A Few More Things To Mention

Since Carol's death, the bird feeder which we had set up in the garden has been neglected. She was very keen on wildlife and enjoyed watching the birds that came to feed on the hanging arrangement of different feeders on this metal 'tree.' We enjoyed visiting Whipsnade Zoo, and had membership which meant we could visit as many times as we liked without having to pay entrance costs and later, because she was a science teacher, she became a fellow of the Z.S.L. (Zoological Society of London) . I went there as her guest. Several times Carol did the yearly bird count for the R.S.P.B. and we would spend time watching the different species of birds that would visit the feeder. We had a few problems with squirrels, one in particular actually managed to jump the relatively short distance from the neighbour's shed roof onto the bird feeder, narrowly avoiding implying itself on the rather sharp finial on the top of the feeder. It then proceeded to climb down the metal central pole of the feeder and gain access to the food in several of the hanging baskets which contained nuts. It could be quite a feat of athletic prowess when it hung upside down to get at the nuts in some of the feeding baskets. It even managed to climb up the central pole of the bird feeder which was quite amazing to watch.

Because the bird feeder has been left neglected for so long, I decided to restock the various feeding baskets on the metal structure, some of the baskets had disintegrated due to being left outside in all weather conditions. I went to The Range to stock up on food and bought two new feeding devices. Anyway, the various feeding devices are now full, except one, which needs peanuts which I will have to go out and buy tomorrow at some point.

I have been considering replacing my mobile phone. My current model is an iPhone 5S. It doesn't quite enough memory to put on all the apps I would like, so I decided that I would go for an iPhone 7 next. Carol had one from Sky, which I have since paid off and it is now redundant. With Sky Mobile you pay so much a month but you don't loose the data you have left unused at the end of the month and it rolls over to the next. Also, you have the option at the end of your contract period to trade your old model in for a newer one, so at least you have the latest model with the newest operating system. My old iPhone will not upgrade because Apple is slowly withdrawing older models which can't be upgraded with the latest operating system. I had a phone call from Sky Mobile to give me information about their range of offers, and to let me know that with their tariffs your data rolls over into the next month. I wasn't sure whether I wanted to have a new mobile at that time, but they rang again yesterday and I've set up a new contract with them with an iPhone 7 as my choice of new mobile. As it's £19 a month it seems like a good decision. At present I have an O2 'pay-as-you-go tariff on my old iPhone 5S but at the end of the month I loose what data remains. I also want to keep my telephone number which I will be able to do, transferring from the old to the new mobile. The new iPhone will arrive in via courier this morning some time. I will get a text message to tell me when the parcel is likely to arrive, so I will have to stay in to make sure I receive it. I think this is a good offer, because at present I'm on a pay-as-you-go tariff and it's £10 a month which you have to top-up with a voucher or go on line to pay and it's somewhat annoying and you loose the unused data at the end of each month. So, for £19 a month I get a brand new iPhone and none of the annoying topping-up as well as not loosing the unused data at the end of each month.

Later. I'v now had a text from the courier company, DPD, to inform me that the iPhone will be delivered between 2.30 and 3.30, which means I can at least leave the house to do some shopping.

No birdies as yet visiting the restocked bird feeder in he garden, but I expect they will come sooner rather than later. I think they have to make sure it's safe before taking the plunge.

We've been piloting a project at church, started set up by Worldvision. It's called Matthew 25. It runs for a week and you have to do several things, related to what Jesus says in this scripture. The involve making and eating a meal of beans and rice, going one day only drinking water, sleeping one night on the floor, a day when you only wear what you wore the day before (ie. two days wearing the same clothes.), iterating with someone who has a problem, ie. homelessness, illness or whatever. I have done the different activities, apart from sleeping on the floor. Today I went to Waitrose and outside there was a lady selling The Big Issue. I bought her a coffee (no, sorry, it was free, because I have a My Waitrose card.) and I bought a copy of the magazine. I'm always sorry for these people, standing outside the railway station or the shopping centre. People walk past and ignore them. I don't know how many magazines they manage to sell, but I don't imagine it's many. I don't expect many people stop to talk to them. Anyway, whatever the result, I did make some effort to do this particular activity. I don't actually come across many people who need support in the community, although I often see people who presumably are homeless, outside the shopping centre. I'm not sure what their situation is, but it's difficult to just walk past without being involved with them in some way, even if it's to stop and chat or buy them a sandwich and a cup of coffee or tea.

Later. The new iPhone arrived. A good deal quicker than I had expected. I have been having real problems with installing the SIM card. I had a similar problem with the old iPhone, but with a bit of patience it can be done, but I have had to get Sky to send a new one and I will have to get someone who has far nimbler fingers than me to put it in the little drawer. There's no indication as to which way it's supposed to go in that minuscule drawer, or whether it's upside down or whatever. I had to ring Sky and they're sending out a new one. It should be here in a couple of days. Frustrating, but there's nothing much I can do. If my stepson, Daniel, was here, he'd have no problems doing this. I have got all the apps from my old iPhone transferred to the new phone because they are on the cloud and miraculously moved to the new phone. One thing I don't have to do, because it will work using wifi which is successfully set up on the new iPhone. I have put the new phone back in it's box and it's on the desk upstairs in my bedroom and will remain there until the new SIM card arrives.

Getting Colder?

There is a definite nip in the air. Considering how warm it got during the Great 2018 Heatwave, I'm not surprised that I now notice that it's getting colder in the morning, especially when I take Alfie out for his morning run in Eaglestone Park. I went out in a short-sleeved polo shirt when we went to Whipsnade, but considering how much colder it gets up there on Dunstable Downs I'm not surprised and had to eventually put on my jacket as I began to feel cold when we were looking at the penguins. We're now in the, sad to say it folks, what I would call without too much hesitation, the run-up to Christmas. We've already seen hints of the impending Festive Season, with bits and pieces in some shops, crafting things in one of the shops, I think The Range, the other day, and possibly The Works. Well, I suppose some people make their Christmas cards and decorations and need time to make them well in advance.

