Hello from Canada

[Kath Mulligan]

Google has just offered me this: "Chynoweth" - the Cornish word meaning "new house".

Kath

[Brenda]

Thanks, Kath. I'll start a list of possibilities. There's one I've always liked on the Isle of Man, in the little folk village, Cregneash - Cummal Beg ('little house') - but I think we'll have to consider many names before we settle on just the right one.

My house looks a bit today like it did when we moved in. I've had to empty out the kitchen so that my new floor can be installed, so the living room is full of appliances, table and chairs, and a long set of lower cupboards that had to be removed. Poor old Lester is once again walking around checking everything out and looking at us as if to say, 'Have you guys noticed that something's different here?' This is a two-day job as we're having the bathroom done at the same time, and then I have a plumber coming in on Friday to install a new low-flush loo and new kitchen faucet/sprayer. Lucky me...I get to escape for most of the day tomorrow because of my drawing class in Belleville.

No further signs of snow, phew! Today it's sunny and shaping up to be a really fine day.

Brenda

[Linda]

well thats funny as I thought I did a post last night with some suggestions...they were obviously not meant to be...as they are not here!

what about a house near Lamorna called Trewoofe, pronounced truve...or troove....think its a lovely name...Tre is a farm/hamlet/town
havea look at this site Brenda... http://www.alanrichards.org/placenames.html interesting...

[Kath Mulligan]

well thats funny as I thought I did a post last night with some suggestions...they were obviously not meant to be...as they are not here!

what about a house near Lamorna called Trewoofe, pronounced truve...or troove....think its a lovely name...Tre is a farm/hamlet/town
havea look at this site Brenda... http://www.alanrichards.org/placenames.html interesting...

There's a photo of the house called Trewoofe on the Fans of the Minack Chronicles page on Facebook - I know, cos I put it there! It was for Jennie Towan and her daughter in Australia who had relatives who used to live there.

Kath

[gloria townsin]

Brenda we seem to be living under similar circumstances re the state of our homes. We are almost done - for now - the plumber should finish tomorrow and apart from the patio which the builder has to re-do and a couple of electrical things that's it. Once we move down we have an en suite to do and the gateway etc but that's not right now.
We had chosen our patio surface and the builder said he thought it would be dangerous due to the fact it would hold the rain in puddles and be slippery, he advised Delabole Slate. So that's what we plumped for, it matched the slate round the house as well, so that was a bonus. The minute I saw the finished article I knew it was a disaster, so uneven I tripped twice and almost fell, the slates have so many different surfaces the rain quickly puddles..........it now has to be removed .... anyone want £300 worth of Delabole Slate?

[Brenda]

I know how good it must feel to you, Gloria, to be getting near the end of the renovations on your new home. My 'trials' have been nothing by comparison. I usually get twitchy when we have a room in disarray just for painting, so I would never have survived what you've endured. I'm sure I could find a place for your unwanted slate - would you just pop it in the post, please? :lol!:

Brenda

[gloria townsin]

I'll see if I can find a big enough envelope Brenda..........

[adesmith]

What a shame about the slate! Would you be able sell it on? Delabole slate is very popular in the West Country isnt it. You definitely dont want a patio on which you can slip or fall and in this country it certainly needs to be able to cope with the rain! You will have to make sure that you get a patio sorted ready for the long hot summer that I am still certain that we are going to enjoy this year! I think it is going to be particularly nice in Cornwall, lastweek of July and the first week of August!

[Kath Mulligan]

I think it is going to be particularly nice in Cornwall, lastweek of July and the first week of August!

And there will be an Indian summer there between 6 - 13 November too, especially around the Porth area!

Kath

[gloria townsin]

Thanks for the prediction Adrian I'll hold you to it!! and of course Kath you will be in for some great weather.........hope there will be some left over for FOMS 2011 Festival as well...........you might just get to see the patio then folks.

[jane jackson]

It's raining in PZ now but we've had such lovely weather for so long now. I couldn't believe it lasted for our Scillies trip and most of my friend's holiday here. Just hope that wasn't summer but no, we're going to be positive and hold Adrian to his prediction..........................

[Brenda]

We finally had some rain yesterday, the first real rain since we moved to Madoc seven weeks ago. There was thunder and one of those purple-black clouds to the west, but it all passed us by rather quickly. Good for the gardens and trees, however.

Today we're off to Stirling (I told you that you'd understand who had settled this area when you heard about the neighbouring town names) to go to their antique car show and flea market. Peter's torn...there's that garden shed project that he really wants to continue, the MotoGP races on the big-screen TV, and the feeling that he should be agreeing to these activities I find for us. Well, I'm going anyway; he can tag along if he wants to. Stirling's only a 25-minute drive away and it's such a charming little town. There's a covered bridge right in the heart of the town, where the farmers' markets are held, and there are many lovely old homes and trendy shops.

Enjoy your day, everyone!

[gloria townsin]

Love Farmers Markets and Craft Fairs, there was one at Culdrose yesterday, probably lots of other places too around Mullion, but we were back here due to things beyond our control.........will I miss Flora Day this year as well? Have to wait and see I guess.

[Linda]

me too I just love meadering and wandering around those...so miss them here where there are none!

[Kath Mulligan]

I've just discovered there was both a Craft Fair and Farmers' Market taking place near us yesterday and today but by the time I heard about it, it was too late to go! Must check more thoroughly before the late Spring Bank holiday weekend to make sure I don't miss anything else. We are considering going on a bluebell hunt tomorrow but I think winter woollies will be needed because it has got decidedly chilly here over the past couple of days, although we have mostly escaped the rain thank goodness, just the odd brief shower.

Kath

[adesmith]

We went to one of our local Farmers Markets yesterday morning at Usk. It used to be regular for us but we have somewhat got out of the habit. It was really good though and we bought some Single Gloucester (made by the lady that normally makes the cheese for the Cheese Rolling in Gloucesterhire), some bottles of apple juice and some tulips grown by a friend of Rachel's family. It seems to be getting bigger and there is an ever increasing choice of products.

[jane jackson]

it has got decidedly chilly here over the past couple of days, although we have mostly escaped the rain thank goodness, just the odd brief shower.

Kath

I thought the forecast was pretty awful for today but we've had no rain at all and it's been a lovely sunny afternoon so hope they haven't got it round the wrong way again as tomorrow is supposed to be good. It was 22c in the lounge this evening without any fire so we were doing very well down here ~ sorry about that Kath. Hope the bluebells are good for you tomorrow.

[Brenda]

Getting back to my thoughts about finding a name for our new house, I managed to dig out my books (Cornish Names for Cornish Homes / Give Your House a Manx Name) a few days ago and have had a look through them. I have some possibilities - what I need now are phonetic pronunciations of the Cornish names (can anyone help me? John? Mim?) - and your reaction to all of the possibilities. Now I know most of you will favour the Cornish ones because of your passion for all things Cornish, but please consider the Manx ones as well. I have a favourite picked out but would like your opinions. Here we go:

Pen an vre - hill top
Chy an vre wynsek - windy hill house
Chy an golow - house of light
Chy howlek - sunny house
Chy gles - cosy house
Chy lowen - happy house

Thie corneil - corner house
Thie my chree - house of my heart
Cummal beg - little dwelling
Ard beg - little height
Traa dy liooar - time enough

Well, what do you think?

Brenda

[Kath Mulligan]

Chy lowen for me since I am sure it will be a happy house for you both.

Kath

[jane jackson]

I too like Chy lowen but also Chy an golow

Chy gles

Cummal beg

Ard beg

The last 2 have a Scottish feel to them!

I've chose more for how they sound rather than the meaning. I'll leave any pronounciation to Mim and John and other brave folk.

I'm sure you'll be happy in your home whichever name you finally decide on.

[Brenda]

If I end up with one of the Manx names (the second grouping in my original post), I'll ask the Manx Tourist Board to help me out with pronunciation. I was told that the last one on my list, for example, Traa dy liooar, is pronounced Trair d lure. I would never have guessed at 'trair' in a million years. So it's good to have experts to help me out.

[Brenda]

Cummal beg and ard beg are from the Manx gaelic list, too, and you might be right about the Scottish sound to them, Jane. I know that many, many different peoples arrived in the Isle of Man over the long-ago centuries. There have been many influences on the culture and language.

[gloria townsin]

Chy an golow
Chy gles
Thie cornell
Thie me chree

[Brenda]

I am ever glad we moved! Yesterday, the part of the province we used to live in was hit by a late snowstorm and they are buried!! All the beautiful flowering trees are coated with heavy, wet snow; power outages because of trees falling on the lines; the poor returning birdies! It's been chilly here for the last two days, but we haven't had the snow, thankfully.

[jane jackson]

The whole world seems to have gone chillier and snowier than is should be! So glad you're glad you've moved Brenda. What a shame for flowering trees with all that extra snow, hope the humming birds will not be there too soon.

[Linda]

Snow, I bet your gald you have moved! we had glorious sunshine yesterday and today is warm but cloudy

House names
Chy an Golow
Thie Corneil...which I wonder if youll go for as it is on a corner
personal fav is Chy Lowen and it flows nicely on the tongue ND

you would think Blairvoyach might mean nice view, or something like that...unfortunately not! :) it means peat bog! and it is said like blu boyccchhh, very harsh sounding....I like softer sounds ...with a nice lilt.....and has a nice meaning too

[Kath Mulligan]

Another reason to rejoice that you made the move at the right time, Brenda. We have had some warm sunshine today although it is clouding over a bit now.

Linda, I would never have thought the pronounciation of Blairvoyach was anything like you have written! But then again, who would have thought that Happisburgh in Norfolk would be pronounced Hazeboro!

Can't wait to hear your final choice of name, Brenda.

Kath

[gloria townsin]

Can well understand you are pleased to have moved.........it is crazy weather, so cold here. A quick trip out and we came back happy to be indoors again. Everything will be so late in the garden this year, not even done the hanging baskets in Croxley and wondering how the ones at Mullion are faring.

[jane jackson]

, not even done the hanging baskets in Croxley and wondering how the ones at Mullion are faring.

Well they wont be drying out and wilting now as the sunshine has deseted PZ and I expect Mullion too but the forecast is for dry and cold so they might need watering if we don't get rain. Our 2 are still in the greenhouse ~ yes we have got it finished!!!!!!!!!

[gloria townsin]

Whay Hey.........finished the greenhouse well done......bet you're extra pleased with the weather situation. Our Bryher greenhouse is full of wood keeping dry for burning....we had to stack it there when the garage roof came off during the re-build. We were only saying a short while ago we need to take it all out, chop it up ready for use and re-store it, but there are so many things to do and it's not the most important on the list.......so my baskets will be taking their chances. I really thought they would be fine cold weather-wise.......how wrong!

[Kath Mulligan]

Glad the greenhouse is completed and in production, Jane. Just been out checking on the progress, or otherwise, of my plantings. The second early spuds are coming on nicely, almost all of the ten tubers I planted are now showing shoots above ground, the main crop, Maris Pipers are also beginning to push through, but my first earlies seem to be somewhat confused as to what is expected of them because they are showing no signs at all. Can't believe Robin can have turned his attention to them when he got fed up of yanking out the onion sets, but I'm beginning to wonder!! I had gone out with the intention of mowing the lawn this morning but it has just started to rain, only a drizzle but I don't fancy being out there with an electric mower! We could actually do with a good downpour because the showers we have had recently have barely wetted the surface and I am still having to water most days.

Kath

[Brenda]

Hi, everyone,

Long time no post, to paraphrase the more common saying. Time seems to be getting away from me a lot these days. I can't put my finger on the reason(s). We're still a little busy on house things, searching for that perfect bookcase, discussing paint colours, putting up pictures...and today my new kitchen countertop and bathroom vanity top are being installed (and what an incredibly noisy job that's turning out to be!!). I have about two more weeks to wait for my wonderful Mennonite oak table and chair set to arrive, so we're still using the old IKEA table and two chairs in the kitchen - the set that is earmarked for my little sewing room downstairs, which means that all my sewing stuff - a sewing machine and serger, boxes and bags of fabric (well, you know how that accumulates if you sew!), patterns, sewing box, and so on and so on - is piled in the corner of said room. It will be all be put back together soon enough. But the ongoing disruption means that I can't seem to get my usual schedule working, and so I'm not spending the usual time on the computer, checking favourite places like this forum.

