Canon Camera Repaired

I had a letter in the post yesterday from Jessops informing me that my Canon digital camera was back from being repaired. We decided not to rush in and collect it yesterday, preferring to go in this morning. The weather was really cold and there was quite  frost, as well as fog. I don't like driving in fog. Just not nice. Carol is the same. She does most of the driving these days. We went up the A5 yesterday, to one of our favourite haunts, just beyond  Weedon, and called Heart of Shires. It must have been a farmyard in a former life, but is now a rather special shopping centre, with some rather pleasant little shops within it's perimeter, including clothes, toys, antiques and gifts of all sorts of descriptions as well as a restaurant, Darlington's, which I imagine must have been the farmhouse, when the site had an agricultural purpose. We had lattes and toasted tea cakes and spent a rather pleasant hour or so browsing the retail outlets. It was a cold day, but the sun was out. The A5 has several similar retail sites along it's route, another being just outside Towcester and yet another further down the A5, which we have visited several times. Also, a couple of garden centres which have a good selection of gardening items such as plants and flowers and from which we occasionally buy our Christmas trees over the past few years. You can drive along the A5 in preference to the M1, which is only a short distance away, but we prefer the A5 (or Watling Street) as the scenery through which it passes it far more interesting. For some reason motorways seem to be designed so you can't always admire the scenery they pass through, and you are expected to drive far too fast and other motorists (but not all) can be very aggressive and self-centred and not respect you. Not quite so bad driving along Watling Street. 

It was foggy as we drove into Milton Keynes centre this morning. We parked in Debenham's multi-storey carpark. We walked through the shopping centre and arrived near Middleton Hall and had coffee in Caffe Nero. As Carol is diabetic she has to have occasional snacks to prevent her blood sugar going too low. We went into Boots to try and get test strips for her blood sugar monitor, but they didn't have them in stock. Quite complicated as there are so many of these devices on the market and all having different systems that aren't interchangeable. By this time it was time to go to Jessops to collect the camera and took out an extended warranty on the Canon so that if it needs repairing over the next few years it will be repaired without need for further payment. Also, bought a spare battery which we put in the camera. Always quite handy to have two batteries when we go out for the day as one can be in the camera and the second one, if fully charged, is always there as back-up should the one in the camera use up it's charge. It only takes two hours to charge, unlike the more traditional rechargeable batteries the Fuji camera uses which take around eight hours for a full charge.

We got back to Debenhams and, as there was a sale on, Carol wanted to have a browse. She saw a rather nice coat and a dress in the Mantaray department downstairs which she bought, along with a lovely silver broach in the form of a dog which looks somewhat like Poppy. Once we'd finished in Debenhams we went back to the car and drove to Sainsbury's. The fog had got a good deal thicker when we drove out of the multi-storey car park and it was even colder and it was as well we weren't driving far.  On the television news we've been hearing of accidents in and around the area, particularly one involving a bus on the M40 near Oxford. A lot of these crashes are because people will simply not slow down in fog. They seem to think they're safe continuing to drive as if it's clear, bright sunshine, but then get caught out when they don't realise they can't see as clearly as they should and so run into vehicles ahead of them that are driving a good deal slower.  In Sainsbury's, whilst looking for a suitable joint of beef for Sunday's roast,  we couldn't see a suitable piece of a size big enough for just the two of us, so we decided to leave and go to Morrison's near the railway station and did our shop there. By the time we'd finished we were well and truly shopped out, having been out for around four hours.

After Christmas and Pre-New Year

Well, Christmas is over. It was on a Sunday this year and it seemed somewhat odd. No services at Milton Keynes Christian Centre. There were a couple of Carol services on Saturday afternoon, Christmas Eve, but it was decided not to have Christmas Day services, I think because they didn't think enough people would attend. We stayed at home and opened our presents. We watched a DVD, something that Carol wanted to see, 'The Secret Life of Pets,' a computer animated movie which was quite enjoyable. We'd been to see 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them' on Thursday at the new Odeon cinema at the Milton Keynes Stadium. It's a sort of prequel to the Harry Potter movies and stars Eddie Redmayne. Hugely enjoyable and the special effects are amazing. Carol bought me a book on the art of the film, which I shall read with great pleasure.

Yesterday we visited Whipsnade Zoo as the weather was so mild. We went to a talk on giraffes at the giraffe house which was fascinating and all six of the giraffes, including the youngest were inside the shed where the talk was done, given by one of the keepers. It makes it so much more interesting if you know a bit more on a subject like this. We've visited Whipsnade on quite a few occasions as you will know if you read these blog posts. We had coffee and cake in one of the cafes. As Carol is a Fellow of the Z.S.L. (Zoological Society of London), who operate Whipsnade and London Zoos) and which allows us free access to these places, we also get a discount in their cafes and shops. We got some superb views of some of the animals and this was somewhat frustrating because my Canon camera is currently being repaired, otherwise we would have got some really great photographs to add to our ever-expanding collection.

On Monday we had a free trial session at Nuffield Health. We cancelled our membership of DW quite some time ago and we were eager to find a replacement. A much quieter and far more private health club with a good swimming pool, which is a good deal deeper than the swimming pool at DW, as well as a jacuzzi, sauna and steam room. We even get given towels which means they are always clean and dry. Generally a good deal more pleasant. So we decided we will join at the end of the month. Great to have somewhere to relax and swim every week.

Plenty to watch on television, as there always is over the Christmas period. We watched the Great British Bake Off Christmas special (although I can't say it was particularly special.) I avoided Strictly Come Dancing as I can't stand the audience noise (why on earth do they have to clap along to the music all the time? It's annoying and stupid. Also, the plain nasty comments made by certain members of the judging panel.) It's over hyped in the tabloid press and social media such as Facebook. At least Bake Off is more gentle, it's not full of so-called celebrities and it doesn't have a live audience who are wound up to react accordingly. It's as well we have a Sky Q box as otherwise we wouldn't be able to watch all the decent programmes. You can record at least four shows which are on at the same time as well as catch-up which is such a brilliant idea.

We've just been watching the documentary about Alan Bennet and his diary (the latest instalment called 'Keeping On Keeping On' has just been published and I will have to buy it, but it can wait until it comes out in paperback. I will need to read his earlier instalments so that's quite a lot of reading to get through.)

Carol's Eye Problems

Carol has been having real problems with one of her eyes. I have mentioned it in earlier blog posts. She had been given drops when she last went to the doctors a couple of weeks ago, but the situation seemed to get worse rather than better. It has been something of a concern, because she is diabetic. On Wednesday evening she wanted to get some medicated drops from the Boots pharmacy at Kingston, so we drove there. Unfortunately we hit some traffic going along Chaffron Way and spent around 20 minutes or so in a queue of cars from just beyond the roundabout after Waitrose to the roundabout at Kingston. Then it took quite a long time to find a parking space near Boots  but we soon got into the Boots pharmacy and got what she needed. On Friday morning the eye didn't seem to be clearing up so we decided a doctors appointment was needed. It was easier to go and wait outside the surgery in Beanhill rather than attempt  to get through on the telephone. It was cold standing outside the surgery but it was worth the wait because we were around the first to walk through the door at 8 a.m. and Carol was seen after no more than 15 minutes and we got a prescription which we took to Boots at Kingston and it was made up rapidly so we could get back home and in the warm house.

I had to go to Sainsbury's early this morning to pick up a repeat prescription for myself as well as Carol and get a few additional items such as milk and bread for the Christmas period. It wasn't as busy as I was expecting, fortunately.

Christmas Countdown

The term has finished at Milton Keynes Academy and Carol is now on holiday. The Christmas countdown has begun. We do have advent calendars. Carol has one with little doors, which, when opened, reveal erasers which have a Christmas theme. Those that have been released from the confines of the calendar are now arrayed in a line on one of our bookcases in our lounge. One, a Father Christmas, has an excessively red face, and makes you think of David Dickinson, the former presenter of Bargain Hunt. Another has a similarity to Donald Trump (unfortunately). It has far too much hair (much as the Trumper has. Is it real or is it a wig or hair piece? Infact, is he real? Having watched the television series on Channel 4, called 'Humans' about very realistic robots that are synthetic humans ('synths') it makes me wonder if Trump is one. He looks and sounds very unrealistic with that stupid wig and the way he speaks. Hard to believe that anyone intelligent would vote for such a person.

Anyway, returning to the subject of Christmas, we have completed our Christmas shopping and went to Aldi at Westcroft to do some food shopping this morning, bright and early. It's not only a good deal cheaper than your average supermarket (Sansbury, Waitrose, Asda or Tesco.), it's a much smaller store and you don't have the range of products, but, being smaller, the whole process is so much quicker. They even have checkouts which allow the person on the checkout to scan your shopping faster. It goes straight into your trolley and you then pack it into your own bags on a special shelf. A very simple but efficient method which other supermarkets should adopt. Last week we bought our turkey, but there was one problem. We found that there was insufficient space in our fridge/freezer, so we took out one of the plastic drawers and the frozen bird sits on the shelf inside. It's a tight squeeze, but it's either that or it defrosts, which would be a disaster, well before Christmas Day.

