Doggone!

 Saturday. 6.30 a.m. It's really strange, waking up as usual, but not having a small dog to take out. Alfie has been such a central part of my life, and then to suddenly lose him is a shock.

We got Alfie after we went to Crufts. Carol was spontaneous, and we often did things on the spur of the moment. So, we got tickets and went. It was at the NEC near Birmingham (National Exhibition Centre). We watched some agility displays, and one of the dogs was a Yorkshire Terrier, so afterwards, Carol said, 'Shall we get a Yorkshire Terrier?' I said 'Okay.' So we got Alfie from a breeder near March in Cambridgeshire. We already had Poppy, who was a schitzu/Westie cross. Carol had her before we met in 2006. Then we had some rather difficult situations when Alfie was brought home and introduced to Poppy. All went fine for a day or two, but then Poppy was very clear on what Alfie's place was in the house. A lot of growling and 'I'm the boss' type behaviour. But it soon settled down. There were some really amusing situations, usually in the evening. The two dogs would charge around the house, through the kitchen, then the front hall and then into the lounge, and round and round, jumping on the sofa, over our legs if they were in the way. It was just crazy and funny.

Alfie was easy to house train. There really were no problems in that area. We took both dogs out for lots of walks. One of our favourite places was Rushmere Country Park, which is near Leighton Buzzard, a short journey south on the A5. We took Alfie with us during the Autumn and, walking along one of the paths, which were covered with leaves, Alfie got some caught in his coat. He kept stopping to pull them out with his mouth. It was hilarious. On another occasion, we took both dogs for a walk along the Grand Union Canal, which runs through Milton Keynes.. We let them off their leads, and they ran about. There was a low wall, which Alfie decided to jump over, and as a result, he landed in the canal! I had to drag him out, sopping wet, and he looked like a drowned rat!

Tuesday. 8.40 a.m. It's a bright and sunny morning. The digital thermometer currently reads 23ºc. 

I have been tidying the flat. I got around half of the floor mopped. It's a complex process, because I have to move furniture before I can get to some areas. I've had to move the sofa, so I can move my office chair so I can sweep and then mop under the desk. The television had to move to allow me to sweep and mop behind it. I have done the floor in front of the television. I will leave the other half of the room for another day.

11.45 a.m. I have now planted the remaining daffodil bulbs in the garden at Dexter House.

My writing continues. The sequence is not yet complete, but it is getting there.

What's It All About, Alfie?

Thursday.6.00 p.m. I went to the Oaktree Centre this morning to help set up Acorns playgroup. I left around 8.40, which should have given me plenty of time to get there for 9. I left Dexter House and drove out of Oldbrook along Strudwick Drive and then found there was a queue of around six cars at the junction onto Chaffron Way. It's virtually impossible to get out onto the road to the right, due to heavy traffic so, as usual, I went left and drove around the roundabout near Eaglestone (commonly known as Four Bridges, for obvious reasons, and then doubled back on myself to drive along Chaffron Way. Then there was a jam only metres away, just before the turning into Rainbow Drive. Many cars appeared to be parked within the immediate entry, and I wondered if they were parents dropping off children going to either the college or Milton Keynes Academy. These parents (if indeed it is parents) don't seem to care about anyone else, just blocking the entrance and not getting out of the way. The other entrance into MK Academy in Saxon Street was always being clogged up with cars, by parents either leaving their children or collecting them and also not taking a blind bit of notice that it was dangerous, likely causing collisions with vehicles, even though the school had made it clear to them not to do so. People just seem to do as they please, regardless of being told not to do something. 

Beyond the roundabout where Chaffron Way meets Grafton Street, the traffic was nose-to-tail more or less all the way to Shenley. All I can say is, I was more than glad that I was driving in the opposite direction and I wouldn't want to put up with that sort of traffic daily, to and from work. I can't think what had caused the traffic to be so snarled up unless there was an accident on either the M1 or the A5 and traffic was being diverted through Milton Keynes or maybe there was resurfacing of some of the grid roads which might cause such problems.

Saturday. 6.05 a.m. Alfie came to me and prodded me. I had to force myself to respond and wake up. It wasn't easy, waking up, getting dressed and then taking him out, as I knew he was in desperate need to get out and I really didn't want a mess to clear up. So I carried him out (just as well he's small. I can't imagine doing that with a bigger dog, an Irish wolf-hound or Labrador.) This was at around 2.30 a.m., so you can imagine that it was very dark, even with a few street lamps illuminating things. But it was a success, and we were soon back indoors and back in bed a couple of minutes later.

We met up for the men's breakfast at Morrison's at Westcroft this morning. It was something of a disaster, although it was sorted out. We have met there to use the community room for several months and it seems a good enough venue, it's quiet, and we can have a cooked breakfast,, provided by Morrison's café. But I don't know what happened as regards getting the room set up and making it ready for us. You would imagine that if they had a regular booking, they would have known we were due there. But no. The staff had no idea. It was eventually sorted out and the meeting went ahead, but we could have just as easily gone to Costa which is right next door to Morrison's. 

I had planned to go to my creative writing group, which meets monthly in Waterstones in Midsummer Place. I should have left to drive a good deal earlier because when I got as far as the road opposite The escape, the traffic was backed up almost as far as the roundabout on Childs Way. It took some while to reach the carpark I usually go to when I drive into Milton Keynes centre and found it absolutely chocker-block, with not a single space vacant, although I did drive round with the hope that I would find a space, but no luck. I then drove out and thought I might be able to park in the adjacent carpark, but when I attempted to use the RingGo app it would not work. A similar situation happened when I came in earlier in the week to have my covid booster vaccine jab. It simply refused to work. I don't understand why it won't work, it won't connect or something. One of those confounded spinning wheel things, so I gave up and came home, unfortunately, abandoning any possibility of getting to the meet-up. I will just have to drive in a good deal earlier when the group next meets.

Going To Worcester

Since I have been keeping the bird feeders on the feeding station replenished, our old friend Cyril Squirrel has been making an appearance. Even though he shouldn't be on the feeding station and I should really make some effort to remove him, however I manage to do that, probably by merely opening the window and shouting, I can't be be entertained by his antics. But how do you remove a squirrel from a feeding station? You can get a sort of disc that goes around the central supporting column but it would be difficult to fix. Then there's the crazy pigeon that attempts to sit on the structure and is far too big and seems to find it difficult to balance on the think. It doesn't have a lot of sense and in the end it just gives up and flies away.

Sunday. It's to such a bright and sunny day today, but still quite pleasant. Infact, I think I prefer it like this. If it's too hot I can't cope.

I've been out early to put diesel in the car, well before 8 o'clock. Virtually car-free on the way, which is the whole purpose, none of those idiots who insist on tail-gating. Shell have a new loyalty system and I have the app on my iPhone. I don't know if it's as good a system as the old one but after 10 visits you get money off your fuel, so it may be worth the effort to use. BP have done the same and given up Necar for their own system.

Monday. A not particularly bright and sunny day, but it did get warmer as the day progressed. I was ready and waiting for John and Margaret to arrive at exactly 10 o'clock this morning as they were driving me all the way to Worcester to see my new third grandson, Arthur, who was born four weeks ago. We drove out of Milton Keynes but going in a slightly different direction from the route I would have driven if I'd gone myself, up the A5 and across to Buckingham whereas I would have gone via Standing Way, but actually not a lot of difference as we still ended up on the M40 and then M5. I was surprised how quickly we got to Claines, which is part of Worcester, the remaining couple of miles being directed by the use of the Google Maps app on my iPhone.

Chloe in the garden hanging out washing and Steve was at home. We had lunch sitting at the table in the garden, salad and quiche and then Chloe got baby Arthur who had been having a nap when I arrived. Still very sleepy when she bought him down for me to see in the garden and given a chance to hold him. The other two, George and Eddie, were at playgroup and wouldn't be home until around 4.30 so I would be unlikely to see them as John and Margaret were coming back at 3 p.m. for the return journey back to Milton Keynes.