Having said it was cold, a couple of hours after I'd written the above paragraph, the sun is out and it's quite warm. Just typical for this time of year.

We went to Hobbycraft because Carol is looking for more crafting materials. I'm not over-keen on this vast warehouse of stuff. Over-priced. Carol bought a stamp and then we went to Sainsbury's. Ordered my repeat prescription and collected another repeated prescription. Later we went for a walk round Furzton Lake, somewhere we haven't visited in a long time, certainly not since our other dog, Poppy, died. It's somewhere that she'd quite happily love to swim, in the lake, although, having been on the Parks Trust website and on boards around the area of the lake, dogs are not supposed to swim in the lakes or other areas of water. Well, it would have been no use trying to stop her, because she'd have been in whether she was supposed to or not. Quite a long way round the lake and the park and we spent some time sitting on a bench and just enjoying the scenery and the warm weather. There were quite a lot of people walking, or cycling, around the lakes. It was especially nice to see families together, which makes a change that they weren't arguing or spending too much time on mobile phones.

A lot of children we saw at Whipsnade have those scooter-things, which I don't think are appropriate for use in such a place. They seem to be everywhere. Use them supervised (as most of them are there, with parents and other adults they were with somewhere around) but they could be dangerous and get run over by vehicles moving along the zoo roads, or collide with other zoo visitors on foot.) 

Wednesday Morning At Whipsnade

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Still More Wet Weather

It's been a really miserable week. Carol's between chemotherapy cycles (only two more to go!) and we had hoped to get out for at least one day, hopefully to Whipsnade. But we certainly don't want to go if it's wet and windy. Not the best place to go, up on Dunstable Downs, when it's raining.

I mentioned that Alfie wasn't well yesterday evening. He seemed better after I'd given him the ibuprofen. This morning I was downstairs on my own in the lounge when he came downstairs to find me. He seemed in real discomfort. He had a sort of pinched look, his ears laid back. He came to sit on my knee. He has a habit of doing this, a really affectionate little dog. Then he jumped down on the floor and was immediately sick on the rug. Not a problem, but it occurred to me that he might have got some sort of stomach ache or similar. He seems to have been fine for the rest of the day, eventually eating his dinner as usual and the playing with the Comic Relief ball.

We've had a further dose of thunder and a rain storm, but it didn't seem to develop into anything, unfortunately, but it now means that we can't get the grass cut. It will need doing sooner or later as it's getting too long for our poor little mower to get through and it's now seeding which isn't a good sign.

It's now Friday morning and it's again been a wet night. No sign yet of it drying out so we can get the grass cut. It'll soon be so long Alfie will get lost when he goes into the garden. 'Garden' is a somewhat misnomer if ever there was one. The grass can certainly not be termed a 'lawn.'

When we were out yesterday, when we went into the centre of Milton Keynes, we saw workmen filling in potholes. They were using a machine that appeared to put some sort of filling into these holes in the road, with a sort of hose-type thing on the back of a large lorry and then the workmen used a machine that flattened this material and so patched up the holes. I'm not so sure how effective this will be as a long lasting solution. I just hope they manage to fill plenty of these potholes before winter when ice, damp and the mere effect of traffic moving across them will prevent them coming apart and making even more work to repair them.

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.

A Morning At Whipsnade Zoo

The day started out fine and sunny, so it was more or less perfect for a morning out at Whipsnade Zoo. We haven't been out for a proper day out since Carol had her cancer diagnosis. We have had trips to the Milton Keynes shopping centre as well as to Waitrose and Sainsbury's, but they were hardly what I'd call outings. She is beginning to feel a bit better, particularly as she hasn't had chemotherapy this week, so she decided she wanted to drive. I have been driving every time we've been anywhere, and she wanted to get back behind the wheel of the car, which she's hardly driven since we bought it last year. As she is a Fellow of Z.S.L. (Zoological Society of London) we can visit as many times as we like without paying. Also, being able to drive in with the car and then park up and then walk around means it's far less tiring for both of us.

My Canon digital camera has been charged up and ready for goodness knows how many months. Always best to have a digital camera well charged before going out, when it's bound to be needed. I bought a spare battery which is still in it's little orange box in the car's storage space. The camera itself has been in one of the storage boxes we got from IKEA when we assembled the shelving unit in the lounge. Infact. looking at the photographs on the card in the camera I see there are quite a few shots taken when we last visited Whipsnade.

We arrived at Whipsnade well past the opening time of 10 a.m. It wasn't very busy, which had an advantage, as it was easy enough to find spaces to park. We drove around the zoo, enabling us to see which animals were out and about. If you go when it's hot, a lot of animals have a tendency to hide away in the shade. The same when it's cold, some animals love it, others prefer to stay where it's warm and cozy.

We stopped off at the pygmy hippopotamus enclosure. We couldn't see them in the outdoor space. It was very cold and almost raining so we went into the house they have. Somewhat hot and smelly. There were two hippos in there, although they were in the pools, but part of them was visible above water, the rest hidden below. I overheard a conversation a woman was having with her male partner. As they looked at the hippos in the water, she said 'Can they breathe under water?' to which he replied 'Of course not.' Then she said 'Do they have gills?' I can't believe an adult would ever think hippos, of all animals would have gills. They're not fish, or reptiles and certainly don't show any sort of gills or could possibly be creatures which have them. Quite amazing what you overhear, but rather sad really.

 We drove through  the 'Animals of Asia ' exhibit. There's herds of deer and other animals in this section of the zoo. We stopped at various points to take pictures with my camera. It's like a safari park where you drive through and remain in your car. There aren't any dangerous animals such as lions are there are at Woburn or Longleat, but still, you have to stay inside your vehicle. We drove on and came to the area where there are camels. Several were standing in the road and wouldn't move. A few more were hanging around near a tree. Ugly things, camels. They look as if they've been put together by a committee, from spare parts. Their legs don't seem to go with the rest of their bodies. These were shaggy and scrawny. When they eat, their mouths go into a really odd sort of movement. These two camels more or less refused to budge, so we could continue on our way. There were not other vehicles coming along behind, so it didn't matter so much if we didn't continue to drive, but by now Carol was getting worried that one of the camels was going to kick the car or do something unpredictable, but fortunately they did move out of the way and we were able to finish out drive and came out of the drive-through area and into the main zoo road.

