Wild, Windy and Wet

 Saturday. 6.30 a.m. Another storm raging across the country. This one is called Storm Darragh. I'd really love to know who comes up with these names.

3.50 p.m. I went to Sainsbury's this morning. Milk was running out and there were other things I needed. It's the best time to go, just after 9, because it's never busy on a Saturday morning. The self-service I used was behaving itself, which made things easier than usual.

The wind has been raging around the building all day. I think it must be the extractor fan in the kitchen which makes strange noises which are rather scary. Very blustery out and quite dangerous, with the possibility of tiles coming off roofs and bits of tree falling on you. Perhaps it's best to stay indoors, and I hope the wind settles down soon.

Sunday. 9.10 a.m. The wind was howling around the building all night. As I write this, it seems a good deal quieter, but still a bit gusty.

I have been unable to connect my Panasonic Freeview box to my new Vodafone Wi-Fi router. I have attempted to put the password into the relevant place, but it doesn't work. A really difficult job, because the password is so long, and you have to put in upper and lower case. Annoying and fiddly. I am also having a similar problem with my Canon printer. It is virtually impossible to connect the thing to Wi-Fi, so I think the only solution is to use the cable which I already have, so I will use that and forget the Wi-Fi connection. These things seem to cause no end of problems, but the cable is the best solution. There is supposed to be a way to connect via the Canon app, but I have spent some considerable time attempting to get the thing to connect, but nothing.

Tuesday. 7.30 a.m. Here I am, shaved, and dressed, Alfie has been out and sitting here writing this.

I have been doing more writing. Some things have prompted me to restart writing, one being a survey I did online, which was about food for older dogs. Alfie, being such a dog (can't believe he's 17. I don't know what that is in human years.) and part of it was to imagine I was Alfie and write a piece as if I was him and see the world as he sees it. I had real fun writing it and I think I got quite carried away. Hence, I ordered some new Pukka pads from Viking, the online stationery company, and have managed to write about a page and a half. I have had the idea circulating in my head for ages, so it was relatively easy to write. 

The weather seems relatively calm at the moment. I just hope we don't have the gale-force winds we have had over the past few days.

Friday. 9.25 a.m. The past couple of days, it's been overcast and gloomy. It's misty or, at least, thin and foggy outside. It would be great if the sun shone but don't expect miracles, as we are in December, so the weather can be expected to be cold and gloomy.

Saturday. 1.15 p.m. It's not so wild, windy or wet today, fortunately. The sun is shining as I write this and it's quite pleasant out.

I had a doctor's appointment at 10.30 this morning. As usual, I arrived early and it was worth it, because I was called into the doctor's surgery about 15 minutes early. The doctor said I was in good health, but I should lose some weight. I suppose he's right. I've never been into sport, but I suppose I could go for the occasional swim. I might look out for a gym which has a swimming pool. Carol and I used to belong to two gyms, one down near the football stadium and then Nuffield Health at Kent's Hill. Each of these gyms had the usual gym facilities, but also swimming pools, saunas and jacuzzis. I cancelled our Nuffield memberships after Carol died. It might be a good idea to get back to swimming as a form of exercise.

On the way back from the doctor's I dropped into Sainsbury's which actually wasn't such a good idea, as it was heaving, people in there no doubt making sure they had sufficient mince pies, Christmas puddings and wrapping paper before it all ran out. Not likely, but it seemed like it. The travelator wasn't working so I had to walk up without it moving and then come down in a lift when I had done my shopping.

Working Technology!!

Monday. 8.40 a.m. Yet another mild and sunny, although not particularly warm, day. Dare I say 'springlike'? Probably tempting providence if I say that. Alfie and I were out well before 7 o'clock. He had to be woken up, as he was fast asleep in his bed.

I have printed off the first twenty pages of my writing project. I'm not sure whether to call it a novel. It was never really intended to be a 'novel' in the strictest sense. I think it should be issued in 'episodes' or 'instalments' which is how many novels were published in the 19th century, most notably Dickens'. I will now edit and modify what I have written and, having begun some research, be able to continue what I have been working on gradually over the last couple of years.