Dull and Dreary Day and Doctor's

Carol has been having issues with one of her eyes. She got something in her eye a few weeks back (you may recall, that is, if you follow this blog regularly.) She had been given drops to put in her eye. It cleared up, but then she's had what seems like conjunctivitis, a feeling of having something in your eye (I've had it, many years ago, so I have a good idea what it's like.) She got  over-the-counter drops in Boots and used it up, but yesterday it seemed to come back. She can't have time off work. They aren't too keen on staff having time off at Milton Keynes Academy. You can't get a doctor's appointment at Ashfield Medical Centre, unless you ring and explain roughly what it is you want the appointment for and then they get the doctor to ring and then access the need for a face-to-face appointment. All very well if you are at home, but how on earth are you supposed to do that if you're at work and particularly if you're a teacher, you can't very well ring up if you're in the middle of a lesson. I tried from 8 o'clock and had no success. It seems the telephones are permanently engaged. Then I had another go at around 10.40 and got through to the computerised switchboard. A series of menus to get through and then you get to a sort of queue. It said 'all our lines are busy. We are experiencing a high volume of calls. You are . . . second in the queue. Please be patient . . . you will be dealt with in a while . . .' etc etc. It took a further 10 minutes before I got to speak to a real, live human and was told they would get a doctor to phone. Another ten minutes . . . and a doctor spoke and I got an appointment for 5.20 this evening. Which means it will be after work. I then had to phone Carol on her mobile to give her the time of the appointment.

Today is one of those miserable November days, dull and dank, overcast, with a sort-of drizzle. It's a low-light sort of day, like early evening. 

Buying A Christmas Tree

On Sunday morning we decided it was time to go out and buy a Christmas tree. So many of the people we know on Facebook have photographs of their homes, decorated for the festive season, complete with all the decorations and central to all this, a Christmas tree! For the past few years we've made do with an artificial tree, but, to be honest, it's seen better days. It's in sections which have to be bent out and then all these sections slotted together. This is stored in the spare bedroom, along with a lot of other clutter. Having a look at this excuse for a Christmas tree, it certainly looks very shabby. So we came to the momentous decision to go out and buy a real tree this year. Our efforts to maintain a real Christmas tree has generally ended in failure. We buy them ready potted, and by the end of the Christmas season, they usually end up looking very miserable, because they loose most of their needles, all over the lounge carpet, and when we put them out in the garden, they survive a couple of months and then get taken to the tidy tip for recycling. We had usually gone to a garden centre up the A5 near Towcester to buy a tree. It occurred to us that if we didn't buy a tree soon there would be a good chance that we'd be left with the scrag-end of the bunch, the lonely, sad little runty Christmas trees that nobody wanted to buy, so Sunday morning we looked on line for the garden centre and it looked as if they were under new management and that they didn't sell real Christmas trees, which is rather sad when you think it's a garden centre. We definitely didn't want anther artificial tree. After some considerable thought we decided on visiting Dobbies garden centre to have a look at their selection of trees. We weren't disappointed. There were a few on display at the front of the main building as we got out of the car at the carpark. But we went inside and found they had a good many more at the back. You don't just have one type of trees nowadays, but several variety of fir, some which are supposed to last a good deal longer and some which don't seem to drop their needles. I'm not convinced that they don't, but it's surely to be expected when they are bought indoors and the heating in your home dries them out, hence the propensity to needle-drop. We went for a variety. The one we eventually chose had roots as we intend planting it out in the garden after Christmas. It came in a rather attractive pot. It was netted by a very helpful lady and we put it on a trolley and took it to the car. We then returned to the restaurant to have coffee and scones. (Yes, I know. If you read my blog posts regularly you will know that we have something of a love affair with scones!)

By now the place was heaving with people. I can understand why, because your average garden centre sells a good deal more than just plants and gardening items. They have a very well stocked food section at Dobbies where you can buy all types of food ranging from sausages, cakes, biscuits, wine and a good deal more. We left for home as Carol was eager to get the new Christmas tree installed in the lounge and decorated.

Digital Camera Malfunction and Christmas Shopping

My Canon digital camera decided to stop working. We wanted to take some photographs of Alfie, our Yorkie, but for some reason or other, the thing just wasn't doing what it should have done. I thought at first that the battery was flat. I had to find the confounded gadget which you have to use to put the battery in and then plug into the mains supply in order for the battery to be charged. This generally takes around two hours. When I looked at the battery the following morning I found the green light was still on, which showed that it was fully charged. It would have been orange showing there was no power in the battery. It was still green when I put it in the charging device. I put the battery in the camera and it didn't come on as it should have done. As a result we decided it should go back to the shop from where it was bought around a year ago, Jessops, in Milton Keynes Central Shopping Centre. We had other shopping we needed to do this morning, including our weekly grocery shop at Sainsbury's, but went into the city centre and took the camera with us. We parked in Debenham's multi-storey carpark and went in through Debenham's store. It was relatively customer-free when we walked through at around 9.30. Infact, the whole shopping centre seemed quite empty of people at that early hour of the morning. I suppose, considering it was a Saturday, it wasn't that much of a surprise. We walked in to the main centre and arrived at Jessops. We had searched for the receipt at home for the camera, as we realised that, if it was under a year old, it would still be under guarantee. Fortunately the young lady who came to our assistance was able to look at their computer system and she found the receipt. A neat bit of  computer technology, fortunately, which showed exactly what day it was we bought the camera. She removed the battery from the camera and said that she would put it on charge, so if we went off to complete our shopping and gave it an hour and a half or so, by the time we returned we would know whether the battery had charged or not. So we continued on our walk down the shopping centre, eventually arriving at the Middleton Hall end near John Lewis. We had a coffee and snack in Caffe Nero, opposite John Lewis. It was extremely busy, with a long queue virtually out of the door, but we were served relatively fast. From there we went into John Lewis, as there was quite a lot more we wanted to look for. I spent around 20 minutes browsing as Carol wanted time to search for my present and she obviously didn't want me with her. I had a browse in the electronics department, looking at, amongst other things, cameras, laptops and televisions. I saw an ultra HD television with a vast screen of well over 50 inches and was amazed at the clarity of the picture which was of animals on the veldt (supposedly) in Africa. You could almost feel you were there, see every detail of foliage, and hair, feel the wind blowing, it was that clear. Although I don't think I would want to spend almost £3000 on such a large television. It would take up most of one wall of our lounge. I eventually caught up with Carol and we then decided to walk back to Jessops. It turned out that the camera battery had not needed charging. I thought it might, because the green light on the charging device hadn't gone from 'orange', which would have indicated that it was out of power, to 'green,' indicating that it was fully charged. So the assistant took our details and said, as the camera was still under warranty it could be returned to Canon for repair. If it couldn't be repaired we would get a new camera as a replacement. I have to say I was really impressed by the customer service we received in Jessops. The assistant seemed very clued up as regards getting the camera repaired.  Which is more than I can say regarding Currys, where the customer service is virtually non existent. From Jessops we walked back towards Debenhams and had paninins and fruit juice in the resaurant.  Carol wanted to look for a dress in Debenhams and was rewarded  by her search and we bough me a rather smart new sweatshirt/top which will be another Christmas present.  From there we returned to the carpark and when we got out into the road we found the traffic building and headed towards Sainsbury's as we still had to do some grocery shopping before turning home.

Visiting Doctor's Surgery

Carol didn't feel well this morning. She began to get ready for work but she began to say she had a pain in her kidneys. Or so it seemed. She wasn't sure whether she ought to go to work or not. I wasn't so sure. I thought she ought to get a doctor's appointment. Not such an easy matter, as I've mentioned in my blog posts on here. As she is diabetic, it's a good idea to take notice of such things, as it could be a sign that something more serious is wrong. You have to ring up the surgery around 10-11 a.m. if you want an appointment that day, and when you eventually get through, they get one of the doctors to phone back to get a rough idea what the problem is and then give you an appointment. I thought it was important that she gets an appointment as soon as possible, so we went to the surgery in Bean Hill just before 8 a.m. an waited until the surgery opened. Fortunately we were able to get seen by a doctor at 11.10, so we went back home and returned just before 11 o'clock. When we returned Carol just had to sign in using the computer screen in the reception area. Well, it was working. It has been out of use the last couple of times we've been in the surgery reception.

The reception-area became very busy. People coming and going. Mothers (and fathers) with young children. Some in buggies. Some children crying and bawling. One young girl, shreiking, for what ever reason. Was it because she was ill, in pain perhaps? Or was she just having a temper-tantrum? Suddenly there was an incident. A young girl, who had been taking with one of the receptionists collapsed. Immediately there were nurses running in, as well as one of the doctors. They crowded around the girl. I'm not sure what had happened. Did she have a heart attack? A stroke? A wheelchair was bought in and she was taken away to one of the surgeries. I have to say I was a little impressed by how the staff dealt with the incident.

