Water, Water

 Saturday. 12.30 a.m. It rained really heavily yesterday evening. So much so that I couldn't take Alfie out, as he really does not like getting wet. Come to think of it, neither do I.

We reached the fifth session of the Alpha Course this week, and I was due to go to the Oaktree Centre at around 6:40. I was in my lounge, watching television, and then I heard a tapping sound. At first, I couldn't work out where it was, or, indeed, what it was. Going into the flat's entrance hall, I noticed a dripping coming from the ceiling. 

Vashti, the S.H.0. (Sheltered Housing Officer) of Dexter House, had gone home. It was around 5.30. I decided to ring the Mears helpline and was told that someone would come and inspect the leak, but it might be 4 hours before they arrived. It was around an hour later that a man knocked on my door, looked at the place where the drip had come through the ceiling near the smoke alarm, and told me that it wasn't his responsibility and rang the contractor who was responsible. He did a check of the light fitting, which isn't far from the smoke detector, and did a safety check and found no sign of water or anything dangerous and then left.

I mopped up the water from the floor and that was the end of it, although I think there must be a blockage and possibly an overflow somewhere in the roof space due to the heavy rain.

Sunday. 9.25 a.m. It's bright and sunny, but chilly. At least it's cool enough to sleep. The digital thermometer currently reads 19ºC. 

Tuesday. 7.40 a.m. I went to Camphill yesterday evening. The silent movies we have been creating since February were premiered. Actually, not just the three the Tuesday group made, but several others which were produced by the Monday group. There was a red carpet in the foyer of the Chrysalis Theatre, and as people arrived, they were photographed by Craig, so it was a version of the traditional Hollywood 'Red Carpet' treatment as celebrities arrive at a premier.

Thursday. 7.40 a.m. The Zolpidem tablets which I have been waiting for arrived in the post yesterday morning. I took two at around 10.30 last night and slept well, waking around 5 a.m. I have to say, as a result, I feel a good deal better.

Friday. 7.25 a.m. A wild and wet night. It probably was nowhere near as bad in other parts of Britain, especially in Scotland.

I have mentioned the problems I've had receiving the Zolpidem which II have done a repeat prescription for. I got one delivery, then yesterday morning the larger order I made a few days ago arrived, including the sleeping tablets, (ie, Zolpidem.)

October Fun?!

 Saturday. 8.30 a.m. I awoke at around 6:45, which must be the latest I've woken in goodness knows how long. We had the third Alpha Course session last evening at the Oaktree Centre, good conversations as we sat and ate our meal, which was chilli con carne. I went home and had a drink of hot Ovaltine and then took two of the Zolpidem tablets just before I settled down in bed. The next thing I knew, I was awake with light coming through the window and I realized it was morning. At least I didn't wake in the night and then lie awake with 'stuff' going around in my head. I only have a week's worth of these tablets, so I will have to wait and see what happens when the course has finished. I will contact the doctor to see what she recommends.

Friday. 7.15 a.m. If you are a regular who reads my blog on here, you will realize that I haven't posted anything for some time. I don't intend to close this blog down, but I won't post quite as regularly as I have done in the past, so please don't expect anything to be reported quite so often.

The weather is doing its 'thing', which is what you come to expect at this time of year. Having just returned from taking Alfie out, there is a chilly wind, which means I put on my red fleece.

5.00 p.m. I have two bank accounts, one with Nationwide, which is my main account, and the other is an online-only account with Starling Bank. I had saved some cash 'for a rainy day' with the Starling Bank but hadn't taken any cash out of it since setting it up earlier this year, but I decided that my Nationwide could do with topping up, particularly as we're approaching the end of the month and I need to make sure that there's enough cash to pay some direct debits which are due to come out soon.

I duly drove into the shopping centre, to use the Starling card in the A.T.M. outside the Nationwide branch. I had a P.I.N. which I used to get into the Starling app, but when I tried it in the A.T.M. it would not allow me to access my account. I attempted it again, and, as I eventually walked back to the car, I found another A.T.M., but still the card wouldn't work.

When I got home, I had a look at the card I had for Starling in my file box which has details of such things as passwords and I found that the A.T.M. P.I.N. was there, a different one to the app password. I went online on the Starling app and got the agent (via 'chat') to unlock the card. This meant I could then go back to the A.T.M. outside Nationwide and withdraw the cash which I had intended to do originally and transfer this cash to my Nationwide account. All this was done and the mission was accomplished.

Wednesday. 