The Canon printer is working well! After all the issues I had with the HP printer, it's great to have a printer which does what it's supposed to do. The Wi-Fi connection works exceptionally well, meaning I can be in the lounge with the MacBook and the printer, which is in my bedroom, basically, because there's no space in the lounge for the printer, which is set up on the unit I got from Amazon. Definitely a good buy, having wheels and space underneath to store paper and other supplies. The printer will print on both sides of the paper, which is good, as it saves on paper. It's fascinating watching it work. When a page is printing, and it gets to the end of one side, the printer stops for a second or two, presumably to give the ink a chance to dry, and then the sheet is drawn back inside the printer so that the second side can be printed. The HP printer wouldn't do this. Considering all the problems I have had with the various printers I've owned, it's great to have at last got one who actually WORKS!

10.30 a.m. I've been to Sainsbury's, and at last done the shopping (or I should say, the rest of my list. I could only manage to carry one bag of shopping back home after my trip on Saturday, due to having to walk when I'd had problems with the power steering. See the last blog post for more details. I bought daffodils. It's approaching Carol's birthday. It's 7th March, and she would have been 59. So, in memory of my lovely lady, I have cut daffodils, which are replaced in the vase I have. The current bunch is at a very early stage, so they will gradually open as the days pass.

Tuesday. 7.15 a.m. I've only just got back from going out with Alfie. It's another fine morning. I've done all the washing-up and the kitchen is tidy. I've also done my pack-up to take with me to Camphill. This is why I went to Sainsbury's yesterday. I have pork pie because I have got tired of boring sandwiches. 

5.40 p.m. I had almost forgotten that today was Shrove Tuesday, better known as Pancake Day. Arriving at Camphill, I soon discovered that things weren't going to be the normal sort of format for the day. As it was Pancake Day, the theatre workshop team were going to have an outing to Campbell Park, as there was scheduled to be a pancake race event, with one of the leaders of the group running to represent Camphill. Some people were going to walk, whilst some were to be ferried to the site via minibus, some were going in Terrie's vehicle and I was going on my own and wouldn't be able to take anyone, because my car isn't insured for such work, only having private insurance. All this wasn't going to kick into action until after tea break.

Terrie had a meeting with me. She told me that, because the theatre group was growing, with quite a few people coming from outside the Camphill Community in Milton Keynes, the ratio of clients to staff was being eroded. She told me that she and Julia had been discussing the need for there to be another member of staff in the theatre and that she would like me to have more of a role in the group, which would probably mean me leading some of the sessions, because, with so many in the theatre group, it might eventually be possible to run separate teams within the workshop. I am now going to consider how I could see my role, but still remain a volunteer. This really makes me so pleased as I want to be able to give as much as I can to the theatre workshop.

Around 11.20, I drove off to Campbell Park, not knowing exactly where I was going to park. I remember going to a history festival there in 2019 (which is how I made contact with various groups, such as the Bucks Archaeology Society and Milton Keynes Heritage Association.) I couldn't remember whether I had parked nearer the park (where the pancake race was to be held.) and then realised, during my drive, that I had parked nearer the shopping centre, probably near the Xcape. At which point I decided that I would need cash to pay to park and then drove back to Dexter House to collect my wallet.

Having done the journey back to Dexter House and then return to park near Xcape, I walked over to Campbell Park and, as I crossed the road, I could see in the distance the encampment which had been set u for the pancake race. As I got closer, I saw the Camphill stand, with staff selling food and some of them cooking pancakes. There were several heats of pancake races, run as relays, one of which was a Camphill team of staff and one member was Mitchell, who works in the theatre workshop. There was also a special race for those with disabilities, in particular, Camphill and something called Snap (Special Needs Advancement Project) which is a day-services organization. Some of the Camphill residents go there. It was one of the organizations I had considered volunteering at before I discovered Camphill and the theatre workshop. This race was run with the circuit broken into quarters and each team only running each quarter. I'm not sure, but I think Snap won. 

The group who had walked from Camphill arrived long before Terrie arrived, no doubt because she had to park her vehicle and then walk over from near the shopping centre as I had done.

There was plenty to eat, as well as drink. I got a free pancake from the Camphill stall as well as a latte which I paid for at a nearby coffee stall. I think I recognize this mobile coffee van, possibly from the Bucks agricultural show from several years ago.

After all the races were won and prizes distributed, the event was over, so I walked back to my car and drove back to Milton Keynes. On arrival, I discovered that the car park was full, so I had to park in an area outside the Camphill campus I sat in the car and ate my pack-up, which I had put in the car well before leaving Camphill earlier in the morning.