We drove right round the inner ring road of the zoo. Carol wanted to see the bears. There are supposed to be some new ones. The old bear enclosure would appear to be very old and had rather nasty metal bars, which seem to have been replaced with more modern fencing. A large area of the fence has been covered with some quite attractive woven fencing. They are attempting to make many of the animal enclosures at Whipsnade far more easy for visitors to see the animals in more appropriate enclosures. Without having bars or the old fashioned and totally unacceptable cages that used to house the animals. You can see most of the animals without fencing or bars getting in the way, which also makes taking photographs easier. From the bears we walked on to view the penguins. Always good for a laugh. They just have a comic look, the way they stand and walk, looking for all the world like little old men. A convention of waiters, or similar in their black-and-white feathers.

By now it was nearing lunch-time, so we drove back round to the area called Base Camp and walked towards the café. It has been revamped since we last visited. It is now modernised and you order your food from your table using a touch-screen computer. We're not sure whether we like what they've done. We liked to be able to use the café at Whipsnade to buy sandwiches and cake, as well as helping ourselves to coffee or tea. The modern arrangement may be more sophisticated and what a lot of people want, but it seems a shame that everything has to be changed just for the sake of it. We noticed that what used to be the Lookout Café that overlooked Dunstable Downs the other side of the zoo is now a branch of  River Cottage. Again, it wasn't brilliant before, but this is all very well and good, but will no doubt be expensive. We can always bring our own picnic and eat in the car in future. I'm not saying that the hot chocolate, chips and chocolate cake weren't good, and it was at our table very quickly, but we're prefer it to have remained as it was, with perhaps a few minor tweaks to improve things.

As we sat and ate, it became overcast and it began to rain. There was no real point staying any longer. Carol was beginning to feel tired, so we drove around towards the exit and stopped to look in the shop. They had a few adult T shirts and sweatshirts, some in adult sizes, something which I'd mentioned was missing, merchandise  which was aimed at adults and not just children. Carol bought one for herself and we left the zoo. By now it was really raining quite hard and it was clear we'd had the best of the day.

We stopped off in Beanhill to go to Ashfield Medical Centre to collect the prescription we'd ordered for Carol. It turned out that two were ready, but the one she really wanted, for the sleeping tablets, was for only 7 tablets. Which means we'll have to put in yet another prescription in only a few day's time. I shall take the prescriptions to Lloyd's in Sainsbury's on Saturday morning.

A Happy New Year

Another year begins. I just hope it's better than 2017. The last six months or so have been incredibly difficult for myself and Carol, since her cancer diagnosis. You can't believe how stressful and difficult is has been, not just the diagnosis, but the fact of having Carol in hospital for three weeks and having to cope with going to the oncology unit at Milton Keynes Hospital on a regular basis for the treatment. It's as well we live so close to the hospital as it makes it so much easier having to drive only a short distance. Also, since discovering that we can park immediately behind the oncology unit it make it easier to walk into the unit. It's a pity that no-one thought to tell me that you could park so close, particularly as you could see the carpark from the room which Carol was in when she was in hospital. I was under the impression that it was for staff only.

We're not the sort of people who like being indoors for any length of time. The fact that currently Carol is experiencing a great deal of pain means we can't go out and about as we would have done during the summer months. Even on Boxing Day on previous years we've visited Whipsnade Zoo. We'd rejoined English Heritage, National Trust and H.H.A. (Historic Houses Association) as we had planned our summer around visiting the properties managed by all these organisations and with Carol's Fellowship of Z.S.L. (Zoological Society of London) we can visit Whipsnade and London Zoo as many times as we like without paying for entrance. If you read this blog regularly you will have discovered how many times we've been to Whipsnade, although we had intended visiting London Zoo over the summer.

So, to those who follow my blog posts, here's to a happy and prosperous 2018 to you all!

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.

Signs of Autumn

The weather's getting colder. The trees are changing colour. The days are getting shorter. Definite signs that autumn is well and truly here. Infact it was so cold we put the central heating on and I started wearing my long pyjamas for the first time.  We didn't want to have it on, but Carol said she was feeling cold. We just didn't want to start having the heating on until at least the end of October. It hasn't exactly been a warm and sunny summer, and we've had more rain than usual. What with Carol's health issues we haven't had the outings we would have normally had. Last year was exceptionally warm and sunny and we spent a good deal of our time visiting various National Trust and other properties as well as regular visits to Z.S.L. Whipsnade Zoo. I have been picking blackberries which have been abundant all along the Redway behind the house, no doubt because we've had a good combination of the right conditions for a bumper harvest with plenty of sun as well as rain. I was out early Sunday morning picking them and I made blackberry and apple crumble which we had with our evening meal.

The shops are beginning to stock up with the usual Christmas tat. Christmas cards were seen in Frost's garden centre the other day but in The Range (all mentioned in my previous post.) had Hallowe'en stuff as we walked through the door the other day. It's confusing, having all this 'seasonal' stuff on display at the same time. Can't we get one load of stuff out of the way before the next batch of tat is put on display? I can't believe that anyone would want to buy a Christmas tree months in advance of the festive season. Or mince pies, wrapping paper or decorations. I suppose it would be fine if you lived in a house with enough space to store it. Mention of Christmas trees brings me to ours from last year. It's still in it's pot in the garden, happily continuing to grow. It was bought in Dobbie's last year and hopefully will be fine when this year's festive season comes round and we can just bring it in the house and decorate it. Great, because it means we don't have to buy a new one when the time comes.

