When Harry met Sally

Bank Holiday Monday - the last one this year until Christmas Day. I woke to find the weather drizzling rain with a heavy fog/mist. No gardening today it seemed. I hoisted the Trinidad and Tobago flag (being their Independence Day) and made tea. I caught up with the BBC's Football League programme on the Internet and breakfasted on bread and marmalade. I had a fairly lazy morning but did manage to do some weeding later when the weather improves. Sara and I went through some old compact cassettes of music deciding which to keep and which we could donate to a Church Premises Fund sale later in September. I also set up a new printer/scanner/copier for Sara's and my laptop as the existing one has been jamming frequently. The replacement had new sophisticated software which needed downloading, but the result is a marked improvement and is altogether a neater and more attractive piece of equipment than its predecessor. Tonight we watched When Harry met Sally with a glass or two of French Cava. The New Year sequence at the end reminded me of my feelings on New Year 1995/1996. A great turning point in my own life. Now writing this blog at 12.40 a.m. whilst Sara repairs my Royal Arch apron for tomorrow night's chapter meeting in Salisbury. Tomorrow will be the 70th anniversary of the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany which sparked off the Second World War in Europe.

A Morning in Cleethorpes

I had a lovely lie in this morning after a late night watching Hornblower yesterday. Mum provided a breakfast of cereal and toast with fresh coffee. She later asked me to have a look in the loft to see if there was much stuff up there and I discovered a small hole in the roof which will need patching. I dropped in on Aunt Mim and Harry J in Cleethorpes and got a lovely welcome as usual. Mim made us coffee and Harry J joined us a little later having travelled by bus from Isaac's Hill. We chatted about the match and Sara's new life following retirement. Harry J confirmed that the Titan's factory had now closed after over 50 years. no longer will the white plume of smoke trail over Grimsby. A landmark gone although I suspect the plumeless chimney itself will remain for some time as it is used as a landmark for shipping. Both Mim and Harry looked really well but Harry still has problems with his right hand following surgery. I stopped off at Tesco's on the way back to Mum's and bought her some flowers and a couple of Sunday newspapers. Lunch was chicken casserole with mushrooms, potatoes and cabbage - very tasty, followed by strawberries and "sticky milk". I said my goodbyes and set off back for Winterlsow at just after 2 p.m. returning via the M180 and M1. The traffic was quite light but there are so many roadworks with speed restrictions which meant I didn't get back until 7 p.m. - a 5 hour journey which is reasonable but certainly not the shortest time. After a cup of tea and a brief chat with the family to hand over their presents (Mary's vacuum cleaner didn't work and will have to go back to Grimsby) it was down to the Lion's Head for the Pub Quiz. There were five of us and so we split into two teams - Klynn and Chris in one team, and me, Jeremy and Richard in the other. We ended up coming fourth and Klynn's team sixth. The winners this month being Max Buttimer, Cynthia's son and his team "Four at the Bar". Sara and I chatted for a while (I also updated my blog site) before turning in at around 1 a.m.

Down the Mariners!

I was woken by Mum’s cockerel alarm clock at 7 a.m. this morning but went back to sleep until just after 8 a.m. and then dozed, not getting up until 9 a.m. Mum cooked bacon and scrambled eggs for breakfast, washed down with a mug of tea. After breakfast I drove to Blundell Park and picked up my ticket for this afternoon’s match against Aldershot Town. I also bought Tom a new Mariner’s shirt and then went into McDonald’s to use their wi-fi to post yesterday’s blog and check on my emails. Returning to Mums, we then went out again to Ron Ramsden’s where I got some cash from the Post Office and we bought lottery tickets as well as a few little presents for the children. We returned back to Mum’s via Marklew’s Fish and Chip Shop where we bought lunch – two haddock, large chips with scraps and mushy peas – yum! A conversation was in progress between Glen (the owner) and a customer on the topic of some dreadful disease which is prevalent in Grimsby – which I believe from the description was motor neuron disease. After our lunch Mum dropped me off in Brereton Avenue and I walked the rest of the way to the football ground – she driving on to Scartho to play bowls with her friend Joyce (she won 31-1 apparently). The match this afternoon was truly dreadful. The Mariners lost 1-2 and showed very poor form. Their goalkeeper was Tommy Forecast on loan from Southampton who seemed incapable of keeping the ball out of the net and the rest of the team constantly tried to avoid passing it back to him. Southampton themselves were winning their match at Stockport until 20 seconds before the final whistle when they let in an equaliser! The loss of 2 points could be critical. The end of the match at Blundell Park was also disgraceful. A full scale fight broke out between the players with, seemingly, every player getting involved except Tommy – he didn’t seem to want to get involved with anything today! Two Mariners’ players, including Barry Conlon, their top striker, were red-carded and will face a three-match ban. On top of the mounting injury list, things look really black for Grimsby Town. A new song has found its way onto the Blundell Park terraces – Que sera sera, what ever will be will be, next year we’ll play Salisbury, que sera sera! Quite appropriate for me! This evening I took Mum for a drive around the area – up to Immingham past Titans factory which seems to have stopped production again – no white smoke belching out of the tall chimney – and past Steve Chalke’s Oasis Academy at Immingham. We drove through the Brocklesby Estate of the Earl Of Yarborough and on to Waltham and eventually onto Cleethorpes seafront. Mum cooked steak for dinner and we watched “Meet the Fokkers” and “Match of the Day”. When Mum went to bed I wrote up this blog as a word document for posting tomorrow whilst also watching “Hornblower”. Neither of us won the lottery this evening, by the way!

Along the Fosse Way to Lincolnshire

A varied day today. Went into the office in Salisbury first thing and worked through until 1 p.m. apart from a quick trip to the bank to pay some money in! Beginning of the month and all that! Attended the Christian Union meeting where we studied Philippians 3. In fact the whole of this Epistle would be a really good one for us to study at House Group as it really does deal with the issue of how we should live our ordinary lives as Christians - how we can show we are Christians to the outside world and display the standards which we aspire to have. After the meting I tidied up and went home having decided to take the afternoon off as holiday. Sara returned home at around 3 p.m. telling me of the problems which she had had with the bank over a payment she had made to the Canadian provider of Club Penguin an Internet club which Mary had subscribed to. This small payment to a Canadian company had alerted the bank's fraud squad! Her card had been blocked and this then caused difficulties over a payment of a new cooker she is purchasing in the UK! I guess we should be grateful for the high level of security displayed by the bank but the need to phone people in, yes you've guessed - India, just adds to the stress. The bank had old phone numbers too which made it impossible for them to phone and let Sara know in advance. Having got that sorted out I then finished my packing for my trip to Swindon and Grimsby. I left home at around 4.00 p.m. and got to my masonic meeting in Swindon at 5.15 p.m. There, as a Provincial Grand Officer, I was not required inside the lodge until around 5.45 p.m. so my fear of being late because of heavy traffic around the M4 was unnecessary. The meeting went slower than anticipated and I decided to leave before the lectures but after the full installation. As I retired tonight as the Senior Deacon, I had no more duties to perform so sneaked off and was on the road to Lincolnshire by 7.30 p.m. - indeed I was in Stow-on-the-Wold by 8.10 p.m. I had a good journey up along the Fosse Way via Warwick, Coventry, Leicester, Newark, Lincoln and finally Grimsby, arriving at my mother's at 11.30 p.m. Mum and I had a coffee and whisky and chatted until 1.30 a.m. Tomorrow, I'm off to see the Mariners play Aldershot at Blundell Park and as I write this up, I have just got my ticket in the Findus Stand - yes the John Smith's Stand has reverted to its original name. In view of the low attendances of late it is an appropriate name being nicknamed the "Find Us" stand by the opposing fans. Must also pick up my Lotto winnings too on Saturday - £2!! Well its better than nothing!