After lunch, we watched a couple of silent films on YouTube, although it was projected onto the cinema screen in the Chrysalis Theatre. There was a bit of a problem getting the laptop to connect to the internet, but it eventually worked. One was a very early French film, made in around 1903 called 'From The Earth To The Moon.' Probably the first science fiction film. The second one was from around 1922, based loosely on Lewis Carroll's 'Alice in Wonderland', and utilized all sorts of visual effects, both films were restored (as far as it was possible.) by the British Film Institute.

After a short tea break, everyone went outside into the forecourt area of Camphill, because there were to be some further pancake races. I think my last visit to Camphill, before the pandemic lockdowns in 2020, was coincidental with pancake day, and I  have seen video footage of it on Vimeo.

A Mad World, My Masters!

 Tuesday. 10.45 a.m. I had a visit from the gentleman from Mears about my bathroom. I would appear that I can't have a bath, unfortunately, as it would mean some structural alterations to the flat (ie: removing the airing cupboard. What use does it really have? Somewhere to store towels and bedding and not much else. )I can have a shower unit. I don't mind, so long as it's arranged, so I can actually stand under it. But I would love to be able to have a soak in a bath, but no hope. I may hear in either two weeks or as long as SIX MONTHS whether the work is going ahead. Someone in the Council has to make the decision whether the work has to go ahead. Why? Everyone else in this unit is having new bathrooms and kitchens, more because the old ones are well past their best. Some bureaucrat who sits in an office, pushing paper over a desk. Just there to make themself look important and just slowing down the decisions, a bit like Sir Humphrey Appleby in the sitcom 'Yes, Minister' but more likely some underling who would do the job. 

I was really unwell overnight. Really hot, painful joints and so on. I was wondering, as you would if it was covid, so I reluctantly did a test. I hate doing it, as poking swabs in my throat and nose is really unpleasant. I waited the obligatory 30 minutes for the result and only one red line showed up, so a negative result. But I was still feeling awful, so I did a second one yesterday evening. Another negative test. Then, when I was eating my evening meal, I had to be sick. Not nice. 

Wednesday. 8.40 a.m. I'm still feeling queasy. Still have aching joints, but it seems to be clearing up. I'm not going anywhere today. I will just stay in the flat, I think.

The stairs up to my flat are painted. I should actually be far more precise and say the bannisters and not the actual treads. They've been sanded and have the first white undercoat. 

Thursday. 7.00a.m. I'm not feeling as bad as I did yesterday morning, but I still have aching joints. I'll just have to let this thing run it's course.

I took Alfie to The Groom Room in Bletchley for his haircut. It's was going to take a good deal longer than it usually does, around an hour. As usual, when I went to collect him at around 4.45, he was just looking amazing. It's great to see his face properly as his eyes were lost behind a rather untidy fringe if you could call it that. And he smells better! And they managed to clean his teeth, which is a job I could never even attempt.

I had to wait for around 20 minutes before I could take Alfie into The Groom Room. It was surprisingly busy, which must say quite a bit about the quality of their work. People won't use a business, such as dog grooming, if the service is poor. The staff really seem to enjoy their work and the dogs they groom are well looked after. Alfie seems to love going there, and I think treats his grooming sessions as if he's being pampered and cared for, which I suppose in some ways he is.

Sunday. 2.20 a.m. Well, here I am, sitting and writing this. Just not getting back to sleep.

I have taken the confounded Canon printer back to Argos and got a refund and put it towards another printer, this time an HP model, paying around an extra £15. I have spent most of yesterday setting it up and I had most of it done within around an hour of unboxing it. It now prints from my iPad and iPhone and I have yet to sort out the MacBook, but I think I have that sorted. It's so much easier to set up than the Canon and I honestly think it's a better machine. A few differences, for example, the paper goes into the machine at the rear, but it really makes no difference.

I didn't go to church this morning as the fluey 'thing' is still hanging about. My leg muscles still ache, and my throat is dry, which is making my voice sound very odd. Actually be quite good for doing villain type voices, which I might try on the microphone if I can get it set up. 

