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Reading before bed (365:209)
Iain M. Banks – Surface detail.
I took the car in for a service and walked back in the morning’s 90°F temps. To get out of the heat for a few minutes I stopped at the library. Browsing the shelves I found an Iain Banks book I’ve not read.
I don’t think I’ve sat down and read a book for pleasure in a couple of years.
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Phew! What a scorcher
Phew! What a scorcher. Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. And other tabloid headlines.
You need to be British and of a certain age to understand the relevance of the title; of a certain age because with British weather the opportunities to use headlines like this are few and very far between.
By the way, little did I know how much hotter it was going to get over the next few days…
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Popcorn
Popcorn.
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Gary takes a break from other duties to repair the washing machine (365:206)
I could have taken this picture at a more jaunty angle,
but I was concentrating on getting the washer fixed. For some unknown reason clean clothes were of more concern to the family than my daily photo project.
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Day 205
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Wine and TV (365:204)
Wine and TV (365:204). Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Apparently I’m not too busy to drink wine and watch a movie.
I must have drunk more wine than I thought, as I took another picture an hour later..
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Day 203
Day 203. Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. I’ve run out of ideas for titling these wall pictures.
I should write a book – I’ll call it Facebook with lots of wall pictures.
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Thursday evening service (365:202)
Thursday evening service (365:202). Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. I could write a lot,
but I don’t have the time. However, it was nice to get back to my regular routine.
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And yet more picture processing
And yet more picture processing. Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. -
Processing (365:200)
Processing (365:200). Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Day 200! Only 165 to go.
More vacation pictures being processed.
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Working late at the computer (365:199)
Working late at the computer (365:199). Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. This should be titled ‘Dirty Glasses’
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It’s that wall again… (365:198)
It’s that wall again… (365:198). Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. I’m busy.
In fact I’m very busy. There’s all the playing catch-up after our vacation, loads of pictures to process and a new project to start. Unfortunately updates will be a bit sporadic for the foreseeable future.
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Half-cut – again (365:197)
Half-cut – again (365:197). Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. After a month away on vacation, my first job at home is to tend to my personal grooming.
It’s not the first time I’ve taken a picture like this…
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On the flight from Dallas Fort Worth to Springfield (365:196)
On the flight from Dallas Fort Worth to Springfield (365:196). Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. UK June 2011 – Day 31. It was a long day.
We were tired and travel weary by the time I took this picture and it shows. The total door to door travel time was twenty-one hours which wasn’t bad. It helped that the taxi arrived on time and we avoided any traffic delays on the way to Heathrow. The flights were uneventful and on time. One can ask for nothing better on a trans-Atlantic flight. On our final leg from Dallas to Springfield we were treated to some wonderful cloudscapes as the sun went down. We also got to see a rainbow, (a circle when you are flying), complete with the shadow of the ‘plane at its center. Rebbie was waiting at Springfield airport to collect us, and we finally arrived at home around ten pm.
Unfortunately our day wasn’t over. I’d like to say we got home, had a light meal and went to bed. The truth is that our decision to leave the Boy and Getzger in charge of the house wasn’t a good one. The place was an absolute tip and there was no food or milk, not even enough for breakfast, to be found (“I deliberately let it run out.”). While Ginger chewed the Boy a new one, I put air in the tyres of the van and coaxed it into life after its month’s sojourn in the garage. So, after being up nearly twenty-four hours we went out to dinner and then on to buy some essential groceries.
This is bad news. Bad news because we had planned to leave the Boy and Cat in charge again later in the summer and go camping. It looks like that won’t be happening.
Today’s alternate shot
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Ginger and Gary on the beach (365:195)
Ginger and Gary on the beach (365:195). Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. UK June 2011 – Day 30. Out of focus?
Possibly, but if it is, tough. Today I showed Ginger the benefits of a working public transportation system. We started the day dropping off the hire car. First piece of good news – they weren’t going to charge us for the extra day we had, and then the very good news– the dent in the car was there when we hired it – which explains why I couldn’t recall pranging it. £600 saved at a stroke, excellent.
