Interred

Half Term Fun #4 - Dudmaston Hall

2011-05-30T09:05:00.005+01:00

"Can we go to the Roly-Poly place?", said Young Miss as she compiled her list of where we should go. By that she meant Dudmaston Hall, just south of Bridgnorth on the A442. We first went there in 2008 and... well you'll see...

They had some giant games in the courtyard by the gatehouse. Young Miss and Brother W had a game of Connect 4. Can you see who is about to win?

First we had a walk in the gardens...

And then we did the "Long Pool" walk...

The Rhododendrons are out. Look at the size of this one!

Roly-poly? OK. Here we go...

And then, after the tour ofthe house, some Still Life artistry in the old kitchen...

Good work kids!

Half Term Fun #3 - Ice skating

2011-05-30T08:40:00.004+01:00

Sunday morning we did the ice-skating at Telford Ice Rink.

It is quite a while since we last went (see here), and this time there was no big sister to help.

Young Miss remembered quite quickly...

Young W had to cling to the sides for a while....

But eventually he plucked up the courage, and was soon in the middle of the ice....

I did it too, but I haven't any pictures to show it. Important thing though was the competition - number of times falling on your butt (as Young Miss put it)... Scores on the doors: Young Miss 5, Young W 5, Dad 0 (but only just avoided it a few times!).

Message for GCSE Miss

2011-05-29T23:22:00.002+01:00

Seen in the Coalport Museum...

Just kidding. Get your GCSEs first. lol.

Half Term Fun #2 - The Tar Tunnel

2011-05-29T09:36:00.006+01:00

While we were in Coalport we went to next on the list... The Tar Tunnel. As you can see from the map...

...if you click on the picture to blow it up, it is just a short walk along the canal. There is a sweetshop and cafe there too...

... and from the bridge you have a view of the Hay Inclined Plane, used to lift barges from the canal to Blists Hill.

You have to wear hard hats in the tunnel...

It's alright for these two, but they thought it very funny when I banged mine against the rather low ceiling.

You can walk about 100m into the tunnel, before it becomes impassible without getting tar all over your shoes...

Apparently it extends another 900m into the hillside beyond this point maybe linking up with a mine shaft in Blists Hill or even further into Madeley. I don't fancy going along there to try and find out!

Half Term Fun in Shropshire #1

2011-05-29T08:00:00.013+01:00

GCSE Miss is in the middle of her exams, so to leave her in peace to revise, I've brought Young Miss and Young W to The Barn for a few days. We set off after Swimming lessons ...yes we still go at 8 a.m. on a Saturday - I now have a Marlin and a FAST swimmer, and were there by lunchtime.

Young Miss had her list of place she wanted to go. But, by the time we had done our food shopping and had our lunch, we couldn't get to the ice-rink in time for a complete session, so we decided to start in Coalport.

Shropshire Union Canal and Coalport Museum

The Coalport China Museum is well worth a visit. We got a family passport ticket so we could visit all the museums, and did the "Hunt Snowey the Bear" quiz.

You have to look for the labels for the clues and answer the questions to reveal where to find him. For example, there is a question about the contents of this cabinet....

We were pleased they still had the display with the King Charles silver tankard

and the picture of The Barn...

They have a new audio-visual display in the Bottle Kiln...

which is really effective, and has complete surround sound.

Ooo look. We've found Snowey...

but you don't want me to spoil things by showing you where he is, do you?

Anglesey Abbey Dahlia Festival

2009-09-26T10:16:00.002+01:00

Anglesey Abbey is a favourite place for us to visit, especially for the snowdrops and Winter Walk, but now is also a great time of year to go to see the dahlias at their best. We went last Sunday and found they had a Dahlia Festival on. That was lucky! There was a small display at the visitor centre...

...but the real spectacle is the magnificent crescent shaped dahlia garden.

The plants are arranged chromatically from dark reds and violets at one end through to pale yellow and white at the other. This one was Young Miss' favourite...

And this one, to me, is a classic...

There were also displays of dahlia arrangements throughout the house...

which we visited after lunch in the rebuilt visitor centre.

Magnificent! You can see more of my pictures here on Flickr.

Cello Boy

2009-09-12T12:51:00.002+01:00

Look at what Young W's got! Yes, he has joined Young Miss at the Bury County Music School and started cello lessons last night. Cygnets for him next week!

Long Time no Blogging

2009-09-11T21:30:00.001+01:00

It has been a while. Little W is not so little any more so we will have to call him Young W. And as for Little Miss, she's growing so fast she will be as tall as the Missus soon - Young Miss she is now. Teenage Miss is starting her GCSE courses and as for the Missus - she passed her NQT assessment and is now into her second year of teaching. It's a new academic year and among them they are now at 4 different schools. Maybe I should go back to school so we can can have a full set.

And it's not as if we haven't been doing anything new. So... Time to start blogging again... Watch out for some catch up posts over the next few weeks as I get back into the swing of it. Oh, and I've just found a few drafts that never got completed... time to finish them off.

East Anglian Beer Festival 2009 - The Beers

2009-04-27T23:00:00.005+01:00

After my Friday visit I returned on Saturday lunchtime. By now the beers were strting to run out - I just missed the last glass of an old favourite, St Peter's Grapefruit, for example. But here is my verdict from those I did get to taste...

My first beer set the standard for others to follow - Bartrams' Barwells the Butchers (3.8% ABV). Very tasty. Others I enjoyed were:

Beeston Brewery's Afternoon Delight (3.7%)

Buffy's Brewery's Polly's Folly (4.3%)

Cliff Quay Brewery's Tolly Roger (4.2%)

Crouch Vale's Brewers Gold (4.0%)

Iceni Brewery's Fine Soft Day (4.0%)

King's Head Brewery's Landlady (4.0%)

Mighty Oak's Oscar Wilde Mild (3.7%)

Mill Green Brewery's Good Ship Arabella (5.4%)

Tipple Brewery's Lady Evelyn (4.1%)

With Polly's Folly coming a close second, my favourite, though, was Wolf Brewery's Cavell Ale (3.7%). A light beer packed with flavour. Yum!

East Anglian Beer Festival 2009

2009-04-27T22:35:00.000+01:00

As planned, on Friday lunchtime I headed off to the East Anglian Beer Festival in the Corn Exchange. I was there by 12:30 and things were still remarkably quiet...

But it son filled up and by mid-afternoon was getting quite lively. It is a lovely setting with the sunshine streaming through the skylights.

By 4:30 I had sampled a fair few beers. If I tell you the average price was £1.30 per 1/2 pint you can maybe work it out from the number of beer cards...

And then it was time for the walk home through the Abbey Gardens and across the river then along the path round St James' Middle School. The Cherry blossom is at its peak here...

Then it was across the A14 via the footbridge, along Shakers Lane and up the hill to collect the little ones from After-School club on the way. A great 1/2 day's holiday!

Green Beer?

2009-04-15T20:18:00.002+01:00

The East Anglian Beer Festival will be on in the Corn Exchange in Bury St Edmunds from Wednesday to Saturday next week(22-25th April). I'll be having a 1/2 day holiday on the Friday to go to the lunchtime session and again the Saturday lunchtime (Missus permitting).

Meanwhile here's something new to whet the appetite, which I first came across in Sainsbury's last week, although it came out last year...

From my favourite brewer, Adnams, a Carbon-Neutral beer!

Bradfield Woods Spring Flowers

2009-04-15T08:24:00.004+01:00

For the last day of my holidays, a final walk. Abandoned before we started on Saturday, I really wanted to see Bradfield Woods. As usual, they had a board saying what to look out for...

We were there a few weeks earlier than other years so got the blossom at its finest...

...and a wonderful show of carpets of wood anenomes...

...and bluebells.

We also found plenty of early purple orchids...

...and even some early peacock butterflies.

But what we were really there to catch was the pretty and rare (for the UK) Oxlips...

They are out in abundance now - go and see them before it's too late.

Stour Valley Walk

2009-04-14T10:48:00.006+01:00

...instead, we drove back to Cavendish, turned right along the road past the Nethergate Brewery (which reminds me - East Anglian Beer Festival coming soon!) and through Foxearth to Rodbridge Picnic Site. It was a bit chilly sitting out, but we agreed it was an excellent spot for our picnic.

Just across the River Stour from there is the end of the Valley Walk and I had come prepared by downloading and printing off the leaflet. The main walk follows the path of the disused railway - the old Stour Valley line of the Great Eastern Railway that linked Colchester with Bury St Edmunds.

But we wanted a circular walk rather than just there and back to Sudbury, so about half way along we turned left onto a path down to the river. Here we found an eyrar of swans...

Is that the right collective noun? Maybe it should be a gargle? Whatever...

Our route took us briefly to the main road north out of Sudbury as it passes the common. Here we found the sad remains of Sudbury Hall...

But we were soon back down to the River Stour...

...a bit of recurring theme in our Suffolk/Essex walks this holiday.

We returned to the Valley Walk via the path past Borley Hall...

...Little Miss clutching her collection of swan feathers. Another good walk. And, what with their 3 1/2 mile walk around Clare in the morning that should have tired the kids out for the day!

Clare Circular Walk

2009-04-14T08:47:00.003+01:00

"Where are we going?" asked the Missus as I bundled her into the car with the kids and the picnic. "Clare Country Park", I replied. She pulled a face. I asked why and she said she thought it was too townie. I was surprised, but then I remembered that the last time we were there we did the Town Walk. But not today. Yes we still started at the Country Park...

But we did the Clare Circular Walk instead. We were soon out of the town. "We're going through a Blossom Tunnel", exclaimed Little W...

Spring flowers were to be found everywhere. Here are some cowslips looking fresh and cheerful...

The walk takes you out first north of the town then back and out again past Clare Camp to the Common.

It was a bit drizzly, but we still had good view of the town and castle as we headed back.

The walk returns to the Country Park via this bridge over the River Stour...

A good walk with some lovely country scenes. "I was wrong", said The Missus. "That was a delightful walk". Now for that picnic. But no, let's not have it in the Country Park...

West Stow Easter Egg Trail

2009-04-12T15:37:00.004+01:00

It promised to be a fun day at West Stow...

We decided we would forgo the £17.50 to get into the Anglo-Saxon Village and concentrate on the craft market and Egg Hunt. The craft market turned out to be quite modest, but the kids loved this stall with its variety of precious stones.

And so to the Egg Hunt...

Quite simple really. The task was to match up the pictures of the eggs with the pictures of the birds that lay them. But first you had to find the clues. Fortunately, a map is provided to help you find your way. Ooo look, Little Miss has spotted one...

Little W was also taking part. This one was number 4.

And as for number 6...

Who knows what bird this is from? We do! And they got a prize of a West Stow water bottle each for getting them all right.

Going for a Walk - Not

2009-04-12T09:37:00.003+01:00

Little Miss was at a masked disco, in the rather unusual venue of Elmswell Firestation - they park the engine outside laving a great party space. Doesn't she look glam?

We thought we would go for a walk while she was partying at Bradfield Woods. But by the time we were half-way there from Elmswell the view out the car window was this...

Well I don't mind walking in a bit of rain, but not monsoon conditions!

Blists Hill at Easter

2009-04-11T16:55:00.004+01:00

It was Good Friday, and our last day at The Barn before returning to Suffolk to be reunited with The Missus for the rest of the holidays. As it was such a good day out last Easter tide, we returned to Blists Hill for the day.

They are doing major enhancements to the museum, including and inclined plane and miniature railway. They wont be open for quite a while, but the rebuilt Canal St had just opened the previous week.

