Easter Bank Holiday Monday

Saturday. 4.20 p.m. We had another men's breakfast this morning, this time in the restaurant at Dobbie's garden centre in Fenny Stratford. When I had taken Alfie out at around 6 o'clock, there was a mist hanging over Oldbrook Green, but it was still quite bright, but not sunny (well, the sun had barely risen by then. The moon was again shining brightly, more allusions to coins, medals and silver discs as a description seem more than  appropriate.) But when I went out at around 8.35 to drive to Fenny, I found that a thin fog had descended over Milton Keynes.

Some of the men's breakfast members (for want of a better word.) began to arrive. Dobbie's didn't open until 9 o'clock, but when a staff member came and opened the front door, we went inside and made our way to the restaurant. The entire place has been modernized, given a good deal more than a mere lick of paint. In the restaurant, the self-service element has been removed. It used to be one of those restaurants where you took a tray and moved along a counter where you could choose what you wanted to eat and a member of staff served you and then, when you had everything you wanted to eat, you went to a till to pay. You now go to your table and staff come to you, and they take your order, which is written on an iPad this is how your order is made up, and then it's bought to your table.

Monday. 6.40 a.m. It has been raining overnight. There were definitely signs of it when I went out with Alfie. Well, it is a Bank Holiday Monday, and it's surely traditional for rain on a Bank Holiday.

10.15 a.m. It's overcast and drizzling. By which I mean it's a rather paltry, thin sort of rain. Not the sort of weather you would want to go out in, in the traditional British, Bank Holiday visit, to a zoo, stately home or wherever, so it's just a stay-at-home sort of day. Alfie, I'm sure, would love to go out, but as it's a bit wet out, I don't think he'd enjoy it. We will wait and see how the weather develops and then perhaps go out.

I have been to get a few items from Sainsbury's. Fairy washing-up liquid is the main item, but also a few snacks. It wasn't excessively busy. Well, I don't think most people go grocery shopping on Bank Holiday Monday.

Going down on the travellator (moving people carrier? I don't know what you call it. It's what you stand on to get from the car park level below Sainsbury's store.) there is a really annoying recorded voice, which keeps on telling you to 'stand still and hold onto the rail' and, as you approach the top or bottom to 'get ready to push your trolley off the travellator.' It's so repetitive and annoying, done with a female voice. I was thinking, don't people think for themselves? Do we really need to be told the obvious, like this? (I have discussed this sort of thing elsewhere within these blog posts.) It's a bit like 'nanny knows best.' Okay, I know it's to warn you, but surely, any intelligent person can SEE the spot where you either get on the thing, or off (unless, of course, you are short-sighted or 'visually impaired (politically correct usage for 'blind.' The female voice is not only annoying, bossy and over-repetitive. Why not less hectoring? It could have Anne Robinson's voice, she of, 'The Weakest Link.' As you step off, or on, it could say 'You are the weakest link, goodbye!' or a Margaret Thatcher voice, in her rampaging headmistress-style voice. That would be enough to get customers moving. I was wondering if a female voice has the same effect on people compared to that of a male voice. 

2.00 p.m. The rain has ceased, and the sun has been shining, although it hasn't been very warm. As I write this, I can hear the wind roaring around the building.

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.

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.

550th blog post: Sunny Start to October

This, for those who are interested, this is the 550th post I've written on this blog. Just thought I'd mention it. Not only that but I've been writing these posts for 6 years, beginning on 27th September 2009. It seems amazing to me that I have managed to keep these musings going, although I'm not so sure they are all particularly interesting. And it's been seen, or at least, according to Google's statistics, had 23, 430 page views.

It's the 1st October and it's as sunny and warm as it was in August. There's something definitely odd about it being this warm. On B.B.C. Breakfast early this morning the forecast said that this warm weather had something to do with the Gulf Stream and that it has moved north or something, but that the weather was going to break and we were going to have rain and high winds in the next couple of days.  

I'm busy currently ringing round trying to get a quote to have our car serviced. We went out in it the other Sunday, and as we went down the A5, just before we got to the roundabout for  Fenny Stratford and Dobbie's garden centre, we could see smoke pouring out of the exhaust. Other drivers in cars which were following us were keeping a wide berth and some were apparently signalling. I wasn't driving so I couldn't see, but, looking in the rear-view mirror I could see a could of blue smoke which appeared to be following us and most definitely was coming out of the exhaust pipe at the rear of the car. We got to the roundabout and pulled in near the garage next to the new McDonald's and looked at the rear of the car. The smoke had stopped even when we put our foot down on the accelerator pedal. The smoke seemed to vanish as quickly as it appeared. We drove back through Fenny Stratford and Simpson because Carol didn't want the embarrassment of driving with any more smoke coming out of the exhaust. We had intended driving through Woburn deer park as it was such a sunny morning, but the smoke from the car put an end to that. As a result I am looking for the cheapest quote from garages to have the car serviced, with oil change, filters etc etc. We also have a problem with the windscreen wipers as none are working at the moment. Anyway, the most expensive quote was £200 and the cheapest £85. 

Not going out at the moment because we have a grocery delivery coming from out on-line shop from Sainsbury's and it's booked to arrive between 11-12 this morning. They usually come quite promptly so there's not a lot to do apart from me writing this post.

A little while later . . .

I could have started a fresh post, but I didn't see the point. The Sainsbury's delivery arrived at around 11.30. As I was taking the delivery in and about to put it away, the telephone rang and I went to answer. It was Sainsbury's pharmacy. It seemed a bit of a coincidence that I was dealing with the Sainsbury's delivery, but never mind. Both Carol and I have our repeat prescriptions made up by Sainsbury's. You ring about a week in advance and they deal directly with the surgery at Beanhill. Then around a week later you go in and collect the ordered medications. It has gone very well for the last year or so. You have to remember to order so that you have enough medication to allow for them to make up the order. It seems something went wrong with Carol's prescription which I had telephoned in well over a week ago. The Sainsbury's driver had presumably gone to the surgery to pick it up and it wasn't ready. So I had to drive to Beanhill to get the printed prescription (which, according to the lady on reception, had only just been prepared.) then drive to Sainsbury's to get the order made up. I was surprised how busy it was as it seemed to be crawling with office staff who must have been on their lunch breaks. I bought a sandwich because I would have made something to eat after I had put the grocery delivery away. It just goes to show that it only needs one element of the system with the repeat prescription to go slightly wrong to cause a lot of other problems.