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Lanie on HMS Warrior
Vacation Day 6 – Portsmouth Historic Dockyard
We caught the train to Portsmouth Harbour and after a minor mix-up managed to meet up with Robert to visit the dockyard. We crammed far too much in, what with HMS Warrior, HMS Victory and the Mary Rose.
The day started with an attack of cuteness on HMS Warrior. Some visiting school kids recognized Robert and were falling over themselves to say hello. I’m pretty sure Robert was mumbling something about not being able to get away from work even on a day off.
Ginger and I have visited HMS Warrior and HMS Victory before and it was great to be back. Lanie found it all very interesting. We spent a long time looking over the three ships. The Mary Rose museum was new to us all. I was surprised just how big she was.
Some Family History. Back in the seventies I did some voluntary work for the Mary Rose conservation team with my father. If I remember correctly, we installed hydrogen lines for special ovens used in the conservation process. It was a fascinating experience as there were hundreds of arrows being preserved in large flat bowls of what looked like water. There were also a couple of cannons waiting to go into the big vertical ovens. I was lucky enough to be out on the Solent watching from a friend’s boat the first time they tried to raise the Mary Rose. There was a problem at the end of the day, with the whole structure slipping with a huge shudder. We got to see her break the surface even if we weren’t there when she was raised and towed to shore.
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Lanie Flies The Flag and Eats Her First Fish & Chips
Vacation Day 5 – D-Day Celebrations and an Evening Meal
Gail organized a trip to the common to take part in some of the weekend’s D-Day celebrations. We enjoyed an afternoon of forties music, British food, sunshine and people watching.
Gail was having some problems though. She was getting all worked up about the evening’s forthcoming meal, because it was the first time we’d be meeting her parents. I could only chuckle and enjoy her discomfiture. We were not in the least bit worried. The meal had taken on a life of its own: initially a small family affair, it had grown until there were over twenty people expected. It was good to have so many people turnout, but it was too many people to have a decent chat with each of them. I did enjoy talking with Gail’s parents, I have no idea what she was so worried about.
I also had a meal here on May 22, 2008. It doesn’t look like the furniture’s been changed since then.
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A day out with friends of the family
Alma, Mick and Lanie at Hobby Craft Vacation Day 4 – Off to Dorset with Mick
I’ve known Mick and his parents since I was an infant, so that’s a long time. Leaving people behind is one of the hard things to live with when you emigrate. Which makes it all so much the better when we get a chance to meet up.
It was super to be spoiled, reminisce, and learn things about my parents and my youth. Lanie seemed to enjoy it. Ginger as always liked getting someone to fill in details on my background. Unfortunately, I was, and remain, ignorant on such matters.
Mick and I did some running around (well fast walking actually) before lunch. In the afternoon we visited HobbyCraft, where Ginger wanted to do some business research, checking out what crafting supplies are available in the UK.
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Lanie gets to ride in a double-decker bus…
Lanie gets to ride in a double-decker bus… Copyright © 2014 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Vacation Day 3 – A walk along the seafront
I was expecting too much to think we’d be able to get to the D-Day memorial in time for the remembrance service. Too much traveling and a six-hour time-zone change slowed us down significantly.
We caught the train into Fratton and walked down to the seafront. First stop, a visit to Southsea castle. Then we visited the very busy D-Day museum. As you’d expect being present on the seventieth anniversary of the invasion of Normandy, the museum was full. There were visitors, families of veterans, and a few veterans, some of whom looked to be deeply wrapped in their own thoughts. I was horrified to catch Lanie performing a Nazi salute, and some immediate parenting was required. Once Lanie had been obliged to carefully read some of the displays she had a better understanding of the sacrifices made by those involved.
My plan, duly executed, was to walk along the seafront to the Harbour Station and catch the train back to Havant from there. At Clarence Pier, Lanie could not resist getting into this double-decker bus.
Lanie gets to ride in a double-decker bus… Copyright © 2014 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Lanie gets to ride in a double-decker bus… Copyright © 2014 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.And that would have been that for the day – except walking along the seafront between Clarence Pier and Old Portsmouth we bumped into my niece – Emily. That was an unexpected and pleasant surprise.
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Fratton – Portsmouth UK
Fratton – Portsmouth UK. Copyright © 2014 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. -
Fratton – Portsmouth UK
Fratton – Portsmouth, UK. Copyright © 2014 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. I cannot resist an architectural shot every now and then, and this was one of those times.
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First leg complete, now to hop across ‘the pond’
Our trans-Atlantic transport at Dallas Fort Worth Airport. Copyright © 2014 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Vacation Days 1 & 2 – Springfield to Havant
Our trans-Atlantic transport at Dallas Fort Worth Airport. Rebbie gave us a lift to Springfield Regional Airport, and this time, I managed to board the plane without breaking my camera. I did (as usual) have trouble getting through security. It seems they don’t get many DSLRs. I had to show them that my laptop worked, and then they unpacked my bag to inspect my camera. I picked our route to travel out via Dallas Fort Worth (one of my favorite airports) and return via O’Hare (one of my least favorites), on the grounds that Dallas generally has better weather and is less likely to suffer delays.
This was Lanie’s first international flight. She’s also flown internal flights unaccompanied, which impressed me. However, I’m not sure she was prepared for just how boring long-haul flights are.
The flight was uneventful, and I managed to get a whole bunch of work done – which is good as I’ve the June Edition of the Diocese’s ‘Spirit’ Magazine to get finished, printed and mailed out while I’m away, thank goodness for the Internet!
