Am back from Wales. My best friend lost his mother earlier this year and it was her funeral today. My wife already had today off, but I took the day off work and we drove across the country to Wales to be there with him.
We shared the driving there and back and got to take in the spectacular Welsh scenery again. We used to visit him more often, but other than my birthday, we have not seen each other since the pandemic.
I am glad we were there for him. We only met his mother once, she was glad to meet us as she knew that we had kept an eye out for him and looked after him a but when he worked in Colchester and Ipswich. May she rest in peace.
Yesterday was fun. I went to work and while at work, a friend of my daughter popped round to go for a dog walk. Leia loves Darcy and the two keep trying to go into the drives of our houses when they pass the houses. Quickly into the walk, the two girls found a bleeding squirrel and rescued it. My daughter got a box and they made calls to vets to see what could be done. My wife got involved and they ended up taking it to a local vet who said that they could do nothing for it and it needed to go to an animal hospital, in Grays.
My wife and the girls went down, her driving there with her knee was something I had not wanted her to do and I had offered to do it myself. Instead, as we had guest coming round, she asked me to prepare some food, which I promptly burned!
Having Nick, Lyndsay and Hamish round though later was a nice end to the day and ended a relaxing bank holiday weekend.
Yesterday was a trip to Manningtree for lunch to celebrate my daughters results. Before that my son and I watched Grey's Anatomy. The episode "Who's Zoomin' Who?" was interesting, but the main error was with the size of the injection given to one of the doctors. When injections are given, a ten millilitre syringe is not needed as the amount given is not a 10ml shot. We have yet to finish watching it, but it did bring back memories from when I worked in hospital and a few of the doctors were quite active with each other &/or nurses. Saying that, I cannot remember any stories about syphilis or other similar diseases spreading amongst the staff!
Lucca was great. As we took Leia, we had to sit outside. I thought that this would be in the street which was in the sun but we where in the shade in the garden/patio in the back. Leia had been fed beforehand and slept as she appeared to be quite tired from our busy and exhausting day yesterday. It was great to return there, we loved the food and it has been a shame we have not been back here sooner.
Later in the day we played House of Games which we all enjoyed. It was a great idea of my wife for us to play it. That and a late evening walk with Leia and we relaxed afterwards, my son upstairs, my wife and daughter watching Blue Bloods and me watching The Boys.
That was a frustrating game. I was nervous before the game that things would not go our way with it being a London derby, that and I have been asking the Spurs fans at work who is top of the league. When Fulham scored, I lost faith in the team, but I should have had more faith in them. Hopefully this will give the team more belief in themselves and resilience which will be needed when the team face top six opponents.
I do hope that things can return to the days when everyone had cause to complain about bias with the BBC, but to it being more balanced. I hope it is soon.
Our daughter did well in her exams. Much better than I did in my GCSE's. I would love to say that her exams were easier than mine, but looking at the content she was examined on, it includes things I learned when I studied A-levels.
We would have been proud of her no matter what she got as she worked really hard for them but her grades speak for themselves and she is happy with what she has got, mostly. I say mostly as she just missed out on two even higher grades and she is considering an appeal over them.
Right now, she has had friends over who have just left. Hopefully she will not be as stressed as she was before which hopefully means a calmer daughter now!
Once upon a time, Labour was in charge of the nation. That changed in 2010 when the electorate voted them out and since then, A&E waits have increased. Targets were redefined to allow them to be met, but the government missed them. I am not in favour of the four hour target for minor issues as A&E should be for accidents and emergencies, but the target was met when Labour was in power, and now it is not.
But things are even worse than that. I have spoken to two paramedics and neither of them can recall having to wait outside A&E in 2010. This is all too common an issue now. An ambulance that is waiting at A&E with a patient inside it, is an ambulance that cannot attend to another patient who is at home, in the road, laying in the garden etc. My mother was one of those people who were not able to be picked up by an ambulance a few months ago when she woke with central chest pain. That required a blue light attendance, but she had to go by taxi in the morning to A&E instead. A patient of mine saw me the morning after she had chest pain in the night. She also called 999 but the ambulance did not get to her and she cancelled her ambulance once her pain went. When I saw her that morning, her ECG indicated an issue with her heart. I had a patient in a nursing home who had a fractured hip and had to be left on the floor for over 12 hours before an ambulance was able to get to him.
I had blamed COVID for this before, but it is not COVID that is causing this. It is government incompetence.
The Conservatives have been in charge of our health service and social care since 2010, and things have got worse. Despite them saying that they are to fix things, things continue to get worse. While they can blame social care as an issue, they have been in charge since 2010 and Boris Johnson was elected in 2019 promising that he had a plan to fix it.
Since I have been at work, sadly, I have not seen my children as often as I would like which is a change from the two weeks with them. I saw them more today when I was working from home, but was not able to interact with them as much.
My daughter has been stressed as it is results day tomorrow.