A Day in Devon and along the Jurassic Coast

I had set the alarm for 5.30 a.m. today and it woke me up on time. I snoozed for about 10 minutes then remembered that I was going to Exeter today and needed to be at the Southgate Hotel near the cathedral in the city centre by 9.00 a.m. I made tea for Sara and me and ate a hurried marmalade sandwich. I hoisted the Devon flag before setting off for that county. The traffic was good but the weather got cloudier and cooler as I got further west. I arrived at the Southgate early and was able to park close to the reception door. I met up with Andrew N and we went across to the Employment Tribunals where I was able to agree a settlement at the door of the court with the barrister on the other side and our appearance before the Judge ended up as a relatively quick rubber stamping job. Andrew and I returned to the Southgate for a well earned cappuccino (we were very pleased with the final settlement). We discussed pensions and retirement provisions in this new world. I then went into our Exeter office just outside the city and caught up with my emails. I also learned that a new tribunal claim had been lodged in Exeter so it looks as though I'll be back again soon! I left the office at around 4.30 p.m. and took the coast road back - it is such a lovely journey along the "Jurassic Coast" and I must take Mary to Charmouth where there is an excellent fossil beach. I also crossed the Seaton Tramway and saw one the the new double decker trams (yellow in colour). Not much of a House Group tonight - only Steve. We discussed moral dilemmas for Christians and hit upon the idea of making the subject of the Group when it reconvenes "How we can lead good Christian lives" or "How should Christians live?" with the emphasis on the practicalities of showing Christian principles in our daily lives. I am sure that there is plenty of material and I'll have a look in the Sarum Bookshop next week. Have started the packing for my trip to Grimsby tomorrow. Will finish it off tomorrow morning.

Wet BBQ/Death of Senator Teddy Kennedy

A wet miserable day today. At least I was working in Salisbury again and therefore no long commute in the rain. I was hopeful of settling a case today to avoid having to go down to Devon (Exeter) tomorrow but despite all our efforts it seems that I am going to have to get down to Exeter for 9 a.m. tomorrow - so an early start in the morning - probably need to get up at 5.30 a.m. It was announced this morning that Senator Teddy Kennedy had died overnight, aged 77. He had been suffering from a brain tumor. He was the last of the four brothers and the only one not to have died a violent death. Tonight, Jeremy and Sue hosted the Food for Thought BBQ and because of the rain the food was cooked in the garage and eaten in their large kitchen. The children, however, braved the weather and went swimming in their pool despite the rain. I stayed from 7.00 p.m. until 9.00 p.m. as I wanted to get back, write this blog, sort out my papers for the morning and get an early night. Because I have not been sleeping too well (or rather finding it hard to get to sleep) I have tended to oversleep in the morning so need to try and have a relatively early night tonight.

An Indian Lunch

Woke up rather late again this morning - 7.35 a.m. but no worries as I was only commuting into Salisbury today and even though I didn't get into the office until 8.30 a.m. there were still plenty of car parking spaces left. The HR Department was almost deserted and I had plenty of desks to choose from to work at. As it is, being a creature of habit, I guess, I sat at Tricia's former desk. Somehow I don't feel right sitting where Sara used to be. It's still her desk to me. Having decided to have a break this weekend before the summer holidays formally end next week, I rang Mum and arranged to go up to Grimsby on Friday night after my Wiltshire Masters' Lodge meeting in Swindon. It will mean arriving at around midnight, even with me not stopping for the dinner after the meeting, but at least I'll be in Grimsby on Saturday morning and will not have to rush up on Saturday morning. I also bought a ticket for the Grimsby Town v. Aldershot League 2 match at Blundell Park (BP) on Saturday afternoon. I'll need to pick it up at BP on Saturday morning from the Mariner's shop. At lunchtime I joined some of the chosen Claims Team at Anokaa's, the upmarket Indian restaurant in Fisherton Street, for a wonderful lunchtime buffet meal to celebrate Susan's impending wedding. The buffet starter was exceptionally good. It was followed by a mild chicken curry and rice and fresh fruit salad - mangoes, melon and pineapple. Tonight Tom and I went to St. Mary's Stadium to watch the second round clash between Southampton and Birmingham City. Saints played brilliantly and scored first but, unfortunately, let two in to lose 1-2. If Saints could continue to play so well in their league games they could really take the division by storm.

Dorking - "The Land of Lego"

In Dorking again today - but probably my only day there this week. Awoke just before 7 a.m., made tea, showered and got myself some strawberry crisp cereal. Anthony woke early too and made himself a weak tea. We left at just before 8 a.m. and arrived at the Dorking office at just before 9.30 a.m. I spent the morning dealing with a few emails and tidying up post received last week. At lunchtime, I got myself an egg mayonnaise and cress roll and a takeaway mushroom soup. Having eaten these at my desk I drove over to Denbies' Vineyard and walked up through the vines (Chardonnay predominantly - no Alan Rickman around either!) ) to where James May of Top Gear fame is building a real life size house (which he will live in for one weekend) out of ordinary Lego bricks. It was a hot dusty walk up through the vines and after seeing James and his colleagues working on the hose I treated myself to a home made ice cream back at Denbies' main building. It was fascinating to see how he was building the house - using large bricks pre-made at the weekend by over 1,200 members of the public who put them together from the tidy ordinary bricks! James anticipates completing the house in 3-4 weeks. The views from the top of the Mole Valley were stunning. More work when I got back this afternoon. It was announced that another 22 people are retiring as a result of all the changes. I spoke to our good friend Peter M in Hove who has promised to come over within the month and fit new mirrored doors to the wardrobe in the Family Room. We will not do anything about the wardrobe doors in the children's rooms at the moment as they may very well be ripped out if we go ahead with our possible extension. On the way home this evening I called in at Roger's in Grateley and hit a basketful of balls on his golf driving range and practised a little putting. Both driving and putting seemed much improved over yesterday afternoon. Must keep my eye and swing in over the winter this year. When got home I found that the we were in the middle of an extensive power cut. The children couldn't watch TV or play with their games consoles. The electricity came back on in about 45 minutes, went off again and now, as I type these notes up, it has been on for a couple of hours. Sara has spent the evening making a claim against the pig man who let us down so badly on the day of her birthday celebration. We should make a full recovery but he really ought to be brought to justice.

