Well, ok, its been a couple of months again – I’m just not very good at keeping up with everything that is happening.
Since my last update, on camping, we have actually made it out again! This time we went to Duxford in Cambridgeshire. We had tickets to the Duxford air show and so we made a long weekend of it – in fact, I braved 4 whole nights under canvas!
Despite having a bad cold in the week before we went, once again it was surprisingly good fun, and even though we found that we were in bed by 9 each night (it was September and it was getting dark earlier then) it was fine – still got up half way through the night for the loo though!?
The air show on the Saturday was really good too and Rob took about 40billion pictures of planes LOL, but really enjoyed it.
So, all in all it was a good long weekend.
Wednesday 10 October 2007
Tuesday 28 August 2007
Camping - pt 2
Well, the first night in the open air actually went ok. We weren’t quite brave enough to do a meal on our camping gaz thingy so we had our food at a local shopping centre, but we did manage to get a game of travel scrabble in before snuggling up in bed. We decided we would get a double sleeping bag (Tesco’s are quite reasonably priced!), and despite I really did think there would be lots of spare limbs floating about – everyone has that spare arm that they only find when in bed - it was actually quite cosy, and not as “arms and legs” as I had thought (there’s a pattern emerging here “not as I had thought”?)
One thing that bothered me more than ever is that I did think that I was going to have to get up half way through the night to use those “excellent facilities” this site has, but much to my amazement, midnight was the last time I had to leave out tent, and I have to admit Rob was really sweet and came with me.
Now, something I hadn’t actually mentioned was that it had been raining since about 8pm that evening, so everywhere was beginning to get quite wet and squelchy by the time midnight came about. So, we squelched to the loo at midnight, after being in bed for about an hour, and probably just getting to sleep. But that being said, once again it really wasn’t really that bad and once back in bed, the morning came around quite quickly and I found I had made it through the night, without being eaten by anything and with actually getting more sleep than I had thought I would have! I don’t want to admit this, but this really isn’t that bad (keep this quite, but I actually quite enjoyed it!)
One thing that bothered me more than ever is that I did think that I was going to have to get up half way through the night to use those “excellent facilities” this site has, but much to my amazement, midnight was the last time I had to leave out tent, and I have to admit Rob was really sweet and came with me.
Now, something I hadn’t actually mentioned was that it had been raining since about 8pm that evening, so everywhere was beginning to get quite wet and squelchy by the time midnight came about. So, we squelched to the loo at midnight, after being in bed for about an hour, and probably just getting to sleep. But that being said, once again it really wasn’t really that bad and once back in bed, the morning came around quite quickly and I found I had made it through the night, without being eaten by anything and with actually getting more sleep than I had thought I would have! I don’t want to admit this, but this really isn’t that bad (keep this quite, but I actually quite enjoyed it!)
Its been a while - but here's to camping!
I know! Its be simply ages since I last updated my blog, but, well, things have been rather hectic…. although, saying that I really don’t have that much to write about.
Anyway, here is your long awaited instalment of my life……………
In true British style, we have made an exceptionally brave decision and invested in some camping equipment! Most people who know me are probably staring dumbfounded at the computer screen now as this is something that I wouldn’t have even contemplated before. But, after a rather nightmareish few weeks at work and an even worse month end at work, I feel that a weekend camping is better than a weekend thinking about work and being at home. And so, equipment bought we have ventured out on our first weekend experience of the out door life.
Of course, I hasten to add its basically poured with rain ever since we bought everything – only we could think of doing this in probably the wettest year the UK has ever experienced.
That being said we have visited our first campsite and had a fairly successful weekend. Once I had got over the fact that it wasn’t at all like the film Carry on Camping I actually discovered it wasn’t nearly as bad as I had imagined.
The “facilities” were actually excellent, and the showers had under floor heating, and as an added luxury that I didn’t think actually existed, lockable doors on the shower cubicles.
Of course, me being me had forgotten to take a hair brush with me, and the first thing I did when we had successfully put up the tent without any arguments, was have a shower and wash my hair (not realising before hand that I hadn’t actually packed that all important hair brush).
My hair, being quite thick, quite fine, and quite long (half way down my back), didn’t take long to accurately look like bushy and unkempt. Rob, much to his amusement I think, made me stay like that until we went to Tesco the next day where I could purchase a brush! Arghh.
Anyway, here is your long awaited instalment of my life……………
In true British style, we have made an exceptionally brave decision and invested in some camping equipment! Most people who know me are probably staring dumbfounded at the computer screen now as this is something that I wouldn’t have even contemplated before. But, after a rather nightmareish few weeks at work and an even worse month end at work, I feel that a weekend camping is better than a weekend thinking about work and being at home. And so, equipment bought we have ventured out on our first weekend experience of the out door life.
Of course, I hasten to add its basically poured with rain ever since we bought everything – only we could think of doing this in probably the wettest year the UK has ever experienced.
That being said we have visited our first campsite and had a fairly successful weekend. Once I had got over the fact that it wasn’t at all like the film Carry on Camping I actually discovered it wasn’t nearly as bad as I had imagined.
The “facilities” were actually excellent, and the showers had under floor heating, and as an added luxury that I didn’t think actually existed, lockable doors on the shower cubicles.
Of course, me being me had forgotten to take a hair brush with me, and the first thing I did when we had successfully put up the tent without any arguments, was have a shower and wash my hair (not realising before hand that I hadn’t actually packed that all important hair brush).
My hair, being quite thick, quite fine, and quite long (half way down my back), didn’t take long to accurately look like bushy and unkempt. Rob, much to his amusement I think, made me stay like that until we went to Tesco the next day where I could purchase a brush! Arghh.