Carol was called in. Her name came up on the digital display. Her appointment was delayed because of the incident with the young girl, but considering how many staff came running in to assist, it's not a surprise the appointment was later than originally booked. About five minutes later Carol came back out and she told me that a prescription had been sent via email to Sainsbury's pharmacy. We drove to Sainsbury's in Witan Gate as we had to do shopping and collected the prescription, which turned out to be antibiotics.

Remembering Louis Fussell- Part 3

Rutland Road, in which Louis Fussell lived in Bedford, and where I lived for around 4 years in the early 2000's, is off Midland Road. It's become very run down over the years. The road is in a sort of 'loop' which consists of Rutland Road, Gibbons Road and Grafton Road. It's sort of cut off from the rest of the roads around the area. It's one-way for traffic, coming in from the roundabout on Midland Road and Prebend Street. There is a bridge that links into Queen's Park and traffic filters in to the roundabout. This can be very difficult if you are driving over the bridge at peak times of the day and I can verify this as I had to drive a minibus when I was working as a carer and collected people from the day centre at the Westbourne Centre deep at the back of Queen's Park and this was always at the busiest time of day and coming out over the bridge could be very slow as the traffic built up back into Ford End Road. 

I had a job in a care home in Everton at the beginning of the 2000's and I used to do early shifts there and I had to start at 7 a.m. if I was on an early. It took me a good half-hour to drive to Everton, driving out of Bedford along Cardington Road  towards Willington and then crossing the A1 at Biggleswade. One particular morning I was caught in the one-way system of Rutland/Gibbons and Grafton Roads. It was the morning the dustbin men were out doing their rounds. I got to Grafton Road and I could see the dustcart ahead of me, blocking the entire road. Those roads weren't really designed for modern traffic. None of the houses had garages or driveways, so the residents had to park on the road outside, or as near outside, their homes as possible. This meant that, with cars parked on both sides of the road there was only a relatively narrow 'lane' to drive along in the centre. With a very large Bedford Council dustcart in the centre there was absolutely nowhere for me to pass. And the workmen who were busy moving wheely bins away from their parking spaces near the houses along the street, to be put on the lift on the rear of the dustcart and then be lifted up and tipped into the back of the wagon. They steadfastly refused to budge an inch, and time was ticking by as I had a half-hour journey to work ahead of me. I just had to wait. And they knew full well I was being held up. Well, they did eventually move out of my way, and I did manage to drive out of Bedford and, as far as I remember, I wasn't late for work either. Just as well there wasn't much traffic on the roads at that early hour.

Louis Fussell was something of a penny-pincher. There's nothing wrong with being careful of your money, of course. He seemed to have a problem with mobile phones. I can understand his generation having a problem with them. I don't think he would understand the obsession with this technology. I have mentioned my concerns with these gadgets, how some people seem constantly to be glued to their smartphones, how you see people walking along the street with their eyes glued to the little screens, either texting or looking at something such as Facebook. I don't think Facebook had started at the time I lived in Rutland Road. I think Louis concern was the cost of running a mobile. He didn't like using the thing. I'm sure he didn't have one of his own. I can't imagine him wanting one. Considering how many miles he rode on his bicycle (see earlier posts on this subject.) I can imagine that a mobile phone would have come in handy had he needed to phone for assistance if he had an accident or at least as a safety support measure. 

I have mentioned elsewhere about how Louis had paying 'guests' living in his home. Myself being one of them. He was never concerned about references. As long as you paid your rent he wasn't bothered. Thinking about it now, I think he was opening him self up to all sorts of problems and dangers. But I don't think he was too concerned, as he ought to have been. When I first lived there he had two young men living in the house. One at the front and the other at the back. One of them absconded, without paying his rent. I'm not sure exactly, I imagine he had back-rent to pay or something. I think he worked for a company between Bedford and Ampthill, I believe based at Houghton Conquest, but I'm not sure. Louis had no car for his own transport and went everywhere by bicycle. He found out where this young man worked (don't ask me how.) and went all the way to his employer's headquarters to try and track him down so as to get the owed money. It seemed to take him a considerable amount of time and effort but he did get the cash eventually. I think perhaps his employers made the young man pay it off directly from his wages, so much a month or something.

Another time he had a problem with his phone bill. He seemed to spend an extremely long time sitting on the telephone in the hallway at the bottom of the stairs, sitting on a chair, waiting. No doubt it was to get through to a callcentre or something. I think he was attempting to change his telephone provider and I expect it took an extremely long time for him to get through to the call centre. I can relate to this, as we had a similar problem when we finished with TalkTalk. We had a landline telephone as well as the internet. No, I don't think Louis would ever have broadband internet. Modern technology was far too much for him to understand. Not just understand, but to deal with such things as email, social media etc etc.

As mentioned in my earlier blog posts, Louis was a violin-maker, viola player (in a local orchestra) and wrote music. He wrote several symphonies, as well as other styles of orchestral music. These works were written on reams of paper, although someone transcribed his scores to a computer software system called 'Sibelius,' for which he paid. If he had only learnt to use a computer and then the software he might have saved himself a considerable amount of money. Then he would lay the scores on the floor and go through it all to make any corrections, no doubt in much the same way that an author goes through the manuscript of a novel or other work and editing out any mistakes.

There was one young man who came to live in the house. He had the front bedroom. He was French, and seemed somewhat lost. I'm not sure if he wasn't entirely 100%. He was convinced that his girlfriend was going to come and live with him in the house. Her name was Tina. He kept on and on about her. I can't remember where he worked. Probably for a tempt agency, as I had done for a while. No doubt in some warehouse, picking and packing, unloading lorries or similar. There are a number of such places in and around Bedford, such as Debenham's, Argos etc etc. Talk of 'Tina' seemed endless. He kept ringing this elusive female, but she seemed to be playing all sorts of evasive games with him, to such an extent that it seemed obvious that she had no intention of joining him. At last, after months and months, it appeared that he had found a suitable flat for them to live in, I believe on the other side of Bedford, in either Putnoe or Goldington. Then he began moving stuff across town. But he had no vehicle, neither a van or a car. He had, you won't believe this, a shopping trolley! Now, it must be a good four or five miles to Goldington, and would take perhaps ten minutes to get there by car. He put his belongings into this shopping trolley and pushed it there and must have unloaded it and then walked all the way back to Rutland Road for another load! This was on a Saturday, because I recall seeing him in the centre of town with the shopping trolley, and on one occasion he had the basic carcase of a chest of  drawers in  the thing, and a few house later he'd piled the drawers in the trolley, complete with clothes, all thrown in in a huge pile! I don't think 'Tina' ever appeared and I have no idea whether  he actually went to live in the flat on his own.

Visit to Stowe Landscape Gardens

With the sun shining brightly it seemed a real waste to stay in doors so an outing was required. We have been watching the Sky Arts programme ' Sky Landscape Artists of 2016.' Each week they visit a National Trust location and the contestants have to paint a picture in 4 hours. This week they were at Stowe Landscape Gardens near Buckingham. We decided to visit today as the weather is likely to change over the weekend. We couldn't take Poppy, as she is now too old and her eyesight has gone but Alfie was definitely keen to go. However much you attempt to keep our intentions quiet, he soon picks up things and starts howling and barking. Carol got his travelling cage out of the spare bedroom and put it in the back of the car. Fortunately we had done our weekly shop at Aldi's on Friday, as we usually go shopping on a Saturday morning, which meant we were able to go out without having to think about our weekly supermarket visit. The sun might have be out, but it was quite chilly as we drove away from the house.

On arrival at the carpark at Stowe we were surprised to discover that there were quite a few cars already parked and people getting out of their cars dressed in running gear as well as many dogs. It appeared that there was some sort of running event going on, with some of the runners taking their dogs with them. Alfie was quite excited to have the chance to meet other dogs, of various shapes and sizes. He may be small, but he has very little fear when meeting dogs several times his size! We kept him firmly on his lead, though. We walked to the visitor centre, which is a recently-opened building, taking in the restored New Inn which is apparently where visitors stayed around 300 years ago when Stowe was originally opened. A new part of this visitor centre includes a restaurant and a shop as well as toilets and other facilities. We were allowed to enter the gardens early, a good fifteen minutes before it was supposed to open at 10.00 a.m. Before, when you visited, the carpark was the opposite side of the gardens, near the school playing fields, but when they began restoration of Stowe they wanted to make your visit as near to how it would have been in the early days of it being opened and you now have to walk along what is called Bellgate Drive, around a mile's walk to what is Bell Gate, which is the actual entrance to Stowe Landscape Gardens.

View across lake towards the Palladian Bridge at 

Stowe Landscape Gardens

There was music playing as we came out of the visitor's centre. An inflatable construction, like a sort of arch, had been erected, which was presumably where the race began and ended. On our walk towards Bell Gate we came across lots of people either running alone or with dogs. It's not something I've seen before. Alfie so wanted to be allowed to be let off his lead, but dogs are supposed to be kept on their leads at Stowe. I suppose because there are sheep and other livestock in the adjacent fields. When we take him for walks in our local park or along the Redway we allow him his freedom, which he loves, running back and forth, sniffing the trees and cocking his leg against every tree and shrub! But this time we kept him firmly on his lead.