Autumnal Weather

Friday. 7.00 a.m. A good deal cooler this morning. There was a mist hanging over Oldbrook Green, when I took Alfie out at around 6.30. 

Saturday. 7.45 a.m. I didn't wake up until 6.30, which has to be the latest I've woken in goodness knows how long.

We are running an Alpha Course at Shenley Christian Fellowship. It's an introduction to the Christian faith and has been running since the 1970s, based at HTB (Holy Trinity, Brompton) in London. The team had been meeting, mostly on Zoom, for the past few months. It runs for around 10 weeks and is delivered by video, each video focusing on different aspects of Christianity. It was decided to begin the course on Friday 15th September, so that by the time it ends, it won't interfere too much with the build-up to Christmas. 

To make it viable, there would need to be around 6 people to sign up. At the beginning of the week, there were only two people signed up. We had a team of around eight people, including myself, so to have no more than two participants would not make it a viable and entirely successful project. 

By Wednesday, I hadn't heard from Julie, the leader of the Alpha Course, but then I got an email telling me that the course would go ahead. Around eight people were signed up. 

The course starts at around 7 p.m. when guests are welcomed, get tea or coffee and then, at around 7.30 they get a meal, so we can sit around a table and eat whilst we chat, get to know them and generally be hospitable. Then, a video is shown, focussing on various aspects of Christianity. This lasts around 20-25 minutes, and then the guests have a discussion, based on what they've heard and seen in the video. This will last around 30–40 minutes and then the evening concludes at around 9-9.15, so the helpers will tidy up and then go home.

Wednesday. 1.50 p.m. The weather has changed, not necessarily for the better. We had a scorching heatwave a few weeks ago, but now it's pouring with rain and there's a high wind blowing. Not something that Alfie appreciates, and neither do I. Oh well. I suppose it is typical autumn weather.

Yesterday I was at Camphill, working in the Performing Arts Workshop within the Chrysalis Theatre. We have lost a couple of the regular group, but it's still going strong. We were developing the World War Two project, with marching and other military training going on and then, after lunch. watching a television film of 'Goodnight Mr Tom', which starred the late,great John Thaw. It is set during the war, with the central little boy being an evacuee and the idea was to not merely watch it as a film, but to study what was going on, with reference to the war and how it might be inspiration for our project. I wrote quote a few notes as we watched and then, after the film was shown, we threw out our notes which can go into the 'melting pot' next week to begin the process of creating a working script.

Thursday. 7.25 a.m. It's a good deal cooler this morning. I noticed a certain chill in the air when I went out with Alfie about an hour ago.

I have a haircut booked at Central Barbers tomorrow at 1.50. My hair hasn't been cut for two months or possibly more, this due to me having had covid and then several days with a really unpleasant flu-like bug. I can park the car where I usually do, near The Point and pay using the RingGo app, but it doesn't always work, so I need to have a handful of £1 coins to use in one of the ticket machines. So, I have been to take out some cash from the A.T.M. machine outside the Tesco Express in Oldbrook Boulevard. I bought two packets of biscuits to take to the Bible study this morning and got a handful of £1 coins in the change, so that is one less thing to think about tomorrow.

Friday. 7.15 a.m. It's a good deal cooler this morning, as you would expect for September. Perhaps it's time to dig out my fleece or jacket.

Happy Talk!

 Tuesday. 7.50 a.m. I haven't been well for the past few days. I'd recovered from the covid I had around six weeks ago and as a result of that I had fairly severe back pain, although there's no genuine proof that it was linked, but it seems something of a coincidence that the back pain started up at the same time.

On Thursday, the Bible Study group, which has been meeting in different places in and around Milton Keynes during August, met up at Mursley Farm Shop. I wasn't exactly sure where it was, although I had a rough idea, but looking on Google Maps. I drove to the Oaktree Centre and was taken there by Jennie, who is the leader of the Bible Study group.

I've never been to Mursley Farm Shop. Like many of these places, it's not merely a farm shop, selling eggs, meat and other items, but there's a good cafe, which was where we met up with the rest of the gang and I had a very nice latte, although, having ordered it, it seemed to take an eternity to arrive at our table. The weather was miserable. A sort of thin rain fell as we arrived. In the field beyond the car park I could see a field with various animals in, including alpacas, which I love.

