Quick Catchup

Well I hope you are all well. I am. Been a busy chap of late. Seen sister in Norfolk, went to Penshorpe Nature Reserve, lots of nice birds. Went to Norwich beer festival, Drank lots of beer. Very nice. Had a nice weekend. AFB Bournemouth match was good, best for ages. Popped down to Blashford lakes yesterday. Added a couple more birds to my Hampshire list for 2009 (now on 98).

You are feeling sleepy

Have work laptop, so blogging on the train. The reason for me taking the work laptop home is that I've been to an Ordnance Survey conference for the last couple of days up in the Midlands. Good event it was too and it was good to see how other councils, plus the emergence services are using geographic data.

However, what I will remember most from this conference and what most people will remember me for(!!) is what happened in the evening after the Gala Dinner. The post dinner entertainment was a hypnotist. I always been a bit sceptical of these sort of acts and to satisfy my own curiosity and to what it was like to be involved in such an act, I was one of 6 to volunteer to be put under the spell. I closed my eyes and it started.

I milked a lovely cow for all I was worth. I rode that horse and won the race. My victory dance was quite a sight apparently. Then I used my shoe as a mobile phone. I got a laugh and a small round of applause for using a shoe lace as an aerial. And that was it, I think. I know I didn't take off any clothes before you ask, apart from the shoe. Apparently I was the star of the show and the reaction I got off stage and the next morning from everyone was fantastic. All wanted to congratulate me. They all wanted to know how it felt. There was at least one person who recorded some of it on his mobile phone. I'll post it on here if I get a copy of it.

So how did it feel. Well the best way I can describe it is that it felt like I was in a dream. I knew where I was. I knew what I was doing. My inhabitations would have still stopped me doing anything dangerous or obscene. But when the hypnotist made a suggestion, you thought, yeah that silly but I'll do it. When I got back to my seat it did take me a couple of minutes to get ‘back to normal', but then I was fine.

Now I hadn't texted or phone Sue all day, mainly because there was no phone signal in the hotel at all. So about midnight I went outside. To the side of the hotel, they have a lake in their grounds with reeds, ducks etc Plus a small seating area. Whilst sat there I received a couple of texts and a voicemail message from Sue that she had sent that day. I sent her a text knowing that if she wasn't awake she'll get it in the morning. I did wait around for a few minutes to see if I would get a response. The hotel was quite hot and stuffy so it was great to sit out in the fresh cool air. It was lovely.

I was soon joined by Roger, one of my bosses. We had a quick chat about the hypnotise and a bit of a laugh. I did ask him when he came out.. Did he see me outside? Did he just fancy a walk in the fresh air or what? He said that one of his ex-work colleagues and someone we met earlier that day had seen me go outside and towards the lake. She went to him worried that something was wrong and I was suffering from being hypnotised that evening, I assured him that I was OK and I promised him that I wouldn't jump into the lake.

Lovely Tits

Was sat in the conservatry today having been off work sick, yes I'm feeling a lot better but think Sue might be going down with it. Anyway, Robin normally has the garden largely to himself, plus the odd Collard Dove, pidgeon and blackbird. However today we had a flock of various tits decend on the garden. Robin was going mad trying to chase them off his patch. He even had a go at the collard doves who were taken by surpise.

The tits contained at least 3 long tailed tits, 2 coal tit and some great and blue tits. This was the first time long tailed and coal tits have been seen in our garden. Lovely.

Going to do somecatch up blogs at somepoint, as I haven't bloged for ages. I haven't told you all about my holiday in Austria. It was great. Apologies to all for not getting a postcard. I did buy them and buy stamps but didn't get around to writing them out etc.

Web 2.0

Went to a Web 2.0 Conference yesterday in London. Wow, mind blowing. So much to think about both at work and in my non-work life. I can see the way we use the web changing. More social ineteraction. Main speaker for the day was Ewan McIntosh. He's from Edinburgh. Don't know if I siad before but I've started reading, what Sue calls 'proper' books i.e. Novels. Working my way through Ian Rankin books at the moment. Yesterday Ewan made a joke with refernce to Ian Rankin's books and I got the reference. Something I wouldn't have done just a couple of weeks ago...

Ruby, Ruby, Ruby Ruby, Ruuubyyyyy*

Apologies to the Kaiser Chiefs for the blog title.

Been a quiet couple of days. Sue's been away at her brothers. I’m sure she'll tell you all about that in her blog. Watched 'Lost in Austin' which Sue recorded on Wednesday night whilst I was at band practice. The other day we read an article in the paper on Janine Duvitski. Apparently, she has made lots of money on property in addition to all her TV work. She always seems to on the box, having appeared in lots and lots of stuff. The article mentioned that her eldest daughter was going to be in 'Lost in Austin'. We thought we spotted her, a young actress who looked like a younger version of Janine. But we had to establish the characters name so we could check that we had the right actress. I initially thought that she was playing Kitty, but the Radio Times said that this was Florence Hoath. Then Sue pointed out that she thought she was playing Mary, but that's an actress called Ruby Bentall. We were expecting someone called Duvitski. Then it stuck me, according to a web site I read the other day - Janine has an English mother and a Polish father, So her maiden name is Duvitski and must have married a Bentall. Sue then Googled away and found a site that confirms it. Phew!!! What we saw of the remaining programme look very good, we missed the first part trying to work out all this stuff with Janine's daughter. Its such hard work watching TV programmes these days.

