Down South – Page 6 – My Photo Blog

Kingston Town – 15 July 2016

Posted on July 15, 2016 by Zogman

Today, after a late start, we walked along Chessington Road to the bus stop and got the 71 to Kingston. It was a bit of a dull day, but warm.

Wandered around Kingston looking for the market. I was beginning to think they’d moved it just to annoy me when we heard a commotion in the street. It turned out to be an amateur dramatics group acting out, er, something. A something without real words. Bits and pieces of singing and screaming, but no real dialogue. What it did have was some superb acting and mime, plus loads of humour and a bit of pathos. Really entertaining, live and free. Worth putting a couple of quid in their bucket. After that, we found the market with a little help from Mr Google. We are so spoilt in Glasgow with streets in a grid pattern, making it almost impossible to get lost. Kingston is one of those old fashioned places where they built the houses, churches and schools, then made the roads round them. With the market found, lunch was now possible and it turned out to be Japanese and from one of the kiosks in the market of course. I had Chicken Yaki Soba and Scamp had Chicken Curry. Enormous portions, far too big really, but very tasty, so we ate the lot.

After lunch we had a walk along the river admiring the variety of boats and spotting a cygnet with the swans on the stream that runs into the Thames. Mrs Swan was sitting on the eggs the last time we were there in May. It looks like only one egg hatched. Such a pity. After that, we got the bus back to Chessington. There’s a bus every 10 mins on average. What a difference from one every half hour from Glasgow to Cumbersheugh. People will only use public transport if the public transport actually exists and is economical to use. That’s a lesson Scotland could learn from London.

Frying pan pizza for dinner and it tasted ok, given that I was using a new to me oven. Just remembered that I forgot to make the bread from the remainder of the dough. Must do it in the morning.

Tomorrow is a mystery. Not a clue what we are doing. Let’s go with Scamp’s usual maxim. It depends on the weather.

You don’t scare me M25 – 14 July 2016

Posted on July 14, 2016 by Zogman

Set off today after a fairly decent breakfast at the services next to our overnight accommodation and slipped back on to the M6 heading south and trusting in the satnav to get us to Hazy & N D’Ag’s house.

All went swimmingly as we traversed the M6, the M42 and then the notorious M25. It wasn’t as bad as we expected … for us. On the other side, the clockwise carriageway, things weren’t quite as good with what looked like a 3 mile tailback due to an accident on the outside lane. A burned out car and a fire engine in attendance, but thankfully no ambulance.

The satnav on the iPhone got us almost to Chessington when the bloody thing switched off because it was overheating! Just when I needed it most. Things like that don’t happen in the temperate climate of Scotland, but apparently it does in tropical London. Unplugged it and let it cool for a few minutes while I overheated and drove on. It finally came back on just in time to tell me to take the next turnoff. After that I was on home ground and recognised some landmarks so I could self navigate.

Spent the afternoon with Hazy and N D’Ag before he left to go on his trip to Barcelona. Made paella for dinner, after walking to the Sainsburys at the railway station because it was soooo much quicker than taking the car. Anyway, the Megane was tired since it too had survived the scary M25.

Today’s pics come from the garden in Chessington. Lots to see here including a little mouse mopping up the fallen seeds from the birdfeeder and parakeets flying overhead when I was coming back from the shops. Did I just say Tropical London?

Don’t know what we’re doing tomorrow. I thought Kingston, but Scamp says maybe Hampton Court. We’ll see.

Dahn Sarf – 13 July 2016

Posted on July 13, 2016 by Zogman

The title translates to ‘Down South’ for those of you who don’t speak ‘Furminger Drawl’. We set off around 11.30am. Scamp wrote a text to Hazy telling her this. Drove through some torrential rain showers near Douglas and then further south at Lockerbie. By the time we crossed the border we had left most of the heavy clouds behind us and were driving into sunshine. Why does England get all the sunshine? Is it because we get all the scenery? Could be.

