Cakes and Sunshine

(Friday)I had to go out to Waitrose a little after 9 this morning because I wanted to make two more sponge cakes for tomorrow's musical evening at church. I seem to have started something with my baking efforts, because so many people have been asking about my cakes and some are a bit disappointed when I don't have any to offer them. It's a bit of a bind having to cut out greaseproof paper to line each tin, the base has to be cut into a circle and the paper is on a roll and it wants to keep curling up, but I managed to make enough for two cakes, two top and two bottom layers. As I write this I've managed to make enough for two layers and they're in the oven, cooking. They have about 10 minutes left before I open the oven to check how they're doing.

Later. The sponges have come out of the oven are perfect! I'm really pleased with them. Now to make the second couple of sponges, meaning both layers. There's not a great deal of room in the kitchen, so I have to shift things about in order to manage. The more equipment I buy, along with ingredients for cakes and so on, I need more and more space.

I'm currently watching 'Bargain Hunt,' which I've been watching more or less since it first appeared on BBC1 at lunchtime back at the beginning of the millennium (12.15 p.m.) when it was originally presented by David Dickinson. Then when he left, he was replaced by Tim Wannacott and since he left, they have different presenters for each episode. Now they have changed the format. On today's episode the contestants had to find items of a particular type, or genre, one team had to find something which was kitchenalia and the other, guardianalia. Also, each had to find an item for over £75. They still have a budget of £300 each to spend on three items and have an hour to find each item in an antiques fair or shop. Then they have to sell them at auction and make a profit. Not easy. Most times the contestants don't make any money but it is rare if they make any real profit. If they manage to make a profit on all three items then they get awarded what they call a 'Golden Gavel,' which is really a pin or badge. Also, each of the experts who helps them choose each item, buys a bonus item, which they can choose to accept or decline and if it makes a profit they have the cash to add to their total profit fund. Perhaps it's success is down to the fact that it's on around lunchtime, when people like to sit down with their food and watch something that's entertaining and instructive. I have learnt a lot about antiques from watching this (and other shows, such as Flog It and Antiques Road Trip.) I would never have heard of Moorcroft , Poole Pottery, or Lalique if it hadn't been for Bargain Hunt (and many other 'brands' or 'types,' or whatever you want to call them, such as 'treen.')

The second two-layer Victoria sponge has been an even greater success than the first! The two sections have risen even more than the first couple and even lighter than ever. I just have to trim the bottom layer so the top layer sits perfectly on it and then fill with raspberry jam and a drifting of icing sugar on each and they're finished.

Spring Sprung and Smart Meter No Go

(Monday)We were out earlier than usual this morning. Alfie can't wait to get out the door, he barely give me time to eat a bowl of breakfast cereal and drink a cup of tea. It was bright and sunny, but stlll chilly.

(Tuesday) I was surprised that there was ice on the car's windscreen this morning. I soon got rid of it with a spray of antifreeze. I had a good time with the drama students at Camphill. They are really good at remembering their lines. I had to stand in and speak for some of those who weren't available to rehearse.

(Thursday) Taking out Alfie for his early-morning walk (more like trot.) around Eaglestone Park, and we have been out well before 6.30. I don't know what the local residents think when they hear Alfie's barking as we leave the house. The trees are well and truly coming into leaf, intact the whole place is greening up well, so I think it's very clear to me that spring has sprung.

I'm clearing out more of Carol's stuff and have another two bags to take to Barnardo's in Oldbrook. The job is going slowly, but I'm getting there. Still not entirely sure what my situation is regarding accommodation, because I can't afford to stay in this house. I think I need to find a smaller home with one bedroom and with an enclosed garden for Alfie's safety. Infact, it needs to be dog friendly.

I've seen more birds on the feeding station. Although the lounge window is difficult to see through because the double glazing has got damp inside it and it's not possible to clean off. Whoever put in the double glazing in this house had absolutely no concept of the idea of how it works and the seal which is supposed to create a vacuum has been broken and this is what is causing the damp inside the air space between the two layers of glass. It looks really horrible, but there is very little I can do about it, and as a result it's difficult to get a clear view through the glass. It's a great shame, because it means I don't get a decent view of the bird station. It's the same with the window in my bedroom. That is really dirty and damp, meaning you don't get a clear view out.

I was expecting to have a smart meter installed tomorrow. This was after I got a telephone call from the company called Boost, who are part of OVO, around six weeks ago. We have been with Utility Warehouse in all the time we've lived at this house, but Carol was reluctant to change to a different supplier for our electricity and gas. We had a supplier come out around 2 years ago to install a smart meter, but when they inspected the cupboard (which is on the front outside wall of the house, facing the road.) they decided that it wouldn't be possible, basically because the gas meter is in the bin cupboard (outside) whilst the electricity meter is on the inside. If the new smart meter was to be installed they would need to drill a hole in the wall because they would need the cable to be installed in the smart meter. When Boost originally rang me, I told them there would be a problem, but they wouldn't have it. But the installers came TODAY! I had only just got in from doing some shopping. It was well I came back when I did otherwise they wouldn't have been able to inspect the cupboard. I never got any sort of communication from Boost to remind me which day they were supposed to visit, either a letter, an email or even a text message. I had to find their telephone number on line and then ring to confirm the day and time. It seems crazy that they couldn't communicate and then come a day too early! So, I will have to continue topping up the gas and electricity with the keys and card although it won't be in  smart meter which would make it easier as you can pay in a variety of way, via an app, or on line as well as with key and card, which you top up at a local shop.

Later. 3.25 p.m. It's really warm and sunny a few more birds flitting on and off the bird feeding station. I will have to fill the peanut feeder up. It's very low on food. I think the blue tits like this particular food. The other newer feeders don't seem to be so busy, or busy at all as I don't think any birds have visited them.

Later still. I was watching 'Money For Nothing' on BBC1. I had made a lovely cup of tea (actually a mug, but never mind) and had one of my own chocolate chip cookies to munch on. I was around five minutes into the programme (one of my favourite daytime shows.) when there was a knock on the front door. I was not best pleased that I had to get up to answer the door, but when I got there I discovered a man trying to encourage me to have a smart meter installed. What is going on here? He knew that I am on a pay-as-you-go tariff. I explained that I'd had engineers here this morning inspecting things with the idea of installing a smart meter and that they said it couldn't be done (see the above.)  He told me that I should get a lower tarriff because I couldn't have a smart meter installed. Whether this is going to happen I don't know, but this is beginning to get about as annoying as the constant phone calls telling me I can claim PPI. Which is crazy, because I have never had a loan on which PPI would have been paid.

(Friday) I've been attempting to get up in the morning a good deal later. I think it was habit to be up and about before 6 a.m. because that's what time I got up when Carol was going to work as a science teacher at Milton Keynes Academy. We would always start our day at around 5.45 with a cup of tea and watch BBC Breakfast. We'd then have a bowl of breakfast cereal and then Carol would go off to the Academy by around 7.15 a.m. She was always there about an hour before everyone else. Typical of Carol, working hard and usually sorting out other people's problems for them and not really getting any sort of reward or acknowledgement. So, this morning, I was more than keen to not get up quite so early, even though Alfie wasn't too pleased. So we went out at around 7.45. A lovely bright and sunny spring morning. It's certainly a good deal warmer than it has of late. The clocks move forward an hour on Sunday, so it will be light even earlier by this time next week.

Bakes and Birdies

(Wednesday) The Victoria sponge I made today was a good deal better than the first one, probably because I have now got a set of Salter's digital scales which I got from Amazon and which arrived yesterday evening. I think it's because the mechanical set weren't accurate enough to weigh metric. If you can't be more accurate it's unlikely that a cake is going to turn out as it should. I have had to cut the top down on one of the two layers because it was far too risen and it would mean the top half wouldn't sit properly. It meant that I could taste the result and it would seem to be really light and fluffy. I have now given the finished cake a layer of raspberry jam and completed both cakes with a dusting of icing sugar for good measure.

Sitting in the lounge and looking out the window, I have now seen a few birds visiting the feeding station. It has taken at least three weeks from replenishing the feeder and replacing and cleaning several of the hanging feeding containers, which have peanuts as well as other seeds in them. Quite encouraging and Carol would be so pleased as she loved to see the birds on the feeding station.

(Saturday)I took the two Victoria sponges to the 'Freed To Lead' course at the Oaktree Centre on Thursday evening. They were very much appreciated. It seems I could be supplying the café in the centre which is re-opening in a few week's time.  I took photos with my new iPhone and posted them on Facebook. Someone had the cheek to ask if someone had helped me to make them! Absolutely not.

I've made another sponge for my neighbour's, Garry and Shelly. I think they liked it. Well, I had a taste of the sponge I had to trim off in order to make the bottom layer level so the top one would sit on it it level. I put raspberry jam in the middle and then dusted it with king sugar, which is what I did with the first two. The worst job is cutting out the greaseproof paper which is used to line the tins, using Bertolli spread to stick the greaseproof paper to the inside of the tins. But this time I forgot to line the sides, but it didn't matter because the cakes came out of the tins without sticking.