Monday 2 July 2007
Thursday - PT2 Hurst Castle
We eventually got to Hurst Castle at about lunch time.
The castle is on a spit of land in the Solent channel. This basically means that there is a sort of island shaped bit of land connected to the mainland by a line of shingle, sand and stone. The Spit creates a sheltered bay from the onslaught of the sea in the English Channel and ultimately the Atlantic.
The weather, being a rather typically British coastal type of weather, was gray and windy – but, it actually wasn’t really that cold and to our great relief it wasn’t raining.
We had picked up a sandwich on route and when we parked the car in one of those car parks that you get in coastal towns and we sat facing the sea, watching the waves and gray clouds and ate our what my mum would call a picnic (although it bore very little resemblance to anything I would call a picnic). We both agreed that we felt about 80 years old sitting there. It was the type of thing you always see the “older generation” do. Sitting in the car, watching the greyness and drinking dish water coloured tea from a Thurmos flask in a tartan pattern which you could only buy in the late 70’s – as if having, and indeed using, something that old is a way of trying to stubbornly defy the advancing years.
Looking around….. we had one of those sort of, Victor Meldrew moments “I don’t beeeelieve it!” there it was, a Crawley Luxury coach – ohhh GOD, is there no escape from home!? Wondering who, or what, we would bump into we left the relative comfort and safety of the car for our 1.5 mile walk along the shingle/stones to Hurst Castle.
The wind felt as though it was going at about 1 million miles an hour, but of course it wasn’t. Having said that, both of us was almost deaf by the time reached even the 1/3 point because of the wind. 1.5 miles really isn’t that far, until you’ve walked it on soft shingle/stones. Bearing in mind that we had pretty much walked a minimum of 3 miles almost every day on holiday, this should have been a walk in the park – I have NEVER been so grateful to see a castle drawbridge in all my life! I imagine that on a nice day it was probably quite nice, however on our gray and miserable day it was just damn hard work. But, lets try and be positive, it wasn’t raining!?
Wohhha! the castle was much bigger than I had thought. It was first built and used by Henry VIII as one of his many South Coast defences, and then it was used, pretty much throughout time and extended for WW1 and then again for WWII.
Getting there was basically a bit of a relief. Right, first things first, where’s the café? We neeeeed a hot coffee! Paying our entrance (even though we are members of English Herritage, I forgot the passes – another bone of contention), we made our way to the Naffi (or Café). Understandably it wasn’t exactly packed with people, until that is, a group of Private School teenage girls arrived with their posh accents and permanent giggles – we tried to make a hasty exit before the entire place was stampeded.
The castle was great. We chose to look around the WWI and WWII parts first, and saw cannons that were tested in Malta for their power before moving them to Hurst and “active” service. There was lots to see and a lot of the rooms were open to explore. Going into one room, and looking around we found ourselves joined by a couple of the “lar de dar” bunch. Both giggling, one of the girls said to Rob “you should look up into that hole there….. its sooooo dark….”Rob of course did what she said, and then told her what it would have been used for – “its for moving ammunition from a safe room to where it can be used – it’s a lift shaft”. She actually looked quite surprised (huh, can’t have that good schooling then!?). They giggled and left the room. We also left, walking around to the next room.
Rob, walked to the corner – low and behold, there was an identical looking hole here too! (you can see where this is going can’t you?). Hearing more giggling, but this time emanating from the hole in the wall, the mischievous came out in the both of us…… Rob signalled to me to be quiet, and both of us looked to the floor. As if something had read our minds, there it was a small, but perfectly formed stone….. Rob picked it up and threw it down the shaft in the wall….. Ha ha! Have that – hope you don’t watch Most Haunted!? There was a scream and a “ohhh my God, what was that!?”, and then more giggling and a lot of hasty footsteps. Rob and I walked away, as if from a scene of a crime, trying to look innocent and trying to hide the smug satisfaction we both had.
Honestly, we are over the age of 10! Although, maybe there is a good reason for being asked for ID when buying Neuophen……
The castle is on a spit of land in the Solent channel. This basically means that there is a sort of island shaped bit of land connected to the mainland by a line of shingle, sand and stone. The Spit creates a sheltered bay from the onslaught of the sea in the English Channel and ultimately the Atlantic.
The weather, being a rather typically British coastal type of weather, was gray and windy – but, it actually wasn’t really that cold and to our great relief it wasn’t raining.
We had picked up a sandwich on route and when we parked the car in one of those car parks that you get in coastal towns and we sat facing the sea, watching the waves and gray clouds and ate our what my mum would call a picnic (although it bore very little resemblance to anything I would call a picnic). We both agreed that we felt about 80 years old sitting there. It was the type of thing you always see the “older generation” do. Sitting in the car, watching the greyness and drinking dish water coloured tea from a Thurmos flask in a tartan pattern which you could only buy in the late 70’s – as if having, and indeed using, something that old is a way of trying to stubbornly defy the advancing years.
Looking around….. we had one of those sort of, Victor Meldrew moments “I don’t beeeelieve it!” there it was, a Crawley Luxury coach – ohhh GOD, is there no escape from home!? Wondering who, or what, we would bump into we left the relative comfort and safety of the car for our 1.5 mile walk along the shingle/stones to Hurst Castle.