England regain The Ashes

A great day today for English sport - our cricketers have regained The Ashes and restored confidence in English cricket. Another packed day today. Tom and I went to church this morning - 9.30 a.m. Morning Worship officiated by Bill T who was "substituting" for Cynthia who is currently unwell. The hymns would have appealed at a Funeral Service and were not altogether appropriate in my view to a lighter Morning Worship service. Bill gave an interesting sermon but there were only 22 people in the congregation to listen to it. The service only lasted 40 minutes which seemed to please Tom. After the service, Tom walked home whilst I stayed behind for a quick coffee and an natter with a few people and to arrange a game of golf with Richard. Once home, Tom did quite a number of domestic chores - which he did very well - and I did some gardening - principally mowing the two inside lawns. Lunch was spaghetti hoops for Tom and toast and peanut butter for me. I met Richard up at Wilton Golf Course and we managed to play 18 holes - reasonably well too - our trips to Grateley have certainly helped improve our game. Whilst driving into Salisbury I phoned Mum for a quick chat - she was preparing a late lunch for herself of roast chicken - and also heard that England had run out two further Aussie batsmen - one of whom was Ponting. Later, whilst on the course I spoke to Sara on the phone who gave me the great news that Australia were all out and that England had won The Ashes. Yipeeee!! What a series it has been! After our game I stopped by at Anthony's and picked him up to bring him back home for a BBQ and then to the Lion's Head. Once home I hoisted the Australian flag below the English one to show that England had won the cricket. We ate chicken, chicken drumsticks, prawns and sausages with corn on the cob and new potatoes. Lovely, although the prawns did get a bit overcooked. Geoff could not join us in the Lion's Head tonight but Chris, Richard and Klynn did and we stayed and chatted (largely about makes of aeroplane) over a couple of pints of beer until around 10.30 p.m. Anton thinks I should keep the two flags (England and Australia) flying tomorrow. Perhaps I will. Anthony is staying in the Family Room tonight and will journey up with me to Dorking tomorrow.

A Lovely Day with Family and Friends

A really lovely day today. Sara and I didn't get up until well after 9 a.m. and the children didn't rise either until late. We ate separate breakfasts and after I had hoisted the Saints' flag we set off in separate cars for Southampton - Sara following me. We parked in our usual car park and went to Chiquito's for a family lunch - quite a rare event and something we don't often do on match days. We had a lovely lunch which was served to us by an attentive Pole from near Czestokova which I visited in back in the 1980s. I had a Mexican paella which was tasty but nowhere near as good as my own homemade version. It was pleasant to sit together and have a meal before we went off to the game - usually it is fish and chips at the St. Mary's chippie. I bet they missed us today! Tom and I left Sara and Mary and went on our way to St. Mary's for the Saints v. Brentford game. Southampton are still minus nine points and badly needed a win today. The weather was quite hot as we reached the stadium and Tom and I sat a few rows down from our season ticket seats where it was a little cooler. The game was fast and furious and Saints managed to get ahead with a goal in the 70th minute. Unfortunately, Brentford equalised 1o minutes later and the final score was 1-1. Fortunately, today there were two other sporting triumphs - Grimsby beat Bury 1-o away at Bury to pick themselves off the bottom of the League 2 table to fifth from bottom and England consolidated their position in the Fifth Ashes Test to lead Australia by 546 runs. Barring a brilliant performance from Australia or rain, England should win back The Ashes. Returning to Winterslow, I replaced the Saints flag with the England flag and joined Sara and Mary at the BBQ next door at Geoff and Liz's. Mary enjoyed the hot tub and Sara and I enjoyed the wonderful conversation with Jeremy, Sue and Jo. The wine, good food and lovely company led to some interesting and frank discussions about many subjects, and we have decided that we must have another dinner party soon and invite them. Sue, Sara and Jo were in good spirits and we had a really enjoyable time. We discussed holidays and places we have visited and Poland came up a second time as an interesting country but, this time, in the context of the occupation by Nazi Germany. We also discussed Venice and how it is really difficult for children to have an interest in such a place. I have invited Geoff and Jeremy to join us at the pub tomorrow night when Anthony is here to celebrate his birthday with us. Returned home feeling very mellow and realising we have some good friends and neighbours.

Unreality Television - The Tudors!

Well the weekend is nearly here - just one more day in the office today and then its the weekend. A journey to Dorking today and Sara woke up early with me to bake some ginger biscuits for me to take into the Dorking office as part of a Breast Cancer charity day. Everybody had to dress and pink and I wore my red England football shirt as the nearest thing I have in pink. Others brought in cakes and a bottle of Cava was raffled. The seemed to go very quickly with quite a bit of paperwork to catch up on. I briefly went into the town centre on the courtesy bus to visit the bank and query a new debit card I had received as I didn't think I was due for a new one. Apparently the date on the card and the date on their computer did not match. How much faith can you put in banks these days? Anthony had a lift back with me this evening as far as Andover where I dropped him off at the station. It is his birthday tomorrow and he had no plans to celebrate it or do anything this weekend. Sara and I have, therefore, invited him to come over on Sunday evening for a birthday barbecue and he can also come down to the Lions Head for a drink with a few of us afterwards. I will need to pick him up somewhere on Sunday as he cannot drive. After dropping him off, tonight, I met up with Richard C at Grateley and we spent a pleasant evening playing nine holes of golf. I had been on the driving range earlier and my tee shots were quite good tonight - but not my short game. We finished up in the Lion's Head where the bar area is so much bigger and seems friendlier now that the chimney breast has been removed. We had just one pint each before I went home where I watched the new series of The Tudors with its bad casting and choices of location - a mountainous Lincolnshire, for example, or the town of Pontefract consisting of one single castle and nothing else. A compulsive programme to watch if only to study the every ludicrous casting.

A day without wine is like a day without sunshine (Anon)

Woke this morning with a splitting headache - my neck still hurts and I am sure that I am suffering from some form of whiplash from the dreaded backward roller coaster at Thorpe Park. I don't suppose Klynn's whisky last night helped my head either. It was drizzling rain when I looked out and the cars were covered in rain. I drove into the Salisbury office and once again managed to get the last remaining car parking space. I had two meetings today both of them reasonably light and I worked hard at getting my Performance Management Agreement in a form I could present next week and also drafted a couple of settlement agreements. I had the usual curry for Thursday lunch and walked it off with a quick saunter into town. I stopped off especially at Tesco's tonight to buy some roses and carnations for Sara who hasn't been feeling too good lately. Once home I mowed the bank and extended my lawn cutting to include some of the bank belonging to our neighbours - at least it makes ours look neat that way. Big arguments between the kids tonight - summer holidays are far too long - and after a busy day in the office this is the last thing I need. I am getting really stressed out by them and just lately seem to be living in an unremitting world of stress - home, family and job. Sara and I watched an Alan Rickman film - Bottle Shock, about how an English wine connoisseur living in France challenged the Californian vinters to a blind tasting contest against the finest French wines near Paris. The Californians won of course! A great film which reminded me of my trip to the Napa Valley in 1989 and all the wine tasting I did there. Also today, the England cricket team have been making heavy weather of their first innings at The Oval today ending with 307 for 8. They are making it difficult for themselves to take the Ashes.