Yes. It does look busy here, but that's because the fire alarm had gone off and everybody had to get out the buildings. If you look carefully, you will see the Fire Engine parked at the corner.

There is a new Post Office, Row of terraced houses, Fish & Chip shop (very popular) and relocated Photographer's and Sweet Shop.

There was also entertainment on. Here we were introduced to the sport of Egg Dancing by the policeman and one of his mates....

Eggs are set on little mounds of sand and the dancers skip from one end of the rows to the other, lifting their knees and singing (of course) "Knees up Mother Brown".

After the demonstration it was the turn of the visitors. What they neglected to say is that everyone else had to do it blindfolded. "Who wants to have a go?" My 3 all refused so I had to lead the way. Not bad. Only 1 splatted egg. And when they saw I got a chocolate egg for my trouble, the girls were shamed into taking part. Here they are...

Dainty feet that they have, they managed to kick 3 eggs off their mounds without breaking any of them.

Then it was off to Victorian School for a lesson from Mr Alsopp. Just like last year, Big Miss was in trouble again, for wearing paint on her nails! Tut tut.

We didn't escape the rain entirely, but were able to huddle inside the candlemakers and wood turners until it passed. The poor old horse pulling the cart wasn't so lucky, though.

Eventually we had to go. But not before spending the last of our Victorian money in the sweet shop!

An excellent day out. Must try the egg dancing at home next Easter!

Another Shropshire Day Out

2009-04-10T09:58:00.005+01:00

The title is a bit of cheat, really. Actually I was intending to take the kids to Powis Castle. But it was a bit wet and the kids pleaded with me. I told them that the website said as it was the holidays there would be queues and they may have to stop letting people in and we were late to join the queue, but they insisted...

Yes. They wanted to go ice-skating. We got there just before 11am and there were no queues and we got straight on!

Little W has got the hang of it now. He fell on his bottom only 3 times. See if you can spot the three of them together on the ice.

But after lunch I had my way and we were out. We visited Attingham Park, just off the A5 not far from Shrewsbury.

The last time we were there it was on a Wednesday and house wasn't open, but yesterday, being a Thursday, it was. The kids enjoyed trying to find the mice hidden about the house, while I enjoyed seeing the story of the restoration they have done.

Then it was out for a walk in the grounds. The kids loved the play area. Here is the 'bee house'...

Meanwhile I just missed gettign to see inside the walled garden as they wre closing for the day. Rats! Must go back another time.

A Shropshire Day Out

2009-04-09T09:48:00.006+01:00

So here we are at The Barn. After coming here for nearly 2 years we have some favourite things to do. Already on Tuesday we had a Hungry Horse lunch and a visit to Enginuity. Then yesterday we had a well good day out...

Firstly we visited Wenlock Edge to admire the view...

Do you think Little W was feeling the cold wind at all? Then we carried on to Carding Mill Valley to climb up The Long Mynd. Here we are at the division of paths...

...where we turned left up to the Long Spout waterfall.

We saw plenty of sheep and little lambs...

...and even when we had our picnic we had a sheep in attendance...

Then it was on via a drive through Corve Dale to Dudmaston Hall. The banks in the grounds are great for roly-polys, and the little ones couldn't resist.

After touring the house we ended up in the old kitchen where they could all practise their drawing. Here's Little Miss in action...

My plan worked! It tired them out so much I had a very peaceful eveing to myself after they had gone of early to bed. Let's see if I can repeat the trick today. They are certainly struggling to get up this morning!

Flatford Mill and Dedham Lock

2009-04-07T07:50:00.008+01:00

Everyone is on holiday and, as it was my birthday, I got to choose what we do. I needed to get the kids out for some fresh air and decided to go back to Constable Country - it's ages since we had been and it's only just over 1/2 hour's drive. We started at Flatford Mill...

Rather helpfully, there is a sign telling you where to stand to take your own Haywain picture...

Who pinched the wagon?

Rather than the circular walk we had done before, we walked along the River Stour across Dedham Vale to Dedham. The girls enjoyed visiting the craft centre on the high street, but Little W was unimpressed, so we stayed outside in the sunshine.

Dedham Mill has now been converted to a block of flats...

...so the view from across the other side of the river isn't too close to the original painting.

"I'm so tired I'm going to die", announced Little W as we walked back along the river. Honestly, it's not that far! But we had done enough to build up a decent appetite and we stopped off here...

... at the Red Lion in East Bergholt for some lunch. The food was excellent, as was the Greene King Hare Raiser

After an afternoon bike ride we still had some appetite left for a birthday tea...

Cheers!

New Profile Picture

2009-04-05T07:59:00.001+01:00

Finally got round to updating my profile picture to one of me not wearing glasses any more. It's well over a month now and the eyes are just fine. Still got the artificial tears if I need them, but have been using them only about once a week.

And now it is School Holidays, and that means taking the kids away to The Barn for a few days - we go on Tuesday. And a chance to get some posts published.

Spring Flowers

2009-04-04T21:26:00.002+01:00

The Spring flowers seem especially cheerful this year, I think. Here are the Muscari in our window box...

One of my favourites is Forsythia...

And of course the daffodils are all out now...

So today we took a trip to Nowton Park to see the 250,000 daffodils...

Should have gone a week or so ago to get them at their best... they fade away so soon.

Eye Surgery - Two Weeks On

2009-03-15T23:58:00.003Z

Had my 1 week check-up.... a week late - it was the earliest I could get an appointment I could make. A bit of a non-event - I was in and out in barely 5 minutes. Read the same eye chart as for 1-day check up, but managed the line I faltered on and the line below, which meant I have "better than 20/20 vision"! Left eye is not quite as good as the right but that's got to be a great result. I don't need to go back again until my 6 month check-up.

Was able to have a shower and wash my hair today without trying to avoid getting water in my eyes. Hooray! And now I've been able to dispense with the night-time eye-shields. Hooray! Went all day without needing the artificial tears for the first time today. I've still got the halo effect and starbursts around bright lights at night, but that seems to be starting to fade - I'm told that will take a couple of months.

So now all I need to do is to remember to have the eye drops with me in case I need them (err... managed to forget to take them on our family trip to Dunwich Heath this morning) and to remember to take my reading glasses off after I've been doing some close-up work - that still feels weird!

All in all - Lovely job!

Eye Surgery - One Week On

2009-03-06T23:11:00.005Z

It's official - here is my lifetime guarantee...

I stopped having to take the anti-biotic and anti-inflammatory drops today. I'm slowly getting used to only needing glasses for reading. One thing that has surprised me, though - my close-up vision seems to be worse than it was before with glasses - not a huge amount, but significant. I can't use the computer without my reading glasses now.

And, of course, I can't use the trick I used to of taking my glasses off to see things close-up - I'm not short-sighted any more!

On Monday I was back at work, but working from home. I found I had to take breaks from using the computer regularly and my eyes were quite tired by the end of the day - especially as I had to drive to The Barn in the evening. Yes, I got a starburst effect around all the vehicle and street lights, but I could still see the road and signs fine so driving was OK.

Tuesday I was back in the office. Predictably, the first thing I got as I walked in was, "How many fingers am I holding up?". I show off my new eyesight to our management team's PA. "Staples. The Office Superstore" I read from a sign in the distance. She is amazed.

My team rather like my wraparound shades. I think it could become part of our uniform. "I think you should get a monocle for reading", says Rob. "I don't know why I need to use these artificial tears when I have to work with you lot", I reply.

Eye Laser Surgery - After 48 hours

2009-03-01T22:53:00.000Z

I open the living room curtains. "Hmm. My distance vision seems to be hazier today". But I needn't have worried. I look again and realise it's not my vision, but the weather - it was misty!

Drive the car for the first time as I take the kids to Nowton Park for a walk. It's a lovely day, but cold. Glad I have my shades - the eyes don't like the cold air much. "Keep on blinking", I remind myself.

Eye Laser Surgery - Next Morning

2009-02-28T08:45:00.008Z

Woke up... no scrabbling to find my glasses. I just take the eye covers off and...

It has worked!!!! Like the most accurate prescription glasses for distance I've ever had. Still a bit hazy and with halos around bright lights, and close-up vision is rubbish. But otherwise amazing!

We head off to Cambridge again for my day-after check-up. The optician sits me down. There is a chart displayed. "Oh no, that's much too challenging", he says and changes it to the previous one. "Can you read any of that?", he asks. I read the bottom line.

"Oh", he says and changes to the next chart. I read the top line, then struggle with the next line a little. "That's astounding", he says. Apparently with the amount of correction I've had to have I wasn't supposed to be able to see that well for some time.

He checks me over and pronounces everything OK. "I must tell Chris - he will be pleased". I say "I presume my sight is good enough to drive, then. Is it?". "Good enough to drive? It's good enough to fly a plane!"

Wooooo.

Eye Laser Surgery - Treatment Day

2009-02-27T21:28:00.009Z

So here is how it was for me...

7:30 a.m. Shower and wash my hair for the last time for a while (I will have to avoid getting water in my eyes for 2 weeks). I soak my eyelids and clean my eyelashes with diluted baby shampoo. The mild blepharitis I was diagnosed with at my first consultation is surely completely gone now after doing this twice a day for the last couple of weeks - they look clean to me.

8:35 a.m. Leave home to drive the the Cambridge Ultralase clinic, Missus alongside chattering about school. I think she was more nervous than I was. "Had I got my dark glasses?". Yes I had.

9:30 a.m. Arrived in good time for the 9:40 appointment. We're sat comfortably in reception and the Missus gets a coffee as I sip some water. I'm feeling a bit apprehensive now, but I'm determined to go through with it as long as the surgeon can answer my remaining questions. He might even turn me down for treatment. I would be quite disappointed by that.

9:40 a.m. My surgeon comes out of the consulting room and introduces himself. He is Chris Stephenson who created the Cambridge clinic in 2002. It was bought by Ultralase last year. We go into the consulting room for him to give me a final eye test, answer my questions and get me to sign the consent form. We talk about the possible outcomes of the operations and I ask him to quantify some of the risks for me. He is very reassuring and gives me straightforward answers to my questions. He explains that at my level of short-sightedness (nearly -8.0 in one eye and -6.0) and astigmatism, the technique is not quite as accurate as at lower levels of correction. So, as for the risks:

There's < 0.1% chance of getting an infection in the eye - the most serious risk of the procedure.

About 10% of people operated on have prescriptions before surgery that are higher than mine.

There's about a 5% chance that after surgery I will still need glasses for distance vision.

I ought to be able to see well enough to drive after 2-3 days, but it could take a week or more.

Yes I could have further surgery if necessary (under the lifetime guarantee) if the outcome is not accurate enough, but the amount of tissue that will be burned away will leave me close to the safe limit of thickness left so it may not be possible to operate further.

I ask him to tell me a bit about himself and his experience, although I had already read up his biography on the website. He modestly reassured me that he had done more of these operations than he could count (the website says "more than 9000"). I was confident I was in the care of someone who knew exactly what he was doing. I sign the form and go and sit back in reception while he goes and gets the laser ready. The Missus looks puzzled. I explain that no I haven't had the treatment yet, just the pre-surgery checks.

9:55 a.m. An assistant dressed in blue surgical gown comes and collects me from reception. She asks if I'm OK to go ahead. Here we go!