I have managed to print some pages using the new HP printer. Success at last! I'm so glad that, after more than a week, I have got to 'mission accomplished.' All that annoyance with the Canon printer wasn't actually for nothing and it looks as if I have a far better printer as a result.

A Slight Chill

Friday.3.10 p.m. It's April Fools' Day. I have seen so many that are so obvious they don't deserve to be even considered as 'April Fools' stunts or jokes. I think if you spot them immediately, they haven't worked. It's the ones that more or less merged with the rest of what's in the newspapers, then they're worthy of the title of 'April Fool' and people are more likely to be sucked in and fall for them.

3.50 p.m. I'm attempting to connect my new Canon printer to wi-fi. After a great deal of searching, I found a video on YouTube which shows how to do this. But attempting to put my wi-fi router's password in it is next to impossible as the digital screen is very small, so it's extremely difficult to key in the upper and lower case letters and numbers of the password. I suppose if I keep on with it I will eventually succeed, but it really is hard work and my eyesight isn't good enough to see it. Ho-hum! What do they say about persistence? 'If at first, you don't succeed, try, try again!' How very true! It seems to be the same with most gadgetry you buy these days, you never get a printed manual of instructions. As with this Canon printer, you get extremely basic 'set-up' instructions with the item and some of it online, but then you really have to search the internet to get more detailed instructions, such as I have on YouTube. The printer is supposed to 'find' the wi-fi signal by showing the username (for want of a better way to describe it.) but when I attempted this it would find everyone else's Wi-Fi signal except my own.

Saturday. 2.45 p.m. I found I have several voicemails on my iPhone. One from Mears, asking me to phone to arrange an appointment for them to come and inspect my bathroom ahead of having an upgrade. I was near the phone when they rang on Friday afternoon, so I don't understand why I didn't hear it ring (actually, it doesn't 'ring.' It plays music from 'Star Wars.' I think it's the Darth Vader theme.) Well, does that mean I'm a step closer to them actually doing something about my bathroom? Don't hold your breath, but it does look as if my emailing that parish councillor has probably paid off.

Sunday. 8.05 a.m. Golly gosh! The sun is shining, even though not very powerfully. Another church service on Zoom this morning. Not entirely sure that it works, but I suppose it's better than nothing. Next week we're back at the Oaktree Centre.

Monday. 4.45 a.m. It's still too dark to really know what the weather is doing. As far as I can tell, no rain, and it's probably windy, but I'm not entirely sure.

It's raining, although not a heavy downpour. Alfie was not amused and was out only briefly and then shot back indoors when he felt the rain. Who can blame him?

8.30 a.m. I have responded to the voicemail from Mears, It was from a mobile number and there was nobody there to answer (now THERE'S a surprise!) so I have left my name and number. So do this mean I have to sit around with my mobile waiting for a callback? The plot thickens as they say . . .

8.55 a.m. Goodness! A fairly rapid callback and I have someone coming from Mears tomorrow at 9.30 a.m. to inspect my bathroom. Things are moving forward at last.

6.15 p.m. I have again attempted to try to get the Canon printer to connect to the router so I can in turn connect my iPad and iPhone so I can print from them, but no go. It remains stubbornly resistant to working. I am going to leave it so that I don't end up throwing the thing out of the window. Can you blame me?

A Little Bit Wet!

(Monday)A bit wet when I took Alfie out this morning around Eaglestone Park.

I needed to make a doctor's appointment. I have had a sort of rash on my neck. Scaly skin that irritates slightly, but not too much. I was going to leave it to clear up itself, but I thought that it might be better to get a doctor's opinion. I can't think where it came from. I was going to leave it until Wednesday and then make an appointment, but then I thought that, once I've been I can forget about it. I began ringing the surgery at 8.15, but the surgery phones must have been switched off as I only got a sort of 'engaged' tone. I rang about every 5 minutes after that and it wasn't until about 835 that I eventually got through to the system and then another 10 minutes of just hanging onto the line until a receptionist answered. I eventually got through and told the receptionist what my problem was and she said I should go to a pharmacy. I wasn't convinced that a pharmacist would be any use. If I did go I could only have 'over the counter' medication so I said I'd prefer a doctor's appointment. When I got the 'ring-back' from one of the doctors about an hour later, I was given an appointment with one of the practise nurses at 11 o'clock. So I had to sit and wait which is a bit annoying, but if you need a doctor's appointment you have no alternative, unfortunately.