Speaking of disruptions, two days ago, we had an earthquake here! Peter and I were both working at our computers in the early afternoon. We heard a truck coming up the hill on the street to the side of our house. Just as it pulled away from the stop sign to go around the corner, there was a loud rumble and our furniture started to shake - we could actually see vibrations. We called out to each other, 'That must be a huge truck!' I got up to look out the window towards the front of the house and saw that it was just a dump truck. We didn't think much about it until a couple of hours later when we heard on the radio that there had been a magnitude 5.0 earthquake to the northeast of Ottawa and that it had been felt all through southeast and southern Ontario and down into the States. We should have suspected, because there was a continuous parade of dump trucks going around the corner after that, delivering earth to our next-door neighbour's property, and there weren't any further rumbles or vibrations.

Parts of Ontario are having their usual summer disturbances as well - a tornado ripped through the southwestern town of Midland on Wednesday and caused a lot of damage, and some injuries though no deaths, thankfully. Mostly it's the people who live in trailer parks who are affected, but in this case there was considerable damage to a large sporting goods store as well, and lots and lots of trees and hydro lines down (you don't know how lucky you are to have underground lines in the UK) and consequently a prolonged power outage. There have been some pretty serious thunderstorms and heavy rainfalls as well around the province, but those are normal when the heat and humidity build up in late afternoon in the summer months.

I've recently started volunteering with the O'Hara Mill Homestead just outside Madoc (www.ohara-mill.org). It's a mid-1800s pioneer settlement with the only working English Gate upright frame saw in Canada, a log home, school house, blacksmith shop and other typical buildings of the period, and woodland hiking trails. There are several events during the year - this weekend, for example, is the 'pre-Canada Day bash;' there's a heritage day coming up at the end of July; and I understand that 'Christmas at the Mill' is really spectacular and nostalgic. As it happens, just as I was considering how I might fit in to their volunteer activities, the woman who had been taking care of their publicity had to leave. So I offered to help out in that area as it was what I used to do in my working life. I don't think I want to do it long-term because it was the least-favourite part of my job. But I'll help out with the July event and put together a better media contact list for whoever takes over from me. I'm also enjoying the couple of hours each week that I put in at the library, and I'm getting the hang of the circulation desk pretty well now. It's less taxing just to re-shelve books, but I enjoy being on the desk and getting to know people. It's just a small library, and everyone's very relaxed, so when I have to fumble around trying to remember how to do something in the computer system, no one seems to mind the wait.

Finished my drawing course last week, and now I'm looking back on Utter Peace and Tranquility and thinking about how I could have done those sketches myself instead of using electronic versions of my photos. I'm no expert at drawing after just eight weeks of instruction, but I ended up with a few pieces that I feel quite satisfied with and plan to try a series of drawings of the Madoc heritage houses over the summer.

Last Sunday, we were expecting four friends from North Bay to arrive on three motorcycles in time for lunch. In fact, 10 friends arrived on nine bikes!! It was quite a lineup in our driveway, and the neighbours must have been wondering if Madoc was being invaded by a gang of bikers. Fortunately, none of our friends ride Harleys, and they all look fairly respectable, so there was no sense of that. I sent Peter to the grocery store for more burgers and salad and got one of our friends busy on the BBQ. Peter had bought a beautiful Black Forest cake to celebrate my birthday (which was the following day), so everybody had a piece of that before they left for the four-hour drive back to North Bay.

Other than all the above, life just seems to be moving along day by day. We are very pleased with our move to Madoc, the house is great, neighbours and residents are all friendly, and life's good.

Hope you are all enjoying your summer.

Brenda

[adesmith]

Hello Brenda! Nice to hear from you and that things are going well in Madoc. It is interesting about the earthquake. We periodically experience tremors in the UK but only very minor.

Really interested in your work at O Hara Mill. I have watched a few of the reality tv shows where people try and live the life of a settler/colonist but they were set in America and Australia. I dont think that they accurately portray what it was like (health and safety wouldnt allow it!) but they are very interesting. I am going to have a look at the website now.

[adesmith]

I want to visit! It looks fab. Bit too far for an afternoon trip though.

[Kath Mulligan]

Hi Brenda, my goodness you do sound to be busy in your new life in Madoc! No wonder you have no time for the forum at the moment.

I did wonder whether you would have felt the earthquake when I read about it the other day. It's a weird experience, isn't it? There was a series of minor earthquakes and tremors in the Manchester region a few years ago and I wakened to a feeling of someone shaking the bottom of my bed! But there was no-one there. Later on that day I was sitting at my desk at work and suddenly the solid concrete floor beneath my feet started to move around, light fittings swayed and files started tumbling off bookcases. It felt most bizarre and quite disorientating for a few seconds. Like I say, that was only a minor tremor so I would hate to be in a region that has full strength quakes.

I'll bet your neighbours eyebrows did shoot up when 10 bikers arrived on your driveway all at once!

So glad that you are settling in so well into your new home and town.

Kath

[jane jackson]

Great to hear about your new home and life Brenda, so glad your enjoying it and have made the right move. You certainly sound very busy and making lots of friends. I've never experience an earthquake and I think I'd like to keep it that way!

There are fireworks going off at them moment (11.30pm) because of the start of Golowan. They're being set off at the Jubilee Pool and it's very frustrating as I can hear them but not see them apart from the flashes of lit sky.

[Sybille Weber]

Lovely to hear from you again, Brenda. The earthquake experience must have been very frightening. We had one at night many years ago, and it certainly was frightening, no severe dammage done fortunately. I seem to remember it was 5.3 on the Richter scale.

So sorry we missed your birthday, Brenda. :doh:

So here are belated birthday wishes for you. Hope you had a lovely day.
:cheer2::clap2:

[Brenda]

It's Canada Day! :canada: A beautiful day here in Madoc, sun shining, temperature just right, not a cloud to be seen. I've been enjoying all the news coverage this week of the Queen's visit, and today she'll be in Ottawa for the big Canada Day celebrations. I'd love to have gone to see her, as I suspect this might be her last trip to Canada. She looks marvellous! I am unashamedly fond of her and continue to be inspired by her unwavering commitment to duty and the standard she has held herself to throughout her reign. When I was young, my mother used to tell me that Elizabeth became Queen in the year that I was born, as if one event was a result of the other, and somehow I interpreted that to mean that we had some special connection. In my adult life, I still feel that way and get quite choked up when I see her on television. It seems quite silly, but there it is.

We will visit the nearby town of Tweed today to see what their Canada Day celebrations will offer, and perhaps have a look around an antique market while we're there.

Brenda

[jane jackson]

Happy Canada Day Brenda. We're very proud of our Queen too and she looked amazing as she arrived in Canada in the pouring rain and had to walk down the airplane steps with her raincoat and see through brolly! She and Prince Phillip are certainly kept very busy with their travelling. You're probably right in thinking this might be her last visit to Canada but there again she might yet surprise everyone and keep going like her Mum did. So glad you enjoy having her visit and that the sun is shining on your Country's special day today ~ it's raining softly here in Cornwall but not I think in London for Wimbledon.:wave::canada:

[gloria townsin]

Happy Canada Day!!

[Kath Mulligan]

Hope you enjoyed Canada Day, Brenda. Sorry, somehow I missed this thread yesterday and didn't read your post until this morning.

Kath

[Brenda]

Whoo hoo!! Just booked a trip to the UK! We leave three weeks from tomorrow, on September 27. A few days in London on arrival, then a week in Devon (and likely a side trip or two into Cornwall), then a wander back up towards Gatwick, stopping in several places to visit friends and family. Yippee! :dance3:

[Kath Mulligan]

Great news Brenda, hope you have a wonderful time. You will be leaving Canada just after I have got back from my Norfolk holiday.

Kath

[jane jackson]

Great to hear from you here again Brenda, have been wondering how your life is settling down ~ does it feel like home now? Have a great trip over here.

[gloria townsin]

Look forward to hearing about where you visited......if you're down Lizard way anytime let me know and if we are there will give you contact details.

[Brenda]

Thanks for that offer Gloria. I don't know if we'll get as far into Cornwall as The Lizard, but I'll certainly let you know if it seems possible. We're likely to head north, if anywhere, for a day trip to Trebetherick and Port Isaac/Port Quin, the favourites among the family, but even that's not certain at this time. Just looking forward to being in the West Country again.

Life in Madoc seems to be settling down, with most things done to the house that will get done this year. I'd like to do some interior painting in the later fall or winter, but it doesn't feel terribly pressing. We've spent a lot of time over the summer on the backroads, exploring the area, having breakfast or lunch here and there, searching for the best swimming holes, sampling ice cream, checking out the farmers' markets, etc. It's been fun and we're really getting the hang of this fun and footloose life!

Brenda

[Kath Mulligan]

You sound to have settled really well into your new life in Madoc, Brenda and I am so happy for you. After all the uncertainty about leaving Skinner's Pond, it's good to know that you have definitely made the right decision. I'll bet you'll feel even happier about it once winter sets in again too.

Look forward to seeing pics of your UK trip once you get home again, and hope you have a wonderful time.

Kath

[gloria townsin]

Have a great trip and yes the Lizard is a long way down. Port Isaac is lovely......would be great if you saw Fisherman's Friends....

[Brenda]

We bought one of their CDs several years ago before they became 'the hot new group.' We tend to head for the north rather than the south because my husband and his sister spent several summers in Port Quin when they were young, and because my sister-in-law loves Trebetherick for its connection to John Betjeman. For me...any place in Cornwall is just fine. I could spend my whole life there and never see enough of it.

[Brenda]

JUST TWO MORE SLEEPS!!! England, here we come! :biggrin:

[jane jackson]

Have a great time Brenda!

[Kath Mulligan]

Have a wonderful time Brenda, look forward to hearing all about it when you get back. Pity you are not coming our way this time, it would have been lovely to meet up.

Kath

[Janet Swan]

Have a wonderful trip, Brenda. Bring warm clothes and a raincoat - Autumn's here and it's quite chilly (for us)!

Janet

[gloria townsin]

You may well have already left Canada Brenda - but hope you have a lovely time in the Old Country........which as Janet says is now a chilly Old Country!!

[Brenda]

Hello, all,

Writing today from Exeter public library. We've been very lucky with the weather so far - lots of sunny days and rain only overnight for the most part. Having a great time, even though we're not going to get into Cornwall this trip. Hope everyone is well. I'll write again when we're back in Canada and tell you about our adventures. Brenda

[jane jackson]

Lovely to hear from you Brenda. Yes you've certainly hit a really lovely sunny period in the West Country, glad you're having such a good holiday. Look forward to hearing of your adventures once you're home again.

[adesmith]

Glad that you are having a good time in the UK, Brenda. Hope that you are here for a few more days yet because they are forecasting a bit of nice weather over the weekend.

[Kath Mulligan]

You've certainly picked a good time to be over here, Brenda. Enjoy the rest of your stay, pity you won't get into Cornwall this time - maybe next March?! Look forward to hearing all about your travels once you are back home.

Kath

[Brenda]

Hi, everybody! Back home and pretty well over the jetlag now. Each morning since Friday, I've woken up about 45 minutes later, so now I'm more or less back on track. I was just about to click on this section when I noticed Vivien's hello from Salisbury...funny, because my first thought for my own post was to say how I have fallen for Salisbury and count it as my new favourite place. I wish I had known Vivien through the forum before we visited. Maybe she was sitting beside us in the Ox Row pub...or watching me take that 'illegal' indoor shot of the cathedral (unintentional, honest!)...or waiting in line in front of me at Costa...

As I said when I wrote from Exeter, we had pretty good weather for the trip - just two days of rain that I recall: one in London and one while we were driving from Gatwick to Salisbury. Otherwise, we had rain twice overnight. The odd grey day here and there, but no matter - the weather changes so frequently in the West Country that we just go with it. I think we had more than our fair share of sunshine, and I saw the sea whipped up a few times on the windy days, which I love to see. In fact, we wore only about half of what we packed, because we packed for both warm and cool weather but never got to the wool jumpers and cords.

We toured the Houses of Parliament in London, which was very interesting, and we were able to go into both the House of Lords and Commons. As that was the rainy day, it was a great activity for indoors. The next day, the lovely sunny one, we had friends from Norwich come in to meet us for a cruise to Greenwich and a full day of laughs and food and drink.

The rain tipped down as we drove to Salisbury, but the next morning was brilliantly sunny and we walked around the cathedral and into the city centre - discovered the fabulous market and spent far more time there than we had intended to. Had I won all or part of that EuroMillions 113 million pound draw the previous night, I'd have been at an estate agent's instead of on our way to the caravan site in Devon! I was very impressed by Salisbury. Of course, we'd just finished watching the series 'Pillars of the Earth' (book by Ken Follett), which was shown on Canadian TV about a month ago. It was based loosely on the building of the cathedral in Salisbury, so we wanted to have a look. If you get a chance to watch this series, I'm sure you'll find it very well done.

