The week started in a sedate enough style, but soon busied up. Monday was first night back at Brownies after Easter. I was in the office Tue, Wed and Thursday. Wednesday and Thursday I had to work late. I was doing interviews, but the people being interviewed were in the US and so it was done across a ‘telepresence’ system. Which is basically a high tech video system. It was very good, almost as if I was sat there with them. But being US hours it meant working late…. But I thought that at least the M25 would be clear. Wrong. Both nights it was gridlocked, and so it was late home.

Tricia had a day out on Tuesday, visiting Hughendon manor with Janet, for ‘primrose day’. The weather was good, and they enjoyed the day out. Wednesday morning, she managed to go out for her first bike ride of the year, 12 miles with Sue Zanker… She enjoyed the bike ride, but was a little saddle sore after! She was also busy in the evening, watercolour class on Tuesday evening, Brownie Hall meeting on Wednesday. For me, when I did have time I was trying to complete the work I had started on 12 of Debs albums, scanning and digitally cleaning them…. Around 1200 photographs. Deb and Carlos were coming over Saturday, and I wanted to get the job finished by then…. And I did, late on Friday evening.

Ellie had a difficult week. A few tests didn’t go so well, and with the pressure of impending GCSE’s she was a bit down. So, Friday evening she was pleased to have an evening out with her friend Tom, and his parents. They went to eat, and then watch the new Jungls Book film. She enjoyed her evening, and in particular the film.

Friday evening I picked up Robbie. He stayed over, and had a driving lesson on Saturday. Tricia was at a county training day for Guiding. I dropped Ellie off at work, and went to Bicester Village… I don’t like the place much, but I did manage to get a new suit. After I had dropped Robbie back at Tring, it was home and a tidy / clean of the house. In the evening Deb and Carlos came, and Pat and Clive joined us. A lovely evening… Great to catch up with Deb and Carlos, we hadn’t seen them for a while. Here we have Carlos and me enjoying a little Jameson’s Whiskey!

Sunday was a quietist day…. A slow start. Whilst Tricia did some ironing, I kicked off the upgrade from Windows 7, to Windows 10 on the home pc…. It took some time. In fact I left it running, whilst Tricia and me went off to Ashridge for a walk with Pat and Clive. It was cold, but a pleasant walk, we did about 5 miles and saw the bluebells again. When I got home the upgrade had completed, and with a few little tweaks, all seems to be working fine :-)…. Let’s hope it stays that way.

It was a relatively quite week this week… thankfully. I worked form home Monday. Tricia was busy with an order for the green Dragon. Ellie needed to go into school, a day ahead of the return after Easter, as she had extra drama work. Tuesday I was in the office, Tricia had watercolour class in the evening. Wednesday Tricia went out to a garden centre with Janet, and then in the evening went out to see an art demo, whilst I settled down to watch West Ham v Man Utd…. the final FA Cup game at the Boleyn. A quarter final replay. It was a tough evening’s viewing. We were not at our best, and went 0-2 down… we pulled 1 back, and almost forced extra time but had a goal disallowed. :-(…

Thursday evening I popped into Mum and Dad’s, keen to walk Dad through the detail that my new found cousin in Canada had provided on the family tree. I also picked up a load of old photographs that my Dad had of his relatives. Friday evening I picked Rob up from Tring, and then spent the evening scanning and editing pictures, and posting them up on facebook… and then getting loads of info on the pictures from my newly found relatives. Here we have my Dad looking through his old photo’s… then one of him and his brother David, one of my Grandad with my Dad holding me, and my dear old Nan… then my Grandad when he was a young boy. Then my Great Grandfather with his first wife, Mary Ellen, and then later in life, taken in 1952. He passed away in 1958.

Saturday morning Tricia went off to Hemel for a training session with the trampolining crew, Ellie webnt to work, and I took Rob to MK so he could do his driving theory test… which he passed :-). We then went to Costwold outdoor where I got some walking trousers, and gators, and as there was a Costa there, had a coffee with Rob. After I had taken Rob back to Tring, and had a coffee with him and Amy, it was an evening out at the Robinsons, with the Docwras and Webbs. Peter and Jane took us through the pictures of their visit to NZ and Australia. We then played ‘the humming game’… which as usual with this crowd ended up lots of laughs. A lovely evening.

This morning Tricia went up to church, and stayed for the AGM. I cleared out some old clothes from the loft… and then we went off to Ashridge for a lovely walk, about 9 miles, finishing where the bluebells were out in full force. A cup of tea / coffee and a bit of cake followed :-).

Monday was a wfh day for me. A trip to the gym, then back home to the desk. Tricia was on a ‘quiet’ day at Stanton St John, with some of the church group. In the evening my old work colleague, Peter,was having a leaving do in London. So about 4:15pm I trundled off to London. It was a good evening, catching up with some colleagues, and I returned, getting home about 10:45… so it was late to bed.