Sure enough, almost exactly at 3 there was a knock on the door and Margaret came in to say they were back, having been into the centre of Worcester. So, I bade farewell to Chloe, Steve and baby Arthur and we got in the car and drove home to Milton Keynes, arriving back just before 5p.m. I was surprised by the fact that we had left Milton Keynes at 10a.m. and driven all the way to Worcester and got home at 5p.m. I don't know exactly how many miles it was for the round trip, but it must have been a fair distance and I'm still so grateful to John and Margaret for taking me all that way. As babies grow up so fast, it was great to see Arthur as such a small baby. Probably the next time I see him he will have changed considerably, as is the way with babies.

Wednesday Morning At Whipsnade

We've been to Whipsnade Zoo for the first time in ages. We renewed Carol's Fellowship membership so we can visit as many times as we like without paying. Our one luxury which, at the moment, seems very worthwhile and takes our minds off hospital appointments and other difficulties and it's only about 30 minutes in the car from home.

We didn't intend spending money in any of the restaurants at Whipsnade when we wanted lunch, so we drove to Tesco's at Oldbrook to buy some sandwiches, crisps and a drink. We drove out of Milton Keynes on on the A5 and drove towards Dunstable and eventually along the Downs and arrived at the zoo.

When we eventually got to Whipsnade we were really surprised by how many people were there. Because it was virtually the end of the school holidays, we imagined that it would be vitally empty, but no doubt families intended making one final visit before their children returned to school. We had a bit of a problem parking the car, and some visitors couldn't make up their minds when crossing the road. So, we did our usual tour round the whole circuit and drove through the drive-through 'Passage Through Asia' exhibit. You see deer and other animals in a more natural environment, as you drive through, something like a safari park such as Woburn or Longleat. We didn't see any other people, cars or otherwise when we drove thorough. Then we drove round to park up near the chimpanzee enclosure and walked towards the bears and discovered that a talk was about to be given by one of the members of the zoo staff. It was absolutely heaving with people. We stood and looked at the bears for a while. It's fascinating listening to other people as well as watching them, almost as interesting as the zoo inhabitants. A couple were speaking quite loud, making comments, and one husband said to her wife that they'd gone all the way to Canada on holiday and hadn't seen any hears, but, here they were at Whipsnade and, yes, there were some bears! Seemed to us amazing that they'd gone all that way to Canada, when they could see bears in this country instead. Then on to the penguins. They always seem so amusing, perhaps because of the way they walk. Also, look vaguely human, the way they stand in crowds, vaguely looking as if they're queuing up for something.

We ate our picnic sitting in the car near the bear enclosure.

Digressing somewhat. As I sat here, at goodness knows what time in the early hours of the morning, which I usually do when I can't sleep, I had a buzzing going on in the room. It was a fly of some sort. I wouldn't think flies would be around at night, in the dark. But there it was, somewhere, flying round and round as I attempted to concentrate on writing this blog post. I put up with it for a while and then gave up. I found the fly spray, conveniently left on the bookshelves and sprayed around. I don't like using it, I don't want to sit in a room where it's been sprayed. It didn't work at first, but after about ten minutes the buzzing stopped and I could get back to my writing.

We parked up near the elephants. They have to be my favourites and as they were up near the fence so we got a really good view. The BBC has an annual show which is shown on Sunday evenings called 'The Big Painting Challenge' and contestants had to paint scenes in a wide range of locations and landscapes, one location was actually Whipsnade Zoo. They had to paint the flamingos and also the elephants, and we were at the actual location for that particular painting challenge. H.M. Queen came to open the new elephant house a couple of years ago, and television news showed her actually feeding one of the elephants and a newly-born baby elephant was given the name Elizabeth in honour of the Queen's visit to coincide with her 60 years on the throne.

Having spent a couple of hours at the news we drove around to park near the entrance and went in to browse in the shop and then drove out to return home. A really pleasant morning spent out together. It wasn't too hot, thankfully. We thought it might have rained, but it held off. A certain amount of sunshine, which was actually better than being bright and sunny because it meant the animals didn't hide away in the shade.

All About Weather

It's bright and sunny this morning, but there's a cooling breeze. So, I begin my blog posts most days with a mention of the weather. I think most people, when they meet others, will almost always mention the weather. We do tend to spend a great deal of our time in this country discussing the weather. It does have an effect on our lives to a large extent. It gives the British their character. Stoical, long-suffering, uncomplaining. Is this true? A lot of British people moan constantly about the weather, as well as other things, such as politics, those in authority, but they make a living out of moaning, and do nothing much to try to change things. Admittedly you can't change the weather, you just have to 'grin and bear it,' whether it's too hot or too cold. We do have a habit of moaning on and on that it's far too cold in the winter or too hot in the summer, as we seemed to do during the recent heatwave. I have to admit it did get far too hot for me, but you can just keep out of the sun, or, when it's cold, put on more layers of clothes. If it's bright and sunny it does give you an up-lift to your mood, but if it's cold, due to snow and frost, or wet, due to rain, it can tend to make you miserable. I don't like it when the clocks move back in October, long dark days when it begins to get dark at around 4 o'clock in the afternoon. That long haul as we build up to Christmas, getting colder and even more dark doesn't help.

My father was a farmer and weather with important to him. There was a barometer on the wall in the corridor downstairs and he almost always consulted it at some stage of the day and he insisted on watching the television weather to find out how things would turn out, particularly during the corn harvest. If it rained it could effect the moisture content which was vital as to whether a particular batch of wheat, barley or oats was to be harvested. We didn't go on our annual holiday to Frinton-On-Sea until the first fortnight in September. I suppose school realised that most of the pupils were farmer's children and my father wouldn't go away until either the harvest was complete or unless the weather was fine and he could come with us to Frinton. It seems amazing looking back to think we must have missed two weeks of school, but that's what we did.

We've been out this morning. Carol had seen an advertisement in a magazine for a shop in Leighton Buzzard. They sell crafting materials. I'm not sure whether they have a website, but most likely they do. We drove there, via the A5 and then off towards Aylesbury along the by-pass. Some of the route is being resurfaced, the opposite lane. We got to Leighton Buzzard and parked in a Morrison's carpark but had no real idea where the shop was, but it's in a side-street off Lake Street, which means nothing to either of us. We visited the town a few years ago, but, frankly, the place has nothing much to recommend it. I think that time we parked near the theatre, but that's about all I remember. It's somewhat depressing, just looks rundown. Very bleak. Is it just me or is this how most towns look these days? Lots of boarded-up properties. No end of charity shops, pubs, banks and building societies. We eventually discovered the shop, which is down a rather seedy alleyway, which you wouldn't want to venture into at night. The shop is small and rather depressing and even more rundown than all the others. We have a browse and then return to Morrison's. Unfortunately you could buy everything they sold in that shop in large barn-like retail outlets such as Hobbycraft or on-line. We went into Morrison's and bought sandwiches, crisps and drinks to have for lunch. We were undecided where we should stop to eat our picnic, not really having an idea about the immediate vicinity. We drove away from the town towards Dunstable and the A5 because the alternative route back along the by-pass would be closed off due to the resurfacing. It seems incredible that such a recently opened stretch of road should require resurfacing. It is remarkably poorly constructed, no doubt as a way to cut costs when it was originally built only a few years ago. We reach the A5 at the roundabout we know well because we come this way when we visit Whipsnade, and go left and then meet a traffic jam. It creeps along at no more than walking pace. It goes on towards Hockliffe. No sign at all as to what caused the traffic hold-up. I imagined it might have been further roadworks, resurfacing perhaps, but absolutely nothing. Not even a road traffic accident. The jam just disappears and we move on at a higher speed. We decide to come off the A5 where the road meets a roundabout, to the left going off towards Stockgrove Park, which we visit on occasion with the dogs. But we go off right towards Woburn. There must be somewhere to stop nearby to have our improvised picnic. We drive through the deer park, doing the loop we usually do and come back through the park. We eventually find a rather pleasant bypass in the wooded area going back towards the A5. We sit in the car and eat our picnic and then return home via the A5 towards Milton Keynes.

Friday, later. The weather has changed considerably. The day started off sunny bit windy, but as I write this (at 6.55) it's been raining and we had a clap or two of thunder. It went quite dark as we were about to have our evening meal and I shut the curtains to keep the weather out.

