Tuesday… Katie Graduates (and autumnal storms!)
Nov 9th 2010PeterGetting My Life Back!
No, the two are not related, but it has been very wet and windy down here in Hampshire for the last couple of days. The rain has cleared off most of the remaining leaves from the trees, and left them in a big soggy patch on the lawn. 
However it hasn’t been all bad news, these two pheasants were spotted rooting in the leaves for some seeds from the bird feeders – the blue tits and this nuthatch (I think!) seem very hungry too.
But the big event in an otherwise uneventful week was Katie’s graduation ceremony from Bournemouth University at Bournemouth International Conference Centre, last Wednesday, where she was awarded a 2:1. Congratulations Katie!
Apart from that, I have been continuing with the odd jobs around the house – a little plumbing last week replacing some basin taps.
Next health activity is later this month for another ECP session – so… onwards and upwards!
It was a working week so we had trips to the various ‘bricolages’ for wood and components to add a new window to one external wall, change an external door for a more modern one, remove a fireplace and move an internal wall. For some of the work, a neighbour of Mark’s (in France – Ben, a Dutchman) came and assisted, while I did other necessary jobs like mowing the lawns, making coffee, preparing food and so on.
It wasn’t all work, we did go out for a meal or two, and Mark’s wife flew out for the weekend. I did little local exploring in the woods nearby. All went well until the last bit where I lost my bearings, and rounding a corner in a field, came face to face with a ‘Limousin’ cow. I beat a quick retreat, climbed up a bank – and found myself in Mark’s back garden – I had just walked round the house and not seen it!
That went smoothly as expected and I was home on Tuesday evening. I did have an appointment at the eye clinic, and my eyes are much better, so I am now using less aggressive eye drops – but still not able to wear contact lenses 🙁
Thursday saw me driving up to Corsham for a dinner to celebrate the glorious victory of Admiral Lord Nelson at Trafalgar. An excellent evening with many old friends present. On Friday I drove up to see my parents.
So I am at my parents having a break- the weather was lovely this morning – we have just had a hailstorm! I had been hoping to go back to France with Mark on Monday, but last week I was approached by an agency with a possible contract offer. MY CV has been submitted, and interviews are this week. I don’t know if I will be called for interview, but it is worth waiting to see. It will be for about 40 days of work, which will be useful!
It has been a few days since I updated this – perhaps the most notable occurrence was waking up one morning to find this outside the house! The road was in need of some major repair work, various roadworks and the effects of last winter’s cold weather had taken its toll, and I was pleased to see that rather than just spray and chip, the road surface was taken off and a new surface laid. It has certainly made it a lot smoother!
I just hope it will be a long time before the road has to be dug u0p again!
I had travelled up to Corsham the day before to finish emptying my flat and then clean it out in preparation for handing back to the letting agency, and also taking the opportunity to go out for a curry. Cleaning and clearing continued on Thursday until it was time to go up to the mess for the dinner.
I completed the cleaning on the Friday morning (it was an effort getting up early!) but all was completed on time and the keys returned after the inventorty check. I am sorry to be leaving the area – it has been an enjoyable period and I hope the opportunity to work with the team again may turn up in the near future.
Club after a longish absence to discover an expedition to Cornwall was being mounted. So although I can’t dive (because I need a diving medical after all the treatment) I did volunteer to go down as expedition cook and general dogsbody. And I had a great time, although cooking two cooked meals a day and sandwiches at lunchtime for half a dozen hungry divers was quite hard work. However I have got the bug back, so I must see about getting a medical, and then getting out and servicing all my dive kit! The picture shows the diveboat – not me driving on this occasion – most of the time I was behind the camera!
A bit of a posting gap I’m afraid, but it was ten days of much needed chilling – well, working with Mark on his house. It was also an opportunity to try out a new camera, and I will upload some more photos to the gallery in due course. In fact the whole blog software needs some updating and sorting out.
leaving Mark to do the heavy duty DIY. However we did manage to get some time off, and we were in Pompadour for the Bastille day celebrations, a meal (at a restaurant run my an ex-pat couple and some celebratory fireworks. This is one of several I took during the evening.
Among the many people gathered to celebrate Simon’s amazing life were some BT colleagues I had met during the “Get on and Get It” broadband campaign from 2003, including Philippa, Sonya and Sarah. Richard (a frequent commentator on the blog!) was also there, so we had a good catch up. I finally got to meet Christine, Simon’s wife, with whom I had had many chats over the last few weeks. After the service, we went to the burial, in a natural burial ground about 10 minutes drive away. With the dreaded words”You can’t missed it” we eventually arrived towards the end of the interment, but the photo
shows some of the many people at the graveside. The burial ground is next to a field where Simon’s horse grazes, and this photograph shows the view from Simon’s resting place. The rather brown grass is testimony to the hot weather! After the burial we went back to Simon’s ‘local’ for a beer and a bite to eat, and an afternoon of remembering. In fact the afternoon of remembering went on until after 8 o’clock, when I dropped Sonya and Sarah at Faversham station before driving up to Corsham in preparation for the trip up to Huddersfield.