A Sunny Bank Holiday!

At last, a Bank Holiday weekend with some sunshine! Usually we get rain and misery.

To get to Shenley Christian Fellowship on Sunday morning I had to negotiate a somewhat out-of-the-way route in order to avoid any of the road closures, due to yet another marathon. The exit out of Eaglestone, onto Saxon Street, which would have been my most obvious route out, was coned off. I had to drive around to come out near the Eaglestone shop and onto Chaffron Way, turning right and then down to the roundabout on Marlborough Street and then  round and onto Portway and eventually getting to Childs Way near Morrisons and then round onto Fulmer Street and back onto Chsffron Way. I don't think those who organise the Milton Keynes marathons we have to endure how much inconvenice is caused when so many of the central roads are closed off.  all very well, but those who do these things are somewhat narrow-mined and only focussed on what they want and not what perhaps the majority want.

Today we'll have to endure yet another load of roads being closed off if we want to go out, as we will, because it's forecast to be a bright and sunny day.

Later. We did go out- to Whipsnade Zoo. Carol made up a picnic and we drove off, with the intention of getting on to the A5 near the stadium, but as we approached along Grafton Street, we encountered a queue of cars, backing up past Beanhill. No doubt something to do with the marathon, or, because it was such a hot day as well as being a Bank Holiday, people were just determined to get out of Milton Keynes.

We drove along the top of Dunstable Downs and then further on into Whipsnade village, crossing the green and then we came upon another queue of cars. By now it was about 9.50, so we knew we would't have to wait long as the zoo opens at 10 o'clock. Because Carol has Z.S.L. Fellowship we wouldn't need to wait long at the entrance. The queue moved forward fairly quickly, which was just as well, as it was beginning to get really hot. The queue at the entrance didn't take long and we passed through into the zoo.

Even at 10 o'clock it was busy. Perhaps the busiest we've seen it in all the years we've been visiting. We drove around the zoo, as we always do.  Usually we would park near the bear enclosure, but there were cars parked all along the side of the road. Right round near the rhinos it was solid parking. We parked near the hippos and walked to several of the exhibits, the cheetahs, lions and hippos. We got some really good views of the cheetahs, which were right up near the fence. Usually they are hidden away in the far distance, but, no doubt because of the heat, one was against the fence and another was in a more open area. Even the lions were up near the glass viewing area, enabling me to take some stunning photographs through the glass.

We're just dismayed by the attitude of some of the visitors to Whipsnade Zoo. Driving around, it's quite difficult to avoid other people, but some people seem to think it's fine to walk in the middle of the road. We had to slow down to walking pace to make sure we don't run into anyone, but why would you choose to walk in the centre of the road when there's a good path? People just being dumb and almost defiantly refusing to get out of the way. No common sense when there's a car approaching.
We eventually decided to park near to the elephants and have our picnic sitting on a bench. It was as we sat and ate our food that we heard one of the baby elephants making a noise, something we've never heard before. It was trying to get through a gate which was closed and the mother was attempting to move it away, but the mother eventually got it to move into the centre of the enclosure, but it kept returning to the gate. Then some of the elephants began playing around with the water in the pool where there was a sprinkler on. It was interesting to see how one of the elephants drank using it's trunk.

Overhearing conversations and watching people walking past: one child said 'look at the rhinos!' How could you confuse an elephant for a rhino? Would a child not know the difference? A woman then looked over at some other animals, antelopes with great big horns and referred to them as horses. But horses do not have horns! Crazy.

We drove out of the zoo. By now it was getting too crowded and hot. Carol said she wanted ice-cream, so we drove back across Dunstable Downs and stopped at the National Trust carpark. We walked to the visitor centre, heaving with humanity. We managed to buy ice creams in the shop and walked back outside to sit on a mound of earth and looked at the view. Lots of people flying kites, walking their dogs and cycling along the paths. Ice-cream eaten, we returned to our car and drove home.

We had the television news on later when we got home, and learnt that today had been the hottest May Bank Holiday in some 40 years.