Wednesday and Thursday Mornings

Wednesday, early. I've put the rubbish out for the binmen. Several black bin bags and one pink recycling bag. The sound of a bin lorry came before 8 o'clock but they didn't pick up the rubbish. I've been out with Alfie round the park and back. It's bright and sunny so let's hope it stays that way all day. Carol's mum and dad are coming up to visit today, but not sure what time they're arriving. Yesterday I managed to cut down some of the grass with the rechargeable grass cutter. It was beginning to get really long. Also, cut down some of the colts foot growing in the grass at the front of the house.

They turned up around 9.30. Carol said she'd had a text to say they were about 15-20 minutes away. I'm not sure which way they came up from Bournemouth. I think via the M25 and then M1. If we go down to Bournemouth, as we have done in the past, we go via the A34, crossing to Buckingham and then down that way.

We had to decide what we were going to do all day. Until 4 o'clock when Carols parents were due to be picked up again for the return journey to Bournemouth. Not too far to drive and somewhere to have coffee and possibly something to eat. Carol suggested going to the Bell Plantation garden centre in Towcester, which we've been to on several occasions. There's a good restaurant there and plenty to do and look at and would keep us busy for an hour or two and the drive up the A5 Watling Street a pleasant journey through some attractive scenery. So Carol decided to drive as she hasn't done so for a while. So, after Carol had got in the car and altered the driver's seat, because when I drive I have to have the seat moved back quite some way before I can drive comfortably, we drove out of Milton Keynes via Standing Way and then onto the A5 near the football stadium.

As we drove towards the large roundabout on the A5 near Stony Stratford, where the road went off in various directions, one into the centre of Stony Stratford and another onto the A5 towards Towcester, we saw signs reading that there were roadworks in the centre of Towcester. It then seemed likely that had we continued up the A5 we weren't going to get to Bell Plantation so we had to decided where to go. It was decided to return to the centre of Milton Keynes or to go to either Frost's garden centre at Woburn Sands or Dobbie's on the A5 near Fenny Stratford. Carol didn't want to go into the centre of Milton Keynes, so we decided on Dobbie's. It's off the A5 on the roundabout just below Fenny Stratford. We had a browse in some of the concessions within the store, mostly in Cotton Traders. Carol's mum tried on some sandals in their sale and bought a pair. We did look through some of the sale items but didn't see anything that caught our fancy. We then went into the café and had lattes and had intended buying scones in the farm shop, but those we came across, really large, around the size each of several ordinary scones from anywhere else, but when we learnt how much they were, around 80p we declined and then drove towards Milton Keynes, with the intention of going to Morrison's. We found that a road was closed off along Watling Street, near Crownhill and Loughton  and had to take a quick decision where to go and ended up driving around near Denbigh School and eventually went to Westcroft to park and shop in Morrison's, buying some scones there along with clotted cream.
Alfie has taken to Carol's dad. He ingratiates himself with most of our visitors. He sat with him on the sofa while we had scones, jam and clotted cream. We watched Countdown on television. When Carol's dad fell asleep (I don't know whether he was really asleep, or whether he was pretending, but making a fair impression of sleep.) Alfie behaved really humorously, attempting to wake him up, prodding him with his paw. He really is a smart little dog. I think he missed him when they eventually left to go home.

Thursday morning. As I write this at 7.15 on Thursday morning, the weather has changed quite considerably. It's raining quite hard. So, it means I can't take Alfie out for his early-morning walk round the park, otherwise we're going to get soaked. We'll just have to wait until it stops. I don't think he's going to like being disappointed.

We have heard nothing as I write this as regards the Housing Benefit claim. I had intended going in to the Council offices on my own, to give them a copy of the newly-signed tenancy agreement. Carol decided to come with me. She was happy to drive and we parked in the multi-storey carpark near Debenhams. It is undergoing maintenance. Probably because it is under new management, like the entire shopping centre, Midsummer Place.

We walked through the shopping centre towards the Council offices and signed in at reception and took the numbered ticket and sat and waited until our number came up. Carol saw two of her former pupils from the Academy who had just got their 'A' Level results. Very good and now ready to go off to university, one to Coventry and the other to Northampton. We didn't wait too long to be seen by a staff member. I have to remember that the desk you go to isn't the red digital number, which is the number you get given on the ticket when you first arrive at reception, but the one above the digital display above each desk. It appears our application for Housing Benefit is currently being dealt with and the delay is because of a backlog of applications. We should get some of this back dated and hopefully by the end of the month when our rent is due. We gave them a copy of the newly-signed rental agreement which the lady on the desk photocopied.

Having done with the Council offices we walked back into the shopping centre. Carol said she needed a coffee. She hadn't drunk her tea she had at breakfast. At first I suggested Marks and Spencer's, which is the first shop you encounter as you walk in through the entrance. There is also a Costa, but she didn't fancy that either. We went through to Midsummer Place and went to Pret A Manger. She needed the loo so I stood at the till and ordered, two lattes, mine with caramel, hers without and two chocolate croissants. They were made very swiftly and I went to a vacant to wait for Carol to reappear. We sat ate the croissants and drank the lattes. Very good. I will say Pret is very good. This particular branch is well stocked and pleasant. There is another branch further along in the main shopping centre near Middleton Hall. You don't have to queue as long as you have to at, say, Costa's, which only has one till. I think most of their branches are like that and the queues can be considerable. It makes sense to have several as Pret have. From Pret we walked back towards the carpark near Debenham's and drove towards Lidl where we bought some food for tonight's meal. When I got home I went out again to top up the gas and electric at One Stop at Garraway's. No good running out of electricity, because it might mean the freezer defrosting which could be a disaster. I then took Alfie out for his walk, because by then (around 1.15) the rain had stopped. Alfie came across a Great Dane being walked. He did his usual running around in circles thing and attempting to be friendly, but the dog wasn't interested. Alfie was small by comparison to this dog, which was around five times his size. I don't think it knew what had hit it, and looked somewhat dazed. It might be large, but somewhat thick in comparison to Alfie. Small in stature by large in his mind. Alfie seems fearless somehow, regardless of his small size.

Tenth Chemotherapy Cycle Postponed

It's another really beautiful warm spring day. We've been to the oncology suite so that Carol could have the usual blood test so that she can have the tenth chemotherapy cycle beginning tomorrow morning (Wednesday), depending on whether the test is as it should be.

As it happened, at around 6 o'clock on Wednesday evening we had a telephone call from oncology to say that there were not enough neutrophils in Carol's blood, which are the blood cells that fight infection. Which now means the tenth chemotherapy cycle has to be postponed until next week. This happened a couple of weeks ago and the next chemotherapy cycle was postponed for two weeks because Carols parents came to visit for a couple of days (see earlier blog post.)

So, I'm a bit lost as to what to write to make this blog post worthwhile. Well, we've been watching more episodes of 'The Woman In White', the current BBC1 classic adaptation. It seems to have really taken off after the third episode (of 5) but there's so many plots overlapping and so much going on it can be somewhat confusing. I don't think it will be particularly clear what's going on until we've seen the final episode (which was shown on May Bank Holiday Monday.)

I'm currently reading 'White Heat' by Dominic Sandbrook, part of his mammoth cycle of books tracing British history from Suez in 1956 up until the election of Margaret Thatcher. It's an extremely detailed account of the period, this particular volume covering the '60's, Harold Wilson, The Beatles, Mary Quant and other personalities.

It's been a really warm night. As a result, it's difficult to sleep, particularly when you have to keep the bedroom cool with the windows open.  You get the sound of cars along the A5 making a lot of sounds, racing, revving their engines. A lot of loud noises. During the day, then having bees and other flying insects buzzing in and out of the house.

Later. The Christmas tree, which is currently in the garden, in it's original pot from when it was bought in Dobbie's garden centre two Christmasses ago, is growing rapidly. It desperately needs re-potting before it dies off, which usually happens when we buy a 'live' Christmas tree. We have been meaning to find a suitable size pot so it can be transferred so that it can happily grow. In the current plastic pot it's likely to get pot-bound and then the roots will start to rot which will end with it dying which would be a shame since it's growing so successfully. We've seen suitable pots but hadn't got round to actually buying one, so this morning we went to Bunnings (which has taken over the Homebase branch in Winter Hill.) They had a quite spectacular selection of very suitable pots, one of which we purchased, along with a fuchsia  plant which Carol bought, along with potting compost and gravel to put in the pots. We had to use a trolley to convey our purchases to the till to pay and then out to the carpark, but the thing proved quite difficult to manoeuvre through the store and, once at the car, it took some effort to fit the various items in the interior of the vehicle.

