Winter Draws Nearer

Saturday. 8.20 p.m. The weather is getting colder. There is the possibility of snow in some parts of Britain, according to the weather forecast on BBC Breakfast this morning.

I have been baking a traditional Christmas fruit cake. It's not something I have made before, so I had to have a look for a recipe and chose one by Delia Smith. I got most of the ingredients in Sainsbury's during the week. Except I left out the mixed dried fruit, which I don't like. I couldn't get brandy or port, or, at least, in small bottles. Do they call them half bottles? I'm not certain. I had bought a high-grade spring form tin to bake the cake in. Because my oven is difficult to get an accurate temperature, I bought an oven thermometer from Amazon. I think it's vital to have your oven set to the recommended temperature before you decide to make a cake or, indeed, anything you are about to cook. It required a good four hours to bake, which meant I needed time to mix up the ingredients and then allow plenty of time to bake the cake. So on Thursday, I began to follow the instructions in the recipe at around 9 a.m. It came out of the oven at around 6.30 p.m. I had managed to get a small bottle of port from Aldi when I went to Curry's to buy some leads for the Portal TV for when it arrived and would be required for setting it up. I mixed in some port to the dried fruit before stirring up the cake mixture and putting it in the tin and then the oven.

I have removed some over-cooked outer layer of the cake. I may have to have another go at scraping off some more more before I attempt to ice it. I remember my mother used to make Christmas cakes and ice them, with a first layer of marzipan and then the whole thing covered in white icing, I think it's called royal icing. You either like it or you don't. I don't mind so long as the icing isn't too hard. 

Tuesday 4.15 p.m. I have booked my car in to be serviced at Bleak Hall Motors. I have managed to arrange it via their website and paid, getting a discount in the process. It's booked for 8 a.m. this Thursday. I then went to Sainsbury's and bought marzipan and rollable icing which should make the cake icing a good deal easier. I don't think you could get pre-made icing or marzipan when my mother was around making Christmas cakes. Not only that, but I think you just roll each layer out and use warm apricot jam as a sort of glue to stick on the marzipan onto the cake surface. 

Wednesday. 4.10 p.m. I have managed to have a fascinating Zoom session from Bletchley Park on my new Portal TV about Britain and America and the Battle of The Atlantic during World War 2. It works really well and makes things a good deal better than having to peer at a small laptop screen instead. There are a couple more documentaries to go in a four-part series, and then they will be uploaded onto YouTube. Very pleased with the purchase of the Portal TV, which was on offer due to Black Friday offers. I have also bought the sixth and final book in the Peter Ackroyd 'History of England' series called 'Innovation,' which came from Amazon this morning. So, I have that to look forward to reading, although I have plenty of other reading material to read first and, looking at the pile of books atop my bookshelf, it should keep me occupied well into 2022.

Thursday. 2.25 p.m. I took the Renault to Bleak Hall Motors for the 8 a.m. service today. It has had to remain there until tomorrow because they discovered two rear springs which need replacing, and they can't get the parts until tomorrow. I walked back to Dexter House as it isn't particularly that great a distance and will wait until tomorrow when they should ring me to let me know it's ready. I was told I could have driven it provided I didn't go far or over any speed bumps at speed, but I didn't want to risk further problems if the remaining springs were to break. I was fortunate I took the car for service when I did because it could have broken down on the motorway going to Worcester over the Christmas period. Better to get it repaired rather than leave it.

Definitely a good deal colder today. Probably cold enough for snow. I hope not, but could be. There was a light icing on the car windows this morning before I drove to Bleak Hall Motors.

Friday. 8.a.m. Really very this morning. Storm Arwen about to strike, but according to BBC Breakfast it looks as if it's the north-east of England and Scotland which will be struck the hardest. They show it on the maps on the weather forecast in bright yellow which makes me think of those horrible plastic rain coats you used to have which made you hot and sweaty. Pac-A-Mac? I can't say I remember.

