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.

Further Rushmoor School Memories

As I've discussed elsewhere in earlier posts on this blog, my time at Rushmoor School was anything but happy. I can't understand my dear parents spent good money on sending me there. I can't really say I remember learning anything of any real use in my later life. Some really odd sporting events I recall, one called a Milling Contest. It's no good me attempting to describe this odd event, which was held annually and in the green corrugated iron gym. This 'sport' was vaguely boxing and you were thrown into the 'ring'and your opponent or opponents punched the living daylights out of you. Me, being a somewhat quiet and reserved individual, wasn't exactly ideal material for this type of thing, as you might imagine. I cannot to this day think what the point of this barbaric 'sport' was (in fact, I can't see what the point of a great many sports are, but I expect I'm in the minority regarding that.) You would end up punched senselessly and covered in black and blue bruises. How on earth you could allow you child to be subjected to this barbaric carry-on I cannot think. I think by today's standards you might class it as some sort of child abuse. I'm not sure how long this 'event' went on after I left Rushmoor, which is well over 50 years ago now. My memories of that gym at Rushmoor was of a really foul smell which greeted you whenever you entered, I think produced by having a cupboard full of ancient gym shoes, which smelt of sweaty feet and that horrible rubbery smell. Also, the gym was also used for carpentry lessons and as part of lessons we used glue which was heated in a pot on a gas ring. The smell of glue size pervaded the air. Later, in my time working in stage management with a wide variety of rep companies across the United Kingdom, that smell of glue size was again familiar as it was used in the workshops in the construction of flats which were used to build sets for the plays I was involved with.

I recall being taken on walks when at Rushmoor. Usually in the afternoon and out into the country. Sometimes walking along Clapham Road and across the golf course. One clever individual managed to pick up lost golf balls and I think he sold them back to the golf club. A few years ago I stayed with someone I was at Rushmoor With and we spent some time talking about our time at school. He mentioned these walks we were taken on, and he made the comment, whether correct or not, I don't know, that we were taken out of the school on these occasions as it was a way of saving on heating, which sounds as if it might be true. As a child you don't think of this sort of thing, but as the school was run as a profit-making business I suppose it makes sense. So, what were our parents doing paying good money out for our education there? Surely a percentage of the fees must have gone towards heating the place.

A couple of reasonably good things I can say came out of my time at Rushmoor. I learned to swim. We went to the Modern School swimming baths in Clarendon Street once a week. Although I wasn't a particularly strong swimmer, I did manage to get my 'pass.' I think it was a couple of lengths of the pool. As my father owned boats, which he sailed on the Ouse at Cardington Mill, we weren't allowed on these boats until we were competent swimmers. Unfortunately, my confidence was completely lost when some little idiot decided to jump on top of me when I was in the pool and pushed my head under water. Not a very nice experience and it took some while before I regained my confidence. The second thing we did was have singing lessons, given by Mr. Eden, the music teacher. I think being able to sing properly is a great skill and helps with such things as voice production, being able to breathe properly when you sing is quite important. We were put forward to be entered for the annual Bedford Music Festival, which was held in the Corn Exchange, although I think at the last minute we withdrew for whatever reason I can't remember, come to think of it. I think I was in the school choir. You didn't have a choice as to whether you were or you weren't. There was an annual carol service at St Martin's church in Clapham Road and I think I was involved. I can't be sure exactly as it was at least fifty years ago. Mr Crutchley, one of the teachers, had a tape-recorder and recorded the service and I have an idea it was put on record and sold. We never had a decent record player so I never got a copy, which is a pity as I'd love to have heard it. As a result of Crutchley's tape recorder, which intrigued me, I became interested in sound recording, which later became quite a useful skill to have when I worked in stage management and often was a sound operator on some of the shows I was involved in. 

Windy and Wet

The weather has changed dramatically over the past few days, so much so we've put the central heating on and I've had to find Carol's hot water bottle! We have the thicker duvet on the bed, the nights are drawing in. The clocks will be changing in the next couple of weeks, actually on 30th October. The sun is shining, as I write this, but it has been quite overcast early today.

On Saturday morning we went to IKEA. The reason for this was that our wardrobe has one door which keeps on swinging open. It has a hinge missing. Probably went missing when we moved from the house in Crownhill. We had to dismantle the wardrobe and then reassemble it here and no doubt one of the hinges got mislaid. Every time I walk past the wardrobe the door swings open and it will not stay closed, however, I attempt to push it closed. I unscrewed one of the existing hinges and we took it with us to IKEA, with the intention of comparing it with what they would have in stock. We already went to B & Q and Homebase earlier in the week but could not find a similar hinge. They are the type that has a bit that recesses the inside of the cupboard or wardrobe and spring shut. They are found in most modern flat-pack furniture, kitchen units, and wardrobes.  I imagined that this would be easy enough to replace. Or so I thought. On inquiring at the spares desk in IKEA it now appears that they no longer use this type of hinge, having replaced them with a new style hinge around 18 months ago.