It felt a bit like being in a science-fiction movie. I lie on the contoured couch between the 2 lasers and have anaesthetic drops put in my eyes. The first bit is the most uncomfortable. Eyelids are propped open and then it's under the first laser with the right eye. A cup and ring of pretty lights come down and press around the eye. The pressure is maintained for about a minute as the laser cuts the flap in the cornea. This is it - there's no point trying to say stop" now! I'm given a countdown of the seconds to go and reassured as we go that I am in an excellent position and it's going well. The surgeon carefully moves aside the flap and then it's under the second laser... There's no feeling associated with this at all. Just a pretty red pattern that goes all jiggly as the laser fires for 4 or 5 seconds at a time. As I had been told, I can smell a faint whiff like singed hair. 4 bursts of the laser and it's done and the surgeon carefully replaces the corneal flap and puts some drops in the eye. And then it's the same again for the left eye. I get protective transparent covers placed over the eyes and get up... just a little wobbly. And, even through the covers I can see!

I wave at the missus on my way back to the consultation room. The protective covers are taken off and already I can see way better than I could without glasses before. Chris inspects my eyes with quiet satisfaction at a good job done. He gives me my set of drops and covers and explains what I need to do - anti-biotic and anti-inflammatory drops need only be used every 4 hours (although the protocol says every 2 hours). A top up of anaesthetic drops and I'm done!

10:25 a.m. I'm back in the car with my new wrap-around sunglasses on my Way home. A mere 45 minutes from meeting the surgeon. I could scarcely believe it! Yes my eyes felt a bit sore, but no worse than after a session swimming underwater in a chlorinated swimming-pool. I keep my eyes closed most of the time, but when I do peek I'm amazed - I can read the road-signs. A bit fuzzy, but it felt good.

11:10 a.m. Home. Even with my shades, it's feeling a bit bright for my eyes now. I go upstairs to the bedroom and lay on the bed with the curtains closed to start catching up with the podcasts on my iPod. The anaesthetic is starting to wear off now and my eyes have started watering.

12:00 noon 2 hours after the operation. "It will get worse before it gets better", Chris had said. He wasn't kidding. Eyes streaming now, and my nose running as well. "What a time to get a cold, I thought". Now I can barely see a thing and can hardly bear to stay still. I feel the urge to drink lots of water.

1:00 p.m. 3 hours after the operation. The Missus checks up on me and asks if I'm all right. No. It hurts like mad right now, but I send her off to school after getting her to txt and call my boss. "It will be pretty uncomfortable for the first 4-6 hours", they said. I crave more darkness - the curtains are not very thick. I go and sit in the downstairs toilet and close the door - the only room in the house without a window. I keep the sunglasses on, but have to clean them every now and then as they fill with tears.

2:00 p.m. 4 hours after the operation. It's starting to ease off a bit now. By putting my pyjamas over my eyes I can reduce the amount of light to a comfortable level. Eyes and nose still running, but not so bad now. And now it's time for my eye-drops. I see myself in the mirror for the first time. Hmm. Yes. I see now why the Missus said I looked a bit scary. I tried photographing myself with my phone...

Not a great photo, but you get the idea. I look out the window into the garden. Oo it's a bit bright, but everything looks sharp! I can see almost as well as I could with glasses before already! Still getting the urge to drink water and as I pass the vegetable rack, I spot the lovely juicy carrots. Surely psychological, but I got the urge to nibble on one, and then another. Well it's a sort of lunch. And maybe it's also just psychological, but as I move around, every now and then I'm sure I can smell that singed hair whiff again. And I'm a bit wobbly and keep bumping into things - it's weird not wearing glasses, but it feels like wearing a new prescription for the first time.

4:00 p.m. 6 hours after the operation. I managed a bit of a snooze. Keeping my eyes closed a lot seems to be a good move. They feel much better now - a bit like having a case of conjunctivitis. And I can see. Distance vision is brilliant! As sharp as it ever was with glasses, although there is a bit of a smearing halo around things. But close-up vision is rubbish! Yes I need those reading glasses I got from Superdrug for £9.99 in anticipation.

6:00 p.m. 8 hours after the operation. The Missus and kids have come home from school and after-school club. I keep the dark glasses on as they come in so as not to scare them. The Missus tells them "Dad's not feeling well - behave yourselves". I explain I feel fine now. Back to being no worse than a bad dose of swimming-pool water.

8:00 p.m. 10 hours after the operation. I've tried the reading glasses. 5 minutes at a time is enough as it tires the eyes, but they work fine. I go outside and look at the stars and can see them without glasses for the first time in nearly 40 years. But bright lights have quite a halo around them. That will take several weeks to fade, or so I'd been told.

The Missus is in the study as usual. "Answer Me This", I say to her (it's one of the podcasts I've been listening to) - "Why is it that a few minutes after I put my eyedrops in I can taste them at the back of my throat?". Well she is a science teacher. But she had to look it up. She showed my a picture of how tears work. Now i know why my nose was running earlier! Tears come down from the top of the eye and drain through the tear duct at the bottom corner into the nasal cavity. I didn't have a cold at all - just tears pouring down my nose!

9:00 p.m. I'm pretty tired now so head for bed. I get out an old airline cosmetics kit and tape my eye covers on, then put the airline eye cover sleeping mask over the top to help keep them in place. Wow! What a day!

Eye Laser Surgery Tomorrow...

2009-02-26T08:02:00.006Z

...I hope.

Hmm. It's been a while. Must get those draft posts completed. Meanwhile, some personal news....

Looking forward to updating my profile picture soon with one of me not wearing glasses - I'm having eye laser surgery tomorrow to treat my short-sightedness. Woooo. A bit scary. I'm going the Cambridge Eye Clinic - to have Ultra Lasik Plus (Wavefront) treatment (subject to final tests and acceptance by the eye surgeon).

More anon, but I'd be hard pushed to do a better description of what's involved than Elslin's Story. I'll describe here how it was for me (assuming it goes ahead), once I'm back using the computer.

Cosford RAF Museum

2009-02-21T07:26:00.002Z

Continuing our flight theme, yesterday we visited the RAF Museum at Cosford. It's only a few miles from The Barn, and, even better, it's free. Here is the site map...

In the Test Flight hangar you will find the fun 'n flight interactive centre, with lots of hands-on things to try. Here is Little W flying a plane...

This is also where you find the flight simulator...

The kids loved doing the Red Arrows display flight, as they got tipped from side to side and forward and back.

My favourite displays were in the huge Cold War hangar...

As well as the planes they have displays of missiles and atomic bombs and a number of cinema booths covering the history of the era.

We finished in Hangar 1, where there is an intersting display of engines. Here is Little W next to a modern jet engine...

There's plenty to see and do - it was a full day out for us.

Enginuity and Rocket Making

2009-02-19T22:25:00.003Z

With our second Family Passport got lat summer, we always visit at least one of the Ironbridge Museums when we're at The Barn. A big favourite for all of us, but especially for Little W, is Enginuity. As usual, he headed straight for Power Valley to play with the water and dams...

But we were there to take part in the special half-term activities...

Yes we were there to make and fire some rockets! They also had model aircraft on display, display flying, and a hand operated flight simulator...

Little W kept crashing, but Big Miss was a natural.

Then it was on to making the rockets. Firstly you decorate your paper, then wrap it round a tube, seal the edges and put a bung in the end. Here are the 4 rocketeers mid-construction...

Then you add fins to keep it flying in a straight line. Here is Little W ready to get his to fire.

It is done with compressed air. You have to pump it up yourself...

...then press the firing button...

Great rocket - right in the middle of the target!

King Charles Barn Tankard

2009-02-17T07:24:00.003Z

It's half term so we've all come to The Barn for a few days. Now I recently stumbled across a Madeley Matters article which mentions The Barn and a silver plate and tankard that were given to Francis Wolfe by King Charles in gratitude for hiding him here as he fled after defeat at the Battle of Worcester.

The article mentioned that a replica of the tankard would be on display at the Coalport China Museum from September 2008. As it happens, I had met Sophie the curator at our team's Volunteering Day, so I emailed her to find out if the display was still there. She wrote back saying it will be there for 2 years, so off we went to find it.

I wont spoil it for you by saying where in the museum the display is, but if you can find this sign...

..you are getting close. The display is quite compact, but very informative and has a photo of the barn as it was before it was converted.

And here is the tankard itself...

The kids were well impressed to see the history of where I stay displayed for all to read.

Ring Quest at West Stow

2009-02-15T21:23:00.004Z

It was on last year and we forgot to go, so this year we just had to get to Ring Quest at West Stow.

This year, there was the added bonus of attendance by the cast and crew of Band of Hope, who we had spied filming there last summer. They had an exhibition and short film running in the new exhibition centre. Here is Little W being dressed up as an orc...

As for the quest itself, you have to find the 9 rings of man in the Realm of Man and then the 7 dwarf and 3 eleven rings in the Realm of the Elves and Dwarves. Here's the map of the Realm of Man...

Yes. It's the Anglo-Saxon Village.

Each ring is a card with a rune on it and a clue as to where to find the next one.

You have to collect all the runes and translate them to modern letters to discover the two words of power. Great fun.

And that wasn't all. In the Anglo-Saxon Village you could have a go at archery, run by Bows & Arrows.

Little Miss and Little W had loads of goes both with modern bows and replicas of those used in films. Here is Little Miss in action...

A great morning out. Big Miss was really miffed when she heard about - she had stayed at home to do her homework.

Anglesey Abbey Winter Walk

2009-02-08T17:22:00.003Z

It was time for our annual Winter's trip to Anglesey Abbey. But this time it was actually snowy...

Right from the start of the Winter Walk the snow set off the colours of the plants...

Here's a Christmas Rose looking very Christmasy...

We also got to see some wildlife in the snow. A muntjac deer...

and a pair of robins...

But, of course, best of all was seeing the snowdrops in their natural element...

...the snow. I took loads more pictures which you can find in this Flickr set.

Snowy Scenes

2009-02-06T07:21:00.003Z

We love the snow. And when it started we went out for a walk in it even in the dark...

It was nice and thick in the back garden in the morning...

...and at the front...

But Sebert Wood School was open as usual even though nearly all the other schools in the area were closed. Fortunately the roads were not too bad by the time it came for my weekly trip to my Second Life in Shropshire. Mind you, when yesterday it looked like this at 'The Barn'...

...oh and if you are clever you can work out which flat is mine in this picture from the angles compared to the view from the bedroom above...

... my car had a bit of struggle getting m to the main road to get to the office. Time to get some new rear tyres with a bit more grip, I think!

Ickworth Winter Walks

2009-01-25T21:43:00.003Z

As you can tell if you search this blog, Ickworth is a favourite place for us for walking, even in winter. And even when it is rainy like today. There are plenty of walks to do around the estate. We started with Gerldine's walk...

It's a good job we had wellies for all those puddles. And they are great for stamping on puffball mushrooms...

Geraldine's walk leads onto the Erskine walk, where the snowdrops were just coming out...

And then there's the Albana walk, which has got a couple of shelters you can use if it gets really wet. We call this one "Belinda's Cottage" after a children's story...

We followed this up with a walk around the walled gardens. From the far corner you have a great view of this mistletoe clad tree...

Yes, it was pretty wet, but we enjoyed our walk while the Sunday Roast readied itself in the oven at home. We were glad to get back in to the warm, though.

New Musical Instrument

2009-01-12T09:41:00.001Z

We have a new musical instrument to add to our growing collection. Little W has started learning the piano now and Little Miss has added to her repertoire of piano, guitar and violin...

...yes she has just started being allowed to bring home her flute from school. What with Big Miss doubling up on electric guitar and drums, and Little W on ukulele, I think I'm going to need a multi-track recorder for our growing band!