New Car and other things-Part2

We made the decision to go with the Renault Captur at Evans Halshaw. We discovered that there's no Road Fund Tax to pay on the car because it has low emissions. After so many years of driving it seems odd to not pay for a licence.  We had to go into the NatWest to have the money transferred to the dealer's account. No end of identification details at the bank, presumably to make sure it was all legal and above-board. I can see why, because of criminals laundering money and the threat of possibly funding such things as terrorism. It all went through without any problems. We had already paid a £200 deposit from my Nationwide account and we couldn't collect the new car until the next Monday as it had to be MoT'd and valeted and have final checks done before we could take delivery. The old car had to be cleared out and we needed the paperwork to hand over to Evans Halshaw, such as the Registration documents as well as MoT certificate. After a hunt around the house they were located, so fortunately there was no problem. The Registration document sent off to Swansea to make sure we are no longer the registered owners of the old car. It has since been acknowledged by them as the document had arrived and they responded that all details were transferred.

The new car has a built in SaNav. We already have a portable Garmin model which we got last year and we've managed to set up and use successfully. It's important to upgrade the computerised maps these things contain because roads are constantly being changed, new roads added when new housing estates and roundabouts are opened and constructed. The TomTom within the Renault is somewhat out of date so we need to discover how to upgrade the maps within it.

The other thing which is new to us is the fact it doesn't have a traditional 'key' as such to start the car. You get a sort of 'card' with the usual remote buttons to unlock the car doors and to start the car you insert this plastic 'key' into the slot in the dashboard and put your foot on the brake and clutch pedal and then press another button to activate the engine. Takes quite a lot of time to get used to, but far more economical in the long run.

Anyway, we went to collect the new car on the Monday and Carol drove it first. When we eventually got home I drove round the estate. It's probably that bit bigger than the old car. For a start it has four doors and probably a bigger boot.

We drove back towards Milton Keynes and stopped off at Marston Mortaine, to the Millennium Country Park which we've visited on several occasions. To use the toilets and to have a snack. Quite a nice café and a great place for children. We sat and could see children and parents outside, the children happily playing in the playground. How many parents dump their children in these playgrounds (generally safe, with a fence all round and a gate which stops dogs getting in and fouling the area.) but some parents are more keen on sitting and gossiping with their friends, drinking coffee and constantly checking their mobiles. I sometimes think these things cause more problems than they solve.

We had planned to do a wide variety of things during Carol's school holiday break. We've been members of the National Trust for quite a number of years now. We visit some of their sites frequently, as you will have discovered if you read these blog posts on a regular basis, such as Stowe Landscape Gardens, Waddesdon Manor and Wimpole Hall and Home Farm. We'd rejoined English Heritage. Both the National Trust and English Heritage allow you to pay in monthly instalments, which I suppose means that more people can afford to pay in instalments which makes it far easier. A good move on both their parts. English Heritage manage a good many historical sites, one near here being Wrest Park which we've been to on quite a number of occasions. Also, the H.H.A. (Historic Houses Association). We have been to Blenheim Palace using our H.H.A. membership. Last summer, which was really hot virtually throughout, we managed to visit many places. With Carol not being well it has been difficult to visit any of these places although we have been to Castle Ashby, not on either organisation's 'free entry' list but well worth a visit. It's not too far either, through Olney and driving towards Northampton. Lastly, Carol revived her Fellowship membership of Z.S.L. (Zoological Society of London) and we've already visited Whipsnade twice since reinstating the membership.

Last week we visited somewhere new which we only discovered, quite by accident. I was on Google Maps looking for something entirely different and found a place marked on the map, called Crocodiles of The World. I told Carol about it and she was more than interested to visit. Not only were there crocodiles there but a komodo dragon which she was keen to see. A large pool containing no less than 30 crocs which we saw being fed, which was quite spectacular as the man feeding them stood on a sort of platform over the water and kept feeding them with a pole with a sort of hook that could release the bits of chicken and each time he held it out over the water many of the crocodiles would jump up to get the food!

900th Post: Elephants at Whipsnade

We've been waiting for two new exhibits to open at Whipsnade Zoo. They have been building the new Elephant Care building for about a year. Whenever we've visited over that period we've seen the work going on. Also, the brand new African Hunting Dog's enclosure near where the wolves used to be. This section opened on 1st April and then on Tuesday H.M. Queen visited to open the elephant's centre. There was a mention of this on Facebook, via the Z.S.L. website and their Facebook page and on both local television news programmes, Anglia's About Anglia and BBC1's 'Look East' did items, even though not very long. So on Wednesday we decided to visit.

The journey down the A5 was fine until we reached the outskirts of Dunstable. There was quite a queue of traffic and it moved exceptionally slowly until we reached the set of traffic lights and had to make a right turn towards Dunstable Downs. A rather frustrating journey and it wasn't too clear what was causing such long delays.

We arrived at Whipsnade at around 11, having been shopping at Aldi earlier. The weather has been fine and sunny, but it was actually quite cold, so we had to wear jackets. It can be a good deal colder up on the Downs where Whipsnade is situated. It was probably ideal weather for visiting the zoo because a lot of the animals were more active than usual. If it's too hot they tend to hide away in the shade. The place was very busy, with long queues at the entrance. One advantage of Carol being a Fellow of Z.S.L. is that we not only don't have to pay for entrance, but we can drive in (also without paying) which means we can drive around within the park, thereby reducing the amount of walking we would otherwise have to do as the place is quite large and the enclosures which house the animals are a fair distance apart.