Barbecue

I worked at home today and I was glad I did as it was so hot and the study seemed the coolest place. Sara set off early for London Heathrow Terminal Five to attend a Virgin Vie Conference at a posh hotel up there leaving me with the the two children. Mary did quite a few little jobs around the house whilst Tom lounged on the settee watching the Athletics from Berlin. Mary will be rewarded with some spending money for our holiday later this year. I dealt with a number of cases trying to settle a few to avoid having to go to court later on. Unfortunately, most of the people I needed to speak to, or their client, are currently on holiday so it was all rather frustrating especially as I am not on holiday. Klynn and Susan very kindly took the children in the afternoon leaving me free to deal with some more paperwork and emails without the fear of the children getting into mischief somewhere else in the house. Tonight Klynn helped me get everything together to take down to the Rec. As I expected, our barbecue would not go in Klynn's car so he kindly offered his own for the evening. The turnout was not large but it was a glorious evening and the company was lovely. I played some cricket with Tom and James too. Sara arrived a little after 7 p.m. having had a lovely day in London where she had been entertained by a Take That tribute band (from her earlier telephone calls to me I think she thought that they were the actual band). After the barbecue I helped Klynn take his barbecue back home where we had a couple of glasses of Laphroaig whisky. A pleasant if a little frustrating day at times.

Spinning Plates

I didn't wake properly this morning until around 8.10 a.m. - very late for me when I am working in Salisbury as I cannot be sure of getting a car parking space if I arrive after 8.00 a.m. As it was I didn't get into the office until 9.15 a.m. and much to my amazement there was one single parking space left which I quickly took. I had a wealth of matters to deal with today - all seeming to be time critical and needing my urgent attention with emails and telephone messages coming at me from all sides. Not for the first time recently did I feel like that performer at the circus who has to keep all the plates spinning and not let any fall off the stick whilst at the same time adding more. It really did feel like that and it was not helped by the fact that I had a pain in the neck from yesterday and a resulting headache. I had lunch with Derek E (liver and bacon with beautiful mash) and slipped out to get Klynn a birthday present - a boxed set of World War II videos - and to the bank. This evening, Tom and I went to Swindon to watch the Saints lose 1-0 to Swindon Town at the County Ground along with another 2,998 Saints supporters. It was a truly awful football match lacking any lustre or inspiration. Saints have now played 3 league matches and dented their 10 points penalty by just one point from a possible 9. In my view, if they are not in positive points by the end of September they are staring League 2 football next season firmly in the face. The evening wasn't made any better by learning that Grimsby Town lost 1-2 at home to Rotherham tonight. They have no points at all from their three matches. This means that if Saints go down to League 2, Grimsby Town may not be there to welcome them next season! The one good thing was that we parked a short distance from the ground and we were able to get away fairly quickly arriving back home at 11 p.m. Tomorrow is going to be a tough day. I am working at home so that Sara can go to London. Klynn is going to take the kids in the afternoon and then we are hosting a Food For Thought Barbecue on the Rec at 6.30 p.m. As Sara will not be back until about that time it looks like Klynn and I will have to get everything arranged. Time for bed I think!

A Dorking Day

Off to Dorking today. Weather and traffic both kind this morning. The office was very quiet when I got there and I set about dealing with a number of important tasks which I carefully listed in order of priority. Dear Ann and Sylvia plied me with a number of cups of tea and coffee as my secretary is still currently on holiday in Cornwall. I had lunch with my usual Dorking colleagues before returning to the office for a telephone conference. This evening I stopped off at Grateley and played 9 holes of golf shooting a 40 - not very good after yesterday's 32 - although I did get two pars which made me quite happy. Tonight I worked on my articles for the Parish Magazine and wrote the blog. Tomorrow, Tom and I are going to Swindon to see Saints play their second away game. hopefully we will see a win as Swindon haven't started off very well either. It is likely to be a tough match and the away tickets have been a sell out. We'll need to get to Swindon in good time I think tomorrow.

A Lie In

I have to confess that the first half of today is pretty much an unconscious blur as, unbelievably, Sara and I didn't get up until nearly midday - missing church and all the usual Sunday activities. All the activity and early mornings coupled with several late nights this last week have obviously taken their toll and I needed the rest. In fact I did get up at around 8 a.m. this morning, made tea for us and hoisted the South Korean flag on the pole before returning to bed and doing a couple of Sudoku puzzles before reducing my "brain age" from 62 to 33 on my Brain Training programme on the DS. The weather seemed hot and I was glad to just doze off again in bed. The children made their own breakfast and spent the morning watching the TV. In the afternoon Sara went off to Tesco's at Andover with both the children and I did some paperwork and general tidying up. This evening we had a roast chicken supper and Sara baked some Bakewell tarts. All very yummy. Richard C and I went off and played 9 holes at Grateley. The relaxation of today certainly seemed to have had a positive effect on my golf as I hit four pars and a birdie to go round in only 32 - my course best for 9 holes. We also played the first two again with two bogies each. Richard was very impressed with this small course and agreed with me that it is an excellent course for bettering the medium/short game and so close and easy for us. I might take my clubs to work tomorrow with a view to knocking off the 9 holes again tomorrow evening on my way back from Dorking - see if I can build on my good score today. Richard and I ended up in the Lion's Head for a quick London's Pride before I returned home. Sara's allergy seems to be getting worse today and her rash is not disappearing. More piriton this evening. Off to Dorking again tomorrow.