I've done some more work on the creative writing course. I'm taking notes as I go along. Because I haven't done any writing for so long, it was quite difficult to get back into a writing routine, so it seemed a good idea to go through some of the book. Rather like if an athlete hasn't been involved in whatever sport, running for example, for some time, they would need to do some exercises or do a walk-up before attempting to run a race or whatever. I just needed to flex my creative muscles and get back in some sort of shape before putting pen to paper once more.

Baking and Driving

I've been baking. Now, there's a thing. I had made Victoria sponges before, but intended taking a couple along to the Thursday-evening 'Freed To Lead' session. I've been involved in this course at the Oaktree Centre, home of Shenley Christian Centre, for the last couple of months and wanted to contribute something in the catering line. I have bought the necessary equipment from Sainsbury's, two cake tins, a pallet knife, cooling rack as well as the ingredients, as suggested by Delia Smith on her website and printed out her recipe from the website. I already have a mechanical set of scales, but when I came to use them, they're not particularly accurate for weighing out metric weight so the cakes I have already made have come out fine but probably would be better if I could weight more accurately, so I have ordered a set from Amazon, made by a reputable manufacturer, Salter, which should, hopefully arrive sometime today. So I will be able to make the second cake once these scales arrive. I'll have to wait and see how things turn out, literally, once I have made the second cake.

I took out Alfie around 6.30 this morning. It was quite mild, no wind blowing, no ice on the car windscreen. The grass in Eaglestone Park has been mown. I wasn't aware yesterday, but I think I heard the mower, but not sure what it was. There's quite an acreage to cover so it must have taken some time, no doubt one of those ride-on mowers. They missed  bit, a sort of triangle of grass, but never mind. Only problem with them mowing the grass was that, when I got home I had grass stuck to my shoes. Just annoying. Never mind.

I've been to Camphill this morning. I thought it a good idea to leave the house around 8.30 because I knew the traffic was going to be heavy. I drove round the inner ring road to come out of Eaglestone near the shop and then left onto Chaffron Way where traffic cab build up approaching the Four Bridges roundabout, but it wasn't too bad, fortunately. I then went round the roundabout and headed back towards the Marlborough Street roundabout where the traffic was fairly heavy, but I carried on along Chaffron Way. A large four-by-four insisted on tailgating me until I got to the roundabout just beyond Waitrose at Oakgrove. Can't people think that some people are quite happy driving at a reasonably safe speed, and that it's dangerous to tailgate another car? If you come to close behind and I have to brake suddenly, you will run into the back of my car and cause quite a nasty accident, or don't they see this? Apparently not. They just want the road to themselves and you out the way.

I got to Camphill and parked in the carpark (where else would you park? Crazy really.) I then walked into the office and the lady there took me to the class doing work on computers, because she thought that was where I was meant to be, but after about half an hour another lady came in and said I was going to be working with residents in the theatre, so I was taken there and introduced to the 'actors' who were sitting in a row. I had to give them a sort of introduction to myself and they all introduced themselves. A very talkative inductive bunch. The leader of the group and one other assistant gave me a sort of run-down of what they had been doing; a project which uses the 'Three Little Pigs' as the basis for a play and video to explain 'Stranger Danger.' One of the group wasn't so good at remembering his lines, so they went through them, using what they described as osmosis to retain and learn these lines. As the lines are in verse, it would make it a good deal easier to remember, well, it would if it was me. I wasn't allowed to get away with just observing, I had to join in with them, and the whole group had to repeat the lines. Considering these are guys (and when I say 'guys', I'm referring to both sexes.) who probably don't have good communication skills (but some of them had extremely good communication skills!) it was quite amazing how well they did all this. I worked as a student support assistant at Barnfield College at the Westbourne Centre in Bedford, and I got involved with the drama students and it was really amazing what some of those guys achieved.

Mid-way through the morning, a man who I believe was previously a BBC television producer (forget his name now) and who is a governor of Camphill, came in to start work on the video they are making. He had been editing footage which they had been filming over the past few weeks and he showed the rough footage to us and I was really impressed by what he had done and what the students had achieved. Using a lot of technology, such as green-screen, to create a lot of the effects, such backgrounds. The film/video isn't complete. It needs sound extra work doing on it. Sounds which we helped record, will be added and a voice-over and then it's complete. I'm looking forward to going back next Tuesday to continue working at Camphill.

I had hoped to try out their café at Camphill, but it's closed. The chef/cook/baker who works in the kitchens apparently is in the Himalayas, not sure exactly what she's doing there, climbing a mountain, (not sure whether it's Everest.) so the café is closed at the moment, but hopefully it will be open agin once she returns. I'm really looking forward to trying the bread she makes.

No doubt there will be some paperwork to be completed, stuff like a disclosure (formerly called a C.R.B. check (Criminal Records Bureau) before I can work at Camphill. But  a really positive time spent there.

Sorting Things and Settled Weather

(Wednesday) Gareth has disappeared. Where he went I have no idea. Probably met up with Freya and having a lovely time in the Bahamas or on a tropical island. Having a blow-out somewhere.

I had a call from Camphill this morning. They seem really keen for me to work as a volunteer and will be going to a taster session on Tuesday morning, to work with their video production students. Sounds perfect for me. I can't believe they've got back to me so quickly. I'm really looking forward to starting there. I'm sure that Carol would be pleased for me.

I've managed to sort out a lot of Carol's clothes. Most gone to the Barnardo's shop in Oldbrook. I have been thinking of sorting the things out, but it's been difficult for me. I had asked Shelley next doo to help me, but in the end i just wanted to get it done on my own. I now have more space in the wardrobe and I've discovered stuff in there I haven't seen before or other things that I just haven't seen in years.

Amongst the things I found was a small cube speaker. I think we bought it in Sainsbury's. It's about a couple of inches square, coloured white and mauve. I don't think it cost much more than £10. It was bought to use on one of the laptops to improve the sound, or it may have been to connect to something else, but I have no idea what. Anyway, it had several leads sticking out of it, one for connecting to a U.S.B. port on a computer and the other has a jack plug to connect to a sound output. But I didn't realise that it was Bluetooth. I have two other larger speakers which are Bluetooth, along with a  Godmans soundbar which is connected to the television. It improves the sound a great deal, giving more bass tones. It will also connect to my iPhone and the Kindle, which has Alexa in it. Just connect and speak and Alexa will play music from my Amazon playlist, through the Goodmans soundbar or the other speakers. If I want radio on in the bathroom, I can use an app on he iPhone and it connects so I can have music on when I have a bath. It's taken a while to figure out how to get this to work, as only one device can be connected via the iPhone at one time, otherwise the things get confused. Amazing technology.

Sunday. I just realised, when I took out Alfie earlier, that we have to endure the Milton Keynes marathon going past the house this morning. They've already been round and stuck letters through our letter box informing us that the marathon will close off Golden Drive for several hours, so I can't get out in the car to get to church. I'll just have to stay at home until it's finished. Now, don't get me wrong. I find the marathon a good thing, people enjoying themselves, good to raise money for various 'good causes,' but when it inconveniences people, the fact you can't get out of your home in your car for a few hours and particularly in a Sunday, which is perhaps the only day of the week when people, particularly families, get together and go out for the day, it does seem really unfair and annoying and if you even suggest making a slight tweak to the route, you get some person or other complaining, as I did a couple of years ago when I even breathed a word against this fairly obvious suggestion (that they reroute it along the Redway, which is only a few yards away.) Oh, it's so easy to wind up some people! Just . . . . oh, I can't be bothered. Not going to listen or even agree to disagree! I'm staying put this morning and will miss church, but never mind for one Sunday. I may go out to Sainsbury's or Waitrose later as there's some items I need as I want to bake a cake.

It's bright and sunny, but still chilly. So it should actually be quite a good day for the marathon.

Later. I've managed to do some washing-up. Sorting out one of the cupboards. I thought we had a digital set of scales. If we have, I can't find them. Just a thought, but is scales in the singular or plural? Why a set of scales? Is it when you had an old-fashioned 'set' with the mechanical device onto which you put individual metal weights, in various amounts of weight? I digress, but it did make me wonder and 'scales' in the plural is still used when your device becomes more sophisticated, such as digital or more like a machine with a dial. I've been thinking about this a bit further. What about other items which are only plural, such as trousers? You never have 'a trouser,' much as with scissors, you never get 'a scissor.' Neither would be much use on their own. You wouldn't get far with a scissor, because it needs the other half to make it into scissors and wouldn't function properly, much the same as you couldn't really have a trouser. You could hardly go out with only one leg covered. It wouldn't work and wouldn't make sense and I doubt somehow it would work, apart from looking odd and you'd probably get some odd looks and might end up getting arrested!

I've now done a load of washing. It takes 45 minutes on eco setting, and the washing is now out on two lines in the garden, because it's sunny and there's a good breeze, so it shouldn't take long to dry. That is, unless it rains, which i trust it won't. This will be the first washing I've put outside this year.
I looked out of the bathroom window a minute or two ago (10a.m.) and, lo and behold! There are runners going past on the road! I just hope this marathon, or at least the part going along Golden Drive, is over soon rather than later, so I can get out in the car and go to Sainsbury's.