2.00.p.m. I had been waiting in expectation from the garage to ring to tell me they'd finished with the car. Then at midday I just happened to glance at text messages and they had sent a text to say the car was ready to collect. There was no point hanging around, so I walked to Bleak Hall. It has been threatening rain. It took me barely half an hour to walk the distance, and it was paid for and I came home soon after. As I write this, the wind has become stronger. I have taken out a few minutes ago, but as soon as we got outside, and I deposited him on the grass, his majesty turned round and came back inside. I don't blame him, but it was funny. He just doesn't like rain or cold.

Disappointments and Frustrations

Sunday. 5.55 p.m. Yesterday the men's breakfast group met at the  Harvester  Fountain inn in Loughton. It's just off Watling Street and just along the road from where Carol and I lived when we were first married, in Crownhill. 

Just a matter of interest. It intrigues me that Loughton is pronounced as it sounds (Low-ton) while Woughton-On-The-Green, the next village going out of Milton Keynes (both being villages now swallowed up by the new town of Milton Keynes), is pronounced Woof-ton. Just makes things difficult for anyone new to the area. Probably one of the quirks of the English language. Try explaining that to an American, or any other foreign visitor!

Thursday. 7.25 p.m. I haven't been keeping up with things in these blog posts. On Thursday I drove to Camphill with the hope of meeting the drama workshop guys and the new drama team. I went to the office and was told that I could do my Disclosure online. But then when I got home I had an email from Camphill to say that there had been another change of plan. Due to the disruption of the pantomime which is being performed in the Chrysalis Theatre over the Christmas period, I would not be able to meet the team, so I will have to arrange another day to visit and do a taster day (which is what I did originally when I first went to Camphill as a volunteer in around April 2019.) After that, I can do the disclosure and hopefully get back to working in the drama workshop.

I had an email on Wednesday morning saying that I had been 'put forward' for walk-on work at Pinewood Studios on a Disney production. No name or anything much. I needed to upload several photos to the Pop website, the casting site. I got Barbara to take these shots on my iPhone and then managed to upload them successfully. I would have to go to Pinewood on Friday for a costume fitting and the filming day would be on Monday. As usual, a wait to get a response, and then today I got another email telling me I had been released (i.e.; not selected.) Ho Hum! It was what I expected, but one always hopes one will eventually get selected. Just one day on something or other would be great. Such is life!

Saturday. 11.35 p.m. I have been interested in something called 'Portal,' which has been created by Facebook. It's a technology that allows you to video chat with people, your family, friends, and others by using a screen with a camera attached. OK, you can do all this on your PC or laptop and I have used Zoom during the various lockdowns we've had during the past eighteen months or more, especially for church meetings and bits of market research I have done.  It is connected to Facebook live video. Except I wouldn't want to have another gadget as I already have enough gadgets. I had imagined it would be great to be able to video chat through my television set if I was able to have a camera attached to my set so that I could use Zoom or other similar video conferencing software on my MacBook and that connected somehow to my television set.  The only problem with Zoom on a laptop is that staring at a small screen and then the tiny postage stamp-sized images of the other people in the meeting can be quite a strain. So, what amazement was it to find that Facebook had released such a piece of technology and called Portal TV? Zoom will work on it and as it's on a large television screen it would be far more comfortable to use looking at a larger image. Not only that, but you can video call family and friends using this technology. Then I found that this gadget was going to be available at half price for Black Friday. (Why does Black Friday last for several weeks? Not just one particular Friday? And could someone explain why it's Black? No, please, don't. I don't want to get into such a discussion on here. . . ) I could buy one at this low price via BT. Which is what I did. Paid for, and it would be delivered by Mailforce, part of Royal Mail. Simple. Or so I imagined. It wasn't the ordering that was difficult. Just the delivering. The thing was ordered on Wednesday, and it was scheduled to be delivered on Friday, between around 12.30-1.30 p.m. Which I learned via email and text message.

I waited in expectation of the delivery of the parcel. At around 12.30 I got a buzz on the intercom from the front door of Dexter House to say the aforementioned parcel had been delivered but to the wrong address.     Not my flat number, but the house opposite. This is constantly being a problem. The gentleman from the house opposite had a card with my address on it, and it said I could collect my parcel after 24 hours! Looking at the card it had my correct address, so why didn't the delivery driver merely turn round and see that Dexter House was opposite? Well, it was merely a matter of reading the address correctly. No real excuse. So, I was annoyed that I would have to wait a full 24 hours before I could collect the parcel.

