28 May 2018 (Monday) - Fry-up, High Halden

Did the storm eventually show up last night? I don’t know – I was asleep.

Over a cup of coffee I watched a disappointing episode of the new series of “Thunderbirds”; Lady Penelope was in a desert car race and the baddies were trying to steal the engine of the fastest car. Bearing in mind that they were in a car which was clearly far faster, I couldn’t help but wonder why.

As I drove to work I listened to the news on the radio. There was a *lot* of talk about the recent referendum in the Republic of Ireland in which they decided to overturn the archaic anti-abortion laws. And about time too.

The "Thought for the Day" bit was then given over to some vacuous windbag of a vicar who tried to do a complete about-turn on the Catholic church's long-standing policy purely to appeal to the popular opinion. I can't understand how religious leaders do this; they will completely reverse their viewpoints just to curry favour with the masses in a shallow attempt to reverse the ever declining numbers of bums on pews. Mind you I suppose the reason is self-evident. They are completely reversing their viewpoint because they want to reverse the ever declining numbers of bums on pews.

There was then an interview with one of the Democratic Unionist Party's MPs. They are dead against abortions and are adamant that what has happened in the Republic of Ireland has no bearing whatsoever on what happens in Northern Ireland. And bearing in mind that the Prime Minister's slender majority rests on keeping the DUP sweet, they will get their way. Because what the DUP wants is what the DUP gets.

British democracy really is a farce isn't it? The DUP has ten MPs but effectively has *far* more influence on policy than the Labour party and the Liberal Democrats combined who together have nearly thirty times as many MPs.

I got to work, and went to the canteen for a fry-up. I might have been working on the Bank Holiday, but I thought I would make the most of it. And suitably replete I got on with the morning's work. It wasn’t long before I was on my way back home.

Once home I looked at the internet over a spot of lunch and my piss boiled as I read the Facebook Geocaching UK page. Today’s squabble was incited by those who have been hunting Tupperware since the very beginning who have dedicated GPS units and who resent those who are new to the game. These old lags seem to have a *major* problem with those who use Smartphones to play the game. Particularly because one of the many ways in which a Smartphone is superior to a GPS unit is that it can log trackables instantly (and a GPS can’t). The ability to log a trackable instantly isn’t something to be sniffed at (!)

Today there were those who were saying that by expecting people to be able to log a trackable instantly I was discriminating against the less well-off who can’t afford a Smartphone.

What utter rubbish.

With eighty-five per cent of the nation having Smartphones (and this not being the stone age) I can’t help but think that some people should stop being so petty and argumentative.

That Facebook page is just one big fight; those with nothing better to do just to stir up bad feeling and arguments because they can. I’ve unsubscribed from that group.

I dozed off… when I woke up it had cooled down outside and was cool enough to take the dogs out. "er indoors ^TM" and I took the hounds down to High Halden where we had a rather good walk. Perhaps shorter than we often walk, but a rather good wander nonetheless.

It was a shame that Treacle deliberately escaped her harness to chase the sheep, but she was soon recaptured.

I took a few photos as we walked.

Once home the dogs shouted at new-next-door’s dogs. New-next-door had visitors – someone with whom I used to work for over twenty years. Hopefully he’ll be a frequent visitor…

"er indoors ^TM" is boiling up some dinner… Suddenly I’m very hungry…

27 May 2018 (Sunday) - Busy, Busy...

I was feeling all-in yesterday evening. Was it a day in the sun followed by three pints? Was it two night shifts with little sleep? Either way I was out like a light for nine hours last night. Mind you I can vaguely remember listening to torrential rain at some point in the night.

Eventually the call of “Trap One” couldn’t be denied any longer and I got up. Once I’d “lost some weight” in there I stood on the scales. I haven’t been quite as diligent with the diet over the last few days, and certainly a night shift means I have an extra meal at 3am that usually I don’t have (because I am asleep) but I was pleasantly surprised to see my weight had held constant at what it was the last time I weighed in.

Over a cup of coffee I looked at the Internet. The photos I posted yesterday had raised quite a bit of interest. I also saw that others had been out and about in the sunshine yesterday too. Some had been camping, some up trees, some flying kites, some drinking beer… And most of humanity had been up all night watching the most impressive thunderstorms. (I thought I heard rain!)

Social media is great if only so that I can be nosey about what others are doing.

With "er indoors ^TM" out with her mates at Southend for today I drove round to collect "My Boy ^TM". After a spot of McBreakfast we went up to the Detling showground where the Kent Garden Show was on its second day. Bearing in mind that thunderstorms were forecast for the early afternoon we felt we’d better get in and out quickly. I’d not been to the Kent Garden Show before. As well as there being loads of plants for sale there were all sorts of stalls selling all sorts of stuff too. The first fruit of my loin came out with a foxglove and some other triffid; I came out with sausages, a new shower head, tin geckos and tin dragonflies, and a membership of the Kent wildlife trust. We listened politely to the boring old bloke from the acer club who droned on about his eighty-year-old pal who goes up Mount Fuji for him to get acer seeds. We nodded in agreement as the woman on the Everest double glazing stall told us about her mate’s divorce. We were amazed to find that the ice-cream van didn’t have monkey blood.

After a couple of hours the crowds were getting thicker and thicker. We had been right to get there early.