I got to Ashfield Medical Centre in good time. I don't like the carpark at the rear of the surgery, basically because there's very little room for manoeuvring your vehicle and when you come out you have to be careful because you can't see cars coming in. And, walking round to the front, why is there a really unpleasant pile of cigarette ends as you walk round? I do think if people insist on smoking and have to go outside for a smoke, they shouldn't just throw their cigarette ends on the ground.

I didn't have to wait too long util I was called in to the practise nurse's room. Infact, a good 10 minutes before 11, so it was worth arriving early. I got a prescription for a cream to put on the dry skin on my neck. I took the prescription to the pharmacy next door to the surgery to have it made up. I didn't have to wait long and then drove into the city centre and parked where I usually do, near 'The Point.'

I've signed up to a walk-on agency called Universal Extras. I had one of my photographs approved by them and another of the shots my friend John did for me a few weeks ago has also been approved. But I needed to prove that I could work in the UK (as I think I've mentioned in an earlier blog post.) I have had a copy of my birth certificate returned from Bedford County Council Records department and I had to photograph it and then upload it onto the Universal Extras website, but for some reason it wouldn't upload. I took several photos with my iPhone, but I imagine it was too large and after several attempts it still wouldn't work. I needed to use my Canon digital camera to take further photos and then upload those. I don't really understand the technology. I had been looking around the house for the cable to allow me to upload photos from the camera onto my MacBook, but I couldn't find it, so I had to go into Jessops's shop in he central shopping centre to get a replacement lead, but they don't stock them and had to buy a card reader to do the same thing. I just took the card out of the Canon camera and put it into the card reader (a bit like a memory stick) and plug it into one of the USB sockets and upload the photos via that. It worked, thankfully. Then I had to find out how to reduce the size of the photo I wanted to upload to the Universal Extras site. I managed to get the photo taken but then it would not upload to the site. I think the photo is too large, and by going on Google I managed to find out out to reduce the photo file, but still it won't upload. I have not attached it to an email and sent it to Universal Extras, but I don't know whether they received it as I have had to response from them and it doesn't show on their website. Come back to find out whether this situation is resolved.
Tuesday morning. It's been raining all night. Not just rain, but a strong wind. It was so cold I was tempted to put the central heating on, but I didn't. It was raining so hard when I eventually got up that I decided not to take Alfie out for his customary walk. He was not pleased, as you can imagine. There was no way I was going out to get soaked and to have Alfie come home like a drowned rat. I am hoping (as I write this at 8.20a.m.) that I can take him out when I return from Camphill around 4.30 this afternoon. I'll just have to wait and see if things get better.

Outing To Bicester and Over-Night Snow

On Friday afternoon, once Carol and Kendra had finished work, we drove into the centre of Milton Keynes as Kendra wanted to go to the main Post Office. We managed to park immediately outside which made things considerably easier. We found that we could park there for 30 minutes without having to pay, which was great as we didn't have to look for another parking space. Once inside the Post Office, we found the place really busy. We were somewhat surprised to discover that Kendra was putting a Cadbury's selection box into a large padded envelope. We were expecting her to be sending something really important home to Canada, to her family or boyfriend, not a load of chocolate! I expect the cost of postage, together with the cost of the padded envelope, would have been far more than the value of the chocolate! I think it's because they don't have Cadbury's chocolate in Canada or something. 

From the centre of Milton Keynes we drove over to Westcroft as Kendra needed some shopping, so we went to Aldi and she did her shopping and we decided to do ours, which was convenient as it meant we didn't need to go when we usually go on Saturday. We then went to the Brother's fish and chip shop in Eaglestone on the return journey to buy fish and chips as we usually do on a Friday.

We have now learnt that one of the other three girls who were going to share a house with Kendra, hence the viewing of the house last weekend and another in Oldbrook the other day, has decided not to join them, so it's going to be even harder for her to find somewhere to live because the monthly rent would be far too much for just two of them. So she can stay living with us for as long as it takes to find something else.