The caravan experience was new to us, and it was quite acceptable. As a base, it was great accommodation - we had everything in it that we could want, including a washing machine. The location was excellent for its proximity to Exmouth/Exeter and my sister-in-law and brother-in-law in East Budleigh, and there was a very pretty sand beach just below us. I don't think I'd want to stay in a caravan park in the high season, but in early October is was quite pleasant. We took day trips to Dartmouth, down along the coast to Slapton Sands and Torcross, into Exeter, and walked the coastal path between the park and Budleigh Salterton. Several visits with family this week.

After we checked out, we visited an old apprenticeship friend of Peter's - they hadn't seen each other for 50 years! - at his home in Dorset. Had a nice pub lunch with him and his wife and received an invitation to stay with them next time we visit England. We visited the Sammy Miller Museum (motorcycle fix) in New Milton and then drove down to Hythe to visit another old apprenticeship friend - and they took us along to the docks area so we could see the new QEIII across in Southampton. After a quick pub lunch, we were on our way to Farnborough to stay with yet another apprenticeship friend (Peter's kept in touch with several of the guys from those years); this one was Peter's mechanic when he raced in the Manx Grand Prix in 1998. The next day, the four of us went to the Brooklands Motor Museum in Weybridge. Later, in the afternoon, I had a reunion with a friend I'd not seen since about 1982. We'd lost contact in 1986, the last time I heard from her by letter from Hong Kong. After years of fruitless efforts to trace her, I finally found her this spring through Facebook, and of all impossible things...it turned out that she was living about two miles from Peter's niece in Farnham (Surrey)! So we had a visit with her and it was almost as if we'd never been parted. I know we have lots of catching up to do. And I was really touched to learn that she had made many efforts to try to reconnect with me, too.

Dinner that evening with Peter's niece, her husband, and her three grown sons and their girlfriends. Lots of laughs and good times. And over all too soon.

Just one more day with our friends in Farnborough, and then we were off to a Travelodge nearer Gatwick for our early-morning car return last Thursday. The flight home was uneventful, except that we arrived to pouring rain (in fact, when the aircraft was still at about 200 feet above the runway, we saw SNOW!). We drove home in murky, wet darkness, picked Lester up from the kennel, and fell into bed. Good to be home, but there's always that part of me that wishes we could have just stayed. I always feel that I've come home when I am in England.

Brenda

[Kath Mulligan]

My goodness Brenda, you and Peter certainly packed an awful lot into your UK trip. Glad to hear that you had such a good time and that the weather was fairly kind to you.

You have visited lots of places that I, English born and bred, have never seen! Never been to Salisbury and never been inside the Houses of Parliament either (probably because I hate London and try not to go near the place).

Do you think you might make it over here again next March for Memorial Weekend, or would that be too soon after this trip? It would be fabulous to see you if you could come.

Kath

[Janet Swan]

It was great to read all about your trip, Brenda. So pleased you had such a good time. Yes, the Houses of Parliament are very special - I was lucky enough to go a year or so ago and be shown round by our local MP, who I really respect and admire. I can understand how you feel about Salisbury. I love most cathedral cities. The cathedrals are usually an oasis of calm, and I always love to wander in the immediate surrounding areas, which often have lovely old houses around pretty greens.

Janet

[adesmith]

It sounds like you had a wonderful trip, Brenda and you didnt do too badly with the weather. I have never been into Salisbury but I have been several times to archaeological sites around (Old Sarum for one) and you can see the cathedral from quite a distance. The first episode of Pillars of the Earth was on tv here on Saturday evening. We nearly didnt watch it because I have never read the book (and I probably wouldnt want to after I had watched it on tv) and it had a bit of bad press on a radio programme that I listened to. All I can say is I am glad that we did. I was gripped! Such a fantastic drama and the special effects were pretty good. It took my breath away when the cathedral was on fire! Maybe we will have to plan a trip to Salisbury.

I do love Slapton Sands. Did you see the tank that they brought up from the sea bed? Its such a 'fresh' place. My Mum lives in Torquay so next time we are visiting her I think we will have to pay another visit to Slapton.

I went to the Houses of Parliament earlier this year with school. We took pupils from wide range of year groups and they were enthralled. It is incredible. You can almost feel the history. Did you think the House of Commons was much smaller than you imagine after watching it on the tv. I expect it is very crowded on the big occasions. My favourite place was Westminster Hall with its roof built by Richard II and plaques on the floor recording the trial of Charles I and Thomas More. I had been there before though, when we queued for 4 hours to pay our respects at the late Queen Mother's lying in state.

You did pack a lot in. Glad that you had such a good time.

[Mary Young]

So pleased you had a good time in the UK Brenda, you sure visited a lot of places.
I agree with you about Salisbury we stayed there a few years ago and the cathedral was lovely and I dont think I have seen so many well known shops together in one high street before. Not that I go on holiday to go shopping but my daughter in law wanted to look at the shops. Its a good place to stay for the surrounding places as well I remember we went into the New Forest area a couple of days to.
Glad you had a good trip back but geeting back to normality after a holiday is not good is it- I never want to go home lol

Hope its not to long before you get back again. It would be great to meet you at the AGM.

Mary

[Brenda]

Westminster Hall was also my favourite part of the Houses of Parliament - the history of that one building was overwhelming to me. I forgot to mention that we also spent an afternoon at the Old Sarum site - having read Edward Rutherfurd's Sarum several years ago, I really appreciated that visit. Glad to hear that Pillars has reached England, Adrian - I hope you enjoy the whole series. I went on to read his sequel to it, which takes place about 200 years later, and found that it fit very well with the picture that had been created for me in the TV series, so I suppose that means the series was quite true to the first book.

We've visited a few cathedral cities now - Winchester, Wells, Exeter, as well as Salisbury - and I, too, love them. I forgot to say that we saw one of the four remaining copies of Magna Carta in the Chapter House at the cathedral! Magna Carta!! No queue, no fee to get in...just a wander along the cloisters to the magnificent 13th century Chapter House and there it was!

I've posted a few of my photos now in my Picasa web albums if anyone's interested. Not too many...didn't want to bore you! You will see by the changes in the sharpness of the pictures how variable the moisture level was in the air. Some days, clear; others, very soft-focus. Go to http://picasaweb.google.ca/UPAT2008 if you're interested.

[adesmith]

Wonderful pictures, Brenda. I think we definitely need to have a visit to Salisbury! Like I said I have only ever seen it from a distance but it looks beautiful. I read Edward Rutherfords Sarum quite a few years ago and really enjoyed it.

My favourite cathedral is Gloucester. Because I was brought up nearby in Cheltenham we often used to visit and my dad being a bellringer we used to go up the tower a lot. Its very historic and of course the murdered Edward II is buried there. Unfortunately the city of Gloucester isnt quite as quaint and it seems to have lost some of its historic heart. Still worth a visit though.

[Sybille Weber]

Salisbury Cathedral used to be my favourite cathedral when we first came to England. I had seen pictures of it, both photographs and Constable's beautiful painting, and I just loved it. One year we visited Salisbury on our way to Cornwall, and it was quite breathtaking to actually stand there and see the cathedral in reality. I particularly liked the cathedral surroundings, too, with the wide open meadows and the river flowing past. Nowadays Canterbury is probably my favourite cathedral because of the type of the tower which to me is more English-like (maybe because the shape of Salisbury's tower reminds me of Cologne Cathedral) but in view of the surroundings Salisbury is unbeatable. Infact I like any English cathedral of the gothic and norman period.

Haven't been to Gloucester Cathedral yet, but a friend of mine used to live there and was also a bellringer there.

[gloria townsin]

I visited Cologne Cathedral when I was 15, so a lot of years ago! It is very beautiful and I brought home a 'silver' model of it.

[adesmith]

I remember being taken up the tower at Gloucester Cathedral and one time we went to the actual room where the bells were. There is a huge bell called Great Peter which chimes the time and stood as it rang out across the city.

Rachel and I went to visit Canterbury Cathedral a few years ago and really enjoyed a tour around. I was fascinated by the history and of course the murder of Thomas Becket. There was a blank floor and a single candle where his shrine was and a guide who explained what the shrine would have been like. Of course it was very impressive and I made the mistake of saying that its a shame that it has gone. The guide got a bit cross (I dont do too well with guides and stewards!!!) and started going on about how bad the shrine was and how good the Reformation was. I only meant that I would have liked to have seen something so impressive! As a Christian I have quite strong Protestant beliefs and the Reformation is one of my favourite periods of history that I studied at university but I just smiled politely and we laughed about it when we got outside. The cathedral is fascinating though and so much history crammed into it. Another good one is Worcester Cathedral where of course Bad King John is buried and also Prince Arthur, Henry VIII's eldest son.

[Chris Geoffrey]

I love Winchester Cathedral... I visited it on my birthday a couple of years ago,which is at the very end of November, and the choir were practicing for their Christmas concert... words fail me to explain how lovely that was. I sat for ages listening to them... and so did many other visitors on that day.

[Sybille Weber]

Yes, I loved Winchester Cathedral, too. How lovely for you to be there when the choir was singing.
We visited Winchester the same year we visited Salisburgy - Salisbury on the way to Cornwall and Winchester on the way back.

[Brenda]

Hello, everyone! I've just been looking at lots and lots of readers' photos on the BBC website and feeling very sorry for some of you. The winter has started with a bang and looks to be as nasty as last year's. Even in parts of Devon, there is more snow than we have here in southeastern Ontario. We have about an inch on the ground now. The temperature lately has been in the neighbourhood of -3C during the day and down to about -10C at night. I'm sure our time will also come and we will have a bigger snow build-up, but right now, you folks in Britain have us beat. I think the country is better prepared this year but, perhaps still not as ready for winter conditions as we are here. We have been dealing with snow for a lot longer than you have. Stay safe, everyone; stay off the roads when you don't have to venture out; keep ready-to-eat foods in your glove box, along with a candle and matches - it's amazing how warm they can keep your car if you're stranded.

I'm currently re-thinking a trip over in January with a friend. Doesn't seem too wise at the moment.

[jane jackson]

Wait until March and come to Memorial Weekend Brenda!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thankfully our snow in the Penzance area has gone but it's still very frosty and chilly. Up North and Scotland seem to have the deepest conditions. My cousin in Newcastle sent me a photo of icicles about 3 foot long attached to his garage.

[Kath Mulligan]

Brenda, I agree with Jane. Bearing in mind how harshly our winter has started I really wouldn't recommend coming over here in January. Our transport services seem to go into meltdown at the first sign of snow and everything grinds to a halt so you might find it difficult to get around.

Much better idea to leave it until March and combine the trip with coming to Memorial Weekend, assuming your friend wouldn't object to that.

How much snow is up at Skinner's Pond yet, or do you not know? Your current temperatures are very similar to ours in Derbyshire, we are averaging about -3/4 by day and last night hit -12C. We had about 6-8 inches of snow last week, a lot of which has now gone but the fields and gardens are still covered, as are some of the pavements on side roads.

Kath

[Brenda]

I'm sure there's more snow at our old property than we have in Madoc right now, but I think the north has not yet been hit very hard. It's been mostly southwestern Ontario, particularly London, which has received over a metre of new snow in the last three days, and the central part of the province east from Georgian Bay. That's always the traditional snowbelt because of the lake effect. They've had a metre or more of snow so far as well. Glad we're not living in that area now! In spite of all the well-organized snow-removal equipment, all the schools have been closed for three days and eventually even the city buses were pulled off the roads because so many were getting stuck.

Memorial Weekend is tempting...although it would be tricky for me to get there because I wouldn't be driving myself. I could probably fly into Exeter on Air Canada and then make my way from there by train/bus, but I have a feeling it would be a fairly involved trip. I'll give it some thought, though.

Glad your snow is gradually disappearing, Kath. I know how treacherous your roads and pavements can be in the winter. Ours are still bare, though that's bound the change any day now. We've just been getting a break. One of the perks of moving this much farther south.

[Kath Mulligan]

Brenda if you could fly in to either Exeter or Bristol, getting to Penzance would be easy. The trains from Kings Cross to PZ call at Exeter St Davids, as does my train from up north. Depending on which train I catch from Sheffield, I sometimes have to change either at Exeter, Newton Abbott or Plymouth, but when I changed at N Abbott I caught the train from Kings Cross that then took me straight through to PZ. It's about 2.5 hours from Exeter.

It would be absolutely lovely if you could come even if your arrangements meant that you couldn't stay for the whole weekend, even better if you could take part in all the activities.

Hope that you manage to stay relatively snow free for as long as possible. We are already down to minus 6C again tonight at 10pm so goodness knows how cold it will get during the early hours.