More Marathon Misery

I know the moment I post this I'm going to upset someone out there. It's almost as if you're not allowed to have an opinion, particularly if it doesn't fit in with someone else's. But hard cheese. Hard luck or whatever. We're going to have to put up with a load of runners through our estate tomorrow. I have no problem with these marathons or whatever they are called. All good fun, good exercise, excellent for various charities.  Each to his own. It's just annoying that if we want to get out of Eaglestone we can't or will be inconvenienced, for example, having to park our car outside the closed-off area. I know it's for only a few hours on a Sunday, but it's still annoying. It's just that I think the organisers of these events could at least cooperate with the residents of the estates which the marathon goes through, or at least change the route once in a while. But they won't. So, if I want to get out of Eaglestone tomorrow morning, early, I'll have to park somewhere else and drive out somehow or other before things get going. Park outside the area not run through by the marathon runners. End of story. Thinking about it, I don't think it is actually a marathon, but who's splitting hairs? Not actually a marathon misery, but as I love alliteration in my subject-line for my blog posts.

We've been playing with Alfie. He knows where the treats are kept. In a tin near where Carol sits on the sofa. Under different circumstances he would tap it with his nose or his paw, but he's just being difficult. Just too clever by half.

We've had that confounded squirrel back in the garden and on the bird feeding station. It's been several times. Alfie doesn't seem to take any notice of it. I don't really want it eating the bird food. After all, a squirrel is really a big rat with a large fluffy tail. Next door's cats have been prowling around, wandering along the top of the fence and scaring off the birds, which is a shame. They know that Alfie can't touch them, and as soon as he seems them, he starts barking madly.

We went to Garroway's to use the One-Stop shop. Carol fancied bacon sandwiches for lunch. Also, bread and eggs. As a last resort, imperial mints. She didn't come into the shop, but stayed in the car. I could find white bread, but for some reason they've moved things around so I can't find eggs. I walk around the shelves several time. It's just annoying that they need to shift things around. Just to get customers annoyed. You know where everything is, then it's moved, for no good reason. I have to ask someone where the eggs are. Imperial mints? The sweet section has moved. Now that area has greetings cards. Crazy! It's a small shop. Why this ceaseless shifting stock around? I've mentioned this before, regarding supermarkets. Well, One-Stop is owned by Tesco. Need I say more? 

May Bank Holiday and Milton Keynes Marathon

May Bank Holiday Monday. Why is it that 1st May is a Bank Holiday in Great Britain? It never used to be such, although I recall the May Day celebrations in Ickwell, a village in Bedfordshire, not too far from where I used to live in Cardington, where they had (and no doubt, still have) a May Day Festival, with dancing around the Mayple, which is on the village green. Having now Googled the subject, yes, the Mayday celebrations do still happen, with dancing around the maypole and the crowning of a May Queen. It's been going on virtually uninterrupted since the time of the Tudors, but it was banned by Oliver Cromwell during the Commonwealth (miserable old so and so.) but reintroduced when Charles II became king after the Restoration.

So, we get a day off. Doesn't bother me one way or another, as I'm now retired, but I know Carol needs a rest from her efforts, working as a science teacher at Milton Keynes Academy.

After the last Milton Keynes Marathon a few months ago, when the route went past our house in Eaglestone (which meant we were locked in for a couple of hours and couldn't get out) and I vaguely mentioned the fact on one of my posts on this blog, it seemed to upset someone or other connected with this event. It seems you're not supposed to have an a opinion unless it's that of the mass. So much for the idea of the good old British thing called 'Free Speech' or 'Freedom of Expression.' I dared to suggest that the route went along the nearby Redway (only a few yards away.) It was almost as if I'd made some obscene remark, the reaction it caused.