Palladian Bridge at Stowe

I took quite a lot of photographs as we walked around the grounds. We walked towards the Palladian Bridge, which spans one of the lakes. It was around here that the Sky Landscape Artist of The Year show was filmed. They had the view up towards the Gothic temple in the background and the Palladian bridge also. We crossed the bridge, following a Land Rover, no doubt being driven by a member of the National Trust staff who manage the site. I was surprised that the bridge was strong enough to bear the weight of a vehicle such as a Land Rover. We walked on up the hill and it was here we dared to let Alfie off his lead. He was so pleased, barking happily and running ahead of us.
He runs back and forth, never in a straight line, but certainly getting plenty of exercise in the process. Up to the top of the hill and then round to the left where we stopped to sit on a bench near some trees. Great views down towards the lakes and to take some more photographs. We walked on and into the main part of the gardens and then round back towards Bell Gate again and to walk back towards the visitor's centre and back to the carpark and eventually drive home to Milton Keynes.

Corinthian Arch in distance at Stowe

Working on 'Hale and Pace'

In the early 1990s I managed to sign up with an agency in London run by Ray Knight. I had heard that he was taking on new people to go on his books and I wrote to him. Long before email, you had to actually put pen to paper and I enclosed headshots, because if you're going to do walk-on work in television they always need to have recent photographs to go on their books. Nowadays they would be uploaded onto a website. His office was somewhere in north London, and I visited for an interview and I was accepted. As a result I got no end of work, and was doing jobs on such programmes as 'House of Cards' (the original B.B.C. production with Ian Richardson.) and did several days on that, some at the B.B.C. Elstree studios and various locations in and around London. This is described in far more detail in an earlier blog post on here.

Over one weekend I had jobs on two shows for London Weekend Television (LWT). On the Saturday I did work on 'Hale and Pace'. I was to go to a location somewhere in the East End of London. I can't say I remember where it was exactly. Some sketches were filmed in and around the area, but the interiors were done in what looked like a disused office block and they made various rooms within the building to be such places as a dentist's surgery and a sitting room.  I have never ever seen any of the shows when they were originally transmitted back in the early '90's, but having done some research on the internet, particularly I.M.D.B and YouTube, I have at last managed to track the episodes I was in. Hale and Pace had  several continuing characters, particularly Bobby and Billy, who were sort of kids television characters, the sort of characters you'd have in such shows as 'Play School' or 'Play Away' with the two boys dressed in bright coloured bib and braces. In this sketch I was in they were supposed to be policemen and I am a mugger! I must say it's odd seeing it now, some 25 years later! It's all in series 3 of the Hale and Pace show, which was originally broadcast on a Sunday at 10 p.m. and some of the material is what you would call adult, although probably considered somewhat tame by today's standards. I was a man living in a box, a sort of tramp or something. To this day I have no idea what that sketch was about. I hope I manage to find it in one of the episodes on YouTube. Another I was supposed to be a patient in a dentist's surgery and one of the boys sat on my legs on the dentist's chair. I'm not sure whether it was Hale or Pace and I can't remember what else happened in that sketch. They were done in such quick succession, there was very little time in between set-ups and they didn't do a lot of takes. I do remember that one of the production crew, a cameraman or lighting assistant, I'm not sure which, took a liking for the pins I wore on the hat I was wearing. I used to collect pin badges, the sort which are metal enamel with a separate pin which you put inside your clothes and the pin sticks through the fabric and the other main part pins to it. Well, he was determined he was going to have them all, but I insisted they weren't for sale or even barter. Strange what you remember and it wasn't clear whether he was being serious or merely trying to annoy me. Some people are difficult to decipher.

On the Sunday I went back into central London.  I was working on location at Smithfield Market and St Bart's Hospital on an episode of 'Poirot,' the episode which was done for the centenary of the publication of the first Poirot story by Agatha Christie,' The Mysterious Affair at Style's.' It was an extremely hot day I seem to remember, but we were dressed in extremely thick and heavy Edwardian suits and there was no way you could keep cool on the set. It was so warm the tarmac on the road we were working on began to melt in the heat. It was the opening sequence, done with the titles. They used a crane to do a wide shot. As it was a Sunday it meant they could close the streets to traffic. We were supposed to be the walking wounded, back from 'The Front' in France. Some people had plaster casts on their legs and were wheeled in wheel chairs, others had their arms in bandages and I think I had my head bandaged. We were walking in through the entrance to St Bart's Hospital. They did no end of takes, and we had to go back to original positions several times for fresh takes. There was a particularly bossy unit manager (or production assistant or assistant director, I'm not sure which he was.) who kept hasstleing us to get it right. On another set-up they had traffic in the street, all vintage vehicles, cars, busses and bicycles. I was supposed to be on a bicycle, but at the last minute I was taken out from the scene. Perhaps because I was going to be used as walking wounded as it would be odd to have me in two places more or less at once, one minute on a bicycle and able-bodied and the next as a wounded soldier. I don't in all honesty think it would have mattered because you are usually in the background in a scene, although  there is always somebody who will point such things out. 

A Wet Weekend and New Glasses

On Saturday the weather was wet, which meant the outing we had planned was abandoned. No good wandering around outside getting soaked. So we hit on visiting the Milton Keynes Central Shopping Centre. We always make a visit in the run-up to Christmas because there is always a display of some sort in the Middleton Hall. We parked in the multi-storey near Debenham's and walked down through the store. We looked in the men's department and there are some items of clothing I have seen which I would like. Carol is attempting to find some sort of bag for work, large enough to carry around books and marking. She wants something strong enough and with several compartments. We looked in Debenham's luggage department but there didn't appear to be anything suitable. We walked through Midsummer Place and browsed briefly in Waterstone's. There are so many books which we both would like, but still, nice to be able to browse. Then we went into the main shopping centre. It was virtually empty of shoppers at 9 a.m. Not all the stores are open at that hour. We walked down one side of the shopping centre and eventually reached the open area between John Lewis and Next, which is called Middleton Hall. This is the area which is used for a variety of events, including the annual Christmas display. Over the years they've had themes. One year it was pirates and Peter Pan and there was a large ship complete with mast and sails, with a model of Peter Pan standing at the top. A great deal of time and effort had obviously gone into creating this display. They have always had a wishing well into which you can throw coins and the money collected goes to a local charity. Father Christmas has a grotto, which your children can visit, but you have to pay. A small railway, chugging around a circular track. Again, you have to book and pay in advance to ride on this. Also, a carousel and a couple of rows of booths or wooden kiosks selling a range of craft items. But I'm afraid the Christmas display is a real disappointment. No doubt the company who creates this has had it's budget cut drastically, and a lot of the animated characters look decidedly second hand a somewhat tatty. The white domes which have coloured lights inside were used last year. Nothing particularly to recommend it I'm afraid. This year's efforts has to be the poorist yet. So if you have to visit, don't be disappointed. It's just not very good. I know it for children, but they might at least put in a bit of effort.

We then went into Pret A Manger which has a branch nearby and had lattes and cookies. Quite a pleasant environment, but by the time we got there the crowds were building up and by the time we walked out the whole place was heaving. Carol pointed out how miserable everyone looked. Nobody seemed to be talking to one another. Most were on mobile phones, more interested in them that speaking to a living human being. People were queuing to buy coffees. Lots had shopping. No doubt Christmas shopping.

We next went into John Lewis. You walk through and the way it's laid out, you can't avoid looking at the products on display. It used to be laid out so it was a direct route, but not anymore. We needed to use the toilets, and, compared with the public toilets further along inside the shopping centre, the John Lewis toilets are a good deal cleaner and more pleasant. On the way we saw a display with a television which was showing the John Lewis Christmas television commercial, about 'Buster The Dog' bouncing on a trampoline. There was a display next to this, of merchandise which ties in with the commercial, mugs and soft toys and amongst it all a 'Buster' toy which you throw or bounce and it makes a noise, similar to the red Comic Relief 'noise' ball which our Yorkshire Terrier, Alfie, loves so much. It is on it's last legs, it's laughing sound mechanics is coming to an end. So I would come back into the shopping centre to buy later in the week.

Lewis's have a great selection of decorations of all shapes and sizes. We had a browse and by the time we'd finished we decided we'd seen enough and so walked back through the shopping centre and ending up back at the multi-storey carpark near Debenham's.