The wind felt as though it was going at about 1 million miles an hour, but of course it wasn’t. Having said that, both of us was almost deaf by the time reached even the 1/3 point because of the wind. 1.5 miles really isn’t that far, until you’ve walked it on soft shingle/stones. Bearing in mind that we had pretty much walked a minimum of 3 miles almost every day on holiday, this should have been a walk in the park – I have NEVER been so grateful to see a castle drawbridge in all my life! I imagine that on a nice day it was probably quite nice, however on our gray and miserable day it was just damn hard work. But, lets try and be positive, it wasn’t raining!?
Wohhha! the castle was much bigger than I had thought. It was first built and used by Henry VIII as one of his many South Coast defences, and then it was used, pretty much throughout time and extended for WW1 and then again for WWII.
Getting there was basically a bit of a relief. Right, first things first, where’s the café? We neeeeed a hot coffee! Paying our entrance (even though we are members of English Herritage, I forgot the passes – another bone of contention), we made our way to the Naffi (or Café). Understandably it wasn’t exactly packed with people, until that is, a group of Private School teenage girls arrived with their posh accents and permanent giggles – we tried to make a hasty exit before the entire place was stampeded.
The castle was great. We chose to look around the WWI and WWII parts first, and saw cannons that were tested in Malta for their power before moving them to Hurst and “active” service. There was lots to see and a lot of the rooms were open to explore. Going into one room, and looking around we found ourselves joined by a couple of the “lar de dar” bunch. Both giggling, one of the girls said to Rob “you should look up into that hole there….. its sooooo dark….”Rob of course did what she said, and then told her what it would have been used for – “its for moving ammunition from a safe room to where it can be used – it’s a lift shaft”. She actually looked quite surprised (huh, can’t have that good schooling then!?). They giggled and left the room. We also left, walking around to the next room.
Rob, walked to the corner – low and behold, there was an identical looking hole here too! (you can see where this is going can’t you?). Hearing more giggling, but this time emanating from the hole in the wall, the mischievous came out in the both of us…… Rob signalled to me to be quiet, and both of us looked to the floor. As if something had read our minds, there it was a small, but perfectly formed stone….. Rob picked it up and threw it down the shaft in the wall….. Ha ha! Have that – hope you don’t watch Most Haunted!? There was a scream and a “ohhh my God, what was that!?”, and then more giggling and a lot of hasty footsteps. Rob and I walked away, as if from a scene of a crime, trying to look innocent and trying to hide the smug satisfaction we both had.
Honestly, we are over the age of 10! Although, maybe there is a good reason for being asked for ID when buying Neuophen……
Thursday - PT1
Rob wanted to show me where he had been on his cycle ride the night before so we went out for a bit of a ride in the car before setting off for Hurst Castle.
The road that Rob used, was actually closed for maintenance that day so it meant that we had to go a different route through the village and in turn that meant that we couldn’t quite follow the route Rob had taken. After a few wrong turns we actually ended up in somewhere called ………… It was a really pretty little town, with lots of “chocolate box” looking houses, with thatched roofs and black beams, and although were effectively terraced style houses, were all slightly different heights.
We decided to stop and pick up a couple of things from their local small, but adequately stocked, supermarket to save us going out when we returned home from Hurst. Rob waited in the car outside and I ran in to grab the things we needed, I actually only picked up a packet of Neorphen and some water in the end.
Checking the size of the queue when I entered the shop as I was aware of Rob waiting outside, I grabbed the most important things (nerophen and water) and joined the queue – it might be baring in mind that there was only 2 people waiting when I walked in, and when I joined the queue there was then only one. I waited, and the two people serving, chatted to their customers quite happily. Then one of the customers asked if the assistant could check the price of something before making the long, drawn out, and painful decision of whether to buy it or not, then one of them walked off and came back again….. by this time the lady in front of me was beginning to fidget and I was beginning to randomly look around at things thinking “what the hell was the delay, could they not see that there were people waiting?”. Eventually after about 20 minutes, and you have to remember that the lady in front of me was there when I walked in (so how long she had actually been waiting is beyond me), she actually got served (and lets have a round of applause!). By this time of course, the poor woman in front of me had almost gone gray we had been waiting so long, and I had begun to take root.
Finally I got my turn at the till – ohh the relief! - and then, as if the wait hadn’t been bad enough (will this torture never end, I only want to buy two items), the lady serving me looked at the other till operator and said “what is the age limit to buy pain relief like nerophen?”. I could hardly believe what I was hearing, I looked back at her in almost disbelief as she repeated the question to her colleague. My patience level dropped to an all time low and I snapped back “I’m thirty-bloody-three!” she looked at me as if I had just said the worst possible thing in the whole world and said “well you can’t be too sure these days” and then sought confirmation from the other lady…… my response “seriously, you are joking?” and then came the sarcasm, “you’re implying I look about 15 – errr, I don’t think so!” - I almost wish I had added the “bovvvvvvered?” to the end of that of the, I don’t think so - thankfully, however, I didn’t. She sort of stared me, and rung through the water and the neurophen tablets and then said “you should take it as a compliment really”. That just about did it for me, I almost threw a five pound note at her, picked up the items and stompped out of the shop shaking my head.
Thinking back….. perhaps that’s exactly what a 15 year old would have done LOL
Of course, because I had been so flipping long in the shop, when we finally left the town to go to Hurst Castle we both needed the loo, so we ended up going back to the apartment!
The road that Rob used, was actually closed for maintenance that day so it meant that we had to go a different route through the village and in turn that meant that we couldn’t quite follow the route Rob had taken. After a few wrong turns we actually ended up in somewhere called ………… It was a really pretty little town, with lots of “chocolate box” looking houses, with thatched roofs and black beams, and although were effectively terraced style houses, were all slightly different heights.