An August Saturday at Thorpe Park

Today was the big day for taking Tom and his two friends to Thorpe Park as a belated birthday treat. His friends Robert and James both arrived well before 9.00 a.m. and we set off around 9.30 a.m. arriving at a very full car park at the amusement park at around 11 a.m. It took us about 20 minutes to get through the entrance gates where I discovered that my ticket would cost an astronomical £35! The lads got in free thanks to some coupons Sara had managed to get from Tesco loyalty points otherwise it would have cost me £115! (with a family ticket too). Once inside we headed for the Tidal Wave bridge and then on to The Stealth - an enormous roller-coaster type ride which resembles the London Eye but the car travels and twists on the outside! Faint heart never won fair lady but as there were no fair ladies to win I opted for the faint heart and sat down with my DS Suduko puzzles whilst the lads queued for 40 minutes for the 30-second ride! After that we had a KFC bargain bucket whilst watching the Tidal Wave. After lunch the lads went on the Nemesis paying a £3 supplement to avoid the 75 minute queue! We all went on the Logger the Tidal Wave and the X One Way Out (all taking about an hour to queue) after which I was feeling a little queasy and left them to go on a further nasty-looking vomit producing ride whilst I was typically British and had a nice (sort of) cup of tea. For the record I got wet on the Logger, got absolutely soaked on the Tidal Wave and spent five (as it seemed) terrifying minutes going backwards in the dark on a devilish roller coaster called X One Way Out. We left at around 7 p.m. arriving back in Winterslow at 8.40 p.m. After a short time with the family I joined the two Richards, Klynn, Ben and Jeremy the Lion's Head for a drink. Jeremy felt I had four things to be optimistic about for the day - 1. it hadn't rained, 2. I brought all the boys back in one piece, 3. they had a great day out and 4. It will be Sara's turn next time to go to Thorpe Park. I can think of better ways of spending £35 than being made to feel ill. The night down at the pub ended a very long day and it was an opportunity to say "a bientot" to Richard B.

Voices

It was good to finish the last working day of the week in Salisbury. It seemed very quiet in the office today with so many people clearly on holiday. Started the morning with a "skinny latte" and a cheese scone - taking me back to my days at the Corporation of London when the voice of the French trolley lady - whose name now escapes me - would sing out "Uuuurrrn" in a strong French accent as she wheeled it along the along the corridor; the wheels of industry coming to a grinding halt as we all queued up for our coffee from the "Urn" and a thick buttered cheese scone. I can still taste them now some 27 years later! It was no good trying to ring any of the Corporation's officers when the coffee and tea urns were on patrol. If you did miss the urn because you were taking a phone call then it often meant a wander around the Guildhall until you found her by which time the buttered scones would be depleted or departed! Before returning home tonight I called in on the Mercedes garage for them to check my tyres and reset the computer warning system. The air in one tyre was a little down but nothing to worry about. Back home I tidied up the kitchen and got out two sets of golf clubs for Richard B and me to play golf down at Grateley. Sara and the children returned home from Intech in Winchester where they had had a great day visiting the planetarium and other exhibitions (including one on bees) and were full of excitement. Richard and I spent a very pleasant two and a half hours on the course and completed 17 holes - the bad light defeating us in the end. We returned back home via Porton where we bought a Chinese takeaway. Sara, Richard and I had supper together at home before he left at around 11 p.m. I then wrote this blog whilst Sara watched TV. Tom had put together an excellent video presentation to the music of "I heard the Voice of Jesus Say" which was really well done. I think we should get it used at a church service soon. This is the sort of thing which will encourage the youngsters to become more involved in church life.

Back to Church Sunday

Woke up at around 7 a.m. today and left for Dorking at around 7.30 a.m. I brought up tea but Sara was still sleepy. I did get up in the night to have a look for any Perseids but the sky was very overcast and this morning it was very clear that it had rained quite a bit in the night. The journey to Surrey was not too bad this morning although a car had turned over on the slip road linking the M3 and M25. I still arrived in the office at 9.20 a.m. I had a meeting in the morning and attended a presentation to the executive managers on the proposed merger. It was quite a "curate's egg" sort of a day with some things going well and others not quite so. Tonight Richard joined us for dinner and the House Group. Tm and Mary had put together a video for You-Tube which they were very proud of. Tonight at House Group we discussed why people have left the church and discussed the Back to Church initiative being put together by the Church of England for 27th September. We had a lively debate and, in particular, considered ways in which children of Tom's age could find church more relevant and fun. It is difficult but hopefully we can come up with some good ideas to take back to the PCC. Tomorrow we'll try and continue the discussion in the Lion's Head. Feeling very tired again tonight.

More New Beginnings

Another day in Salisbury with an early meeting with the HR Case Management Team. There was also a short presentation by the HR Director on the topic of the merger/takeover. Nothing new really - business as usual and continued cost cutting/rationalisation (known as transformation!) until a further company is targeted and taken over - then we can expect "harmonisation" and "economies of scale". Sara came in briefly to distribute ginger biscuits to her colleagues and to collect a present and some potatoes from her namesake from Lincolnshire. Many of the jobs I am anxious to do rely upon clear instructions from clients who are on holiday - so quite a bit frustrating. I therefore spent a good deal of the day "rationalising" my emails and "transforming" my mailbox. Arrived home on time this evening after stopping off to fill my car with fuel and air - the nearside front tyre recently fitted by Kwikfit (see previous blog) seems to be leaking air - I'll need to keep a close eye on it. After a quick supper of stir-fry pork and Thai sauce with noodles I went back into Salisbury to meet John and our new proposed candidate, Lee, who is wanting to join the Lodge. We met at the Lodge room where we showed him around the building and he saw some of the objects we use in our ceremonies. Afterwards we went to the New Inn where I had gone for Jane's farewell drinks. We spent an interesting hour in that pub talking about Lee's interesting job in the security business. Ann from our office was serving behind the bar and it made for a really friendly and homely environment. On the way home my car gave out a warning light about low pressure in the tyres so i really will have to look at that tyre again. It didn't seem to have gone down but tomorrow morning should tell me if there is a problem. I have an early meeting in Dorking to discuss performance management agreements - what joy! There should be a good display of Perseids tonight but it has clouded over heavily and the night is much cooler than yesterday.
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Meteoric

I worked in Salisbury again today mainly dealing with agreements and draft presentations. A really hot day reaching 32.5 degrees Celsius by the afternoon. We learned this morning that a deal had been struck for our Company to merge (a euphemism it seems for a takeover) with a consolidator. This will still need the approval of shareholders and regulators but is pretty much a foregone conclusion I suspect. It has been long expected so nobody seemed to be in the least bit surprised or worried. It can only really mean good news long term. Tonight Tom and I went to St. Mary's to see Saints play Northampton in Round 1 of the League Cup. A 2-0 win was recorded and a debut goal for our new striker, Rickie Lambert. All three new signing, Lambert, Harding and Murty, played well and I have a good feeling about the season ahead. A meteoric rise I hope. Talking about meteors, tonight we were promised a good show from the annual Perseid Meteor Shower. On our way back from Southampton, Tom and I stopped off at East Tytherley in the drive of friends of ours to view the night sky. We were treated to a really bright streaking meteor but after that only a few dimmer smaller ones before the waning Moon rose to wash out the rest. The Moon certainly does not help a good show this year. Sara and I watched an interesting drama documentary on the Omagh Bombing from the point of view of the victims and their families. Many unanswered questions remain. Having visited Omagh on one of my trips to Northern Ireland I was struck by how much it is an ordinary small market town just like Salisbury and how much death and destruction was caused to innocent shoppers that Saturday eleven years ago.