We drove home to unload the posts, plants and bags of gravel and potting compost and then went out, first to drive through Woburn park, which is one of our favourite 'go-to' places when the weather is fine, searching out first rhododendrons which have begun flowering along the side of the road leading up to the cattle grids you have to go over on entering the open spaces of the deer park. We could see a few deer straggling across the road ahead of us, with one car stopped, no doubt to get a close-up view of these animals. Unfortunately we hadn't remembered to bring either of our cameras with us, because we might have got some really good shots had we got them with us.

We had to decide on somewhere suitable to have lunch so decided on Dobbie's at Bletchley, which has a good restaurant and we  had lattes, baguettes, panninis and cake. Carol had a rather nice slice of chocolate cake and I had a really tasty lemon frangipani tartlet, absolutely delicious. One of the best cakes I've had in a while. We must return at some time in the not-too distant future to partake of such delights again. We bought some plants which Carol wants to use in a bottle garden which she intends to construct in the former fish tank we have sitting in the garden.

Having finished in Dobbie's we drove back into Milton Keynes, to go to Marks and Spencer's at the football stadium where we bought milk and garlic bread which we needed.

My least-favourite job has to be done, mowing the grass. The grass seems to grow at unprecedented speed once we get any sun. It was cut a few weeks ago, and was somewhat difficult as I'd let it get too long and the mower, not really designed to cut such tough grass, really struggled. I think it's intended for those gardens which possess nice, neat turf and not the type of grass we have to contend with, more suitable to be eaten by horses, sheep and cattle and perhaps not mown at all.

Inlaw's Outing To Waddesdon Manor

As I've mentioned in earlier blog posts. Carol's parents have been staying locally at a hotel in Newport Pagnall. As the weather has been kind to us, we wanted to treat them to a pleasant day out so we went to collect them from the hotel at around 10 o'clock this morning and then drove out of the area via the A5 towards Buckingham. We wanted to keep it a secret so they had absolutely no idea where we were heading. Under different circumstances, such as going on our own, we wouldn't have driven via Buckingham, but would have gone the usual route through Aylesbury which is probably the most direct route if we'd gone from Eaglestone.

We eventually arrived at Waddesdon Manor and were directed to the carpark and were immediately surprised by how many cars were already parked. No doubt the warmer weather had bought people out, families with children in particular, as the Easter holiday was still in full swing. We had to queue up at the booking hall as we had to pay for Carol's mum and dad to enter, even though, as National Trust members we got in free. We then walked through to the bus which took us up to the Manor. Around a five-minute ride. Previous to the new car-park, you would have had to park near to the Manor in a rather haphazard arrangement of parking on roads in somewhat make-shift carparks. With our entry ticket we had booked a house tour, which was timed to begin at around 12.45, so we had quite a wait until we could go inside the Manor. We went into the main restaurant to have coffee and hot chocolate. We have never used this restaurant before, but the hot chocolate was really good. The weather being sunny, but cold, hot chocolate was a real necessity. Also, it was quite gusty when we came outside and walked around the side of the Manor and onto the terraced area. This is where the fountain is, but this was empty of water and all the statues on the fountain were covered in protective material, as were all the statues around the gardens and grounds, making them look really strange and somewhat creepy.

We sat and ate our food which we'd bought with us, at a conveniently-placed table on the terrace. It was still quite gusty and it took a lot of effort to not let some of the paper the food was wrapped in from being whisked away by the wind. We saw several red kites flying overhead and I managed to photograph some of them, but I don't reckon my efforts were particularly technically brilliant, but it was worth the effort.

We walked round to the gift shop and spent some time browsing. A lot of items we'd like to buy. They seem to have upped their game as regards the quality of what they sell. At one time the items on sale in the National Trust shops weren't up to much, but now they've made a real effort at better quality and things that you'd actually want to own.

By the time we'd finished in the shop it was about time to walk round to the front of the Manor and begin the house tour. Even though we've seen inside Waddeson Manor several times over the years, we've been amazed by the items on display, from furniture to priceless pieces of porcelain to the amazing collection of clocks. The whole place is awesome. You cannot fail to be left feeling amazed  at the variety of items that the house contains. If you've never visited Waddeson before, then do make an effort. If you have an interest, however vague, in art or antiques, then it's the perfect place to visit. Be amazed by the chandeliers, a wide variety of art from all periods, and some furniture which will take you breath away by it's artistry.

Having viewed the interior of the Manor, we left and then walked down towards the stables where we met the bus which was to return us to the carpark and the car, ready for our journey home to first Newport Pagnall and then to Milton Keynes and home.

Outing and a 'Little Bump' with The Car

Carol was determined to get out of the house. I couldn't blame her, as she hasn't been out for quite some time, except to go for hospital appointments, such as to the Oncology Suite and doctor's visits. We had to go somewhere which wouldn't compromise Carol's health as she can't get infected because of being on chemotherapy, so it wasn't a good idea to go somewhere which would mean she was likely to catch something nasty from someone or other. We headed off down the A5 and could have gone to Dobbie's at Bletchley, but when we got to the roundabout we decided to go the opposite way and headed for Woburn Sands and either Frost's or Wyevale garden centres. Carol has been looking for a diary so she can keep a track of her appointments, one with a page for each day. I had been into the city centre this morning and didn't find a decent diary for her in any of the shops but got a calendar in The Works. Generally a good place to browse in for not just books but also calendars and a wide range of odds and ends. We went into Wyevale first and had a good browse amongst the different stores within the garden centre and went into The Works (for me, again, although a different branch to this morning) and we found the ideal diary for Carol. She then had a desire to have cake (as you do) so we had a look round but found nothing, not so much as a crumb, unfortunately. So we left and went to Frost's only a few hundred yards back towards the centre of Woburn Sands. Not much room to park the car, but we did manage to eventually find a place and then went into the food hall. We wanted custard, and we found some in the food-hall, but we then discovered that it cost over £3. I hadn't noticed, but Carol pointed the cost out to me before we got to the till. I decided to put it back on the shelf. We could easily find ready-made or at least custard powder and make our own if we visited another shop. We couldn't find cake of any description, going into the restaurant in the main building of the garden centre. At more than £3  slice, we decided it was somewhat over-priced. Probably very nice, but you could find a whole Victoria sponge for less than that elsewhere. At which point we decided to leave.

We got back to the car, got in and I began to reverse out. A difficult enough manoeuvre at the best of times. You have to be sharp as there are always people walking past as well as other cars reversing and turning. I moved extremely slowly and, unfortunately, seemed to hit the car behind. The driver shouted that I'd hit his car. He wasn't going to let me go without making a scene. I got out of the car and spoke to him. I apologised and he asked me if I wanted to pay 'in cash' or claim 'on your insurance.' No possibility that he'd made an error with his driving? He had his iPhone out and was taking pictures with it of the damage to the rear of his car. Hardly a scratch. Also, taking shots of the rear of our car. Thinking about it now, I think he may just have been taking photos of the registration number. Only a slight scratch, if even that. I gave him my phone number and my name. There was something a bit odd about all this. How come he had his mobile out so quickly and taking shots only mere seconds after the 'crash'? You could hardly call it that. I was moving extremely slowly. I didn't hear any sound when the car ran into the other car. Neither did Carol. The other thing was, his wife was quickly on the scene with a note pad and pencil, taking down my name and phone number. Handy if she had a notebook and pencil so readily to hand.  I would contact our insurance company, Swinton, and they would deal with the claim, if indeed there was a claim. The other man said that he'd ring round to get a quote to have his car repaired. It was hardly worth bothering, to be honest. If I had been driving at speed, it would have made a far bigger dent in his car. What I saw on his car was hardly a dent, more like a tiny scratch, if that. Why couldn't he just accept that it was a minor accident and drive away without making any fuss? I reckon he'll get a quote and then hike up the amount and pocket the difference. There are people 'out there' who are quite determined to make money out of insurance claims, even staging car accidents deliberately just so they can claim on either their insurance or the other driver's. I reckon that driver could easily 'ring round' for a quote and then hike it and get me to 'pay in cash,' regardless of the actual quote he would be given. All these things adding up to be rather suspicious. It makes me wonder how many innocent drivers he's tried this sort of scam on.

