7 June 2012 (Thursday) - Off to Camp

For the last ten years the second weekend in June has been Teston kite festival. But not this year. A greedy council was only prepared to run the festival in June if they could be assured to make hundreds of pounds profit. Attendance at the festival had been declining for the last few years anyway, and the decision to only have one kite weekend at Teston this year could well be the end of the event. Which would be a shame. A bunch of kite flyers had arranged a protest fly-in for the coming weekend, but that struck me as somewhat daft. The council has said that they won't pay for the kite festival so we put it on for free as a protest..... how does that work?

But we've got used to going camping during the second weekend in June. And so with Teston not happening we've arranged to camp out in Smarden. I was planning to be up at silly o'clock this morning, and to be loading stuff into the car. But I wasn't. I kept putting off getting up, and thinking I'd have another five minutes in my pit. I eventually finished packing the car just as the Folkestonians arrived, and together with Martin we set off to the farm. And rather than cracking on with the work we drank coffee. Eventually we got the camping gear out of storage and got it all to the camp site.

Last year "Daddies Little Angel ^TM" had labelled all the poles of our communal tent so that she would be able to put the thing up this time. It's all very well going camping mob-handed, but when only two of us know how the tent goes together there can be problems for the others. So "Daddies Little Angel ^TM" tested her labelling, and it worked very well. And with the communal "Brown and Smelly" in place we put up our personal tents. Not that we believed weather forecasts, but the good weather was supposed to give way to rain at 1pm. And as luck would have it we got the last tent up at 12.45pm, and the rain started at 12.50pm.

Finding that most of the day's newspaper had been used to line the guinea pig's cage (they come camping with us, you know), we salvaged what was left of the newspaper and did the crosswords over a cheese and bacon roll and a bottle of beer. And with little else going on we all dozed off. Apart from a minor episode when the Rear Admiral ran over his brolly with the car, all five of us were asleep for most of the afternoon.

During a lull in the rain "er indoors ^TM" arrived, and tea was cooked. Beef Stroganoff. We don't muck about when we go camping. Camping is about having an enjoyable holiday, not roughing it in a tent (!) And with the washing up washed up we played Jenga and drank blackberry liqueurs and port until the early hours.

6 June 2012 (Wednesday) - A Transit

Last night was something that's not going to happen again for over a hundred years - a transit of the planet Venus. For about six hours Venus was directly between the Earth and the Sun, and given the right sorts of telescope it was possible to see Venus as a small black spot against the brighter sun. It mostly happened at night; and seeing the transit here in the UK was only possible for the hour from sunrise to the end of the transit at 5.50am.

I had toyed with the idea of meeting up with the various astro clubs that were planning to meet up at Walmer castle this morning to watch the transit; Walmer facing east having probably the best view in the south east. But when I went to bed last night the constant rain made me think that the transit wasn't going to be particularly visible. I looked out of the window just before 5am this morning, saw the clouds, sniggered a bit, and went back to bed.

Over brekkie I checked the Internet. Twenty-odd brave souls had ventured to watch the clouds at Walmer Castle. They didn't see anything of the sun or of the transit at all; but the sun did come out on their way home. Which was nice.

There's not going to be another transit of Venus for over one hundred years.....

I then spent a frantic half an hour getting stuff together for the weekend. I've had the weekend's camp in my diary for months, but somehow just haven't got myself organised. I was loading up gas bottles last night at 11pm. And frantically wondering what I'd done with sleeping bags this morning. One thing's for sure - I don't know where my beloved's air bed is. She'll go mental if I don't find it.

I could have done with not working today; and I could certainly have done with not working till 10pm. But needs must. By the time I'd got home and had a bite to eat I found myself packing my smalls at 11pm.

And here's a surprise - Ray Bradbury died today. Author of "The Martian Chronicles", "Fahrenheit 451" and countless other classics. I thought he'd died years ago.....

5 June 2012 (Tuesday) - Jubilee Day

Over a bite of brekkie I checked my emails. There was an advert for "local slags". How charming (!) And moral standards fell even more as the young lady who played the part of Hermione in the Harry Potter films has resorted to flopping them out.