We decided to stop and pick up a couple of things from their local small, but adequately stocked, supermarket to save us going out when we returned home from Hurst. Rob waited in the car outside and I ran in to grab the things we needed, I actually only picked up a packet of Neorphen and some water in the end.
Checking the size of the queue when I entered the shop as I was aware of Rob waiting outside, I grabbed the most important things (nerophen and water) and joined the queue – it might be baring in mind that there was only 2 people waiting when I walked in, and when I joined the queue there was then only one. I waited, and the two people serving, chatted to their customers quite happily. Then one of the customers asked if the assistant could check the price of something before making the long, drawn out, and painful decision of whether to buy it or not, then one of them walked off and came back again….. by this time the lady in front of me was beginning to fidget and I was beginning to randomly look around at things thinking “what the hell was the delay, could they not see that there were people waiting?”. Eventually after about 20 minutes, and you have to remember that the lady in front of me was there when I walked in (so how long she had actually been waiting is beyond me), she actually got served (and lets have a round of applause!). By this time of course, the poor woman in front of me had almost gone gray we had been waiting so long, and I had begun to take root.
Finally I got my turn at the till – ohh the relief! - and then, as if the wait hadn’t been bad enough (will this torture never end, I only want to buy two items), the lady serving me looked at the other till operator and said “what is the age limit to buy pain relief like nerophen?”. I could hardly believe what I was hearing, I looked back at her in almost disbelief as she repeated the question to her colleague. My patience level dropped to an all time low and I snapped back “I’m thirty-bloody-three!” she looked at me as if I had just said the worst possible thing in the whole world and said “well you can’t be too sure these days” and then sought confirmation from the other lady…… my response “seriously, you are joking?” and then came the sarcasm, “you’re implying I look about 15 – errr, I don’t think so!” - I almost wish I had added the “bovvvvvvered?” to the end of that of the, I don’t think so - thankfully, however, I didn’t. She sort of stared me, and rung through the water and the neurophen tablets and then said “you should take it as a compliment really”. That just about did it for me, I almost threw a five pound note at her, picked up the items and stompped out of the shop shaking my head.
Thinking back….. perhaps that’s exactly what a 15 year old would have done LOL
Of course, because I had been so flipping long in the shop, when we finally left the town to go to Hurst Castle we both needed the loo, so we ended up going back to the apartment!
Holiday Memories
Since these are memories, these might not necessarily be written in the right order, so apologies if the days jump a little.
Thursday 21 June 2007
Tuesday
Woke up to find the sun shining, and everything looking really fresh after the rain on Monday. We decided to go for a walk in the forest on one of the trails within a few yards of where we are staying. It was absolutely glorious! The forest was so quite and peaceful, and very unlike the common of the day before.
The common was open and ad lots of bushes and heather growing, the forest near our apartment was wooded and full of pine trees, oak trees and ferns littered the forest floor. We didn’t see any animals, not even any horses, but it was just so lovely in the morning sunlight that it really didn’t matter. We walked about 3 miles I think, a round trip from Woodgreen, up to Godshill, and then down to Castle Hill, and then back to the apartment.
Tried going to Lymington, but it when we got there, it wasn’t at all as we had expected so didn’t bother stopping. We then went back to the pub with the hot spot for a late lunch and to check out some things on the New Forest website.
We’ve found that since being here now, for 4 days we have yet to actually mange to be in Ringwood at the right time to catch the Tourist Board office there. Its totally useless, its completely shut on Mondays and then only opens for a few hours each day. 11 – 1pm or something like that. This is no good whatsoever if you want to get somewhere relatively early….. very, very frustrating!
As we had eaten quite late we didn’t feel that we wanted anything for dinner in the evening, but decided to walk into Woodgreen village to see what they’re pub was like.
I’m not actually sure if I have explained what our accommodation is like…… its lovely actually, a really nice place. But, I think we must have found the only self catering place, which is situated on probably one of the only hills in the New Forest LOL. So, the walk DOWN to the pub wasn’t too bad at all, although we were slightly conscious of the fact that we would then have to walk back UP the hill to get back. That being said, apart from a bar lady, who looked a bit more like a bar man, it was very pleasant and after two glasses of wine, we decided to head back.
The common was open and ad lots of bushes and heather growing, the forest near our apartment was wooded and full of pine trees, oak trees and ferns littered the forest floor. We didn’t see any animals, not even any horses, but it was just so lovely in the morning sunlight that it really didn’t matter. We walked about 3 miles I think, a round trip from Woodgreen, up to Godshill, and then down to Castle Hill, and then back to the apartment.
Tried going to Lymington, but it when we got there, it wasn’t at all as we had expected so didn’t bother stopping. We then went back to the pub with the hot spot for a late lunch and to check out some things on the New Forest website.
We’ve found that since being here now, for 4 days we have yet to actually mange to be in Ringwood at the right time to catch the Tourist Board office there. Its totally useless, its completely shut on Mondays and then only opens for a few hours each day. 11 – 1pm or something like that. This is no good whatsoever if you want to get somewhere relatively early….. very, very frustrating!
As we had eaten quite late we didn’t feel that we wanted anything for dinner in the evening, but decided to walk into Woodgreen village to see what they’re pub was like.
I’m not actually sure if I have explained what our accommodation is like…… its lovely actually, a really nice place. But, I think we must have found the only self catering place, which is situated on probably one of the only hills in the New Forest LOL. So, the walk DOWN to the pub wasn’t too bad at all, although we were slightly conscious of the fact that we would then have to walk back UP the hill to get back. That being said, apart from a bar lady, who looked a bit more like a bar man, it was very pleasant and after two glasses of wine, we decided to head back.