Poltergeist?

It was so difficult to get up - felt quite stiff from all that exercise yesterday and my back ached and my wasp sting still stung! Went downstairs to check the Internet connection and found it was still not working. Knowing that Sara would be in "cold turkey" if I didn't repair it I simply disconnected the router from the mains supply and plugged it back in again. Amazing it worked. I reckon I could get a job on one of the IT help desks in Bangalore! That's all they ever seem to tell you to do. Why didn't I do that last night instead of trying to find a sophisticated technical solution - me a Luddite. The next crisis to hit was the loss of the garage key! Nowhere to be found. Eventually had to leave without finding it. Eventually Sara phoned me to say it was found in my beige trousers' pocket. I can't believe that as I searched those pockets first thing. We must have poltergeist or something. Apparently some tools she was working with in the kitchen disappeared at the same time and I couldn't find the bean shredder either the other day. Perhaps the same poltergeist disconnected the Internet too! Eventually arrived in Dorking at around 9.30 a.m. Anthony was shocked to see me as he assumed I was not in Dorking today. He could have saved himself a rail fare from Salisbury had he checked! I dealt with a number of pieces left over from last week and submitted some expenses from my corporate credit card. I also managed to book tickets for the Saints away game at Swindon next Tuesday. It seems that the away supporters tickets are going to be a sell-out and we could only get one of the last 250 remaining tickets for the open un-covered Stratton End seats at the County Ground. Let's just hope it doesn't rain that evening. At least they were a good deal cheaper than the Arkell Stand. We will be seated behind the goal. I must remember to pick them up at St. Mary's tomorrow night. I left the office at around 5.30 p.m. getting back home just as The Archers was finishing. Tom, Mary and I went up to Barry's Fields and played some cricket in the nets. I bet we could get ourselves selected for the Fifth Ashes Test for England - well not really. Mary enjoyed her first real experience of cricket and did some great under-arm bowling. After a light supper of pizza and mango, I wrote up this blog and also yesterday's following the loss of the Internet connection.

Not Yet Par!

A very active day today despite the heat - it seemed to be the hottest day so far this year. We had a hasty breakfast and then off the church. Tom was very reluctant to go and moaned about how boring church is. Despite all this we still arrived in relatively good time and found the church quite empty - a combination of holidays and the fact it was a praise service I think. Linda took the service and gave us another one of her very inspirational and fun talks - about manna and bread. The songs were on a CD as we had nobody to play the organ or piano and Linda chose some really great ones - favourites from Spring Harvest. One of the most beautiful was "Be Thou My Vision" which reminded me of the ending of one of Jeff Lucas and Ruth Dearnley's mornings at Minehead when Jeff "accompanied" this song on the piano! Tom was completely changed after this service and was so inspired by the music that he asked for the CD of the service to play at home. It is quite clear that the way we will get younger people into the church and retain them is to make it fun and lively. The more traditional and contemplative worship will follow. Once home I mowed the back lawn and the bank including mowing some of Geoff's bank where the grass had started to overflow onto the pavement. It all looks much tidier now. I also washed my car which was looking grimy after its trip to Surrey and Oxfordshire. Australia managed to bowl out the English cricket team to win the Fourth Ashes Test by an Innings and some 60-odd runs. Appalling. Nevertheless, I raised the Australian flag to mark their superb victory which we really can't take away from them. This afternoon, after a lunch of chicken noodle soup and bread, Sara took the children swimming whilst Richard C and I went off to Wilton to play 18 holes of golf. It was really hot and I ended up looking like a red panda! The round was not without its excitement. On the 15th tee I dropped my tee-peg down a hole and in trying to retrieve it discovered that the hole was the entrance to a wasps' nest. About fifty of the angry b......s came for me and I was stung behind the ear - a really painful experience. I shrugged it off, after Richard retrieved my hot and ball and I whacked the ball down the fairway from the 6th tee. Richard remarked that I ought to be stung more often as it seemed to improve my driving! As I write this on Monday it still hurts a wee bit. At dinner tonight Richard (another one) and Alice, friends of Kynn's who are dog-sitting whilst they are away in Devon, came over and shared our spag. bol. and chili con carne. Once finished it was down to the Lion's Head and the pub quiz. We had a team of five - me, Richard (Dog Sitter), Richard (Golf Partner), Geoff (next door neighbour) and Steve (Tom's teacher). We called ourselves "Not Yet Par" - a description of my day really. Yet again we won and I came home (at 11.20 p.m.) with a bottle of winner's wine. That's five time in a row I've won now! I set about writing up this blog to find that the Internet wireless was not working - so to bed. It'll get written up tomorrow.

Back to St. Mary's - The New Season Begins

Woke to a very bright and sunny morning - the first day of the new football season too! Cooked breakfast of bacon for the kids and myself. We didn't have much time this morning before Tom and I set off for Southampton to watch the first game of the Saint's "League 1 Tour against Millwall. With a starting position of -10 points there is much ground to be made up and Alan Pardew in his programme notes emphasised that his hope is to get the 10 points cleared as soon as possible and to try and end mid-table. It was good to find both Andy's and their families there - indeed everyone around us has renewed their season tickets so the "family" is complete. Andy next to me has moved to Chepstow but will continue to commute to home matches. We had a minute's applause for the life of Sir Bobby Robson which was observed with good humour. Saints started lively enough and were holding their own up to half time - the teams going in on a level 0-0. Saints scored a cracking goal early on in the second half but shortly afterwards Millwall were awarded a dubious penalty which was saved by the magic of Kelvin Davies who, unfortunately conceded a corner kick. Millwall took this and again a goal was saved but at the expense of another corner kick. Unfortunately this third close encounter with the goal mouth proved disastrous and caused the game to finish 1-1. At least Saints have got one point deducted from their penalty and now only have -9. Poor Norwich were thrashed 1-7 at home to Colchester and Swindon went down 5-0 at home to Gillingham. Following the match I queued for tickets for the Swindon away game on Tuesday week but the queue was moving so slowly that I had to abandon the idea to make sure I was not caught out by the eagle-eyed traffic wardens in Southampton. Hopefully I can get tickets on Tuesday evening when I go to the League Cup tie against Northampton. Tom and I stopped by Carlo's Ices on the way home. Tonight I had planned to take Mary dog racing (she had been very keen when I mentioned it this morning) but seemed to be in quite a mood when I got home. Needless to say, we didn't go and Tom and I played cricket on the Wii. England scored 32 for no wicket after 6 overs. Much better than is real life. At Headingley today the Australians left England with an almost impossible target of over 300 runs in the lead and with an Innings to spare. At close of play England were 82 for 5 in their second innings - still some 260-odd runs behind with only 5 wickets left! I really can't see how England have any hope of winning this Fourth Test unless it rains solidly for the next three days. The weather has now turned and it looks like we are in for our scorching summer at last! We ended the evening watching The Matrix - a complex Sci-Fi movie.