We couldn't park the car where we usually park, near the bears. We drove round the zoo until we got to the area near the tigers. A lot of the paths around that area had been closed off with metal fences. I presume they had been left over from the previous day when the Queen had been to open the Elephant Care Centre. Regardless of whether these fences were in place, people were ignoring them and walking around them. We went towards the elephant enclosures and found a great many people milling around. Whipsnade had been used a few months ago for the BBC1 television programme " The Big Painting Challenge" which was shown on Sunday evenings. The contestants had to do paintings of the flamingos as well as the elephants and we knew, from watching the show, whereabout they had set things up. It's strange how so many of the places we've been to over the years get shown on television. Sky did a similar show on their Arts channel and the locations for their landscape shows were done at a lot of National Trust properties we've been to, such as Stowe Landscape Gardens which is a round a 20-minute drive away from Milton Keynes. Well, if nothing else, these programmes have put these places on the map and no doubt have encouraged people to visit them. No doubt the fact that Her Majesty coming to Whipsnade to open the Elephant Care Centre prompted many of today's visitors to visit the zoo. We then walked over towards the new African Hunting Dogs enclosure which was opened at the beginning of April. It looks somewhat sparce and obviously needs more landscaping. I think they introduced the pack of dogs to get them accustomed to their new home before making to many changes. There is a viewing platform which allows you to see the dogs without having too much obstruction by fencing or screening. We learned that the Elephant Centre wasn't open until 1 o'clock which we didn't realise when we came into the zoo.

It always amuses us to see people who insist on taking photographs of themselves rather than the animals. This obsession with taking selfies is crazy. Why do people spend so much time and money visiting these places, and then end up taking photographs of each other and not the place they are visiting? We've seen this so many times at either the zoos or National Trust properties and elsewhere. Just idiotic, to say the least. Just so they can post them on such social media sites as Facebook.

We needed some sort of refreshment so went to the Wild Bite Café. We were more than a little shocked to find it so busy. And noisy, with children screaming and one annoying child creating such a loud noise I felt like leaving immediately. Carol ordered our coffee and sandwiches and I had to find a table to sit at. Not easy. It really seems that they ought to sort this out, build new facilities or at least provide more space for seating. I would imagine the place was busy because of the fact it's the Easter Holidays and people seeing the Queen on television opening the elephant house.

We had a drive around the perimeter of the zoo, visiting the shop at the entrance and having an ice-cream and then left for home. No doubt we'll be returning later in the year.

Half-Term

Carol has been on Half-Term this week. After the awful day we had last Saturday (not going to mention it any more. Just read the previous blog post.) it's as well we could go out to find something nice to take our mind of things. On Saturday we went to Stowe Landscape Garden to have something to eat in the restaurant. It was quite a pleasant day, so that made things better. We didn't walk to the actual gardens as it's quite a way. It seemed quite busy there, no doubt because it was the beginning of the holiday period. We had soup and some really nice crusty bread. It's good that we have our National Trust membership so we could get in without paying. You can always rely on there to be decent food in their restaurants and we haven't been in this restaurant since it opened a couple of years ago. A vast improvement on the temporary building which used to house the café when it was on the opposite side of the gardens. There's a new carpark and visitor centre at Stowe.  On Monday Morning we went swimming at Nuffield. The place wasn't busy which makes a change, no surprise I suppose as most other members would be at work. One of the advantages of being either on holiday or retired. On Tuesday we went to Whipsnade and our efforts were rewarded as we saw the red pandas which don't generally come out of hiding. Very rare to see them. Walked a long way so we did at least get some exercise. We visited the central shopping centre in Milton Keynes on Wednesday and I wanted to show Carol the DAB radio/CD player I wanted to buy her as a birthday present in John Lewis. Not sure whether to buy it, but on Friday we went to Kettering as Carol wanted to visit a shop which specialises in dolls houses. Not the sort of place you'd choose to visit. It's very run down with many empty shop units. Seems the fate of so many towns and cities currently. We drove back to Milton Keynes and went to Sainsbury's. We had a look at DAB radio/CD players in the electronics section of the store and found a rather nice Blaupunkt model which suited our purposes. Cost £100 which was cheaper than the Pure model we saw in John Lewis and decided to buy it and used up the Nectar points we've been saving for a long time. This model has more functions than the Pure model, and once we got it functioning in the bedroom found it to be more than adequate. Not only does it have DAB radio and FM stations and the CD function, but you can charge your mobile from it and it connects with other devices which have the added facility of Bluetooth so you can play music from your tablet device or smart phone which makes things even more flexible. Went to Nuffield again on Friday. Certainly getting our money's worth from our membership. I did over 20 lengths of the pool which is great. I have to say it's having a real benefit towards my health and well-being. It's a far deeper pool than D.W. as well as having a sauna as well as a steamroom  and spa.

New Year

Well, here we are in a new year. I don't think there'll be that many people who will be sorry that 2016 is over and done with, what with the E.U. Referendum, Donald Trump being elected President in America (mind you, we still have his Inauguration in February to come.) and countless bombings, terrorist attacks, murders and however many famous people dying, amongst them George Michael, David Bowie, Victoria Wood (at 62, far too young. A great talent gone and a huge hole left.) etc etc. You could hardly turn on the news on television without there being news of someone significant reported as kicking the bucket. Nothing but gloom and doom. I just hope 2017 will be better.

As for myself, I'm hoping to do more writing. I have a fairly good story-arc constructed (working on this over the Christmas period. Always amazes me that, giving something a good deal of time and thought how ideas come along. Usually when I least expect them to.) My health is in fairly good order. Carol has had some real health problems to deal with. I just hope she is feeling better in the New Year, what with her recent eye condition and dealing with diabetes.) 2017 will see our 10th wedding anniversary in May and the 11th anniversary of my heart attack. We had a really great summer, visiting no end of National Trust properties as well as those which we can visit, free, as members of the H.H.A. (Historic Houses Association). It was exceptionally warm and pleasant which meant we got out more during the summer months. Having the SatNav made finding some of the more difficult to find properties easier than it might have been. A really clever bit of technology which gets plenty of use. We've been to Whipsnade Zoo on many occasions. The fact we can get in free because Carol is a Fellow makes a great difference. We're hoping to see more theatre in 2017 and in particular I'm looking forward to seeing the musical 'Billy Eliot' which is currently on tour and will be visiting the Milton Keynes Theatre in May.  Just in time for our wedding anniversary. We'll need to book our tickets fairly soon if we're to have a chance of seeing it.