I returned to SpecSavers to collect my new glasses on Wednesday morning, a week after they'd been ordered. I was somewhat annoyed to find that instead of making up one pair each of reading glasses and one pair of distance vision glasses they'd made up two pairs of reading glasses. I know it was a mistake on behalf of the lady who dealt with the order, but it was still annoying. She apologised and said that she'd get the laboratory to re-do the order and make up the distance glasses and they'd be ready for collection today. It would mean we driving into the centre again and parking and having to walk through to the shopping centre this morning. Which I did. But, yesterday morning, when I got home and tried to read with the new glasses I found that they were not good for reading the laptop screen.  Really straining my eyes and leading to a headache as a result. They were no better than the off-the-shelf reading glasses which I bought in Boot's around 10 years ago and have been using ever since, perfectly successfully. On returning to SpecSavers this morning I'm now told I'll need to have my eyes tested again, which is really annoying as I imagined the original test would have shown up a different lens strength for close reading. I will get this done in the New Year as I don't really want it done before Christmas.

Hospital Appointment For Carol

Carol had to go for a hospital appointment this morning. She went into the Academy as usual, but walked home at around 10.45. The actual appointment was 11.30. As the hospital is so close, there was really no point driving, because we'd only have to pay to use the hospital car park, and it would be quicker to walk, what with traffic. It's no more than a ten minute walk there, along the Redway behind our house and then straight through to the path that runs beside the road. The only problem was that it was threatening to rain, a miserable undecided sort of day on the weather-front, overcast and cold.

We had to walk around the front of the hospital complex, to the Maple Centre, which is near the entrance for Accident and Emergency. In through the front entrance and we were inside a typical N.H.S. unit. Why do they always have that air of depression, the same rather strong smell, clean, but unpleasant? Is it the cleaning material they use, or what is it? Over-clean, I think. Obsessively so. It's difficult to see immediately where you have to go. So many signs, go here, co there. Reception desk, do you sign in or not? I would have come with Carol anyway, but in the letter she had for the appointment, it said that she needed to bring someone with her as they would put drops in her eyes as part of the procedure and she wouldn't be safe to drive afterwards and, as a result, also have a pair of dark glasses as her eyes would be sensitive to bright light. At the reception desk Carol gives the woman behind the counter the letter she was sent and the information is put in the computer. Signed in and told to sit and wait. We go and sit in the Yellow Bay. A lot of old people sitting and waiting. It's even more depressing. Nobody talks. Nobody wants to give anyone eye contact. Which is ironic, when you think it's the eye clinic. Carol is here because she's recently been diagnosed as diabetic and they have to check your eyes to prevent eye problems which might result. The place is decorated white, cold, typically N.H.S., standard paintwork. Why can't it be done in more bright and colourful colours? Surely it wouldn't cost anymore. As people walk about the floor seems to move. It's got a strange sort of movement, as if the place is built on springs or something. Why is it like that? The Carol gets called to go in to her appointment. I make notes in my notebook I try to take with me everywhere. This is a good place to study characters, people's behaviours. A woman comes in with a baby in a stroller. I'm not actually sure what you call these things- stroller, buggy, baby-carrier. Anyway, a complicated machine with wheels, lots of levers and handles and the actual bit into which the baby is inserted, padded and comfortable, with straps and looking to me like a sort of coal scuttle. I think it disconnects so it can be put into a car, with the baby safe within it. Then a second lady arrives, and it turns out she is the sister of the other lady with a baby. Why are they here? Is it her appointment, or the babies? Difficult to know.

The Carol calls to me from another waiting area. Green Bay. She says, come in here and sit with me. She has to wait for 20 minutes for the drops she has had put in her eyes to take effect. Green Bay is even more depressing than Yellow Bay. I don't see how you differentiate between the coloured bays, but Carol says it's the door-frames, painted different colours. The green paint in Green Bay is rather insipid, not a proper green to my way of thinking. The place has posters all over the walls, rather too many for my liking. Don't do this, don't do that, information over-kill. They tell you that, if you use a mobile phone, to respect other patients privacy. As if you'd ever not. But I suppose some people have no idea about 'respect.' Probably use their mobile to take a 'selfie'. As if you'd want to in a hospital. There's free wifi, so presumably it's alright to use a mobile. I was always under the impression you weren't supposed to use your mobile at all in a hospital. Something about the radio signals they use interfering with the computers and other equipment. But there is no evidence that this is true.

It's so gloomy. Nobody wants to talk to you. People being lead about, rather like the blind leading the blind. More deep irony. We just want to have a laugh. Why are the people in here so miserable? I know, a hospital isn't a particularly laugh-out-loud sort of place, and especially a department like this.  But please, just lighten up. I think I'd go completely nuts if I couldn't have a laugh. So many old people, just looking miserable, is enough to drive you completely doo-lalley. There's not even a television to watch or a coffee machine. Nothing to while away the time.  A pile of ancient magazines, most more or less past their best before day, if they ever had one in the first place. Can't the N.H.S. employ a stand-up comedian to get people to at least SMILE? laughter- supposedly the best form of medicine. Then Carol gets called back into the room to have a chat with the clinician or whatever he's called about her eyes. They take photographs of her eyes, which is why they put the drops into her eyes so that your pupils dilate which makes taking the photographs easier. I had this done when I had my eyes tested the other week.

Which reminds me, also on an eye-related matter. I have been to SpecSavers, on Wednesday, in Milton Keynes Shopping Centre, to have the prescription I got when I had my eyes tested the other week, and I'm having two pairs of glasses made up, for £69 (a really good offer.) One pair will be for distance work (for example, driving, watching television etc.) and another pair for reading, using the computer etc, more close work.) These will be ready next Wednesday.

So, having been back in to chat with the clinician, she comes back out and we leave. It's a matter of finding your way out into the hospital campus and trying to decipher the various conflicting notices, some saying 'Exit' and 'Way Out.' It's bright sunshine when we get outside and Carol puts on the dark glasses she bought with her. We stroll back home through the hospital grounds and back into Eaglestone and along the Redway and home. 

Broken Glasses

I mentioned that I had my eyes tested a few posts back. I had intended getting new glasses made up from the prescription in a month or so's time, possibly in the New Year. At any rate, once the expenses of Christmas was out of the way. But, unfortunately, I managed to break my glasses yesterday. I don't know how, exactly, but I was clearing up a load of magazines and papers which are in a basket under the table I had next to my armchair in the living room, and somehow or other my glasses got dropped on the floor and when I picked them up I found that one of the arms (for want of a better word. I don't know what the correct term is for the arm that is joined to a pair of glasses and has the hook bit that goes over your ears.) got bent up in an awkward position. I attempted to bend it back carefully, but without success, because it broke off the main frame of the glasses completely. I had thought it might be able to be repaired with super glue or similar, but having had another closer look this morning I can't see how it could be done. I'm just going to have to go and order a new pair in Spec Savers in Milton Keynes, where you can have two pairs of glasses for £69. So I can have one pair for reading and another for driving, watching television or when we go to the theatre or cinema (which, incidentally, we do very infrequently.) I had hoped to have a pair of bifocals, which have both in one pair of glasses, so I can read things like product labels in the supermarket when we go shopping, which we do a lot these days, to check on such things as sugar content, as Carol is diabetic.

The weather has got a good deal colder over the past few days. We've had to put the central heating on.  I put it on early this morning when I was making our mugs of tea. It's on most of the day if I'm in the house. There was a real chill in the wind when I was outside about to take Carol to work. This morning I had to melt the ice off the windscreen of the car. The leaves are virtually finished falling off the trees and things are looking a little bleak.

Comedy- Best Medicine- 2

I mentioned 'The Goon Show' in my last blog post. These, and many of the classic BBC radio comedies, are broadcast regularly on the digital station BBC Radio Four Extra. Not only 'The Goons' but 'Hancock's Half-Hour,' 'Round The Horne,' 'The Men From The Ministry,' 'I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again,' 'The Burkiss Way,' Radio Active' and many more.

Quite a few comedies start life on Radio Four (the main channel) and then get transferred to television. The most famous of all must be Hancock's Half Hour, which made the transfer in 1956, hence the 60th anniversary of this fact this year. As a result they did a series of revivals and one-offs of famous sitcoms, such as 'Are You Being Served?", "Porridge", "Goodnight Sweetheart" and a 'prequel' of "Keeping Up Appearances" called "Young Hyacinth" with the character, originally played by the brilliant Patricia Routledge,  by Kerry Howard. I didn't see it, and, frankly, didn't see the point. Why can't the BBC come up with new sitcoms? In the 1960's they used to do a series called "Comedy Playhouse" which generally consisted of what were, in effect six pilots for potential series. This is how shows such as "Steptoe and Son" began. They also did another series called "Six of One" which were, again, pilots for shows which starred Ronnie Barker. Two became series, one being "Porridge" and the other "Open All Hours." A couple of years ago they did a one-off called " Still Open All Hours." Having Googled this just now, it appears that they are making a third series of this. Personally I don't see the point, when it can't be as good as the original because Ronnie Barker, who made Arkwright, the central character in the original series, died several years ago, and no matter how good David Jason is in it, it can never be as good as that 1970s series. Still, I suppose if it gets the BBC high ratings, that can't be a bad thing.Perhaps it's the nostalgia of the thing that attracts such a big audience, the security of something familiar in a fast-changing world. ITV revived "Birds of A Feather" with similar high audience figures and it seems to be as popular as it was when originally shown on the BBC in the 1990s, and with most of the original cast members in place. Mention of Ronnie Barker reminds me that he was born in Bedford, about a 20-minute drive away from where I live, here in Milton Keynes. He also began his professional acting career in repertory theatre in Aylesbury, another 30 minutes away from here in the other direction, and when the newly-opened Waterside Theatre was opened there a few years ago, a statue of him was unveiled outside, sitting on a wall outside which means you can see him at street level, rather than up on a plinth. His comic timing and acting ability must have been learned because of his time in 'rep' due to him having to play a wide range of characters over a long period, do doubt doing weekly 'rep', meaning playing one show during the evening whilst rehearsing another during the day. All good experience for a young actor. He appears regularly in episodes of "The Navy Lark," yet another brilliant sitcom which is broadcast on Radio Four Extra, alongside another comedy legend, John Pertwee.