Wii Fit Boy

2009-01-10T21:10:00.003Z

It was Little W's birthday and we went out for a meal. In the middle of the restaurant he did a demonstration of the yoga poses he had been learning....

..from the Wii. He loves the games on it. Here he is trying to walk the tightrope.

But my favourite Wii Fit game to watch is the Ski-jumping. It's hilarious to see the poses! Here he goes...

Weeeeeeeeeee!

Walberswick Winter Walk

2009-01-03T20:25:00.004Z

Here's another favourite spot for a Winter walk. On the Suffolk Coast, just across the river Blyth from Southwold is the village of Walberswick. Just by the car park at the beach you get this view of its near neighbour.

The two are separated by the River Blyth, which may be crossed either by the foot ferry that runs during the summer months or by a bailey bridge about 1/2 mile upstream.

It was a typical cold and windy winters day when we went, but there was some sun.

Sizewell is just a few miles along the beach, here lit by a break in the clouds.

I rather like the sign next to the emergency telephone on the beach, a strange relic from last century. I wonder if it still works?

The walk along the river is refreshing and the surrounding marshland is a National Nature Reserve. I was tempted to cross the bridge to the Harbour Inn, but it looked a bit busy.

But the fresh air blew some of the new year cobwebs out of the brain.

Boxing Day Walk at Redgrave and Lopham Fen

2008-12-28T08:24:00.000Z

It was nearly 18 months since we last went there so I suggested we go to Redgrave and Lopham Fen for our Boxing Day walk. It's about 1/2 hour from Bury St Edmunds - just follow the A143 towards Diss and look for the brown sign for the road to the left through the pretty village of Redgrave and across the county border into Norfolk. There is a good choice of waymarked paths...

We chose the 6.5km Waveney path, but perversely chose to walk it in the wrong direction. We also neglected to tell the little ones how far it was. "Are we nearly there yet?", they said...

Hmm. Just about half way at this point. It was a lovely sunny day, but with a cold easterly wind. The wintry fenland landscape was picturesque.

It was pretty quiet, apart from the occasional bird call and the lovely rustling noise of the wind in the dry reeds.

Watch out for the wild horses that roam the Nature Reserve.

We eventually made it round and set out our picnic...

But it wasn't like Dunwich Heath last Boxing Day. They look a bit cold, don't they? Five minutes later we were all in the car with our turkey sandwiches!

The Twelve Promises of Christmas

2008-12-26T07:59:00.007Z

"Let's go and see all our presents!", said Little W, excitedly. But here was a surprise. Yes Santa had been - the sherry and milk had been drunk and the carrot and mince pie eaten. But where were the stockings? And where are all the presents? Instead, each of them got an envelope where their stockings had been...

...with a letter...

Have you been good? A grumpy old man took your presents from me. I don’t know where he put them. Maybe your brother and sister can help you find them. With lots of love from Santa.

Each of them also got a picture and they had to put them together to find where the next clue is...

In all there were 12 clues to solve each made from 3 pictures. Try clicking on the image below if you want to try solving them for yourself...

But here was the really cunning bit. Each clue of three pictures came in an envelope with a statement on the outside...

...along the lines of..

If you promise to clean your teeth every day and night you may open this envelope for your next clue.

So by the time they found their stockings in Dad's car boot, they had all promised to...

Clean their teeth day and night

Help around the house when asked

Keep their rooms tidy

Do what Mum or Dad asks, straight away

Help set and clear the table

Be ready to go out on time without needing to be shouted at

Be nice to each other

Do their music practice, homework and reading without being nagged

Not moan when asked to go on a walk and

All keep all the other promises all of the time.

The back of the envelopes all had a message -“Keep this envelope, you may need it later”. And here's why... When they opened their stocking, they each had another message: "If … the … your … your … Dad … him … can", "You … rest … presents … envelopes … and … if … have", "Want … of … take … to … ask … you … them".

Big Miss figured it out straight away. You have to read from each message one word at a time. So, after a final promise on another card from Santa...

Well that grumpy old man turned out to be your Dad!. He said you can open this present only if you promise to share and use it only when Mum or Dad says you can (and when they’re not using it)

...they then got to open this present...

Yes we had a Wii Wii Christmas! But, best of all, I had got them all to make 12 Christmas promises!

Puss in Boots

2008-12-24T17:57:00.007Z

Yesterday we had our (nearly) annual Christmas treat of going to the pantomime at the Theatre Royal. (I say nearly - we missed it last year because I forgot to book early). This year it is Puss in Boots...

We had a box in the Upper Circle...

It was great to see James Nickerson back as the dame (Nellie Gwyn)...

He was on top form. We thought that Princess Caroline (Abi Newberry) was quite funny too.

The baddies were Oliver Cromwell (Mark Stratton)and his henchman Hench (Dennis Herdman). Here they are clowning around with a plank.

Jack (Bradley Clarkson) and Puss (Helena Blackman) were the heroes and led the story well. There was some entertaining ad-libbing, for example when Jack asked the audience how to find the way. "Get a map"... "No there isn't a map in the woods"... "Get a SatNav"... "No your supposed to tell me to ask the cat".... "Ah. A CatNav!".

The real heroes, though, were the cats. No I won't spoil the plot by telling you how they defeated nasty Oliver Cromwell, but you won't be surprised to hear the story ended with a wedding and everyone living happily ever after.

As always, a really entertaining afternoon out; it got us well in the mood for Christmas. You can see more of my pictures here on Flickr; the show runs until Sunday 18th January.

Christmas Story

2008-12-22T16:54:00.002Z

Thanks to my workmate Patsy for sending me this. It made us all laugh!

A Christmas Story for people having a bad day:

When four of Santa's elves got sick, the trainee elves did not produce toys as fast as the regular ones, and Santa began to feel the Pre-Christmas pressure.

Then Mrs Claus told Santa her Mother was coming to visit, which stressed Santa even more.

When he went to harness the reindeer, he found that three of them were about to give birth and two others had jumped the fence and were out, Heaven knows where.

Then when he began to load the sleigh, one of the floorboards cracked, the toy bag fell to the ground and all the toys were scattered.

Frustrated, Santa went in the house for a cup of apple cider and a shot of rum. When he went to the cupboard, he discovered the elves had drank all the cider and hidden the liquor. In his frustration, he accidentally dropped the cider jug, and it broke into hundreds of little glass pieces all over the kitchen floor. He went to get the broom and found the mice had eaten all the straw off the end of the broom.

Just then the doorbell rang, and irritated Santa marched to the door, yanked it open, and there stood a little angel with a great big Christmas tree.

The angel said very cheerfully, 'Merry Christmas, Santa. Isn't this a lovely day? I have a beautiful tree for you. Where would you like me to stick it?'

And so began the tradition of the little angel on top of the Christmas tree.

AAG Winter Social

2008-12-14T20:34:00.003Z

I try not to write too much about my job here, but I had a really interesting day on Thursday last week. The Aspire Architects Group had a team-building away-day doing something completely different... We did a day of voluntary work at the Ironbridge Gorge Museums - a regular haunt for us when when the kids visit The Barn. We were at the Coalbrookdale site...

After an introductory talk, we set to work moving and repacking the museums' (Victorian) costume collection. While one team built new shelves and moved the boxes around, the rest of us learnt how to pack things to preserve them and were set to work. Here's my team with one of our first items - a ladies jacket...

We were a bit disappointed not to have any corsets to do, but we did get a pile of linen, a top hat and trilby alleged to have been owned by Captain Webb - a local man, famous for being the first person to swim the English Channel, some furs, tablecloths and a couple of banners for local Wesleyan Sunday Schools.

Well it was certainly a change from our usual line of work! And there was some satisfaction in being told we had done in one day what would otherwise have taken the staff about 18 months to complete. But then it was off with the gloves...

...to go and explore Enginuity...

... and then to enjoy a celebratory hog roast...

...at, and after which, copious amounts of beer were drunk. And I'm not going to say anything about the member of the team who managed to lock himslef out of his hotel room in the middle of the night wearing... no I really mustn't say.

You can see some more of my photos of the day here on Flickr.

Bury St Edmunds Christmas Fayre

2008-12-05T21:15:00.004Z

It was a busy weekend, last weekend. On Sunday morning I took the kids to the Bury St Edmunds Christmas Fayre - better late than never. This year it spread from Angel Hill into the Abbey Gardens, and there were decorations dangling from the Abbey Gate.

We did the tour of the stalls, which were very busy, but the kids were really interested only in the fairground rides. The Ferris wheel...

provided a great view. So they had to have a ride on it, didn't they?

And then it was on to the gallopers...

Yee Ha, Ride 'em cowboy!

Bury County Music School Christmas Concert

2008-12-02T21:40:00.002Z

Getting to touch down at 6:02 am on my return from my Indian trip on Saturday, meant I was able to get home in time to see Little Miss perform in the Bury County Music School Christmas concert at KEGS. Whereas last year she was performing in the Cygnets, this year she is in the Junior Strings. See if you can spot her in the crowd on the stage in the lower hall, waiting for their turn to perform...

The Junior Strings are led by the wonderfully enthusiastic and inspiring Kelly Jones. Here they are playing the Jazz Suite from String Time Joggers...

Well done them!

But Little W (and Big Miss) enjoyed the junior wind band best - we all got to clap and stamp in time to "We will rock you"...

It was so popular that they had to play it again! Great fun. Jet lag? What jet lag?

Indian Elephants

2008-11-30T16:28:00.001Z

When I told the family I was going to India on business for a week, Big Miss put on her sweetest smile and asked in her most innocent tone of voice, "Dad, please can you bring me an elephant back from India?". We had a good laugh about how to get one on the plane.

Well I couldn't get her a real one, but found this lovely wooden carved elephant at Krishna Pearls and Jewellers.

Actually they come in pairs, so I had to get 2. And having got her some, I had to get one each for the other 2 kids, so now we've got a herd!

And what about the Missus? Well Hyderabad is famous for its pearls, so I just had to get some, didn't I?

Christmas has come early!

Trip to India

2008-11-29T17:46:00.002Z

A bit of a gap in the blogging, but that's because I've been away on business... in India! Here's where I flew in last Sunday...

Fortunately this was just a stopover on my way to Hyderabad. Nevertheless the terrible events in Mumbai had an effect on our week and I flew home via Dubai.

I was staying at the Indian School of Business...

...which is in the FT Top 20 business schools in the world. Unfortuantely, during the week we saw nothing ither than the ISB Campus, the Capgemini offices...

... and the bit of road between them. The scale of construction in the area is incredible, with large gangs working 24x7x365 to cosntruct office campuses for major global IT firms.

By the way, here's a tip for converting time from India to UK (5 1/2 hours). Turn your watch upside down...

So 20 past 2 becomes 10 to 8.

At least we got out of the office into the grounds sometimes to enjoy the warm sunshine. It was like a lovely summer day in England. And in the evenigs we got to eat outside...

...where we were served with a large selection and variety of curries all week. Yum!

I was disappointed not to see more and fascinated by the little glimpses I had of India and Indian life. Must go back some day.

Autumn Walks Around Bury St Edmunds - Knettishall Heath

2008-11-16T09:51:00.003Z

Here's somewhere we visited a few weeks ago one foggy Sunday morning - Knettishall Heath.

There is a choice of revierside, woodland or heathland walks. As we couldn't agree, I decided - heathland it was.

I do like how fog makes things look different...

It being autumn, we did our usual Mushroom hunting. Here's a prize specimen...

