September marks the end of the school holidays, and so it was back to school for Ellie and me. I started slightly earlier, going in for an all-day governors meeting on the Friday. I was voted in as chair of the governing body for a second year, and so was back in the hot seat. Ellie went back to school the following week, her uniform updated to reflect her ‘stature’ within the school as a Year 11. A big year for Ellie ahead with her GCSE’s sharply in focus from day one back at the school. Here she is looking smart in her new suit and Year 11 tie.

On the same day that I was doing school governance, Tricia was packing her bags and heading off on the annual ‘girly trip’. This time the five of them were off to the Cotswolds for the weekend, staying in Bourton-on-the Water. They took in a visit to Chastleton House in Oxfordshire, which was used for filming some of the scenes for Wolf Hall. Having just read the book I was somewhat envious… must make a visit there myself. I took advantage of the relative peace and quiet at home to decorate the study. Nothing too dramatic, just freshening up the paintwork and changing the wall colour to a slightly brighter green. I was pleased with the end result. Robbie spent some time in the loft going through his things, tidying up and throwing out ‘stuff’. Here are some pix from Tricia’s weekend.

As usual with Tricia, she didn’t take it easy the following week. On the Tuesday the 8^th, Tricia took one of her road trips down to Chatham to pick up a new batch of jars for TLC. With the end of the summer comes a bonanza of fruits, apples, plums, blackberries etc, and Tricia is normally busy building up her stock. She took Janet with her for company, an old friend from the village. On the Thursday, Tricia was off to Kew Gardens with Sara for the day. Lovely weather, and a lovely day was had. In the evening I had a meeting in Waddesdon with a prospective new school governor… the meeting seemed to go well, but the person declined the opportunity :-(. On Friday I had two new tyres put on the front of the car, and then in the evening we both went down to Bracknell, to meet some of my old friends from my days in the 6^th form at Brakenhale. Deb of course we see regularly, but I hadn’t seen Noele for a few years, and I hadn’t seen Janet for a couple of decades… always nice to catch up. Carlos was there… it was good to talk football with him after West Hams victory at Liverpool! A couple of pics from Tricia’s trip to Kew…

And then from Friday evening in Bracknell.

We didn’t leave it too late coming home, as we were both on the bikes the next day for the ‘ride and stride’ event visiting local churches. This is a sponsored event, looking to raise money for the ‘Bucks Historic Churches Trust’. The churches are wonderful old buildings, and part of the history of every community. However, most churches do not have the funds to maintain the buildings, so this event was one way of helping. We set off promptly, determined to do more miles and churches than we did in 2014 (27 churches). The weather was good for cycling, fairly cool. We did North Marston, Granborough and Winslow in good time, and then went on a different route than last year, workling our way through villages up through Adstock, Padbury then to Buckingham, out to Tingewick, looping back through Hillsden, and the Claydons… we eventually signed off at Oving church, having visited 30 churches and done over 50 miles. I was knackered at the end. I could feel a cold coming on in the morning, and it definitely arrived at the end of the day. A few pictures…

Not that there was any room for having a quiet relaxing Sunday to recover. Nope… on Sunday were off to Hyde Park for the Radio 2 ‘festival in a day’ … Tricia had tickets for her 50^th, and we met Deb and Carlos, Jan and Trevor, and Wendy beforehand and then sat with them throughout. Tricia and I had stopped for a tea at Marylebone when we got into London, and we somehow acquired an umbrella… which we hoped we wouldn’t have to use. Hyde Park itself was packed, and the stage but a tiny speck in the distance… thank goodness for the big screens that were up. We enjoyed the music and a picnic in good weather. As the day moved into the evening it became colder and we were grateful for the few extra layers we had brought along for ourselves. The line up was extensive… I particularly enjoyed The Shires, Ward Thomas, Kate Rusby, The Corrs, Bryan Adams and Rod Stewart. Ward Thomas was a bit of surprise, upbeat country and easy to listen to. Bryan Adams was just pure rock and roll… and he did a terrific set. Rod Stewart did a collection of songs that he doesn’t normally perform… but we seemed to know most of them. He is a proper showman, very accomplished. By the time Tricia and I had traversed road and underground, and got back to Marylebone it was getting late. We picked up a couple of hot drinks, and half snoozed on the train on the way back.

Thankfully the following week was a little more relaxed. I needed it. I was tired from a long weekend, and full of cold. The week started well though with West Ham winning at home at last, by beating Newcastle. Tricia was back at Brownies on the Monday, and on the Thursday she hosted a girly night at home. On the Friday the Rugby World Cup kicked off. We went to the Yorks who were hosting a little event to mark the start… the main mark though was the food that Peter York accidentally dropped on Tricia 🙂 … We watched the England game against Fiji in the evening. Fiji competed well, but England came through with what was a comfortable enough victory in the end. Saturday the 19^th in the evening Tricia, Sally and me set off to Queens Park centre in Aylesbury, where Tricia goes for her watercolour class. This was for a quiz… but when we got there we found it had been cancelled L… so we went to the Bell at Hardwick, and sat and did our own quiz on the iphone J. There was a surreal feel to the day though. West Ham won at Man City… yes that’s right. We have now beaten Arsenal, Liverpool and now Man City. Strewth. The Sunday had an autumnal feel to it. As Tricia recorded on facebook, ‘Autumn is here. Dewy morning with hazy sunshine, leaves falling, blackberrying done, apples, damsons and plums picked yesterday and Downton Abbey starts tonight.’ I suppose when Downton starts it must be a sign that autumn is on its way.

The week of the 21^st was busy for me as Governor. There was an open morning on Monday, followed by an appeal at Diocesan House. In the evening it was back to the school for another open evening, followed by a rehearsal. Tuesday was another open evening, and another rehearsal. Phew. Ellie was involved in the open evenings as well, so a busy few days for the both of us. Tricia meanwhile was busy making chilli jam, and then had a day out in London on the Thursday. She went to see Southwark Cathedral, and took the opportunity to meet Robbie for lunch. Friday was Governors visits day, so it was back in the school. Here are the chillis from the conservatory, and some piccalilli Tricia was cooking…

And from her trip to London..

Saturday 26^th meant it was time for Safari Supper, and the theme was ‘I’m a Celebrity Get me out of here’. It was a good fun evening, which involved some creativity, and eating some meal worms L. Whilst the supper was going on England were playing rugby against Wales. With 10 minutes to go they were leading… it was a crunch game. The loser would have to beat Australia to qualify. Somehow England managed to conspire to lose the game. Sunday evening was a rehearsal for ‘The Enquiry’, a drama set in a woman’s prison, in which I was playing the chaplain…. I looked good dressed up as Rev. But I didn’t really want to be rehearsing on a Sunday evening. I would rather have been at home watching Downton with Tricia and Ellie. Some pix from the Safari Supper.

Monday 28^th was ‘the lunar eclipse’, not just a lunar eclipse, but a total lunar eclipse! … We were due to see it in the morning in the UK. I was driving at the time and certainly noticed the sky darken, and become gloomy, but to me it was a bit of a non-event. The month closed out on Wednesday, a nice day and Tricia took the opportunity and cycled to Waterperry gardens with her friend Sue Zanker. They had some close attention from pigeon!

Some other pics from the month… Nikki on Diaz, Ellie with a ‘moody’ pic, and then with her friend Lucy, and Robbie set up his armor in an odd way.