So, what exactly constitutes a 'sitcom'? There are a few key criteria I would suggest. They normally run for no more than 30 minutes, although there are examples of sitcoms running to 50 minutes or so. A sitcom is generally set in what I would call a 'closed world,' for example, a prison ('Porridge'), a department store ('Are You Being Served?') or a family ('Bread', 'My Family', 'Two Point Four Children', 'Outnumbered.') etc. The characters don't always get on with one another. This creates friction, conflict. There is generally a hierarchy, class divisions ("Keeping Up Appearances,' the class-snobbery of the Patricia Rutledge character thinks herself far above her relations, Onslow and Daisy, who she looks down at as they are 'working class' while she thinks of herself as 'Middle Class.' In 'Dad's Army' Mainwairing sets himself up as the platoon leader, because he is a bank manager, but has a chip on his shoulder because his Assistant in the bank, Wilson, went to a public school while he went to a state school.

Comedy . . . Best Medicine-1

There's nothing like a really good laugh. Well, as they say, 'laughter is the best medicine.' I'm not sure who said it, but it's surely better to be happy and have a good laugh than sit and be miserable. The world is full of enough misery as it is without sitting around moaning with a long face and feeling depressed.  When you laugh, your body releases endorphins, hormones or neurotransmitters, chemicals that pass along signals from one neutron to the next and eventually gives you a feeling of euphoria. So, no bad thing, when you think of the horrible things going on in the world today.

Looking back, what are the things that make me laugh, particularly on television? Or, come to think of it, radio? Well, as regards radio, I can think of 'The Goons.' A college friend introduced me to them way back in the 1960's. His father had recorded many of the original broadcasts onto reel-to-reel tape and then they were rerecorded onto cassettes, which is how my friend gave them to me. Those shows are really funny, performed by such original comedians as Spike Milligan, Peter Sellers, Harry Secombe and in the original line-up, Michael Bentine. Each of them went on to establish careers away from 'The Goons,' most particularly Sellers, who is perhaps best known to movie audiences today for his portrayal of the inept police inspector, Clouseau. Spike Milligan was responsible for the scripts, and on occasion was joined by Eric Sykes in producing material. The characters and situations in 'The Goons' were totally surreal. How could you avoid laughing at the antics as such classic characters as Eccles, Bloodknock, Moriarty, Grytpype-Thynne, Neddy Seagoon, Henry Run and Minnie Bannister. The show spawned a whole host of catch phrases, such as 'He's fallen in the water!' 'Needle nardle not', 'You rotten swine! You deaded me!" "You silly twisted boy!" I think it was the fact that only three men did all the voices, with only one female character (Minnie Bannister, voiced by Milligan) that is so amazing, looking back on it. It could only really work on radio, because you had to work hard, as a member of the audience, to create pictures of what the characters looked like and that's half the fun. There was an attempt at a television series, I do remember, based on the show, and called "The Telegoons" but it just could never come up to the quality of the radio version. It used rather feeble puppets and they didn't seem to fit my idea of what the characters looked like at all. The bit that might surprise modern audiences might be the fact that these shows had musical interludes, where the action stopped and you had a performance given by a musician, a singer or harmonica player. It was a hang-over from other radio entertainment shows of the period where you had a series of sketches and these linked by musical interludes. It does take a bit of getting used to, having the story (such as they were. Some are better than others. Most, if not all, are totally surreal.) broken up like this, rather like commercial breaks on ITV. Musicians included Max Geldray and Ray Ellington, although at one stage, apparently, Harry Secombe provided musical entertaiment, and  he was perhaps more renowned as a singer rather than merely a comedian. I remember seeing him in the stage musical "Pickwick" where he played the central character of Mr Pickwick. The shows had narrators or announcers,who were sort of foils for a lot of the gags, and these were Andrew Timothy and Wallace Greenslade.  The  producer of the earlier shows was Dennis Main-Wilson, who later moved from radio to television and produced such shows as 'Sykes" with Hattie Jacques and Eric Sykes. He went on to produce television comedies such as "Citizen Smith" starring Robert Lindsey and written by John Sullivan who went on toe create "Only Fools and Horses."

A Foggy Autumn Day

Autumn is well and truly here. It is quite mild, on the temperature side, but there is a fog hanging over Milton Keynes this morning. Not particularly thick, but enough to mean we have to have the car lights on as we drive over to the Academy this morning. Carol has teacher training today. She tells me it is generally very boring. I can't believe that they can make training so miserable and boring. Well, perhaps, on second thoughts, I can, because I've had to endure some fairly boring days sitting in a room, usually with no natural light, listening to someone droning on ad nauseam about something or other.

Today it's hallowe'en. We don't indulge in this infatuation with witches, warlocks and things that go 'bump in the night.' I'm afraid it's just an excuse for commercial exploitation. When I was a child Guy Fawkes Night on November 5th was the 'big night.' Building bonfires and fireworks, baked potatoes 'In Their Jackets' and hot chocolate, Catherine Wheels, sparklers, rockets and so on. Hallow'een has been built up, no doubt by being imported mainly from America. Our dogs hate the noise and commotion outside the house. People letting of fireworks. So we'll have the the next two weeks or so of misery for the poor dogs. Every time there is a loud 'bang' outside as someone lets of a firework, he starts barking. Poppy, meanwhile, hides under the nearest piece of furniture.

Actually, poor Poppy is aging rapidly. She has really slowed down. Her eyesight is going very slowly.   Both dogs sleep on our bed at night. Alfie is no problem, as he can jump up easily and snuggles down beneath the duvet. But Poppy has a problem jumping up. We had put a stool at the side of the bed so she can jump up on that and then onto the bed. But, because her sight is failing, she never manages this. She spends the night laying on the floor, but doesn't always settle. She tip-taps around the room and just will not settle. If she needs to go outside she now has the rather annoying habit of coming round to my side of the bed and barking at me. It good that she does this, so I have to go downstairs and let her out through the sliding patio door from the kitchen into the garden. But this happens several times in the night. She goes downstairs, very gingerly and slowly. She sometimes stops half way down and needs encouraging. Once she's been out in the garden she comes back inside the house and I slide the door closed. Last night, at about 10.30, she insisted on being let out. She came round and barked at me. I was nodding off. We had the radio on, as we usually do. BBC Radio 4 Extra, which is a digital channel. I was reluctant to take her down and was half asleep. I'm afraid I wasn't in the best of moods. Poppy managed to get down the stairs and eventually I let her out through the sliding patio doors from the kitchen. She did what she had to, but she found something which took her attention away from going back into the house. I had to get a closer look. It was a hedgehog, rolled up into an extremely tight ball. I think we have hedgehogs as regular visitors and some while ago both dogs were fascinated by them. The poor thing did the natural thing to protect itself by rolling into the defensive ball as all hedgehogs do. But it wasn't budging and I was eager to get Poppy back into the house as I was, by now, really tired and barely able to stand up. Poppy refused to respond to my insisitance that she come back into the house. I had to find a method to get her inside, so I rUshed back into the kitchen and took the garden broom which leans agains the fridge and used it to coerce the stubborn dog back inside. It worked. She had no alternative, being pushed along by a broom. Somewhat unconventional as a form of dog-management, but it worked a treat!

