Whipsnade Again

We may have abandoned our holiday due to Storm Katie rampaging across the South of England, but we made up for it by visiting Whipsnade Zoo again. We arrived just after 10.30 and there were very few people about. It threatened rain and we parked near the rhino enclosure. We saw the cheetahs. There were four milling around their enclosure. We then walked through the centre of the zoo to the Lions of the Serengeti exhibit and were surprised to see the lions so close to the viewing window. We have never been that close, the lionesses and one male. We got some fantastic photographs. I would say we were no more than eight feet from them, but, of course, there was safety glass in between them and us! Probably just as well. They had just been fed. 

By now it was getting really cloudy and seemed as if it would rain. We got in the car and drove towards the cafe and had coffee and cake. Always a good stand-by. Carol suggested we take a ride of the steam train that goes around the zoo, something we have never done before. We saw areas of the site which you wouldn't otherwise see. We noticed that they are constructing a brand new elephant house, due to open in 2017. We're not entirely sure what it will be like but they seem to be up-grading a lot of the exhibits. It had looked tatty for years and it was about time things were brought into the 21st century. We walked towards the elephant enclosure and most, if not all, the elephants were in an enclosure away from the building work. Then we visited the butterfly house which is very interesting and worth a visit and because it was cold it was great to walk into the heated space.We drove around to the zoo entrance and visited the lemurs. One of the females has given birth and was carrying her offspring around with her. We love these little animals as they are so lively and attractive.

We completed our visit to the shop and then home, visiting Marks and Spencers on the way to buy food for the evening's meal.

Easter Holiday Get Away, High Wind and Rain

So, at last, we get away for a week's holiday over the Easter weekend. Carol finished work at Milton Keynes Academy on Thursday and we packed up the car in the morning of Good Friday and left for West Sussex where we had booked a cottage not far from the National Trust property, Petworth. This had been pre-booked for several months, all paid-up through a company we've used on several occasions, formerly known as 'Cottages For You' but now merely called 'Cottages.com'. It was something of a difficulty getting everything in to the car, together with the dogs, Alfie in his cage in the back along with Poppy, who rides happily in the remaining space in the back of the car. Alfie has to be put in the cage because he won't sit still anywhere in the car. It's no use even attempting to have him anywhere else in the car because we've attempted and he will try and get into the front and get tangled up in the gear-stick so in the end he has to go in the cage. He's a good deal better at riding in the car than he used to be, but getting him on his lead is a bit of an ordeal because he barks and gets very excited and so we got him a harness to wear which he seems to like and seems happy with it on. Actually better for him when he's on a lead because it means there's no pulling on his neck which there would be if the lead is attached to his collar. He did make some noise at first when put in the cage but he soon settled down as the journey progressed.

We got on the A34 just beyond Bicester and the journey seemed to be going well until the traffic began to slow to a crawl. We could see the long tail-back ahead on the road, but there's not a great deal you can do on a dual carriage-way in terms of finding an alternative route as the junctions are so far apart. We were going to continue south and had a route planned as we didn't fancy using the M25 as it was likely to be just as busy and no doubt the traffic would be similarly stationary due to the fact that so many people were going away for the Easter break the same as ourselves.We eventually left the main road and began to follow the instructions to Kirdford and Petworth which we had been given by the owners of the property. Unfortunately our sense of direction isn't particularly good but we did eventually manage to find the property and got there just after 2.30. I think it would have been much quicker if the traffic hadn't been so heavy. We did stop at a spot on the way called Beacon Hill, as the dogs needed to have a break and a run and we attempted to climb the hill, but it proved a good deal more difficult as it was muddy and slippery so we returned to the car and continued our journey. Carol wanted to see Highclere Castle, which is one of the locations used in the television series 'Downton Abbey' but on finding the  entrance there was a sign 'not open to the public' so we couldn't just drive in and 'have a look' as we had wanted to. A pity. We had been past a couple of years ago when we'd visited the Sandham Memorial Chapel at Burghclere which features paintings on it's walls done by the artist Sir Stanley Spencer.

We have been staying in a recently converted egg store. It's been done really well and we really couldn't have hoped for a nicer holiday rental. The people who own the property even left milk and eggs for our consumption. There's a wood-burning stove which I lit with ease but there is a very efficient central heating system.