We went to  the Kingston Centre yesterday morning, as Carol needed to get test strips to do her blood sugar tests and it seems that the branch of Boot's the chemist was the only place we could get them. Every shop seems to have sales on. A lot of Christmas stuff going half-price or less. The sort of junk you can, quite frankly, live without. Marks and Spencer's is full of such things as champagne and stuff for the New Year celebrations. We got salad and bits for tonight. We didn't go out but actually saw in 2017. Fireworks going off all over Milton Keynes as midnight came and went. This really upsets Alfie, our Yorkshire Terrier. He just doesn't understand what's going on. The noise did seem to go on a long time.

Day Out To Black Country Living Museum

We had planned to visit London Zoo on Wednesday, taking advantage of the fact that Carol was a Fellow of the Zoological Society of London and get free entry for both of us, as we also do for Whipsnade Zoo. But on researching train tickets it seems far too expensive. How on earth can train tickets cost so much? This would be enough to put off many people from visiting London. And we couldn't leave early to take advantage of any so-called 'special offers.'  We then  did some research on-line and decided on a visit to The Black Country Living Museum at Dudley, near Birmingham. We have seen glimpses of this open air museum on television programmes and it sounded the sort of place we'd enjoy. We've been to Beamish Museum in the north east of England which would seem to be very similar, so that is where we went on Wednesday.

On arrival at the carpark we found many people also turning up, some including coaches. Within the main entrance building there was a long queue in the booking hall and in all we had to queue for around 30 minutes. We decided it would be better value to turn our entrance tickets into yearly membership which means we can return as many times as we like over the next twelve months without having to pay entrance fees or car parking (an additional £3. This is fair enough, but I do think if you're paying for entrance and you arrive by car you shouldn't have to pay this. As a charity I can understand they have to raise cash somehow, but this does seem a bit unfair.) You got a metal token which you use to raise the barrier when you drive out of the carpark.

Once within the museum site we discovered that it was a fair walk down into the main part of the museum site. Several vintage vehicles, including a red bus, a trolley bus and tram, could be used to convey you to the main town further down the hill. We decided to walk. Probably not such a good idea as it was quite tiring. Rough cinder on the paths really hurt our feet. Never mind.

There are many reconstructed buildings on the site of The Black Country Living Museum. Carefully demolished in their original location and then transported to the site and then reconstructed and fitted out with furniture and everything inside to fit the correct time frame in which they were originally built, giving a sort of snapshot of their historic context. They are all from the area around Dudley, which is known as The Black Country. Due to the soot and smoke produced by the industries in the area.

The first building we visited was a cast iron house. Quite amazing to think that at one time they constructed houses from cast iron. What about rusting? Did they stay warm in winter and cool in summer? If you lived in one could you hang wallpaper? Were they safe if you had electricity? I'm thinking about earthing the power supply. It does make me wonder. We walked on down towards the town area, past a mine. You could go inside but there was a long queue which put us off. I'm not to keen on being in an enclosed space such as a mine or a cave so it wasn't something I'd want to experience and certainly not if it was a small space and you had to go down and underground. We walked on and got to the period fairground. There's a heater skelter as well as a wide range of stalls. You have to pay to go on any of the rides or exhibits. We bought burgers from a stall around here and sat  on benches near the canal and ate them. We had intended buying fish and chips from the shop which was part of the period shops, but when we saw the queue of people outside we decided against the idea. This queue was moving extremely slow and it seemed to take perhaps 20 minutes to reach the shop. A pity, because from what we saw of the actual fish and chips that people were carrying away it looked very appetising and the portions looked large. There is a period garage along with some period vehicles in the area near the fairground. We didn't visit.

We went inside the school. Period lessons were held at regular intervals during the day, but we weren't there at the time it said on the sign inside the building. Pity, because, as Carol is a teacher herself she would have been interested to see how the style of teaching had changed over the years. We went into several of the houses to view the interiors and in some we were surprised at the size of the rooms. Very small and cramped. If they had several children it makes you wonder how they coped.

We watched as someone demonstrated making nails and another man showed how chain was forged. There was a cinema, which apparently had been built in a private back garden in a house somewhere around the Dudley area. We sat and watched a silent Laurel and Hardy film. I was surprised how some people laughed whilst others didn't respond at all. (How do modern day children respond to the antics of these two? I've always enjoyed their films and have only recently bought a 20 DVD collection of all their short films. £35 on Amazon, but it was £200 when the set first came out. We saw if for around £50 a few years ago in H.H.V. in Milton Keynes, so at that price it was good value.)

 View across canal bridge

 Period trolley bus

Interior of tobacconist's shop

Out in the street children were playing with hoops. Rolling them along the cobbles with sticks. Great to see modern children doing something that is 'real' and not computer-related. So many people walk around with their mobile phones stuck to their ears or peering at the screens and seem so disconnected with the 'real' world. It makes you wonder how they would cope if these gadgets were taken off them. They don't seem to be engaged with what's going on around them. It's the same when we've visited either Whipsnade Zoo or Twycross Zoo. People are so busy taking 'selfies' of themselves, slap-bang in front of some of the animal enclosures. They seem more interested in themselves than in looking at the animals. Similar at this museum.

Wandered in and out of more of the buildings, including an ironmonger's, tobacconist, baker's and several more and then a church.

So we went back to the bus stop. We had to wait a good twenty minutes, but it was actually quite nice to sit down and relax for a while. We eventually caught the bus and arrived back at the top of the hill where we'd entered the museum. We had a look at some vintage vehicles in a garage and then went inside the visitor's centre, had a cup of tea and a pastry and bought a guidebook and by then we'd decided we'd seen all we wanted to see and returned to our car to drive home.

We did follow the SatNav's direction. It is generally very good, but for some reason it took us into central Birmingham instead of navigating us back home the way we'd come, which was odd. So it took a good 30 minutes longer than it should have done. Don't always follow the SatNav we've learned. All together it was a very enjoyable day out and we'll be returning sometime again in the Spring now we have a year's membership of this particular museum.