Tuesday, I was in the office. Tricia had a full day baking, and Ellie was in at work. I was out in the evening… again. I went to a team meal near Staines, which was ok. But again meant I was late home. Wednesday, I was in the office again, and Tricia was full on with her work. I got home at a reasonable time for once… Tricia was still going flat out, finishing cakes, and wrapping. I felt a bit guilty about just sitting down whilst she was working… so I started the ironing. Well Tricia finished her work about 9pm, I finished the ironing at 9:45… fortunately for me I was finished. However, Tricia was then going off to Luton airport to pick up Robbie and Amy. Originally it was thought they would be out around 10:30pm… but a problem with a bird going into an engine, and then some of the passengers being unruly meant that the flight was delayed leaving by a few hours. Tricia tried to get some shut eye in a lay-by. By the time she had picked them up, and got home it was after 2am when she got to bed. Sounds like Rob and Amy had a good time. At least on Thursday morning she didn’t have to get up early and could sleep till 9am.

I was up early though, and into the office for just after 7am. I worked through till after lunch, and then left the office to go and pick up my Dad from Moorfields eye hospital in London. Well it took and hour and a half to get there, even though it was only 21 miles. We eventually got away at about 4:20pm, but we got snarled up in the evening rush hour traffic, and it took 3 hours to get to Bracknell. I grabbed a quick bite to eat and then set off again for home. It was after 9 when I got home and I was exhausted. Tricia had just got back from a meeting on the 3 peaks challenge she is doing in September… we sat and talked for about 10 minutes before off to bed. Both of us knackered from the week.

I went to the gym Friday morning, and then worked until about 3:30pm, when we were off for the weekend with Pat & Clive. We left, with Ellie happy to see us off and have the house to herself for the weekend, and our destination was a village just outside Worcester.Pat and myself in the backseat, enjoying the entertainment offered by Tricia and Clive as they went slightly wrong. However, we arrived to a welcoming farmhouse B&B…. tea and some cake. A quick change, a glass of champagne and then we were off to ‘The Swan’ a few miles away for our evening meal. An excellent evening… lots of laughs, and good food. The ‘bubblegum ice cream’ leaving Pat with a blue tongue. As we left Tricia was having fit of giggles. Back at the B&B we finished off the champagne, before going off to bed. Here we all are ready to dine…. then Clive enjoying a pint of mad goose (appropriate), Pat filling her wine glass with ice, and the end result of ‘bubblegum ice cream’…

Saturday morning, Tricia and I were late down to breakfast as usual. The weather was beautiful outside… there was much debate on whether we should go up the Malvern Hills first and then go to Worcester or the other way around… In the end we headed for Malvern. We went to the priory, and then onto the ‘Singing Kettle’ for a cup of tea / coffee before parking up a little further and walking up the Worcestershire Beacon. This is a the highest point on the Malvern Hills. It was whilst going up the hill, that the weather changed from somewhat overcast, to hammering down with hail. We got a little damp! The views were spectacular though. It was a tough walk for Pat, who has some issues with her legs, but she made it. The horrid weather past, we were treated to sunshine and a little breeze, which made us a little drier at the bottom. It was then off to Worcester. First visit was the Rohan shop. Tricia and Clive both took their rain coats, which had failed to keep them dry on the hills… and fair play to Rohan, they exchanged them. A good deal for Tricia, her old rain coat was about 18 months old, and she walked away with a brand new one as a straight swap. We then visited the cathedral… wonderful. I love to feel present at historic places, and here was the tomb of King John, and Prince Arthur. Arthur was Henry the VIII’s older brother. He should have been King, but died at 16… If Arthur had been King, Tudor history may have been quite different. No Edward VI, or Mary or Elizabeth I. Here we have the priory at Malvern, some of us at the top, and one where you can see the storm going off in the distance. Then a pano picture from the top.

After Worcester, it was back to base. Tricia enjoyed a relaxing bath… but forgot to use the Prosecco soap Pat had bought her. We sat in the living room, Pat, Tricia and Clive enjoying some ‘bubbles’ before going out to the ‘Bear and Ragged Staff’. I enjoyed a pint of Guinness, the food was good… and I continued my ‘I am dedicating my life to Tricia’s happiness’ line, which was driving Pat nuts :-). Back at the B&B we finished the bubbles, and then Pat surprised us with ‘Tricia’s Tours’ mugs :-). Here we have the tombs of King John and Prince Arthur… me with a refreshing Guinness and Tricia with her mug.

