The working week always seem to be overloaded, with work, and the run of the mill activities we all have. So, the weekend is a treasured respite by most working people. Except, it always seems to fly by, busier than the weeks themselves.

Friday evening, Robbie and I went to watch the new Batman movie. Great if you like that kind of thing. Heath Ledger is brilliant as the Joker. Pity he isn’t around any longer. Saturday morning was a frenzy of shopping and tidying up before an old friend and his fiance came to visit. Simon worked for me at Safeway for many years and became a friend as well as a work colleague. He is studying for a degree at the moment as well as having a full time job, so time is at a premium, and so I haven’t seen him much recently. It was good to catch up up with him and his fiance Christina. We ate outside in the evening, it had been a steaming hot day, and it made sense to enjoy the weather.

I woke up at 6am this morning. I didn’t have to, and I didn’t want to. Unfortunately my body clock won’t change at the weekend. In the end I got up rather than wake Tricia with my restlessness. But I did go back and lay down at 10:30 and actually slept for a few hours. I knew I could do with some extra sleep, so I am glad I did. This afternoon I had to take Ellie to a dance display. Some of the adults from the group Tricia and I go to were there and did a display as well (doing the cha cha cha)…. at the end of which they offered to do some brief lessons with other adults there and then. I grabbed Ellie and left quickly before I was roped in to help. I then cooked a bbq at home. And all of a sudden it was Sunday evening.

Tomorrow I plan to drive only half way to work. I am then going to get the bike out of the back and cycle the rest. The exercise will do me good… whether my legs agree at the end of the day we will see.

Well I am off to bed. Nikki has gone back this evening, ready for week 3 of her placement next week. Tricia and Robbie are watching a film, Footloose, on the TV. Tricia cut Robbies hair today… we can actually see his ears now ! Haven’t seen them for a few years.

Tricia, Ellie and myself went to a show/concert last night. It was for a charity ‘pepper’, which funds nurses looking after sick children. It was a fun evening, the performances in the show were excellent. We got back just after midnight, and Ellie was very tired. She was however quite pleased with the hand puppet we got from a stall for her.

During the day, Tricia, who is feeling better, spent time gardening, and deforesting an area at the back of the garden. It is an area that should be maintained by calor gas, but they don’t… so Tricia went and sorted it out. Before and After.

North Marston wildlife…

Today, we have had a relatively quiet day. Tricia went across to Milton Keynes for part of the day, for an athletics event. Nikki has gone back to Epping this evening.

On a sad note, one of my fathers penfriends passed away last week. ‘Cal’ had been writing to Dad for over 30 years. They met on a couple of occasions when Cal and his wife came across to the UK, but that apart it was a friendship based on correspondence in letters. I never met Cal but always heard about him through Dad.

The local church has been looking to get an extension added so that it can add some more modern facilities. However, with the church being a gazillion years old, and listed to the umpteenth level, getting planning permission is rather protracted and extremely bureaucratic. I have stayed well away from being involved in helping as I don’t have the time, and certainly not the patience when dealing with all the layers of people you have to work through. I take my hat off to those in the village who are doing this.

As part of the step for obtaining planning permission, it has been necessary to have an archeological dig in the area where the extension would be. Tricia and Robbie went up to the church yesterday to have a nose. Part of the dig has revealed some unmarked graves… Tricia got a little happy with the camera

These first two shots are of the uncovered skeletons…

This is looking at the dig from up on the church roof.

Tricia then went up the bell tower and took these pictures looking out across the village..

Of course whilst up the bell tower she found the date on one of the bells… 1765, and looking closely at the walls found some markings for old sun dials.

Of course, whilst the camera was out, Robbie couldn’t help himself….

During the day, Ellie’s school did their version of ‘schools got talent’. Ellie did her dance, and people said she did very well, and her year sang a song … ‘Three lives on my gameboy’, to the tune of ‘Three wheels on my wagon’. I have tried explaining that Three wheels on my wagon (a favourite of mine when I was about 6) was the original, but she isn’t having any of it.

Tricia and I went to the last dance class until September last night. The cha cha cha went well again, but I do need a break from the jive, which whilst I was just about getting it in the end, is still far from polished. Tricia has been a bit under the weather recently, particularly with an irritating cough, which gets worse when she lays down. Of course that is no good when you want to sleep ! It wakes her, and me up. The doctor thinks she has a small amount of fluid on the lung and an infection. She is on a course of antibiotics now, hopefully this will resolve the problem, as we both want to sleep through at least one night undisturbed.

Nikki came back for the weekend, from her first week in St Maragrets Hospital Epping. She got back in time to see Ellie in her last performance. Ellie was pleased her big sis got to see her. Nikki had had a good day, and being given a written reference on how well she had done, so she was pleased how well the week had gone after a difficult start. In passing conversation last night she mentioned that the hospital had been officially opened yesterday. Intrigued we asked who had opened it….’oh, some bloke’ she said, ‘I spoke to him’… but no clue who it was. So I looked up the hospital this morning and found it was Alan Johnson the Health Secretary…. just some bloke!