Another Sunday, Another Trip To Whipsnade

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Better Summer Weather and Bad Tempered People

The weather has taken a turn for the better. In fact, it's positively heatwave-time! We managed to sit outside and have our evening meal at our new table yesterday evening. It certainly makes a change from the rotten weather we've had to endure for about the past week. It seemed unfair when you consider it was Half Term, as well as the fact that our holiday we'd hoped to have at the booked cottage over Easter was aborted due to the awful weather.

On Friday, we drove to Worcester to see my daughter Chloe and my new grandson George. The journey there was less stressful than it might have been, due to the fact we went via Buckingham and then the Motorway. It took less than two hours. When we drove there for Chloe's graduation ceremony (well over 7 years ago, or maybe more, I'm not sure now.) the journey seemed to take a good deal longer, travelling via the M1 and around Birmingham. Admittedly it was mid-week and during the heavy volume  travelling time and it was a really awful journey. This time, it seemed a much better route and we will be going that way on 10th July as we're going to George's Christening on that day.

On Sunday, we visited Whipsnade Zoo again. Carol's Fellowship subscription runs out next week and she'd got a letter from Z.S.L. (Zoological Society of London) reminding her of the fact and so we went with the letter and paid the annual fee so we're able again to visit both London and Whipsnade Zoos without paying any entrance fees. We drove the car in again. As it costs around £25 per person together with £20 for the car, that's a saving of £70 each time we visit. We arrived at 9.45 a.m. (the zoo opens at 10 a.m.) and there was a queue of cars waiting. We were on the end of the queue and you just had to sit patiently in the car and wait for the gates to open and drive in. Quite easy you would imagine. But this rather unpleasant individual drove up and seemed to think it was his right to barge straight in. He wound down his car window and hurled abuse at us, for no other reason that he imagined we should get out of the way for him. Not a nice situation and Carol was understandably upset by the incident. He presumably drove to the car park and walked in with his family, but all the time we were in the zoo Carol was concerned that this unpleasant individual was going to find us and hurl a further load of abuse at us just because we'd got there first. There are really some crazy self-obsessed people out there. Sad really.

I actually got to wear my shorts on Saturday. I bought them last year in Debenhams and because the weather was so awful I hardly got to wear them at all last summer. Lets hope the weather is better this year so I get more wear out of them. I've been to Tesco at Kingston and bought a new sun hat because I need to keep my head covered when it's really sunny. The hat I have is a few sizes too small and if a hat is too tight on my head I get a headache. 

Whipsnade Again

We may have abandoned our holiday due to Storm Katie rampaging across the South of England, but we made up for it by visiting Whipsnade Zoo again. We arrived just after 10.30 and there were very few people about. It threatened rain and we parked near the rhino enclosure. We saw the cheetahs. There were four milling around their enclosure. We then walked through the centre of the zoo to the Lions of the Serengeti exhibit and were surprised to see the lions so close to the viewing window. We have never been that close, the lionesses and one male. We got some fantastic photographs. I would say we were no more than eight feet from them, but, of course, there was safety glass in between them and us! Probably just as well. They had just been fed. 

By now it was getting really cloudy and seemed as if it would rain. We got in the car and drove towards the cafe and had coffee and cake. Always a good stand-by. Carol suggested we take a ride of the steam train that goes around the zoo, something we have never done before. We saw areas of the site which you wouldn't otherwise see. We noticed that they are constructing a brand new elephant house, due to open in 2017. We're not entirely sure what it will be like but they seem to be up-grading a lot of the exhibits. It had looked tatty for years and it was about time things were brought into the 21st century. We walked towards the elephant enclosure and most, if not all, the elephants were in an enclosure away from the building work. Then we visited the butterfly house which is very interesting and worth a visit and because it was cold it was great to walk into the heated space.We drove around to the zoo entrance and visited the lemurs. One of the females has given birth and was carrying her offspring around with her. We love these little animals as they are so lively and attractive.

We completed our visit to the shop and then home, visiting Marks and Spencers on the way to buy food for the evening's meal.

Hippos In The Mist (and other animals.)

So we were promised a warm and sunny weekend, by the forecasters on B.B.C. Breakfast. After a couple of weeks of wind, rain and snow, which meant we were confined to the house, we made the decision to get out and drive somewhere in the car. Well, not only the weather was an excuse, but the cost of petrol is currently less than £1 at the moment, so it seemed a great reason to go somewhere, so we went to Whipsnade Zoo. It was misty as we drove away from Milton Keynes on a southerly direction down the A5 towards Dunstable, but the sun was making a very brave attempt to break through. We knew that the zoo wouldn't be open until 10 o'clock, and as we were far too early when we got to Dunstable Downs, we decided to drive into the visitor center car park on the Downs and walk along the path and visit the centre, which we have been to on several occasions in the past. It's run as a joint project between Bedfordshire County Council and the National Trust (of which we are members) and is actually referred to as the Chiltern Gateway Centre and houses a National Trust shop and café. We parked in the car park, which was beginning to fill up rapidly when we arrived and found that the actual visitor centre wouldn't be open for around another 20 minutes (at 9.30, which shows how early we were. )The fog/mist had come down and goes to show that this is the highest point in the East of England. There were a great many people walking dogs along the footpaths as well as runners going their thing (as usual.) A group we saw in the distance were gathered around a van with the sign Regimental Training written on it as well as some coloured poles in the ground which we then found out as we walked along the path were going to be used for some sort of running exercise when they began to run around them. They didn't look the sort of folk who intended getting out of the way for anyone as they had that intent look on their faces, making all other human life-forms including dogs, invisible. We walked down the path towards the Downs and came to the metallic structure which is part of the Gateway Centre and looks like some sort of metallic sculpture, similar to the Angel of The North which you can't fail to see as you drive towards Newcastle near the A1 and designed by Anthony Gormley. But this 'thing' is actually not a sculpture at all but uses the wind from off the Downs to generate electricity (don't ask me how.)  For want of a better name I'll call it the Wind Catcher. It is certainly quite odd-looking and might be a sculpture or some weird and wonderful space machine which has crash-landed.