On the way home we stopped at the Co-op in Broughton. This is a newly-opened estate which is growing fast. It's really incredible how much Milton Keynes has grown in the little over ten years that I've lived here. Out at Crownhill, where we lived when we were first married in 2007, the open fields going out along Watling Street towards Stony Stratford are now developed into more housing estates. The road into Milton Keynes from Junction 13 of the M1 has been extensively developed as a duel carriage way and a whole expanse of warehouses has grown up, mostly belonging to Waitrose and John Lewis. Anyway, we managed to find some suitable cake in the Co-op for Carol and also, when we got to the till to pay, the young man operating the checkout was a former pupil of Carol's which was nice for her. She was pleased to see him settled into a job and making a life for himself.

We'd been home a couple of hours when the telephone rang and the driver of the car spoke to me, asking for my insurance policy number. Well, I wasn't likely to have it immediately to hand, now was I? I hadn't bothered to look for it and had really no intention of doing so. I gave him my full name and told him that Swinton would deal with the matter. It was then that Carol was a bit suspicious. Was this man trying to make a claim which was really not much of a claim? It was odd that he had his mobile out so quickly and was taking photos of the 'damage', if you could call it that, to his precious car. I began to wonder if he wasn't trying to make a false claim on my insurance. Carol said to ring Swinton on Monday morning and tell them that this so-called claim seemed a bit suspicious, particularly as the damage, if you could even call it that, was so minimal, not even that, barely a scratch. We'll have to see what they had to say and let them decide. I have driven for very nearly 50 years and in all that time I think I've only had to claim on my insurance no more than half-a-dozen times. We watch daytime television programmes about such things as false insurance claims, or at least, some which are very suspicious. I have an idea that this person makes a habit of such things and would do anything to get money out of a car driver, when the damage is so minimal it can hardly be described as such. No more than what you'd expect if you were to brush against a branch of a tree or bush when you parked or if a cat or dog scratched it with it's paw. I imagine that the insurance company would send someone out to have a look the damage for themselves before they payed out to have the car repaired. We'll have to see what happens.

Saturday Whipsnade Zoo Outing

Having had to remain indoors for such a long time it was a necessity to get out and with the sun shining it was a really good excuse to visit Whipsnade Zoo. We went to the hairdresser's in  Shenley Brook End, Arcarna, as Carol wanted to book an appointment. She got one for Wednesday morning at 9 o'clock. From there we went to Morrison's to put fuel in the car, and remembering that the new car is a diesel and to not put the wrong fuel in the tank. Having done that we drove towards the A5 as we went to Whipsnade south towards Fenny Stratford when Carol said she needed a toilet. We could have gone into Dobbie's garden centre but ended up at the McDonald's on the roundabout on the A5. The traffic lights weren't operating so it was somewhat dangerous as this is a large roundabout with many roads leading in and out and it depended on other cars being sensible and allowing other vehicles to enter and leave without trying to take advantage. Having negotiated the roundabout and got into the side-road which is how you enter the McDonald's carpark, we noticed that it wasn't lit up and the found that the site, which also includes a Shell petrol station, was not operating so assumed that the fact that the traffic lights were not working the whole area was dark due to a power cut. We went into the McDonald's building and the staff were sitting at a table, no doubt unable to do any work with the fact that there was no electricity. Carol managed to use the toilet and we then returned to the car and drove back towards the A5, having to negotiate the heavy traffic that was backing up along the road towards Aylesbury and managed to squeeze in and then back onto the A5 and south towards Dunstable and Whipsnade.

The zoo opens at 10.00 am. but we were there at around 10.20, and managed to drive in without too much trouble. There weren't a lot of people so finding a place to park at the various stops around the zoo was easy and the fact that it was sunny and warm made it virtually perfect conditions to see many of the animals. We drove through the Passage Through Asia 'drive-through' which has a wide variety of animals within it such as deer, camels and other animals. Many of the deer were lying down which we have never seen before. We decided to not take too many photographs as we already have plenty. Having driven through this enclosed area we came out and went towards the elephants paddock. A couple of months ago we were at Whipsnade we visited the day after H.M. Queen visited to open the new Elephant Care Centre, an enormous building perfectly equipped to house elephants and with a viewing platform. Many of the animals houses at Whipsnade have been up-graded to include areas where you can see the animals at close quarters. This has been done at the giraffe house where there is a platform which means you see them up close and personal, virtually at giraffe-eye level. A couple of the female elephants were close to the fence at their paddock, two with their calves, one is called Elizabeth after the Queen and born close to either the Queen's wedding anniversary or her jubilee or when she visited. We met a lady-Z.S.L. volunteer who spoke to use about the elephants and had an elephant tooth to show us. Quite heavy and she explained how elephant's teeth grow from the back of the mouth and are replaced over several years. The tooth was like a mill stone with a rough surface which would be perfect for chewing grass and other vegetation. Apparently another female elephant, called Donna, is pregnant but we weren't told when the new baby will be born. Probably quite some time as elephants are pregnant for near-enough two years.

We went into the Wild Bite Café which is just opposite the tiger enclosure and very near the pelicans and flamingos. We had hot chocolate and a slice of very nice lemon drizzle cake which we shared, along with sandwiches. We didn't eat all of the cake so wrapped it in paper serviette to take home with us to eat later. No doubt we'll be back for another visit quite soon.

A bit of a wander around the zoo until we decided to leave and drive back to Milton Keynes. Fortunately the power had returned when we got to the roundabout on the A5 near Fenny Stratford and the McDonalds looked as it was up and running as normal although we drove past.

Saturday outing To Woburn Abbey

Having spent a great amount of time in the house since Carol's illness, it was more than necessary for us to have some time out. Carol wanted to visit Woburn Abbey, as it's only a 20-minute drive from home. We regularly drive through the park to see the deer. The weather was somewhat undecided and threatened rain but as we drove away from Milton Keynes along the A5 the rain held off. We were able to use our H.H.A. (Historic Houses Association) membership to gain free entry to the Abbey and the house. it's a really pleasant drive along the drive which leads to the Abbey and you are treated to to the sight of the deer who roam freely within the park. We were followed by a coach which no doubt had many visitors on board. Having parked up in the carpark, which was relatively space-free at the time we arrived, but it gradually filled up as the morning continued. We walked in to the Abbey grounds through the gift shop and then went into the gardens. A beautifully maintained delight, peaceful and relaxing. We came across a group of guinea fowl, which neither of us had seen before and they were not only beautiful but very comical, making strange noises and following a leader across the lawns. A number of other visitors pottering around as we were. I think they had arrived on one of the coaches and were something to do with a 'pruning day' or something, whatever that was, but I presume these people were keen amateur gardeners. We walked towards the golden pheasant enclosure and Carol attempted to take some photographs. There was one sitting on a ledge at the back of the enclosure, a bright blue iridescent colour, but with a particularly ugly face. We attempted to make polite conversation with a man from the gardening group, but he was just plain miserable. We always attempt to have conversations with the people we encounter when we visit such places, but from what we saw, when he was back with the woman who we assumed was his partner or at least, wife, he didn't look as if he was that pleased to be there and would have rather been doing something else. Visiting Woburn Abbey under duress, if that's the right word! We continued our walk and took photographs as we went.

We approached the entrance to the Abbey itself, but before we did so we went into The Duchesses' Tearoom where we had coffee and pastries. Very pleasant, but somewhat over-priced, but that is what you expect at such places and considering Woburn Abbey must be one of the major tourist spots you can see why they would want to wring as much profit out of such a place. Never mind.

Inside the Abbey itself there is currently an exhibition about Queen Victoria's visit to Woburn Abbey sometime in the 19th century. There are documents and drawings from this great occasion and you can see the actual bed within the bedroom where she slept. Also, there's a dress she wore and from what we saw it was obvious that she was tiny. A great many visitors being guided by tour guides but the staff on duty in each room were very knowledgeable about each item in the rooms we walked through as well as being very friendly. No doubt the Victoria exhibition ties in neatly with the I.T.V. drama series which is currently being shown on television on Sunday evenings and has reached the second series.