The weather has changed dramatically, unfortunately. It has been reasonably dry and sunny on the way down from Milton Keynes. On Saturday we took the dogs to Petworth park for a brief walk, but the wind was beginning to rise and it was really chilly. We went on to Portsmouth, with the intention of visiting the Historic Dockyard. I've never seen Nelson's Victory or anything about the Mary Rose, which I would have liked. We had to take the dogs with us, because we're not supposed to leave them in the cottage on their own. As usual Alfie became somewhat noisy but settled down as we got further into the journey. We found a multi-storey car park in Portsmouth city centre, but the traffic entering the city was extremely heavy, probably no more than usual, but made more heavy because of the Easter weekend. We walked with the dogs into the city centre, but it became extremely windy. Poor Alfie is not used to being in a city, what with traffic and people everywhere. He is terrified of sharp noises, particularly the sound to car horns and all those feet. At one point, near the bus station, he almost had a wheeled case land on top of him. We have never taken him into any town centre like that, so it's no wonder he was frightened. We then found we couldn't take the dogs into the Historic Dockyards area, so that was the end of that. We got sandwiches and drinks from a Coop and sat and ate our food sitting on a bench near the Hard. We really wanted to see more, which would have been possible if he hadn't got the dogs with us. So we left, unfortunately. We did some shopping at a Sainsbury's, enough for the rest of the week and the returned to the cottage. 

There wasn't much else we could do as it was getting late. The weather was getting worse and worse. We had our meal and went to bed, but during the night the wind was extremely high and it rained, almost like a hurricane, beating on the windows. The bedroom has a skylight in the roof, and the rain was making noises on the glass. There was a stream of water running down the road outside more like a waterfall than anything else.

We had to endure yet another night of extremely high winds and rain over Sunday into Monday. It kept us awake for most of the night. I have never experienced such awful weather such as we experienced. I thought the roof of the cottage was going to be blown off, or a tree outside come crashing through the roof. It went on for a long time. I can't remember anything like it, or lasting for so long. Not only were we frightened (and I have to admit it takes a lot to really scare me. A thunder storm with lightening and 'the works' doesn't usually bother me. Infant, I quite like a good old-fashioned thunder storm.) Both dogs were really bothered by the whole experience. Alfie doesn't like sudden noises and Poppy is scared on fireworks and 'bangs and crashes.' We discovered, fairly early in the morning, that there had been a power cut. Something I haven't personally experienced in quite a few years. Fortunately we had a battery-powered torch to see and it meant that we'd not only have no light, but the fridge would not be working and we had frozen food in the ice-box, as well as having no working oven. Also, no internet (there was wi-fi in the cottage.) and the cooker wouldn't work, nor the television. So we made the decision to go back home to Milton Keynes. We spoke to the owner of the cottage, who lived in a house near the cottage, and she said that power cuts were a regular occurrence in that rural area and that the emergency hotline had said the power would be back on 'later in the day' but no exact time was given, or guaranteed. We made our decision and we started to pack our belongings as well as cleaning the cottage. The dogs were loaded into the car and by around 9.30 we had handed in the key and were on the road. As we left we found the roads around the cottage littered with bits of branch and twig. Most of it was small and inconsequential, but there were some quite big branches in the roads as we drove towards the A3 and back to the A34 near Newbury. It did make the drive home quite hazardous. We got back to Milton Keynes at around 2.30.
We heard on the B.B.C. news on television that there had been a good deal of damage in and around Sussex, including along the coast. So in the end it would appear that our decision to come home when we did was the right one. We have since learnt that the power had still not been switched on again at 5 p.m. and there was a good chance that the storm (named "Katie".) would strike again tonight and which would mean we couldn't cook any food. Also, on the way past we attempted to visit Petworth House, a National Trust property, to be turned away at the gate by staff, telling us that the estate was closed because of the high winds and the danger from falling trees or branches.