The next day I drove into the Centre MK to meet up with my friend Nick who came to Milton Keynes on a bus from Northampton. I intended to park in the Secklow car park next to The Point and normally have no issues using the RingGo app on my phone. But for some reason, it would not work because you have to put in more identity before you pay. So it was fortunate I had sufficient coins in my jacket pocket to put in one of the ticket machines. Yet another of life's frustrations. When technology works, it's fine, but when it doesn't or is changed for whatever reason, it can be annoying.

Having met up with Nick I then drove to the mail delivery office in Brinklow. I have had to collect several parcels from here, so I was hoping that I could pick up the parcel and then return to my flat to set up the Portal TV on my television set. But no. Having taken the card which was left when the drive was going to deliver the parcel to the wrong house, I then learnt that I would need to collect the parcel fro the Parcelforce unit in Tongwell. So I got back in the car and drove across Milton Keynes to Tongwell, to just opposite Willen village. But, lo and behold! I was told by the rather disinterested girl on the reception desk that my parcel was at the Post Office in the centre of Milton Keynes! This was beginning to get somewhat repetitive. Why on earth wasn't I given this information in the first place?  I could easily have collected it when I was with Nick earlier in the day. Another car journey into the centre. But where to park? I had no change on me, thanks to having to use the payment machine in the Secklow car park when the RingGo app didn't work as it should, so I drove around aimlessly hoping there might be a free spot to park whilst I went into the Post Office to collect the parcel. No luck! Then I found myself driving into the newly-opened multi-storey car park next to John Lewis. There was no alternative but to drive in and park. I first had to negotiate the barrier, having to put my debit card into the machine. I later found that I should have taken a ticket from the machine and once I'd collected the parcel I then realized I had to put this ticket (which I didn't have.) in one of the payment machines to then pay with my card. Oh, what an adventure the entire afternoon had been. But I did manage to get out eventually, managing to get a ticket from the exit and then putting it into another machine to lift the barrier, so I could get out!

On arriving back at Dexter House I then found that some kind person had parked their car across the entrance to my parking space, which was so nice of them, but later in the evening, I went down to move my car onto my space once the car had driven away. Just a wonderful end to a long, and difficult afternoon.

November Cold and Other Matters

 Friday. 4.40 p.m. I have developed a rather unpleasant cold. I don't think I've had a cold since the 1990s, but certainly not in the time Carol I were together. I have kept to myself and didn't go to the 5th session of The Prayer Course at the Oaktree Centre yesterday evening. It's just a matter of letting it run its course, but as I write this it seems to be clearing up. I'm almost certain that I picked it up after being locked down due to the pandemic for the past eighteen months or more.

Sunday. 9.25 a.m. The cold is still hanging on. I'll just have to let it run its course. I'm not going to church this morning, more concerned that I would spread it to others than how I feel. Actually, it's just a runny nose and a cough, but that's all. I had far worse. I may get some honey and lemon to drink. A classic actor's remedy for a cold or laryngitis.

I've been out with Alfie twice. We discovered that it was chilly, but there is a somewhat watery sun. Alfie loves the leaves that are strewn along the path as we approach the crossing onto Oldbrook Green. A lot of noise from fireworks last night. Alfie's not reacted one bit. He doesn't seem in the least bit bothered by them, although the largest explosions made me jump. Almost sounded like bombs going off.

Monday. 7.25 a.m. It's cold out. I'm glad I've got extra layers to put on. Red-rosy sky. What does the old proverb say? 'Red sky at night, shepherd's delight. Red sky in the morning, shepherd's warning.' I think it's quite accurate, so we'll wait and see what sort of turn the weather makes. I just hope it's not too cold, windy, foggy, or icy.

Tuesday. 8.15 a.m. It's actually quite sunny and mild as I write this. Goodness! Can it be real? Is it connected to climate change? Probably. Possibly. Just another balmy day.