We also went to find a suitable frame for a print we bought when we went to Avebury the other week. There is a considerable choice of frames in IKEA all a reasonable prices. Also, I am researching a new armchair for my use in the lounge as the one I seem to have inherited from my stepson, Daniel, is falling apart. The arms have had black sticky tape on them as I attempted to repair the chair, but this has gone beyond repair and on one side the stuffing is falling out. The seat has a broken spring in it and can make a rather sharp 'twang' sound if you sit down suddenly which can be most disconcerting, to say the least. There are plenty of chairs to choose in IKEA and we spent quite a  time trying each out. The Poang range is quite good, with wooden frames of different colours as well as having various fabric for the seats. 

If you have ever been to IKEA you will no doubt had fun engaging with their traffic management system. You are (supposedly) expected to move around the different departments in a sort of 'one-way' system, but this means you can walk miles, or what seems like miles, between not just departments, but floors. There are lifts and moving walkways which link the different floors. We had to return to the earlier departments and seemed to spend a great deal of time walking back and forwards, which can become extremely exhausting. 

When I eventually came to pay at the check-out I discovered that I had won a prize! This is shown on your receipt. I was thinking, 'we've won a fitted kitchen or perhaps a two-week holiday in the Bahamas or something equally exciting. But no. I had to take the receipt to a scanner across from the check-out and get the barcode on the receipt 'read.' It turned out I'd won a doughnut, worth 40p! The excitement was far too much to bear!

'Flu Jabs and Shopping

We both have 'flu jabs each autumn. Having had a heart attack, I am what's called 'vulnerable' in that a bad dose of 'flu could be dangerous. I have had one, free on the N.H.S. each autumn, for around the last 10 years or thereabouts. As Carol has been diagnosed as diabetic, she is also covered by the 'free 'flu jab' system.  They do give the staff at Milton Keynes Academy 'flu vaccine jabs, but they don't have them until much too late,  in November, which means that she would be vulnerable to getting a dose of 'flu well before then. It takes around two weeks to be effective, apparently. She had booked this  few weeks ago to be done at Sainsbury's pharmacy but she came along with me this morning to Ashfield Medical Centre because they had run their 'flu clinic this morning as they do each year. It was today and then on the 22nd October (actually my birthday.) We arrived outside the surgery at 7.45 to find quite a considerable queue forming. Rather than sit in the car it seemed better to join the queue and by 7.58 this has stretched across the carpark. Once the doors had opened we had to be signed in at reception and people were being called in to be 'jabbed' by the staff more or less immediately. My name eventually came up on the digital display and I went into the nurse's room along the corridor. I had to sit down and have my blood pressure take (which is showing quite normal along with my heart rate.) The nurse gave me the 'flu vaccine, done very efficiently and I never felt anything. I walked out to wait near the car for Carol to appear a minute or two later. She had been given a prescription for more eye ointment, as given to her by the nurse who gave her the 'flu vaccine jab. 

From the doctor's surgery we drove directly to Sainsbury's to do our usual weekly shop. It has to be the earliest we've ever done the shopping and was around 8.30 when we eventually got there. As the supermarket was virtually empty of other shoppers it meant we could get in and out exceptionally fast, avoiding the queues at the checkout. 

Early Morning Visit To A and E

Carol came home from work a few days ago complaining that she had a problem with one of her eyes. She said she had something in it which irritated. She wasn't sure what it could be. I didn't think any more about it because often if you get something in your eye, such as grit, a small fly or a hair, it can generally work it's way out and that's the end of it. But this appeared to get worse instead of better. She wondered whether she had got some chemical she uses in the labs at Milton Keynes Academy as a science teacher into her eye accidentally, by rubbing her eye, having picked it up off something or other. Which would seem easy to do if a surface, for example, hadn't been wiped clean properly by another teacher using the same lab.  

She didn't make much comment about this until Tuesday evening. We went to bed, then early next morning, around 3.45 or around that time, she said it was getting much worse. So, after much consideration, we thought it might be a good idea to go to A and E (Accident and Emergency) at Milton Keynes Hospital, which is only a relatively short walk away behind our house in Eaglestone. There's really no point in using the car because you have to pay anyway and we weren't sure how long we were going to have to wait until she would be seen by either a doctor or a nurse. So we walked, leaving the house at around 4.15 a.m. The hospital campus was more or less deserted and, on arriving at the A and E department, there were only a couple of other people waiting. She reported her issue at the reception and then sat down. She was seen by the triage nurse within half an hour, but then another nurse came out and pinned a hand-written notice on the front of the reception desk saying that waiting times were between 4 and 5 hours!