Annoying Phone Calls

I'm sitting at home, either writing or attempting to write, or I'm reading or watching television. The telephone rings. As it is, we don't get many telephone calls. I go to answer it. Sometimes there's nobody on the end of the line. I say 'hello' or 'yes' when I answer, but when it's just nothing, or if it is anything, it's just a strange electrical 'burr' noise or a sort of humming sound. What is the point? If it's a cold call, for P.P.I. (payment protection insurance. They will say you could be owed thousands of pounds. But that's another story.) Or they say that your Windows computer is at risk. It needs up-dating or something. Which is crazy as this is a Macintosh. They will speak in an incoherent foreign accent and say they're from the Microsoft something-or-other. Which I know full well is a lie. It's a scam. I do watch television consumer programmes which often mention such scams. They think you'll hand over your bank details and believe every word they say. I'm not that stupid, thanks all the same.

The other week I got a telephone call telling me I could claim thousands of pounds for an injury I received after our car accident. I tell them I haven't had a car accident. They say we put in an insurance claim for the damage that was done to the car when we ran into a pot-hole almost exactly a year ago. I say that was correct. I just don't like this and ask how on earth they got our details. It must have been passed on to another 'body' who are little more than sort of ambulance-chasers. I wasn't injured in the incident with the pot-hole. It set off an alarm in the car which had something to do with the E.S.P. (Electronic Stability Programme) and we didn't get repaired for a long time because it was going to cost £350 for the excess on the insurance. Anyway, they said to me that I could claim quite a hefty amount, well in excess of £1000. As I was a passenger in the car. I told them I didn't receive any sort of injury. Perhaps it was rather a nasty jolt, but I wasn't hurt in any way. Did I need any sort of treatment? Did I take paracetamol or any other medication for my injury? Up to six weeks or more after the accident? I told them, no, I didn't. I wasn't convinced that this was real, I was concerned that the whole thing was a scam, so they said they'd ring back to confirm this. They continued to attempt to get me to virtually lie so I could claim the compensation I was owed. But I wasn't convinced. I had most definitely had not been injured during the incident (I wouldn't call it an 'accident' as no other vehicle was involved. The car was damaged and we eventually got the thing repaired, which was back in November.) I wouldn't lie to get any sort of compensation as I wasn't injured. So I wound up the conversation and ended the call. I am now more than ever convinced that they wanted me to tell a lie and get the money so that someone got a cut of the insurance claim, possibly a solicitor or other legal institution. If that is really the case, it's disgraceful that there are people 'out there' who are quite happy to let people lie for them just so they can line their own pockets. In the end all it is doing is putting the cost of insurance premiums up quite considerably.

On a slightly different subject, the MacBook Air has decided to open. Why on earth it has been playing silly games with me I have no idea. I think it may be something to do with the battery, but I'm not sure. It does seem to get quite hot as it charges. This means that I can get on with transferring my writing to word processing. I have learnt to keep saving what I've written onto the external hard drive which I have. I'm not going to loose all that work because of some sort of technical glitch.

Sunny but Cold

It was deceptively cold first thing this morning. It seemed, on first looking out the window at around 7.15, that it was sunny and warm, but I was really surprised that there was ice on the car's windscreen that needed melting before we drove off to the Academy. There was a definite nip in the air. I suppose it's to be expected at this time of the year. It might appear sunny and warm, but when you get outside it's quite cold.

Carol is home about an hour later than usual today. They have teacher training at The Academy until 5.45.

The MacBook Air laptop, the machine I usually write this blog on, is playing up again. I don't know why. It will not boot up and all you get is a grey screen. It seems to have a charged battery, but it's a case of  'the lights are on but there's nobody at home.' I'm not entirely sure how to remedy this problem. I'm using Carol's Toshiba laptop to write this and do any of my usual stuff on a computer, such as looking at emails, but for the past couple of days, before the MacBook 'died' on me, I had been transferring a lot of my handwritten writing onto word processing on the MacBook and it was going surprisingly well. I am concerned that I can't continue with this work with the confounded thing not working. I think it may need taking to an Apple repair shop to have it dealt with, but I'm reluctant to do that as it's likely to cost a great deal to have it fixed. There is a considerable amount of material which needs transferring to word processing and this is why it somewhat galling to have the computer not working. If I'd thought that it was likely to breakdown again I would have saved the work onto an external hard drive or memory stick. As it is, I can't get anywhere near the word processed stuff until the computer can be opened up again, but as it is I've no idea when this is likely to be.  Just very annoying, to say the least.