We also so loads of cobwebs, highlghted by the little droplets of water that had settled on them...

But it is the shapes in the fog I enjoyed most. Here's Kut Hill...

Woooooo. Spooky.

Autumn Walks Around Bury St Edmunds - West Stow

2008-11-15T08:36:00.000Z

West Stow is another favourite spot for a walk for us. During half-term we did a walk on a lovely frosty morning. Here's the map of the Country Park...

You can follow the arrows, but it's pretty hard to get lost if you just stay to paths and gates...

As yo can see it was nice and frosty...

We walked all the way round the lake. There are plenty of waterfowl to look out for...

... after all, Lackford Lakes are just over the other side of the River Lark.

Of course we can't get away with just a walk. A visit to the playground afterwards is popular and a motivation for getting the walk done. Here is Little W achieving the feat that had so far eluded him...

... getting to the top of the slide. Well done!

Autumn Walks Around Bury St Edmunds - Thornham Walks

2008-11-12T22:33:00.000Z

I find it hard to believe I've never mentioned this place on the blog before (except in passing), as it is somewhere we go at least 3 times a year. Thornham Estate is about 1/2 hour drive from Bury St Edmunds, but it's worth the trip. It's easy enough to find ' head down the A14 towards Ipswich, take the A140 towards Diss and turn left, following the brown signs, just after Stoke Ash. You can find it here on the map. There is a field study centre, tea-room and shop by the car-park, which costs £2 for the day.

There are several walks to choose from - we like the 2-mile loop. Lots of useful and interesting information is provided. Some of the trees have got labels telling you about them. So who knows what these ones are?

Lovers of Nowton Park will recognise these from the avenue of them there - they are Limes (aka Lindens).

Watch out also for the rock specimens and little signs with pictures of ancient beasts. They have put a few new panels up since we were last there explaining the history of the estate. Here is the one with the story of the walled garden...

Do go in and see it, especially in autumn. There are geraniums galore and grapes in the greenhouse and the apple trees are laden (or have dropped their fruit). Some interesting varieties of apple too. But the 4 corners of the orchard area have something different. At the greenhouse end there are huge quince trees, but at the other corners the trees bear this fruit...

They are Medlars. Quite unusual in this country, I think - I've never seen them anywhere else.

After visiting the bird-hide, the garden and the caged birds round the back, we did the 2-mile loop - it is shortened a bit in winter to protect some of the paths. Even so, you will need wellies. Just about now you get the full spectrum of autumn colours...

Little W and I discussed what our favourite coloured leaves are. These were the winners...

It all makes for an excellent Sunday morning outing. Then it was home to Dad's home made soup and freshly baked bread. Yum.

Felixstowe Beach - Walk to Cobbolds Point

2008-11-06T22:34:00.003Z

The Missus came back from her trip Up North and announced she wanted to go to a beach. Again. We'd already been to Hunstanton this week. Well the quickest trip to a beach for us is to go straight down the A14 to Felixstowe. This time, instead of going to Landguard Point, we parked at the pier...

...and walked in the other direction - northwards. Very slowly. Yes they were all looking for shells and pebble to add to our collection.

I was struck by the way the beach was being eroded in places, despite the sea defences and despite the sea not being particularly rough.

At the north end you run out of beach at Cobbolds Point where there is this interesting "reef" defence...

Here's the view back along the promenade...

Spot the docks in the distance! A nice easy Sunday Morning walk; our pork was roasting nicely when we got home.

Halloween Fun

2008-11-01T11:56:00.003Z

I had the kids to myself for Halloween. As we were all on holiday we were able to prepare. Firstly there was the pumpkin carving, orchestrated by Big Miss...

Then there was the costume making. Big Miss is a Superhero (not sure what that's got to do with Halloween, but never mind), Little Miss a bat and Little W a ghost. Oh, and as for me... to be revealed below!

So here are the pumpkins lit up outside the front door...

...to attract the unsuspecting trick-or-treaters to my lair. Little did they suspect what would greet them...

My preparations involved baking some wicked looking black bread...

It's just an ordinary white loaf recipe, but with a slug of black food-colouring added to the water before putting it into the bread maker. With that I was able to make my "Bat sandwiches" (and feed the kids bacon sandwiches for their tea).

There were also some salami and ham (when we ran out of bacon) and with passata to make the "Blood sandwiches". Having done our own brief trick-or-treating, we returned home, lit some more candles, turned out the lights and waited for our victims....

I had a little speech, with a funny accent…

“Gut Efening. My name is Count von Dracula. Velcome to my castle. Ve haff a special treat for our honoured guests tonight. Bat Sandviches. Or if you prefer ve haff blood sandviches.”

I would then beckon my bat or ghost assistant to offer the plate....

You should have seen the look on the faces of some of the younger ones! But as the evening wore on and we got older ones, some of whom were more brave and had a taste and in the end we ran out. (Of course we also had pots of sweets for those who didn’t like the look of the dark grey bread sandviches).

What fun!

Autumn Walks around Bury St Edmunds - Nowton Park

2008-10-30T19:29:00.002Z

It has been great walking weather recently and we've been revisiting some favourite places. Nowton Park is one. The trees look fantastic in the sunshine.

But we were here not jut to walk, but to do the Autumn Trail...

Little W did the simple 5 question one, while the girls did the full 20 questions. You have to find the clues around the park. Here's one...

We've done them before, but have not tired of them yet, even though we now know where to look for the clues. The trail is open until Sunday 2nd November.

Hunstanton Sea Life Sanctuary

2008-10-30T08:05:00.003Z

The real reason why I suggested Sunny Hunny for our day trip was that Little Miss had been asking for ages to go to an aquarium. She loves fish almost as much as she loves horses (and unicorns, but I've not managed to find any to take her to see yet). We were there to visit the Sea Life Sanctuary.

Be sure to check out special offers and discount vouchers online before you go. The sea-life displays are excellent. This was my favourite...

But they've also got some open top displays one with rays and another with starfish and urchins that you can touch.

Outside they have penguins, otters and seals, all of which you can watch being fed at different times. Here are the otters watching out for their food...

The seals are pretty friendly...

And then there's the Shark Tunnel...

where you can see them swimming over your head. The kids thought it was fantastic, but by now they were hungry.

It was before Little W was born that we were last in Hunstanton, but Cassie's family restaurant...

...is still there and we ate there again, served by he same waitress! Excellent food too.

Then it was off to stock up on rock and have an ice-cream before heading off to Sandringham for an afternoon walk. Yes that was a good day out and we all slept well that night!

Sunny Hunny Hunstanton

2008-10-29T16:08:00.005Z

For a half-term treat the Missus thought we should take a day-trip to the coast. She wanted to go to one of the usual spots like Dunwich Heath or Southwold but I suggested the North West Norfolk coast instead, for reasons to be revealed in the next post...

Hunstanton, also known as "Sunny Hunny" is about 12 miles north of Kings Lynn. The old village at the top of the cliffs was extended to become a seaside resort with a new green to the south of sloping down to the sea.

It's about 60 miles from Bury St Edmunds, but the roads can be slow - it took us about 1 hr 20 minutes to get there, setting off from home before 9 o'clock to make a day of it. Popular since about the 1860's, it's still a busy family resort in the summer, but wasn't too busy when we got there, as you can see.

The water is shallow and the tide goes out a long way into The Wash.

We had a lovely long walk along the beach and under the amazing two-tone cliffs...

... an excellent site for discovering fossils, but watch out for the crumbling cliffs! Little W and I found a couple of fossilised shells while the girls searched the rock pools.

But that wasn't the main reason why we had come to Sunny Hunny...

Cambridge Ideas Festival - #5 The Big Draw - Drama in the Antarctic

2008-10-27T09:51:00.004Z

Our final stop of the day was at the Scott Polar Research Institute to take part in the 'Big Draw' event there. Here are the girls adding their bits to the 'Freezing Frieze'...

Little W wouldn't leave his picture behind, though as he wanted to do more work on it...

While I viewed the fascinating photography and Nimrod exhibitions, they all went on to make some snowflakes...

...to be hung from the suspended sled...

By now we had had a full day so we headed back to the Newmarket Road Park&Ride. What a good day out! The Festival is on until next Sunday. We may go back.

Cambridge Festival of Ideas - #4 Drumming Workshop

2008-10-27T09:37:00.004Z

Leaving the girls to make their nano-models, Little W and I sneaked off across the courtyard to the Centre of Latin American Studies to find the Drumming Workshop. There were loads of big drums to try out...

Here is Little W beside our tutor who got us making different sounds and got us to drum together.

Fantastic. My favourite activity of the day. But we couldn't stay too long - Little W's hands go sore from beating the drums so hard!

Cambridge Festival of Ideas - #3 Nanoworld

2008-10-26T16:08:00.001Z

After lunch it was back to the Pitt Building for the Chinese Paper Cutting... except that was really busy adn there was a big queue so we went to Nanoworld instead - an Art workshop exploring the tiny. There were lots of pictures to give inspiration and a huge supply of different colours of plasticene. Her is Little W making his virus...

...and here is one of Little Miss' attempts...

As for Big Miss, well she made some DNA...

Good work. So I ended up going home with a bagful of viruses. Nice!

Cambridge Festival of Ideas - #2 Seismographics

2008-10-26T15:41:00.002Z

Next stop was the Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences for the 'Seismographics' event. And of course we had a good look arond the museum here too.

First activity we tried was the pendulm drawing. In case you didn't know, this is how seismographs work. The helpers simlated an earthquake by wobbling the paper underneath the pendulum. I loved the construction - a rubber glove filled with sand as the weight with pens attached to a finger. Here's Little Miss having a go.

Then we attended the Science Show presented by Joel Gill, which explained all about earthquakes, with fun demos. Here are Little W and Little Miss helping out with the demonstration of S-waves and P-waves...

...and here is Big Miss helpng out by jumping up and down to create the seismic activity displayed on the trace.

After the talk we tried out out some of the demos. The Missus enjoyed herself too!

In fact we had to drage her away to visit the '18th Century Play Room' before it finished at 1pm.

Cambridge Festival of Ideas - #1 'Discover Fenland'

2008-10-26T11:38:00.006Z

Yesterday we had a brilliant day out at the Cambridge Ideas Festival - new this year, and we will definitely back next year. It's running from 22nd October to 2nd November, but yesterday was the day of peak activity.

We started at the Museum of Zoology which had a 'Discover Fenland' Day. Apart from the 'Fens through a Lens' exhibition of photos there was also information about the Great Fen Project and some hands on activities. But the museum itself is fascinating. Here's Little W looking for dinosaur bones.

He and his sister both made badges...

... and then some dragonflies...

...while Big Miss did the quiz.

Well that was fun. Where shall we go next?

Cairngorms

2008-08-17T22:23:00.002+01:00

First post for a while - I've been on my holidays to the Highlands of Scotland without any Internet access for 10 days, so I'm going to have some catching up to do. Meanwhile, here's a view of the Cairngorms from the viewpoint above Grantown-on-Spey, where we were staying. And look - it isn't raining!

Bressingham Steam Museum and Gardens

2008-08-04T23:01:00.002+01:00

We had visitors this weekend - Aunt, Uncle and cousins and we all went out for a day to Bressingham. Predictably it was somewhat rainy at times, but we still had good fun. The steam gallopers are a favourite with the girls...

The gardens are looking fantastic. I love these Echinaceas...

Big Miss was in charge of the video camera and took some stills too. We decided she got the best flower picture...