Oh dear! I knew if I mentioned on Facebook that the so-called Milton Keynes Festival of Running was going past my home this morning and that I was going to be inconvenienced by it (which I am, up to a point) that someone would respond in a 'oh my goodness, someone doesn't like it! Oh, I don't like it when someone doesn't agree with me' sort of attitude, hey presto! The response has been just as I expected. They took the bait! I've got the sort of response I would expect. The fact is, I couldn't actually care less what people do if they want to. It's just that some people (look at what's happening over Brexit.) don't like it when someone dares to have an alternative opinion. Sad really. Just love winding some people up. Naughty, I know, but really loved to see what happened, and it did.

Storm Gareth Brings Strong Winds

We have another storm expected to come in raging today, called Gareth. I just wonder who gives these storms names? As I sit here in my lounge, it's early morning, I can hear the wind outside raging somewhat. Not shaking the windows, but definitely blowing quite strongly outside.

Later in the day. It's been raining. Not particularly hard, but still raining.

Wednesday. I had to go into Boots opticians to collect my new glasses. I was supposed to be there at 10.30. I got to the carpark in plenty of time and then had to fill in about 30 minutes, so I went to Clarks shoe shop because I saw a style of shoes I rather liked in their window when I was in the shopping centre the other morning. Being Clarks they are not cheap, but considering the quality of the workmanship and also the fact that they are made in this country, the price doesn't really come into it. The Adidas trainers I currently have are beginning to wear out. I can feel something through the soles. The top part are fine, it's the soles that are wearing through. I have already looked in Sports Direct, which is where the trainers came from, and I couldn't see anything I liked, so Clarks seemed the next option. I only had a quick glance as I didn't have enough time to really have  decent look and couldn't try any of the shoes on for size, so decided, once I been to collect the glasses I would return.

I got to Boots and went upstairs to the opticians department. I was soon being dealt with by a young man who got me to try on each of the two pairs, one for distance and the other for reading. They both needed a slight adjustment because I don't want them sliding down my nose when I wear them. Not a problem and I had to wait when he went off to do the adjusting of the glasses frames. I was soon walking out with the whole transaction complete and I walked back towards Clarks shop and looking at several pairs of shoes and trying on one pair which I purchased. I was by this time feeling rather hungry and decided I'd go into Greggs, because I was going to sit and eat in their store and a few tables were vacant and there wasn't too much of a queue at the till, so I joined the back of what queue there was and selected a baguette, a bottle or fresh orange juice and a packet of three egg custard tarts and waited patiently to reach the till so I could pay. But it seemed to take an eternity for the staff to do their job, paying at the till, making a coffee for one customer and generally get round to dealing with me. I think it took a good ten minutes. They seemed to be having a go-slow or something. Not exactly impressed. It wasn't as if the place was heaving with customers, not lunch-time, so no office workers queuing up for their lunch. I think if there had been, I would have walked out and found an alternative for food and drink. I think it might be because there is such a wide range of alternative outlets within a short distance and they just don't manage to get staff to work in these places. Still not an excuse to have such slow service.

Having finished in the shopping centre, I make my way back to the car. When I get inside and I'm about to drive off, I see the completed application form for volunteer work at Campbell laying on the passenger seat. I had bought it with me with the intention of taking it to deliver to Camphill, but I had forgotten after my time spent in the shopping centre, buying shoes and having collecting my new glasses. So I made he decision to drive to Camphill immediately and deliver the form. No time like the present.

I parked my car in he carpark and then realised that Camphill had it's own carpark, which was within the campus. But I didn't realise this until I began walking in through the entrance. I got to the offices and said I wanted to hand over the completed application form. Then I was introduced to a man in another office off he main office. I'm not entirely sure what his role is, but I think he is the manager of he site or at least administrator of the facility. He seemed really interested in my application and he spoke to me for some time about Camphill and was quite keen to have me work there as a volunteer. He took me to see the theatre and told me that they also have workshops and I could be working as a support for those people who lived at Camphill, who have learning disabilities. So, I have to wait until someone else who is in charge of taking on volunteers, who will invite me to come to a 'taster' session, just to see how I like it and whether I want to proceed with the application. They would obviously have to do a disclosure (similar to a Criminal Records check) before I could work there and  contact my referees before I can work there. So, it looks very positive and I will have to wait for them to go through all these procedures before I can start at Camphill.

I'm sitting her on a Wednesday afternoon . It's almost 5 o'clock and it's light outside. The wind has dropped, fortunately, but there are no birds on the bird-feeding station. I can't think why it's not attracting birdies. The feeder has been full of food for the last two weeks, but I have to say that it's a real disappointment because I want to see it busy and it's just not attracting anything. I suppose I'll just have to be patient and if I wait then in time it might possibly be attracting all manner of different varieties of birds.

More Reading and Watching

I have finally finished the set of history books taking British history from 1956, with the Suez Crisis and through the following decades right up to the 1990's, through the Premierships of Anthony Eden, Harold Macmillan, Harold Wilson, Edward Heath, Margaret Thatcher, John Major and Tony Blair.  I have now given history reading a rest and I've read 'Skellig' by David Almond, which I have read before, but enjoyed enormously. Initially intended as a children's book, but equally enjoyed by adults. Subtle and clever, definitely worth a read. It's not a long novel, which probably is in its favour. 

I'm currently doing an on-line course from something called Futurelearn. I've done several of these courses, a couple on William Shakespeare, another about Hadrian's Wall and this one is about The Tudors. As a result I'm reading Hilary Mantel's Booker-Prize winning novel 'Wolf Hall.' I had never imagined I'd enjoy a historical novel, but this is excellent and I'm surprised how much I am enjoying it. I watched the first episode of the BBC television adaptation, but I just couldn't get into it and didn't watch any more episodes, but the book is really good. Some books don't adapt well to television, and it seems to me that's the case with this particular book.

Martin Clunes has a new sitcom on BBC1 on Fridays, not that the day it's broadcast makes a lot of difference these days,because you can watch most television programmes either recorded on your Sky Q box (other personal recording set-top boxes are available, incidentally) or trough iPlayer. I'm not sure whether I like this new show, called 'Warren.' He's a driving instructor with a bad temper. He doesn't get on with his customers. He definitely has an attitude problem, Martin Clunes other leading character, in 'Doc Martin,' might also have an attitude problem, but at least you have sympathy for the character. The comedy springs from the fact that he's a doctor who should show some sort of empathy for his patients. On the other hand, Warren is just plain annoying. You really have no sympathy for him and it's no wonder his driving school business fails so miserably. Miserable git comedy is funny with the right character and the right script, but this just fails completely. Victor Meldrew, admirably played by Richard Wilson in 'One Foot In The Grave' does at least get your sympathy, and it has got a decent, well-written script. 'Warren' misfires on so many levels. Going back further in television comedy history, I could mention Tony Hancock, a character who was pompous as well as miserable. You could have sympathy for him and the scripts written by the legendary writing pair of Galton and Simpson almost single handedly changed the history of sitcom development and writing.

Comedy of failure is a style of comedy which can be described of many modern sitcoms. 'Fawlty Towers' isn't exactly the most successful of hotels, run by Basil Fawlty, who seems to fail and every turn. Rigsby in 'Rising Damp' is a similar sort of character. His home, which he shares with several lodgers, isn't exactly perfect. Rigsby is a failure in the sense that the can't cope with the views of his lodgers and is a somewhat disreputable character. Compare these sitcoms with 'Warren' and you see that it doesn't stand a hope of being a successful show for BBC1. I think it would have shed audience figures  over the next couple of episodesbecause of the fact it is so awful. The BBC is probably expecting the fact that it has Martin Clunes as the central character which will draw an audience. Some hope! He has done better work, particularly with 'Doc Martin.'

The BBC has done rather well with early-afternoon drama. The 2.15 slot has seen such drama series as 'The Indian Doctor,' 'Moving On,' 'Father Brown,' and now 'Shakespeare and Hathaway.' This latest is set in Stratford-On-Avon and the action revolves round two investigators, with the rather predictable names which are reminiscent of William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway, two former inhabitants of that town. There is a certain quirkiness in the plots and there are sly references to the plays of William Shakespeare. It is similar in style to 'Father Brown,' which period had been shifted from the 1920s-1930s setting of the original G.K.Chesterton short stories to the early 1950s and set in a fictional Cotswold village. Again, quirky and with a comic edge and with a strong cast lead by Mark Williams as the eponymous Catholic priest come crime investigator.

Returning to the theme of comedy about failure, the BBC has bought back Alan Partridge, who must surely be the best example of such a type of comedy. The new show, called 'This Time.' It's a sort of spoof version of the BBC1 early evening chat show, 'The One Show.' Partridge, played by Steve Coogan, is a character you either love or hate. He has been a presenter on a range of radio and television shows over the years, mainly on lesser-known stations, particularly the fictional North Norfolk Digital. He's a bit like Hancock, he imagines he's a success, but he's a total failure. He has grand illusions of presenting all manner of shows, but just can't hack it. The new show began shakily, but as we're currently on episode 3 it seems to have found its feet. It is really about the allusion of show business, television in particular. You see behind the scenes, cutting from Partridge and his co-host sitting on the sofa smiling inanely, to what happens when they're 'off-air.' The smiles vanish and we see beyond the surface. We see the cameras and other technical equipment, the make-up ladies who swoop on the presenters to apply powder and other make-up to their faces and tidy their hair before the cameras roll once more. This is more like satire than straightforward comedy. There is a good deal more to it than just being plain 'comedy.'