Foggy Start but Sunny Later

The weather is improving. Most mornings for the last week or so we've had fog but as the day proceeds the sun comes out and it's generally quite warm. By the time Carol comes home from work, it becomes quite chilly and we need the central heating on again, but by the time we go to bed it's time to put off the heating. This winter has been milder than most years and they're saying on the television news that February 2016 has been the warmest on record.

Crazy Squirrels and Working Computers

The Macbook is now running normally again. For whatever reason it hasn't been opening for the past couple of days and I've had to use Carol's Toshiba laptop, but it now appears to be fine. I have a feeling it might be something to do with the battery as it seems to become very hot when it's been fully charged. It might be a good idea not to keep it plugged in once it's completed it's charge.

We've been amused by the antics of a couple of squirrels who live in and around our garden. I thought there was one, but I'm sure there's two, or maybe more. I first saw one of them running along the top of the fence (or, at least, what remains of it, as there's a great gap where a section has given up the will to live and looks more like a piece of decking than a fence.) and along the roof of the shed. It jumps onto one if the concrete posts and then off through the gap and then it comes back and this is repeated endlessly. On Sunday morning, this went on for a good fifteen or twenty minutes. The dogs were unaware if these antics, but it started off again early this morning and both dogs barked loudly at them. We didn't open up the sliding patio doors into the garden because Alfie, in particular, would probably try to chase them and most likely end up through the gap in the fence with me in hot pursuit.These squirrels have also been seen running up the trunks of the trees at the rear of the garden and then leaping about from one branch to another. Certainly quite energetic and very amusing. Whatever they were doing it looked as if they were enjoying themselves.

It's another bright and sunny spring morning. I just hope the weather remains warm and dry for the next couple of weeks, during which time we will be going away for a well-earned holiday.

Foggy Morning

We woke up this morning to thick fog. I suppose a visibility of around 20 yards. It was quite an effort to see along Saxon Street as we came out of Eaglestone. The Academy appeared to have disappeared as we approached. The car is due back at the garage this morning at 9.30 to have new tyres fitted, so I hope the fog has lifted. If other drivers would only moderate their speed as they rush to work things would be a good deal safer. I think, once the sun makes an effort to come out it will heat things up and the fog will melt away. I have some quite nasty memories of fog on the Motorway from when I was touring with DaSilva's puppets during the 1970's. Also, cars speeding along the A1 and crashing into the roundabout near Peterborough, at  Norman Cross , and seeing their mangled remains. The A1 now goes over the top of this intersection, which makes it a good deal safer. Once you've seen that sort of incident, and heard the sound of crashing, it does tend to alter your driving habits. Really quite scary and the memory does make me rather reluctant to drive in fog, however thick.  I'm not sure how many people were injured, but you would think people would have the sense to slow down when there's fog and they can't see clearly what's ahead on the road. Just crazy.

Later.

I took the car to the O.K. Garage at Peartree Bridge. It turned out they didn't have the tyres to put on the car so they had to order them from somewhere in Bletchley. These didn't arrive as quickly as they might have done. Don't ask me what happened, but probably someone wasn't doing their job at the supplier's end, so I had to wait around 2 1/2 hours, but it's now done and we can drive off on holiday in two week's time with a car fully MoT'd and with tyres in a far better condition than they have been in quite a while.

Later still.

I could have started a new post, but decided to write this as a sort of post-script for the day. As I said when I began, the day started off foggy, but by midday it became sunny and really spring-like. There is plenty of blossom on the trees along the grid roads and opposite the house in Eaglestone. There are crocuses beginning to appear at various points around Milton Keynes but the daffodils are beginning to come to the end of their time, particularly those on the roundabout on Standing Way where it meets Saxon Street. We usually go to the Brother's Fish Bar in Eaglestone for fish and chips on a Friday but this week we went to get Kentucky Fried Chicken at the drive-in branch near the football stadium. They have changed the entrance from Saxon Street, it's a good deal wider and made into two carriage-ways. There is also another entrance further along the road, which goes into the site right next to the new complex which houses the Odeon cinema which has an IMAX screen in it.
We didn't actually use the drive-in as it was far to busy with many cars queuing so we parked in the carpark and went inside the restaurant to order our food and then went home to eat it.