On Sunday we were lead to believe that there was to be a marathon and that we'd be locked in to Eaglestone for several hours whilst this event took place. We saw the yellow signs along some of the Gridroads near Eaglestone, and, as a result, we wouldn't be able to drive to M.K.C.C. for either of the three services. As I'm involved in Better Together (see previous post.) I wanted to make sure I heard the message delivered. But I managed to be able to see this as services are broadcast 'live' via the internet and YouTube, which we can see through our SkyQ box. As it turned out we didn't have any runners come past our house, so whether the marathon (full, half or whatever) actually was diverted away from Eaglestone, I don't know. But on Monday (today) we weren't certain what was going on. We certainly didn't want to be stuck indoors and wanted to get out somewhere. It was a rather undecided day on the weather-front, but mostly it was sunny, although there was some rain during the day. We had talked about a trip to Rutland Water and we were considering taking Alfie. It doesn't take much to encourage him to go out with us and a walk around that stretch of water would have been good for all of us. I have visited before and it's certainly a good place to go to and plenty to attract attention. But then we changed our minds and decided on going to Bicester Avenue, a retail outlet and garden centre. It's very near Bicester Village and a good 40-minute drive just beyond Buckingham. We got away from Milton Keynes before the marathon began and intended getting back home after it finished.

So, we drove out of Milton Keynes and made for Bicester. On arrival at the retail park we had a stroll around the various shops and eventually went into the Wyevale Garden Centre there which is the central largest outlet within Bicester Avenue. We had coffee and scones and then looked around the plants and some of the bird-feeding paraphernalia on sale there with the eventual intention of adding to our bird feeder we already have set up in the garden at home.

We browsed in several of the other shops at Bicester Avenue, one being a pet shop where we actually managed to find Alfie another 'sound' toy (if you read earlier posts regarding the difficulty we've had finding a replacement for the Comic Relief 'laughing ball' which he loves so much, then you'll realise how great it was to find this toy. Actually we bought '2 for £5', which made it doubly great.) Then, into the Cotton Traders shop. We have bought quite a few items of clothing from this company, and get their catalogue in the post. From there, back to the car and home. The traffic going into Bicester was very heavy. Most seemed going to Bicester Outlet Village, another destination we've visited on various occasions, and then back towards Buckingham and Milton Keynes. As we approached Buckingham, the heavens opened and there was quite a rain storm. It didn't last long, but it's as well we didn't go to Rutland Water because we heard on the car radio that there were traffic hold-ups in and around that area, so we might have found ourselves held up on either the M1 or the A1 either outward bound or returning. We had intended visiting Aldi in Buckingham, which has a branch on the road going into Buckingham, but for some reason we couldn't find the exit and must have gone past, but then made the decision to visit the Aldi at Westcroft where we usually shop. The traffic was excessively heavy on the approach to Milton Keynes and, having done some basic shopping in Aldi for the evening's meal, drove home with the simple idea that the marathon had come to an end. How wrong could we be. The roads were chocker-block with very long queues of cars and we couldn't go towards Eaglestone along Chaffron Way and had to turn right along Grafton Street and then onto Standing Way. Completely grid-locked and it took a good deal longer to eventually get into Saxon Street, which by then had been opened up. Runners still running along some of the Redway system as we eventually drove into Eaglestone and home. 

Fence Repair and Other Matters

The sound of D.I.Y. had almost disappeared yesterday, thankfully. On returning from church mid-morning we were expecting to hear more hammering and sawing, which wouldn't have been surprising as it was a very mild and sunny day over-all. We had considered going for a swim but we didn't in the end. 