The wretched cold has run its course. I think the fact that I kept to myself for the past few days has paid off. I still have a bit of a cough, but that's nothing compared to a runny nose. I did have a bit of a temperature at one point, but that's settled back to normal.

7.35 p.m. I have finally finished the book 'The Thirties,' By Juliet Gardiner. It's a hefty tome of some 750 pages, and I can't believe I've been reading it since July! Only a few pages a day, so it's no wonder it has taken so long. I've just started 'Hamnet' by Maggie O'Farrell. I'm only one page in and I'm really enjoying it.

Saturday. 6.30 p.m. I didn't know whether to post this, but after seconds of thought, here I go. A few weeks ago I had a phone call from the undertakers who did Carol's funeral. Had I considered what I wanted to do with her ashes? I have been racking my brain for almost the last three years since she passed away. I didn't know where to scatter them. I had considered Whipsnade Zoo because it was one of our favourite places to visit. But I had to consider whether ZSL, who operates the zoo, would allow this. I had considered Dunstable Downs, just below the zoo. I hadn't done anything about this matter, until after the telephone call, when I was out walking Alfie around Oldbrook Green. In a sort of light-bulb moment, I thought of Salcey Forest, which was somewhere we visited regularly to walk our dogs. Then I thought, I had better contact whoever manages the place to ask if they would allow this. I thought it was important to ask permission as some places didn't allow the scattering of ashes. I found their email address and sent an email off and waited for a reply. I eventually got a response and was told it was okay but I mustn't dig the ashes in. I texted Daniel to tell him what my intentions were and to let his brother, Sam, know. I didn't get a response, so I found his email address and emailed him, repeating what I had put in the text message. I got an answer after several days in which he said if I let him know when I was going to scatter his mother's ashes he might be able to come down to be there.  On Tuesday I went on my own to Newport Pagnell to collect the ashes from the undertakers, Masons. Not something I was actually looking forward to, be it went well enough. I arranged the 10th November (last Wednesday), which gave him more than enough time for Daniel to sort out having the time off work and also plenty of time to get down here in Milton Keynes (I wanted the scattering to be around 2 p.m.) But I heard no more so went ahead, having asked my friends from Church, Mike, and Margaret, to go with me. So, that is exactly what we did last Wednesday, driving all the way to Salcey forest and I found just the perfect place to scatter the ashes. It was very peaceful with very few people around which probably wouldn't have been the case if we'd gone on a Saturday or Sunday. Margaret read a Bible passage and Mike said a prayer before I scattered the ashes and later I took a photograph of the site which I later sent to Carol's parents in Bournemouth. We then went to the cafe for hot chocolate and then drove back to Milton Keynes. The weather was perfect, with no rain, which might have made the proceedings somewhat difficult. Having been there quite a few times in the past, we had found it to be very muddy, but now most of the paths have a decent surface to walk on and the roads and car parking areas are similarly surfaced, making life far easier for all concerned.

Worcester and Wellies

Friday. 6.40 p.m. Yesterday (Thursday) I went to Sports Direct with the intention of buying a pair of Wellington Boots. I was certainly not paying somewhere in the region of £60-£100 for a pair, which seems totally ridiculous. Just a bog-standard pair of Dunlop Wellies and I browsed in the shoe department and chose Karrimor walking shoes, good solid shoes with, hopefully, tough soles. I think they will do the job admirably. I think I have mentioned the two pairs of Skechers began to leak water and thus became unwearable in wet weather. When I went to Chloe and Steve's around three years ago, just after Carol died. We all went out, and it was necessary for me to borrow a pair of Wellingtons, so it seemed a good idea to arm myself with them for the trip to visit again tomorrow. Chloe has told me we may be visiting an English Heritage property and wet weather gear is in order, so I will pack the Wellingtons as well as my bright yellow Regatta coat. She also said I should wear earplugs, no doubt because the four boys, George, Eddie, and Arthur, are somewhat boisterous and noisy. Well, that's what little boys do, so I won't be in the least bit surprised. Just be nice to see them all for the first time in almost two years.