We celebrated by catching a bus down to Gun Wharf and Ginger buying some more clothes. After that we went and found lunch and coffee at Lou-Lou’s and had a long wait for a bus to the beach. We spent a wonderful afternoon on the nudist beach at Eastney, and just so that I could say that I’d done it, I went swimming. Compared to the frigid waters of Scotland it was almost tropical.
In the evening we went for a farewell dinner with Robert and Mel. The taxi is coming to pick us up and take us to Heathrow at seven am tomorrow morning. The only thing left to do was pack. It wasn’t easy somehow our bags were overweight. I had to leave some of my carefully collected geological specimens behind, and we did a lot of re-arranging of our bags, including putting the entire tent (except the poles) into my carry on bag. Finally we squeezed everything in and the weights were within the limits.
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Oh dear! (365:194)
Oh dear! (365:194). Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. UK June 2011 – Day 29. What a truly appalling picture.
I could have used the safety shot I took during our afternoon walk around Farlington Marshes, but that seems like a bit of a betrayal of my family. So this picture will have to do.
Tonight we had a family curry and took this picture afterwards. My brother is absent – on the way to a weekend of fun in Germany. I could have set up the tripod outside while the sun was still out and taken a better picture but the dreaded photo-lethargy is still affecting me. Oh well. The camera also had trouble focusing again. There were some better shots but they were too blurred to keep. A $1600 camera and it can’t take in-focus pictures when needed…
Tomorrow we return the hire car, pack and get ready to leave. Our trip to the UK is all but over.
Today’s alternate shots
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Photo-lethargy strikes yet again (365:193)
Photo-lethargy strikes yet again (365:193). Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. UK June 2011 – Day 28. Yet more curry!
We spent the day buying gifts and stuff to take back with us – including a trip to Gilbert’s sweet shop, which someone had told me, erroneously as it transpired, had closed. We also visited the chandlers to get stainless ‘D’ ring fixings for our kayaks, and then it was back to Gun Wharf for Ginger to get clothes.
In the evening we attended one of the Monthly curry nights that I used to go to, and again it was great to catch up with everyone. The dreaded photo-lethargy struck yet again, so all I have is this late night picture taken back at my son Robert’s flat.
Today’s extra
Gilberts Sweet shop, Eastney Portsmouth -
Late at night sitting on my brother’s kitchen floor (365:191)
Late at night sitting on my brother’s kitchen floor (365:191). Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. UK June 2011 – Day 26.
Last week we were Scottish Episcopalians, this week we reverted to CofE, and made a final visit to St Margaret’s. Where (if you’ve been paying attention) I was Christened, as were my two sons, and my brother. I and my brother got married there, and both my parents’ funerals were held there.
The service was sparsely attended, we stayed afterward for coffee, which we had in the Church as the parish hall was being used for a function of some sort.
Two weeks later back in Christ Episcopal Church in Springfield, I felt very uneasy about the full church and how well supported it is. I read that the (below target) weekly contribution for the previous week had been over $13,000 that’s about £8,000 at current exchange rates. At St Margaret’s the vicar stood in the pulpit relating the reduced income of the previous week’s jumble sale of £700.00. One wonders what he or the people at St Maelrubha’s in Poolewe would do with a fraction of that £8,000 per year let alone per week.
After church, we spent the afternoon and evening with my friends Roy and Jan, their daughters and families. Dee is my Goddaughter, and I’m honorary Godfather to Lynn who asserts (to me anyway) that she should be my Goddaughter. The amusing thing is that I wasn’t her Godfather because Roy and Jan thought my (first) marriage wouldn’t last, well that’s what they told me sometime later. Ha! I must have got ’em fooled by the time Dee came along then. We had a great time catching up and were treated to a nice dinner out. But much more importantly Jan produced real homemade mince pies for us. Mince pies in July. Wonderful.