Saturday morning started bright and sunny so we went for a drive out in the car to Bicester. There was a definite need to get out of the house, due mainly to the rain we've had recently. We've been to either Bicester Village or Bicester Avenue, both shopping centres. Bicester Village is an 'outlet' shopping centre which we've been to on a few occasions whilst Bicester Village is similar but based around a Wyevale garden centre. But we decided to visit the centre of Bicester itself. We have been in to go to the market and once, a few years ago, when I used to do care work, I had to go to a training day there. A bit of a waste of time, thinking back, because the agency who was supposed to give me work, didn't provide me with enough work to make it worth my while, so it was quite a long way to drive without much of a result.

We parked the car in a multi-storey car park in a  relatively new development called Pioneer Square which has a large branch of Sainsbury's and other shops, including a Vue  multi-screen cinema complex. We walked down into the street and were looking for somewhere to have a coffee as Carol, who is diabetic, was in need of something to eat and drink. We found a branch of Costa, but once inside it was far too crowded and we couldn't find a vacant table to we left in search of somewhere else. We then came across a camera shop, called Imagex, an independently owned establishment, and ventured inside and looked at lenses for the Canon camera I bought recently. The staff were very helpful and we've looked at a telephoto lens which we might yet buy as we want one to be able to take more inventive shots, particularly of the animals at Whipsnade.  As I had the Canon digital camera with me I was able to try the lens out and it seemed just what we had been looking for. We also saw a camera which Camera likes which I may buy for her as she has a birthday coming up in March and it would replace the little Olympus camera we had which got damaged when we went for a walk with the dogs and Alfie made Carol drop when he jumped up excitedly. 

We left the camera shop and walked back along the streets of Bicester.  The main street has been pedestrianized which makes it far safer. We eventually came to a cafe/coffee shop called Baguette Box and had coffee, cake, and a cookie which was just what we needed. Having seen all we wanted to we walked back to Pioneer Square and the car and left. Fortunately, we discovered when we entered that you could park there for two hours without paying, but I'm not sure how you would know when to start paying. How would they know in the carpark to start charging? I expect something to do with number-plate reading technology or something. So we returned home, happy in the knowledge that we'd used our timeout well, with the sun still shining.

This morning, however, we woke to find a blanket of snow had fallen and covered the garden and the car outside in the drive. Both dogs are somewhat shocked. Poppy loves the snow and usually gambols around in it like a spring lamb. Alfie, on the other hand, is not so sure. He has seen snow before, but as he suffers from cold as he has a thin coat of fur, I don't think he likes it very much. I think he doesn't like the feel of the cold on his feet.

New Year 2016

Well, here we are, the first week of January 2016. It's has been a relatively stress-free Christmas and New Year. We were on our own, so nobody else to bother us. Carol had a hospital appointment on the Sunday after Christmas Day, so that was on her mind for most of the holiday period. It might seem odd to have appointments on a Weekend day, but it makes sense in some ways, when they are endeavouring to cut waiting times for appointments. We walked through from Eaglestone, but even then it was incredibly difficult to find the place where the appointment was. Nobody told us that you couldn't enter the hospital via the main, front' entrance, as it is closed off for building work. Where you would enter if you had parked your car in the carpark. So we had to walk back round to the side and go in through another entrance and then walk along a very long corridor until we found were we were supposed to be for the appointment. Not very well sign-posted anywhere, unfortunately. Up a few stairs to another floor. 

Today Carol had to go to Ashfield Medical Centre for a blood test. It was a little after 8 o'clock and we got there far too early. No queue at the door as you now have to ring to get a doctor to ring you back and then decide if you really need a proper appointment. (See my earlier post on this matter.)  The self-checkin system wasn't working. Now there's a surprise. It hasn't been working the last couple of times I've been to the surgery. A member of staff put a notice on the screen saying 'out of order.' No sooner had she put it there than it fell off. So she came back out and re-affixed it, but it fell off again. There was one other person waiting. Unusual, as the place is usually heaving with people waiting and attempting to get appointments. We were in and out relatively  quickly and easily but then we had to get back to the Academy and there was quite a queue of cars at the Standing Way roundabout. 

We have a house guest staying at present. She is from Canada and has begun as an English teacher at Milton Keynes Academy and is staying with us until she can find permanent accomodation. She flew in to Gatwick Airport of Saturday and was driven up to Milton Keynes by someone who is also a teacher at the academy. She is very self-sufficient and we have made her very welcome. Hopefully she will have sorted out a flat or somewhere to share within 4-6 weeks.