Robbie has broken up with his girlfriend. He doesn’t seem to upset about the whole thing, and I suppose it means he will spend a little less time on msn, so that at least is a good thing.

Tricia, Ellie and myself are off to see a charity show tonight. It is done by a group of session musicians, who do the ‘Pepper’ concerts. Basically, they put on an evenings entertainment, all sorts of pop / rock songs, but a lot of it is Beatles music….

It was twenty years ago today, Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play, They’ve been going in and out of style
But they’re guaranteed to raise a smile, So may I introduce to you, The act you’ve known for all these years
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band….

Looking forward to it.

This evening Robbie was back at school for the annual prize giving. He was awarded the GCSE Subject prize for Art, and also full school colours for his work in Art. This was taken from the programme for the evening.

The paragraph below the names explains the ‘school colours’. I suppose it doesn’t mean much outside of the school, but it is recognition from within the school, and I am pleased and unashamedly proud of Rob for this award. Within the family we have known Robbie has an artistic talent since he was first able to pick up a pencil, and started mass producing pictures of Thomas the Tank engine. It has been great to see his work develop, particularly over the last few years. Outwardly Rob doesn’t always seem to have a lot of personal determination, but it is there, and has come through in his art work. And here is the man himself…

This was taken outside the school afterwards. The photograph below was taken in the hall, and is a little dark (like some of Robbie’s art work !). The presentation was given by the retiring deputy head. As a governor at the school I have known her for a while, she is very professional, thoughtful and caring, and she will be missed at the school.

On a slightly different note, here is Rob walking back from the wicket after being bowled out on Sunday. He wasn’t too down after losing on Sunday and went back for a cricket net on Monday evening. The last few days Rob has sanded down the the outside window frames downstairs, and applied a wood stain / protector. He has done a pretty good job. His artisitic brushwork has been used in a different way

Ellie has got through to the final display of her schools verion of ‘Britains got Talent’ (Schools got Talent), with a dance routine. The final will be held on Friday. She is taking it seriously, and keeps practising her routine and talking about it.

Nikki had a dodgy second day at Epping hospital, where she had to be corrected on something and had felt a bit down, but had a much better day today helping a patient who had had a knee joint replacement, with treatment in the hydro pool, which worked well for the patient.

I was up at 5:45. Left home at 06:25, was at my desk by 07:30… then home by 6pm, out again at 6:30pm for Robbies prize giving, home just after 9pm. I sometimes wonder where the time goes . Off to bed…

Well today was the day Rob and me were playing cricket for the village. We were playing Aylesbury this afternoon. We fielded first, and Aylesbury scored 200 and something in there 40 overs. Robbie was given an opportunity to bowl, and he did pretty well, bowling 3 overs, he had 12 runs scored off him, and he took 1 wicket. A fine performance, and it could have been better if it wasn’t for a catch somebody dropped. The fielding was hard work, and I will be aching tomorrow morning. When we batted, we only just managed over a 100, so were well beaten. Rob and I were both out for zero. It was nice to play in the same team as Robbie. I hope he continues with the cricket because he could be a good bowler. As for me, that was my last game. No more competitive sports for me. I am just too old for it.

Ellie had her sports day on Thursday. She was in the egg and spoon race, and came 4th, and also in the skipping race which she won . Here she is….

Nikki is off to Epping hospital tomorrow as part of her degree work. She will be working on outpatients for the next five weeks.

I spoke with my Dad yesterday, and he sounded brighter. The good news is that the doctors seem to think they know what the problem is, and that it is a legacy of the operation he had for stomach cancer about 4 years ago. Hopefully they will be able to work around the issue, and stop Dad having the bouts of sickness he has been having. Some progress though, and he has been reassured the problem is not cancer again.

It has been a fairly quiet weekend. Tricia and I went dancing on Friday evening. Again the cha cha cha is making progress, but I can’t get the jive. Later on Friday evening I taught Nikki how to play crib… and then she went and beat me. There is gratitude for you. Tricia was at the athletics club on Saturday for an event, and then at a Guiding do in the evening. Robbie, Nikki and me sat and watched the Godfather.

Robbie got a letter from the school today to say he had been awarded the GCSE Subject prize for Art this year, and has been awarded Full School Colours for his art. I am really chuffed for him, as I feel he has been overlooked a few times in the past. He has done very well in his art this year, and it is nice to see him get recognition from the school for his work. Prizegiving is next Wednesday evening.

Not such good news on my Dad. I saw him and my Mum on Friday afternoon, and they seemed in good spirits, and Dad looked quite bright. Unfortunately he was ill again over the weekend. The problem is, the doctors haven’t been able to identify what causes these bouts of illness. Where is Gregory House when you need him?

Tricia was in bed most of the day again, trying to get over this virus she has had. When I got home though, there was a full roast dinner prepared…. not by Tricia, but by Nikki. Ellie said it was the best dinner ever… praise indeed. And, Nikki had done a large pile of ironing during the day to help out. Top class.

I was always told at school that you shouldn’t start a sentence with ‘and’. What a rebel I am

I am blogging whilst there is a rain break for the men’s final. So far it has been a terrific match, lots of thrilling tennis, and drama. Nadal should have won it by now, and he has been the better player so far in my opinion. But Federer has hung in there.

