Thames Estuary airport?

 See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-29026484 .

For the moment, they seem to be rejecting plans for an "all new" London airport in the Thames estuary as Boris Johnson would like. It would certainly ruin bird life in the area.

The argument is that in the future existing airports,even with more runways, will not be big enough. Is that true? The arguments for a "Hong Kong" like solution for the longer term makes some sense. I doubt politicians are brave enough to make such long-term decisions. The environmental lobby will be against a new airport: in the end there may be no choice. Heathrow is a daft airport with poor access and facilities. If starting today, you would not build an airport there.

Lunch out

Lunch with Paul and Samara

For the first time in over a year (because of my brain bleed illness) we went out to friends today for lunch. Samara and Paul are lovely, kind people. They provided a great fish pie, green beans,  apple crumble and coffee, all of which I was able to eat and drink. For once, I was again able to be normal and do everyday things. Long may it continue.

BBQ

Our next door neighbours held a BBQ today starting at 12.30pm. We stayed until about 3pm. It was a lovely event and we got shown around their recently renovated, and greatly extended, bungalow. They have a huge garden which includes an orchard with plums and apples.

Iceland volcanoes

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-29003031 .

It is now 3 years ago that we visited Iceland. It was a very lovely country and much greener than we expected with lupins in bloom all over the place. Volcanic activity is a constant threat and nearly wiped out the country a few centuries back. Today the threat is just as great, but now the implications for air travel could be substantial right across Europe. A big eruption could also result in severe winters and summers in Europe.

Grandchildren - all four

Last Tuesday we had all the grandchildren together and I took this photo of them all outside our local windmill.

It is incredibly hard to get them to sit still for a photo and this was about the best I could manage! Little Lucinda was just about to run out of shot!

They range in age from 2 to nearly 7 years old (left to right) .

Listening to the church bells

Since he was very little, our elder grandson (now 6.75yrs) has been fascinated by church bells.   Last Sunday morning he and his little sister (3.5yrs) were staying with us on their own. We discovered them next to the open garden door sitting on a couple of chairs listening to the church bells.

Cambridge United and Plymouth Argyle football teams

Although not a great football (soccer) fan, I  watch the League Division 2 tables avidly to see how these two teams are doing.  Plymouth Argyle had a decent season last year and Cambridge United have just been promoted back into the league after being out for several years. One is a Devon team and Cambridge is our local team.