Today we enjoyed another excellent breakfast. We packed and thanked our host for the stay, and moved on. First stop was ‘Clive’s Fruit Farm’. A local place that sold its fruit in various forms. Then it was onto Croome. This is now a NT location (so we got in free). The mansion and park were designed by ‘Capability’ Brown, and it was Brown’s first landscape design and first major architectural project. It also became RAF Defford during WWII where it was primarily used for radar development. After tea / coffee, a walk around the park and mansion, and then the RAF huts we were on our way again. This time to Tewkesbury.

We had a light lunch in ‘The Abbey Tea Rooms’, a tea room covered in memorabilia from the 20th Century. Everything from saucy postcards to newspaper cuttings. Then we went into the  Abbey itself. The Battle of Tewkesbury which took place in 1471, was a key battle in the Wars of the Roses. King Edward IV, who was House of York, completely defeated the House of Lancaster, led by Edward, Prince of Wales, son of Henry VI and Margaret of Anjou. Edward was killed, and he is buried in Tewkesbury Abbey. A brass plate on the floor in the centre of the sanctuary marks his grave. Again, walking in  the steps of history.

We then returned to the car, and drove back cross country, getting home at about 6:30. I caught up on Match of the Day, and West Ham’s thrilling 3-3 draw with Arsenal. I had missed the boxing over the weekend… Anthony Joshua winning a version of the Heavyweight title. But I was able to catch up with the last round of the Masters. And it was a thrilling finish. Danny Willets benefiting from Spieths meltdown. An Englishman winning the Masters. Always got to be good 🙂

The week started quietly… Easter Monday. No work :-). Tricia and me dropped Ellie off at work and then went onto the gym. After a good work out, it was a quiet afternoon at home, until we went and picked Ellie up, and went onto Nikki’s for afternoon tea. Nikki and Matt are working extremely hard at the moment, lambing constantly, and around the clock, and Nikki trying to do her job as well. It was a pleasant evening… but we didn’t stay too late as they had work to do. Here are the horses just before Ellie helped Nikki get them to the stable for the evening.

Tuesday was back to work… I had hoped that with it being the school holidays, and with people on hols the traffic might be quieter. Not a bit :-(. I got caught on the M25 coming home, and was nearly late for the monthly pub quiz. I joined Tricia, Ellie and Sally… and whilst we didn’t win, we didn’t do badly either. Ellie did extremely well, answer plenty of science questions! Wednesday I worked from home… gym for me in the morning, and them later on Tricia and Ellie went. In the evening Tricia was out with girlies to go to a pub quiz at the Bell in Hardwick… they came second. Back in the office Thursday I got caught in traffic coming home again, and didn’t get home till after 8pm :-(. I spent the evening checking the quiz Ellie had set for her World Challenge evening, which was due on Friday.

On Friday I worked from home…and was actually working online at 6:30am… there is so much for me to do at the moment, it was a case of just getting up and getting on with it. I did take an extended break later in the day though, and walked across to the Eco farm where Ellie is working, and got her to make me a ‘flat white’… which she did very nicely. I even paid for a piece of Tricia’s lemon cake!  The day got really busy later on. It was Ellie’s World Challenge Quiz. Ellie is going on a ‘world challenge’ next year, the summer of 2017. It is a trip to Swaziland and Mozambique, and she needs to raise £4,732 to go. So a quiz was part of her fund raising. Tricia sold 60 tickets, which included a raffle and a chilli supper, which she had to cook on the Friday. Chilli for 60 people is a lot! We had to set the hall up – all the tables and chairs, set the laptop / projector up etc etc… then the quiz itself. Ellie stood and asked the questions and did very well. Tricia tallied up the scores. It was a very well supported event, lots of friends donating raffle prizes, and buying tickets. Rob and Amy came across, but sadly Nikki was full of cold and so didn’t make it. By the time all the washing up had been done, and everything packed up in the hall… and the cars loaded and unloaded I was shattered. Tricia and Ellie, Rob and Amy and myself sat having a tea in teh living room afterwards. I managed to drink my tea… and then crawl to bed.

Saturday, Tricia and me were off to London. Alan and Pete were both celebrating their 50th birthdays, and we went to a ‘posh’ Indian restaurant. The food was fantastic… we got there just after 12, and didn’t leave till near 4pm… It had been a lovely afternoon. The restaurant wasn’t busy and there was no pressure to move us on, and so it was nice and relaxed. We got home around 7:30pm… and did a few quick chores, before sitting and watching a couple of episodes of ‘The Night Manager’… before collapsing into bed.

Ellie had been out Saturday herself, out on a friends birthday trip to see Leicester Tigers play… and she met Tom Croft.

Today Tricia and I were up and out on a 9.1 mile walk … partly practice for the Pennine Way, and partly practice for the 3 peaks Tricia will be doing in September. Trevor and Simon joined us. A lovely mornings walk. We finished around 2pm, and when back home I settled down to watch the World Cricket T20 final… a game of ups and downs, with one over to go I thought England would win… but they didn’t. Oh well….