Monday
Piddled down for most of the day, well on and off, so we didn’t really get the opportunity to do a lot. We did go to Burley though. It’s the smallest village you could possibly think of, very quaint in its own way, but basically despite its reputation for being a home to Witches, its really not too interesting.
We parked and went for a walk around the village which consists of about 5 shops, and a tiny village green and then got back in the car and drove to Ringwood to find this here hotspot to update the blogs. From there, we went to a pub called Alice Isle which was the pub where the bike ride started from on Sunday.
We had a lovely, albeit expensive lunch and then went for a walk in the forest from one of the areas maintained by the National Trust, Rockford Common. Thankfully the weather by this time had cheered up a bit, so although it was quite windy up on the common it was actually very warm and the jackets came off and it was rather nice.
The horses, ponies, and foals are quite literally everywhere in the New Forest and they seem to keep one eye on you as you walk – it can be quite off putting. We encountered one on the common that just stood behind one of many prickly bushes and watched us walk past, and then watched us walking back again…..
We parked and went for a walk around the village which consists of about 5 shops, and a tiny village green and then got back in the car and drove to Ringwood to find this here hotspot to update the blogs. From there, we went to a pub called Alice Isle which was the pub where the bike ride started from on Sunday.
We had a lovely, albeit expensive lunch and then went for a walk in the forest from one of the areas maintained by the National Trust, Rockford Common. Thankfully the weather by this time had cheered up a bit, so although it was quite windy up on the common it was actually very warm and the jackets came off and it was rather nice.
The horses, ponies, and foals are quite literally everywhere in the New Forest and they seem to keep one eye on you as you walk – it can be quite off putting. We encountered one on the common that just stood behind one of many prickly bushes and watched us walk past, and then watched us walking back again…..
Monday 18 June 2007
Ride Update
Rob was getting more worried about the ride as he was still suffering from his cold (or my cold which ever….) and after viewing some of the hills (and I thought the New Forest was flat?) he was thinking he wasn’t very well prepared. Anyway, he set off with everyone at 11am on the dot. This is where my boredom started, as all I could really do was sit in the car and wait for his return.
…………………
A very tired and worn out Rob appeared about 2.5 hours later! And I must admit I’m very proud of him!!! :o) the first person back did the 26 miles in 1 hour 20 mins, so all things considered Rob did really very well. I’m not sure when the last person returned but it was certainly a long time after the race started.
…………………
A very tired and worn out Rob appeared about 2.5 hours later! And I must admit I’m very proud of him!!! :o) the first person back did the 26 miles in 1 hour 20 mins, so all things considered Rob did really very well. I’m not sure when the last person returned but it was certainly a long time after the race started.
Hot or Cold Spots
Well, a bit later than planned due to the fact that we are using BT Openzone to link to the interenet. Basically, this means that you can connect to the internet using a WiFi connection in so called “hot spots” – usually pubs (Shame! Lol). Well, as you know all the best laid plans go wrong and despite our best efforts to make sure we knew where these “hot spots” were before arriving, our local one which was in a pub, was closed for refurbishment! Great!. So, a day late, but nevertheless we have now found a nice pub in Ringwood which we can also use.
Here I am, sitting in a pub at 11:30 in the morning, something I’ve not done for a LONG time, tapping away into a computer – it feels a little surreal really.
Here I am, sitting in a pub at 11:30 in the morning, something I’ve not done for a LONG time, tapping away into a computer – it feels a little surreal really.
Thursday 14 June 2007
Office Etiquette
Had two meetings today at work and after retuning from being off sick, achieved very little really apart from being even more bunged up than ever with my cold.
Our office, you can’t really comprehend it until you see the insanity of it being written down…
Today the office was about 28 degrees hot – unbearable at best. Apparently, despite it being an average of about 23 degrees outside, we have to keep the heating on! This is because it stops the air conditioning pipes, (that have holes in?) from leaking……. It might be worth bearing in mind at this point, that the heating was not on at all over the Christmas period due to the pipes being fixed and then we all froze to death. So, now as the pipes are “fixed” (NOT) we have to have the heating on in the summer – I’m sure I’m missing something here. In their defence they did, for a time, turn the heating off….. there was then a ceiling collapse as the pipes leaked – am I losing the plot or were they fixing that over Christmas…… Confused? And all this in a supposedly modern office – in what year I ask myself 1803?
Anyway, it was because of the stuffiness in the office that I was bunged up – I’m sure of it.
Our office, you can’t really comprehend it until you see the insanity of it being written down…
Today the office was about 28 degrees hot – unbearable at best. Apparently, despite it being an average of about 23 degrees outside, we have to keep the heating on! This is because it stops the air conditioning pipes, (that have holes in?) from leaking……. It might be worth bearing in mind at this point, that the heating was not on at all over the Christmas period due to the pipes being fixed and then we all froze to death. So, now as the pipes are “fixed” (NOT) we have to have the heating on in the summer – I’m sure I’m missing something here. In their defence they did, for a time, turn the heating off….. there was then a ceiling collapse as the pipes leaked – am I losing the plot or were they fixing that over Christmas…… Confused? And all this in a supposedly modern office – in what year I ask myself 1803?
Anyway, it was because of the stuffiness in the office that I was bunged up – I’m sure of it.
Cold
Its been a while since I last put anything on my blog, but ohhh boy have I got some stuff to put on there now!!