Macbook Air Causing Problems

Virtually all the posts on this blog have been written on a Macintosh computer, first on our iMac, a large-screen, desk-top model, which sits on a desk in the corner of our bedroom. It is now somewhat redundant, having been purchased in around 2007. It has become very slow, needs up-grading with the latest operating system, but I doubt very much that it will work on the most up to date version of the OSX operating system. So I transferred to using Carol's MacBook Air, which she purchased through Milton Keynes Academy. It has worked perfectly well up to now, but it did have a slight hiccup when it refused to start up a couple of months ago but it seemed to right itself after a day or so. But a day or two ago it simply refused to open and all I get is a grey screen. It is usually turned off and kept on charge, and then turned on when it's needed, but still nothing. I am now using another laptop, bought by Carol for Academy work, a Toshiba, and I'm managing very well with it. It is a good deal bigger than the MacBook Air, which has an 11 inch screen. All this very annoying because I want to transfer a lot of my writing onto word processing. We also have a Samsung Galaxy tablet computer with a 10 inch screen, but that seems to have gone on go-slow, probably because it is several years also and I realize, like most computers, they need up-grading every couple of years. As such, it has been quietly retired, much like the iMac.

Writing and Raining

The day began wet and over-cast. I could hear the rain rattling on the windows in the night. There is a fresh water-feature just outside the patio doors from the kitchen when I let the dogs out earlier ( meaning a puddle, which I didn't want either dog to get in and create paw-print all over the kitchen floor.)  and quite a torrent rushing down the road outside the house at the front, as seen from the window when I was washing up at the sink.

I've been doing quite a bit of writing this morning, as well as sorting out some of my earlier writing. I have been putting most of it into a ring-binder, but I had to buy a second one because the first was chocker-block full. I had to number the pages and use different coloured pens to make sure they don't get muddled up. I have got stuff in my pad of paper which I had forgotten I'd written and I'm quite pleased how it reads and will have to use for future stories.

I put a cheque in our bank account last week. I took it into the NatWest branch in the centre of Milton Keynes. How come it used to take no more than three working days for a cheque to clear? I have been to an A.T.M. to check to see whether the cash had cleared, and it still hasn't. I can't see why it takes longer for a cheque to clear, rather than shorter. Surely, with modern technology, computers and so on, it would take less time. What's the excuse? We rarely get cheques, and most things are paid through B.A.C.S., so any payment goes directly into our bank account, so it seems quite strange for it to take such a long time. Admittedly, there was a weekend in the middle, but that's still no reason for it to take so long to clear.

Mothering Sunday and Marathon

Sunday was Mothering Sunday. It has been re-branded or re-named 'Mother's Day' so as to fit in with the American style of naming. Why do we in Britain insist on being driven by what America does and says? Anyway, Carol didn't get any sort of card, flowers or even a phone call from either Sam or Daniel. I'm afraid I'm a little disappointed. Considering that almost every shop you go in has some sort of recognition of the day you can hardly not know it's coming up. I know I'm being cynical when I say it's just another commercial day, much like Valentine's, Hallowee'n, and all the other 'days' so that businesses can push more products, be it flowers, chocolates or a hundred-and-one other items. but never mind.

We couldn't get out in the car on Sunday morning as there was another Marathon in Milton Keynes and the runners came past our house. It wasn't for long, and we were warned well in advance. There was a large yellow sign up along the road and the club who ran it did put letters through everyone's door who lived on the route, so we had no excuse to not know. Our dogs don't really like their routines being altered, particularly Alfie, and they started barking loudly when they heard the runners coming past.  Carol picked up Alfie and let him see what was going on through the kitchen window. He seemed intrigued to see so many people.