Kath

[jane jackson]

Kath the PZ train leaves London from Paddington not Kings Cross ~ doesn't Kings X only go north? I know it goes to Scotland ~ Bryan could tell me but he's asleep! Brenda if you catch the First Great Western train from London Paddington you can travel to PZ in 5 hours without any changes, you just have to ensure you ask for that when you book. You could of course as Kath says, get the train from Bristol or Exeter if that's simpler. The Exeter one you could still avoid changing trains as it would be the one coming from Paddington but not sure about from Bristol as that could be a Cross Country train and although I believe FGW does run trains on that route I haven't travelled that way. I'm sure too that you can get a train from Heathrow Airport direct to Paddington.

It really would be great if you could come in March Brenda. I've just posted a Christmas card to friends in London, Ontario. There card to us is usually very early and the first one we normally receive so perhaps the snow has held them up this year, they are an elderly couple who were really my Mum's friends but I still keep up with them.

[Kath Mulligan]

My mistake Jane, you're quite right, I got my London stations muddled up again! (probably because I never go to London, therefore don't know which station serves which areas!)

Kath

[Brenda]

If I fly Air Canada, I'll arrive at Heathrow and getting to Paddington is a snap from there (been there; done that). Air Transat goes to Gatwick, which would mean a transfer from Victoria Station to Paddington. Not saying I'm coming, of course, but what are the transportation options once I get to Penzance? And, of course, I haven't been paying any attention to any of your discussions about accommodation because I wasn't intending to be there.

[Kath Mulligan]

Many of the weekend's activities are based in Penzance itself, Brenda, either at the Queens Hotel on the Promenade, or in Morrab Library and the Penlee Art Gallery, both of which are on the doorstep of the Queens. The Oliver Land walk starts from the Lamorna Wink carpark, but there will be quite a lot of us without cars so we can always share a taxi, or often people with space in their cars will offer lifts. It usually works out pretty well. Ditto on the Monday with John's sacred sites walk, that starts from the Merry Maidens car park at 10am but it's possible to get a bus from PZ that stops by the Maidens, and again people tend to share car space.

If you do come down, no doubt one of us can meet you at the station in PZ and take you to wherever you are staying. And if you are seriously considering coming, I'll email you with some suggestions of places to stay.

Kath

[jane jackson]

Go on Brenda ~ book the tickets!!!!!!!

[gloria townsin]

As I'll be coming through from the Helston direction and will have my car, not sure if Eddie will do all the events he might do a bit of dog sitting (or rather Trystan sitting as the girls are quite happy to snuggle down), so I will have two seats at least going spare. As Kath says everything is so Penzance based it should be easy for anyone in the are to get to the events. The West Penwith bit will be where lifts might be needed. As we get nearer and people know if they are coming and where they will stay we might be best to try and make a list of who needs a lift from where to where in advance. If I thought we would have space in the car Brenda I would pick you up from Heathrow and you could go down with us but we always have a car load with the dogs etc and there will be extra's for us to take down, plus we might well go down well in advance of the whole Festival, a lot depends on when/if Matt has to have back surgery and when/if it will take place.

[Brenda]

What a kind offer, Gloria! Thank you for thinking of it, but I wouldn't be averse to the train trip from London to the West Country. With your full car and my large suitcase, you might be biting off more than you can chew with an offer like that, anyway.

Now, listen, everyone, don't be starting to encourage me to book tickets and the like! I'm not at all sure that I'd be able to make the trip or whether we'll go ahead with an April trip as we discussed just a few months ago. This all started ONLY because I have that friend who works for Air Canada Jazz, who was going to take me along as her companion at a greatly reduced fare, and because I have a friend I could have stayed with at no cost as well. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been talking about another trip this soon after being in England at all. Show some mercy, pretty please! (still, it IS tempting...)
:biggrin:
Brenda

[jane jackson]

You've got us all going now Brenda! We'd all love to see you over here for Memorial Weekend but if it's not possible then you'll be with us in spirit.

[Brenda]

Yes, I've been with you in spirit for a few years now. It would be lovely to put some faces to names and enjoy those walks and meals with everyone.

[Kath Mulligan]

Yes, I've been with you in spirit for a few years now. It would be lovely to put some faces to names and enjoy those walks and meals with everyone.

Go on, do it then! You know you want to!!

Kath

[Brenda]

I must have been living in a cave for the last three or four years when it comes to flash mobs. I only just heard the term a week ago, when our CBC reported on a fun event in the food court of a shopping mall in Welland, a city near Niagara Falls in southern Ontario. I looked at the YouTube video that they had talked about and then Googled 'flash mobs,' only to discover that there were YouTube postings going back to at least 2007. Where have I been? Am I the only one who hasn't heard of flash mobs? Because of my old dial-up connection, I have never been much of a fan of YouTube but, naturally, after that I spent several hours looking at other YouTube videos of flash mobs, and found that many involve music and dance, some are silent, and some didn't seem to represent anything that I could see. They obviously take some preparation but give the appearance of being quite spontaneous. I offer my three favourites here, and I challenge anyone to watch them and then post here that you weren't smiling broadly while the videos were playing, if not laughing right out loud and bouncing in your chair! Turn up the volume!

Antwerp Train Station - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UE3CNu_rtY&feature=fvst
Liverpool Street Station - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUZrrbgCdYc
And the one that started me off on this very joyous journey, the food court at a Welland, Ontario shopping mall - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUZrrbgCdYc

If the links don't work for some reason, just search on YouTube:
Antwerp Train Station Sound of Music
Liverpool Street Station
Welland food court Messiah

If ever you need a smile, this will do it.

[jane jackson]

I have seen one of these and others similar Brenda but didn't realize they were called Flash Mobs! They are brilliant .

[Chris Geoffrey]

Hello Brenda - don't think we have spoke before :) If you have been in a cave I must have been in the one next to you!! I Have seen these things but I never knew what they were called. I have seen the Antwerp Train Station clip but not the others so I will check it out on YouTube. Thank you, I could do with a laugh, getting Christmas shopping for two elderly relatives (I think everything they wanted me to get for their presents to give to people went out in the 60's) has stressed me out today!!

[Brenda]

I didn't realize the cave next door was occupied! Welcome to the neighbourhood. Hope you enjoy the other two flash mob videos. I've watched them several times and still end up with a big grin on my face every time. And I just like being able to say 'flash mob.' Brenda

[gloria townsin]

Hadn't seen the Antwerp one before but have seen the others on TV........brilliant, the first time I saw one I thought how fantastic and what a difference to a day something like that makes. If only there were more of these joyous things in life there wouldn't be time for wars and dissagreements, we would all be putting too much into enjoying life. Ah ... if only.

[Brenda]

Hello, everyone,

Can't help relishing the difference between the winter we are having in our new location and the one we left behind in northern Ontario. This is definitely one of the goals that became a reality. After a completely green week last week, and temperatures as high as 10C, we now have a light covering of snow again and daytime highs of about 1C. Not bad - although I have to be honest and say that our former location in northern Ontario is having a much easier time of it this year as well - and I feel that no matter what winter throws at us now, I won't be able to complain because it starts to disappear here in early March (compared to early May at the old house!).

I've been almost fully occupied for the last several days with getting us up and running on our new laptops, which were a Christmas present to each other. I'm no techie and most of what I've achieved has been through sheer luck, especially in moving the files from the old computers to the new. I'm stumbling around in the dark with the occasional piece of advice from my geek son in southwestern Ontario (thank goodness for Skype!) and with much head-scratching, sighing, copious cups of tea, and even sometimes the help topics on the computer. Downloading the programs we want is a snap, but some of the other stuff...whew. And then there's getting used to Windows 7 and a slightly reconfigured keyboard, and so on. But we're getting there, slowly but surely. I love the speedy new processor and whopping great hard drive - much more than we'll ever need, but my son says we'll grow into them.

Post-Christmas, I picked up a book on the log cabin quilt pattern and will start cutting out fabric on the weekend. This is a bundle of material I bought when Linda was visiting me about a year-and-a-half ago! She bought some at the same time, so I feel quite smug that I'm getting a start on mine before she does on hers!! My son liked the little rag quilt that I made for his little guy so much that he has put in an order for a daddy-sized one. I've told him to take a number because I'm not very fast at these things. But I might have it ready for his birthday in October.

I haven't looked at any of the posts on the forum for quite a while, so will take some time to catch up now. I hope everyone's weather has improved, that you've all had a lovely Christmas, and I wish you all a wonderful 2011.

[jane jackson]

That's great that you're both so happy with your move. May does seem rather a long time to wait for the snow to finally disappear so no wonder you're relishing your new home Brenda. Penzance is rather damp today but 6c outside so reasonably warm.

I'm very impressed with your ability to get your new laptops up and running! That's not my sort of thing at all so would need to call on my friend who lives in Wiltshire if I had a problem or needed to replace my computer. She helps by remote control which is fascinating. I needed her help the other day as I was given a digital photo frame for Christmas with a memory stick which I'd never used before and couldn't "see" where I should be clicking ~ all very easy when it's explained. Computer literate sons and daughters seem to come in very handy.

Good luck with the quilt. October seems a long way away at the moment but it's surprising how time flies especially once summer is here. I still have a quilt on the go from about 30 years ago, I really ought to get it out and do something with it. We lack space for that sort of thing to lie around if it's not being worked on ~ that's my excuse anyway.................

Hope you enjoy catching up on the posts. All the very best for 2011.

[Kath Mulligan]

Computer literate daughters certainly do come in very handy in my case, Jane!!

Brenda, I am so pleased that your move to Madoc has proved to be the right one for you both. We are in a temporary lull of much milder weather at the moment, the downside being that the skies are unremittingly grey and dull. We are threatened with a bit more snow tomorrow but apparently it should fairly soon turn to rain - here's hoping!

I'm not surprised your son has ordered one of your quilts having seen pictures of your previous work. They are real works of art.

It may take you some time to catch up on all the forum posts you have missed, but at least now you have broadband it will be a far less frustrating exercise than it would have been on your old dial up connection at Skinner's Pond.

Wishing you and Peter a very happy, healthy and enjoyable 2011.

Kath

[Chris Geoffrey]

Computer literate daughters certainly do come in very handy in my case, Jane!!


Kath

Computer literate daughters??? Oh how I wish.... it is usually me who has to go and rescue my two sons (even though one of them works for Microsoft!) and I dread the phone call from Roger saying... Chris, I tried to do....!!! That usually means I will spend Friday night sorting out his computer. Not that I am an expert. When I retire I can throw my hands up and say, sorry haven't a clue :). Sory to hi-jack your post Brenda.

[Linda]

OK! Brenda so you beat me to it!! I will get there...gosh is it really a year and half since I visited..it feels so recent still...guess thats because we are in touch through technology which has a different feel to being in touch than letters. I must admit wehn i was younger and learnign about computers and doing my exams I never thought I would be doing the stuff with it I do today...and I would never now be without it...for me I belive it has opened so many doors that are closed to those that dont use it.
What will you retire from Chris?
We had a smattering of snow today!! Think you must have sent all your snow to us Brenda...!

[gloria townsin]

Enjoy the computer as I do I love getting a letter through the letterbox......makes me feel cosy and the fact someone has taken the time to write and send it is very comforting. But of course for instant contact the computer wins. Technology is a wonderful thing, until it goes wrong, whereupon mine go to the menders especially now Nina isn't living here now.
I know I'd love your beautiful quilts.

[Kath Mulligan]

Yes, I agree with Gloria. I love my computer and wouldn't want to be without it, but I do also love to receive a nice long chatty letter through the post. I have several people who have at one time been a part of my life but whom I only hear from at Christmas nowadays and I always look forward to their cards dropping through the letterbox as I know I can snuggle down on the sofa and enjoy a nice long newsy read. I write long letters to them with my cards too and hope they look forward to mine as I do to theirs.

At one time I used to have loads of penpals, some of whom I subsequently met, others I didn't. Many of them have drifted away as interests changed but a couple of them I still hear from regularly and their letters give me real joy. I do think our computerised world is sadly killing off the art of letter writing, and texting even more so, which in my opinion is a real shame. There is, or should be, a place for both.