Just before we left, I realized we’d messed up the timing of our flight as we missed a chance to see the Red Arrows perform a display over Southsea seafront the afternoon we arrived. The Red Arrows are always great to watch from the seafront as they seem to fly a lot lower over the sea. We should have booked our flight for one day earlier. Oh well.
My brother was waiting for us in the arrivals hall and took us home to Havant. In the evening Lanie disappeared off to look at horses with Ashlyn, Nathaniel and Marcelle, and we joined them later.
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Lanie’s High School Orchestra Concert
That’s our Lanie! 
Ready and waiting 
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Impromptu Concert
The Grandparents visited today, and Lanie and Jim put on an impromptu concert.
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Easter Vigil
Holy Saturday, Easter Vigil. Copyright © 2014 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. The Easter Vigil is one of my favorite services
I knew I wanted to get a candlelight picture. In my mind I thought it would be of all the congregation. However, I saw this picture which I had to take ‘around’ Lanie who was sitting next to me. This is the shot I saw and wanted to get. It is not the picture I took – as I had the wrong lens on the camera. To achieve the very narrow depth of field I wanted, I added the lens blur in post processing.
I used this photograph as the cover picture for the first Spirit Magazine I edited and produced (Volume 6 No. 2 – April 2014).
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Glock 17
Glock 17. Copyright © 2014 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Another good thing about having visitors from the UK is that I can ask my friends if I can borrow their handguns to take to the range. After all, I have to have some choices for my visitors to try.
Confession. I’m not a fan of striker-fired guns, and I have no intention of owning any handgun that relies solely on a trigger-mounted safety. That’s just a personal decision I’ve made. So, Glocks and many other ‘modern’ handguns will not find a permanent home in my gun safe. I wrote a bit more about my thoughts on this here.
Glock 17 with the slide back. Copyright © 2014 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. -
Beretta 92FS
Beretta 92FS, Hammer cocked, safety off. Copyright © 2014 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Compared to the Glock the Beretta just screams finish and quality. I really like this handgun, it’s just a bit on the large size for everyday carry though.
Beretta 92FS Copyright © 2014 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. -
New arrival – Meet my first grandchild
Born 19:59, April 13, 2014, and weighing 7lbs exactly Fantastic news from England.
Born 19:59 and weighing 7lbs exactly. A little bruised from an argument with the forceps but perfect nonetheless.
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Lanie and Getzger asleep on our bed
Once again I find Lanie asleep on our bed snuggled up with one of the cats. This time it is Getzger… -
Guess where we are going…
Now my grandson has arrived and Lanie’s been told, it’s safe to let everyone know that we’ll be going to the UK in June. Why June? Because it’s the best time to mesh with Lanie’s busy summer schedule. Also, in June the UK schools are still in session which means traveling and accommodation will be easier.
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Making the bed
Making our new bed. Copyright © 2014 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. When Ginger said “Make the bed.” I’m pretty sure this is what she had in mind
The six of us have been sleeping in a small ‘queen-sized’ bed for the past five years. Six – that’s Ginger, me and the four cats. Finally, we decided to invest in a much bigger bed. We didn’t like the standard shop bought bases, so I designed one based on a bed I saw in one of the architectural blogs I follow. The bed in the post seemed to float in mid-air with subdued lighting under it.
Given the amount of cat barf that we have to avoid, under-bed lighting seemed like a jolly good idea. To make the bed appear to float I decided on a recessed base that couldn’t be seen from normal viewing angles. This is the design I came up with. As per usual (for me) it was over-engineered – but it is good and solid. Despite being recessed twelve inches all round, the base is still big enough to hold four large storage containers.
A quick sit down for a ‘Selfie’. Copyright © 2014 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. We prefer the term ‘Hover Bed’
The finished ‘Hover bed’ – So-called because it looks like it is hovering above the floor. Copyright © 2014 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. It just needs some sci-fi sound effects to complete the ‘hover bed’ effect. Our room is too small to be able to get far enough away to take a decent picture of the bed. Even this ‘fish-eye’ image doesn’t really show it off.
‘Floating Bed’ Design
‘Floating’ Bed Design 
‘Floating’ Bed Design (Mark II) If I was doing it again I’d simplify the design of the base and its connection to the bed platform as in the above design. That is the problem with this type of project. The prototype is what you end up with…
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Lanie fell asleep on our bed while cuddling Tubby
It seems a certain young lady is rather tired. Obviously, it’s hard being a 15-year-old. -
It’s Lanie’s Birthday
Lanie discover’s she is going to UK with us. Copyright © 2014 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Today we celebrated Lanie’s birthday,
and told her we are taking her with us to England when we go to visit my new grandson. I think you can tell she was pretty pleased about that.
Getting ready to open the big present.
“Yes!”
Birthday cake
Got to blow out all those pesky candles.
I have no explanation as to why this picture is not properly in focus…. -
Happy Birthday Ezekiel – “Zeke”
Ezekiel. Copyright © 2014 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. A very quick processing job, welcome to the newest arrival to the family, a new cousin, Ezekiel born in the early hours of this morning. Congratulations Betsy & Matt. I’ve been getting in some baby handling practice ready for my grandson.
Betsy & Ezekiel. Copyright © 2014 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. 
Betsy & Ezekiel. Copyright © 2014 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. 
Ezekiel. Copyright © 2014 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. 
Matt & Ezekiel. Copyright © 2014 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. 
Lanie & Ezekiel. Copyright © 2014 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. 
Gary & Ezekiel. Copyright © 2014 Ginger Allman, all rights reserved. -
Blue Kitty – Filed
Blue Kitty (Filed). Copyright © 2014 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Blue Kitty was just reminding me I can’t leave any cupboard, or the filing cabinet open nor any bag or container out.