Little W was more interested in the trains. He loved setting and unsetting all the signals in the signal box.

Of course we had rides on all 3 of the little trains. But as you can see, we didn't always manage to stay dry...

Still. A great day out was had by all. You can see more of our photos here on Flickr.

Holkham Beach

2008-07-29T22:17:00.002+01:00

Holkham Beach at Wells-next-the-Sea on the North Norfolk coast is a fair drive from Bury St Edmunds, but on what was likely to be the hottest and sunniest Sunday of the year, it was just the place to go. But look what happened as we walked along the beach to pick our spot...

The sea mist rolled in! But it unlike the North East coast, where I grew up, it didn't get cold and a couple of hours later it had all boiled off.

Even though it was possibly the busiest day of the year, there was still plenty of room on the beach. The dunes here were deserted. (Well OK, maybe there are some people hiding over the tops).

The sea was lovely and warm and these two stayed in it for ages.

Yes we had a great day on the beach and everyone slept well that night.

Brandon Country Park - Revisited

2008-07-26T21:20:00.003+01:00

It was a lovely hot sunny day today and we just had to get out for a walk this afternoon, Brandon Country Park is a favourite place to go when we've got a couple of hours or so. It's not too far from Bury St Edmunds (up the B1106 past Centerparcs here - just before you get to Brandon) and has plenty of variety of walking. The Visitor Centre and Tearoom are excellent and open 7 days a week.

They were running a bit low on ice-creams by the time we left, though!

I love the walled garden, which used to be the kitchen garden for the house, but is now full of flowers. It has a well in the middle...

It is not far to walk to the lake and picnic area in front of the house (which is now a nursing home).

But today the Missus wanted to walk on the heath to get some sun.

It's a good job we brought our water bottles with us. And even after the icecream from the visitor centre, someone still needed extra cooling when they got back home...

"I am the king of the water", he sang.

Dudmaston Hall

2008-07-24T07:55:00.004+01:00

Now it's the school holidays and the kids will soon be coming back to The Barn for a few days. One place we will be visiting again is Dudmaston Hall, a 17th Century Country House which was acquired by the National Trust in 1978.

It is just off the A442 between Bridgnorth and Kiddereminster at Quatt (here). We went there last summer but didn't get to visit the house as it is only open between 2-5pm on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Sunday. (The grounds are open from 12-6 on Mondays as well as the days he house is open). But it's worth visiting just for the gardens...

What's happened here? Has somebody shrunk the kids?

No it's just the giant Gunnara leaves. There is also a slope in the lawn which is excellent for doing roly-polys down...

I rather liked these steps, overgrown with chamomile...

Looking at my pictures of the place again, I'm starting to feel in holiday mood already... Rats I've another week and a bit to go.

Crazy Kids Cereal

2008-07-23T21:26:00.006+01:00

It's the end of term and Little Miss has brought some of her school work home with her. One thing I particularly enjoyed seeing was the cereal box she had made and decorated...

A bit pricy, perhaps, and some funny spelling, but good attention to detail, I thought, with its barcode, ingredients, allergy list, buy one get 1 free offer and recycling symbol. Out of curiousity, I looked up the website www.crazykids.com and yes it really exists! A pity it doesn't sell cereal, though. Best before 7th September - interesting choice of date. That wouldn't happen to be someone's birthday, would it?

BoH at West Stow

2008-07-21T21:56:00.004+01:00

On Saturday afternoon we went for a favourite walk at West Stow. As we arrived we saw lots of cars and some tents and signs sating "BoH". What was all that about? "There must be something on", I said. We looked at the noticeboards, and didn't see anything advertised. But as we walked passed the outside of the Anglo-Saxon Village, we saw lots of people there, many dressed up in costume...

And then we saw a fluffy microphone and could hear someone shout "Cut". Someone was making a movie in the Anglo-Saxon Village! A bit of Googling this evening found me the answer. BoH stands for Born of Hope "A Lord of the Rings Fan Film. Well fancy that!

Ice Skating

2008-07-16T22:32:00.003+01:00

So I'm back in Shropshire again.... Now one thing Telford has that Bury St Edmunds hasn't, is an Ice Rink.

So last summer, when the kids came to The Barn, I took them ice-skating one day. Big Miss, as a roller-blader, took to it like a duck to water (or should that be like a penguin to an ice floe?).

After a bit, Little Miss was confident enough to leave the side...

But Little W wasn't so sure...

After some cajoling, though, he was finally persuaded to get out into the middle of the ice...

Ah! That's what big sisters are for!

Needham Market - Needham Lake

2008-07-14T23:08:00.000+01:00

It's only 20 minutes down the A14 towards Ipswich from Bury St. Edmunds, but we had never been to Needham Market. Yesterday morning we changed that. We parked in the Mill Meadow car park at Needham Lake - one of several along the River Gipping Valley created from old gravel pits.

Here's the Missus with the little ones sporting their new hats from Dallas as we set off.

On a Sunday morning, the lake is home for the Gipping Valley Model Boat Club.

I could have sat and watched them for a while, but we had a walk to get on with. There is a 27 acre nature reserve surrounding the lake and, as advertised in the leaflet we got from the Information Room, we saw lots of pyramidal orchids.

The lake and nature reserve are just across the railway line from the town centre, so we took a stroll down the High St. Here's some impressive Suffolk plasterwork...

I rather liked this shop at no 77.

The sign says

Roy Arnold at Number 77 in the High Street Needham Market Suffolk buy and sell all sorts of Carpenters Joyners & Coopers Tools where Collectors Artificers & Others may be furnished with Greater or Lesser Quantities at reasonable Rates

Artificers - now there's a word you don't hear to often these days.

We recrossed the railway line and continued our walk through Kings Meadow and Station Field to finish our circumnavigation of the lake and a celebratory ice-cream in the car park. What an excellent place for a walk - I'm sure we'll be back sooner than later - maybe to do some of the River Gipping walk.

Trumpet Exam

2008-07-13T08:30:00.003+01:00

No Violin Lesson today, because it's the day of the Music Exams at KEGS. Inside this room was Big Miss, doing her warm up for her Grade 2 Trumpet. I sat in the famous Ed's place, where I saw many familiar faces from the usual Saturday Music School while she did her stuff. She says she didn't play her pieces as well as she could. "It's Mum's fault for making me practise too much this morning", she said. How did she get on? Well, we'll have to wait for the results.

Dallas

2008-07-12T22:24:00.003+01:00

This is the Westin hotel I was staying in on my business trip to Dallas this week. From the view from the roof of the hotel, I can report that this part of Texas, at least, is flatter than East Anglia! We didn't get out much, but we did get to see the Dealey Plaza, site of the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963.

This view shows the Texas School Book Repository, now housing a museum, the building from which Lee Harvey Oswald fired. Well I'm not going to go into the theories about what really happened - you could do worse than start here to find out.

Just the next block along from the Book Repository, and visible in the picture if you click on it, is Morton's Steakhouse, where we gorged ourselves on the most enormous steaks. Yummy.

So what else is Dallas famous for? Well there's the famous eponymous TV Drama, but we didn't get a chance to visit Southfork. The next time we did get out was the following evening, where we ate at the Cool River Cafe.

I don't know why but, like Morton's, inside it was so dimly lit I could hardly see. Outside was a sign for the modern era..

This Facility is Not Smoke Free

I've never seen one of those before.

Our final escape was on the way back to the airport - we stopped at the Dallas Cowboys Pro Shop.

Here is Little Miss modelling the hat I got her...

I think she likes it. She wore it all day today.

Are We There Yet?

2008-07-08T22:39:00.003+01:00

All the way through my plane trip I watched the map showing where we were rather than any of the entertainment. Jackie, the stewardess who was looking after me thought it was quite funny that I took photos, even though I explained it was for the kids to see when I got home. So every time she went past, she asked me "Are we there yet?"

Coincidentally, I spotted this in the book shop Oxburgh Hall on Sunday...

Answer: Yes We Are! Posted from Westin Hotel in Dallas.

Off again...

2008-07-08T07:41:00.004+01:00

Last week France, this week the USA. After 15 months with the company going nowhere further than Worthing, I've been sent abroad twice in 2 weeks! Off to Dallas today for a couple of days' meetings. We met up here at Jurys Inn Heathrow last night as we are flying out this morning. I can report that it is quite comfortable and the double glazing is good. A quick breakfast and off we go!

Terminal 4 is like any other. No point in shopping here, so it's off to the business lounge and its work area.

You can get online anywhere these days...

So I did.

Oxburgh Hall

2008-07-06T17:34:00.005+01:00

As I'm going to be in Shropshire this coming week, today was a chance to have a family day out. When I dug into my archives I was surprised to find it was 4 years since we had visited Oxburgh Hall. About time we went back then. It is not too far - only about 45 minutes drive from Bury St. Edmunds; up he A134 past Thetford and then turning right just past Stoke Ferry - here on the map. It is quite an impressive building surrounded by a moat.

The kitchen garden is well stocked with an interesting variety of plants, and the herbaceous border up against the orchard wall is a spectacular array of colours.

As you can see the kids have their clipboards to hand to do the wildlife and picture quiz trails.

It was just as well we had an early picnic lunch; there are tables on the lawn by the car park. We had only just finished eating when the heavens opened and we had to take shelter in the car.

The hall is open for visiting from 1pm, and features a priests hole, secret doorways and a good view from the roof of the tower.

There is a also a woodland walk, which we were determined to do even if we got a bit wet.

We had a great time; it is well worth the trip. You can see more pictures from our day out here on Flickr.

Harold Bonnett Garden

2008-07-05T22:34:00.005+01:00

We parked in the Ram Meadow car park on our way to the Shoppers Prom so we could walk through the Abbey Gardens before and after the concert. They looked a picture with the flowers perked up by a shower of rain.

On the way back we visited one of my favourite corners of the gardens - the Harold Bonnett Sensory garden...

... created in 2003 from a bequest to help the visually impaired and wheelchair users to enjoy the plantings. The smells form the wet plants in the sunshine, especially the lavender, was lovely.

Bury St Edmunds Shoppers Prom

2008-07-05T16:04:00.003+01:00

So where is Little Miss striding to so purposefully with her violin? It's off to the Corn Exchange we go to the previously advertised Suffolk County Music School Bury St Edmunds Shoppers Prom in the Corn Exchange. Here is the programme...

The place was packed out with all the Mums and Dads, brothers etc.

(Yes Little W was there, but Big Miss failed to get herself ready in time so was left to tidy the house). So here are the Cygnets String Orchestra in action.

If you can spot her in there your eyesight is better than mine; 5th desk 2nd violin is somewhere near the back.

Then, after the Junior String Orchestra did their stuff on their own, forces were combined for Vivaldi Comes to Town...

... a special arrangement featuring solos for Matt and Ben who had helped out so magnificently all year. And if you are really keen, you can see a video of the performance here. Well done to all concerned, it was a great morning's entertainment!

Dancing Boy

2008-07-04T23:17:00.004+01:00

After our trip to the Tostock Gardeners Arms I put the Pasadena Roof Orchestra CD on in the living room and Little W took the walking stick from the umbrella stand in the hall and started to dance...

Where did he get that from? He just shrugged his shoulders. Little Miss suggested that it was from watching Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. She might be right. A bit of Dick Van Dyck in there, I think.