Kath

[Chris Geoffrey]

[QUOTE=Linda;57678]OK! What will you retire from Chris?
..[QUOTE]

Hi Linda, when I retire from the job I have have had for 16 years with an IT company with whom I have worked in tele-sales, field sales and office sales. Initially selling PC's and networks but now speciallising in Digital Dictation Software which means I still have to keep upto date with the latest operating systems etc. Liaising with our techies has helped me understand a lot about computers but having said that I am no expert. When I retire I will not know anything as technolgy moves are an extremely fast rate dosn't it? :)

[gloria townsin]

Same here Kath re Christmas letters in particular. Such a lovely time of year to catch up. My friend in Cyprus always writes long newsy letters as I do to her. She lived for a short while in Cornwall and has a great interest in all that is going on there. She has no computer. I reconnected to my very recently late Aunt a couple of years ago when sending her a long letter with her Christmas card, about how things were here and reminding her of various family times and I'm so glad I did, though on the other hand, when she was in hospital this Christmas time (her grand-daughter told me in an e-mail) I wrote a letter to her, sent it via e-mail and it was read to her a few days before she passed away, so there is the flip side. Funnily enough I was just talking to my sister and our topic of conversation was family and friends that we don't sadly, have such close contact with now I think as a race we are getting too isolated from others and technology doesn't always help this. It's a balancing act I guess, but those without computers or modern technology should never be left out of the loop of friendships just because of this and I think this is a great possibllity......I have to admit to dashing off an e-mail and crawling through a handwitten letter and I often resort to writing a letter on the computer and printing it off, especially if I write to an older person as my handwriting can disolve into a scrawl which they have little chance of understanding.
I always loved sitting down and writing as a child and as I got older, loved the feel of a pen and spelling out words, then if it was a letter putting it in an envelope and posting it. Even now if a pen and writing block is in front of me I cannot resist writing something where I doubt I would open the computer to just doodle some odd words. I think the actual act of writing is being undermined by computers and spell checkers etc., but I guess that's progress even though I feel there is a sacrifice to be made. Thinking of Derek sitting writing the Chronicles before they were, again, physically typed by Jeannie seems to add to their sentimentality, guess that's me......sentimental!!

[Chris Geoffrey]

My hand writing has deteriated so much because I alway type my letters but I always make sure I sign my name at the end. My father always made me write thank you letters in fountain pen... and he still writes his letters using one. His handwritting is still very good although he is 89 years old.

I agree Gloria that the act of writing has been lost with computers and spell check etc. I always made my boys sit down after Christmas and write thank you letters but I guess they do it by text now.... if at all. I get quite angry (and embarressed) when family say 'did David and Tim get my present' I thought I had brought them up well - but as you say that is progress. And at 32 and 3o they don't take to kindly to my nagging :)

[jane jackson]

I've always enjoyed writing letters too and had quite a few penfriends when at school. I can still remember the address of my french penfriend and we lost touch before we were out of our teens. My german penfriendship was very brief as we only did german for the last 2 years at school and I think too much was going on in both our lives to keep it up. I had some british penfriends through the column in "Pony" magazine but we also drifted apart after leaving school.

Perhaps our mutual enjoyment of writing keeps us all active on this forum ~ it's certainly quicker and easier on the computer as everyone can read it unlike our handwriting at times! The spell check is great too as I don't need glasses to type but I do need them to look in the dictionary....................

I even write my thank you letters by email now and friends and I find it very handy to run off a quick email to say when a parcel has been safely delivered, it is reassuring to know that a parcel has arrived.

It's absolutely tipping down now at nearly 11pm as I'm writing this, the velux windows really make it sound loud. I've just been out in the garden with the "girls" and needed an umbrella ~ they didn't stay out very long.

[Sybille Weber]

Although I wouldn't like to do without the e-mail facility and our forum now, I certainly miss our dear old letters. A handwritten letter and an envelope with a lovely stamp is still a joy to receive for me, and one of the nicest moments of the day is always to open the letterbox and see whether I have received a nice letter or card in the mail. Several of my (pen)friends who I have been writing to for many years have a computer now, so much of the correspondence is done by e-mail, and our letterbox remains empty most of the time, although correspondence with my first ever British penfriends who I have been writing to for 37 and 36 years now still takes place by snail mail. Despite the fact that all three of us have a computer and are online we all prefer the good old letter and only write e-mails very seldom. I have always loved writing and receiving letters, but have to admit that I also write many letters on the computer these days.
Christmas is really a lovely time with at least one card or letter in the mail every day, but it is also a busy time as I usually include a letter with all my cards that go to friends who I'm not in regular e-mail contact with.
Occasionally I have a re-occuring dream at night which is that I go downstairs to the letterbox and in there is a whole pile of letters, but unfortunately before I manage to see who they are from or to open any of them, the dream is over or I wake up. I seem to miss the good old letters much more than I realized if they already creep into my dreams.

[gloria townsin]

Sybille having had the pleasure of receiving your lovely letters I can tell you how much pleasure they have given me. Your handwriting, unlike mine, is so neat and attractive........we will have to send you some letters to fill up your letterbox and fulfil your dream. How good are you to keep up your penfriends for so long.

Jane I remember a bit of my French penfriends address she lived in Morbihan, but I was not a good penfriend and didn't keep it going. Think getting to teenage years when I was busy being a teenager didn't help. Had an Italian boy penfriend but can't remember how that came about. Stopped writing to him when he strongly hinted he would like to come over and meet me.......my Mum and Dad would have had a canary fit if he had.........Also had a boy pen friend in London, he had a try out for one of the London football clubs......another one who said he would come and visit......he was a friend of my cousin, but after giggling with my friends over his affectionate letters I stopped writing......a couple of years later I met Eddie......

[gloria townsin]

I know Chris - I had the 'sit down and write thank you letters' after Christmas or birthdays and they were pretty good about doing it. In fact the middle son is still good although he does it via e-mail but better that than not at all.
My friend's daughter is very good as she always sends a letter or card to say thank you for her children's gifts. Her Mum can be proud of her.
I suppose really I love all methods of communication - but the lovely 'plop' of a letter, card or Wavelength is still tops for me. I always find myself looking to see if the post has been.

[Kath Mulligan]

I'm another one who always insisted on the girls writing thank you notes for birthday and Christmas presents. Nowadays I think they tend to do it by phone, text or email but at least they do still say thank you. A few years ago I stopped buying Christmas gifts for our nephew's three children since, although we saw them at my sisters-in-law's house on Christmas night, they never had the courtesy to acknowledge the gifts at all. Even if the girls received something they didn't particularly like, they knew they had to be polite and say thank you, and I was so angry by my great nephews and niece's bad manners that I decided not to buy for them any more.

Sybille, I too love to receive your lovely letters, they are always so beautifully written and so interesting too. Now you have told us about your dream of lots of letters falling through your letterbox, we shall have to make your dream become a reality! I know we exchange emails sometimes, but I promise I will write to you properly very soon.

Kath

[gloria townsin]

Have had a similar situation re non thank you's and I really feel I need to stop sending.......you never know if they have ever been received for one thing. Seems that things are so readily avaialable to children nowadays they and their parents don't see the need. Some of my childhood gifts from elderly relations were scarves, hats and gloves they had lovingly knitted through the year. I have to say they were boring to me then but of course now I appreciate their true value much more, but I always thanked the givers.

[Sybille Weber]

Sybille having had the pleasure of receiving your lovely letters I can tell you how much pleasure they have given me. Your handwriting, unlike mine, is so neat and attractive........we will have to send you some letters to fill up your letterbox and fulfil your dream. How good are you to keep up your penfriends for so long.........

:biggrin: :welcome:, letters! :dance3:

[Sybille Weber]

.................Sybille, I too love to receive your lovely letters, they are always so beautifully written and so interesting too. Now you have told us about your dream of lots of letters falling through your letterbox, we shall have to make your dream become a reality! I know we exchange emails sometimes, but I promise I will write to you properly very soon.
Kath

:coool!::biggrin::dance:

[Brenda]

A couple of these recent posts mentioned the pleasure of catching up with The Letter in the Christmas card. I never used to write that sort of letter because I kept in touch with most of my friends during the year. My Welsh friend, Myra (who lives in Ontario) and I have had many a hilarious time near Christmas as we've commented on the traditional letter received from one particular friend/former co-worker. This lady writes well and has done some journalistic writing, but her annual Christmas letters are a thing to behold. They are so glowingly written and tell of such immense success in every scholastic and career endeavour of each of her children and her husband, and enthuse in such a heartfelt manner about their full-magazine-spread family vacations (which are always picture-perfect, of course, and never suffer any hitches), and describe in such awe-inspiring detail their expensive acquisitions during the year, and end with a syrupy wish for continued blessings and nothing short of world peace that we have always said we must read the letter with a bucket beside us. In response one year, I wrote a very tongue-in-cheek anti-Christmas letter, in which I described all my failures and disappointments during the past year. I sent it only to my friend, Myra, but we had a good laugh about it. The first of us to receive The Annual Letter always calls the other to say, 'Did you get The Letter today?'

[gloria townsin]

Had to check myself this year with the Christmas letter I sent as relating my year of builder frustrations and other such happenings could have sent the recipient into a downward spiral, no glowing report that. I was never one to blow my own or children's trumpets, for one thing it's not my style, but if I might have been even slightly tempted I can assure you the biggest let down in Christendom would have descended upon me I wouldn't have just had egg on my face!! Much better to relate a story truthfully, warts and all, well maybe play them down a bit, than to give a false impression. It only makes people sick of hearing about a 'perfect life' and more to revel in when it all goes pear shape.

[Kath Mulligan]

I have NEVER resorted to The Letter, thank goodness but I have been the recipient of the occasional round robin letter which I have to say offends me slightly. If someone can't find the time to write a personal letter to me, then I would really rather they didn't bother at all. As you say, it is tedious to read a glowing and boastful report of their and their children's activities. Yes, ok it's fine to mention if someone has done particularly well at an activity or an exam but I tend to find I lose interest very rapidly and don't always read the missive to the end.

I always get a letter at Christmas from a couple whom Vin and I made friends with one year on a Shearings coach holiday. You know how sometimes you just meet someone and instantly hit it off? Well we were like that with Jean and Bill and we laughed non-stop all week. Jean writes the most wonderful letters, they are like word pictures but also very very funny and it makes my day when I see the envelope bearing her handwriting drop through the door. Neither she nor Bill enjoys the best of health but she makes light of their various ills and concentrates on the fun things they have done. I invariably read her letters with a big grin on my face, and often ring her to continue the "conversation". If she gets even half as much enjoyment from my letters to her I should be very pleased.

Kath

[Sybille Weber]

I'm not really a friend of "The Letter" either and try to write a proper one to all my friends telling them about what has happened since I wrote to them last. Some friends who I'm in regular contact with usually just get a Christmas card with a few lines as they have all the news. Have to admit though that once or twice when I was ill and not able to write to everyone separately I did actually resort to that dreaded circular Christmas letter explaining to everyone why I did it. I thought it was better than not writing to them at all. Although I'm not really a friend of such letters I can still understand that for various reasons people who have to write to a lot friends sometimes just don't get the time to follow up their correspondence regularly and I rather have a kind of circular letter then, than not hearing from them at all. It really depends on how and what you write. My sister has a friend who writes letters full of success stories like the ones Brenda mentions, and it's just the same. We tend to make fun of them and usually ask each other 'Have you read the Christmas letter yet?' I have a few friends who write circular Christmas letters, too, but they are nicely written and sound genuine with a few personal hand-written lines below, so I don't mind.

[gloria townsin]

Patricia is a great one for sending a pretty notelet with her newsy letters, always a treat to receive and jog me into writing back properly as she doesn't use a computer, because as she says herself, she would get so involved with it she would spend ages on it and her life is already so busy as it is, she has so much to write about in Wavelength because she is out and about meeting people, so just as well for all of us or Wavelength might shrink if she took up the computer.

[chloe]

>>>it makes my day when I see the envelope bearing her handwriting drop through the door.

Mail really gets delivered through -- a door?

[chloe]

Is this because they're terrace houses smack together? The postie must walk?

[jane jackson]

No Robyn, I would say 99.9% of us have a letterbox in our front doors and the postman is usually on foot either carrying a large bag or perhaps pushing a trolley. We live on the edge of Penzance town and our post usually is delivered around 10.30am. Larger parcels or packets come with a postman in a van and those arrive much earlier ~ we're not very far from the sorting office. It used to be normal to have 2 deliveries every day but that no longer happens but it's only sunday that there are no deliveries. Our postmen and women must be very fit as they have to walk up every path or driveway opening and shutting gates, ours yesterday was still wearing his shorts despite it being winter! Out in the country a van would be used but they still go right up to the house and push the letters through the letterbox in the front door.

When we lived on Exmoor in a moorland village we had a small sorting office in our village and our postman, John, walked his round which was just the village properties. He always carried dog type chocolate drops for all the dogs on his rounds and they all loved him and he always had time for a chat. Gerald the postman before John was also a local sheep farmer and used to check up on our new born lambs when we first started breeding the Jacob sheep. He had a quick look and if there was any problem he came back when he'd finished his rounds. The outlying farms had their post by van but the postman would probably still go right up to the front door. Perhaps one or two had a post box at the end of the drive if it was a very long or rough one. Often their postman would deliver the daily paper too and take away any letters to be posted along with the money for the stamps.

This is one of the things I enjoy about this forum with people from all over the world contributing as you learn how different people live and how other countries handle everyday living.