The Wind Catcher. Make of it what you will.

We then came across a group go dog walkers with an assortment of dogs. If we had our two dogs with us they would have enjoyed making friends, but knowing Alfie, our Yorkie, he would have had a field day running up and down and sniffing everybody, including humans!  I never realised until recently that this area is what is known as an S.S.S.I. (A Site of Special Scientific Interest.) as well as an A.O.B. (Area of Outstanding Beauty.) The things you learn as you move about the countryside. Also, it has historic significance as there are Bronze Age burial grounds nearby, apparently. We came upon a beacon which must have been used during the Queen's Silver Jubilee celebrations in 1977 when a chain of beacons was lit across the country.

The Beacon, along with some dogs who were being walked along the Downs but who just strayed into the shot.

We wandered inside the visitor centre when it opened at 9.30. We browsed in the shop and saw a magnificent chair which both of of couldn't resist sitting in and taking photographs of ourselves. Well, it did rather reming me particularly of the children's television series called 'Jackanory' where someone sat in a similar chair to tell stories!

Then we drove away towards Whipsnade. It was by now around 9.50, so we had to queue up with other vehicles entering the zoo. We were again driving the car inside as it makes it a good deal easier to get around inside. You can always park outside and walk in and then walk around or use the free bus, but as we have Fellowship membership of Z.S..L. (Zoological Society of London) we always try to get the best out of our membership wherever possible, so it seems logical to drive in. The mist was slowly lifting, but it gave a really soft light and meant that we could see whatever animals were out in their enclosures in a sort of soft-focus view. Hence, seeing hippos in the below photograph.

We drove right round the zoo site and stopped off at various intervals to look at the animals. Not all were on view, but whatever were out and about we saw in a slightly different aspect from whenever we visit during the summer months.

We went to one of the many cafés on site for coffee and cake and then, when we drove further, had to visit the toilets. When I came out, I heard this amazing sound, a sort of roar with a sort of cat-like undertone. Apparently it made by one of the tigers in the near-by tiger enclosure. There are three tigers in this enclosure and this one was wandering around near the perimeter fence, sort of pacing up and down. We have never seen any of these tigers at such close quarters and managed to take a few photographs, but, unfortunately, it wasn't easy to do this with the wire of the fence getting in the shot.

We wandered around the zoo for a good two hours plus, including getting some first rate views of the giraffes in their house, where you have to climb up a walk-way so that you are virtually at eye level with these incredible animals. We were rewarded with some fine photographs which I may post on this blog or Flickr. Having walked around as well as driven we decided to make our way home to Milton Keynes and had to do some shopping. On approaching Milton Keynes stadium the traffic was building up for a football match so decided on Waitrose as Asda, which is close to the stadium, which be difficult to get to due to the amount of traffic.

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. 

Whipsnade At The Weekend

The past few days have been miserable, weatherwise. Rainy, overcast and thoroughly unpleasant. So, for Carol, not an auspicious start to her week off for Half-Term. It was my 65th birthday on Thursday, not something I was over-keen to celebrate. I don't make too much of my birthdays generally. And I don't really want or need to make too much of this particular birthday. I'm intending buying myself a really decent digital camera but it may have to wait until the New Year. We've got two reasonably good Fuji cameras but we want to up-grade to more sophisticated models as the Fujis are good but somewhat basic and showing signs of their age. D.S.L.R's are in order which should mean that we can be a little more imaginative with our photography. I'm looking at a Canon and Carol has her eye on an Olympus. I owned a traditional film camera made by Olympus at one time so I can vouch for the quality of Olympus as a camera brand to be trusted. As for Canon, I have owned one of their printers and it was excellent and their cameras do have a quality that goes without saying.

On Friday we had our annual 'flu jabs. I get mine free on the N.H.S. as I have a heart condition and usually have this done at our surgery in Beanhill, Ashfield Medical centre, and they had clinics on the past two Saturdays, but we couldn't get to the first one due to not having the car repaired in time and Carol had booked her own 'flu jab at Sainsbury's pharmacy, but when we went in to book it we were told that hers could be done, free, as she has been recently diagnosed as diabetic so we arranged to have both done there, for free on the N.H.S. Carol had a teacher-training day on Friday and so, when she got home we drove in to Sainsbury's and did some shopping before having the 'flu jabs done. 

Saturday was generally miserable so there was no point in going out in the car. We want to look at digital cameras so decided to drive to Curry's what used to be the hockey stadium (now replaced by probably the most ugly building, the new head-quarters of Railtrack. Who ever came up with the design should be ashamed of themselves. It really is an eyesore. One side looks as if it's got huge towel-rails all over it and the building is constructed of huge Lego bricks. As it turned out, Currys (which also incorporated with P.C.World) is now merging with Carphone Warehouse so the store wasn't fully operational as they are re-fitting it. So it was a bit of a waste of a journey. We then drove over to Tesco at Kingston as we thought we could look at cameras there, but were disappointed by the very poor selection of cameras. Basic in the extreme. We did some shopping and then went home. I think we might end up buying the cameras in either Jessops or John Lewis.

The clocks changed over-night. At 2 a.m. For what reason? I can understand it being on a Sunday morning, but why 2 a.m. Why not at midnight? A right pain as it's difficult enough setting my digital watch. It's one of those watches which has it's time kept correct by a radio signal from an atomic clock in Rugby so you don't need to keep checking to keep the time correct, so, why can't it alter the time when the time moves either back or forward in autumn and spring?

Sunday morning was bright and sunny, so we made the effort to get out in the car and drive to Whipsnade zoo and make the most of our membership. We weren't disappointed because we saw more animals than we might have done if it had been a bright and hot summer's day and got some really excellent photographs. We drove in and went round in the car which is another benefit of membership. It was really busy so no doubt we weren't the only people making the most of the weather. We took our own food and ate it in the car so that saved us some money.