So we sat in the waiting area. There was a television on with  the BBC News Channel. Time ticked by. People came and went. Several with young children. They seemed to be fast-tracked through the system. Taken through to a special children's A and E department. Some people seemed to get taken through to the nurse's area before us. They most likely had priority, as I realize that the more serious an injury is, the quicker you will be seen and dealt with, such as when I have gone to A and E with my heart condition, or even when I had my original heart attack 10 years ago (although I was living in Bedford at the time and went to Bedford Hospital.) A fairly minor eye injury, such as Carol's, would be considered minor which is why she wasn't seen immediately. At around 9 a.m. she was called through to the main area beyond the double doors (which you couldn't enter unless you used a swipe card, which most members of N.H.S. staff had. She was gone about 20 minutes and carrying a small tube of ointment which had been applied to her eye and made it go bright yellow. We walked home and immediately fell into bed and fell asleep. I must say, as we sat in the A and E department waiting area, I was gradually falling asleep. We did manage to get a bottle of orange juice and two chocolate bars out of the vending machines in the department. Fortunately, we had my wallet with us which I had managed to take when we left the house and these vending machines have contactless card payment which meant we could have the chocolate and drink which we wouldn't have been able to have if it was only able to take coins to pay.

Later in the morning we got a call from the hospital to say that she had got an appointment the following day (today, Thursday.) at the eye clinic at 2.30.

Later. Thursday.

Carol's appointment was at 2.30 as I mentioned in the above. We walked to the hospital. I went on-line and found out where exactly the eye clinic was. It's within the outpatient's department, which, on thinking about it, is fairly obvious. I wanted to avoid the situation that we might have found ourselves in, wandering the seemingly never ending corridors in Milton Keynes hospital, rather like the Flying Dutchman in the Wagner opera. Although he wasn't lost in a hospital, but on the hight sea. Although the setting of an N.H.S. hospital might he rather interesting. You can walk in one entrance and then spend the rest of the day walking from one end to the other and never finding the department you want. We got there with plenty of time to spare. Full of people waiting. A definite captive audience. You could sell sandwiches, coffee and tea, newspapers, anything (but I bet you'd have to go through no end of paperwork and go through endless hoops, through regulations, health and safety, patient protection procedures etc, before being able to sell anything, so don't even bother to take it further. No doubt there's a tendering process, red tape and no end of  beurocratic nonsense before you could set up quite a lucrative business.) People of all ages, waiting for their appointments, all attempting like crazy to avoid eye contact with one another. Looking thoroughly bored. Along one side of the room, an array of booths, or kiosks, where you would go for your appointment. Each has a number, in extremely large sized lettering, from 1 through 6 or thereabouts. I realize that the patients had sight problems, but why do the signs have to be so large and obvious? It seemed a bit over the top. I have an image of someone of a 'certain age' who wears glasses, with those extremely thick lenses, like the bottom of bottles, which make their eyes look huge (rather like the bushbaby in the brilliant Ardman Animation mini film "Creature Comfort", which sits on a branch and at the end takes the glasses off and their eyes are tiny.) This person turns up for their appointment and then has great difficulty finding the right room their appointment is in and has to search by touch virtually alone, even though the sign for the room they have to go to has a sign with extremely tiny signage. Just an idea.

We sat at one side of the waiting area, right near the television that was on the wall. The gameshow "Decimate" comes on, a daytime show which I might or might not have seen. It has Shane Ritchie as compere. He plays Alfie Moon in 'EastEnders.' Our Yorkshire Terrier is named after him. Anyway, we had to sit quite close to the screen, but it meant we would have our backs to the rest of the room and wouldn't see anyone who came out to call when Carol's appointment came up. After around 10 minutes it was time for Carol's appointment. She went into the room and was gone for around 20 minutes or so. A young man with his mother came in. They sat directly under the television screen. He looked bored silly as if he didn't want to be there. I wasn't actually sure whether they were mother and son. She seemed to look too old to be his mother. She might have been his grandmother. They didn't speak or make any indication that they were actually together. Perhaps he wasn't old enough to get to the hospital appointment on his own. He probably couldn't drive a car or get a bus on his own (unlikely, thinking about it now.) Then she offered him an extra strong mint, which he accepted. He just stared off into space, but they never spoke to one another. Or perhaps she was going for the appointment. I wasn't sure. Anyway, they are now filed under 'characters' which I can use in my writing. Even just sitting in the hospital I was beginning to get ideas for writing stories. A definite fertile ground for inspiration.

