Blackberries

Our neighbours have been away and said we were to help ourselves to their blackberries. We have picked 6 punnets and the grandchildren have eaten many off the bush! There are loads left.

We have made some great blackberry crumble and my granddaughter made a blackberry drink.

The ripe ones are really great to eat.

How do you lose a ring worth £0.75M?

According to the BBC a leading UK museum has "lost" a Cartier ring worth £750000. Amazing.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-40738239

Simple Pleasures

Well, some blackberries made it to the crumble, but quite a few got eaten! Simple pleasures to be for ever treasured long after the grandchildren have grown and flown. I hope they do this with their children and grandchildren long after I am pushing up daisies and feeding worms.

Wild Flowers

On Parker's Piece, Cambridge, UK. I think these were planted by the pupils at Park Side School.

Parkers Piece was the focus of a big celebration in 1838 to celebrate the coronation of Queen Victoria.

It is also acknowledged as the home of Association Football rules. It is a famous park in Cambridge.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parker%27s_Piece

Storms

A quick look at the lightning map shows that storms are still some way away. I shall watch this map with interest to see if the storms get nearer.

Blackberries

There is a wild blackberry bush just outside our garden. When they come to stay these next few days, our "London" grandchildren will really enjoy picking the ripe ones and eating them. These are wild fruits and they taste delicious.

"Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness" - well almost!

Stroke Update

Some are interested to know how I am progressing since my stroke in September 2013.

Well, things are much the same: I still feel very tired (no, exhausted) after quite brief physical or mental exertion - normally this is after about 15-20 minutes.  My voice is poor.

I am able to drive, but I estimate it is now about 5 times harder. I also drive slower as 50mph seems like 70 mph. It is as if my brain takes longer to process things. Also, subtitles seem to change too fast and I find it hard to keep up.

Although most foods are fine, I take an age with drinks, especially tea and coffee. For some reason cold drinks are easier.

Daft things are I find spelling harder, my writing is poor now and I feel tired much of the time. I think I get more anxious too.

Outwardly, I look "well". Others do not realise that life is a real struggle most of the time.

Overall, I find it hard to see improvements now. In most ways I feel like I did a year ago.

Summer colour

This is a photo of the impatiens in our front garden. We bought these by mistake! We meant to get begonias. Luckily, they look good.

Slowly our sun baked lawn with brown patches is returning to green, but we need more rain. I do not, as a rule, water grass knowing it usually recovers.

So far, our sweet peas have disappointed with not a single flower.

Malmsbury

On our way back from Devon late last week we stopped at Malmsbury, Wiltshire. As well as visiting the famous abbey, we stopped for a bite to eat at a pub near the market called "The Whole Hog".

Although the sausage and onion sandwiches were fine, the service was appalling. It took ages to get the waitress to take our simple order and over 30 minutes for the sandwiches to arrive. We were very very close to walking out.

In this day and age this poor service is totally unacceptable. There were no warnings that they were busy, just rubbish service.

Later that night we ate in Cirencester. Our orders (far more complex) were taken immediately and the meals arrived quickly. Now, they deserve to do well.

BBC salaries

The BBC was made to disclose (by the government) the salaries of their top stars and presenters. Quite a few earn more than £500k a year and some over £2M a year! Sorry, but I think this is insane and immoral: I am sure there are people who could do as good a job on much lower salaries.  BBC? Big Bangs Corporation or Big Bonkers Corporation.

Remember we pay for these people with our licence fees. Shame!

Bourton Model Village

On our way back from Devon we called at Bourton on the Water in the Cotswolds. We went to the model village that started 80 years ago. It is well worth a visit.

See http://www.bourtoninfo.com/tourist-attractions/the-model-village/ .

Devon

Bolt Tail in the distance.

This groundsman's hut at Thurlestone Golf Club is being rebuilt. It was a corrugated shed. I expect the next time I see it, it will be completed!  The second view is a typical Devon scene with Burgh Island in the distance.

Are we becoming totally stupid?

So an MP has been suspended for using a word that is no longer politically correct. All I can say is, "what is this world coming to?".  Clearly she just said the words in error and deeply regretted this. 

People are not allowed to play conkers in case they hurt themselves. Yet, we can house people in dangerous tower blocks.

A railway season ticket holder fell asleep and missed his stop. He was fined because a "jobs worth" was unable to use his discretion. Stupid!!

I cannot communicate with my bank anymore: I get a call centre that is abroad and doesn't know who I am: I am just a sort code and account number.

Sorry, but I think we are becoming stupid. We should worry about real issues.

By the way I well remember a 4 hour training course at work on lifting heavy boxes. For the previous 38 years I had managed to lift heavy test gear without training. Oh, in the last minute of the training I got to lift a box! The course was more about my manager being seen to have given the training than really making things safer.

All I can say is rubbish!

Will things swing back? Probably.

Rain

As it is still raining heavily, I think we'll give our after-dinner coastal walk a miss this evening. I suspect watching TV is more probable.

The forecast for the rest of the week looks OK.

UPDATE 1815z: The rain stopped, so I managed a walk after all.

Dad's seat

When my dad retired, he got a job with the National Trust running a job creation scheme maintaining the coast paths near where he lived. When he died (1987) they put up 2 seats in his honour. They are still well used today! On each there is a small plaque which I expect few read. Nonetheless, it is a fitting memorial for all his hard work. He loved this area in the South Hams of Devon and so do I.

Bee

This bee (and lots more!) were busy on a lavender bush at Anglesey Abbey near here yesterday.

50th Wedding Anniversary

This weekend my wife's brother and his wife celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with a party in Cheshire. It was a good chance for my wife to catch up with relatives not seen for a while.