I didn't want to go to work this morning. I would much rather have stayed at home with the rest of the world on this bonus Bank Holiday. But that wasn't an option, so off I went. In all honesty if I'd stayed at home it would probably have been a day wasted. Working today meant that I can take a day off later in the year when I actually need or want to do something with the day. And on a day when the rest of the world won't be off too.

But applying reason and common sense didn't stop me sulking about a day being at work when everyone else wasn't.

The roads were certainly quieter than usual this morning when I set off for work. Interestingly the chap on the radio was talking about a series of beacons that were lit last night in honour of the jubilee. It would seem that there were thousands of these things lit last night. Two were lit within a few minutes walk of my house. I had no idea that this was happening; I would have gone along to one if I had known. And rallied the troops to make an outing of the event. I would have taken photos and felt a part of a Jubilee which (quite frankly) has pretty much passed me by.

But no one told me about the beacons. I didn't know they were happening. How does anyone find out about things like this going on?

Being Tuesday the clans gathered. This time in Queen Street. I got there somewhat later than I would have liked, but such is life. Better late than not at all. We watched another instalment of "Being Human". Something else I missed (on it's first time round). For someone who puts a lot of effort into trying to lead an eventful existence,

I do seem to be missing quite a bit just lately...

4 June 2012 (Monday) - Another Birthday

A better night's sleep, but still rather awkward as despite loads of after-sun I'm still sunburned. Over a brekkie of toasted teacakes (not bad) the first fruit of my loin came home for a shower. The hot water has gone round at the Fudgery. Which is a nuisance for all concerned.

But it was as well that he'd come round. I needed some heavy lifting doing, and he's a good lad for that. We got the seats out of my car in readiness for next weekend, and got the roof bars on to the car. We could have put the top box on as well, but that will keep for a while. Whilst we were doing this Alistair from two doors down came out to bandy insults with us, so we borrowed his ladder to muck out the guttering.

As "My Boy ^TM" set off on his way (his entourage had come round to collect him), I then cleaned out the fish pond filter. It had got blocked. Mind you it has been running for over a week; I was surprised it hadn't blocked up earlier.

I then played Tetris for a while to calm my nerves, then we set off to Singleton for a birthday. As is always the way, there were several events and parties we could have gone to this afternoon; a shame we couldn't be everywhere. But over a dozen of us gathered to wish Sarah a happy birthday, and to have a barby to celebrate the occasion. We had a really good afternoon sitting in the garden. The weather could have been better, but it certainly could have been worse. We enjoyed the sunshine when it came out, and we sheltered under the gazebo when it rained.

Kebabs, Key Lime pie, burgers, Eton mess, four bottles of beer. So much for the diet....

And then home where we caught up with watching episodes of Grimm. From what I could see from comments on Facebook the rest of humanity was tuned in to the concert to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. And from what I could see from comments on Facebook I don't think many people were very impressed with it.

Personally as someone who's quite pro-Monarchy I'm rather concerned for Her Majesty this evening. Prince Philip’s been taken to hospital. He's not a young man. I'm hoping for the best, but can't help but expect the worst...

3 June 2012 (Sunday) - A Birthday

A very restless night. A combination of very painful sunburn and torrential rain kept me awake for much of the night. We eventually got up shortly after 9am, and after a quick bit of brekkie went out cataloguing and delivering orders to the masses. They love it. A shame it was raining, but you can't have everything.

Back home, a cream cake for dinner (diet, what diet?) and then off to Folkestone to see the birthday girl. Where have the years gone? I remember her being born. I remember four hours of screaming on the first time we were both left alone together. I remember being called in to see the teacher after only three days at school. I remember the endless stream of letters of complaint from the school. But despite a shaky start she's not turned out a bad 'un.

She seemed well, and she made the tea. And after an hour exchanging insults we left them to it and set off on our way. Via Morrison’s to stock up on assorted shopping before coming home again. Once home I moved my car a few yards. People round our way have this obsession with being parked exactly outside their house. If they could park a few yards up or down then we could get so many more cars parked along the road, but not many people seem to be at home to common sense.

Bearing in mind I got sunburn yesterday, the weather today was odd. Continual rain and very cold was the order of the day. It shouldn't be this cold in June. I then spent a little while doing some editorial stuff to my on-going novel. After a couple of hours I got just over a quarter of the way through. In a week or so it should be ready for proof-reading. One or two of my loyal readers have volunteered for this task over the last few weeks, and I shall soon be in touch and smiling hopefully.