Later

As I mentioned in the blog post about our trip to Stratford-Upon-Avon last Saturday for my birthday, where I described how, when we got to the park-and-ride and I wanted to use my bus pass and then discovered that it had expired- on the same day- and we had to pay for my bus ride instead of having to not pay, I went to Milton Keynes Civic Centre yesterday (Monday) to get it renewed. I was attempting to avoid having to return with any form of identity they were likely to ask me for (which seems a commonplace demand from most businesses nowadays.) so I had a bank statement and several other items with my name and address on it. On arriving at the Council office I had to queue for a while but soon reached someone on the reception desk. I was given a form to fill in (which I completed sitting at a table to one side in the reception area.) and when it was completed I was given a numbered slip and told to wait. I sat in the main waiting area (where you have to go if you have to apply for any sort of benefit, be it housing, rent etc.) You have to then wait until your number comes up on a digital screen (another piece of technology common with so many places nowadays, whether it's the Post Office, Job Centre or even Argos, the catalogue shopping service.) It was frankly quite complicated, because my number came up on the screen and then got confusing as I wasn't sure when I was expected to go to whichever numbered desk it was and, indeed, where. The number kept appearing and disappearing, but eventually I got called. My concern would be, it's all very well and good having this system, and it makes it fair, but what if someone had a sight problem and couldn't see their number appear on the screen? Does someone come and tell you? Does it speak? Who knows. Anyway, I eventually went to Desk Number 22 and it was all very efficient. I could have a new photo on my bus card, and I had some which I had kept from another card (I think it was probably for my Driving Licence, which has to have a photograph on it, and had to be renewed a few months ago at the Post Office.) but, if I wanted to have a new photograph on the new card I would have to pay £10 for the privilge.  I decided that it was unnecessary as the one already on the old card was sufficient. I don't think I have changed enough in the time since that one was taken to warrant a replacement. The lady had to have some sort of identity (odd, when my picture on the original card was presumably in front of her on the computer screen.) so I used my Driving Licence, which she took away to have photocopied, and the form I had filled in was handed over and signed and that was that done. The new card should be with me within a week or so.

Day Out To Black Country Living Museum

We had planned to visit London Zoo on Wednesday, taking advantage of the fact that Carol was a Fellow of the Zoological Society of London and get free entry for both of us, as we also do for Whipsnade Zoo. But on researching train tickets it seems far too expensive. How on earth can train tickets cost so much? This would be enough to put off many people from visiting London. And we couldn't leave early to take advantage of any so-called 'special offers.'  We then  did some research on-line and decided on a visit to The Black Country Living Museum at Dudley, near Birmingham. We have seen glimpses of this open air museum on television programmes and it sounded the sort of place we'd enjoy. We've been to Beamish Museum in the north east of England which would seem to be very similar, so that is where we went on Wednesday.

On arrival at the carpark we found many people also turning up, some including coaches. Within the main entrance building there was a long queue in the booking hall and in all we had to queue for around 30 minutes. We decided it would be better value to turn our entrance tickets into yearly membership which means we can return as many times as we like over the next twelve months without having to pay entrance fees or car parking (an additional £3. This is fair enough, but I do think if you're paying for entrance and you arrive by car you shouldn't have to pay this. As a charity I can understand they have to raise cash somehow, but this does seem a bit unfair.) You got a metal token which you use to raise the barrier when you drive out of the carpark.

Once within the museum site we discovered that it was a fair walk down into the main part of the museum site. Several vintage vehicles, including a red bus, a trolley bus and tram, could be used to convey you to the main town further down the hill. We decided to walk. Probably not such a good idea as it was quite tiring. Rough cinder on the paths really hurt our feet. Never mind.

There are many reconstructed buildings on the site of The Black Country Living Museum. Carefully demolished in their original location and then transported to the site and then reconstructed and fitted out with furniture and everything inside to fit the correct time frame in which they were originally built, giving a sort of snapshot of their historic context. They are all from the area around Dudley, which is known as The Black Country. Due to the soot and smoke produced by the industries in the area.

The first building we visited was a cast iron house. Quite amazing to think that at one time they constructed houses from cast iron. What about rusting? Did they stay warm in winter and cool in summer? If you lived in one could you hang wallpaper? Were they safe if you had electricity? I'm thinking about earthing the power supply. It does make me wonder. We walked on down towards the town area, past a mine. You could go inside but there was a long queue which put us off. I'm not to keen on being in an enclosed space such as a mine or a cave so it wasn't something I'd want to experience and certainly not if it was a small space and you had to go down and underground. We walked on and got to the period fairground. There's a heater skelter as well as a wide range of stalls. You have to pay to go on any of the rides or exhibits. We bought burgers from a stall around here and sat  on benches near the canal and ate them. We had intended buying fish and chips from the shop which was part of the period shops, but when we saw the queue of people outside we decided against the idea. This queue was moving extremely slow and it seemed to take perhaps 20 minutes to reach the shop. A pity, because from what we saw of the actual fish and chips that people were carrying away it looked very appetising and the portions looked large. There is a period garage along with some period vehicles in the area near the fairground. We didn't visit.

We went inside the school. Period lessons were held at regular intervals during the day, but we weren't there at the time it said on the sign inside the building. Pity, because, as Carol is a teacher herself she would have been interested to see how the style of teaching had changed over the years. We went into several of the houses to view the interiors and in some we were surprised at the size of the rooms. Very small and cramped. If they had several children it makes you wonder how they coped.

We watched as someone demonstrated making nails and another man showed how chain was forged. There was a cinema, which apparently had been built in a private back garden in a house somewhere around the Dudley area. We sat and watched a silent Laurel and Hardy film. I was surprised how some people laughed whilst others didn't respond at all. (How do modern day children respond to the antics of these two? I've always enjoyed their films and have only recently bought a 20 DVD collection of all their short films. £35 on Amazon, but it was £200 when the set first came out. We saw if for around £50 a few years ago in H.H.V. in Milton Keynes, so at that price it was good value.)

 View across canal bridge

 Period trolley bus

Interior of tobacconist's shop

Out in the street children were playing with hoops. Rolling them along the cobbles with sticks. Great to see modern children doing something that is 'real' and not computer-related. So many people walk around with their mobile phones stuck to their ears or peering at the screens and seem so disconnected with the 'real' world. It makes you wonder how they would cope if these gadgets were taken off them. They don't seem to be engaged with what's going on around them. It's the same when we've visited either Whipsnade Zoo or Twycross Zoo. People are so busy taking 'selfies' of themselves, slap-bang in front of some of the animal enclosures. They seem more interested in themselves than in looking at the animals. Similar at this museum.

Wandered in and out of more of the buildings, including an ironmonger's, tobacconist, baker's and several more and then a church.

So we went back to the bus stop. We had to wait a good twenty minutes, but it was actually quite nice to sit down and relax for a while. We eventually caught the bus and arrived back at the top of the hill where we'd entered the museum. We had a look at some vintage vehicles in a garage and then went inside the visitor's centre, had a cup of tea and a pastry and bought a guidebook and by then we'd decided we'd seen all we wanted to see and returned to our car to drive home.

We did follow the SatNav's direction. It is generally very good, but for some reason it took us into central Birmingham instead of navigating us back home the way we'd come, which was odd. So it took a good 30 minutes longer than it should have done. Don't always follow the SatNav we've learned. All together it was a very enjoyable day out and we'll be returning sometime again in the Spring now we have a year's membership of this particular museum.

Birthday Outing To Stratford-Upon-Avon

Saturday was my birthday and, the weather being fine, Carol thought I might appreciate a visit to Stratford-Upon-Avon. Actually, as we drove to the Shell petrol station along Grafton Street, we were greeted by a thin fog. It was dull and sunless, but that didn't prevent us having our day out. The first day of Half-Term as well as my birthday. I had found the postcode of the Stratford-Upon-Avon park-and-ride carpark and set the satnav, so it was just a matter of following the device's instructions and driving out of Milton Keynes. A wonderful invention which makes driving and particularly navigation so much easier and stress-free. There are some modern inventions which one can well do without (mobile telephones for one, although they have their place, obviously.) but a satnav is a brilliant bit of kit. Attempting to follow a large fold-out map in a car as you are moving along can be very difficult.

We drove out of Milton Keynes towards Buckingham and eventually to the M40. Our journey was fairly stress-free. Fortunately the fog began to lift as we approached Stratford. We got to the park and ride carpark and it was here we discovered that it didn't seem possible to use the ticket machines. You should have been able to use your bank debit card to either pay with chip and pin or contactless but the machine wasn't working. We ended up finding we had to use the bus without paying and the driver allowed us to pay on our return journey. I have a free bus pass and it was at this point that I discovered that it had expired, meaning I couldn't use it for a free journey. I will have to go to the Council offices in Milton Keynes to get it updated. I would have thought I would have had a letter from them informing me that it was about to expire. It not only means a trip into the centre of Milton Keynes, but that I will need to get passport photographs done to go on the card.

On arrival in the centre of Stratford-Upon-Avon we decided that we required some sort of refreshment so we went to a Caffe Nero branch in Henley Street. Carol ordered hot chocolate and I had caramel latte with a good topping of whipped cream and caramel sauce and we also had chocolate brownie and pecan pastries. For once there wasn't loud music playing, which is one thing which we both find annoying in many restaurants and cafes we visit, which means you can barely hear anyone speaking and restricts conversation. A very clean and tidy branch and the staff were friendly and helpful.

William Shakespeare's birthplace.