The weather has been exceptionally unseasonal over the last month or so. Certainly not cold and icy as it usually is at this time of the year. We went to Whipsnade on Boxing Day, which was great as it was a good excuse to get out of the house. The Fellowship membership of Z.S.L. makes it well worth visiting as we don't have to pay entrance to get in and we drove the car round which saves all the walking.

I mentioned that we'd set up a subscription to a magazine called PhotoPlus. I was surprised to get a delivery yesterday morning, the camera bag which is a gift for becoming a subscriber. A really fantastic Lowepro Urban Reporter, which is worth at least £80. It certainly makes being a subscriber worth while if it means you get this bag. We were looking for a camera bag when we bought the Canon digital camera before Christmas, so this makes a sort of late Christmas present. It also means I can keep not just the camera in it and carry around when we go out and about, but also if necessary, the Apple Macbook laptop (which, incidentally, I'm writing this blog on at the moment.) plus lenses and any additional equipment that goes with the camera. I was expecting the bag to arrive in a month or two, not so quickly as it did.

I haven't done any further serious writing over the holiday period, but I have been making notes for a piece of writing I have been working on recently and as a result I have since been doing more work on the actual writing  over the past couple of days and which is going surprisingly well,  so it's a really good start to 2016.

Christmas, New Canon camera and Greeting Grandson George

Well, that's another Christmas come and gone. A bit of an anti-climax I always think. All that build-up, money spent, food eaten, excessive television schedule and all that and it's gone in 24 hours. I think it's the fact that the shops are stuffed to the rafters with merchandise to tempt you to part with your hard-earned cash and then within another 24 hours they re-open and the self-same stuff is around 75% discounted. You can't win, either way, it's to make you feel guilty that you didn't spend your money in such-and-such a store or on-line.

I've had my eye on a brand new digital camera for quite some while and had looked at a new Canon D.S.L.R. model, a 100D, which is one of their E.O.S. cameras, which was within my budget of £350. I'd seen it on-line at various retailers, Amzon, Jessops, John Lewis and Argos and was able to get a fairly good idea of it's specifications. We've had a couple of Fuji 'bridge' cameras and, for the money, they've been good value. But we have wanted to expand into S.L.R. territory, with a much more sophisticated camera which would allow us to change lenses, use the range of exposures and other refinements which a digital S.L.R. camera would allow. I started off around 12 years ago with a very basic Sony 'point-and-shoot' camera (which I still have, incidentally.) when I wanted to try out what, at the time, was a relatively new type of photography. I wasn't sure that digital could possibly be as good as traditional, film, photography. Before long I was using the camera to do all my photography tasks and, when I bought a new Apple computer, was able to up-load my photographs on to that and edit them and publish them on such sites as Flickr and then the relatively new social media site (at the time), Facebook. Then I met Carol and I found that she was as interested in digital photography as me and that she had a Fuji 'bridge' camera which we took with us when we visited National Trust properties and also when we went on holiday to Yorkshire together. We then bought a second Fuji camera in a sale in Jessops's in Northampton. Both these cameras were in Fuji's Finepix range, and, for the money, were exceptional value and produced some good photographs.

So,  last Wednesday,after all the research, we went into the Jessop's branch in Milton Keynes Shopping Centre to buy the camera. It turned out that the one they had in the shop on display was the only one they had in stock, so that is what we bought. Having purchased it we spent some time wandering around the shopping centre before we drove over to Stony Stratford because Chloe and Steve were staying with Chloe's half sister Louisa and her husband Richard and we would at last get to meet my grandson George for the first time. I mentioned that he was born on the evening we had our rare evening out at a restaurant back in October. We had planned to visit them in Worcester, but we have both had bouts of illness which meant we couldn't drive all the way there and hence the meeting, in a pub, The Cock, in Stony Stratford.

Proud grandparents with new grandson George.

As we had the new camera with us, it was a chance to try it out, hence the picture I have posted above. Quite an emotional moment, to say the least. Considering the fact I had my heart attack nine years ago I am so fortunate to be well enough to enjoy 'the moment.' Things might be very different if I hadn't come out of it, and might not have been around to meet him. 

Chloe with my son-in-law Steve and baby George.

