London trip

Today we went on a day return to London on the train to be with out son Tim, his wife Jo and our grandchildren Lucien and Amandine. Tim met us and took us back to Kings Cross. Booking in advance and with Senior Rail Cards if works out cheaper than driving. Parking at the station is cheap on Sunday.  At present I cannot drive because of my brain bleed last year.  It was good to spend time in their home again after so long.

With the grandchildren in London today

Totally by accident, we sat next to Nick Swales on the train back from London. I'd not seen Nick since work days over 6 years ago. Many years ago we worked together in several Cambridge companies. Nick is one of the brightest minds I've had the privilege to know. Nick works in London with another old colleague Martin Cooley.

Red Legged Partridges

Some time ago, I mentioned that we have a pair of red legged partridges that seem to live near here. Yesterday, they decided to climb on next door's roof for a change of scenery!

Red legged partridges on the roof next door!

Sorry about the quality of the photo which was taken into the light.  They are nowhere to be seen today. Probably sheltering from the rain! The worst of the bad weather seems to have moved away for now.

See http://www.lightningmaps.org/realtime?lang=en for maps of lightning activity. Very useful to see what storms are around and about.

UPDATE 1500z: All quiet now. I think the storms and rain have passed to the east.

UPDATE 2045z:  Just spotted one behind the windmill.

Burwell Carnival

Today was the annual Burwell Carnival with decorated floats parading through the village. Thankfully the rain held off this morning but we have thundery rain this afternoon.  See http://www.lightningmaps.org/realtime?lang=en for storm data.

Burwell Carnival 2014 - floats going along High Street

Our bungalow and blog visits

This is a picture of our bungalow taken this morning before the storms arrived after lunch. Although we have made changes, we have kept the same character.  The laurel hedge is still growing although we don't intend it to get much higher - just enough to define the boundary along with the small front wall.

Incidentally, yesterday a new record was set with 201 visits to this blog. I have no idea why it was so much higher than usual!

UPDATE 2050z: 80 visits to the blog so far today with a couple of hours to go.

Visitors - a puzzle

I have no idea why on some days visits to this blog are far greater than on other days. With 3 hours still to go today this blog has already had 152 visits!

It cannot be the content as on any given day the mix of content is similar. Maybe on some days the blog is featured somewhere? If you know the reason then please let me know as it puzzles me.

UPDATE 2015z:  163 visitors now.

UPDATE 2212z:  180 visitors now.

Leaving the EU?

The way things are going, there is a strong chance that the UK might leave the EU sometime after 2017. There is even a phrase for British exit from Europe - Brexit.  I think we'll be hearing a lot more of this word in the coming years.  Is there a word Scexit for if the Scots decide to leave the UK in September?  I hope Scotland stays as part of Great Britain.

Back to the European Union, I cannot understand why Mr Jean Claude Juncker is getting so much support in Europe when quite a few countries are skeptical of his federalist views. I am sure he is an honourable man and will do his best in the role, but why elect a staunch federalist to the most senior post? I thought the EU was looking towards a more liberal future? 26:2 in his favour is strong support.

If we do leave I shall have mixed views: a lot of our trade is with the EU and inward investment into the UK is largely because we are in the EU, yet we have a fairly open trading regime.  On the other hand being out of the EU gives us full control of immigration, fishing borders and much more. It would not be a total loss if we left. I suspect other nations might follow us out the door.

I really hope Mr Cameron is able to get a better deal with trade relationships at the heart of a new EU. Somehow I have my doubts this will happen.

On this one, I am with the Conservatives - an EU skeptic, basically in favour of the EU but with strong reservations over the way things are moving. I want to stay in the EU, but not at any cost.

Wimbledon 2014

Like most UK residents, I very much hope Andy Murray make it through to the Men's Finals again and that he wins. He is not he most popular sportsman in the UK, but he is giving it his all.

His mother was on the radio today on "Desert Island Discs". I had not realised how big she was in tennis in earlier times. Even now, she is pretty busy encouraging newcomers into the game.

As (nearly) always, rain may disrupt play today. At least they now have that famous roof!

UPDATE 1920z:  Andy is through today's match and playing in the 4th round next week.