I have been watching further episodes of 'Warren,' the new sitcom which stars Martin Clunes, and which runs before the Alan Partridge spoof chat-show 'This Time' on BBC1. I will give this comedy the benefit of the doubt and probably go back on what I have said earlier on this blog post. It has needed three episodes to find its feet. By this episode it has settled down somewhat. That's doesn't mean I don't dislike the central character of Warren, but there is more plot and sub-plot and this episode does at least have some decent one-liners. It has a better story arc than the first two and does at least tie up at the end. Not brilliant, but like a lot of sitcom, it takes several episodes for the writers and actors to settle down, let the characters breathe and develop naturally. You can't always get the full set-up or what the characters are like in only one episode, so I will continue to watch and see how things develop. I can't imagine an actor of Martin Clunes accepting a poor quality script, and bearing in mind that this show is made by Hat Trick productions, known for it's success with comedy over the years, it's bound to improve and I'm sure it will and the BBC will be rewarded with audience figures to go with this.

Sunday, Monday, Weather

(Sunday)It was a bit wet when I took out Alfie this morning. Not drenching, but wet enough. We didn't do the entire circuit of Eaglestone Park, but nevertheless, we managed to get out by 6.30. I do't think Alfie could wait a minute longer. He came back looking really wet and bedraggled, and it took him a while to dry off. As I write this, there is a howling wind outside. It seems to have got up by the time I got to Shenley Christian Fellowship a good deal earlier than usual, because I am now on what's called the Genesis Team, and we're there to set up for the day's services. Not actually a great deal to do. I shan't be on the rota for another month or so, but one Sunday in perhaps 4 or 6 won't make  great deal of difference to me. Anyway, the wind was so strong that it blew over the sign which is put up outside the building, just before the service begins and also the poster which was pinned to it was blown across the carpark.

(Monday) I had intended having at least an extra hour in bed this morning. I hadn't seen the necessity to be up and dressed so early, but it didn't work out that way. Alfie didn't appreciate the fact that he wasn't going to get his early-morning walk around Eaglestone Park. I straightened out the duvet and refused to move, but it didn't prevent Alfie coming and prodding me with a paw to remind me of my obligations to him. Still, I did have around another 20 minutes of shut-eye. I knew it was quite sunny outside with the sun streaming in at the bedroom window. Alfie shuffled about in the bed. He sometimes gets in under the duvet and pushes himself up against me, which he did this time, but he just couldn't settle. He knew it was past the time we usually go out. So, with a deep sigh, I slid out of the bed and sorted out my clothes and got dressed and went downstairs. The minute Alfie realised I was about to take him out, he started barking and making his usual din. I popped my medication out of their packets and took it all, put on my shoes and we went out. Trying to attach his lead to the D rings on his harness is difficult because he wriggles about but I managed it and we got through the front door. Although it was sunny and bright, there was a keen wind blowing, almost wintery. Yesterday I saw a few flurries of snow, which was something of a surprise.

For the last couple of days there's been a car parked more or less opposite our driveway. Not really a driveway, just the bay where I park my car. I hadn't really paid it much attention. It was a grey/silver Peugeot 208 I think. I'm not very good at types of cars, their numbers etc. It was parked in an annoying place, because when I wanted to reverse into the road it was in such a position I had to manoeuvre in such a way so as to avoid hitting it. Together with the fact that a white van was parked on the footpath opposite and blocking my sight to the left when I came out with the car. Anyway, this silver car had been in exactly the same position for some considerable time. I assumed it belonged to someone living nearby, probably in one of the bungalows opposite my house. Then, the other morning, when I was standing at the sink doing some washing up, my eye was caught by the sight of a low-loading breakdown truck that was parked behind this silver car, with the slope down and the driver attaching cables to the car and about to winch the car onto the back of the low loader. So, it would appear from what I saw, that this silver car had probably broken down somewhere or other, probably on Saxon Street, and had been left where it was parked until a breakdown company could come and remove it. Not entirely sure why it was there, but this might be the explanation.

Later. I had a letter from NatWest about the car loan this morning. Because it was taken out in Carol's name it will be written off since she passed away. I'm quite overwhelmed by this, because I had been concerned about paying for the loan because I'd never be able to afford the repayments. The letter this morning was under the terms of the Consumer Credit Act of 1974. Something do with arrears on the account. I rang and spoke to someone and apparently I do not owe this sum of money, in the region of a little over £500. I have been told that this letter is just a formality which they have to send out. The loan will be written off officially after nine months have passed since Carol's death. All this is a weight off my mind. I was concerned that I would have to give the car back and then be without it. I suppose I could survive without a car, but it would have made life difficult if it had been surrendered.

Once I'd dealt with the bank (incidentally, all this is done via a phone call. I couldn't deal with it in the NatWest branch in Milton Keynes which I use most often, although the account is actual held in the High Street Bedford branch where it was originally set up.) I went into Milton Keynes centre because I was going to the Willen Hospice support group which meets in John Lewis every Monday morning at 10 a.m. Because I got parked and was too early to go to the John Lewis café where the group meets, I decided to walk to Milton Keynes Theatre, because I was intent on booking myself a ticket to see 'Les Miserables' which is due to vast Milton Keynes in a couple of months time. I walked all the way there and discovered that the box office didn't open until 12 midday. Which was annoying, but nevertheless, I decided that I would return later when it was open.

I went to John Lewis and had a rather tasty caramel latte and a blueberry muffin and met up with the rest of the Willen Hospice group. I suppose I was there for an hour and a half, but I had forgotten that my carpark ticket would run out at 11.30, so I had to leave  before I got a fine, because I've seen the parking wardens checking cars for either expired tickets or none at all. Fortunately no such parking wardens around when I got back to the car and put a further £1 on the car so I could walk back to the theatre to attempt to get my Les Miz ticket.

I walked the length of the shopping centre again and arrived at the theatre. A lot of building going on. Some workmen putting up a new signpost, and work going on ready for the art gallery to reopen, which is next to the theatre, which has been given a revamp. Apparently it's going to be reopened on the 16th March, which I saw on a poster when I was walking through the shopping centre. Anyway, a group of people waiting outside the theatre, about to buy tickets like me, it turned out. The doors were opened and I had to stand in line at the box office and managed to get my ticket for 'Les Miserables' on 30th May, for the matinee at 2.30 p.m. I saw the original West End production at the Palace Theatre, loved it then, and have also seen the film version. So, having paid for my ticket, I left the theatre a happy man and walked back into the shopping centre.

By now I was feeling somewhat hungry. I walked past Costa near Middleton Hall, but there was too much of a queue, so I walked on and saw that there was no long queue in Caffe Nero. I ordered a Passion Fruit and Mango Booster, a cold drink, because I just didn't fancy a hot drink because I'd had a latte when I was in the John Lewis cafe earlier. Also, a smoked salmon and cheese sandwich. All rather pleasant. I must say I'm a little more positive of this particular branch of Caffe Nero, because the last time I was in here I had to say the girl on the till was not in a very good mood and didn't impress with her style of customer service. I like the fact they play jazz over their sound system, a good deal better than the usual awful noise you have to contend with in some places. I was also impressed with the couple who had two babies in a double buggy, presumably the babies were twins. They sat at the next table to me, and the amount of equipment they had for the children would have needed a large vehicle to carry it about. Both babies seemed in fine form, giggling and gurgling and wiggling about in the buggy. Must have been  real effort for the parents and presumably the babies grandfather who was with them.

I am currently looking for some new shoes. I had been into Sports Direct, where my Adidas trainers were purchased, but nothing I have seen appeal. I walked past the Clark's shoe shop window in the shopping centre and have seen some of their new styles of shoe and they do look the sort of thing I'm after, although they are quite expensive. Having taken the cost of them into account, and the fact that I have bought Clark's shoes in the past, they are a good brand and last well, being well constructed and comfortable, so may go back to try on a pair before making a decision.

Further Doings

On Thursday, which would have been Carol's 55th birthday, I went into the MK shopping centre, with the intention of having a coffee, possibly in one of the two Costa coffee stores. I know it sounds odd, but we had always gone to these places to have coffee and something to eat as a result I'm not used to now being single, and visiting somewhere on my own. It seems strange. I know it doesn't probably make sense, but having been a couple for over 11 years and doing so much together, it's peculiar to now return to doing those sorts of things as a single man. I just needed to go out and get on with things and this was one of them. It also seemed appropriate to do this thing on what would have been Carol's birthday.

As I was driving towards the city centre of Milton Keynes (is it a city? I don't think it is officially, but we always say 'city centre.') I was almost there and got to the Childs Way roundabout and made a diversion. I have been thinking of doing some volunteering work and what I could do now I'm retired. Well, I've actually been retired for quite a few years now, but since Carol passed away I have a need to direct my time and energies elsewhere. I used to go past the turning for Camphill, which is on the road I used to go along on the way to see Carol when she was in Willen Hospice. With my skills, working with people with learning disabilities, by experience working in theatre and making and performing puppets, I thought that I might be able to use my skills working there in the theatre they have and the workshops. So I made my way to Camphill and had a look in the shop and then went to the offices to obtain a form to fill in. It is fairly straightforward. I need two references and no doubt they would need to obtain a C.R.B. check or a disclosure before I could work with what are, in effect, a set of vulnerable adults. No problem there.

