HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!

The Globe Inn

At the moment there are some pretty major rennovation works going on at The Globe Inn in Wells-Next-The-Sea. I think they are tyring to get it finished for when high season kicks off. Every day we walked past there was a new message on the workmens board!

Sandcastles and Shells

An impressive effort at a sandcastle me thinks without the aid of a bucket and spade!!!


Holkham Beach, Norfolk.

Sunshine and Showers

We kept our fingers crossed for good weather and we did get some, for a short time at least! It went from this ....

To this ...

I know you can't expect miracles when taking a long weekend break at the East Coast but it really was ridiculous. As it had started to spot with rain when we were on the beach we headed for the car and drove along to coast to the town of Sherringham. We parked, it teamed down with rain and we got caught in a huge thunderstorm. The only sensible thing we could do was to take shelter in a lovely little tea room and have a full on cream tea! Bring it on!!!!

Somewhere over the rainbow

Rainbow over Wells-Next-The-Sea

Duck Update!

Well it has been a while since I last ventured out to the duck pond in Horsham during my lunch, but today I found that the ducks have had babies!!! Aaaaaah!

Brighton Vox in Brighthelm Gardens

Streets of Brighton - 'Brighton Vox' community choir singing in Brighthelm Gardens. Thanks to all those who came along to support and spectate. A wimba-way to you all!

Brighton Festival - The Streets Of Brighton

Just a normal day out and about in the Lanes really! Men hanging from giant clocks ...



Cleaners on stilts




and of course, Saturday wouldn't be Saturday without bumping into your Mummy!

Pizza Anyone?

Eleanor is just so amazingly skilled in the kitchen. Just look how well her pizza turned out ...



Seconds anyone???

I'm falling out of love with ...

Radio 2. We listen to it every day in the office and at first I quite liked it. Some ok tunes, a bit of amusing chat and some topical phone-ins to provoke conversation in the office. However, it is now wearing me down.

Firstly Terry didn't read out any of the emails Caroline and I sent to him. On top of this they play the same 'popular new' tunes all the time (current fave is Athelete) and from about 11 o'clock onwards it consists of very conservative and narrow minded people ringing in to the show and winging out about their ridiculous points of view on subjects they actually seem to know very little about. Strangely enough, many callers seem to come from Northamptonshire!

So today as I was the first into the office I turned the dial to Radio 1 which has been a welcome relief! Grrrrrr to Radio 2.

The End Of The Line

Train coach on the railway line that used to run through the NRA camp at Bisley.
Literally the end of the line.

The Spent Cases!

This weekend I was mostly in the company of "The Spent Cases Shooting Club" at the National Rifle Association in Bisley. Boys and their toys!!! Shooting isn't the most exciting spectator sport but at least I now know what Simon gets up to when he disappears for the weekend with his gun in tow! Aside from watching lots of shooting the weekend involved a lot of fresh air, much greasey food coutesey of Jenny's food bar, a whole load of alcohol, port, terrible jokes from Pete, beautiful photos from Paul and a surprise uninvited drunken visitor to our room in the middle of the night who mistook our room for his! Excellent weekend all round - thanks guys!

A Hitchhiking Wasp

So there i was happily watching a 'Sex And The City' DVD, eating a stir fry accompanied by a glass of nice red wine when what should i spy out the corner of my eye???? A goddamn wasp just ambling its way across the carpet.

Now this was on par with a national emergency because A. i'm allergic to wasps and B. there was no one else in the house except me. So in a mad panic I abandoned my dinner, ran to my room and found the biggest book i could find - Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy, returned to the living room and dropped it from a great hight onto the wasp in the hope it would squash the damn evil insect.

I dropped it, i missed, and the dopey wasp (which I think was at deaths door anyway since it was just walking rather than madly flying around) just walked straight over it. I was shaking by this point and then had to pick up the book and put it on top of the wasp which I thought may have done the trick.

However when I went to bed I was afraid it may crawl out and hunt me down to seek its revenge so I gingerly removed the book, put a plastic beaker over it and then the book on top of the beaker just to make sure it couldnt get me. Yes I am that scared of them - the spawn of Satan they are (a bit like mushrooms!!!)

Thanks to Simon for getting rid of it for me ... eventually!

Interviews

I hate job interviews, especially "informal" interviews. How many interviews does one person have to endure for a position they have already proved they can do by passing an assessement day and a "formal" interview. The organisation has gone interview crazy :-(

Virol - Do You Need It?

Virol signs in stations on the Bluebell Railway

Bluebell Railway

A ride on a steam train, and we even saw some Bluebells!

7 changes including a bus - what's that all about???

This is what public transport does to you ...

Trying to get from Crowborough to Boston is not easy as Jo found out from the lovely man at National Rail. Her journey was to include 7 changes on the train with one including a bus journey AND you could have got half way across the world in the time it would have taken. Grrrrr to public transport thats what I say. So after she decided not to take the hellish journey from Crowborough we all enjoyed a lovely lunch in the sunshine ...

and then went to look round the birthing centre Jo worked at - which was nice!!!! Not often you spend your Sunday with a bunch of midwives looking at a birthing pool and being shown fake boobs to practice breast feeding with!

BBQ 2005

Fab bank holiday weather saw the first Baggins BBQ of 2005.

Wilst man made fire ...



Woman made food ...



Man tried to smoke Bags out "cough" ...



Bags survived and tucked into her kebab and beer - yum!!!!