We spent near enough three hours at Woburn Abbey, but no doubt you could spent considerably more time there. A great deal to see and do. So we returned to the carpark and drove home to Milton Keynes.

Television Documentary About Milton Keynes's 50th Anniversary

2017 is the 50th Birthday of Milton Keynes. I moved here in 2007 when I married Carol, having previously lived in Bedford, around 20 miles to the east. BBC television has shown a documentary about the town (I can never decide whether it's a town or a city, and it seems, do other people. Which is it? You decide.) It was built as an over-spill for London. Half-way between London and Birmingham and between the A5 to the west and the M1 to the east. The Grand Union Canal cuts through the town and is around half a mile from our home in Eaglestone, walking down the Redway. To some extent, according to this documentary which was co-producted by the Open University, which is based in MK, the town was built as a sort of social experiment. All manner of different architects were employed to have a virtual freehand in the design of the various 'villages' which were conceived within each of the 'girds' which make up the town.

The documentary was told from the point of view of one man, Richard Macer, who lived and grew up in the town, left to go to university and came back to visit the place again. His parents continued to live in the town, in Great Linford. He went to school at Stantonbury Campus, where Carol was a teacher before transferring to her current school, Milton Keynes Academy.

Milton Keynes has been the subject of quite a few jokes over the years, not least because of the number of roundabouts, and in particular the so-called 'Concrete Cows' which have become the unofficial symbol for the town. Also, described as 'dull', 'soulless' as well as uninspiring. Having lived here for a little over ten years I can say I have not found it to be any such thing. Infact, it's got plenty going for it. I particularly like the fact that there's so much open space here. As you'd drive along the grid roads you almost forget the fact that you are driving through a town at all, as the design of the place means all houses and most other buildings, can't be seen from the road, that there are plenty of trees to screen the grids which contain the 'village' like communities within them as well as cleverly landscaped sections, banked up with the plants and trees on them as well as having all housing beyond a fairly wide margin of each road, giving a pleasant feel to the place, unlike many other modern towns which have houses almost on the roadside. The town has been highly successful in creating employment. The rate of growth is amazing. The amount of homes being built is startling and Milton Keynes is expanding at a great rate. We drove across the town a few days ago and went past Crownhill, the area we originally lived when we were married in 2007. The fields along the side of Watling Street as you drive towards Stony Stratford and Wolverton have been developed and now it's all houses. On the approach-road from the M1, coming in from Bedford, there is a large amount of construction going on. Since I've been living here, a vast John Lewis warehouse complex has been built along that stretch of road, as well as for their partner company, Waitrose. The road system has been vastly improved, partially duelled along that piece of road, where there is a roundabout with an impressive steel statue of Greg Rutherford, the Olympic Gold-Medallist Long Jump winner at the 2012 London Olympic Games who lives within the Milton Keynes area. There is further building going on at the newly-improved roundabout which used to be a point where there were long traffic queues before it was widened and with new traffic lights and then going towards Newport Pagnall there is even more development of not just houses but more warehouses, no doubt going to be distribution centres for more companies. Infact, Milton Keynes has a higher rate of employment than more areas of the United Kingdom.

Walking Alfie At Stockgrove Park

A pleasant sunny Saturday morning, so what better way to spend the time than walking Alfie at Stockgrove Country Park? We've been many times over the years. Quite sad in some ways, as it's the first time we've visited since our other dog, Poppy, died. It's near Leighton Buzzard, and around a 15-minute drive down the A5. Rushmere Park is part of the same area and was joined to Stockgrove Park  few years ago, making a larger area to explore. I had to get the cage out of the house before Alfie got the least inkling that we intended taking him out in the car. Carol had to keep him in the bedroom whilst I got the cage out of the spare room, but it didn't take him very long to catch on. Most of the neighbourhood was treated to the sound of him barking noisily as we got him into the cage in the back of the car. 

When I first visited Stockgrove Park (I don't exactly remember how many years ago now, but certainly quite a few) you drove into the carpark and then there was a voluntary payment scheme. You could put a £1 coin in the box on the wall, and if there wasn't room to park within the carpark you could always park along the roadside. I notice that now they have put posts all along the road side which would be to stop people parking there and using the carpark.  Now you have to drive in and use the barrier. All well and good. Then, on leaving, you have to pay £2 to get out. I have no problem with this, as long as the cash raised is used to keep the carpark and surrounding area maintained.

It was busy when we got there this morning. Lots of cars parked, people getting out of cars and others wandering about. We saw lots of families, children and dogs. It seems to be a very popular spot for dog-walking. You are supposed to keep your dog on it's lead. All very well, but Alfie expects to be let off his lead and run. He's sort of pent-up, a bit like a coiled spring, and the moment he's let off, he'll run off, but doesn't go too far and will return to you when you call. Anyway, as soon as we drew up in the carpark, Alfie was barking excitedly. Whenever we go out with him in the car and we arrive home, he seems to know exactly where we are and starts yapping and barking. Even  when we're out with him in the back of the car in the cage, and he quite clearly can't see out, as soon as we stop, at traffic lights or at the petrol station, he starts off barking. I think he has an idea we're at the destination and he'll be let out. He's a sharp little dog and knows exactly that when the car stops we're more than likely going to let him out of the back of the car.

We began walking round the park, walking along the path towards the lake. If we'd had Poppy with us we'd have had to avoid the lake or, indeed, any area of water, because she'd have been in it and swimming. No sort of fear of water. Also, the muddier and smellier the better, a good excuse to dive in, up to her tummy, and covered in the worst mud she could find, definitely the smellier the better. As she had a very thick coat, any mud took some time to get out and more likely we'd have to shove her in the bath to get the mud out of her coat. And taking her home in the car and covering the seats in the mud. Never mind. It was part of her personality. Just try keeping her out of water. Quite impossible and it was better to keep her on her lead and as far away from the water! She's be chasing the ducks on the lake and causing havoc! Alfie, on the other hand, has no interest in water, thank goodness. I think he's got more sense than to get wet and cold! He's been in water before, and he didn't like it, particularly the time we went down to the canal and he jumped over a small, low wall, not realising that there was water on the other side! Carol fished him out, cold and wet, and he had to endure walking home very miserable, so I think he learned his lesson not to get in water when we're out and about.

The first time we took Alfie to Stockgrove, when he was but a small puppy, he didn't enjoy it that much, because he got leaves caught in his coat. It was amusing watching him, stopping every now and again to sit down on the patch and attempt to pull twigs and leaves out of his coat. Even today he managed to get bits of twig caught in his coat. Not quite so particular about this, but he ran back to me to pulls the twigs out of his coat.

We did a circuit of the lake and met several dogs. one large labrador with it's master, chasing a ball he threw into the lake. Alfie just has no manners when he meets other dogs, running about madly. I'm not sure what these dogs think of him,  he moves so fast. We got back to the carpark and Carol suggested we have ice creams, which sounded a good idea. There was an ice-cream van set up in the carpark, engine running, but when we attempted to buy ice-cream the man wasn't there to sell them, so we decided to have bacon baguettes from the café which has a sort of window opening onto the area where there are tables to sit at. Very tasty and just what we needed after our walk around the park. Alfie sat under the table and was very good, no doubt exhausted after the exertions of his running around the lake. Incidentally, we were somewhat surprised to notice an almost complete absence of ducks on the lake. There are notices around telling you to 'Please do not feed the ducks.' I know why, as bread isn't actually the right sort of thing to feed ducks and bits of old bread left in the water goes mouldy. But why no more than a handful of ducks? Probably set up home elsewhere on another stretch of water. Lots of trees have been felled and new growth where the light has got in. Also, other managed coppice and a reed-bed system to deal with the water at the visitor centre.

It was a pleasant morning and definitely a good spot to visit with even more places to walk the other side of the road from the main carpark. We drove home and will return for another trip sometime over the long summer holiday period.