So, having been to Camphill, I went to the centre of Milton Keynes. I should have gone  good deal earlier, but I was waiting for a mail delivery. As soon as I had parked the car near The Point and walked into the shopping centre, past a host of black crows which sit in the trees along the side of the shopping centre and some on the ground, giving a somewhat eerie feel, something like an Alfred Hitchcock thriller such as the famous film 'The Birds.' The Point itself, as mentioned in earlier posts, is beginning to look more than ever derelict. What a waste of a good building. Surely it could be taken over by some organisation and given a decent face-lift. But I digress.

I went to the Costa near Marks and Spencer, but there was a queue of people going out the door that meant I would have to wait some while to be served. Annoying, but I wasn't prepared to wait. I next walked along the shopping centre and got to Starbucks, but the same thing as at Costa. I didn't queue. I went into Waterstone's. I had been in a few days earlier and saw a book I have been waiting to come out in paperback. It was the autobiogrphy of Andrew Lloyd Webber, called "Unmasked.". I really want to read it.  Having an interest in theatre and musicals, I really would like to discover more about his life and how he creates his shows. I saw this book in the 'Buy One- Get one Half Price' department, on one of those tables where the books are stacked up and you really can't resist picking one or two up and then buying them. Usually too good to miss. But, after spending time looking, I could not find a copy. Which seemed strange. And no sign of a copy anywhere else in the shop. So I walked on. I next went to Pret A Manger near Middleton Hall, but that also had a long queue inside and it also appeared that most of the tables were taken. Considering it was only around 11.30, and mid-week, it seemed amazing to me that these places were so busy. They should organise themselves a good deal better, like taking on more staff for the busiest periods of the day or perhaps just have more tills.

I next decided to walk along the shopping centre and try Marks and Spencer's café. I have been there before and I have written reviews for the review website, TripAdvisor. It is quite a long way to walk, the length of the shopping centre is around half a mile. I arrived in Marks and Spencer and went up the escalator to the first floor, first going to use the toilet. I had to laugh, though. Who came up with the amazing name for a brand, connected to the urinals in there 'Wiffaway"? I'm sorry, but when you go to use these conveniences, you can't avoid such things as you stand there, minding your own business. Also, when we've stopped at motorway service stations and go into the toilets, I'm somewhat amused and amazed at the audacity of someone's marketing campaigns. They put advertising just over the urinals, and one in particular for erectile disfunction or, ED. I just wonder if they get many men ring the number in response? I suppose if you're going to advertise, it's best to put adverts in places where your target audience is likely to be.

I then went into the cafe. (OK, if you  must ask, yes I did wash my hands before going to eat!) I stood and queued, but it wasn't the length of queue that I'd seen in other places. I got a toasty, ham and cheese from the display, then stood right next to the display of cakes. Just too enticing. As someone or other said, possibly Oscar Wilde 'I never could resist temptation.' If it wasn't Oscar Wilde, it should have been. Anyway, I couldn't resist a slice of sponge cake. I think it was coffee, but thinking back, it might have been chocolate, but there again, it might have been sponge with jam as a filling. Yummy! I then ordered a latte to go with my piece of cake and handed over the toasty to be grilled and then went to a vacant table. There were plenty. So, after trudging along through the shopping centre, at last  I could sit down and have a rest and some refreshment. The toasty soon turned up and I sat and enjoyed my food. Probably better than Costa or Starbucks. Then, once I'd completed my food, I wandered up to the menswear department to have a browse and then went down on the escalator to leave the store. It still intrigues me as to why the menswear department in virtually every store is buried at the furthest point in the building, on the top floor, and there's generally a smaller choice than ladies get in their clothing departments? What is the psychology behind this? It's probably because men don't like shopping, don't spend time browsing because they don't like choice. They generally pick up whatever it is they want and don't consider much, apart from the size of a piece of clothing, don't consider much else, such as quality, texture of the fabric or anything else. They probably shop for clothes on their own and possibly only a couple of times a year. Just my thinking behind all this, but it certainly doesn't explain why I have to go to the top floor if I want to buy clothes in Marks and Spencer. I think this is the case in John Lewis, although in there the menswear department is next to the electrical department, where they sell computers and other gadgets which men are supposed to like. Just another idea, but it still doesn't explain the reasoning behind burying the men's department. It's the same again in Sainsbury's. There's a vast women's department, but the men's clothing is hidden at the furthest point in the store and then there's a minute range in comparison to the women's clothing.

I was even more determined to buy the Andrew Lloyd-Webber autobiography. I went in to W.H.Smith but soon walked out again. What a mess! Why is it laid out in such a confusing way? It's gone down hill recently. Just not that good anymore. They have reorganised the magazine section, although buried at the back of the store, but even then you have to walk through the store to find it, but no sign of Lloyd-Webber's book. You would think that, as probably one of Britain's most successful writer of musicals in the last 50 years, they would have made more of the release of his book in paperback. Probably do better in America where they treat such talents with a little more respect and they'd lap it up without any problems. Or it it we in Britain just don't care about such people, considering how much his musicals have done for theatre, the audiences his shows attract and what they must have done for the economy (and Lloyd-Webber's private bank balance.) So. . .  I went on Amazon's website to see if they had it. Yes, but I'd have to wait a few days until the book arrived. Then, onto Waterstone's website. I decided not to buy it to have delivered at home. I did something I've never done before, I did 'Click and Collect,' and as a result expected it to be ready to pick up within a week or so, but a couple of hours later I was looking at my emails and, surprisingly, I had an email from Waterstone's in Milton Keynes shopping centre, to say they had a copy of the book and it was ready for collection! So, this afternoon, Saturday, I went in to collect it and in the process changed the Waterstone's  loyalty card which had now transformed into  Waterstone's Plus.

Remembering Carol- Part 3

I got to meet Carol's two sons, Daniel and Sam. I met Daniel when we first went to London together. He had a job working in a hotel in St Albans, where his dad lived. I'm not so sure about Sam. They both lived with us in the house in Crownhill. Some weekends Daniel went to live with his dad and would come home, bearing in mind he was coming to his education. I think he was doing his A Levels at the time I first met Carol. Because Sam was younger, he must have been doing his G.C.S.E.'s, but, looking back, I don't remember exactly.

When I came to live with Carol, after we were married, I got  job as a home carer for people with a range of disabilities or needs, for company called Guardian Homeware. I have discussed this in an earlier blog post, so I don't want to repeat it in this post.

We went to see several television and radio productions being recording. I was able to go on line and sign up to several websites which provided free ticket for such shows. We went to see a couple of radio shows being recorded, something which really interested me, because if you have an interest as I do in media, how either television or radio shows are made, then going to see a show as a member of the audience. The first was a  BBC Radio Four panel show called 'The Write Stuff,' and was recorded in a venue which I had never heard of near the British Museum. interesting to see how a show such as a panel show is recorded and we saw that what would at first appear to be spontaneous wasn't in the slightest, because some of it was rerecorded when some hitches took place. They record two shows back-to-back, probably because  a half-hour show isn't going to make an evening's entertainment for  live audience as well as being far more cost effective. The second show we went to see was a sitcom called 'Clement Doesn't Live Here Anymore.' That was interesting to see because I had always wanted to know how they managed the sound effects and music. What ruined it for us was when the producer came on and made some rather unnecessary rather rude comments which we didn't think amusing, particularly as there were children in the audience, so we left after the recording of the first episode and didn't return for he second episode. A great pity. I didn't think it was a particularly brilliant show, but never mind. When the tickets are free, who's complaining.

Then we went to Television Centre to see the television version of 'Dead Ringers' being recoded. It has to be one of my favourite radio shows, so it was interesting to see how it worked as a television series. As we waited outside in a queue before we went into the waiting area (a great deal of waiting a some time or other when visiting a television studio either as a participant, for example as a walk-on or supporting artiste or member of an audience, who should walk past but Gary Lineker. Carol shrieked and said 'Oh, it's Gary Lineker!!" He just walked on past, no doubt used to such ruction from  a member of the public. I turned to her and said 'We shouldn't be surprised to see someone well-known when we visit Television Centre."

Another free television audience episode was when I managed to get tickets to the very first of a revival by ITV of the iconic series 'Sunday Night At The Palladium.' We went to the recording on I believe a Sunday, and got into London earlier than necessary and spent some time wandering around London, something we often used to do. We knew exactly where the Palladium was and visited Liberty's store, which is virtually opposite the Palladium and then wandered down to explore the recently-opened Broadcasting House, which had been extended and revamped. We looked through the window of the studio where the BBC 1 early evening 'The One Show' is made (if you watch this show you can clearly see this window and passing people do look in, and you can clearly see people queuing opposite as they go into recording sessions in he main Broadcasting House building.) Then we returned to the Palladium as it was by then approaching time for the recording of the show to begin. There was a quite sizeable queue forms, members of the public, like us, who had tickets for the show. We thought it would be a long time before we got inside to take our seats, but we shouldn't have worried. There were several officials walking along the line checking tickets. When they got to us, one of them looked at ours, and said that we need not queue. We were lead off, past the other queuing people, taken inside the Palladium and right into the stalls of the auditorium and shown to probably some of the best seats in the house! Quite an overwhelming feeling, of being taken out of the queue. It was probably because I had managed to get the tickets early and hence being able to get better seats and probably a better view of the stage than the rest of the people queuing up outside in the street. To top it all, who should be on the bill of the show we were about to see, but Carol's favourite, Bryan Adams, which really made her day! We hadn't known this fact, it was a sheer coincidence that he happened to be in the show!

