Life!

I set off for Devon on Tuesday 23rd Aug about 10.15 and arrived at The Old Inn, Halton at 12.45 to meet up with Jay for lunch.  It has been done out since I was last there and is very nice and comfortable now - and the toilets are inside and no spiders!  We had lovely baguettes for lunch and had a good catch up.  I got to Bovey about 3.30 and Jayne was already home from work which was lovely.  We had a good chin wag and then both took suki out for a short walk round the hilll/bridleway loop.  We had a nice evening in watching tv with a bottle of wine and ham, salad and jacket potato for supper.  The next day we went for a walk together round Parke in the morning with Suki - it was incredibly muddy (regretted wearing sandals) and the river was very full as a result of all the rain they had had lately.  The weir was completely full - which is most unusual in summer.  We dropped Suki off at home and went to Trago Mills to get a few bits and pieces.  I got another pink shopping trolley to

Rang a nice peal of Superlative on 3-4 with Steve, Hamish and Margaret on 14th.  Very pleased with it. Failed yet again to ring a peal of minor with Caroline and Mike, although we rang about 3 extents quite confidently before it fell apart.  Had a nice supper at Cafe Rouge to make up for it.  Mike got away with going up the escalator at London Bridge and we played safe and went home via Monument. Supper with the Bell and Crown group on 13th - at The Duke of Somerset in Acton as Bell and Crown closed for refurbishment.  Had a lovely meal - Mike and I shared the rib steak (#50) and I probably drank a bit too much wine! Reunion of youth club group at The Duke of Kent in Ealing on 22nd.  Met up with Diane and Moira at Ealing Broadway station and shared a taxi.  Mike not allowed on the 607 because of pushchairs.  I was furious.  Good evening - really weird seeing so many people from the dim and distant past now old!  Chris Still was nice and chatty - he was expecting to become a grandad

On 17th August I started Jury Service.  I had arranged for Mike to walk Suki in the mornings and for Lee and Emma to walk her in the afternoons - and to have her all day on the Thursdays when Mike was at work.  This cost in the region of #170 which is of course not reimbursed!  I had to turn up at 9.15 on the first day - and sit through a mind blowing induction talk from a jumped up little civil servant jury officer who clearly relished the sound of his own voice.  Never using five words when twenty five would do, he proceeded to go through every detail of the claims procedure etc.  It took 45 minutes and then we had to watch a video.  Finally we got to be left alone and I was able to make a lot of progress on another year of Middlesex Members before the battery in the laptop got low and I packed it all away and started to read my book.  This was quite good timing as at this point the jury officer called out the names of the first jury - and my name was called out.  We were in Court 13

August started with a week in Buckinghamshire - Mike on Roving Ringers tour based at the Redfield Centre in Winslow, while I had accommodation booked in Great Horwood two miles away. I was lending my bike to Louise so we put it on the back of the car using the bike rack.  We picked up the keys from my cottage and then went over to the Redfield Centre where we discovered my back wheel had buckled on the journey!  So I unpacked Mike's stuff and then we drove to a bike shop in Aylesbury (10 miles away).  Luckily they had a wheel in stock so we left it there and I drove back to the pub where we unpacked the bike and we had lunch.  Then Mike went off on his bike and Louise and I went to Great Horford to drop off my luggage.  Then I took her to the second tower and waited for her - and then we both went back to the bike shop to pick up the bike.  I got back to the cottage about 6 pm - not quite the first day of my holiday I had had planned. I took Suki for a short walk and then went back

Having packed before going off to Devon, I was ready to leave once I had walked Suki and had breakfast.  Lorraine and I got off at 10 and had a good journey down to Bognor arriving about 12. We checked all of us in to the hotel and then had a coffee and sandwich in the hotel cafe. Carolyn, Leanne and Ollie arrived about 1.30 and John arrived about 3 - by which time we were all in Lorraine/Leanne's room waiting for mine to be ready (the last).  We had rooms next to each other which was good. Each day there would be a towel sculpture left by the cleaners - which was a rather nice touch.  We did all the usual things - funfair, amusements, soccer training.  I went to Splashworld twice with Ollie - Lorraine couldn't go because of her recent tattoo so it was all down to me. Ollie and I went down the white slide a lot - I shall give up when he wants to start going down the flues!  We ate at the diner the first evening - Mitzi had left which was a big disappointment to Ollie.  I h

It started on Saturday, as we set off for Rovers, with an inordinate amount of licking - which on investigation showed red weeping patches either side of her vulva. By Monday her mouth was affected and by Tuesday a large patch appeared on her chest.  It was clear this was all causing her a great deal of discomfort so I went home and got a vets appointment on Wednesday.  By then her ear was also showing signs of redness - which developed fully on Thursday morning.  She went in on Thursday morning for biopsies to be taken from each site - and I picked her up at 4.30 in the afternoon.  I took the car and was lucky to find a place at the top of the road opposite to park - the roads seemed singularly unaffected by the tube strike that day.  I carried her inside and upstairs and put her on a fleece on Mike's bed - and we sat there together all the rest of the day and evening.  She slept for most of it and I was there to rub her ear and try and relieve the irritation whenever she woke up.

The trip was officially from Wednesday 15th to Sunday 19th July.  Monica went down the weekend before to visit friends so I suggested she stay at the house and gave her a key - Jayne was expecting her.  Mike was reading at the 8 am service on the Sunday and then playing the organ.  I went home so that I could pack the car and pick him up later ready to go straight off to Devon.  I was going to go back for ringing but the traffic was appalling because of flyover closure and when I found out that only one person was coming from Barnes, and that Martin was away, I cancelled ringing. We arrived in Devon about 3 pm and it was great to see Jayne again.  The new fence looked superb.  Jayne had done marvels - there were scented reed pots everywhere and she had sorted out all the beds and towels, including sets for the two people sleeping on the floor/sofa.  She had also done some shopping and just about thought of everything - there was hardly anything left for me to do! Monica came back fro

My external hard drive decided to give up the ghost - suddenly!  Luckily I had purchased a new one in Majorca - and I immediately ordered another one from Amazon.  This did not arrive but I was impressed with the way Amazon handled it when I reported it and I was allowed to order another and have it delivered the next day before 1 pm at no extra cost.  I was able to coax the original drive to stay connected for a few seconds at a time and was able to painstakingly copy everything I wanted off it - so no harm done.  The new one is working well. I met up with Sarah who is the new webmaster for St Mary, Barnes.  I helped her out with a few problems she was having and then we decided that we should meet up.  So I walked Suki over to Arte Cafe in Barnes and had a coffee with Sarah and then walked back again - which made a nice walk too.  It was good to meet her and put a face to a name.  I got on with her really well.  I agreed to help out with adding content to the new site when it is up