During the afternoon we were settled down for a rest when there was a knock at the door. It's usually whenever we are settled and quiet that we get either a phone call or someone comes to the door and disturbs things. I ran downstairs and found Shelley, Gary's wife (our neighbour on one side.) she said she wanted to speak to us. It appears that Gary is going to replace the fence which divides our gardens. As it's on our left, it is actually our responsibility, and our landlord should legally deal with this. But if we contact him he will make so much fuss and would no doubt get a cowboy builder to to the work, that in the end it's easier for us to get the work done. Gary will do the work and we'll pay for half of the work. At £40 it seems cheap. As it cost around £200 to have the fence at the end of the garden replaced (nearly two years ago I suspect, but it might have been less than that.) definitely a good deal. He will do the work over the next weekend. Having looked at that section of fence, it doesn't look as if it would survive much longer. It's very wobbly and definitely unstable and if you were to touch it it would most likely just crumble into a heap of sawdust or shavings. I don't think the fence around the garden has been replaced since the house was constructed, which I imagine would have been in the late 1970's. So it must be well over 40 years old. I notice that a lot of fences in the Eaglestone area have recently been replaced, so if that's a sign of how old the fences are, it's no surprise that ours needed replacing. Our landlord is somewhat of a skinflint, as you will have realised if you've read my earlier posts. He certainly doesn't like spending money (well, who does, in all honesty?) It's just if he does get someone to do any work they are never properly qualified and don't do a decent job. A case of 'make-do and mend. But if you get a cowboy to do the work you end up with poor-quality workmanship which then needs further work doing and it will cost more to remedy the problem. Just not a cost-effective method of repair.

I have seen the large yellow signs dotted about along the Gridroads and within Eaglesone, telling us that there's going to be yet another marathon running through here next Sunday as well as Monday, which is the  May Bank Holiday. All very well and nice for the runners, but yet again we won't be able to get out with the car when this is on. I know there's people out there who get all hot and bothered if you even dare to suggest that this event is re-routed along the Redway. But I bet if I was to go and park my car immediately outside their homes so they couldn't get out, they wouldn't be over-pleased. The last time I wrote about this matter on here it seemed that I'd made a rude suggestion. It's just that some people don't like it when someone disagrees with them, sadly. Not allowed to have a contrary opinion. Oh dear, I'd better end here before I get a brick thrown through my front window! Oh well, I suppose if we want to go out on either day we'll have to leave well before this event takes place.

Garden-Tidying and Milton Keynes Marathon

We were informed, by reading yellow signs on the Grid Roads around here, that the roads were to be closed over the May Day Bank Holiday weekend ( Sunday 1st and Monday 2nd May.) From experience we are used to having Golden Drive closed off on marathon days, meaning we usually can't get out in the car at such times. We are also usually informed through the medium of a letter put through our letter boxes well in advance. This didn't happen, although a leaflet was put through our door on Saturday evening, too late to be of any real use. It turned out that, in the end, the runners kept to Saxon Street and didn't come into our estate at all. Which meant we could get out if we'd wanted to. But it would appear, having read the leaflet again, Golden Drive will be closed off tomorrow for another marathon. It's all very well and good, and there's nothing wrong with any of this, but it is beginning to become somewhat tiresome. Why can't they use the Redway, which runs only a few yards away, behind our house? It would surely mean they don't have to cause so much inconvenience to anyone and it must be safer in the long run (sorry about the unintentional pun. These things just happen that way.) as the Redway system was designed in such a way that users don't have to cross the Grid Roads, being designed to utilise bridges and under-passes. 

I have bought a Strimmer. Well, actually it isn't a Strimmer as such. It uses the same technology and is actually a Qualcast Grass Trimmer, 'Strimmer' being a trademark of a particular make of grass cutter which uses plastic fishing line, revolving fast inside a hand-held device run on electricity and enabling the user to trim generally inaccessible grass around a lawn, under trees etc. I purchased it in Homebase earlier in the week. I had a voucher which meant if I spent £30 or more I could get extra bonus Nectar points, so it seemed a good enough excuse to buy the machine and claim the extra points. I have been using the thing and it's making a good enough job of tidying up the grass at the back of the house. As we now have the fence repaired it seems a good enough excuse to start on sorting out the garden. I have also been clearing the weeks and mess from the front of the house. Weeds and grass have been growing between the cracks in the paving slabs at the front of the house and I've been using the hoe we bought in Wickes the other week to scrape the weeds out. It's quite a difficult job but it seems well worth it. The Daily Telegraph has had an offer in the paper this weekend, you cut out a voucher and take it to Homebase and receive bedding plants free, so we went early this morning and picked the plants up, pansies as well as strawberry plants. We also got a rather nice ceramic strawberry planter which will go well on the patio in the garden. We went to Dobbie's garden centre yesterday afternoon and got trays of plants as well as another visit to Staple's garden centre near Flitwick later on this morning and got another plant as Carol has been busy sorting out our collection of pots which we've had sitting around the garden for far too long, steadily growing weeds inside them, but now have some fresh and colourful flowering plants in them. 