[Kath Mulligan]

Hi Robyn, yes we do get our mail delivered through the door, or most people do. Possibly some of the bigger houses in very expensive areas have mailboxes at the end of their drives, but most of us have a letterbox in our door. Not all of our houses are terraced, most streets are a mixture of styles as the others have said. In my road, there are some terraced rows but others, like mine are semi-detached. The postmen do their rounds on foot for the most part, although some may use a bike if their round is a bit more widespread. In very rural areas a van would be used.

By the way, we also have our newspapers delivered to the door every day too - do you think we are very pampered?

Kath

[jane jackson]

I have NEVER resorted to The Letter, thank goodness but I have been the recipient of the occasional round robin letter which I have to say offends me slightly. If someone can't find the time to write a personal letter to me, then I would really rather they didn't bother at all.


Kath

I very nearly sent you my Christmas Letter last night just to wind you up Kath !!!!!!!!!!

I sent 20 this Christmas and previously it's been over 30 (but each year the list decreases with people dying) so if I didn't do it in that way the letters would be much shorter as I got through the list and the hand writing would be much worse. At least I have no children to bore friends with their achievements ~ I do agree there as I've received those sort of letters which amount to lists of exam results. A lot of my recipients are very old friends and work colleagues with whom I only have contact at Christmas, some of whom are my parents generation and are literally "old". My letters started when I moved away from Hertfordshire 17 years ago and were all about our sheep, lambs, horses, donkeys, chickens, life on the moor and the B&B visitors. I've kept a copy of them all for us and they read like a diary which is interesting looking back on them. Over the years I've stopped sending to some of my parents' friends and then I get a note in their card saying how disappointed they were not to get "the letter" so I end up paying to post it separately. When I went to Berkhamsted in October last year instead of nearer to Christmas various friends said "have you brought your letter?" as they look forward to it. I think a lot of them don't have so much going on in their lives nowadays through age and/or ill health and enjoy hearing news. I also enjoy receiving these letters from friends and hearing what they've been up to over the past year, it keeps you in touch ~ perhaps I'm just nosey!

I also agree how lovely it is to receive a proper letter through the post. One friend from Exford writes by hand with beautiful handwriting. I find though with email I'm in touch much more regularly with some friends as it's so easy to just send a snippet of information or query something whereas you wouldn't send such a short letter. My Mum and her sister in Edinburgh used to write weekly to each other until they got older and then they used to telephone ~ maybe the 'phone was more expensive than writing in those early days of the landlines.

[gloria townsin]

Last year while we were at Bryher Patricia sent me some mail........it took a week to arrive - especially ridiculous in view of the short distance it had to travel. Later in the year I was driving to Penzance and around Praa Sands I saw a postman pushing a large mail trolley. I later said to Patricia no wonder her mail took so long to get to me if the postie has to push mail between the Lizard and Penzance...........

We usually get our post around 11am but it varies tremendously........most irritating if you are waiting for something to be delivered. Had a Christmas card from our Mullion neighbours yesterday, it was post marked the 13th of December!! True a second class postage stamp but well within the time space for it to have been delivered before Christmas but even more annoyingly my sister's card from us posted with a first class stamp again well within the time limit arrived last Thursday. As it was a card that lit up Christmas Trees at the push of a button it was right out of it's Merry Christmas slot.........

[Kath Mulligan]

I very nearly sent you my Christmas Letter last night just to wind you up Kath !!!!!!!!!!



Hahaha, well no doubt I should have read and enjoyed it Jane, although I probably knew most of it anyway from your posts on here and our email exchanges!

I can see the need for the general Letter when you have so many people to write to and it's ok when someone adds a few personal handwritten lines that are pertinent to the recipient, but otherwise they seem just all "me, me, me" as if the writer has no interest in what anyone else has been doing. I don't think I am expressing myself very well here but I'm sure you know what I'm getting at. I keep the letters I receive from one year to the next so that when it comes to write that year's missive I can refer back to it and ask 'what happened to so-and-so, how was your trip to Timbuktoo etc'.

My friend, Dorota and I used to exchange very long letters during our college holidays. Neither of our families had a telephone at that time and she lived about 60 miles away from me at the other end of Derbyshire but we always had so much to say to one another that my Mum used to laugh at us and say that we didn't so much write letters as write conversations!! She was right too, we wrote just as we would speak. The letters would start off quite neatly written but by the end our thoughts were tumbling out so fast that the writing looked as though it had been done by a demented spider! It would take me ages to decipher hers, and no doubt she had just as much trouble with mine. I was always excited to receive a missive from her though.

Kath

[chloe]

Thanks Kath and Jane for explaining.

Our postman ride around on motorbikes. I assume the city area(the business area) are on foot. (no residential except apartmetns)

One delivery a day mon-fri.

If u have a parcel he/she leaves a card in your letter box situated at the front boundary of your land.

>>Often their postman would deliver the daily paper too and take away any letters to be posted along with the money for the stamps.

Just can't see that happening here.

>>By the way, we also have our newspapers delivered to the door every day too - do you think we are very pampered?

Yes! Although the newsagent will deliver the newspaper (aka throwing it from a moving van) for the price of the paper + a small fee.

[jane jackson]

Yes! Although the newsagent will deliver the newspaper (aka throwing it from a moving van) for the price of the paper + a small fee.

What happens in the rain or doesn't it rain very often? You may not be at home when the paper is delivered ~ doesn't it blow away? I think these differences are fascinating.

[Kath Mulligan]

If our postman has a parcel to deliver and I am not in, he will either leave a card through the door asking me to collect it from the Post Office, or sometimes will leave it with my next door neighbour.

I'm with Jane on the newspaper delivery!! In our climate, flinging papers in the general direction of the path or garden would more often than not result in a wet, pulpy unreadable mess unless you saw the delivery and were able to rush out to rescue it in time! Our paper boys do a sterling job, they deliver the morning paper before going to school, and for those people who also have the local evening paper delivered, they are out again after school. Both of my girls used to do a paper round when they were teenagers and the weight of the bags they had to carry was incredible, especially the Sunday round with all the colour magazines and extra sections of the papers. Nowadays I have noticed that the Sunday lad has a wheeled trolley which is much more sensible.

Kath

[jane jackson]

We don't actually have a newspaper delivery here at least not from the nearest shop to us which used to be our local Post Office until "they" took it away. However it's very close by and Bryan usually walks round to collect it or we call in on the way back from walking the dogs. When I was in Herts the paper was always delivered to our house in time for me to read it with my breakfast after I'd seen to the horses and before leaving for work.

[chloe]

Jane and Kath - What we call the local community newspaper is free and placed usually by children in your letter box. Rainy weather is enclosed in a plastic bag. When I moved I moved 5 mions away but the local paper is not distributed here. I can pick one up though in a special container at the supermarket in the next suburb 5 mins away and where I used to live.

The paper from the newsagent (cost $1AU/0.63GBP) is wound tightly and wrapped (by machine just as tightly) with a plastic wrap)I only get the paper delivered sat and sun. The sunday newspaper is printed in Brisbane - my nearest closest city.

It arrives around 5am in the am.

An evening paper? Wow. A late afternoon paper stopped in Brisbane back in the 70's.

>>What happens in the rain or doesn't it rain very often?

We have had more rain than I can remember since september. Our summer this year has been pretty much non-existent. (That's fine with me) Before that we had droughts for years.

The floods up north are reaching Brisbane today. Like a wall of water comming they say. I am 80km south. Ok so far.

>> You may not be at home when the paper is delivered ~ doesn't it blow away?

Nah it's wrapped tightly.

>>I think these differences are fascinating.

Me too!

[jane jackson]

I heard on the News this morning that residents in some parts of Brisbane are being advised to leave. The sister of one of my friends lives in Brisbane but not sure exactly where. I hope you will continue to be safe from flooding where you live Robyn, it must be soul destroying to have your home flooded especially if you lose precious things like photographs which can't be replaced.

We have a dry day today with some sunshine but the forecast is for wind and rain for the next 7 days although it's supposed to stay mild so that's one thing. There was an Australian lady talking on the radio this morning from a flooded area where the water rose 5 foot in an hour after her husband had left for work. She said their home was on the side of a hill so they were ok but the road at the bottom or their drive was up to the height of a van which got stuck in the flood ~ doesn't bear thinking about.

[Kath Mulligan]

I've just remarked to Jen on FB that I wonder if any of the flooding in Australia has been caused, or at least exacerbated, by the Iceland volcanic eruptions last year. I seem to remember the UK weather being quite badly affected some years ago by the eruption of Mount St Helens in America. From memory I think we had two or three very wet summers and autumns afterwards. I may of course be completely wrong but surely all that volcanic ash that was pumped up into the stratosphere has to have some long term effect.

Robyn, I have just been watching a news clip on Yahoo showing the flooding around Brisbane and it looks horrific, with the worst to come on Thursday by all accounts. Like Jane, I hope you continue to stay safe and dry, and well out of harm's way. Jen has been commenting that there are also forest fires burning too, so hope they are not in your region either.

I have an old school friend living in Adelaide and other friends and ex-neighbours living in and around Perth so am hoping neither of their areas are affected either by flood or fire.

Kath

[chloe]

Yes, people working in Brisbane city left yesterday afternoon. Power has been cut to the city this am.

Inner city and low lying suburbs in Brisbane have been told to evacuate. No evacuations south of Brisbane.

Toowoomba (2hrs west) is in a far worse way.

Journalist went into a bank there to change $ into euros for a trip to the UK. (she won't be able to leave now) comes out and there are cars in water rushing down the street some with people still in them.

People died. A family of 3 stranded on a their roof died when they were swept off overnight.

A woman and child died in the city (toowoomba)

Cars were thrown around like toys.

No warning at all. She said u could hear the roar of the water comming. That was it.

I will be ok. We'ere highish in the street and then after us the street goes very low. My area is very up down up down.

Some roads are cut here though but compared to Brisbane and many other places we're doing ok.

The sun is out today so hopefully Brisbane may not get too much worse. The river of course will still peak today or tomorrow.

The wivenhoe dam in Brisbane has had it's flood gates open releasing the equivalent of 6,000 swimming pools of water per minute. to avert an even bigger disaster.

It's hot and muggy today. At least the washing has dried though.

Uh oh. Here come those rain clouds.





.

[Janet Swan]

Reports of the terrible floods are No.1 news item on the BBC here. Just so awful. We've had floods in this country before, but nothing as bad as Queensland. I'm sure many British folk are thinking of those affected and praying the crisis will end soon. But how do you rebuild? A total nightmare for all those poor souls.

Janet

[adesmith]

Absolutely heart wrenching seeing the destruction and damage caused by the floods on the news. I saw the picture of the family on top of the roof of their car in the newspaper, how terrible. Poor, poor people. All of those homes and possessions lost. on the BBC they showed some of the animals that were swimming and trying to find dry land, cows and horses. I didnt like the reports of snakes and sharks in the Brisbane River!

I was really impressed by the people on the news who were doing so much to help others in their community and the positive attitude of some of the people waiting for their houses to be flooded. They showed such a lot of courage! I commented to Rachel how wonderful Australian people were!

I hope it is over really soon and the people can get their lives back to normal as quickly as possible. You feel like you would like to help but there is nothing you can do on the otherside of the world.

[Sybille Weber]

The floods in Australia are the main topic on our news here in Germany, too. Terrible pictures we get to see, and how brave people are facing the floods and seem to be coping with their fate. I can't imagine myself facing such a situation and would probably suffer from shock. We have flooding here, too, at present, but it's nothing like what Australia is suffering from. As we live a little uphill we are safe anyway, just have to make a long detour now to get to our doctor's on the other side of the river.

[chloe]

Mother Nature at it's best.

http://www.triplem.com.au/sydney/qld-floods-2011/queensland-flood-support-blog//blog/frog-on-a-snake-rides-queensland-floods/20110112-b2ke
(http://www.triplem.com.au/sydney/qld-floods-2011/queensland-flood-support-blog//blog/frog-on-a-snake-rides-queensland-floods/20110112-b2ke)

[jane jackson]

Sorry Robyn, I can't get anything from that link, maybe someone else will be able to.

[chloe]

I couldn't get that link to work now. Not sure if others could.


Here is the pic.

Frog On A Snake Rides Queensland Floods Post by: Dave-O 12 January, 2011 - 4:11 PM

http://images.triplem.com.au/2011/01/12/516543/frog-rides-back-of-snake-queensland-floods-rspca-photo.jpg

[chloe]

Hope you get to your doctors appt ok!

Qld is a huge state. So for 75% of it to be flooded is a lot.

I lived in Brisbane at the time of the '74 floods. Was not flooded, but not far from us was.