There is so much more I could say about Carol, but at the moment I don't want to. I've written the last of three blog posts, and at the moment that's enough for now, but I may continue with more in blog posts in the future.

Remembering Carol- Part 2

There's not enough room in one blog post for me to really write all I want to say about my late lovely wife Carol. So here's the second instalment. 

We found that we had plenty in common. We enjoyed each other's company. I went to her home in Crownhill for the first time and her little dog, Poppy, a West/Shitsu cross, must have taken to me, because she peed on my leg! Was that a sign that Carol and I had a future? Possibly. But it was a start. We went out together on quite a few occasions. She drove me all the way to Leicestershire in her Hyaundai Matrix and we visited the village of Thornton, where she lived up until 1979 when her family moved to Bournemouth. I saw the house where she lived and the infamous reservoir, or 'resize' as it was better known. I even saw the school which she attended. We went back more recently and also went into the newest town to Thornton, Coalville. 

Another day out we had together was to London. We went to Tate Modern, which I had never visited before but had always wanted to, since it was opened in 2000 by H.M. Queen. It was here that she thought she'd made a slight fool of herself, by her own admission. We were looking at a painting by the artist Monet, and she turned to me and said 'is it a real Monet?' To which I said that it was, and it seemed unlikely that the Tate gallery would have a fake. I wasn't in the least bit fazed by this remark, because anyone could have made that statement. Well, at least she appreciated art in the same way that i did. We spent some time in Tate Modern and then walked along the Thames embankment and past another place I was keen to visit, the Shakespeare Globe Theatre. I would very much like to see a performance but have, up until now, not done so.

We had other outings, which included a trip to Stowe Landscape Gardens near Buckingham. I think it was here that we decided because we loved visiting the properties managed by the National Trust that we'd join as members, which meant that we could gain free admission. We had several more visits to Stowe as well as to other NT sites, such as Waddesdon Manor, Anglesey Abbey, Wimple Hall and Home Farm and many other places. We also went on holiday together to Yorkshire, staying in a rented property in a village called Cowling. We visited Bradford, which is only a relatively short drive from Cowling, as well as nearby NT properties and also Saltaire, which is a World Heritage site. We saw a permanent exhibition of paintings and other material by David Hockney, one of my favourite modern painters. When, several years later, we went on holiday to Flamborough Head, we went into Bridlington, which is a few miles away, and we leant that Hockney had a house there and spent quite a lot of time in the town. Then he produced a series of paintings and  a sort of video installation which featured the landscape around Bridlington and within the Yorkshire Wolds and there was an exhibition of these paintings at the Royal Academy, of which David Hockney is a member. So, we had a shared interest in art and artists.

Carol was very spontaneous. She was always eager to get out and about. During the long summer holidays from her job at Milton Keynes Academy, we would we out virtually every week, going to different places. We very rarely sat indoors when the sun was out. We went to one of my favourite places, Whipsnade Zoo, which is no more than a 30-minute car journey down the A5 near Dunstable. We went on several occasions and had joint membership, which meant that once we were members we could visit as many times as we liked without having to pay. Then Carol discovered that, because she was a science teacher and also had a degree, she could become a Fellow of Z.S.L., the Zoological Society of London. I could go with her, as her guest! We could no only get free entry, but we could also take the car in, so in effect we saved something like £75-£80 each time we went into the zoo. We had many happy times visiting, loving the lemur walk-through exhibit, the butterfly house, as well as the meerkats and other animals.

So, we decided that we got on with one another. Our relationship blossomed and we decided that we should marry. So, exactly a year to the day I left hospital, on the 26th May 2007, we were married, at Rutland Road Church, which I was a member of when I lived in Bedford. A beautiful day, made even more beautiful by the fact that everyone at Rutland Road pitched in and made it what it was, providing all the music and the food for the reception. I was imagining that only a few people would attend, but it turned out the entire membership attended and made the day unbelievable, along with the whole church band.

Another time, on the way back from somewhere, I'm not exactly sure where we'd been, we stopped at Stonehenge. I had never visited before, had passed by, but never stopped. It's an interesting and quite amazing place and it was here we decided to join English Heritage, the organisation which co-manages the site along with the National Trust. So we were able to visit their sites, free, as we could with the National Trust membership.

It's no good. I still have lots more to say, so I'll end this post there and continue with a third blog post. Who knows? This might even stretch to a fourth.

Remembering Carol- Part 1

Today, 7th March 2019, would have been Carol's 55th birthday. I miss her so much, we had a fantastic marriage. We had  only recently had our 11th anniversary in the May, barely weeks before she was diagnosed with colorectal cancer. I'm not going to dwell on that. I want to celebrate her life, how she had such a sense of fun and spontaneity. 

We met through a Christian website called Fusion 101 in 2006. At the time I was working as a live-in carer for a young man with cerebral palsy. I stayed in his flat 24 hours a day and worked two weeks on and then one week off. I had started chatting to Carol via the internet and we discovered fairly early on that we had a lot in common, such as theatre, art, literature and just life in general and above all, that we were both Christians, which was very important to both of us. I then stopped chatting when I went off to work with the young man in Milton Keynes, bearing in mind that this was before smart phones and other devices that you could connect to the internet, so we weren't able to continue chatting. I had a computer connected to the internet at home in my flat, but this was well before wifi which is so easy to connect to than having your computer connected physically to an internet connection using a cable. Carol was working as a humanities teacher at Stantonbury school in Milton Keynes. She was having trouble teaching 'Twelfth Night,' but had absolutely no experience of teaching Shakespeare, even though she was expected to teach this as part of the humanities curriculum. Because I had such a huge interest in Shakespeare and had studied 'Twelfth Night' from G.C.E. Literature level right up to degree level, I was able to help her with lesson planning and understanding the text of this play. So we had that in common.

So there I was in mid-May in 2006, working with that young man in his bungalow in Milton Keynes. This particular week I was coming to the end of my stint and would have gone home on the Monday of that week and to be replaced by another support worker. But on the Saturday that week I began to get a pain in my chest. The previous week I had a bout of bronchitis and had almost got over it. I couldn't return home, because I realised that it would be difficult for the agency which I worked through would't have been able to find a substitute to take over from me. So, when I had this odd pain in my chest, I was assuming it was like heartburn or something related to the bronchitis. It didn't go away, so I walked to the local Tesco's to buy some mint tea, because I had used this in the past to relieve heartburn. But it didn't relieve the discomfort.

When I got back to my flat in Bedford I made an appointment with my doctor and mentioned the odd pain in my chest. I was given an examination but the doctor didn't say what it was. I think I had to have a blood test, but honestly don't remember. All I remember was that I was given a prescription for something called a G.T.N. spray and was told that, if the pain continued and didn't go away, I should read the instructions to use the spray, a few squirts under my tongue and rest for 5 minutes until the pain went away. I don't think the word 'angina' was mentioned, or if it was, I have no recollection and I certainly didn't connect it immediately with having a heart attack. You would have thought, as a carer I might have done, or from memories of my mother who had regular angina attacks, but that was in the late 1980s, well before the sort of mediation we have today. The fact is, that night the pain in my chest got worse and worse, but being me, and doing what most men do, or are supposed to do, I imagined it would go away. Ignoring it was the only option. I didn't want to ring 999 as I should have done, the thought was, I didn't want to bother anyone. I could cope with this thing on my own. But I couldn't. By around 6a.m. I just had to ring 999 and call and ambulance. It's just as well I did. The paramedics arrived, by which time I was hyperventilating and it took them some time to calm me down. I was taken downstairs to the awaiting ambulance which was parked on the grass outside the block of flats where I lived.

I'm going on a bit here. I hadn't meant to. But it explains how Carol and I met. Anyway, I was rushed off to hospital, where I was given the message that I'd had a heart attack and stayed there for a week. Meanwhile Carol must have wondered what had happened to me. Perhaps I had lost interest. She had no idea where I was or what was going on.

I eventually arrived home, not in exactly top condition health-wise. I wasn't particularly strong and could hardly walk. I was given a load of medication to take which I was told I'd have to take for the rest of my life and  that  I wouldn't be able to drive for at least a month, which was difficult, because I'm quite an independent person and can't stand not being able to get out and about. Carol and I continued to chat via the internet, for a few weeks. The one day she said 'I'm going to phone you.' So she did, and it was the fist time I heard her voice. She said 'come to Milton Keynes and we can meet.' So, it just happened that I was okay to drive, more than a month since I had the heart attack. She said 'meet me at Furzton Lake.' I didn't have the faintest idea exactly where that was. Today you'd use Google Maps, or if you had one, a SatNav, but it was well before this sort of technology was available. It just shows how much we rely on it nowadays to find our way about.