Gardeners Arms Tostock

2008-07-04T22:31:00.005+01:00

The Missus had taken the kids to have their hair cut after she got back from school. I wasn't sure when they would be back so hadn't started cooking an evening meal. "I fancy going out to a country pub for a meal", she announced when they arrived, earlier than expected. Who am I to argue? So we did. "Where do you want to go?", I asked as we headed to the end of our road. She waved her right hand so we headed in a vaguely easterly direction to the sounds of the Pasadena Roof Orchestra (aka PRO) on my car's CD player. We ended up in Tostock, start of my Mid-Suffolk Cycle Ride some time back, at the Gardeners Arms where the Missus regularly goes from school. (Ah, now I know where she goes when she says she is working late).

The building dates from the 14th century and has great character. We were warmly greeted and found plenty of room in the dining area.

The food was great and everything got eaten up. Why don't they do that with my cooking, I wonder? (No don't answer that). After a pint and a half of Abbot ale, the Missus was well merry and regaled us with her vocal accompaniment to the PRO's "That's My Weakness Now" all the way home. And I didn't have any cooking or washing up to do. Yippee.

TechnoVision Masterclass

2008-07-02T23:19:00.003+01:00

I've been to France! I got to stay at the lovely Chateau Montvillargene hotel near Chantilly. Here is the view as you approach...

The chateau was commissioned to be built by Baroness Jeanne de Rothschild in 1900. It was occupied by the Germans during the war, became a novitiate and boarding school and then, in 1969, a hotel school. In 1985 it became a hotel proper and got its 4th star in 2003.

The impact of regional and foreign styles on its architecture can be easily noticed through Norman half-timbering, Württemberg roofing and Béarn balcony style

...says the hotel website.

I wasn't just there to enjoy the ambience and cuisine, but to take part in a 2-day "Masterclass" on TechnoVision. I will say no more on that - if you work for Capgemini you should know all about it, and if you don't, I probably shouldn't tell you! Here we are about to start work.

We did get outside in the lovely sunshine a bit - for both lunchtime and evening meals; and mighty fine meals they were too...

...although it wasn't all to everyone's taste - one of my US colleagues put his ear to his rather rare steak to hear if it had stopped mooing.

At the end of our 2 days we had a group photo. See if you can spot me.

Then it was straight back to Charles de Gaulle airport to get back to Shropshire. But what a super place to work for a couple of days.

Friends of Sebert Wood School Summer Fayre

2008-06-29T08:08:00.004+01:00

Yesterday was the annual Friends of Sebert Wood School Summer Fayre, last featured on this blog in 2006. After lunch I took the kids down there. They had the usual tombola stalls on, but this year we didn't win any booze.

Little Miss, though, did win something on the Spin2Win stall.

The biggest queue was not for the popular barbecue bar, but for the face-painting.

Although it's 4 years since Big Miss left the school, she still enjoyed it; she and her mate got a coaster made each from a photograph of them with the giant hedgehog, here seen sparring with a pupil.

There was the usual Dad's soccer tournament, which I carefully avoided, instead I eyed up the cars on display - a red Ferrari, an Aston Martin DB7 and this Audi R8.

Little W, though enjoyed a different car the best. He got to sit in the driving seat of the Police Car...

...and was allowed to set the siren going! So we were all well entertained and went home happy.

Last Violin Lesson

2008-06-28T22:59:00.009+01:00

Today was the last Cygnets String Orchestra practice session and Violin Lesson of the academic year, and Mrs P decided it would be a good idea to combine the 10:00 and 10:30 classes into a single session. So there were 7 in Little Miss' lesson today. They played their way through their Fiddle Time Joggers book together.

It was an impressive sound; they have learnt a lot since September.

Then each of them got to play a solo to everyone else. When it was J's turn, he announced he would play "Down Up E String" with his eyes closed. Cue some tiptoeing round the room from the girls to all stand in front of him and check he wasn't looking!

They then finished by all playing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" together and taking a bow to the assembled Mums and Dads.

Great fun - you can find more pictures of the lesson here on Flickr. So violin lessons are over now until September, but next week they'll all be performing in the Cygnets in the Shoppers Prom in the Corn Exchange from 10Am to midday. Do drop in if you want some morning entertainment.

Stokesay Castle

2008-06-26T23:35:00.000+01:00

Well I'm still in Shropshire tonight, so here is another Shropshire Day Out from last summer. We took a trip to Craven Arms here on the A49 between Shrewsbury and Ludlow. After a visit to the Shropshire Hills Discovery Centre, where we had an early picnic lunch in the Onny Meadows, we went to the very picturesque Stokesay Castle

Here is the timber-framed gatehouse, which dates from the 17th Century.

It is an English Heritage site and they provide an audio guide which explains the history as it takes you round the manor house. Little W obviously found this bit of the guide funny!

We were in the Welsh Marches here and the Castles of Wales site provides a good description of the history of the castle.

In the eaves of the rooms we found birds nests with little fledglings hopping around the floor.

They also have bats, but we didn't see them.

From the top of the tower you get a good view of the scenery.

Ah. The hills. Yes we like the hills; we stopped off at Carding Mill Valley again for an afternoon walk on our way back to The Barn.

How to Have Fun in Meetings

2008-06-24T20:20:00.005+01:00

As my schedule tomorrow suggests I'm going to suffer death through meetings, I can't resist repeating this from my email box today...

Brighten up your boring meetings!

Discreetly clasp hold of someone's hand and whisper: "Can't you feel it?" from the corner of your mouth.

Wear a hands-free phone headset throughout - once in a while drift off into an unrelated conversation such as: "I don't care if there are no dwarves, just get the show done!"

Write the words "He fancies you" on your pad and show it to the person next to you while indicating with your pen. This works best in an all male meeting.

Reconstruct the meeting in front of you using action figures. When anyone moves re-arrange the figures accordingly.

Draw a chalk circle around one of the chairs prior to the
meeting, conspicuously avoid sitting in it and when someone does, cover your mouth and gasp.

Turn your back on the meeting and sit facing the window with your legs stretched out. Announce that you "love this dirty old town".

Reflect sunlight into everyone's eyes off your watch face.

Pull out a large roll of bank notes and count them conspicuously.

Gradually push yourself closer and closer to the door on your chair.

Bend momentarily under the table and then re-appear with two half ping-pong balls in your eye sockets.

Drop meaningless and confusing management speak into conversations such as: "What's the margin, Marvin?" “When's this turkey going to get basted?" "If we don't get this brook babbling we're all going to end up looking like doe-eyed Labradors."

Announce that you've run off some copies of the meeting agenda. Then hand out pieces of paper that read:

o MY SECRET AGENDA
* Get the next promo video made by Leni Riefenstaal
* Trample the weak.
* Triumph alone.
* Invade Poland.

Re-collect them sheepishly and ask everyone to pretend they
haven't seen them.

For a really serious meeting, bring along a bowl of jelly babies and insist they are handed round.

Make your presentations more engaging!

Chew tobacco.

Respond to a serious question with: “I’m flattered, but it's all happened so fast."

Use 'Nam style jargon such as “what’s the ETA?", "who's on recon?" and "Charlie don't surf." For best effect try: "I love the smell of napalm in the morning" whilst playing the Ride of the Valkeries in the background.

Shave one of your forearms or even better one of your eyebrows.

Attempt to hypnotise the entire room with a pocket watch.

Don't drink the water, gargle.

Use a large hunting knife to point to visual aids.

Leave long random pauses in your speech. When someone is prompted to interject shout: "I'M NOT FINISHED". If they persist, sit down and invite them to take over the presentation.

I wonder how many of these I can get away with tomorrow?

Shotley Point

2008-06-22T23:05:00.002+01:00

After our morning walk and Butt and Oyster lunch, we headed back to the B1456 and along to the end of the peninsula at Shotley Point. We parked at the marina.

The beach there is covered in seashells, so the others did some foraging on the sea-shore while I enjoyed the views.

From here you can see Felixstowe docks on one side and Harwich on the other. In the distance we could see the tower at Landguard Point, where we were 5 weeks earlier. This is also the far end of the route for the Foot Ferry that we saw there, but it wasn't running today - too windy, I expect.

At the end of the marina you get an amazing contrast in scenery - turn a few degrees from facing across the Orwell to the docks and you get a timeless marshy river estuary landscape.

And it's not just huge container ships, ferries and pleasure boats you can see on the water. There are still several old London barges on the river.

A fascinating spot to visit and we had a good family day out too. Furthermore, Big Miss got the material she needed for her school art project - she was going to make a picture out of the seashells we collected.

Shotley Peninsula - Pin Mill Walk

2008-06-22T21:58:00.002+01:00

Today I didn't have to drive to The Barn in the evening, for a change, so we were able to have a full Sunday out. Hooray. "I think we should go to the sea", said the Missus. That gave me an idea; it's not far to the Shotley Peninsula, but it's nearly three years since we were there, and there's somewhere there I've been longing to visit for lunch since we first went.

Situated between the Orwell and Stour rivers, the Shotley peninsula is a little off the beaten track, but easy enough to get to - down the A14 from Bury St Edmunds towards Ipswich and at the A137 turn-off, just before the Orwell bridge, turn left and then right at the next roundabout onto the B1456.

We followed this along to Chelmondiston and turned left down to Pin Mill. There is no mill there now, but the name is said to be derived from the wooden pegs or 'pins' that were made there and used in boat-building. The tide was out when we arrived and there are pleasant views across and along the Orwell.

The woods on the cliff at Pin Mill are owned by the National Trust and there is good circular walk through them, starting just across the road from the car park. In places the path goes down to the river front and you can find boats along the edge.

Here are the walkers coming up the hill from Clamp House, before returning through the Cliff Plantation. If you go there in early autumn you should find plenty of balckberries along the way.

We finished the walk in good time for an early lunch at the renowned Butt and Oyster Inn.

It dates back to the 17th century and is associated with smuggling and the stories of Arthur Randsome. As their website says...

The Butt & Oyster is one of the best known public houses in Suffolk renowned for its good beer, good food and great views, situated in the hamlet of Pin Mill on the river Orwell.

Let the sounds of the Orwell seduce you. Watch the changing tides on traditional timeless shores. Understand an artist’s inspiration with Thames barges, swans and the river, enjoying the finest Suffolk ales whilst being tempted by the wonderful aromas which welcome you.

Pin Mill, once a smugglers haven offers beautiful walks and amazing scenery, the name of the pub commemorates the oyster fisheries originally a major export from the river Orwell.

In the old days the pub would be full of bargemen and sailors enjoying a pint. Made famous as being the setting for Arthur Ransomes “we didn’t mean to go to sea” book. “It is a fantastic pub” with a welcoming and traditional atmosphere.

Hear hear! The food was good and the Adnams Broadside beer excellent!

Pizza Boy

2008-06-21T23:36:00.001+01:00

Little W says he wants to have his own pizza shop when he grows up. The things is, he doesn't like pizza because he doesn't like cheese. So whenever I feed the girls bought pizza, he has to have something else. The solution - let him make his own without any cheese. Well after last week's butter making it was his turn to do something with Dad in the kitchen. So I got some pizza bases in the food shopping and he set to work to practise being a pizza-maker.

Leftover pizzaiola sauce made a good base and he put salami, ham and sweetcorn on his half, with the addition of cheese and pineapple one the other one and a half pizzas. Here they are in the oven.

And the verdict? Yummy. Little W's was perfect. "But a bit too much cheese", said Little Miss. "No. Not enough cheese", said Big Miss. Well there's no pleasing all the people all the time!