We came home. "My Boy ^TM" wanted to get his plants into the garden before Cheryl found where he’s been. I thought I just had time to walk the dogs before the forecast storms would hit. When we were half way round the park I checked the weather forecast on my phone. The forecast storms had been held up and weren’t expected until late afternoon, so I took the dogs swimming. That filled up some time.

With the walk done I fed the pond fish. Fudge and Treacle both got rather over-excited about it.

I then got out my electric screwdriver and put out the garden ornaments I’d bought. They look quite good. Whether they will in a year or so remains to be seen. And with the weather still fine I thought I’d do something I’ve been meaning to do for ages. I got a pair of secateurs and trimmed up the grass around the paving stones that go up our garden. A simple little job – trim away the excess grass, tidy up, and then blast the lot with the pressure washer. Simple!

It took over two hours to do.

I checked the weather forecast again… the storms were having a rather bad time of it and now weren’t expected until late evening. I seriously considered taking the dogs down to the beach for a run, but I wasn’t feeling that well. Too much sun perhaps?

I went up to the kebab shop and got a large chicken doner and chips which I shared with the dogs for our tea. I think it fair to say we all enjoyed it. I also think the dogs had had too much sun as they both went to sleep for the evening.

Bearing in mind I’d not done any ironing for weeks I then had a three-hour marathon ironing session. I finally finished just after nine o’clock.

I then tried out my new shower head. It is pretty good !! it has dangerous chemicals to remove the limescale and soften the water and really fine nozzles to give more pressure. I just hope "er indoors ^TM" likes it. Oh well… if she don’t it could only be God’s way of telling her not to leave me unsupervised.

The original plan for today had been a long walk. We’d cancelled that because of the weather forecast and I had resigned myself to today being a dull day. It was a busy day – I didn’t stop. I shall be going to work for a rest tomorrow (I hope!)

Oh – and the storms are now expected to put in an appearance at four o’clock tomorrow morning. I must admit to some disappointment with the BBC’s weather forecast. Usually they are reasonably good. But as I always say, the BBC’s weather forecast is definitive. It is correct. In cases of discrepancy it is reality that is at fault…

26 May 2018 (Saturday) - Wadhurst

I downloaded a new book onto my Kindle app last night during a tea break an hour before dawn. Over the last year I've been reading all sorts of sci-fi from authors of whom most people have never heard: Wilson Harp, Ken Loz, M R Forbes, Marko Kloos... e-publishing has given a break to a whole load of authors.  And because an e-book is far cheaper than an actual book, I don't mind taking a chance on an author of whom I've never before heard

This morning I thought I'd try something different. I downloaded "A Song of Ice and Fire" by George RR Martin. It is the book that the rather good TV show "Game of Thrones" is based on. And after half an hour's reading the book there is a *lot* of the TV show which suddenly makes a lot more sense.

 As I drove home I lost count of the amount of Ford Anglias driving down the motorway. Was there a rally today?

I got home and had a quick brekkie. I packed the sarnies that "er indoors ^TM" had made, we got the dogs organised, and set sail to Wadhurst, stopping for geocachical reasons twice as we went.

(Going straight from a night shift was perhaps a tad ambitious. But the weather forecast for tomorrow isn’t good and I’m working on Monday. If I’d just gone to bed then the entire bank holiday weekend would have been a write-off).

It wasn’t long before we were all poised in the car park ready to go, and seven of us (and two small dogs) went off for a rather good walk.

As we walked I felt rather guilty; bearing in mind the route was along the side of a reservoir I’d told "er indoors ^TM" that it would be flat. I was surprised at just how hilly it was. But for all that there were hills, it was a rather pretty walk; the scenery was lovely. We had such a good picnic by Bewl reservoir; it was such a shame that Treacle felt the need to fight with every passer-by. On reflection she only got belligerent when we were sitting down for dinner. She had no problems with others when we were moving. Did she see us as “her pack” and was she guarding us as a dog would? Was it her canine instincts? Or am I just making excuses for her having been a pain in the arse?

Having up-hill-ed and down-dale-ed for six and a half miles we found ourselves back where we’d started. We’d started near the Greyhound pub, and so it would have been rude not to have used the facilities there. Three pints went down really well in the afternoon sunshine.

Geocache-wise it was an ideal walk; straight-forward finds sensibly spaced out along a (mostly) well-marked route… mind you I did have reservations about some of the paper logs that had been custom-made for that route. Bearing the legend “if logbook is full do not replace it instead contact…” some had already been replaced.

I was rather baffled by this though. If a logbook is full on one of my caches and someone replaces it, I would thank them profusely. The last thing I want to do is give up a large part of my day to swap over bits of paper.

And I had some serious concerns about the last cache hide. We had a go for it and gave up as we looked suspicious. We phoned a friend, got detailed instructions, and went back. It *really* was up a private drive hidden in someone’s hedge. But whose hedge? If it was the hedge of the person who hid it, then the description should say so. If t wasn’t then it shouldn’t have been there.

After a good rummage in that hedge we were approached by the neighbours who weren’t impressed.

I took a few photos as we walked. I do that…

Having come out straight from the night shift this morning I slept like a log all the way home. Once home we watched “Young Sheldon” and “Plebs” over dinner.

I think I shall have an early night…