I went to the wrong carpark. I went to Caldecotte Lakes, the place with the pub with the windmill on the top. I'm not sure if it's original or a sort of reconstruction, but does it matter? Then Carol telephoned me on her mobile. 'Where are you?' she asked, and I told her. It wasn't Furzton Lakes, as I soon discovered. She turned up in her car, along with her dog, Poppy. What was she expecting? Tall dark and handsome? Driving a B.M.W. or some open-top spots car? No. Instead a clapped out Renault 5 and a similarly-clapped-out bloke who could barely walk properly since his heart attack. I certainly wasn't at my best, so it wouldn't have surprised me if she'd taken one look and driven away, but she didn't.

We went for a walk, although I wasn't exactly steady on my feet. We took the dog with us and she jumped in the lake, which added to the fun of things and got us talking. She (the dog, that is.) come out of the lake and shook herself, most of it all over me, so that was a good start to things. We went into the pub to have a drink and continued to talk.

I can't complete this in one blog post, so I'll have to continue in a second post. There's so much I want to write about, which can't be done in just one post.

Wet and Windy

(Wednesday) I could hear the rain drumming agains the sitting room window early this morning. I had no intention of going out with Alfie if it meant we were going to get a soaking, but, sound 6.45 I looked out the window and couldn't see any signs of rain, so I made up my mind to get myself together and put Alfie's lead on his harness and step outside. We walked down to the grassed area where I usually let Alfie off his lead and he ran away as usual. I think it's this that he enjoys, being able to run around and let off steam. I even managed to use the new iPhone to video him. He ran off towards the shop area and I couldn't catch up and then a man walked towards us with a dog on his lead. I think the dog was a bulldog, but it do didn't want to make friends with Alfie. 

Walking round towards the shops, I saw a pile of logs and it was clear that the tree that had come down during the storm the other night had already been cut up by Council workers. Soon dealt with and the main bulk of the tree taken off no doubt on the back of a lorry.

I made pancakes as I always do last evening. I got a really good mixing bowl in T.K.Maax yesterday morning. It's got a grip for your hand to keep it steady as you whisk. I used the Kenwood hand mixer which we bought in John Lewis when Carol's mum and dad visited. It hasn't been used since then. It made short work of whisking the batter for the pancakes. I got a decent pan in Sainsbury's some while ago as well as two saucepans. They all match and the saucepans have glass lids and also have pouring lips which makes life easier when you strain vegetables. The bowl has a pouring lip also, which is useful when you come to pour the contents, such as batter, into a pan to cook.

I've been in to Sainsbury's. I was sure some of my medication would have been ready for collection, but apparently not. When I got home I noticed that the wind was beginning to get up. I thought Storm Freya had finished. Maybe it's an entirely different storm.

(Thursday) I'm writing a longer blog because today would have been Carol's 55th birthday. So when I've completed it I will post it on here.

It's a bright sunny morning. Just right for celebrating lovely lady's life. Thank you God, that you bought us together and we had a fantastic 11 years together. I've been out with Alfie and we did our usual walk around Eaglestone Park. I was actually quite chilly when I left the house, but we managed to walk a good deal further than we usually do.

Unsettled Weather

(Tuesday)It's really warm and sunny today. I was out a good deal earlier with Alfie this morning, probably arrow 6.45. It seemed a waste to not get out because it's getting light earlier and earlier each day and he has this habit, which I've mentioned on here before, of sitting and staring at me. He simply can't wait to get out. He loves to be let off his lead and to have a run. Fo a little dog he's got lots of energy. Runs like a little rabbit.

Alfie wears a harness. It's to protect his neck, because if you connect his lead to his collar, which he wears permanently, when he pulls, it can damage his throat. So a collar is far better because you connect the lead to a D ring which is on his back, at the centre of the harness. I went to Pets At Home at the Bletchley retail park yesterday morning because I wanted to get peanut kernels to put in the empty feeder on the bird feeding station. When I was in there I decided to look for a replacement for Alfie's rather tatty harness, which I wanted to replace. I picked up one which seemed to be the right size for him, but when I got home and tried it on Alfie it was far too big. So this morning I went back to Pets At Home and it was an easy matter of taking the harness to the pay desk and the lady let me pick up a smaller, and actually, a much nicer harness than the one I was replacing. 

I had to go and look in T.K. Maax while I was in the retail park. It's one of those stores which you have to keep going to look in because their stock changes on almost a daily basis and the prices are so good, you almost always manage to pick up a bargain. Not just clothes, but homeware items. They have another store called Homesense, and there's a branch at Kingston. I wandered around the kitchen department and picked up a really nice mixing bowl and a silicone spatula, which I wanted because I have also bought some non-stick saucepans and I don't want to scratch the surface in them using metal utensils. 

I walked to Tesco, which is a short walk across the main Fenny Stratford road. I wanted to get some daffodils, because I'm keeping them going in two vases, because Carol always loved them and I would buy them for her when she came home from work. I got some long-stemmed daffs as well as two bunches of the short-stemmed variety.

I drove back home along Saxon Street. There has been some roadworks the last couple of days along Standing Way, and when I drove through the roundabout that crosses Standing Way yesterday you were prevented from turning left which would cause chaos is you wanted to go to the hospital, which is several hundred yards further along Standing Way. Fortunately not a problem this morning. This roundabout can be difficult when it's busy, and I'm of the opinion that there ought to be traffic lights here when it's busy. Some drivers are not content to just wait patiently and seem to think they can cross without bothering to stop, which is dangerous and could cause a nasty accident.

I got home and managed to get Alfie into the new harness. It fits him perfectly. The old one has now been consigned to the rubbish bin. It has done it's job, but it was well past it's best.

I am somewhat disappointed that there have been no birds come to visit the bird feeding station. I can't think why they haven't been to visit it. I would have thought that they would have flocked to it since it had been restocked and new feeders put up. It's been filled up since the weekend. I know it can take a day or two for birds to get used to having food put out for them and there can be issues regarding cats or other predators, but it's been out long enough for them to get used to it. A bit disappointing, to say the least.

(Wednesday) As I write this, at 4.50 a.m. on Wednesday, I can hear rain rattling on the lounge window. I expect Alfie will want to go for his routine walk across the park, but I don't fancy going out to get wet, so he is going to have to be patient (not the easiest thing for him.) and wait for it to stop.

Where Is Freya?

So, what happened to Storm Freya? We had a sort of blustery evening, but as I write this, at 5.35 a.m. on Monday, it seems very quiet outside. 

Then I turned on BBC Breakfast at 6 o'clock and there was more Brexit misery and a report on two teenagers who have been stabbed to death, so I just couldn't take any further miserable news, so I just had to turn off the set.

Having just mentioned Storm Freya, as I walked with Alfie round Eaglestone Park this morning, I saw a large tree that had been brought down, laying across the grass near the shops. It must have made an almighty crash and would have been quite scary if you didn't know what on earth was going on. It will take the Council workers some effort to remove it, but I expect it will be cut up using a chainsaw.

I was intending going to the coffee morning at John Lewis this morning. When in the shopping centre I went into Boot's opticians to see if I could get an appointment for an eye test, expecting to get one for a few day's ahead, probably by the end of the week. They had an appointment available for 10 o'clock this morning, so I took it. It would mean I wouldn't have to come back in and the sooner it was done the better. So I went away for 20 minutes or so and went back and the first part of the eye-test was done, the bit where they shoot a jet of compressed air at your eyes, which is one test I hate as it makes me blink or at least react by jumping backwards. I know it has to be done to check for glaucoma or something, but I still don't like it. It's called a non-contact tonometer, which is something new I'vel earnt. Then they do another test for peripheral vision, where you have to stare at a green light and they flash up lights and you have to click with a hand-held button. Another test, where you have to rest your chin on a sort of ledge and your forehead on another bit and they ask you to stare at a light.  Then use have to go on what is called a digital retinal camera, which takes a photo of your retina, so that the ophthalmic nurse can check he health of your retina.  That was all the, what I'd call 'pre-test' checks. Then I had to go and wait in the waiting area. I was soon called in by one of the opticians and my test began. Once the test were done, the optician told me that my sight had changed considerably since my last test, which must have been more than two years ago. I had  very slight signs of cataracts, but I was told there was no problem and it was to be expected at my age.  Once the test was completed, a prescription was produced. I could go to anywhere to have new glasses made up, but I preferred to have that done at Boots. I went out and went with a member of staff to select two pairs, one for distant use, such as driving, and a second pair for reading. The distant pair will have a coating which turns dark in UV light, making them into sunglasses. When you go back indoors, they fade and return to normal clear glass. They also have a scratch-resistant coating and I'm having insurance which means if I have an accident and they get damaged, then I can have a new pair, free, of charge. The new glasses will be ready for collection on Wednesday 13th March.

I had an idea my eyesight wasn't perfect, because I've been finding, when I'm reading, that sometimes the print goes blurry and it can be difficult to read. I had imagined it might have been something to do with the lighting in the lounge where I usually sit to read. I thought that a lamp with whiter and bluer light might be the answer, but I haven't yet found such a bulb. Low consumption light bulbs seem to give off lower light, or so I thought. I have looked around for an alternative, but haven't as yet found what I'm looking for. So, this is why I went to have my eyes tested today.