Mothering Sunday and Marathon

Sunday was Mothering Sunday. It has been re-branded or re-named 'Mother's Day' so as to fit in with the American style of naming. Why do we in Britain insist on being driven by what America does and says? Anyway, Carol didn't get any sort of card, flowers or even a phone call from either Sam or Daniel. I'm afraid I'm a little disappointed. Considering that almost every shop you go in has some sort of recognition of the day you can hardly not know it's coming up. I know I'm being cynical when I say it's just another commercial day, much like Valentine's, Hallowee'n, and all the other 'days' so that businesses can push more products, be it flowers, chocolates or a hundred-and-one other items. but never mind.

We couldn't get out in the car on Sunday morning as there was another Marathon in Milton Keynes and the runners came past our house. It wasn't for long, and we were warned well in advance. There was a large yellow sign up along the road and the club who ran it did put letters through everyone's door who lived on the route, so we had no excuse to not know. Our dogs don't really like their routines being altered, particularly Alfie, and they started barking loudly when they heard the runners coming past.  Carol picked up Alfie and let him see what was going on through the kitchen window. He seemed intrigued to see so many people.

We did go out later, in the car, once the Marathon was over. Carol was shocked to see someone in a car stop outside the Academy and pick some daffodils, which were growing on he grass outside, and then get back in the car and drive off. We couldn't believe what we were seeing. Were these going to be  Mothering Sunday present? What a cheapskate? Do you mean to say this cheap individual couldn't be bothered to go and buy some flowers for his mum and had to pinch some from the side of the road? Almost as bad as stealing flowers of someone's grave! The we drove to Westcroft to try and find a replacement for the Comic Relief 'Giggling Ball' which Alfie loves and plays with happily. I We went into Jolley's but with no success, so we went next door to the Pricesaver store, or whatever it's called. The 'Giggle Ball 'is slowly coming to the end of it's life, so we have been attempting to find a replacement, without success. We did find a ball, made of plastic, into which you put treats, and it makes a sound when it's moved, and this allows your dog to work to get the treats out. Poppy seems to like it, and has been playing with it, pushing it along with her paw. She has shown no interest in the 'Giggling Ball.' As we got out of the car in the car park, there were lots of men walking along with bunches of flowers. I said to Carol 'It's a case of 'last-minute dot com.' Men who had forgotten to get their mothers flowers and needed to get some 'at the last minute.' Or else they wouldn't get their Sunday dinners, or something.

Another blog post . . .

I haven't been on here for a while. Nothing much to write about. The weather is being somewhat changeable. We have another Bank Holiday on Monday, so it's a long weekend, in effect. A couple of Sunday ago there was a marathon (half, or whatever, I'm not sure exactly.) and it came straight past our house here in Eaglestone. Which means that,  for most of the morning we couldn't get the car out. Now, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with marathons, they give thousands of people something to do on a nice bright sunny Sunday,  anything which means they don't have to wash the car, read the paper or watch interminable repeats on television, but I suppose they are a good  form of exercise and they help raise vast quantities of money for 'good causes.' But, please tell me, why on this occasion they have to run on the road through our estate? There is a perfectly good Redway running directly behind the house, so why can't they use that? I know they give us fair warning that they're going to stop us from getting in and out (by putting letters through our letter boxes a week or two in advance) and the Council has to have adequate warning of such an event and roads do need to be closed off for the duration of the event. It just seems annoying that we can't go out on a Bank Holiday in the car, although we might after 12.00 when the whole thing finishes.