So, I arranged for some fun after work with us watching a film. My son and daughter watched Bullet Train, which I had no desire to watch, while my daughter and I watched Nope. I regret that decision.
Nope started off quite well, and then became much too slow. This did improve when it became a horror film in the middle of it, but then it changed to science fiction and ended up a below average film. It did have interesting characters though. While there are loose ends in why certain parts of the film were in, notably Gordy's Home, I think that a good horror film should have treads to the plot that are red herrings. What was interesting was comparing the communication attempts of Gordy and also of the alien.
I am glad I watched it in the big screen as with some of the scenes being filmed in the dark, this would have had to be watched at home at night to experience. But I doubt that I am going to watch this again, or even recommend that others watch it in the cinema.
On the plus side, it may have distracted my daughter from her results tomorrow for at least a short period of time.
His support of Kemi Badenoch may have been genuine, and his support of Rishi Sunak may be also, but I still an cynical that he is trying to throw off the links that he may have to racism. I am unsure why this may be the case, unless he is planning ahead for a future once Liz Truss, (or Sunak) is removed from office, so that he can try to be leader of the Conservatives again. Or be a Queen/King maker/killer.
Our MP has retweeted posts stating an interesting view on sewage. Our beaches have been affected by sewage since the rains last week. Fortunately for us, this was an issue AFTER our trip to Woolacombe, but with the holiday season in full force, for some strange reason, people do not want to be swimming amongst turds.
Either the guardian is wrong or it is right. If it is wrong, those MP’s who have been wronged should stop it spreading lies. Or it could be telling the truth.
We are back at home now. We left early yesterday and I had to play about trying to pack the car as we had more things coming home than we had leaving it. We swapped round and took two breaks on the way home rather than the usual one, but this was so my wife could stretch her knee.
I got a message from my youngest brother that my Mum has redecorated his room now that he has left home and has put a doll in it that she had bought to give to my daughter. We declined this. I am convinced that it is waiting for a soul to sleep in the room with it…
For today, my son spent some time with some friends and I have ironed for work, but had enjoyed our past day of rest before I am back at work tomorrow.
What a match! We are top of the league and deserve it. Yes, our defence has not been tested properly and we have to face a top six side, but you can only play who you have against you. Being top of the table is much better than being on the bottom like we were at this stage last season.
Today involved my daughter and I going for a long walk this morning while my son looked after my wife.
We retro The Valley of Rocks once more, but whereas our previous walk this year was a short one, this was much longer. My daughter and I took Leia over the hill and down to the coast on the other side before taking a train back up and then almost doing the walk from two years ago in reverse.
After this, it was lunch in a new location, The Muddiford Inn. The food was great, though the service could have been better. It was a late lunch which meant that we cancelled our booked trip to the Black Venus, but we will be returning here tomorrow evening for our last meal in Devon.
First of all, yesterday. The kids went with my wife to Paint a Pot and I took the dog for a walk at Fremington Quay. We will be collecting the finished products later this week. We had been to Paint a Pot before, again on a rainy day, but when Leia and I went for our walk, things were dryer. Afterwards, it was a meal at The Bell again, though this time I had a starter and a pudding as I did not think that I would finish a main course.
After all this my wife and I later went to visit a friend, Adam, who has moved to Appledore following the breakup of his marriage. While we had seen him earlier this holiday, doing so without children present allowed for a more honest conversation. I feel guilty that I have not been in touch more and I am to rectify that going forwards.
Today, we went shopping in Barnstaple, the knee of my wife holding up. Afterwards it was a return to the Pyne Arms for another amazing meal. I chose badly for my main, which would suit most, but not me. Other than that, it was excellent food (again). I did not take Leia for an evening walk, but instead played throw the ball with her. My son had taken part for a bit, but my daughter did the most out of all of us.
Hoped the knee issues will be improving along with the weather as it has rained in the last few days.
First of all, the leg of my wife was not as bad as we feared. It is still had and after the morning walk (and watching the Arsenal game) my son and I went into the town centre to get w walking stick for her. He liked the trip as I bought him some books, though it turns out that my daughter offered him one of them to read before the trip! I would have bought him some shoes he was also interested in, but he was not wearing socks to try them on.
After our return, my daughter and I returned to Castle Hill. We had been here before and this is somewhere she wanted to return to so we did. My wife and son stayed behind to rest as neither slept well last night. We had lunch there before a walk which we all enjoyed, but Leia loved the most. The views were amazing and despite it drizzling, it was a fantastic walk.
Later today, after a takeaway dinner, we watched It Could Happen To You. It was a sweet film which I have watched in the past before. A predictable plot with okay acting and direction, it was quite average as a feel good RomCom. Would I go out of my way to watch it, it it was on TV, I might consider watching it again.