Saturday. 6.00 a.m. So, today I'm going with Alfie to Worcester! I've sorted everything I need to take with me and will pack it all into the car and drive out of Milton Keynes. I topped up with diesel yesterday, which should see me well all the way there and back, so no time wasted on fuel on the way.

I managed to get everything loaded into the car, along with Alfie in the cage in the back of the car. He made a lot of noise, barking, and so on, but once we were moving and driving out of Milton Keynes he settled down for the rest of the journey. I know my way well to the M40, and it took around an hour before we eventually drove onto the motorway. Unfortunately, it was raining, although relatively lightly, but the moving traffic threw up spray, which obscured the motorway ahead and to some extent, behind, making overtaking somewhat hazardous, and I had to drive below the normal top speed, but it was necessary to keep safe. 

By the time I got off the M5 for Worcester, I had to use Google Maps to direct me to Steve and Chloe's home, and around ten minutes later I was drawing up outside their house. I was greeted at the door by George, Eddie, and Arthur. Really excited to see me! I just realized that it was almost two years since I visited. I briefly visited when I went to see Arthur after he was born, taken there by friends from church, but not for a longer visit.

After lunch, we went to Witley Court, an English Heritage property around a twenty-minute drive out of Worcester. It was just as well I had my wellies, as it was quite wet and muddy. The boys enjoyed playing on a climbing frame, which included a rope walk and a slope to scramble up. Then we went to the mansion area, now a ruin, because it had been burnt down in the 1930s. A Victorian pile, a real hodgepodge of styles, some neoclassical, some Italianate, lots of columns, and very excessive in style. It was interesting to be able to wander around inside the ruins of this mansion and see how it had been built and get a glimpse of what must have been a really impressive building. Interesting to see that the inside walls were rough brick and the exterior was covered by a relatively thin layer of dressed stone. All very similar to a set for a film or play, the audience side is painted to look 'real' and impressive whilst, if you go round the back, it's rough wood, plywood and canvas.

We had a picnic, sitting on the grass near the most magnificent fountain. It was somewhat in need of a good clean, but that didn't detract from its size and scope, some sort of, presumably, mythical horseman spearing what looked like a dragon. The horse had wings, although very small. Was it supposed to depict St George and The Dragon? Who knows. As we ate our picnic the fountain burst forth into life, water gushing out of the mouths of fishes and several from each side of the central section and a larger fountain in the centre of everything which shot into the air to a great height.

Witley Court fountain in action.

It was beginning to get dark by the time we walked back to the car. Back at Steve and Chloe's home, we unpacked the children (having for to deal with is somewhat like an army on manoeuvres. You have extra stuff with a six-month-old child to consider.) All loaded into each of the two cars, with me in Chloe's, and we got back to the house. 

We had supper (what do you call your evening meal? Dinner if you're posh, supper if you're not so posh? Tea? Which is what Carol used to call it. I suppose it depends on what area of the country you come from. Tea for me, when I was growing up was bread and butter with jam or honey or any sort of spread on it. Today it might be chocolate spread or peanut butter, followed by cake ('bread before cake!', as my mother used to say. I digress . . . ) 

Then time for bed. It was difficult sleeping in a single bed with Alfie . . . He's used to sharing my king-sized bed. I had his own cosy dog bed with me, bought from Milton Keynes. After some effort to keep him on the bed, he eventually decided it was easier to sleep in his own bed and I got a good night's sleep.

Next morning I was planning to go home early afternoon. Not before I'd been surprised with a birthday cake with one candle on (which I blew out!) presents, colourful socks and chocolates and then around midday we had a proper family roast lunch, which I haven't had in years. Sitting around a table is something I haven't done in quite a while. Then, packed up my belongings in the car, first installing Alfie in the cage in the boot, with quite a lot of barking. I managed to set the SatNav properly and for the first time I got the voice to work. Having said my goodbyes, I was off and soon on the M5, followed by the M42 and eventually the M40 and came off onto the main road which leads home through Buckingham and soon Milton Keynes hove into view and the journey just under two hours.