We just kept the M6 on the satnav and the wheels between the white lines. Thank heavens for cruise control. It’s one less thing to think about. I’d forgotten about those square speed limit signs with the sneaky little cameras attached, but Eagle Eyed Scamp saw them and alerted me. Cruise control to the rescue again. Only met with a couple of serious traffic jams at the roadworks just outside Manchester. Other than that, it was very much a textbook drive. Got to the Travel Lodge at Birmingham just around 5pm and that was with about about an hour long ‘comfort break’ at Tebay. It was at Birmingham that Scamp actually sent the text she’d written at 11.30am!

According to the satnav, it’s only another two hours to the Hazy & N D’Ag house, but I was getting tired, the Megane needed stabling for the night and fish & chips was beckoning. Over and out until tomorrow.

Today’s PoD is brought to you by a comment made by Fred Brown (English Teacher) when addressing a no-hoper in his English class he would paraphrase Hamlet Act 3 Scene 1: “Get thee to a nunnery, go.” to: “Get thee to Greggs, go.”. I always liked his sense of humour.

Doesn’t matter what the weather is like tomorrow. We’re on our way Hazy & N D’Ag. Warn the fluffies. We’re on our way, come rain (hopefully not) or shine (hopefully).

Back on dry land – 22 June 2016

Posted on June 22, 2016June 23, 2016 by Zogman

Well, technically it isn’t dry because it’s raining. Not heavy, just a drizzle. Poor organisation by P&O. Shambles of queueing passengers in every available space on deck five with tannoy instructions telling us to wait in the comfort of the public areas. If that was comfort, I’d hate to see what they deem uncomfortable. However, once we got moving things went a lot more smoothly. We were first on the coach for a change. Oh! Where will we sit? Now waiting for the dribs and drabs of fellow travellers to appear. Might be a long wait.

Earlier we watched the forklift trucks doing their little dance as they ferried the boxes of cases (Scamp would call them “Yorkies”) from the ship to the warehouse where they get placed by deck order. Quite fascinating to watch.

Walking in the Sunshine – 22 May 2016

Posted on May 22, 2016May 24, 2016 by Zogman

It’s a sunny Sunday and after breakfast we headed off over the fields and far away. Luckily Sim is friendly with the farmer and we got permission to walk through the horses’ fields to the right-of-way. I’m not that happy walking in fields with actual horses in them. Sim calls them ‘ponies’, but these aren’t anything like the ‘My Little Pony’ my daughter had when she was wee. These are big brown monsters, much bigger than me, but I treated them like I treat anyone bigger than me – don’t make eye contact, pretend they’re not there and everything will be fine. I did, and it was. we reached the relative safety of the road. Relative safety because this is a narrow single track road, but the drivers seem to think it’s their own personal autobahn. In other words, they think there is no speed limit. That said, we survived the killer ponies and the madskull drivers and started on our walk proper. Like yesterday it was mainly between fields of wheat and also yellow rapeseed. I synched the camera with my iPhone to allow me to geotag the photos. I knew it would only work with the ’10 and not the ‘5, but that wouldn’t matter because at least I’d have a record of the walk that I could plot on a map when I got back home. Checked the first one and all seemed to be well. We walked for an hour or so. Probably more than an hour because although JIC and Scamp were charging on ahead, Sim and I were constantly stopping to get some photos.

When we got to the top of one of the hills, gentle hills. This is Engerland, not mountainous Scottishland remember. They don’t do real hills here. Anyway, when we got to the main road at the top of one of the hills, there was a debate as to whether we should return by the same route or do a round trip. The round trip would mean walking on the grass verge at the side of the road and, since we’d already seen the stock car racing that was being done on the narrow road, we didn’t fancy our chances on the main road, so it was back the way we’d come.

On the way back we got a really good view of the ‘Chicken Prison’ or battery hen farm. If you’ve seen one of these travesties you will know why Scamp won’t but the cheapest chicken, but rather the free range ones. At least they had a slightly better life. We also got to see how a lovely vista across the green fields is destroyed by a solar panel farm. Just to complete the trilogy, there was a wind farm behind us. I’m all for being ‘green’, but just how efficient are these blots on the landscape? Wind farm windmills are white (white = pure) and generally now they are painted green at the bottom (green = natural). It’s all colour psychology, or kidology might be a more accurate description. During the first two weeks in April in Scotland almost no wind energy was generated as the wind wasn’t strong enough. It is not a viable alternative to traditional methods of generating electricity. Enough of the rant.