A Walk In The Forest

It's been quite a pleasant morning. It was about time we took Alfie out for a walk. It was a toss-up between Salcey Forest or Rushmere Country Park. We decided on Salcey. Both about the same sort of distance from Milton Keynes. It's up the A5 towards Stony Stratford and out into the  Northamptonshire countryside. It was actually quite nice to get away from Milton Keynes for a couple of hours. Apart from anything, Alfie needed an outing, since Poppy died two weeks ago. He's an energetic little dog and really enjoys going out with us. I had to put the cage in the back of the car because he's a bit of a handful if he sits on your lap. He won't and as we've attempted this, it's better for us and better for him. He'll only get his lead tied up with the gear stick and it's frankly a safety issue. I had to sneak the cage out to the car without him noticing, as he soon picks up somehow or other that we're intending to go out and take him with us. I don't remember when we last visited this favourite dog-walking site, but it's probably a couple of years ago. Last time we went they were in the process of building new facilities such as toilets and the area around the café. Also, it seems they've managed to resurface a lot of the roads in and out and some of the paths have better surfaces, tarmac, which is probably better for wheeled things such as bicycles, baby buggies, prams and wheelchairs. The new toilet block is a vast improvement. We took Alfie for quite a long walk through the forest, meeting a lot of people with dogs. To be let off his lead and to run free was what Alfie enjoys most of all. We walk along at our own pace but he insists on running ahead and discovering all manner of nice smells and weeing up against virtually every tree and tuft of grass he encounters. Then he runs back to us and trots along at our heels and then shoots off again. It was quite muddy, which is to be expected, considering the time of year. If we'd had Poppy with us she'd have found the most smelly, gooey and thick mud to wade through. Alfie isn't so keen on water, thankfully. Poppy had a propensity for diving in to the nearest piece of water, be it lake, pond, river, canal or whatever. if it was smelly mud it meant we had to contend with not only cleaning her after an outing but it would lead to a muddy house, carpets, furniture, beds and so on. We walked into the forest, having parked the car, avoiding the most muddy places. Carol found a place in the carpark, but I saw that there was a large muddy puddle her side of the car, as it would mean, when she got out of the car, she'd have to walk in this mud. We'd come here a couple of years ago and parked the other side of the carpark and when we'd returned to the car to go home we found we couldn't move the car because we'd got stuck in the mud. It was quite some time before we could drive away. Funny looking back, but not so funny at the time.

Further into the forest we came to the tree-top walk. I'm not good with heights. Never have been, unfortunately. We have walked right to the top of this structure, but I wasn't too keen today. It's quite a height at it's furthest extent. I'm not sure how high, but around the same height as some of the trees. We heard a rather off-putting creaking sound, coming I think from one of the trees nearby. They were swaying in the breeze. There wasn't the wind we had during the week, thankfully. I think the treetop walk would have been closed for health and safety concerns. We walked back to the car and I used the newly built toilets, a vast improvement on the somewhat primitive facilities that used to be here. We had hot chocolate, cream and marshmallows which was an ideal end to our walk and then returned home in the car. We had been covered very generously in mud, thanks to Alfie insisting on sitting on both our laps when we sat on a bench by the path in the forest. But it really didn't matter because everything can go in the washing machine.

New Year's Monday Bank Holiday

New Year's Bank Holiday Monday. Carol's last day before she has to return to work at Milton Keynes Academy. We drove up the A5 with the original intention of visiting Stoke Bruerne. But we decided to drive on towards Towcester and go first to Tesco, as we needed milk. Before we came out of Milton Keynes we visited Staples to get some things Carol needed for work. But she forgot to buy a memory stick in Staples as we were on  our way up the A5, so we bought one in Tesco. The alarm went off in the car to tell us the petrol was running low. So we drove on a bit further and went to the Shell garage on the roundabout just outside Towcester. I filled the car and then went into the kiosk to pay. There was a queue at the till and a man at the cashier was ranting and raving about something. I think it was about the fact he couldn't get the carwash to work or something. Totally unnecessary behaviour. Certainly no need to take out his frustration on the poor girl on the till. I don't think I could do that job, having to put up with customers who are aggressive and angry like that man was. Fortunately he walked out of the door and took his anger with him. Myself and the rest of the customers in the queue were very supportive of the cashier.  People seem to have got extremely short tempered recently. There seems to be very little respect for other people. It's the same sort of thing when you're driving, as I've mentioned in earlier posts on here, particularly when drivers have to drive right up close behind you, in an attempt to get you to drive faster and in some instances, cut you up on roundabouts. I paid and we drove off in the car. We went to the garden centre which is opposite the Shell petrol station, called Bell Plantation. We've visited before and had good food in their restaurant. The place is currently being redeveloped and the toilets had been closed and replaced with a temporary building which wasn't particularly easy to find. We had a bit of a browse around after we'd had lattes and sandwiches in the café. Antiques and gift shops and Carol bought some bird feeders and seed and bird food to go on our bird feeder stand in the garden, just in time before the real winter weather sets in. 

Canon Camera Repaired

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

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

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

Buying A Christmas Tree

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

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

Another Sunday, Another Trip To Whipsnade

The sun was out (well, rather weakly, nevertheless) and Carol was in definite need of some sort of relief from work. It seems unfair that you work all week and then, at the weekend she ends up marking books and planning lessons. She starts work at least 7.15 each morning and doesn't end her day until 4.45 (most days, a good deal later, having to sort out other people's problems etc.) A wander around Whipsnade was most definitely in order. 

As we drove down the A5, Watling Street, towards Dunstable, we encountered heavy traffic. It was nose-to-tail northbound and as we got to the roadworks at the chalk hills entering Dunstable, it was very slow going. The zoo opens at 10 and it was around 10.15 when we got to that point in our journey. 

On entering the zoo (having Carol's Z.S.L. Fellowship means we not only get free entry but also an entry free with our car. At least £75 saved for the two of  us plus the car.) we found the place almost deserted. I suppose on a Sunday, and during term-time, it's not as busy as the holiday time as well as the fact that the weather wasn't particularly brilliant. There were periods of sunshine, but it was definitely clouding over and threatening rain at any moment. 

We drove around the perimeter of the zoo as we usually do. This allows us to see which animals are out and about. There are some animals which we hardly ever see, depending on the weather. The sloth bears are not always to be seen, but they were today. Rather difficult to photograph, unfortunately, because of the chain-link fence which is in the way. They are a particular favourite of ours. Several years ago I gave Carol this lovely cushion which has a bear on it (she loves teddy bears and has quite a collection, which sits on the top of our IKEA bookshelf.) This cushion-bear has a distinctly similar look to the sloth bears.

We continued to drive around and eventually got to the brown bear's enclosure (more or less exactly opposite the sloth bears enclosure.) It was getting very busy as more people began to arrive.) The bears seemed to be causing something of a stir, and Carol said it might be something to do with the bear, Baloo, in the new Disney film of "Jungle Book" (the computer animated re-make which we saw on DVD a few weeks ago and enjoyed enormously. It's very well done.) The character in the film is very similar to the brown bears at Whipsnade. Congratulations to Disney for having him walk on all fours as they do in real life and not as he is portrayed in the original 1967 animated film where he is presented walking on two feet, like a human. It least they've managed to make the character more realistic (although having him talk is certainly not realistic!)

On the many occasions we've visited Whipsnade, we have never seen the wolverines. They are in an enclosure opposite the brown bears. There was quite a  crowd gathered near the enclosure, and for the first time, we actually managed to see two of them! They seem extremely elusive. They appear to spend a good deal of their time hiding. No doubt they can see us, but we can't see them. So I managed to take one or two photographs of one. Then it climbed a tree and we could hardly see it at all!

The elusive wolverine. The first time we've actually seen one of these creatures.

We really wanted to see the elephants (definitely our all time favourite animals at any zoo but particularly at Whipsnade. They are currently building a brand new elephant house and when you visit at the moment you have to take into account the building work that is going on (this is due to open in early 2017.) A rather incongruous fence has been put up as a safety precaution and it wasn't clear where the elephants were when we arrived. Not in the fenced enclosure to the left, but, on walking around we discovered the herd in the paddock the other side. Some of the zoo staff were in the paddock, some of them drove up in a mini tractor which had a trailer on the back which contained green branches covered in leaves which they began to distribute to two piles on the ground. The elephants began to pick up some of the branches, one, in particular, began flaying the ground with some of the more tender branches before eating. There are two young elephants in the herd, one a good deal older and another, which was born at the time of the Queen's 90th birthday earlier in the year (and called Elizabeth as a result.) It's interesting to see how the older elephants look after the young members of the herd and walk along with the little one in between them. At one point the baby began to roll around on the ground and began playing with a few twigs. It was most amusing to watch. We were so glad we arrived when we did because we've never seen the elephants being fed before.