Trip to Henley; Trouble at Headingley

The alarm I set went off as planned at 5.30 a.m. but I dozed for another 40 minutes or so. Eventually I pulled the covers off me and set about having my shower and making tea. I removed the Jamaican flag from the pole having left it flying overnight in the hopes of it drying after the torrential rain of yesterday. It was dry and so I put it away in its box. No flag replaced it. I set off for Dorking arriving in time for my meeting in HR at 9.15 a.m. This was followed by another meeting at 12 noon which proved to be very successful. I lunched with Michael E-J as otherwise he would have lunched alone - David is in France, Joanna in London, and Anthony back home in Salisbury. This afternoon I left early at 3.45 p.m. to drive up to Henley-on-Thames to deliver some important legal papers to our barrister - another Michael. It was an horrendous journey with traffic heavy on the M25 I detoured through Chobham and then to Bagshot. The roads around West End and Bagshot were just awful. My journey took me through Bracknell, Wokingham, Twyford and eventually Henley where the roads were log-jammed trying to cross the main Thames Bridge by the Regatta Ground. I eventually got to Michael's at around 6.10 p.m. I stayed with Michael for about 40 minute and Denise made coffee whilst we chatted about the case and Michael's pending trip to the Cayman Islands via Nassau. We talked about the Bahamas and holidays in general. The traffic seemed much better as I left and drove through Reading, Tilehurst, Newbury and back home. Tonight Sara and I watched Ocean's Twelve which I found a difficult film to follow until the end but I can't say I rate it very highly despite the star-studded cast. There is a very strange bit where Julia Roberts pretends to be Julia Roberts! Not sure I'll worry too much if I miss Ocean's Thirteen. Finally, England got a pasting in the fourth test at Headingly today - all out for 102!! Australia's reply at "stumps" was 196 for 4 - 94 runs in the lead. At the present rate a win for Australia seems on the cards meaning it will all be on the last test at The Oval. Australia would then only need a draw to retain The Ashes. Ah well - football tomorrow as Saints begin their "League 1 Tour"!

Church Zero

Yet another miserable day weatherwise. Heavy rain throughout the whole day - torrential at times. I was working in Salisbury today and Sara was once more feeling ill with vertigo. She looked up Ann's diagnosis of crystals in the inner ear and concluded that she might indeed be suffering from that. I went to the bank briefly at lunchtime to pay in some of Sara's Virgin Vie money and bought a sandwich meal deal from Tesco's. I seemed to be constantly busy all day and my head was hurting before I left the office. We received notification from the Exeter Employment Tribunals that we has lost the case I did at the beginning of last month (see blogs for the 1st and 2nd July). This was not a surprise and the company received some heavy criticism from the judge. I will need to set out a report on this. I believe that this will be the first of many tribunals we could lose. Tonight we had a very small House Group - me, Dawn and Mary. Sara was upstairs in bed ill, Tom went to a meeting of the Junior Church to consider what his age group would like to have at Junior Church when the rest of the congregation is at the Sunday service. They have com e up with the idea of "Church Zero" an alternative form of worship with all the boring bits taken out. The name is derived from Coke Zero (all the bad bits taken out). I think they still need to formulate the ideas a bit. Our small House Group watched the Truman Show again. Off to Dorking tomorrow for some pretty challenging meetings with the HR Director.

The Wii Hours

Another night when I found it hard to get to bed. Had watched "Young, Dumb and Living off Mum" before finally going up to bed. I seem to watch a lot of strange "reality" programmes in the early hours of the morning these days. Sara didn't wake this morning - she has now slept through for nearly 14 hours. I left home at 8.00 a.m. the children already up playing with the Wii - probably since 6 a.m. or before. I had a clear run into work arriving at 9.20 a.m. I had already dealt with one query on my car telephone before I arrived. I had quite a bit of paperwork to catch up on with my P.A., Karen. I seemed to be on some perpetual motion machine as one piece of work led me in one direction and before I could even draw breath another whacked me off in another. The phone didn't seem to stop ringing or emails pinging! Anthony informed me that he didn't need a lift tonight but would still like one on Friday. I managed to join Anthony and David and Michael or lunch rather belatedly and was reminded by David that his mother and sister live in Lanzarote - indeed I discovered that they live in the same village as our holiday resort. He was able to confirm that restaurants would be open on Christmas Day to serve traditional English fayre as there was a large English community at Costa Teguise where we are staying as well as a church his mother regularly attends it; there is also a water theme park for the children. He also strongly advised hiring a car as there was precious little other ways of getting around the island which he estimated to be 50 miles long and 20 miles wide - bigger than the Isle of Wight and twice the size of New Providence. It is quite breezy he said and the water is cold in December. However plenty to see and do with the volcanoes and vulcanicity on the island. My meeting in Dorking (one of the main reasons for driving up to Surrey today) was cancelled but the visit did afford me the opportunity of catching up with Karen and colleagues. On my way home (via the A31 and Winchester to break up the monotony of the M3) I was engaged in a long telephone conference about our outsourcing project. Yet more changes discussed. I was quite tired by the time I got home. Sara had taken the bus into Salisbury and bought a second handset for the Wii to make it easier for the children to play against each other. She had also seen the pharmacist about her vertigo. Ann in our office confidently diagnosed Sara's illness as "having crystals in her ears". Not sure what she meant but will google "ears", "crystals" and "vertigo" and see what I get. Played some golf on the Wii tonight (had hoped to get on the driving range but thought I'd better get back home). Pleased that my real golf is better! So tired again. Hopefully I'll get an early night and sleep well. It does seem so hot this evening. Sara has ordered an Ashes Wii game for me. I lok forward to that but I also look forward to tomorrow when the Fourth Ashes Test starts for real at Headingly.

A Journey along the Irish Coast

Woke up early again and then snoozed. I had got up in the night and watched Sue Perkins and Giles Coren living for a week as 1920's society members with some interesting meals e.g. Camembert in aspic, lobster in aspic and mock Peach Melba - tinned peaches and cement-like custard. Eventually after that programme I did manage to sleep for a few hours. At work in Salisbury today - a "bitty" day with my services being required in several directions at once. Some more challenging problems from HR again. I had lunch of pork escalopes and pasta. When I got home tonight, the children were playing on their new Wii and Sara was upstairs in bed. She has been complaining of dizziness, tiredness and feeling sick. I hope it isn't Swine 'Flu. I spoke to her briefly and spent the evening playing with the Wii and cooking them their tea - pasta (ravioli) with pesto which they both ate up hungrily. Tonight I watched the programme Coast which journeyed from The Old Head of Kinsale right up to Dublin - along the south eastern coast of Ireland I know so well stopping off at familiar places such as Kinsale, Cobh, Ardmore, Tramore, Hook Head Lighthouse, Waterford, Wexford, Wicklow and finally Bray and Dublin. It was all so familiar to me as I have driven along most of the coastline. It made me yearn for Ireland again. finished the evening doing some banking, writing letters and writing this blog. tomorrow i am off to Dorking. The BBQ at Klynn's for tomorrow night has now been cancelled. I do hope Sara is feeling better tomorrow. She hasn't stirred from her bed all evening.