I should have taken some pictures, but the photographic lethargy that’s afflicted me on this trip struck again, and I took none. At the end of the day, I just sat on my brother’s kitchen floor (why not) and took today’s picture. After nearly a month away from home my beard’s looking in desperate need of a trim – that’s only a few more days away.
Today’s extras
St. Margaret’s Church, Eastney, Portsmouth. Copyright © 2014 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
St. Margaret’s Church, Eastney, Portsmouth. Copyright © 2014 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. -
Gary and Ginger on the beach at Hunstanton (365:190)
Gary and Ginger on the beach at Hunstanton (365:190). Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. UK June 2011 – Day 25. Back to Portsmouth today.
We indulged in a full English breakfast to keep us going through another long day’s driving. Between slices of toast we chatted with the owner of the B&B, who did sound Spanish, but was originally from Honduras which he’d left over thirty years ago. He’d worked on cruise ships, lived in Florida and finally moved to the UK with his first wife and settled in Hunstanton. Seems like a long way to travel and an odd place to settle. I can talk, moving from Portsmouth to Springfield!
Before departing for Portsmouth we took a walk North along the beach and cliffs. The weather had improved but unfortunately the sun was on the wrong side of the cliffs for good pictures. We couldn’t stay all day so I had to make do with the cliffs in shadow. The tide was coming in and there were lots big kites, kitesurfers and people getting ready for a day on the beach. Despite the problems getting a meal last night and the fact that the southern end of the promenade seems to be aspiring to become a mini Blackpool I still like Hunstanton. Old Hunstanton to the North of the cliffs has a much nicer beach and was much more refined.
The drive back to Portsmouth went without incident. We’re now back for the final few days with the family before returning to the US. I need to extend the hire car period by a day – for some reason I thought we were going back on Thursday. Turns out we leave Friday. The good thing about that is that we have time to fit in a family curry before we go.
Today’s alternate shots & extras
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A full day’s driving, a walk on the beach, beer and fish and chips take their toll
A full day’s driving, a walk on the beach, beer and fish and chips take their toll. Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. UK June 2011 – Day 24. Destination – the chalk cliffs of Hunstanton
Jon set us up for the day with bacon butties for breakfast – who could turn down bacon butties? After breakfast all I had to do was drive to Hunstanton a small out of the way seaside town on the Wash in Norfolk. I had visited Hunstanton on holiday with my grandparents as a kid. The unusual and very pretty cliffs there stuck in my memory over the years; white chalk over red chalk and yellow sandstone. I’d described them to Ginger and I wanted to show them to her so she could see them first hand.
We arrived late in the afternoon, visited the local tourist information office, and with their help found a bed and Breakfast. “I think he’s Spanish” to quote the Tourist Information woman, referring to our host for the night – more on that tomorrow. It didn’t take long to get got settled in.
It was very chilly in Hunstanton; in fact the heating was on in the B&B. Despite the cold we decided that there was just time for a quick walk along the beach to look at the cliffs – and take some pictures in case the weather didn’t cooperate the following day. The light was fairly good, though as I pointed out at the time we’d need to wait on the beach for the setting sun to catch the cliffs. However, we got bored moved on and sure enough later on the sun poked through the clouds and I missed a couple of good pictures.
We then discovered that sleepy seaside towns in Norfolk go to bed early; even on a Friday night. By eight O’clock most of the fish and chip shops were closed, not that we wanted fish and chips. There wasn’t an open restaurant to be found. We went into a pub which advertised ‘Food served all day’ ordered a couple of pints only to be told that they’d stopped serving food. Oh well. According to Inspector Morse, beer is food, so we had a couple of courses (or was it three?) after which we didn’t really care what the food was and fish and chips seemed just dandy.
Today’s picture depicts me slumped on the bed, tired after lots of driving, walking on the beach, drinking beer and replete with fish and chips.
Tomorrow we head back to Portsmouth.
Today’s extras
Multicoloured layered cliffs at Hunstanton, Norfolk, UK. Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. 
Sun-burst over the Wash. Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. 
Multicoloured layered cliffs at Hunstanton, Norfolk, UK. Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. 
Sea and Sky. Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