After tea "er indoors ^TM" went bowling. I was originally planning to go to a film night (on a Sunday for no apparent reason), but at the last minute I decided against going. I wasn't feeling on top form; I was decidedly cold and shivery, and the thought of being out until nearly midnight didn't appeal. Perhaps too much sun yesterday?

So I did some ironing and settled myself in front of Willy Wonka instead...

2 June 2012 (Saturday) - Folkestone Air Show

I woke this morning feeling physically drained. I didn't do much exercise yesterday, so why should I feel so tired? I ached all over. I wonder what that was about. I got up and had my "official" weigh-in: another pound gone since the last "official" weigh-in, sixty-five pounds in weight lost so far. And another inch has gone off of my hips over this last month.

After a quick bite of brekkie we went out and collected catalogues; and then set off the the Admiralty where the tribes gathered. The tribes scoffed bacon sandwiches, and then we set off to the beach. We'd planned to watch Folkestone air show, and we found a nice spot just by the sea. I had hoped to fit in a swim in the sea as well, but the weather had been rather cold so I didn't take my swimmies. I wish I had now.

We sat and watched the Red Arrows fly past. They were quite impressive. Then after a ten minute hiatus some other plane flew past a few times. Another break, this time for fifteen minutes, after which another plane flew up and down the channel. Klunk (from "Stop the Pigeon") flew past. As did the Twenty-Minuters (from "Blackadder") and the Crimson Haybailer (Wacky Races).

"Daddies Little Angel ^TM" announced that her nerves could take no more of this tedious ordeal and she went home to put the kettle on. I too was finding it rather dull. I must admit that I wasn't sure what to expect from the air show, but I was certainly expecting more than what actually was going on. All of the planes just flew up and down. I don't know what more they could have done; maybe taken a few pot-shots at the lifeboat moored off the coast perhaps?

So I lay back and closed my eyes for five minutes. And woke up seriously sunburned an hour later. There was a not-so-dull bit where a helicopter winched someone off of a lifeboat. But for me one of the highlights of the afternoon was slipping off to find the toilet. I came back to find most everyone else had slipped off too. The Bat and the Rear Admiral both came back looking green. They'd been on the fun fair and made themselves ill.

There's no denying that the Tornado jet which marked the grand finale of the afternoon came as a blessed relief, and we slowly made our way back to the Admiralty where we had a quick cuppa and watched "Crocodiles Eating Animals II" on the Discovery Channel. Those crocs certainly get through a lot of animals.

And so home where I slapped on the after-sun, and after a decent bit of tea we watched "Hairspray" and I did some on-line surveys. "My Boy ^TM" staggered home. He'd been out drinking all day, and came home to stagger about a bit before going out again. I hope he's OK....

1 June 2012 (Friday) - Gabrielle Birchak

A sad thought - - today was the day of the funeral of the man who designed the Chopper. Anyone who's of a certain age will remember *the* bike to have. Long before mountain bikes and BMX were the rage, the Chopper was the bike to be seen riding. It looked rather like a Harley Davidson, but without the engine. Mine was blue. I loved it. I'm amazed they have never made a comeback. But the designer died recently, and they buried him today. It must be wonderful to be able to leave something that was so popular.

I wonder if anything I do will be as well remembered when my number is up.

Today was the first Friday of the month, so in a novel break with tradition we had astro club. An excellent talk on the planet Venus, an excellent talk on the night sky. The club goes from strength to strength,

And talking of things astronomical leads me on to someone who used to work for NASA's jet propulsion laboratory - Gabrielle Birchak: actress, comedian, political commentator. She seems to be cropping up everywhere at the moment. The official Website of Gabrielle Birchak is well worth a look - it gives you a flavour of what she's about.Have you seen her on You-Tube? Gabrielle Birchak on YouTube is very good. Give her a try. Possibly not everyone's cup of tea, but then what comedian is?

I've come to be rather impressed by her. There's no denying that I'd rather gone off of stand-up comedy lately: there should be far more to it than just putting on a smug grin and leering at the audience. Just lately that seems to be the formula employed by most comics. But not Gabrielle Birchak.

Seeing her perform has restored my faith in the stand-up comic. With one or two more like her on Comedy Central the channel might be worth having again.