Tricia has been struggling with a virus for the last week, and hence we did not go to our dancing class on Friday evening, Tricia went to bed instead. We were due at a summer ball in the village on Saturday evening and we had wanted to practice our cha cha cha, but it wasn’t to be. Saturday itself was touch and go, but Tricia rested most of the day and made it in the evening. Here are some photo’s from the evening.

It was a good evening. The food was a bit disappointing, but the band was good, and the company great. It was a late night and a real struggle this morning. Tricia and I sort of managed a cha cha cha on a packed dance floor. Not that anybody else would really have noticed.

I am back from the resumption of play, and Nadal has won it. What a terrific game. Feel a bit sorry for Federer, but the new kid is on the block, and Nadal is a formidable player.

Nikki is back after a camping holiday in the New Forest. She was away with some friends, but they had a lot of rain, and came back a day early. Ellie had another dance display yesterday, and did very well. Robbie… well we don’t see him much, he is spending far too much time on msn… I can see a falling out coming along.

 Monday evening is cricket net night, and Robbie and I go along. Rob can bowl quite well, and enjoys himself. We have both been picked to play for the village on Sunday July 13th. After we had both been bowling in the nets for a while, we had the option to bat. Rob was in the net next to mine, and shortly after he started to bat, he got hit where it hurts… fortunately he was wearing a cricket box, which protected his crown jewels.

In the net I was in, a lad (late teens) was trying to bowl as fast as he could, and he was quite quick. The previous week I had got slightly the better of him, and he seemed determined that wasn’t going to be the case this week. His second ball at me I just didn’t see, and stumps went everywhere. I then played a few, before he bowled one that was going to the leg side, I played at it, missed and it hit me right on the top of the thigh… and I wasn’t wearing a thigh pad. . Ouch. This was followed a few minutes later by a beamer – which to those who do not know cricket, is a ball which goes straight towards the head. I managed to get the bat up, but only deflected the ball onto my forearm.   Double ouch. He apologised as it was accidental, but I did wonder if I really should stop playing. I don’t need the pain or discomfort. I have a massive purple bruise on my thigh, and a goose egg of a lump on my forearm, and at 47, it takes a bit longer for these knocks to clear up than when I was 18. Perhaps July 13th will be my retirement game.

Ellie had a very loose tooth on Monday evening. The tooth has been loose for a good few days, and Ellie was getting in a bit of a state about it. We had all sorts of trauma about whether I should just ease it out or not, and a few tears because she thought it might hurt. Eventually she braved it for me to actually touch the tooth. A few minutes later, and a few unintentional bites on my fingers later (and remember this was all happening after I had been battered at cricket) the tooth came out, almost without her realising it. The tooth fairies, who have obviously been unaffected by the present economic meltdown, delivered a £1 coin at some point during the night. Blooming strong those tooth fairies, carrying a pound coin.

As with all children, Ellie finds the ‘keeping my bedroom tidy’ part of life a major difficulty. We have friends staying at the weekend, so Tricia had told Ellie that she needed to tidy her room or she would put everything into a bin bag and dump it into the garage, and wouldn’t be able to play on the computer until she had done it. Ellie took the thought of this very hard. I got in from a long day in the London office, all hot and bothered after getting stuck on the jubilee line, and then riding on a packed train to Aylesbury, to find Ellie very worried. I inspected the bedroom, and she was relieved to find that I said she had done a good job. We then sat and read a book together, I read the narrative, Ellie read the voices (actress potential), before she went to bed happy.

The thing that made me laugh though, was that she had apparantly informed Nikki that she wouldn’t be able to play on the computer either until she had tidied her room !

Blast from the past – August 81

From the Eightlem news, August Bank Holiday ’81. Off to Charlbury with the Mystic Wizards. It was blazing hot.

And a photo from the time…

The Cardinal and Apothecary Wizard, at the mystical mecca of Charlbury.

That is enough of that…. better go to bed. Watford and work tomorrow.

Tricia was catering for a wedding this last weekend, and I thought she would be too busy to have time to go to dance class on Friday evening. But no, she wanted a break, and so we went along. The instructor even considered we had learnt enough and become competent enough () to be taught some further steps on the cha cha cha…. but I got very confused with the jive… if you looked above waist level it probably looked ok, but my feet were all over the place. Oh well. Perserverance is required.

Saturday went in a blur of activity and work for the wedding Tricia was doing. Nikki and Robbie were both working for Tricia, and she certainly worked them hard. Come Sunday lunchtime we were all exhausted following all the clearing up, etc. Tricia was a bit disappointed how it went, because the power to the ovens kept tripping out, and she had trouble getting the food out hot, but everything else went well, and she didn’t get any complaints.

I spent Sunday afternoon scanning in eightlem news from 1981… so I was stuck in a time warp. To me 1981 was the year of the Toxteth riots, Ghost Town by the Specials, Botham’s ashes…but thanks to the eightlem news I also remembered that my brother had a big operation, that I got engaged, and then unengaged, and had great fun as a Mystic Wizard and visiting Charlbury. Halcyon days.