Day of the Jackel.. sorry Dog!!

I woke reasonably early this morning but then fell back into a slumber and didn't get up properly until 7.20 a.m. Fortunately I was working in Salisbury again today and got into the office at around 8.15 a.m. I set about work immediately dealing with a problem with one of our staff whom we had dismissed last week. At lunchtime I went out briefly to Tesco's where I bought a meal deal for £2 - chicken sandwich on brown wholemeal bread, bacon flavoured crisps and a bottle of orange juice. Much better value than what our own now unsubsidised restaurant can offer. I joined the Christian Fellowship Group where we discussed Paul's letter to the Philippians and in particular Paul's plea for righteousness through Christ rather than self righteousness. In it Paul talks about "watch[ing] out for those dogs...that will do evil, those mutilators of flesh". It left me with more questions and puzzles than I started with. Must read the book/letter right through. Another meeting this afternoon and I was ready to leave at 5 p.m. Sara has spent the day dog walking, apparently for friends in the village. Thankfully her experiences have left her with the clear view that she/the children don't want a dog! Th first dog she walked led her into unfamiliar woods and a longer walk than expected and the second one is rather wilful. Whilst I don't mind other peoples' dogs I am definitely not a doggy person and, as with horses, I am quite happy for them to remain other's pets. They seem so much of a tie. When I arrived home Sara and Mary were off to walk the Alibocus dog, Otis. I checked my emails and then went off to Grateley to practise some golf on the par three course there. I wasn't too happy with my performance tonight shooting a 42 - one shot worse than at the larger Wilton Course and three shots worse than last time I went out on the course. Still it was a lovely dry cool summer's evening that is until I reached the last (9th) green when it started to drizzle. The peace on the golf course was only punctuated by the barking of Roger's black Labrador dog in its shed by the 6th green. Arriving home Sara had prepared stir fried Thai pork a la Forest Mere which was delicious. We washed it down with a white zinfandel wine from California. Tonight I dug out my recording of Berlioz's Messe Solemnelle after listening to some Berlioz on the radio on the way back from Grateley. I've always found Berlioz's music so uplifting. To bed soon and back to Salisbury again tomorrow.

Last of the Summer Wine?

I found it difficult to wake this morning and eventually Sara went downstairs to cook pancakes for us all. I hoisted the Yorkshire flag to mark nephew James's 9th birthday - he was born in York. Attended an excellent All Age Eucharist Service presided over by Elizabeth which included a sermon/talk in which she scattered bread all over the floor. The essence of the sermon being "what do we hunger for?" with the emphasis being that we should allow God to provide us with everything and not to worry about such trivia as how we are to be fed physically. Back home, Sara provided a light lunch of pitta bread and humus and cottage cheese. The children ate pasta and cheese (Mary) and pasta and pesto (Tom). This afternoon I mowed the bank and the back lawn and Mary spent the afternoon with Sarah and Molly at Queen Elizabeth Park. I had a bath after the gardening and then prepared supper - roast crackling pork with roast potatoes, apple sauce, and a variety of vegetables. All washed down with a nice Californian red wine. We invited Molly and Sarah to join us and as well as Samuel. The Alibocus girls were invited to have a sleep over with Mary and Tom was to go over to the Alibocuses for a sleep over there. I popped over to the Alibocuses a short while later and Klynn and I went over to the Lion's Head where we were joined by Richard. We played a few hands of knockout whist and rummy before spending the rest of the evening discussing parenthood and retirement! As the three of us discussed these topics I was reminded of the Last of the Summer Wine ... but he is going to be Compo?

My Vision of Hell - Eternal Supermarket Shopping!

Didn't wake very early today but when I did I could hear the rain hammering on the window. The meteorologists have had to review their previous predictions of heatwaves and a barbecue summer! Yes it is a barbecue summer but a typical English one as in previous years - holding the barbecue fork in one hand and an umbrella in the other. I hoisted the Swiss Flag (it being Switzerland's National Day) which in a very short time resembled a wet tea towel on the pole. Sara needed the weekly shopping done at Tesco's today (having decided to abandon having it delivered because of the cost as she now has time to do it herself) and sent me off to Andover to do it. I set off in her car which needed petrol on the way and arrived at Tesco's at around 11.45 a.m. I left Tesco's at 2.30 p.m. What a wonderful way to spend nearly three hours! The fruit and veg. were quite easy, they are all together and I know what a cucumber and a bag of potatoes look like. Then came the tricky bits on the shopping list - "ant stations" - didn't know they needed to travel other than on their six legs; red jelly (strawberry? raspberry? cranberry?); biscuits (cheese? sweet? creams? rich tea? digestives?), Cajun spice (they seemed to have everything but - then I found Cajun under sauces! Halfway during my shopping expedition, another female shopper who was obviously absorbed with something else, decided to walk off with my trolley whilst I was trying to establish whether it was cheaper to buy the loose rather than packaged parsnips - I don't even like parsnips much! After circumventing a few aisles I finally saw a trolley being with my identical goods being pushed by an elegant lady. At least I felt rather good that she mistook by trolley for hers as she seemed the type who would only load up with things that are good for you! I hadn't at that stage visited the "cakes and things that are bad for you" shelves. I finally emerged from the store feeling shell shocked but I did rather crow to myself that I had budgeted £100 for the shopping and the final bill came to just over £101 - and that was because I treated myself to some vanilla fudge - my treat for going through hell! It really is a good Christian principle to think that the alternative to heaven is some sort of hell that resembles Tesco's where they move everything around once a week, at least especially marshmallows for toasting in the eternal fires. Once home I then had the equally exciting task of trying to push everything onto shelves and into fridges and deep freezers. I was also greeted with "...£101!!! I had thought more like £80!!! " Thanks Sara!! After fixing the cat flap - for a month for Emily has been able to get out but not get back in because somebody who shall remain nameless refitted the flap door wrong way round when it came out. This now explains Emily's dog like behaviour whenever somebody has arrived home over the last month. Our good friend Steve, meanwhile, has fixed the human flap upstairs - that is the bathroom door which Sara wanted reversing - shades of the cat flap? I confess to having had a nap at around 6 p.m. and was woken up at 7.30 p.m. by Mary announcing that diner was served - Sara's homemade meatloaf, peas and potatoes (the latter bought and chosen by me on my expedition). We finished with pineapple and strawberries garnished, in my case, by good old condensed milk - yummy. Sara, Mary and I watched the rather disturbing film The Truman Show and we both concluded that the inspiration must have been Psalm 139. I believe it would make a great summer House Group topic.