We did go out later, in the car, once the Marathon was over. Carol was shocked to see someone in a car stop outside the Academy and pick some daffodils, which were growing on he grass outside, and then get back in the car and drive off. We couldn't believe what we were seeing. Were these going to be  Mothering Sunday present? What a cheapskate? Do you mean to say this cheap individual couldn't be bothered to go and buy some flowers for his mum and had to pinch some from the side of the road? Almost as bad as stealing flowers of someone's grave! The we drove to Westcroft to try and find a replacement for the Comic Relief 'Giggling Ball' which Alfie loves and plays with happily. I We went into Jolley's but with no success, so we went next door to the Pricesaver store, or whatever it's called. The 'Giggle Ball 'is slowly coming to the end of it's life, so we have been attempting to find a replacement, without success. We did find a ball, made of plastic, into which you put treats, and it makes a sound when it's moved, and this allows your dog to work to get the treats out. Poppy seems to like it, and has been playing with it, pushing it along with her paw. She has shown no interest in the 'Giggling Ball.' As we got out of the car in the car park, there were lots of men walking along with bunches of flowers. I said to Carol 'It's a case of 'last-minute dot com.' Men who had forgotten to get their mothers flowers and needed to get some 'at the last minute.' Or else they wouldn't get their Sunday dinners, or something.

MoT'd Car and Snow

The car had been booked in for it's annual MoT on Friday at O.K. Garage, which is where  Mick the mechanic who repaired the car after we broke down on the M1. worked. It's only a short drive from Eaglestone to Peartree Bridge. We walked back along the Redway once it had been left and we got a call at around 10.30 to say it had some work needing doing, a ball-joint on one of the wheels or something, nothing too expensive to fix and they did the work and we returned just after lunch. We have got it booked in again for next Friday as we're having a couple of new tyres fitted before we go away on holiday.

Considering the state of the roads around Milton Keynes, it's no wonder the ball-joints on the car need repairing or at least replacing. You may recall (that is if you follow these blog posts.) that back in the early part of 2015 we had a problem with the car when we drove home after visiting Ascott, (a National Trust property on the road towards Aylesbury and close to Wing village.) We drove over a pothole in the road which, in turn, set off an alarm in the car, because the E.S.P. (Electronic Stability Programme) mechanism was damaged. This has since been repaired, under our insurance, although we had to pay the excess on the insurance ourselves, a hefty £350. When we were driving the other day (and, actually, most times we are out and about in the car and on local roads around this area.) we seem to spend a considerable amount of time attempting to avoid potholes. The road surfaces in and around Milton Keynes are considerably pot-holed, although, to be fair to Milton Keynes Council, they are attempting to re-surface a great deal of the Grid Roads, but still the roads are in a poor condition, which is really appalling considering that Milton Keynes is a modern city and no more than 40 years old. So it's no surprise that our car, or any other car for that matter, should have the suspension, tyres and the ball-joints in need of replacement and repair. Every time you drive over any of the speed bumps around here you are putting stress on not only the car's suspension but wear and tear on the tyres.

Early this morning it was snowing heavily as I looked out of the window. The car had a layer of snow on it, but it didn't last and by mid-morning it had completely disappeared. We had considered going out in the car for a drive, but as Carol has been off work for the past few days with a heavy cold and wasn't feeling too brilliant, we decided instead to go into the city centre so parked in the multi-storey carpark near Debenhams, arriving before most of the shops had opened. We walked through the shopping centre and found that there was a handmade and vintage market on in Middleton Hall, just outside John Lewis. We were intending to visit Lewis's, but the store wasn't due to open for a good half hour or so, which meant we had time to go into Cafe Nero and have coffee and croissants and then returned to browse the market which had a lot of interesting stalls. Monday is Carol's birthday so we wandered along the malls and went into the Disney store. The music was excessively loud, that awful song 'Let It Go," if you can call it a song, from 'Frozen', was being played, which put me off and if it hadn't been for Carol, I would have left. She saw a toy from a new film 'Zootopia' a sloth, and I bought it as a birthday present. We've seen the trailer for this animation film and the sloth had a prominent part and Carol had said she'd like to get the soft toy if one was available. We then walked along to H.M.V. and bought D.V.D.'S of "Jurassic World" and "Suffragette" and then went to Marks and Spencer's to buy food for this evening's meal and then to Debenham's to browse in the men's clothing department and finally back to the carpark and home.