On Boxing Day (26th December, the day after Christmas Day in Great Britain, for those not in this country.) it was surprisingly mild and warm weather-wise. ( WweInfact, up until now, we've had an exceptionally mild winter.) We needed to get out of the house. Being stuck indoors for any length of time begins to pall. A large amount of television-watching does begin to make you googly-eyed.. We considered several places and ended up on Whipsnade. After all we can visit without paying with Carol's Fellowship membership. So we drove there, no more than a 30-minute drive down the A5 towards Dunstable and across The Downs. We were surprised how many people were out walking along the paths as we went past the visitor centre run by the National Trust. We were further surprised by the number of people at Whipsnade Zoo, no doubt visiting as we were, making the most of the weather. It was certainly strange visiting so close to Christmas. We managed to get some good photographs of the flamingoes, as we saw them a good deal closer than we are usually able to see them.

Flamingoes at Whipsnade Zoo

We had bought a picnic with us, and ate this sitting in the car, overlooking the view from the carpark, the valley below where the zoo is situated. Fortunately the weather behaved itself although it looked very over-cast. 

Just Another Weekend?

On Friday, after Carol finished work, we went into the Milton Keynes Central Shopping Centre. We had a need to break our rather ordinary routine and get out of the house. We parked in Debenham's multi-storey car park and we had a good idea that it would be easy to park there. We met a queue of cars going into the town centre, most likely because it was Black Friday, which would mean a lot of shops would have pre-Christmas bargains. It seems that everyone has to go totally mad whenever there is any chance of a bargain but we were just keen to get out. We walked through Debenhams and the place was seething with shoppers. We went out into Midsummer Place and ended up in Waterston's and it was in the middle of being revamped which seemed amazing considering it was so close to Christmas. I don't think the shop has been modernised in all the time I have been coming to Milton Keynes. It will be a good deal brighter and modern once the work is completed. There used to be a Costa coffee shop upstairs as well as a Paperchase concession on the ground floor, both gone, so no doubt these were taken out due to the store being under new ownership. We did spend some time browsing and I have some ideas for book I would like to buy. Both Carol and I have done our Christmas present lists which makes it easier for us to buy each other presents. I am going to buy myself a new digital camera in the New Year, a Canon, which I have seen in Jessop's, the camera shop in the shopping centre, but may wait until then because it is bound to be a good deal cheaper in the January sales. I don't mind buying the camera in Jessops as the staff are very helpful and it was one of the businesses which very nearly collapsed when the economy was in a nose-dive and was rescued by one of the 'Dragon's', Peter Jones. If you've never seen the BBC2 show "Dragon's Den" no doubt you won't know who I mean, but anyone who rescues a good business from financial collapse and manages to turn it round to become a profitable business earns not only my total respect but my loyal custom. I can't wait to get the new camera and it will be a sort of joint retirement/birthday and Christmas present to myself!

The main shopping centre was seething with shoppers. I don't think I have seen it so busy, even in the build-up to Christmas. We went into W.H. Smith as Carol wanted a folder for work. We then decided we needed a break, with a coffee and something to eat. We had intended going into Costa near John Lewis but then went to Pret A Manger. There is a lot of choice regarding places to get a drink and something to eat and we've been to Cafe Nero which is the opposite side of Middleton Hall, where the Christmas display is currently on. We were surprised when we went to get our drinks in Pret A Manger when the young man on the till said it was free. We had hot chocolate and mince pies which were very good. A shock to get something without having to pay, but apparently, according to Carol, they are expected to give away some food and drink free to customers. No doubt a sort of 'good will' gesture or something. I can't imagine many businesses doing that sort of thing.

We did have a cursory glance at the Christmas display, but to be totally honest it is a real disappointment. I don't know what it is, but it's certainly not the best effort. The usual little train they have every year is there, but the whole thing lacks any sort of imagination. A load of snow, a few mechanical penguins and Father Christmas doesn't make for a particularly entertaining experience, but I suppose as it's aimed at very little chidren, that's all that matters, but in past years they've had a theme, such as 'Peter Pan', 'Pirates ' or 'Pantomime.' Don't ask me what the theme of this year's extravaganza is as it doesn't appear to have one and it's a shame you have to pay to see most of it. So, as a result, we didn't bother, unfortunately.

Our outing ended with us going home towards Eaglestone and going to the fish and chip shop as we usually do on a Friday evening. You really can't beat the fish and chips from the Brothers Fish Bar in Eaglestone.