 31 to Mossley Estate; 31/30 to Bloxwich Park - short comfort break - then to Walsall Bus Station stopping off at High Street Bloxwich to see one of only two remaining traction poles on the system. We took some photos in and around the bus station before driving out to Lower Farm Estate (Route 32) where we had lunch at the Saddler's Arms - sandwiches washed down with Banks's Best Bitter - they still serve mild on draft in the Midlands! The pub was on the Lower Farm Estate and is one of the surprisingly few pubs still open in Walsall. Clearly the recession and smoking ban have affected the drinking population of Walsall as we saw literally dozens and dozens of boarded up ale houses. After lunch the bus completed the tour of the routes by travelling along the 15/30 Blakenhall route in a clockwise direction returning to the main Bloxwich run via Proffitt Street to finish the tour at the old Birchills Depot. The bus was posed next to the second last remaining traction pole before returning via Wednesfield to Wolverhampton - thus incorporating one of Walsall's routes which was never built. We were back at Bradmore by 3.30 p.m. and I made my way back to Winterslow arriving home at 6.30 p.m. for a very tasty roast chicken dinner with wine. A most enjoyable day. It is a long time since I did anything quite so "anoraky" - well not since my visit to Sandtoft in July! I took a vast quantity of photos including the one above showing 116 on the Wolverhampton-Walsall route at Willenhall. I shall be writing articles for Trolleybus and Lincolnshire and East Yorkshire Transport Review over the next few days.

First League Home Win for Saints

Up early again today to take Tom to Old Basing to play football for Clarendon Junior FC Under 14s against Basing Rovers Under 14s. We all met up at the Hilltop Grill car park and drove in convoy to Old Basing - I was "volunteered" by Gary to lead the way with my SatNav. Fortunately my newly updated SatNav got us all there safely in good time. The Basing side were all big lads - one looked to be at least eighteen with a moustache! - and I am not convinced they were all under 14. The were quite an intimidating bunch. Tom play at the beginning but was substituted at half time when Clarendon were losing 5-0! The second half was better for Clarendon - they only let in one further goal - losing the game 6-0. After two convincing wins this was a great disappointment. Tom's team didn't seem to sparkle at all - they all looked tired and I wonder whether this has something to do with the late Friday nights at the Youth Club. We got back to Winterslow at 12.15 and spent a little bit of time in the garden with the BB-Guns firing at a tin can. Tom decided he was feeling too tired to get himself ready to go to Southampton for the Saints match against Bournemouth (I suspect he wanted to spend more time this afternoon with his new gun) and chose to accompany Sara and Mary to her ballet lesson in Salisbury. The traffic into Southampton was terrible again - I guess it was because of all the Bournemouth fans coming into the city. I didn't get to our usual car park until 2.15 p.m. so grabbed a sandwich and a sausage roll from the Co-op shop nearby and took my "packed lunch" into the ground with me. Saints won today 2-0 after Ricky Lambert scored two penalties - both clear to us supporters - and could have won by a bigger margin had other penalties been awarded and had our strikers been a little bit more on the ball. Still we have gone up another couple of places and Bournemouth dropped to third. The pundits on the radio feel that Saints will still be near the top come the end of the season - certainly if they continue to play as they did today. On my way back home I dropped some Vie at Home catalogues off to one of Sara's customers in Lords Hill - in the northern part of the city. Tonight, Sara cooked salmon with a salad and a bottle of white wine. I also spoke to Mum who seems well despite her aches and pains. I tried to speak to Sara's Dad in America but had to leave a message on his Skype voicemail. An early night beckons as I am taking part in a tour of the old Walsall trolleybus system tomorrow in a vintage Walsall bus and must be in Wolverhampton by 9.30 a.m. This means setting off at around 6.30 a.m.

Rain, Rain, Rain, Again!

A really miserable day today - more rain with gusty winds too! I was up early today to go to my Ambassadors Business Breakfast where a nursery teacher extolled the virtues of rain play! She was quite right but today I was feeling very tired indeed. We had to play a team game of filling baskets with conkers by throwing them in. My team was disqualified because I took a heap on conkers and threw them in all at once - well there were two lawyers on my team and nobody said they had to be filled one at a time! I called in to Tesco's for a jar of coffee and bread and had a cup of coffee with Sara before she went off to the Lord Nelson to work. Tom was off school today (another training day for the teachers) and I took him into Salisbury to but a couple of airsoft guns (one for me) which I hoped would help him be "one of the crowd" as one certain boy seems to be excluding him from the "gang". I gave him strict rules on the gun's usage and said that I would be supervising him (hence my gun) or ensuring he was properly supervised. I returned my library books (the the late return fines suggested that I had bought them!) before returning to the car. We also called in at PC World an established that Tom's laptop appears to have a virus and will need to go in for a check-up next week. We ended our trip with a very late lunch (4 p.m.) at the Hampton Park Inn. Tonight both of the children went to the Youth Club. Tom's "friends" apparently laughed at him when he told them the gun he had got - a pistol in the cheaper range - they are largely from wealthy families and have expensive guns which Sara and I are simply not prepared to pay for. I have told Tom that when the weather gets better we will do some shooting of our own.