Then Carol came out of the room where she'd had her appointment. She wanted me to go back in with her as the nurse who had been dealing with her eye injury had to go off to find a doctor to give a second opinion about her eye. It was regarding the eye problem she had had several years ago when she had gone to have an eye test at Asda and we were sent to Stoke Mandeville Hospital because the optician had found something which needed attention. Surprisingly, she has never had a follow-up appointment in all the intervening years. The lady was gone five minutes or so but then came back with a doctor who looked at Carol's eyes through a sort of microscope machine and gave the all clear on that problem. Regarding the recent eye injury, it appeared that whatever it was that had got into her eye had come out. It might have been a bit of grit or chemical from working at the Academy. The surrounding area around the eye had got very puffy and red and this, apparently, was due to the fact that she was getting an allergic reaction to the ointment she was given at the A and E department the previous day and was told to stop using it immediately. Also, she was given a prescription for some sort of drops which would help prevent dry eyes as apparently she wasn't producing the natural lubricant her eyes should produce to stop her eye healing properly. So, we walked out of the department and home and then drove to Sainsbury's to get the prescription made up. Unfortunately, on enquiring at the pharmacy, they didn't have it in stock but had to put in an order which should be ready for collection tomorrow after 12 noon.

More Creative Writing

I'm currently following a creative writing book written by Chris Sykes, very imaginatively entitled "Complete Creative Writing Course (A Teach Yourself book, 2014). I am working my way through the various exercises within this book. It is similar to the Futurelearn course I did some while ago called 'Start Writing Fiction.' As part of the course, I have to find a location and then sit and describe it, rather in the fashion of a painter would paint a landscape, but, in this case it's in words. Not as easy as it might at first appear. I did my first one sitting in the Waitrose café. I chose that one because I had to go there for some shopping and also you can have a free coffee or tea if you have a My Waitrose card. Today I have done the second one, but this time, it was at the Ouzel Country Park at Woughton, and just off Chaffron Way. It has been a more or less perfect sunny day, although the day started off foggy, but this cleared by around 9.15, so it seemed perfect conditions for me to attempt this second exercise. It was no good it being wet or windy, or even very foggy. I spent around 30 minutes on the exercise and I think it went relatively well. I did a similar exercise as part of the FutureLearn course and on that occasion, I went to Sainsbury's cafe. 

Waddesdon Manor . . . Again

After church on Sunday, with the sun shining, we wanted to have an outing. It was far too pleasant to be stuck in doors. The weather is unseasonably warm at the moment. The 3rd of October and as mild as it's been for most of the summer. Also, a good enough reason to make the best use of our National Trust membership and head off to Waddesdon Manor, which is around 40 minutes away, near Aylesbury. We have been there on several occasions, but there is so much to see that it always yields up more delights whenever we visit. Not just the Manor itself, but the gardens and surrounding countryside.

We got to Waddesdon and were surprised to discover that it was very busy, no doubt the autumnal sunshine bringing out many visitors, like ourselves. We found a parking space and boarded the bus which then took us up to the Manor. This makes life so much easier. You can walk, but it's around a mile and a half and some of it quite hilly. It would be fine on a warm and sunny day, but not so pleasant if it were raining or there was mud on the ground. We had booked tickets so as to be able to visit the Manor's interior. Just enough time for us to walk to the front of the Manor and wait for the next timed group of visitors to enter. They seem to have changed which door you enter and some of the rooms within the house have been either restored to their original glory or opened up to the public. This house is quite spectacular. Full of the most amazing art, not just paintings but china (there is a whole room of Sevres china.) as well as paintings by such artists as Sir Joshua Reynolds, Canaletto etc etc. There is one room which houses a series of paintings which depict the Sleeping Beauty fairytale and executed by Leon Bakst, who was responsible for many of the set and costume designs for Diaghilev's Ballet Russes productions, such as the Firebird and The Rites of Spring. Well worth a visit to Waddesdon Manor for that alone in my opinion.

Waddesdon Manor, as viewed from below the Terrace

 Statue in grounds at Waddesdon Manor, conveniently

 pointing the way back to the carpark

The tree-lined path to the carpark at

Waddesdon

Having completed our visit to the inside of the house, we went outside and found the very convenient kiosk which sold hot chocolate, sandwiches and other items of refreshment, and sat at a table and consumed our food. Instead of returning to the carpark on the bus we decided to walk. It is a pleasant amble through very attractive scenery, but actually a good deal further than you imagine, but well worth the effort. Not always a good idea to use transport as you tend to miss a lot of things you wouldn't otherwise see unless you take your time. Just rushing past means you miss a lot of the detail.
We left Waddesdon, but instead of turning right and driving back the way we'd come, from Aylesbury, we decided to go home via Bicester. Meaning we would go through Buckingham and then back to Milton Keynes that way. Unfortunately, on arriving in Bicester, we found that a road was closed (for whatever reason, we don't know. Maybe an accident or something.) and had to turn around and go back via the A41, the road on which Waddesdon is situated and then on to Aylesbury. The homeward journey took a good deal longer than anticipated, but, considering the pleasant sunshine not as bad as it could have been. Unfortunately, we hadn't taken the SatNav with us, which might have made the journey a good deal easier.