Food no doubt will skyrocket as a lot is grown in the Lockyer Valley. (west of Brisbane)

I just can't imagine the fear these people would face. One guy said he was going along helping peiople with arms and legs going everywhere like they were swimming. Sadly these people had already died.

[jane jackson]

That sounds so dreadful Robyn and so sad. I like the photo of the frog hitching a ride on the snake. We saw on the news footage of horses swimming in the floods and they looked like they were trying to land on the roofs which were level with the water ~ do hope they could get out of the water on to land as that would be so awful if they were swimming until they couldn't swim anymore but couldn't escape the water.

It must be so frightening to see and hear the water coming and not be able to do anything.

[chloe]

file:///C:/Users/Chloe/AppData/Local/Temp/moz-screenshot-7.pngfile:///C:/Users/Chloe/AppData/Local/Temp/moz-screenshot-8.png http://resources1.news.com.au/images/2011/01/12/1225986/564277-roo-man.jpg

Helping hand: Ray Cole carries the injured joey to safety. Picture: Villiers Nick De Source: HWT Image Library
A WILDLIFE warrior who risked his life to rescue a kangaroo in Queensland's floods is a former Melbourne resident who left Victoria six years ago because he "couldn't stand the weather".

Ray Cole, a father of five, was cheered by onlookers but threatened with arrest by police when he waded into turgid waters to pluck the drowning joey to safety.
Mr Cole said he "couldn't stand there and watch our coat of arms just drown".
"When I was growing up on the streets of Preston we learned and lived by the motto that you reach out and help others," Mr Cole said.
Like Sam the koala, who was pictured taking a drink of water from a firefighter during Victoria's Black Saturday inferno, the dramatic images of Mr Cole and the kangaroo have been seen around the world.
Mr Cole, 39, was among about 50 people gathered at Ipswich's One Mile Bridge who saw the distressed young animal out of its depth in the fast-flowing torrent.

[chloe]

Jane I liked the photo of the frog as well pretty cool.

Adrian there were many people on roofs of houses too. Not keen on the snakes and sharks in the Brisbane River either. But, having said that we've seen 2 snakes right here in my own backyard. I'm in a semi-rural area 5 mins from suburbia. They've also been seen at the beach here too on the sand.

[jane jackson]

Oh that poor Joey, how frightened he must have been and how wonderful that Ray Cole managed to rescue him/her. Not sure I'd be too keen on seeing sharks and snakes in the river and I don't suppose the sharks are too keen either if they're out of their normal environment in a churned up turbulent flooding river.

[Janet Swan]

Oh, what a heartwarming picture of the guy with the rescued Joey. Beautiful. Now, I have a question which is very basic and I feel I should know the answer, but in floods as terrible as these, where does all the water go when it eventually subsides?

Janet

[adesmith]

Wonderful pictures Robyn, especially the kangeroo! I checked the computer before I left for work this morning (didnt have time to respond then) but I thought how wonderful the man was to do that. I really hope that things get better for everyone in Queensland soon.

Like Sybille, I am sure that I wouldnt be as brave as the people facing the floods on the news. How awful to see your possessions and home destroyed like that. I always think we are high enough from the river to never really be in any danger from flooding but if something like this happened on the Usk, I am not so sure! I think the people that live on the flood plain below us are mad and they have only a small ditch and bank to protect them.

[Brenda]

Happy Victoria Day, everyone! We have a stat holiday here in Canada, thanks to Queen Victoria's birthday. This is traditionally the big planting weekend, the first visit to the cottage to put the dock and water line in, and the first camping weekend of the year. Fireworks all over the danged place, though any community that has been planning a display for tonight may be disappointed by the forecast of rain and thunderstorms. Travel's always heavy this weekend (though still nothing like you're used to on UK motorways on a good day), a good few days to just stay at home if you don't have to be anywhere in particular.

Our CBC radio has been doing a show on things that fit into the category of 'the royal treatment' to mark the day - and the interviews have ranged from a man who studies modes of Royal travel in Canada over the centuries, to a woman with a hat speciality shop in Ottawa (and of course the auction of Princess Beatrice's fascinator came up), to 'royal' treatments for pets at grooming spas, to a woman who offers free gowns to girls who can't afford to dress up for their proms, to a woman in Windsor, Ontario who has been a sort of pen pal to many members of the Royal Family since 1953, to a man who offers 'glamping' (glamour camping) experiences (http://misabiadventurecompany.ca/) in the remote old growth forests of northern Ontario. All quite interesting and enjoyable.

And now, I'm off to make a regal cappuccino for The King and I.:lol!:

[Brenda]

We had our hydro restored last evening after 27 hours without power. On Wednesday, late afternoon, two short violent storms passed through our area, with winds so fierce that I felt a tornado was a real possibility. After the first one, my husband and I went outside to clean up all the debris around the garden and on the deck, not imagining that another would come along so quickly. But it did, and we performed the same clean-up next morning. Sometime during the second storm, the power went out. Luckily, yesterday, some areas still had power, and I managed to keep the fridge and freezer cold enough by adding bags of ice from the local convenience store. We had been warned that our power might be out until late Saturday night, so it felt very lucky yesterday when it was restored around 7 pm.

Other parts of our village were hit much harder than we were - some very large trees came down on power lines (you don't know how lucky you are to have those underground services!), buildings, fences and vehicles. Our little bit of clean-up seemed minor by comparison. Other communities in eastern Ontario had much more severe storm activity than we did.

These wonky weather events are getting more frequent and more extreme, aren't they? I think it was Janet (am I right about that?) who commented on this a while ago. Our little storms here are nothing compared to the earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, flooding, droughts, fires, snowstorms, tornadoes and hurricanes that other parts of the world have. But whatever weather conditions we're used to, they all seem to be getting more dramatic.

[Janet Swan]

Just pleased that you are OK, Brenda, after the tornados. Yes, it was me who ponders over these extreme weather conditions and natural disasters happening almost one after another. I find it quite frightening, to tell you the truth. Today, three counties in the East of England have been declared under serious drought. These just happen to be farming counties and the farmers have been asked to restrict watering of crops. Already the yields are much lower than usual and, unless we get a lot of rain soon, large proportions of crops will be completely lost. This will be disastrous for the poor farmers and will impact on food prices in the shops. As you said (about your tornados) the effects of the drought will be small compared to the troubles experienced globally, but still causes a lot of concern.

I noticed photos in the press today showing how Japan is slowly recovering after the volcanic eruptions and tsunami. What really touched me was that wild flowers are blooming where months ago we saw utter destruction. A real symbol of hope!

Janet

[Brenda]

The world has an amazing capacity to heal itself if we would only just leave it alone.

[Brenda]

But we also have an amazing capacity to do horrid things to the world's creatures. I just heard about this campaign to save dolphins on the avaaz.org website. I'm sorry to use the FOMS discussion forum to get political, but I know Derek and Jeannie would have been appalled about this and I know you are all animal lovers. Please consider following the link to support the end of this terrible practice. Avaaz petitions do work. Brenda

Here's how avaaz.org introduces the campaign:
The pod was swimming peacefully in the Solomon Islands when nets closed in from behind -- trapping 25 wild dolphins for a luxury resort's latest exhibit. They are now locked in tiny pens, starved of food -- but we can free them.

For wild dolphins captivity is torture, their powerful sonar bounces off the walls back at them -- as if they are trapped in an endless house of mirrors. Most die young from stress induced illness, but some even commit suicide. If the wealthy Resorts World Sentosa succeeds in keeping them captive then half the dolphins will die in the first 2 years -- and it will legitimise the widely banned practice of capturing dolphins in the wild. We can’t let that happen -- let's use our voices to set them free.

http://www.avaaz.org/en/saddest_dolphins/?cl=1108846362&v=9355

[adesmith]

How beautiful they are when you see them swimming in the sea. We saw some in St Ives Bay a couple of years ago. Why would you want to see the poor things being kept in captivity?

[Brenda]

Happy Canada Day or, as we said when I was young, Happy Dominion Day! :canada:

People in Canada and particularly Ottawa are so thrilled to have Prince William and his new bride here for our Canada Day celebrations. In spite of the people who want to do away with a British monarch as our Head of State, there are many people in this country who support and love the monarchy and appreciate all the good things that happen because of it. I suspect the day is quite significant for him as well, with today being his mother's birthday. Ottawa will be positively buzzing! There's usually a grand street party with at least 100,000 people but this year they are anticipating up to half a million just because of the Royals' presence.

We were in Ottawa two days ago to see the 'Caravaggio and his followers' exhibit at our National Gallery (on loan from your National Gallery), and we saw all the preparations in full swing. It would have been a real treat to see the Duke and Duchess in person, but we're not very good about staking out a position in the early hours of the morning and hanging in all day just on the off-chance that we might get a glimpse, so I will be content to watch the proceedings on the telly.

It's an absolutely fantastic day here right across Ontario for everyone's celebration of Canada's 144th birthday since Confederation. My Gawd! We're such a young country compared to England!! As I might be in the Cotswolds next July 1, I intend to make the most of this day, right to the fireworks at the end of it.

Brenda

[adesmith]

Happy Canada Day, Brenda! I was thinking of you when Rupert and I watched the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in Canada on the news this morning. I was struck by how natural and genuine the Duchess of Cambridge appeared with the crowds. Prince William always seems caring and I think that comes from his mother. It must have been a sad day today for him because his mother would have been 50.

Hope that you have a wonderful day celebrating. You have described the excitement so well that I want to be there! You might miss Canada Day next year but dont forget that you will be here for Her Majesty's Diamond Jubillee. There are lots of exciting things planned already. There will be beacons and plenty of fireworks, steet parties, concerts and river procession. I am already excited!

Happy Canada Day again!

http://www.4smileys.com/smileys/flag-smileys/canada.gif

[Brenda]

Her Majesty's diamond jubilee! Oh, my gosh, I hadn't even thought about that! How wonderful to be in England at the time of such a significant event.

Our Canada Day celebrations in nearby Belleville were *not quite* as lavish as those in the capital, but an enjoyable day nevertheless. After we left the park where everything was taking place, we bought ice cream treats and took them to a shady bench beside the bay and had a sit for a while. Then we stopped at a small rose garden in the centre of old Belleville for a walk amongst the roses, which all seemed to be at their peak. When we got home, I watched all the Ottawa news on the telly and so was able to see the arrival of William and Kate on Parliament Hill and all the pomp that went with their attendance. We finished the day with a stroll along to the fireworks in Madoc, a modest display that appeared to have brought out the entire village. The weather was absolutely perfect from start to finish.

[Brenda]

Hi, everybody! I'm here in England! Yippee! Got in this morning and am now happily ensconced at my friend's house in Farnham. Mim - thanks for sending The Potter's Tale - it was here for me on my arrival. Lovely sunshine (not sure if I had anything to do with that) and a very welcome change of temperature from southern Ontario's blistering 38C yesterday. With the humidex reading, it felt like high 40s. Not my idea of a good summer.

My friend is leaving on Sunday for her two weeks in Spain, so I will have lots of time to myself, and then we have a week together when she gets back. I'm so pleased to be here.

Brenda

[Janet Swan]

Welcome to England, Brenda! You will so enjoy The Potter's Tale. Have a lovely stay and keep us informed of what you are up to!

Janet

[Mary Young]

Welcome to England Brenda. Hope the weather behaves itself for you and you have a lovely holiday.

Mary

[Chris Geoffrey]

I hope you enjoy your stay here in the UK Brenda. At weekends I go to Roger's who lives about 4 miles from Farnham. We were in Farnham today and I thought of you. Have you got any trips planned while you are here?

[Sybille Weber]

I'm so envious, Brenda. Wish I could come over to England in the not too distant future, too, but cannot possibly see this happen at the moment. Have a really great holiday. Would be great to hear all about it when you have returned back home.

[Brenda]

So far, so good. Lovely sunshine for at least the first part of the days. I went with my friend yesterday to a charity tea in Guildford - the son of the woman who hosted was taking part in the Mongol Rally to raise money for a children's foundation. A very pretty Victorian house within five minutes of the town centre, lovely secluded garden and a high position with beautiful views over the countryside. Before that, we drove to the Alice Holt forest, not far from my friend's house, and went for a walk with her regular walking partner. I have the house to myself now, my friend and her fellow having left for Gatwick this morning. So I'm going out for a walk in this strange bright light, and then have a Skype call planned with my husband for about 1:30 pm. Later will go with his niece to visit her fellow, who is now living in a care home in Esher due to MS. A full day. Tomorrow *my* time begins, and I think I'll start with a walking tour of Farnham and a visit to the castle.

I haven't had much quiet time so far to get into my new books, but I have read the first chapter of The Potters' Tale, John, and I am hooked. I like your writing style. Now that things are quieter, I'll be able to settle down on that bench in the sunny garden spot and have a good read.