Last weekend I was thrilled to find out that I had got a head cold, and I felt terrible. I don’t often get colds like that so it I must admit I was feeling quite sorry for myself. Not being able to breathe, sneezing constantly and also an incessant sore throat – just fantastic!
This all happened on Sunday, then on Monday I felt even worse and didn’t manage to go into work – couldn’t even manage inane TV for the day URGH!! Didn’t even feel like switching the computer on! (WHAT? That’s unheard of!) Watched an old episode of Cagney and Lacey on cable though – how good was that show!? I had forgotten.
What is it about colds…… you sneeze all the time, and then, when you think you’re going to sneeze you don’t. You then do the “huh, huh, huh” and then nothing happens. Your eyes begin to water, your nose then runs, then blocks up and then finally does that thing that feels like clingfilm being continuously stretched to a point where you know its going to give and create a small hole in the middle to let some air through. Of course, when this does finally happen you have those wonderful few moments where you can breathe – ohhh it feels fantastic, and then arrrgh one side is blocked again….. back to bunged up.
Well, all I have to say is thank goodness it was this week and not next when we are away.
Rob was not too happy with my ailments and I think he would have had me locked in the conservatory with a red cross on the door and sign saying “unclean” if he could of. This, obviously didn’t happen and so now of course, he now has THE cold, 2nd edition and naturally far more deadly – marvellous!
Last weekend I was thrilled to find out that I had got a head cold, and I felt terrible. I don’t often get colds like that so it I must admit I was feeling quite sorry for myself. Not being able to breathe, sneezing constantly and also an incessant sore throat – just fantastic!
This all happened on Sunday, then on Monday I felt even worse and didn’t manage to go into work – couldn’t even manage inane TV for the day URGH!! Didn’t even feel like switching the computer on! (WHAT? That’s unheard of!) Watched an old episode of Cagney and Lacey on cable though – how good was that show!? I had forgotten.
What is it about colds…… you sneeze all the time, and then, when you think you’re going to sneeze you don’t. You then do the “huh, huh, huh” and then nothing happens. Your eyes begin to water, your nose then runs, then blocks up and then finally does that thing that feels like clingfilm being continuously stretched to a point where you know its going to give and create a small hole in the middle to let some air through. Of course, when this does finally happen you have those wonderful few moments where you can breathe – ohhh it feels fantastic, and then arrrgh one side is blocked again….. back to bunged up.
Well, all I have to say is thank goodness it was this week and not next when we are away.
Rob was not too happy with my ailments and I think he would have had me locked in the conservatory with a red cross on the door and sign saying “unclean” if he could of. This, obviously didn’t happen and so now of course, he now has THE cold, 2nd edition and naturally far more deadly – marvellous!
Sunday 3 June 2007
Sunday - Green Cone
Woke up at 6am – forgot to turn the flippin’ alarm clock off again!! I don’t think Rob was too pleased….. Ever since buying a radio alarm clock every weekend we go through the same thing. It was fine when we relied upon the humble battery alarm clock.
Finally dragged myself out of bed at about 8:30 to the sounds of digging coming from the garden……
We received a booklet through our door from the council a while ago about recycling and basically ways of reducing your carbon footprint. The council had arranged a special offer price for some composting products, one of these being Green Cone. We have decided to give it a go and our Green Cone arrived about a week ago.
I won’t go into the technical way that the Green Cone works, but basically it requires you to bury part of it in the ground to ensure good drainage. Rob, had decided to start digging the hole to hold the base at 8:30 this morning! And, by 9:30 it was dug. However, good drainage is not something that clay offers and all the earth that was coming out of the hole was it exactly that – clay. We’ve now found that because of this the hole needs to be dug a further 4 inches deep and wide. Needless to say – its not been done today due to blisters. Nevertheless its started, and we also even made it to a garden centre to look at trellis so that it doesn’t end up being a bit of an eyesore in the back garden.
As the weather today has been fantastic, we went for a walk this afternoon, we think it was about 4 miles. Rob wanted to have a look at this Forestry Commission forest close to where we live, and I have to say it was beautiful! So peaceful and quiet, it was just lovely. It was difficult to believe that somewhere like that was right on our doorstep and we will defiantly be going again. Rob thinks it will make a good bike ride and is already trying to work it into a route he can ride sometime.
Finally dragged myself out of bed at about 8:30 to the sounds of digging coming from the garden……
We received a booklet through our door from the council a while ago about recycling and basically ways of reducing your carbon footprint. The council had arranged a special offer price for some composting products, one of these being Green Cone. We have decided to give it a go and our Green Cone arrived about a week ago.
I won’t go into the technical way that the Green Cone works, but basically it requires you to bury part of it in the ground to ensure good drainage. Rob, had decided to start digging the hole to hold the base at 8:30 this morning! And, by 9:30 it was dug. However, good drainage is not something that clay offers and all the earth that was coming out of the hole was it exactly that – clay. We’ve now found that because of this the hole needs to be dug a further 4 inches deep and wide. Needless to say – its not been done today due to blisters. Nevertheless its started, and we also even made it to a garden centre to look at trellis so that it doesn’t end up being a bit of an eyesore in the back garden.
As the weather today has been fantastic, we went for a walk this afternoon, we think it was about 4 miles. Rob wanted to have a look at this Forestry Commission forest close to where we live, and I have to say it was beautiful! So peaceful and quiet, it was just lovely. It was difficult to believe that somewhere like that was right on our doorstep and we will defiantly be going again. Rob thinks it will make a good bike ride and is already trying to work it into a route he can ride sometime.