We went to the restaurant near the tiger enclosure to have chocolate cake and coffee. A good selection to choose from and the coffee was better than average.

We walked over the rhino enclosure and were surprised to see one of the large rhinos at very close quarters. We took some excellent photographs. We then drove around to the opposite side of the zoo to visit the shops. If I have a complaint it's that there aren't enough items for adults. All very nice to have so much for children (and we've spotted something for George, my grandson, who has his first birthday in a month's time.) And when we'd finished browsing (without actually buying anything.) we drove back to Milton Keynes. The traffic was building up as we came out of Dunstable on the A5 and it was backed up towards  Hockliffe. By the time we got through the traffic lights the queueing had petered out. We had the car radio on and discovered that the traffic situation was probably caused because a bridge on the M1 had been demolished.

Twycross Trip and Visit to Urgent Care Centre

Last year we visited Twycross Zoo for the first time. Well, it was for me. As Carol lived in Leicestershire, in a village called Thornton, which is very close, she says she remembers visiting when she was at school. A one-and-a-half hour journey up the A5 and we found it fairly easily. I think it's quicker than going north on the M1, which, as far as I know, still has roadworks which means you have to drive at 50 m.p.h., which is somewhat annoying. These roadworks have been going on for far too long and what is more than annoying is the fact that they close off mile upon mile or motorway lanes and there never appears to be any work going on. I think something seriously needs to be done about this as it must be causing inconvenience to many people and must be frustrating to local businesses.

The day started out relatively cold, although bright. It was therefore quite difficult to decide what to wear and I wore my hooded fleece. As the day progressed the weather got warmer which meant I didn't really need the fleece and spent most of the day carrying it around with me.

We got to Twycross at 10.30 and immediately noticed that the carpark had been re-surfaced. Infact the whole place  seems to have had a make-over, with not only roads and paths having new surfaces but a complete re-design of the logo and better signage through the zoo. We immediately made for the newly-opened Gibbon Forest exhibit, which was being build when we visited almost exactly a year ago. At that time it was under wraps and it meant you have to navigate the zoo too avoid any of the building work. There is an island exhibit, which looks as if it is still being completed. But you go inside the building and up several levels and can see the gibbons in very naturalistic environments. We spent some time watching these amazing creatures climbing and swinging about on ropes and what look like tapes and moving very fast across the ceiling of the exhibit.

We had something to eat in one of the many cafes and restaurants throughout the zoo. By this time it was getting quite warm and the place was beginning to get quite crowded.

Over-all, our stay at the zoo was around three and a half hours. You can never get to see everything, which means we can visit again and manage to see the rest of the animals that are exhibited. We left and returned home. We had to do shopping so visited Sainsbury's.

We had our evening meal, and Carol was concerned about a rather nasty rash on her leg. It has become very uncomfortable and itchy. She has a cream, prescribed by her doctor, but it does not seem to be clearing. She says that it has begun to swell and it may have something to do with the fact that she has type 2 diabetes. She said she needed a doctor's appointment. I was beginning to get somewhat concerned. She could have waited until Monday to make an appointment, but, considering how the appointment system works at our surgery, Ashfield Medical Centre, it would be almost impossible to get an appointment. So we decided to go to the Urgent CareCentre at Milton Keynes Hospital, formerly called the 'Walk-In Centre.' This is where you go if you have a medical condition which isn't strictly urgent enough for you to need to go to Accident and Emergency. It is staffed by doctors and nurses who are able to diagnose specific medical problems and refer you to other medical practitioners if they are unable to help. We were reluctant to go there, but as this rash was getting worse it was clear that something needed to be done. We drove there, arriving at around 8.15. Carol was questioned by the receptionist, a form of triage and we sat and waited for her name to appear on the digital board so she could see a staff member. The place was already very busy when we arrived, and more people came in in the time we were there. In all we were there around three hours. She got prescription for antibiotics and we had to go to Boots at Kingston, near the big Tesco store, as there is a night pharmacy which could dispense the medication she needed. There were other people waiting, who we'd already seen in the Urgent Care Centre. You had to press a bell and a young man appeared and hand over your prescription form for him to make up the prescription. Carol has an exemption card which means she does not have to pay the prescription charge as she is diabetic. We had to go home as we didn't have my wallet which had the card in it. 

Escaping Another Marathon

With the possibility of being stuck in Eaglestone due to the fact that yet another marathon is going to thunder past our front door, we drove away early up the A5 to visit one of the many and various retail outlets, Heart of the Shires Shopping Village which have sprung up along this road in the past few years just beyond Weedon. We have been there several times before and it's a pleasant enough place with small shops selling a wide range of products from clothes, kitchen wares to plants, flowers, and antiques. We had coffee and cake, a good, old-fashioned stand-by for us, as you will have realised if you've read and followed these posts avidly. I presume this place was previously a farmyard and the restaurant was the farm house. A good enough use for such a house. It was hardly busy at the hour we were there, no doubt because it was a Bank Holiday Monday and most people would have hardly been out of their beds. You will have also noticed that we don't hang about and seem to make a habit of arriving excessively early for things. I for one cannot see much point in wasting a good day off, with the sun shining, lounging about in bed, so arriving early is always a good idea as far as I'm concerned. We wandered around looking in the various shops. The antique centre was worth browsing in but quite frankly the objects on offer are really over-priced, probably because such television programmes as Antiques Roadshow, Bargain Hunt, and Antiques Roadtrip have made people aware of such famous names as Lalique, Moorcroft, and Clarice Cliffe, which, to be honest, I hadn't heard of before watching any of these shows. Several of the shops have gifts in them, such as teddy bears, cards, and other items, but a lot of the stuff is just rubbish and you'd find it in most places which attract tourists. Really naff ornaments that are only fit for a skip to be perfectly honest. Am I being snobbish? Probably. I have to say the quality of some of the stuff they sell here seems have gone down dramatically, which is a pity. Some of it is rather like the low-quality souvenir gifts you find at some seaside resorts.
We didn't stay too long. We intended being out of Milton Keynes until gone midday when the marathon was scheduled to end and the roads in and around Eaglestone back to normal. We drove back south on the A5. Carol said she had seen a signpost to another place off the A5 as we drove north just south of Towcester. I wasn't sure exactly where it was but she was certain. We came to a right turn which was actually quite difficult to see. You could have gone past if you didn't have particularly start eyesight. The sign was for The Old Dairy Farm Craft Centre. Another one of those places which don't seem to advertise too frequently and if we hadn't seen that sign on the A5 we would probably not been aware of. We drove along a rather narrow country lane and came to the village of Upper Stowe and eventually came to the Craft Centre. The houses around here are of local stone, very similar to those in the Cotswolds and we soon parked in the carpark. We wandered around the small shops within the site (presumably, like the Heart of Shires Shopping Village, a former farm. Well, 'Old Dairy Farm' does give things away.) A lot of really nice hand-made products, such as jewelry and pottery items, as well as paintings and prints. We eventually decided we'd need something to eat as it was now around midday, so we went into the restaurant on the site, The Barn Restaurant. This is a really attractive barn conversion which was really busy with people coming and going, which suggested to me that it must be popular. Also, like Waterperry Gardens, which we visited a few weeks ago, popular with bikers. We had to wait at the door to be shown to a table upstairs, a good deal quieter than the downstairs area and ordered toastie for me and salad for Carol, all very well presented and cooked. Another very pleasant place to visit and to recommend. Out of the ordinary and not like a lot of 'chain' establishments which are taking over the high street of many towns. It's good to find somewhere that is quiet and has a uniqueness about it.

We drove back down the A5 and by the time we got to Saxon Street we saw runners along the Redway, which suggested that there were stragglers finishing the marathon. But by now the sun was shining. The weather has been mixed all Bank Holiday weekend, but at least we've managed to make the most of it.