On Friday, we had a meeting at the Oaktree Centre about the proposed Alpha Course. As part of this, we did a fast (which is something I have never done before, but it was worth it, and it went well.) We watched a training video, which came on a memory stick which plugged into the television screen on the wall in the café area. It turned out I had seen it already on YouTube. We need at least 6–8 people to sign up to the course, otherwise it isn't really viable. It runs over 10–11 weeks and there is food which has to be provided for each weekly session, so it's quite a logistical issue to provide that, along with merely having support people to run the course, so, if we don't get sufficient people attending, it isn't going ahead. We will have to wait and see if the numbers increase in the next week or so, because it is scheduled to begin on 15th September.

Having finished the meeting, I drove to Domino's Pizza in Duckworth Court, which is over the road from Lidl and Tesco Express in Oldbrook Boulevard and ordered a take-away pizza, which I took home and enjoyed, actually breaking my fast!

On Saturday morning, I went to the 1940s weekend at Milton Keynes Museum. If you read my blog posts on a regular basis, you will be aware that I have been to quite a few of these events. This seemed to not be quite as good as the others. I went because of the proposed World War 2 project which is being developed in the theatre workshop at Camphill, so I took my camera and managed to take a handful of photographs, which I intend putting onto a memory stick and taking the next time I go to Camphill.

It was around this time that the flu-like symptoms began. I won't go into much detail (in fact, none at all.) I didn't eat anything until at least Tuesday and didn't go to Camphill. Well, it didn't seem such a good idea, as I didn't want to be responsible for spreading whatever it was around.

No White Christmas! Good or Bad?

 Saturday. 8.10 a.m. Cold and snowy conditions continue here in Milton Keynes, but, according to BBC Breakfast, it's going to get warmer next week. So, if that's the case, we won't get a traditional 'White Christmas.' 

11.15 a.m. I needed to get an ice scraper and more de-icer spray. I managed to get a can of spray in Sainsbury's yesterday, but no scrapers to be had. So I thought it might be an idea to look elsewhere and then decided on going to Halford's. I drove to the store in Rooksley and had a good look around and eventually had to ask a staff member who directed me to the last remaining stocks of these essential winter items. I grabbed two bottles of de-icer, just in case I couldn't get any more later on as well as the scraper and paid. I had problems keying in my PIN on the card reader, and the lady on the till told me that the keys were worn down because of people using hand gel. Which made me think if that was what it did to buttons on a card reader, what would it do to the skin on your hands? I suppose it's because most of it is alcohol-based. Worrying.

From Halfords, I drove to Sainsbury's because I had to collect a repeat prescription from Lloyd's pharmacy, which is within the store. Upon arrival inside the store and eventually arriving at the pharmacy, I found a notice informing me that they weren't opening the pharmacy until 10.30, which meant I would either have to return home and come back until 10.30 to collect my prescription or wait within the store. I didn't want to go home and then come back, so I spent the 40 minutes browsing the store, bought a string of Christmas lights, which I had been looking for anyway and also bought a few items I knew I'd need. The prescription was important because I was concerned that the order wouldn't be made up in time for the Christmas holiday when everything closes for at least two weeks.

1.35 p.m. I've been out, and it appears that the snow is gradually melting away. I do hope so, as it makes life difficult underfoot.

Sunday. 9.45 a.m. Under normal circumstances, I would have driven off to church by now, but there is no service this morning. Instead, there is to be a carol service, with candles, I believe. My only problem would be that smoke, given off by the burning of candles, would cause me to cough, so I will watch it online instead.

It's certainly a good deal milder this morning. There are definite signs of a thaw. The next problem is likely to be flooding.

2.05 p.m. There's even less chance of there being a 'White Christmas because I have been out with Alfie and it's now raining, although very thin. The grass alongside Strudwick Drive is gradually disappearing, so if it keeps on in this way, tomorrow morning it will have completely disappeared.

Monday. 3.05 a.m. I am awake, well, almost. I needed the loo (What's changed in that department?) Once I'm awake, I can't always get back to sleep. So, no point attempting to sleep. I have a shave and that makes me even more wide awake, but worth it. I do my Bible reading, 'The Bible Through The Year With Nicky Gumble', which I have on my iPad. It's he who was one of the originators of the Alpha Course at Holy Trinity Brompton. 

I'm not sure about the weather, but, having looked out of the kitchen window when I did the washing up yesterday evening, I saw that most of the snow had disappeared. At that moment, I can hear the wind, whistling and roaring around the building. 

8.00 a.m. It's windy out. The snow is gone and it's so much milder. I'm glad because it means I don't have to scrape ice off the car before I drive off to Bleak Hall Motors so that it can have its annual service. 