From Caffe Nero we walked along the street towards the Shakespeare Birthplace. I have a longstanding interest in William Shakespeare and have studied his plays at school and university, and this was one place I had always wanted to visit. We were going to visit on this occasion but were put off by the cost of entry, so didn't go inside. I realise such places need to be paid for and kept going with such payments, but it seems a shame that they are making money out of tourists which keep such centres as Stratford alive, but in another sense they are putting of others who might like to visit but wouldn't be able to afford such costs. We did go into the shop, further down the street, and bought some cards and other items. Much of the souvenirs are, frankly, very tacky and cheap, but in the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust shop there were some very worthwhile items, including books, pens, postcards etc etc.

Further along the street we discovered a shop which sold teddy bears. Carol has a love of these toys and has a wide collection at home. Several years ago I bought her a Steiff bear, which was sold as an offer in the Guardian newspaper. Outside this shop was a very large, more or less life size  bear dressed in Tudor clothes, no doubt to look like William Shakespeare. Within this shop there were all manner of bears, in all manner of clothes, large and small, some at reasonable prices but others very expensive. We have never been in such a well-stocked shop selling teddy bears!

Having left the teddy bear shop we walked towards the river. We found where the bus would leave to return us to the park and ride carpark, just outside McDonald's. We walked on and got to the Waterside, which is where the R.S.C. (Royal Shakespeare Company) has it's theatre. We visited Stratford a few years ago and it was at the time the theatre was being redeveloped and was under scaffolding. It is now open (it has been for the past few years.) and now has a tower as part of it's structure. There is also a recently-opened permanent exhibition inside which is about Shakespeare and called 'The Play's The Thing' which we ought to visit when we next come to Stratford. All part of the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death in 1616.

 Canal boat at Waterside, Stratford-Upon-Avon

Along the Waterside were barges and boats and one which took passengers on a cruise along the River Avon and part-way along the canals. We thought it would make a pleasant and relaxing afternoon's experience, having spent several hours walking. We then saw a barge further along which sold food and bought ourselves baguettes which we took on board the boat, after we'd bought our tickets. So we spent around 45-50 cruising on the boat and went through the lock and into the main part of the river. It was from the boat that we got a view of the theatre you don't normally see and then, further along, the church where William Shakespeare was buried.

Falstaff statue at Shakespeare Memorial

Hamlet statue at Shakespeare memorial

When we got back to the Waterside we walked round to look at the statue of Shakespeare, which has him at the centre, but high up so you unfortunately can't see him at very close quarters. Around the four corners, but at ground level, are statues of some of his most famous characters, Sir John Falstaff, Lady Macbeth, Henry V, and Hamlet. I took photographs of each.

We then wandered back into the town centre and visited Marks and Spencer, buying lasagne and salad for our evening meal. We returned to the bus stop outside MacDonalds and waited for the bus which would take us back to the carpark and our car and drive home back to Milton Keynes.

Aggressive Driving

I may have made some mention of this on more than one blog post, but I'm going to mention it again. Drivers in and around Milton Keynes can be excessively aggressive. I have on more than one occasion had to contend with drivers coming up behind me when I'm out in the car, and attempting to get me to go faster. When I was learning to drive (and it's a good many years since I past my Driving Test.) was taught to drive within my safe limits, for example, not driving at such a speed that I'd feel out of control or too fast. Obviously you would attempt to drive within the legal speed limits (i.e. 30 mp.p.h. in a built up area and up to 70 m.p.h. on open country roads and Motorways.) Around Milton Keynes the speed limit on the Grid Roads is 70 m.p.h. which is a shock to me. There are very few long stretches of road between the various roundabouts which would allow you enough distance to get up to a relatively high speed before you have to slow down at a roundabout. Some drivers seem to think that they don't need to slow down at a roundabout when they arrive and can just speed across, taking very little heed of traffic coming onto the right, giving way etc etc as you are supposed to do (according to the Highway Code.) If you just happen to drive with any care and attention and stop at a roundabout and obey the rules and check before attempting to enter the said roundabout, and a somewhat aggressive drive comes up behind you, some have the idea that they can intimidate you in such a way that you will risk your life  by moving into the traffic when you are sure it is unsafe to do so. Some will even hoot you in order to make you move, even if you are only a fraction of a second late in moving, according to them. Which can be very off-putting.

When I worked as a home carer and used to spend a lot of my time driving from one 'call' to another, I had the misfortune to come across quite a bit of aggressive driving. I was on my way to one evening call, driving along Fulmer Street towards Bletchley at a safe speed. A large van came up behind me, with three young men inside it, or so I could see in my rear-view mirror. They didn't seem to appreciate the speed I was driving nor the fact that I was simply in their way. The driver came right up behind me and seemed to be attempting to get me to move faster, which I refused to do. Then he began moving from side to side across the road behind me, ziz-zagging about across the road, weaving too and from across the road. I found it somewhat frightening and, considering I had had a heart attack, not doing my blood pressure a lot of good. In fact, I had to find a lay-by and pull over to let them pass. Very intimidating experience and totally unacceptable behaviour.

On three occasions I was run into by drivers on roundabouts which had a very detrimental effect on me. In all the years I have driven a car I have never been run into. On each occasion it was not pleasant. My car was damaged and only on one of the three occasions did the driver stop to see whether I was alright.

Last Sunday we drove to Waitrose, which is about  two miles from home down Chaffron Way. On the way out we had to circulate the carpark to get out and came across a car coming in. It was going at an excessive speed and unless we'd stopped when we did we'd have hit it. The female driver was so fixated on getting where she was going, she had no intention of slowing down. It seems that these people who behave in this way are being selfish. We seem to have produced more and more people, and particular car drivers, who have become self-centred. It appears that they are becoming more and more selfish. We are producing even more people, particularly on the internet, on social media such as Facebook and Twitter, who can say quite unpleasant things to people, particularly contestants on such things as 'Strictly Come Dancing' or 'The Great British Bakeoff', which they would never say face to face. It seems it's O.K. to say these unpleasant things on-line, in writing, but not in a direct way to their face. It's as if it wouldn't hurt that person, but actually it does have a psychological effect. A gradual build up of nastiness probably has more effect on someone like this rather than to their face, and this is the same thing as drivers out on the roads. Getting cut up on a roundabout (which has happened to me and Carol on quite a few instances.) does have a marked effect on your confidence as a driver.

Then, on two more occasions on driving out of Waitrose's car park, and in barely two minutes, we came across more of this aggressive driving from other people. We had to come out of their carpark and head left towards the roundabout at Monkston Park and another driver, yet another female, hooted at us to get out of the way because we didn't move fast enough for her. Just plain rudeness in my opinion and then one more, similar, as we approached the roundabout at Eaglestone, at what is called 'Four Bridges.' (So named because of the four foot bridges over the Grid Roads at this point in the road system.)

Several years ago Carol was involved in a car accident at one of the roundabouts on Fulmer Street early one morning. She was waiting in a queue of vehicles at the roundabout when a taxi cab came crashing into the queue. The force of the car crashing into the car at the back of the queue was so great that it forced the car she was driving to cause it to run into the car immediately in front that it got caught onto the tow bar. It gave Carol fairly a serious whiplash injury.  The driver of the car that caused the accident was not paying what they called 'undue care and attention.' No doubt he was using his mobile phone at the time, but certainly not concentrating. I see quite a lot of drivers using their mobiles as they're driving. The most disturbing was when we were driving up the M1 a few years ago and got caught behind a lorry, but as we passed we could see the driver using his mobile. I think he was texting. It doesn't bear thinking the sort of accident he might have caused had he wobbled as he was driving that lorry.

The other concern is what I hear in the news on television about people deliberately causing accidents on the roads in order to make insurance claims. It makes me wonder at time, knowing this sort of information, whether that is what a great many of the cases I've mentioned of 'aggressive driving' is deliberate so as to cause such an accident and then claim on insurance. When people cut you up on a roundabout or those that don't stop at a roundabout, it makes me wonder whether it's deliberate to make a fraudulent insurance claim. Then there's cases of 'road rage', caused when a driver is driving too slow and then being assaulted by a driver who couldn't wait for that slower driver to move out of the way. When knives are used, fists fly and so on, it can be quite scary.

Another recent incident happened the other morning. We drove to Tesco's at Oldbrook. It would have been around 7.15-7.20. We turned into Oldbrook Boulevarde from Strudwick Drive and had just turned left from the roundabout. We were driving through a section of road where there were two carriage-ways, the road being divided down the centre with a paved area. We drove at a reasonable speed, considering it was a built-up area, so the speed was 30 m.p.h. Then a car appeared at speed behind us. It would have been reasonable to expect the driver to merely follow us at 30, but now, he couldn't wait, and shot past us at at least 50-60 m.p.h. All I can say is, thank goodness that there wasn't another vehicle coming in the opposite direction. It was very scary. The driver was laughing as he drove past. It took us quite a while to recover from the shock. Just another incident where it was aggressive driving. It was a pity that there were no speed cameras to record the incident. This is what it needs to stop this sort of behaviour, but, unfortunately, these drivers get away with this behaviour because there are never any police around to see what is going on and then charge them with reckless driving. It's the innocent driver or passer-by who gets injured when things go wrong and an accident occurs.