Back home after passing the demon ponies again, we had ice lollies and Pimms for lunch, then watched JIC starting the barbecue that would provide our supper. What a supper. Chicken kebabs for Scamp. Pork burger and sausages for the carnivores.

Dumped my photos and oh, oh, it looked like only one photo had been geotagged! Bummer. Then when I got them all in there were 40 tagged photos. Only one session, but forty photos in the session. All was good. Just as a finale, a woodpecker arrived at the bird table. I’ve never managed to get a photo of one. This one was a bit twitchy. Every time I went near the window, it went and hid in the big tree at the side of the garden. However, I managed about four good shots from a sitting position on the couch!

Back home tomorrow. I’d love to have stayed longer, but all good things must come to an end. We had an excellent day and an excellent break. Three days with Hazy and N D’Ag and three days with Sim and JIC.

Sunny Saturday – 21 May 2016

Posted on May 21, 2016May 24, 2016 by Zogman

So today is Saturday it’s a bit cloudy today with the threat of rain later. We went into Baldock with Jamie to the butchers, where else? Got the usual suspects, viz:

A couple of dinosaur bones (AKA short ribs)
Four sausages
Four slices of black pudding
Two pork and apple burgers
Just for something new, Chicken and Chickpea curry

JIC was buying in for a siege (his expression) and for a barbecue in the garden tomorrow. When we went back to the house, JIC took us for a walk through the wheat fields and up to the road. One of his walks with Vixen. While we were walking, Sim was riding Valioso. Having a dog is quite tying we always feel, but having a horse must be so much more restricting.

After lunch we went to meet Vixen. She was much more friendly than I had anticipated and her agility is something to be admired. Who would have thought that a solid looking dog could jump so high. We walked her round a dog walking field with JIC throwing tennis balls for her and Sim getting them back from her. An hour passed really too quickly. When it was time to leave, I felt really sorry for her. It was almost like we were abandoning this beautifully coloured bundle of energy – Vixen that is 😉 . Looking forward to seeing how she accepts us when we are in HER house, not kennels. No matter how luxurious they are, they are still kennels.

For dinner, JIC drove us to a Thai restaurant in a gastro-pub called the Navigator. Food was absolutely brilliant. JIC and I had Duck Green Curry with sticky rice. Hot, but not unbearably so. Scamp had Sweet and Sour Chicken and Sim had the biggest seabass I’ve ever seen – a whole one complete with head! We all had a sort of combo starter to share. Quite the best meal I’ve had for a long time. Sorry, Jimmy Spice’s, this was better.

Changeover Day – 20 May 2016

Posted on May 20, 2016May 24, 2016 by Zogman

Today was the day for leaving Hazy and N D’Ag and heading for JIC and Sim. To achieve this we had to walk to the station, get the overground train to Vauxhall (which must be my favourite architectural area of London) and then the underground to Kings Cross. From there we had to get tickets and travel to Baldock where JIC would pick us up after work. Work? Oh yes, I can vaguely remember that word! As it happened, we arrived far too early and had to wait in the pub. Such an inconvenience 😉 JIC arrived on time and off we went to Astwick.

Spent an hour or so wandering around his garden. His and Sim’s, but the veg plot is definitely JIC’s territory and not Sim’s. She takes care of the trees and flowers and that side of the garden is looking good too. The scenery around Astwick is a breath of fresh air. Not dramatic – no hills or mountains, but just lots of greenery and birds. Saw a woodpecker, but it was too fast for me.

Going to meet Vixen tomorrow because she is in kennels for our visit. I feel a bit bad about that, but I suppose it makes sense. A bit apprehensive about meeting her, but I’m sure it will go well.

Today’s PoD is from the verge of Hazy’s drive.