Much of A Muchness

Monday. 4.50 a.m. Well, here I am, sitting in my armchair, merrily writing this blog post, but not with any real idea what I'm going to write, but I'm sure if I keep tapping away on the keyboard something will suddenly come to me. The big issue of the week is, you've guessed it, when am I going to manage to get diesel, so I can fuel the car? In that respect, nothing much has changed.

Wednesday. 6.50 a.m. It's dark and dreary. I don't exactly like this time of year, and even more so when the clocks change. Alfie is whittling to go out, but I will wait around ten minutes before we venture forth.

Thursday. 12.35 p.m. There's a great deal of banging and scraping in the next flat to mine. I have a feeling they are upgrading it. There's going to be a lot of renovation of the entire block. There are words written on the walls along the corridor, 'Pebble', 'Romney Wool' etc. These words (no, not one of the residents going bonkers due to lockdown and scrawling graffiti, though at times I feel like doing that.) refer to the carious paint colours which will eventually be gracing the corridor. Even the brown door-frames and window frames are to be given a lick of paint! Good gracious! Whatever next? The scooter sheds are in place, looking similar to bin cupboards or even those portable toilets you see at open-air events such as music festivals. They have rather cleverly designed roofs which slope backwards to prevent snow remaining on them or to make sure rain runs off. So, am I likely to get a revamp in my flat? I have someone to check out my bathroom. Will I be getting a full-length bath? A shower unit? A power shower? A bath with gold taps, diamond encrusted surround? Mosaics on the floor? A sauna? Or is that asking too much? Perhaps a hot tub in the garden? An Olympic-size swimming pool with all mod-cons? Don't hold your breath! One can dream I suppose.

Friday. 10.05 a.m. Yesterday evening we had the first session of The Prayer Course at the Oaktree Centre. I was leading the men's group after we had watched the video that goes with the course. Run in a similar fashion to the Alpha Course, which I have been involved in several times over the years, both as a participant and helper. It was my first experience of leading, and I was pleased how well it went, quite difficult utilizing all the questions within the twenty-minute time slot. My friends Margaret and Mike came to give me a lift in their car as mine is still without fuel, but still sitting on the drive. The fuel can is due to arrive from Amazon, so hopefully the fuel situation will be resolved when I have diesel in the fuel tank. Only time will tell.

The fuel can turned out around lunchtime. I have to say I was somewhat surprised as I was expecting it to turn up on Monday, probably late. It seems a good deal smaller than I was expecting, but it should be sufficiently large enough to manage enough diesel to at least partially fill my car's fuel tank. But I find the closure and the spout, which has to be fitted separately, relatively difficult to closer and attach, but I'm sure with some effort I can deal with these things.

I have a couple of books ordered from Postscript, a catalogue and on-line discount book company. Their latest catalogue came with my November issue of BBC History Magazine, so I had to browse and found two books, one about Stonehenge and the other about Hadrian's Wall, at greatly reduced prices, so it was too tempting, so did the order on their website, and they should arrive, delivered my Hermes. I knew, as soon as I saw the catalogue/leaflet/brochure, that I would find something of interest in it, as I have done before. Parcel expected to arrive sometime tomorrow.

I waited in all day for someone to come a check-out my bathroom to have a refit. They were supposed to come between 8am and 2 pm, but not a single thing, not a dicky bird, not an email, text message or telephone call to explain why they didn't arrive, not an apology or anything. So what happened? Maddening enough to have to wait in on the off-chance someone turns up and particularly when you're not sure exactly when they will arrive, but not turning up at all is infuriating. Not a good way to run a business. No doubt I will get a grovelling apology later in the week, but I somehow doubt it.

Saturday. 8.45 a.m. I didn't wake until around 7.15, so Alfie didn't get his usual outing until gone 7.30. Somewhat surprising to find it foggy as we walked down Strudwick Drive.

Because the car is virtually empty of fuel and not really advisable to drive, I made the decision to walk to Sainsbury's, which is no more than a twenty-minute walk away across Oldbrook Green and through some residential streets. I had a prescription to collect from Lloyd's pharmacy, so it was an excuse to pick up a few essential items, notably some more easy peelers, which I have eaten virtually every day since the pandemic began in March 2020. I've also bought a smart light bulb which is colour-changing. It is operated via an app on my iPad, and it was relatively easy to set up. Great also to be able to dim the bulb and have it at a purer white than the old bulb I had in the fitment which was giving off more of a dim oil lamp sort of glow or possibly candlelight strength, not really very good for reading by.

