Taking tea on (or in) Blackpool Sands, Devon

We had a nice weekend visiting Dad and Mary in Dartmouth, and had a grand tour of their spanking new home. On Sunday morning we met up for tea and beach food at Blackpool sands. After Tess and Sam had buried me up to the waist in the sand, Tess kindly went to get me a cup of tea. Most satisfactory. Of course, then it was time to emerge, and immediately fall over.

Cool Janice

The Smallest Room

At long long last we have our downstairs loo. A rather insignificant moment, you might think, but this means that at last all of our new built rooms is available for use. There are some tidy up jobs for the builders to do, but at last the end is in sight.

An Early Morning Walk on Eype Down, Dorset

Early on the second morning of our long weekend in Dorset, I had an irresistable urge to go out for a walk. My instincts turned out to be good, because it was the most beautiful morning imaginable. I walked up from our cottage to the ridge above that joins with Eype Down. From then on the views were absolutely superb both of the coast and inland. At one point on the walk I could look down at the cottage we were staying in, so I sent Tess a text to look out of the window and started waving. I later found out that everyone saw me. Very pleasing.

Who ate all the pies?

On the day after my birthday I had a feast of steak and kidney pie, courtesy of birthday benefactors Hannah and Andy. Yum Apologies for looking quite so completely barking in this picture.....

Engine Room 2

Engine Room 2
Originally uploaded by Brother Swampicus.

Engine Room 3

Engine Room 3
Originally uploaded by Brother Swampicus.

The engines cannie take it Cap'n !

Engine Room 1 Originally uploaded by Brother Swampicus.

Our utility room now looks like the engine room from Star Trek. I want to keep it exposed, like the Pompidou Centre - it has a beauty all its own.

New York Movies

New York Fire Engines I

These things kept honking their way past

New York Fire Engines II

The View from Rockerfeller Tower

Seee previous posts, nice view...

Squirrels in Central Park

New York from on High

The only thing I actually paid to do in New York was going up to the observation deck on the Rockerfeller Tower. As a piece of advice, forget the feeble video displays and history of the tower crap; take a deep breath, hand over your money and go straight up the lift (may Elisha Otis be thrice blessed, for he was the inventor of the device that makes lifts safe. Believe me, when you're going up to within a gnat's whisker of the height of the Empire State Building in one go, you want that gent's invention to work). The whole experience of getting up there is a properly American. Given that you've handed over a wodge of cash, they are absolutely determined to be nice to you. The two people who run the lift (clearly having only one would be impolite) both ask you where you're from and say how great that is, and you're generally Your Welcomed all the way to the top. Even the security guards at the top are actually rather amiable rather than terminally intimidating, which is how I perceive most US security guards. For this picture I did a picure taking swap with a couple. Very nice experience.

Grand Central Station

I very much enjoyed the fact that my very first taste of New York was Grand Central Station, which is rather more elegant than any of the London Stations (though I like those as well; they are grand in a slightly more gritty way). I did the full geek bit for these two pictures; set up my teeny tripod on a marble balustrade, set the camera on timer so that I wouldn't shake it when pressing the button, and snapped with no flash. I rather like the way that one or two people have blurred a bit...

Uncle Vanya's Gloomy Trousers

A first try at some Serbian folk music; warts, bum notes and all. Something irresistable about playing a whole new style of music. Take a look at our little movie, rendered in fabulous monochrome.

Tenterhooks III

So Monday came, and so did the stairs and the kitchen units. No doors though. At work today I am on US time as a substitute for actually being there. This means that I have a telecon today from 2PM to 11PM. Wurg.

Barkscape

Barkscape
Originally uploaded by Brother Swampicus.

Tenterhooks II

I am afraid that I failed to do daily postings this week, but then it has been a rollercoaster ride. First I thought I was heading off to the states again, and was getting pretty cheesed off about it. Normally I quite like a little jaunt across the atlantic, often to meet up with some sparky people. However, this time I felt like I was going to be abandoning Janice at a time of dire need. To my great joy, the trip got cancelled at the eleventh hour. Back to the house. At long last the glass is in the lantern skylight. The stairs are here, but didn't quite get fitted, and the doors (so we are told) are coming on Monday. Tenterhooks still fully operational this week;

• Monday: Stairs get fitted, kitchen arrives, doors arrive
• Thursday: Cooker arrives, new car arrives.

Sunday 3rd December: On Tenterhooks

This week may be decisive in determining whether or not we get into our extension(s) before Christmas. (I haven't written too much about this over the last 6 months. In summary, we're having a single storey extension and a loft extension done. As we speak, the house is in a state of pretty much complete chaos). On Tuesday 5th we should get stairs up to the loft extension, and the glazing to go into the lantern skylight that will be the centerpiece of the rear extension. On Friday 8th we should get the doors and windows fitted in the rear extension. On Monday 11th we should receive units for the kitchen that we plan to put into the rear extension - and I may well be travelling on business in the US. I plan to update every day this week. Here's hoping.

Whirly thing

Whirly thing (on Vimeo)
Originally uploaded by Brother Swampicus.

We found this just as we were about to leave Sudeley Castle near Stow-on-the-Wold. Very simple and utterly charming and I think we could have gazed at it for even longer than we did. I strongly recommend taking a look at the video which you'll find linked.

The Most Outrageous Ripoff

The Most Outrageous Ripoff
Originally uploaded by Brother Swampicus.

Imagine the scene. It's a so-so day of weather and you're on holiday, so you all pile into the car in search of a little innocent indoor entertainment. After several hours of driving ('Hyperbole, not exaggeration' as my English Lit. teacher said, when I said 'Suh, but I bet that whale never really all that big') we arrive at this car park that could hold no more than four cars. We should have turned away then; little did we realise that four cars would have been a peak season maximum. We walked into the little gift shop that led into the main museum, and I handed over six quid to the man with the luxuriant moustache at the till. "Much obliged to you" quoth he. Actually, I'm not surprised he was pretty obliged, because the little gift shop turned out to be the whole darned museum. There were bits of aeroplane debris in glass cases, but much of the museum wall space was taken up with letters from other guys with moustaches saying how great the whole thing was. We managed to while away a pretty tedious seven minutes, before slinking out and escaping.

This is what happens when you drink too much caffeine

Ever thought of switching to decaff? This guy is a warning to us all. 

Wind and Mushrooms at the seaside

A lovely blustery day by the seaside.