Bury St Edmunds Shoppers Prom - Coming Soon

2008-06-21T14:47:00.005+01:00

It's getting towards the end of the summer term and time for the summer version of the Open Morning of the Cygnets String Orchestra and the rest of the Bury St. Edmunds County Music School. It is going to be a concert in the Corn Exchange a fortnight from today (see details by clicking on the picture of the poster). The Cygnets have been practising hard and are coming along well. They will be playing Open Country, Boogie Bass and, along with their elder brethren, the Junior String Orchestra, an arrangement of Vivaldi's music featuring Ben and Matt, their two brilliant "helpers" throughout the year as soloists. It should be good. Do drop in and hear Little Miss and her pals; I'll certainly be there to cheer them on!

Social Networking for Families

2008-06-20T22:41:00.002+01:00

Here's something from work I just had to share. I use the excellent Techcrunch as a source of information about new start-up companies. One that featured this week is Cozi which, as Techcrunch's Michael Arrington says

...is most easily described as a social network for a family unit... Cozi lets family members keep a group journal, share photos, organize chores, share calendars and create todo lists.

I couldn't believe it. We share digital photos on the family PC, we have a family calendar in the kitchen, we leave notes on the fridge about things to add to the shopping list. Why would anyone want to use the internet for that? But maybe I'm just an old fuddy-duddy. Michael reports that they have 600,000 subscribers already and are gaining 2,000 more a day. No. I still don't believe it. Maybe I should sign-up and try it out.

Wroxeter

2008-06-17T23:13:00.005+01:00

Tucked away here on the minor roads between Telford and Shrewsbury is the remains of the Roman City of Wroxeter. Wroxeter is just a small village now, but in Roman times it was the fourth largest city in Britain. We went to have a look. English Heritage run the site and provide an audio guide to bring the place to life. There is not a lot still standing. Here is Big Miss listening to the guide by the wall that used to separate the baths form the exercise hall.

You can see from the remains of the baths that they must have been quite impressive...

...but you need a good imagination. Not nearly as impressive as the real thing in Bath. Personally, I was more excited by the view...

Big Miss enjoyed it, but it's not really a great place for little ones, so I don't think we will be rushing back.

The Long Mynd - Carding Mill Valley

2008-06-16T20:39:00.003+01:00

Meanwhile, back in Shropshire... After our walk on Wenlock Edge we had lunch at the Bucks Head in Church Stretton and heading on into the Shropshire Hills to Carding Mill Valley, just up the hill from the centre of Church Stretton - here on the map.

We parked at the top car park and, after cooling our feet in the stream, walked on up the valley.

Now this is the sort of countryside you don't get in Suffolk! We went up to the top of the Long Mynd via Motts Road and back via the Lightspout Hollow. This route has quite a steep scramble...

... to get down past the waterfall...

It was, by now, quite a warm day, so we stopped again for some foot-cooling paddling...

... before heading back to the barn. Excellent walking and scenery, and good exercise - the kids slept well that night!

Kings Forest - West Stow

2008-06-15T22:39:00.003+01:00

I spotted an article by 21st Century Mummy in the latest Moreton Hall Directory entitled Getting Back to Nature", where she describes a trip to Lackford Lakes. She finishes by suggesting that the kids take their Dad out for a walk to enjoy some peace and quiet on Fathers' Day.

Nice idea, Karen, but in our house it's me who gets everyone else out. With the Missus frantically gearing up for her final assessment on her course, I took the kids out to Kings Forest at West Stow (here)- not very far from Lackford Lakes, on the pretext that we might find some raspberries. It had been ages since we were last there and the potholes in the access road have become much bigger. We parked at the end and did the waymarked 2-mile walk, but in the reverse direction for a change. This was so we could get to the raspberries early in the walk. Well, actually we were about a month too early to find any raspberries, but we soon forgot our disappointment and had a lovely walk through the trees.

No raspberries and no plague of frogs either, but there are wildflowers out everywhere along the trail and the woods echoed with birdsong. We found honeysuckle growing everywhere (including over the raspberries). But the most impressive sight was the foxgloves.

Not just one or two of them, but whole swathes.

Yes I did enjoy my Fathers' Day walk, although it wasn't always as peaceful and quiet as it would have been if I had gone on my own!

Making Butter

2008-06-15T22:18:00.006+01:00

Little Miss had been learning about making butter at school and wanted to show us how to do it. When she saw the special Jersey full cream milk while we were food shopping, I just had to get it for her. (If I hadn't, my life wouldn't have been worth living, believe me).

So here is the method. Put your milk in a screw-top jar. (Tip: Make sure it is screwed tight shut). Then shake the jar vigorously for a few minutes. Empty the jar through a tea strainer, put the strained milk back in the jar and repeat until you don't get any more solids forming. There you have it - easy-peasy. We all had a taste. Yummy! The left over butter got shaped into a little pat and put in the fridge. It was just the thing for our steamed baby new potatoes at lunch today.

Fathers' Day

2008-06-15T21:54:00.003+01:00

It was Friday night. I'd just got in from my long week away and Little Miss was ready for bed. "Dad", she said. "What would you like more than anything else in the world?". "Not to have to go to work any more", I replied instantly. "No. Not that", she said crossly. I pondered for a moment and then realised what day it would be on Sunday. "A kiss from you on Fathers' Day", I said. She smiled and fluttered her eyelashes at me. "Nearly right", said the Missus. "You were supposed to say a hug and a kiss". Little Miss was asked to go upstairs. "Can I have a hug and a kiss before you go to bed as well as one on Sunday?", I asked. No I could not. If I had one then I wouldn't be allowed one today. Oh well. At least I got a hug and kiss this morning!

Underwater Backstroke Star

2008-06-14T14:12:00.004+01:00

Yes it's Saturday and that means Swimming Lessons at 8 a.m. Little W has now graduated to become a "frog", while Little Miss is still a "sealion". But it was Little W who had everyone laughing at the poolside today. I don't know how he does it and I've never seen anyone else do it, but when he tries to swim backstroke he sinks and somehow manages to do the correct action for the stroke completely underwater. Unfortunately I can't bring you pictures of this amazing feat as cameras are banned at the pool, so you will have to make do with this picture of the locker we use every week. Yes I am a fan of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - it's No. 42!

Big Miss Gypsy Rose

2008-06-13T21:32:00.003+01:00

It was time once again for the Summer Fayre at Hardwick Middle School and Big Miss and her pals again had a stall to raise some money. I missed it as I had to be in Telford today, but I was there when she was delivered back home. No gunky porridge-dipping this time. Instead they ran a fortune-telling stall complete with Gypsy outfits and tarot cards. I've no idea if she's any good at it - I'll have to get her to tell my fortune and see, but they did raise £25 for charity, so well done!

Wenlock Edge

2008-06-12T23:05:00.002+01:00

Of course we couldn't visit Much Wenlock without taking a walk along the famous Wenlock Edge. From Much Wenlock we took the B4371 towards Church Stretton and stopped at Presthope. We followed the waymarked trail down from the car park and along through the woods, before turning uphill to join the path along the top of the ridge.

This goes along the top of a large quarry and the views are mostly to the south east. The quarry is still operational and there are signs warning to watch out for blasting...

...but there was none while we were there. But what is it that Little Miss has found here?

There were lots of little wild strawberries for the picking.

Yummy. Eventually we got to a place with the view we were looking for...

...across Hope Dale to the Long Mynd. Can you guess where we wanted to go next?

Much Wenlock

2008-06-10T22:15:00.010+01:00

I moved offices in Telford this week and now have a much improved view compared to before. From the window I can see The Wrekin and, I think, a bit of Wenlock Edge. Which reminds me - I'd said I would describe some things we've done when the family has visited The Barn, and there are some I haven't mentioned yet. So time for a catch up. The first of them is the pretty little town of Much Wenlock...

Much Wenlock built up around the Abbey of St Mirburga, originally founded before 690 AD. The Abbey was refounded as a Cluniac Priory and rebuilt in the 12th and 13th centuries to create a large priory church, now a ruin...

But we weren't in the mood for visiting ruins, so had a walk around the town instead. If we had been more prepared we might have downloaded the excellent Town Walk Guide, but we just made up our own. There are lots of old timber-frame buildings...

... including the 16th Century Guildhall. The downstairs is still used as a market.

The borough of Much Wenlock was, at its height, the largest in England outside of London. On one of the walls you can see some of the original borough signs from when it encompassed 17 parishes. On the opposite was is this rather entertaining By-law...

... an early form of market-day traffic restriction - somewhat quainter than the new controversial Abbeygate St gates back home in Bury St. Edmunds!

Something I didn't know about Much Wenlock is its contribution to the modern Olympic Game movement. The Wenlock Olympian Games were founded by Dr William Penny Brookes in 1858. As the site says..

The concept was adopted and developed by various groups throughout the world and ultimately resulted in the first International Olympic Games in 1896. The local version of the games continue to this day, taking place every year in July.

The games were held in the Linden Field, and we went on a circular walk past the old station and along the route of the old railway line that went past it.

A pleasant walk, but now we wanted to get into the countryside proper...

BTW The Annual 3 week Much Wenlock Festival is on now. You can find details of what is on here

Update: Just spotted fellow Suffolk blogger Running in Suffolk's post on Much Wenlock from last year. It's worth a read.

St Edmunds Wheel 2008

2008-06-08T11:39:00.006+01:00

Today is the annual St Edmunds Wheel charity Ride, Run and Walk, established in 1998. There is a choice of 15, 25, 50 or 100 mile cycle rides, 3 or 6 miles walk and relay race. I did the 25 mile ride 2 years ago, and enjoyed it a lot. I didn't get round to entering it this year, but I thought the kids would like to do the 3 mile walk. But I only got one taker - Little W, so we had a boy's morning out.

When I saw all the cyclists, I was wishing I'd just gone in for the 25 mile ride on the day. The T-shirts this year are a subdued grey colour (unlike the bright yellow ones in 2006).

We went to the Abbey gate to watch the cyclists start. Here are the 50 and 100-milers setting out shortly after 9 a.m.

We signed up for the walk and waited for the 10 o'clock start, only to find most of the walkers had set out as soon as they had registered, so there was only a select handful of us for the official start. We got a bottle of water, a banana and a Mars bar to keep us going, a map with detailed directions and an official participant's number to wear. Here is Little W showing off his.

It was mostly familiar territory to us, but I hadn't been along Cotton Lane before and it's a while since I'd been past College Square. The roses looked lovely.

We had a good conversation as we went. Little W reckoned he could manage the 100-mile cycle ride. What, on that gender-bender bicycle of his? 2 miles is about enough for him.

We were back in the Abbey Gardens in less than an hour and claimed our medals for completing the walk. Little W really liked that. "I've never won a medal before", he said.

Predictably, "You didn't tell me there would be medals", complained Little Miss when we got home and he displayed it with pride!

Two Years On

2008-06-04T20:24:00.004+01:00

Last weekend marked the second anniversary of the end of my employment with CSC. Since then I had a marvellous summer exploring around Bury St Edmunds and spending time with the kids, then 3 months in Melbourne Australia and 3 months as a consultant before beginning my second life in Shropshire working for Capgemini - all described in my blog archives. Have I any regrets about leaving? No. None. But this is for my ex-colleagues (I know some who still read the blog). I hope you are amused at this photograph taken today. I take great pleasure in parking my car among the cars of all my fellow Capgemini workers still displaying my CSC car parking stickers!

Wot, No Chillis?

2008-06-01T09:31:00.004+01:00

It was a gardening day yesterday. Normally we would have lots of chiili plants in pots, but this year we have only got six plants and lots of empty pots. All the pots got cleaned out, bar one...

Yes we still have the frog.