When I went out mid-morning with Alfie, and as we walked along the path beside Strudwick Drive, I could hear a sound which I thought was a bird. Then I stopped by the tree that hangs over the fence of the community garden at Dexter House and saw a squirrel running up and down the branches. It was that making the sounds. I wasn't even aware that squirrels made a noise, and not that sort of noise. Probably calling to its mate, or at least other squirrels. Most likely a warning sound made to alert other squirrels.

The Postscript books arrived mid-morning. I was surprised how quickly they came, considering the problems there have been with working under lockdown conditions for more than eighteen months

Better Together Campaign

Last Sunday Milton Keynes Christian Centre began a campaign called "Better Together." It's actually based on Rick Warren's campaign. He's an American pastor at Saddleback Church in California. It's aimed at getting church out into the community. Each Sunday for six weeks we'll have a message from one of the Elders which is the basis for a weekly small group in homes all over Milton Keynes. I signed up on the first Sunday, with the intention of eventually having my own Life Group (called 'Cells' or 'House Groups' in other churches. They meet once a week, or sometimes monthly or bi-monthly, to do Bible studies and usually connected to what we've heard in church the previous Sunday. A good way to build fellowship with other Christians.) Unfortunately most of these groups are in the evening, usually starting at 7-7.30 p.m. As Carol and I get up at around 6 a.m. each morning, and Carol finishes work at 4.45 each evening, it is very difficult, if not totally impossible, to get to one of these groups. I'm generally unwinding and wouldn't manage to stay awake for a 2-hour session, what with my heart condition as well as the effects my medication has on me. So this was a good opportunity to set up a day-time course of some sort, to hopefully attract other retired people, or, at least, those who do shift work and can't possibly get to a Life Group due to work commitments. I'd signed up to run mine mid-week, on a Wednesday, and beginning at 2.30. The Better Together campaign uses video messages, recorded by Rick Warren, and members of the group can follow using a book, similar in some ways to the Alpha Course, which we had running at M.K.C.C.C. last September (in actual fact, I've now done the course twice at M.K.C.C., first time round as a helper, setting up the evening, and dismantling, and the second time, last year, as a participant. But I have done the course several times before, a couple of times at Rutland Road Church in Bedford, and once at Brickhill Baptist Church.)

I wasn't sure whether I was going to get anyone to join a group. I wasn't really that sure whether there was any demand for a group to be run during the day. I then had an email from church informing me that a lady called Maria had signed up. I then attempted to contact her, just to let her know I'd received her inquiry. It took some while before I get a response. I had emailed and got nothing back and then I sent a text message. Some people had this technology, computers, smartphones etc etc and are on them constantly. Then there are those who have them, sign up to have email, text etc etc but hardly use them. They don't check their emails or text messages regularly. I know that some people are addicted to these things. You see it out on the street, some people who don't communicate with the world around them, constantly looking at their mobiles. Obsessive-Compulsive in some cases. Sad, really. But there again, the technology has it's uses.

Anyway, after a few days I decided to ring Maria's phone number. I didn't get a response. not even a voicemail service, so I couldn't even leave a recorded message. There again, it's no use having this technology if you don't listen to it. So I had to leave things for a little longer. It was beginning to get closer to the day (yesterday) when the course was going to begin. I had been given the DVD with all the video talks on it as well as the book which goes with the course. Because I was hosting the course in my home I wasn't expected to pay for the materials.

I decided to have another go at phoning Maria. On this occasion she did answer, thank goodness. She had to pass the call over to her husband, Ted so he could write down my address. So, at least that was set up and I didn't have to concern myself with non-communication.

I had a second prospective attendee. I had their name and mobile number in an email from church, but when I called she didn't realise the starting-time of the group was during the day, so she couldn't come along, unfortunately. There is, of course, a good chance that more people might join, but it would have to be within the first couple of weeks, otherwise they wouldn't be able to catch up with the video talks.