Saturday
This weekend hasn’t really been too exciting. Saturday Rob went on a ride (trying to get ready for the charity event) and I took him, in the car, to Bramley where he joins the Downs Link and then I went later to pick him up at Bramber Castle (near Hove). Made a bit of a boo boo though as I made some sandwiches to take with me when I went to pick him and up, but picked up the wrong box out of the fridge and so when he opened the box, there were 4 sausages staring back at him! Not quite the picnic I’d planned!?
However, I did think that the run went well with him completing the 28 miles in about 3.5 hours – I’m not sure I would have completed it in 3.5 days let alone hours.
Went on an extremely exciting shopping trip to Tesco in the evening where for about the sixth week in a row they haven’t had the white bra I’ve been looking for in my size…… argh! And I forgot to get the water filters for the kettle again!!
However, I did think that the run went well with him completing the 28 miles in about 3.5 hours – I’m not sure I would have completed it in 3.5 days let alone hours.
Went on an extremely exciting shopping trip to Tesco in the evening where for about the sixth week in a row they haven’t had the white bra I’ve been looking for in my size…… argh! And I forgot to get the water filters for the kettle again!!
Tuesday 29 May 2007
Boredom.....
Ohh my goodness, I’ve not written half as much as I was hoping about the weekend simply because I have done precisely nothing! Basically it poodled down all blinking weekend, so we were unable to do anything really. Rob fixed the door on one of the kitchen units and that was about as exciting as our weekend got – oh! and our neighbours decided to have a BBQ in the rain under one of those gazebo things. The gazebo blew over in the wind on Saturday night and now its laying up-side-down on the lawn in their back garden collecting the rain and slowly turning into a pond.
What possesses people to have BBQ’s in the rain? I remember when I was about 13 my friend had a BBQ for her birthday. It poured with rain and so as not to disappoint a bunch of teenagers her granddad decided to put the BBQ in the green house. Not a particularly wise move I have to admit. The green house just filled with smoke and every so often he would emerge chocking and carrying a sausage or berger.
I would like to think I would never do that.
What possesses people to have BBQ’s in the rain? I remember when I was about 13 my friend had a BBQ for her birthday. It poured with rain and so as not to disappoint a bunch of teenagers her granddad decided to put the BBQ in the green house. Not a particularly wise move I have to admit. The green house just filled with smoke and every so often he would emerge chocking and carrying a sausage or berger.
I would like to think I would never do that.
Friday 25 May 2007
Well, my doing a blog didn't really get started very well. We are now a week on and I've not written anything!
There hasn't, to be honest been a great deal happening.
However, its Friday again (the best day of the week) and to make things even better, its a long weekend because of the Public holiday on Monday. Ok, so it means that that awful Monday morning feeling is moved to Tuesday, but we get an extra day off work so that really can't be bad.
At the moment there is nothing much planned for the weekend. But Rob (my husband) is doing a charity bike ride in June and he needs to get some miles in before then so i expect he will be out for a couple of rides at some point - weather pending.
The charity he is riding for is Marie Curie and the ride is 26 miles through the New Forest - if you would like to sponser him here is a link
http://www.justgiving.com/smithrob
Its the first time he has done anything like this, and I think its great! I'm not taking part, but I'll do the "wifey" thing and stand at the finishing line with the camera to get that ultimate knackered but proud picture of my man! :o) I've been trying to convince him he should wear some pink lycra - but hes not having any of it! lol
Cycling isn't really my thing although I do have a bike. I don't have the same passion for it as Rob does, but saying that we went out last Sunday and it wasn't that bad. If the weather holds up we might go out tonight for a quick run. A quick run for Rob is about 10 miles, a quick run for me is up the road and back lol but we'll have to see what the weather decides to do. There is no way I'm going out in the rain!
Friday night on the TV is excellent so I've got the evening sorted. Living TV has some really good stuff on at the moment and Fridays are just brilliant. Xfiles, Close to Home, Criminal Minds and lastly CSI all one after another - fantastic viewing, and Criminal Minds has to be the best of the bunch. I just hope i can stay awake to see all of it as i'm knackered today.
well, hopefully i'll manage more than an account of just Friday this weekend, you never know...........
to be continued..................................... hopefully.......
There hasn't, to be honest been a great deal happening.
However, its Friday again (the best day of the week) and to make things even better, its a long weekend because of the Public holiday on Monday. Ok, so it means that that awful Monday morning feeling is moved to Tuesday, but we get an extra day off work so that really can't be bad.
At the moment there is nothing much planned for the weekend. But Rob (my husband) is doing a charity bike ride in June and he needs to get some miles in before then so i expect he will be out for a couple of rides at some point - weather pending.
The charity he is riding for is Marie Curie and the ride is 26 miles through the New Forest - if you would like to sponser him here is a link
http://www.justgiving.com/smithrob
Its the first time he has done anything like this, and I think its great! I'm not taking part, but I'll do the "wifey" thing and stand at the finishing line with the camera to get that ultimate knackered but proud picture of my man! :o) I've been trying to convince him he should wear some pink lycra - but hes not having any of it! lol
Cycling isn't really my thing although I do have a bike. I don't have the same passion for it as Rob does, but saying that we went out last Sunday and it wasn't that bad. If the weather holds up we might go out tonight for a quick run. A quick run for Rob is about 10 miles, a quick run for me is up the road and back lol but we'll have to see what the weather decides to do. There is no way I'm going out in the rain!