So to recap, 'Lost in Austin' stars Florence Hoath, we did make it to my actresses website and Ruby Bentall who is the daughter of Janine Duvitski, who so nearly made my actress website but didn't. Also Pippa Haywood is in the series as well. She did make my actresses list. Talking of which, another actress on my website, Rebecca Callard sent me a note via Facebook the other day. First time I've heard from her for a while, I really must get around to replying to her and updating all these webpages with new info!

Ruby Bentall as Mary Benent in 'Lost in Austin'

Busy Weekend

On Saturday went to Aldershot for a AFC Bournemouth match. We got a draw. It was a relief to come back from 1-0 down, but we should have made the chances when we had them in the first half. Used one of my free train tickets I get with my annual season tickets. Made the most of it by travelling on some lines that I’ve never travelled on before, namely Aldershot-Guildford and the two lines from Guildford up to London via Effingham Junction. Didn’t think much of Aldershot as a town. Neither did my friend Gill who was hoping to get some shopping in.

Today Sue and I decided to have a day together and went down to Titchfield Haven. Added a couple of birds to my 2008 Hampshire List, namely Sandwich Tern and an Osprey. Both of which went into my Life List as well. Unusual sighting of the day must go to one of the Kestrels who was attacking a couple of magpies. No idea why it was doing that.

Good weekend

Saturday, met up with with some mates for a pub lunch. Met up with guys and gals, some of which I've met in real life before and others have only been on line. After the meal went off with one of the guys and did a geocache. Something I haven't done for ages.

Today, Sunday, been up to Popham airfield and had my stall there. Took a bit of money but not as much as usual. However seeing the lack of people up there today, I'm surprised we made anything at all.

Week in Norfolk

The problem, if it is a problem, is that I no longer take my work laptop home on a regular basis anymore. Not since buying my own laptop. Good job as my new work laptop weighs a ton. Therefore I don’t have a laptop to use on the train. Which is when I did most, if not all of my blogging. Ah, you think, that’s why the blogs have been so thin on the ground of late. Well, yes. There is no entry in my daily timetable anymore marked, ‘write blog’ Too busy living my life to write about it. So is it a problem? Well living my life isn’t a problem, However, you dear reader likes to be kept informed of my goings on, plus its nice for me too look back on past events. Reminisce about them, also to see what was important to me then, which may not be so important now, or how some things have grown in importance over time. Anyway. I took the work laptop home over my holiday, hence me having the laptop on the train on this bright sunny Monday morning. So I’m able to blog today. Quite when I’ll blog next, I have no idea.

So last week Sue and I headed off to Norfolk to see my sisters new place. What a change it is from her last place. At least twice the size. Lovely inside and out. The back garden is wonderful. Small patio and seating area. Enclosed, and a nice sun trap. To one side are steps, which lead up and up, through the trees, to an top area, with trampoline (no I didn’t have a go) a huge stone water feature and more seating area, with one corner covered. With tree all around it’s a totally secluded spot. Lovely to sit up there in the summer.

Now that word, ‘summer’ became a bit of a theme during the week. Sue wanted to see Norfolk in the summer. She’d only see it at Christmas or beer festival week (end of October). Hence this visit, which coincides nicely with sisters new house. We were sat in a café in a book shop in Diss. Looking out over the lake and spotting the ducks, gulls and even a great crested grebe. All getting wet as it was lashing it down at the time. This place would look lovely in the summer, commented Sue. It is summer, I replied. And so it went on.

Having said that, it was a really nice week overall. Managed to get in a couple more National Trust properties. Stayed in a new, for us, Travelodge, Ely. Bought some nice plants for the garden, from some house just south of Mildenhall. Spent too much on food, but made up for that by not spending on anything else much.

Back on Friday, so I could got to the Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford, which was cancelled due to rain. So a piecefull weekend is in store. Busy week again. Work today. Farnborough Airshow tomorrow with my good mates Paul and Mark. The going to Reading each day for the rest of the week to do a course on Microsoft SharePoint.

Oh well, next station is mine, so I’d better sign off now

Do you know what it is?

This picture has been bugging me for a couple of weeks. Seen in my garden on one of our new fence post. Let me get very close to it to take the picture. Who'll like to guess what it is. I must admit I needed the help of another birder to tell me what it is.

By popular demand

So Mel says to Charlie, that according to Facebook, I'm still stiff from gardening at the weekend. I'm update my facebook page, a bit more often than I blog but not much. So I felt that I had change my facebook line. Saying that I was heading to B&Q tonight. This lead to another complaint, this time from Anne, basically saying, forget B&Q, get blogging! So here I am. Trying to please all the people all of the time.

Yes did go to B&Q. Got some compost, some mainsonary paint for a project I'm doing in the summer and a couple of pepper plants. Now watching a film. The Core. It is rubbish, the only reason we're still watching it is that it does get so stupid that it becomes funny. The acting is a bit rubbish as well. The only famous person in it being Hilary Swank and even some of her acting isn't that good, I think that even she can't do much with this rubbish script. Getting towards the end of the film now, and its just get too unbelievable.