Talk again soon.

[adesmith]

Hello Brenda, sorry I havent really had the chance to sit down and write a proper comment and to wish you well on your trip to the UK. I hope that you are having a really lovely time. The weather has certainly been quite pleasant and so I hope that you have had chance to make use of that sunny bench in the garden!

How long until your longer stay in the UK? I have a feeling you said soon after Christmas. Of course our winter will probably seem mild to you!

If you find yourself heading towards South Wales, it would be lovely to say hello in person. But of course we wont be around up here after a few days because we will be heading to beautiful Cornwall for two whole weeks :)

Enjoy the rest of your stay.

[Brenda]

Thanks for the good wishes, Adrian. I've just had the loveliest day with friends who invited me to join them and their walking group for a good outing on the North Downs near Dorking. It was a spectacular day with lunch at the Pilgrim, also near Dorking, and then a stroll around the very pretty village of Shere and tea with Bramley apple crumble in the garden. I'm knackered tonight but quite happy. Lots of family stuff coming up this weekend as my sister-in-law and brother-in-law arrive from Devon tomorrow and stay until Monday or Tuesday.

You know...I've been so busy so far that I haven't once sat on that bench to have a quiet read!

Our home exchange next spring will start shortly after mid-April. And thank you for the kind suggestion to meet you if we get to Wales. I'd enjoy meeting many of the members of this discussion forum, and hope that will be one of the take-home memories of our four months. I am just topped up with happiness to be in this country again so soon, and looking forward to the extended stay next year.

[Janet Swan]

So pleased you are having such a lovely time, Brenda, and particularly that you are doing non-touristy things. I find it quite sad when visitors come to Britain and mostly visit London and/or other big cities, because they just miss out on things like your walk on the North Downs and visiting Shere. It's this sort of thing that is probably almost unique to Britain, whereas cities are of course all different but have many similarities e.g. the crowds, the traffic, to mention a few!

Janet

[Brenda]

Couldn't agree more, Janet! We do enjoy London because it has so much to offer beyond the changing of the guard and Madame Tussaud's!! It's an immensely walkable city and, as I think I've said before (or as I'm droning on about in my UK blog), the history that was such a feature of my school days comes alive in a meaningful way. One city is often much like another, but of all the cities I've been in in my lifetime, London has captured a special place in my heart. We do, however, spend much more of our time on the country roads and in the small villages where we feel we see the better parts of England. And we love to walk the coastal path or climb up the moors, follow woodland trails or go for long walks on the downs. I wish I'd had the opportunity to come here about 40 years ago!

[Chris Geoffrey]

Hi Brenda, Shere is a lovely villiage. You mentioned to Adrian that you would love to meet members of the Forum, I would love to meet up with you as I am only a couple of miles away from you at weekends. If you have a free weekend let me know via FOMS and perhaps we can arrange something. :)

[Brenda]

What a lovely thought, Chris. I'd enjoy that very much and, if it involved petting a Golden, what a bonus!

[Brenda]

Gosh, can't believe I'm back home already. How did that three weeks go by so quickly? I had a great time and lots to do. Many walks with my husband's niece and her dog, a walk on the North Downs with friends, lots of walking on my own (I was on the point of investing in a pair of hiking boots!). A visit to the Surrey Family History Centre, Jane Austen's home, Waverley Abbey, the Surrey Rural Life Centre and antique markets. A little shopping, a few dinners out, stops for cappuccino. Time on my own and with friends and family. Time to read A Potters' Tale and A Lifetime in the Building - the extraordinary story of May Savidge and the house she moved. And that incredible reunion with my friend, whom I hadn't been in touch with for 25+ years. It was a full three weeks and a remarkably pleasant time.

Because you're all animal lovers, I have to post this one photo that I took with my new camera. Trixie, a dog who used to think that the tiny ripples of a calm sea were out to destroy her, discovered her Inner Spaniel while I was with my husband's niece on one of our many walks. I think it was peer pressure. She watched all those other dogs dashing into the pond to fetch sticks or balls and eventually got up the courage to follow them. And then there was no keeping her out of the water. She became the personification of JOY.

1859

[Sybille Weber]

Gosh, is it three weeks already? Can't believe it either, Brenda. So glad you had a good time, and what a lovely story about Trixie. Great picture, too.

[Linda]

she looks so thrilled at her new found pleasure!...captured beautifully as ever ...

yep three weeks has flown by!!......now for the plan to return in only nine months..so imagine if 3 weeks went by as it did it will be here before you know it!!

[Janet Swan]

Loved the photo of Trixie. As everyone says, where did those three weeks go?! So pleased you had a wonderful time, Brenda.

Janet

[Chris Geoffrey]

Lovely picture of Trixie as you say she probably will be hard to get out of the water now she has found the joy of splashing about in it. Your three weeks have certainly gone very quickly. I am glad you enjoyed everything you did while you were in the UK.

I have been to all those places you mention Brenda - I really like the Wild Life Centre and we have been there many times. They have some really good 'theme days' there but I never tire of looking at all the permanent things there.

Realy pleased you enjoyed yourself.

[Brenda]

I'm into serious countdown mode now, as we're leaving for our next UK trip on Tuesday, April 10. In spite of the disappointment over the cancellation of the planned four-month home exchange, we've managed to cobble together a six-week stay that will take us to several parts of the country - I couldn't be more pleased because we've never had such a long stay. We'll be in the Cotswolds, Devon, Surrey, Wiltshire, Dorset, Norfolk, the Peak District, Wales and, naturally, Cornwall. Our visit to the West Country will be a short one, just a weekend on the north coast with my sister- and brother-in-law, but we'll be happy to have it. I doubt we'll get anywhere near Lamorna, more's the pity, but my sister-in-law has a lifelong love of Trebetherick, and she and my husband spent many summers with their parents in Port Quin (just 'down the road' from Port Isaac) both of which we always visit as well.

All that's left to do is the last load of laundry, packing, and delivering Lester and all his kit to our neighbour.

I typically keep a paper journal when we're travelling, but this time I'm thinking of trying a blog post every day or two (we'll see just how disciplined I can be after a long, tiring day!). Sometimes it's a real struggle to write everything by hand that I want to remember for the day's activities, and I should find the keyboard much easier. Don't place any bets on my regularity...

Brenda

[Chris Geoffrey]

Have a safe trip Brenda and enjoy your stay. Don't forget to get in touch if you have time when you are in Surrey :)

[Kath Mulligan]

Hi Brenda, sorry to hear that your 4 month home exchange fell through but glad that you will still be able to make it over here after all. If you are up in my neck of the Peak District either email me or give me a call cos I'd love to meet up with you. Hopefully we have seen the last of the snow now and all the trees and blossoms are starting to show their Spring colours so you have chosen a lovely time of year to be visiting the UK.

Safe journey over here and have a wonderful trip.

Kath

[Sybille Weber]

Sorry to hear, your home exchange didn't come about, Brenda, but six weeks is a long time, too. Have never been over to England that long. Your itinerary sounds interesting. Looking forward to reading all about it.
Have a safe journey and a great holiday.

[Janet Swan]

Paper journal, blog or maybe even another book, Brenda! Have a wonderful trip here. Spring is such special time of year to visit.

Janet

[jane jackson]

Sorry too to hear that your home exchange didn't materialise. I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time in 6 weeks though. Safe journey.

[Brenda]

What drought?

[Janet Swan]

I know it seems unbelievable at present, Brenda, but in parts of Britain, especially in the South East and East Anglia, we have been told we need two really wet Winters to replenish the reservoirs. The rain at present is great for gardens and farmers, but most of it runs off into drains. It takes months for the stuff to soak through to the water table and for rivers and reservoirs to get back to the levels we need. Sorry!

Janet

[adesmith]

Hello Brenda, I meant to say this a while ago but am sorry that your home exchange didn't work out but glad that you have been able to make it to the UK. A very soggy UK! I heard on the radio that the forecast for the next few weeks is for rain everyday! Lets hope they are wrong and I am sure yo will see some sunshine. We get these drought warnings and sometimes they are just hard to believe with all of the weather that we are experiencing. As Janet said we need a lot of rain to top up the reservoirs to their proper levels.

Have you been to Wales yet? Whereabouts are you visiting? Have a wonderful trip.

[Brenda]

I'm not unhappy about the rain. I don't like to think of the green and pleasant land suffering from a lack of water. Rain isn't something that ruins our visits. We jump in the car when it rains or pop into a tea shop or pub and, when the sun reappears, we get out for a walk along the coastal path or on the moors. You just can't let it stop you. It's England, and it's April. With such mixed weather, some people remember only the rain. We tend to remember the sunny bits.

Adrian, we don't get to Wales until May 12, about a week and a half before the end of our time here. We're in Surrey for another week and a half, then go on to Norwich for three days, then up to our Canadian friends in Macclesfield in the Peak District for two. Then we head over to the timeshare in the southern tip of the Snowdonia Park.

We had last weekend in Cornwall, though not anywhere near Minack and Lamorna, more's the pity. My sister-in-law insists on Trebetherick for every trip because she loves the poetry of John Betjeman. So we flitted between there and Padstow, Rock and St Enodoc Church for the most part, and had a partial day in Fowey in hopes of escaping the persistent cold wind on the north coast (no luck there). Though the skies were mostly grey, we didn't have rain, so the walking was enjoyable, especially where we were sheltered from the wind. We stayed at the Daymer House Hotel in Trebetherick, a very comfortable B&B with wonderful hosts. I noticed one of Derek's books in our bedroom (I think it was Somewhere a Cat is Waiting) and asked them if they had ever met him. They hadn't and were terribly interested in my meeting with him in 1996. They also told us enthusiastically about their membership to the Minack Theatre and all the enjoyable performances they've been to there. It was a good experience, staying there.

Lester's care has worked out very well, and this is the first time I've left on a trip not in tears. Our neighbour emailed me two days after we left to say that the night before, she'd fallen asleep on the sofa in the front of the TV, and Lester had jumped up onto her lap and curled up. Then, the next morning, he jumped up onto her bed 'to check that she was still alive,' and then curled up at the end of the bed and went to sleep. I was so happy to hear it!

Anyway, must make some notes about today's activities; lovely to be here again so soon!

[Kath Mulligan]

Brenda, if you are going to be in Macclesfield, you will only be about 14 miles away from me, so if you have time and fancy meeting up for a coffee, let me know. It would be great to see you. I'll PM you my phone number.

Glad you are enjoying your stay over here, in spite of the horrible weather. Such a pity you couldn't have been here in March for AGM weekend when we had such glorious warm sunshine. Hopefully it will improve before you go home again.

Lovely to hear that Lester has settled in so happily with your neighbour, that must be such a weight off your mind.

Kath

[Brenda]

On our way into Norwich Cathedral yesterday, we stopped to look at an exhibit of paintings by Canon Jim Whitlock. I chatted with him for a few minutes and learned that he has a studio in Newlyn and is temporarily Artist-in-Residence at Norwich Cathedral. When I mentioned to him that we'd met Derek in 1996 just before he died, he told me that he had (I think I got this right) conducted the memorial service for him. He was also a long-time supporter and enthusiastic promoter of the Minack Theatre and I think he said that he also led the service at Rowena Cade's funeral.

[jane jackson]

How interesting Brenda, it's amazing the people you meet when you travel around. Hope you're enjoying your time over here despite the continuous rain.

[Kath Mulligan]

That's fascinating, Brenda, amazing what a small world we live in! We haven't been having quite the same amount of rain as you have further south, so am hoping that it will stay relatively dry and bright for you when you are up here in the next few days. I shall not be impressed if you bring the torrential rain with you!

Kath

[Brenda]

Not really sure if it's entirely my responsibility, Kath, but this morning's skies do look a bit grey and there's some of that liquid sunshine on the road, at least here in Macclesfield. The drive over the A537 yesterday, past the Cat and Fiddle, was pretty (not to mention hairy!) as we passed through the shreds of clouds that were hanging down low over the peaks. Fingers crossed for sunshine today. 'The boys' are going out on a tear on the motorcycles, while 'us girls' will travel at a more sedate and dry pace in her new Boxter, and we're all to meet for lunch somewhere east of Buxton, apparently. We'll be off tomorrow morning for the timeshare week in Wales.

[Kath Mulligan]

Hope the boys are not tearing on their motorcycles on the Cat and Fiddle road, Brenda! It has not been designated the most dangerous road in Britain for nothing! A bit of a grim start to the morning here with drizzle and some hill fog but it is supposed to be clearing up later, so hopefully you should see at least some brightness later. Enjoy your day and safe journey to Wales tomorrow. Such a shame that you are so close but that we can't meet up.

Kath