Changing Weather

(Saturday)I received the new sim from Sky this morning. I can't believe how fast it arrived. I was afraid if I attempted to fit it into the new iPhone I would mess things up as I did yesterday with the sim card that come with the phone, so I went next door and Shelly managed to install it into the phone. I have since used the activation code and have also transferred my number from 02, by ringing and obtaining the PAC code from 02 and have gone through the process to transferring the number onto the new iPhone. It's supposed to take two days for the number to go through, so I will probably have to wait until Monday before anyone can phone me on that number on the new phone. It all seemed very simple and straightforward.

It's another really sunny and mild day here in Milton Keynes. On the BBC weather forecast this morning they told us that we're supposed to get violent winds of upwards of 60-70 m.p.h. over the next couple of days, so that should liven things up considerably. They've named the storm Freya. I don't know who gives them the names, and why on earth do they have to have names? Is it so they can be sort of humanised? To have a personality? Do storms have personalities? Whose idea was this in the first place? Just shows how crazy the world has become.

(Sunday) I wouldn't call it sunny and mild this morning. It's not cold, but there's a sort of drizzle falling. Not exactly rain, but some sort of precipitation. My goodness, a long word used at 7.15 on a Sunday morning! We did our usual circuit of Eaglestone Park, even though I would have liked to have left it somewhat later, but Alfie being Alfie, I took him out as usual.

They're still whittling on about Brexit when I turned the television on this morning. So, I immediately turned it off. It's now doing my head in, the indecision of politicians. Not good for the country, making us the laughing-stock of the world. Crazy.

I may go to London on Friday. One of the walk-on agencies I have signed up to online has what they call an 'open casting' session and if you go along they will take your photograph and up-load it onto their website. This company, called Uni-Versal Extras, are quite fussy about the photograph you upload and I uploaded one and it has been accepted. I need a full length photograph, which is quite difficult to take on your own and get right. So, if they do it, it should be so much easier. I think they want these photographs to look professional, so if they do it, at least it will look better than one you do yourself. I have found the email that the details of their address, which took some doing, as it was a few days ago. I have also found where the session is to be and from that I can find the nearest Underground station. If I get a taxi from home to Milton Keynes station that should make life easier and I have an app on my new iPhone which also makes paying easier as it has my debit card details on it so I don't have to find change to pay when I get to my destination. Getting into London is fairly straightforward and if I know which Underground station to get to from Euston, it can't be much trouble to get to the agency address. If I get there early enough I can go into central London and find something to do like visit a museum or art gallery and make a day of it. I haven't been into London for ages, and certainly not since Carol was diagnosed back in August/September 2017 or thereabouts.

I have done plenty of walk-on work over the years, as you will have learnt if you've read earlier posts. But I haven't done any of that sort of work for at least 20 years. I want to get back into that line of work, if only a day or two here and there. It's getting into an agency which is the problem. I signed up with a couple a few years back, going into central London and on another occasion, Birmingham. Quite a lot of effort to get there, but never actually getting used in anything. They 'put your forward' for stuff, but for some reason you never get chosen. In the past I have been contacted by telephone by an agency and they would ask me if I was going to be available on a given day and if I replied that I was, then you'd know you were going to work on that day. None of this crazy being 'put forward.' If you're a walk-on or 'background,' it's not like having a speaking part. You don't have lines, but you need to be able to take direction, to behave in a certain way on set, and be available at short notice. You can be called very early, probably 6 a.m-8 a.m., and to be able to get up in time to get to the location. There's a lot of waiting about and it can be extremely boring but it can be really interesting to see how they make a television drama, be able to watch the camera crew set up lighting and other equipment. This sort of thing takes time and then when you get on the set they will rehearse a scene, perhaps several times and then 'go for a take.' You have to remember your cues, when to begin walking across, for example, and to not knock into the set or equipment, be able to hit your marks and then, if the take isn't perfect, do it all over again.

A Few More Things To Mention

Since Carol's death, the bird feeder which we had set up in the garden has been neglected. She was very keen on wildlife and enjoyed watching the birds that came to feed on the hanging arrangement of different feeders on this metal 'tree.' We enjoyed visiting Whipsnade Zoo, and had membership which meant we could visit as many times as we liked without having to pay entrance costs and later, because she was a science teacher, she became a fellow of the Z.S.L. (Zoological Society of London) . I went there as her guest. Several times Carol did the yearly bird count for the R.S.P.B. and we would spend time watching the different species of birds that would visit the feeder. We had a few problems with squirrels, one in particular actually managed to jump the relatively short distance from the neighbour's shed roof onto the bird feeder, narrowly avoiding implying itself on the rather sharp finial on the top of the feeder. It then proceeded to climb down the metal central pole of the feeder and gain access to the food in several of the hanging baskets which contained nuts. It could be quite a feat of athletic prowess when it hung upside down to get at the nuts in some of the feeding baskets. It even managed to climb up the central pole of the bird feeder which was quite amazing to watch.

Because the bird feeder has been left neglected for so long, I decided to restock the various feeding baskets on the metal structure, some of the baskets had disintegrated due to being left outside in all weather conditions. I went to The Range to stock up on food and bought two new feeding devices. Anyway, the various feeding devices are now full, except one, which needs peanuts which I will have to go out and buy tomorrow at some point.

I have been considering replacing my mobile phone. My current model is an iPhone 5S. It doesn't quite enough memory to put on all the apps I would like, so I decided that I would go for an iPhone 7 next. Carol had one from Sky, which I have since paid off and it is now redundant. With Sky Mobile you pay so much a month but you don't loose the data you have left unused at the end of the month and it rolls over to the next. Also, you have the option at the end of your contract period to trade your old model in for a newer one, so at least you have the latest model with the newest operating system. My old iPhone will not upgrade because Apple is slowly withdrawing older models which can't be upgraded with the latest operating system. I had a phone call from Sky Mobile to give me information about their range of offers, and to let me know that with their tariffs your data rolls over into the next month. I wasn't sure whether I wanted to have a new mobile at that time, but they rang again yesterday and I've set up a new contract with them with an iPhone 7 as my choice of new mobile. As it's £19 a month it seems like a good decision. At present I have an O2 'pay-as-you-go tariff on my old iPhone 5S but at the end of the month I loose what data remains. I also want to keep my telephone number which I will be able to do, transferring from the old to the new mobile. The new iPhone will arrive in via courier this morning some time. I will get a text message to tell me when the parcel is likely to arrive, so I will have to stay in to make sure I receive it. I think this is a good offer, because at present I'm on a pay-as-you-go tariff and it's £10 a month which you have to top-up with a voucher or go on line to pay and it's somewhat annoying and you loose the unused data at the end of each month. So, for £19 a month I get a brand new iPhone and none of the annoying topping-up as well as not loosing the unused data at the end of each month.

Later. I'v now had a text from the courier company, DPD, to inform me that the iPhone will be delivered between 2.30 and 3.30, which means I can at least leave the house to do some shopping.

No birdies as yet visiting the restocked bird feeder in he garden, but I expect they will come sooner rather than later. I think they have to make sure it's safe before taking the plunge.

We've been piloting a project at church, started set up by Worldvision. It's called Matthew 25. It runs for a week and you have to do several things, related to what Jesus says in this scripture. The involve making and eating a meal of beans and rice, going one day only drinking water, sleeping one night on the floor, a day when you only wear what you wore the day before (ie. two days wearing the same clothes.), iterating with someone who has a problem, ie. homelessness, illness or whatever. I have done the different activities, apart from sleeping on the floor. Today I went to Waitrose and outside there was a lady selling The Big Issue. I bought her a coffee (no, sorry, it was free, because I have a My Waitrose card.) and I bought a copy of the magazine. I'm always sorry for these people, standing outside the railway station or the shopping centre. People walk past and ignore them. I don't know how many magazines they manage to sell, but I don't imagine it's many. I don't expect many people stop to talk to them. Anyway, whatever the result, I did make some effort to do this particular activity. I don't actually come across many people who need support in the community, although I often see people who presumably are homeless, outside the shopping centre. I'm not sure what their situation is, but it's difficult to just walk past without being involved with them in some way, even if it's to stop and chat or buy them a sandwich and a cup of coffee or tea.

Later. The new iPhone arrived. A good deal quicker than I had expected. I have been having real problems with installing the SIM card. I had a similar problem with the old iPhone, but with a bit of patience it can be done, but I have had to get Sky to send a new one and I will have to get someone who has far nimbler fingers than me to put it in the little drawer. There's no indication as to which way it's supposed to go in that minuscule drawer, or whether it's upside down or whatever. I had to ring Sky and they're sending out a new one. It should be here in a couple of days. Frustrating, but there's nothing much I can do. If my stepson, Daniel, was here, he'd have no problems doing this. I have got all the apps from my old iPhone transferred to the new phone because they are on the cloud and miraculously moved to the new phone. One thing I don't have to do, because it will work using wifi which is successfully set up on the new iPhone. I have put the new phone back in it's box and it's on the desk upstairs in my bedroom and will remain there until the new SIM card arrives.