Friday night on the TV is excellent so I've got the evening sorted. Living TV has some really good stuff on at the moment and Fridays are just brilliant. Xfiles, Close to Home, Criminal Minds and lastly CSI all one after another - fantastic viewing, and Criminal Minds has to be the best of the bunch. I just hope i can stay awake to see all of it as i'm knackered today.
well, hopefully i'll manage more than an account of just Friday this weekend, you never know...........
to be continued..................................... hopefully.......
Saturday 19 May 2007
The Weekend, so far.... starting with Friday.
Well, since getting this "bolg", I've not actually written a thing, so i thought it about time that I did.
Since I class Friday as being the best day of the week, mostly due to the fact that its the last working day before the weekend, my weekend starts on Friday, and Friday this week, was not like most. Firstly, much to my annoyance, I was moving desks at work along with the other members of the team in which I work. The annoyance was due to only being told "officially" of the move about two days before it happening, however, a definate bonus of this move was that we had to have everything packed into crates by 2pm which meant we could then LEAVE the office! My weekend was about to start early! YAHAY!
So, after irritably moving files into filing cupboards and my other stuff into crates - you really don't realise how much rubbish you can accumilate in one filing drawer and another smaller drawer! Buscuits - been there for at least a year, chocolate - rather not mention that, a half finished jar of coffee - it had gone rock hard at the bottom which should give you a clue to its age, a mouse mat from a project at leat 3 years old, books someone had leant me although i couldn't actually tell you who had leant them or, frankly if they even still worked there.... and some other more random stuff such as, a packet of self adhisive bindi's someone had bought back from a trip to India??? I really thought my arms were about drop off! I was knackered, but I was safe in the knowledge I could leave early!
After getting home at about 2pm - great! I thought I would ring my partents quickly, just to say "hi" - they weren't there. I then did some housework and played on my computer game CivCity Rome for a bit until my mum rang back. It went something like this:
"ohh Hi mum!"
"yes, you rang earlier"
"just wanted to say hello"
"oh, have a word with Joan, you've not spoken to her for ages"
ohhh no!, you now need a bit of backgroud. Joan is the wife of Frank who was a collegue of my dad's before they both retired. They stayed in touch and did the usual, have the occassional dinner etc. Anyway, Frank unfortunately had been ill and had gone into hospital earlier that week which had all been relayed to me by my dad on Tuesday.
The conversation continued.....
"Noo, I don't know what to say to Joan"
the phone went quiet.....
"ohh hello katherine..... how are you?"
my mind went into panic, and I said....
"oh hello, how are you? I've had a great day so far as I've been home most of the afternoon"
"that's nice" said Joan and continued "your mum & dad have been so good to me. Taking me backwards and forwards to the hospital. They are even having everyone back here after the service"...........
What! the alarm bells really rang then..... ohh no, all I had said was what a great day it was.... talk about drop me in it! it transpired that mum and dad had failed to me know that Frank had sadly passed away a couple of days earlier. Mum's words were "oh, haven't we spoken to you since then...." errr, NO, and actually it would have been kind of nice to know that kind of thing before talking to someone about something I didn't know had happened!..... arrghh, what a nightmare.
So, now my day wasn't going as well as planned....
Since I class Friday as being the best day of the week, mostly due to the fact that its the last working day before the weekend, my weekend starts on Friday, and Friday this week, was not like most. Firstly, much to my annoyance, I was moving desks at work along with the other members of the team in which I work. The annoyance was due to only being told "officially" of the move about two days before it happening, however, a definate bonus of this move was that we had to have everything packed into crates by 2pm which meant we could then LEAVE the office! My weekend was about to start early! YAHAY!
So, after irritably moving files into filing cupboards and my other stuff into crates - you really don't realise how much rubbish you can accumilate in one filing drawer and another smaller drawer! Buscuits - been there for at least a year, chocolate - rather not mention that, a half finished jar of coffee - it had gone rock hard at the bottom which should give you a clue to its age, a mouse mat from a project at leat 3 years old, books someone had leant me although i couldn't actually tell you who had leant them or, frankly if they even still worked there.... and some other more random stuff such as, a packet of self adhisive bindi's someone had bought back from a trip to India??? I really thought my arms were about drop off! I was knackered, but I was safe in the knowledge I could leave early!
After getting home at about 2pm - great! I thought I would ring my partents quickly, just to say "hi" - they weren't there. I then did some housework and played on my computer game CivCity Rome for a bit until my mum rang back. It went something like this:
"ohh Hi mum!"
"yes, you rang earlier"
"just wanted to say hello"
"oh, have a word with Joan, you've not spoken to her for ages"
ohhh no!, you now need a bit of backgroud. Joan is the wife of Frank who was a collegue of my dad's before they both retired. They stayed in touch and did the usual, have the occassional dinner etc. Anyway, Frank unfortunately had been ill and had gone into hospital earlier that week which had all been relayed to me by my dad on Tuesday.
The conversation continued.....
"Noo, I don't know what to say to Joan"
the phone went quiet.....
"ohh hello katherine..... how are you?"
my mind went into panic, and I said....
"oh hello, how are you? I've had a great day so far as I've been home most of the afternoon"
"that's nice" said Joan and continued "your mum & dad have been so good to me. Taking me backwards and forwards to the hospital. They are even having everyone back here after the service"...........
What! the alarm bells really rang then..... ohh no, all I had said was what a great day it was.... talk about drop me in it! it transpired that mum and dad had failed to me know that Frank had sadly passed away a couple of days earlier. Mum's words were "oh, haven't we spoken to you since then...." errr, NO, and actually it would have been kind of nice to know that kind of thing before talking to someone about something I didn't know had happened!..... arrghh, what a nightmare.
So, now my day wasn't going as well as planned....
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