Yesterday I got myself all ready for the first session at 2.30. I had cleaned the lounge, got some biscuits in for refreshment and got the kettle filled and ready. It got closer and closer to the time. If I'd been going to someone's house for the first time I would have got there a good ten minutes before the time the session was due to begin. 2.30 came and went. I thought, 'she's not going to come now.' Then it was 2.40 or there about and then Josh, from M.K.C.C. (It was him who gave me the lift to Sainsbury's a month or so ago when our car broke down, you might remember, if you read these posts on a regular basis.) He said that he had Maria and her husband there at church. They had got to my door and were knocking, but I wasn't answering. Well, they couldn't have done, because if they had, I would have seen them. I had been standing in the kitchen, looking out of the window, and no car had drawn outside and no one had got out and certainly hadn't knocked on the door. If I had seen them and they'd been there, I would obviously have let them in. It turned out that they'd been knocking on the wrong door, another house entirely, further along the road! I couldn't believe it. He asked for my house number, so I gave it (which I clearly gave to them when they'd rung a few days previously.) Josh said that they'd be with me in about 15 minutes.

So they turned up and parked on the drive at the front of the house. Maria was initially set to attend the session on her own, but Ted, her husband, came in and we ran through the session together, so I hope they are both able to come for the next five weeks of the course. Unfortunately, because they had been around 20 minutes late, we didn't manage to get through all the questions in the book, but at least we managed to run the two videos on the DVD. My television set has a built-in DVD player and we had a problem getting the videos to run as we wanted. It was difficult finding the first session on the disc, but we eventually got it running correctly after a few false starts.

I had to keep Alfie, our Yorkie, in the kitchen. It was clear that Maria wasn't that fond of dogs, and I would never expect to have him in with us as we did the course. Unfortunately Alfie doesn't like being shut in on his own, perhaps even more since Poppy has died. He kept scratching on the door, so I gave in and let him in. He becomes very determined to get attention and can manipulate you to get what he wants. So he sat with us, mostly sitting on Ted's knee. Not what I would have wanted, but it was far better than him constantly scratching on the door and doing more damage to the paintwork and apart from anything else, making it quite difficult to concentrate on the video talks.

So, all in all a positive afternoon and I hope it builds over the next few weeks. Keep watching my blog posts for further details as the weeks progress.

Sunny But Cold

It's a bright and sunny day, but it is actually bitterly cold outside. We have been warned of some really bad weather coming in from the Atlantic, high winds and rain. They have called it a 'Weather Bomb.' Not entirely sure what this expression means, but I think they are just warning people that we can expect a really bad storm to hit the British Isles over the next day or two. So, if we get high winds, that will mean that the remaining part of our garden fence will not survive. What does remain is in such a poor state it can hardly be described as 'fence.' 

I have been a volunteer at the Milton Keynes Christian Centre for the past three months or so as we've been running an Alpha course. The course finished last week, as every Monday it was running. Last night we were all treated to a meal at Nandos. All paid for by M.K.C.C. which was very enjoyable. About 15 of us were there. This restaurant is one of a group in a sort of parade of units recently built near the stadium. There is another similar 'parade' near Kingston Tesco's. Carol and I went there for my birthday in October and we had a meal at Frankie and Benny's.

Wild, Wet and Windy Weekend

It wouldn't be a normal August Bank Holiday if it didn't have rain, and we had rain here in bucket-loads. Stair-rods. We had wanted to go out somewhere as it's the last week of Carol's holidays. We have had some outings as already mentioned in earlier blogs on here, but it turned out that we'd be stuck in watching television instead.

I haven't mentioned that I am booked onto a creative writing course. I have mentioned the one-day course I did back in November at the Milton Keynes Art Centre and how it had sparked me off on quite a bit of writing. I had then booked on to a ten-week course, again at the Arts Centre and again lead by the same leader who lead the one-day course and it was intended as a Christmas present and running from mid-January. Unfortunately it was cancelled due to ill health of Deborah Fielding, the leader. I had hoped that it would be re-scheduled but nothing came of it and the money that was paid out was refunded. I had been looking around to do a similar course elsewhere and had found nothing suitable. Then Carol did some searching on the internet and found this Beginners Novel-Writing course which just happened to be starting on September 23rd and on in the evenings at the Milton Keynes Academy for 8 weeks. Just too good to be true as it means that I don't have to worry about parking as it's only a short walk there and a complete coincidence as Carol works there so it has worked out well. Just a bit annoying that I don't get any sort of discount but never mind. It's now paid for and all things are settled.

At Milton Keynes Christian Centre we're having an Alpha course starting the Monday before my writing course starts. I've been on one of the courses before when I lived in Bedford and went to Brickhill Baptist Church and then as a helper when I went to Rutland Road Church. So it looks as if I'm going to be busy staring in September. The Alpha course runs for eleven weeks and you get food at the beginning of the evening which is good enough reason to go. And knowing M.K.C.C. the food should be good!