First of all, Arsenal. I did not get to watch the match on Saturday night, or as normal for me when I miss it, the following morning. I did catch up with it today. I was amazed that we won by such a big margin, also that it could have been better as well. But I was concerned that we let in two goals as against better teams, this could result in a much worse result. As amazing as Gabriel Jesus is, and he is amazing, I do hope that the team remembers that it was good before he joined as I do not want us to become a one man team. We have had issues with stars before, this being the case with Thierry Henry and more recently with Aubameyang. But this time last season, we were bottom of the league and it is good to be at the other end of the table. Watching All or Nothing has been a great reminder of this.
Yesterday we watched Rogue Agent. My son did not watch all of it but the rest of us enjoyed and were appalled by it. I do, or did care for a couple which may have involved something similar, but not on the scale seen in this film. As seen with the 50 shades films, there is a line between grooming and romance and in the first and only 50 Shades film that I have watched (so far), this line is blurred. In Rogue Agent, the way the line has been crossed is quite clear, at least in the film for in real life, the agent is now free. I am glad I watched it and I am interested in watching the other adaptations of this and may do so later this year.
With the day we have had, this should be called the green man! First of, after the morning dog walk, we visited Adam, a friend of ours in Appledore. Leia loved meeting Phoebe, his dog, as well as his two children. However Leia got jealous of us giving another dog attention and when we left to go to the Royal George she did her best to ignore us. The view there was spectacular, sadly the food was not up to the standards that we have had before. This is probably going to be our last trip to Devon, at least for a while and it is sad that our last memories of this place are not better especially considering that the views are spectacular. Despite Leia ignoring us, she did make some friends herself there.
The downside of today was my wife injuring her knee and foot, we are all crossing our fingers that she gets better soon.
As for the film, so long as you switch your brain off, it is an enjoyable action packed film which starts well but does not finish in the same manner. Apparently there is to be a sequel and I suspect that I will only watch that if I am really bored or the rest of the family make me!
No beach trip today, but after the dog walk, it was a breakfast of bread, cheese and fruit (and yoghurt for some). After this, we went for a drive and returned to the Valley of Rocks. My daughter and I went for a short dog walk, nothing compared to what we did two years ago.
After this, it was lunch then a train ride which I loved and the others liked. Actually, I think that Leia liked it as well. My daughter, Leia and I went in 3rd class while my wife and son travelled 1st class, dogs not being allowed in the posh carriages.
We have rested through the rest of the heatwave today and have just finished playing the Horrible Histories board game where I came last finishing behind someone who was not able to answer a multiple choice question on the death of Julius Caesar!
Again a relaxing day, again at Woolacombe. We did leave at lunch so that my son could watch Never Have I Ever. We are not sure what we are to do tomorrow though.
That was an enjoyable sunny day. We went to Woolacombe Beach, early due to the expected heat today and relaxed. I took Leia for her usual walk in the morning and afterwards we set off to the beach. There were few people there when we arrived, but that changed as the day went on. Part of the beach is set aside as a dog free zone and there is a stream that separates it from where we were. Leia who had not eaten this morning or opened her bowels on her walk made use of the giant kitty litter tray. Other dogs did the same, the best example was one which did a poo in the stream and watching the owner frantically finding the poo bags while children played in the water downstream is going to be a lasting memory.
Anyway, after the long walk my daughter took her for on the beach, Leia is shattered. She was quiet while we ate at The Boathouse in Instow. I enjoyed eating there, but my wife did not and my son felt it was not worth the money.
We relaxed today. After the morning walk with our dog, my wife and I went on a shopping trip before returning with food, this being a lot of cheese and other things. We ate with the children, my favourite cheese being Stinking Bishop, which I have not had in a long while.
Other than this, we rested, having fun at the pool and just recharging batteries. With the heat, staying put was sensible, especially so considering that Leia has not been at full health herself. She did get to watch my daughter and I in the pool but got upset at times thinking that we were fighting or drowning on occasion.
The film that we all watched was Wild Target. My daughter and wife remembered watching this before, but I cannot remember it, though some parts appeared familiar. I have no idea if this comedy was true to the original, and while I understand that critics did not like it, I did. Yes it did have a predictable plot, but it was the enjoyable set of characters which made this come to life. I am glad that I watched it and while I would not go out of my way to watch it again, if it was on the television, I would probably keep it on.
Today has been a relaxing day. A trip to eat out again, great food, huge portions though.
It was a stay at home day. My son and I used the hot tub while the family was playing a game. My daughter and I later played throw and catch with Leia and one of the other dogs who is living here for a week. We had tried to play earlier, but three dogs came over. One, Leila we played with later, the other, Leo, a golden retriever, while friendly to us, likes to assert his dominance, either by trying to hump Leia, which she does not like, or by play fighting, but he is a bit too rough for her. She did not mind them chasing her and later, when we were playing in a closed off orchard, did not mind playing with Leila either.
We were going to try the pool out, but one child did not like the look of something in it, saying it was dog poo and the other refused to go to it with just me. We may get a chance to try it out again tomorrow as the other guests here are to head to the beach. While my daughter is keen on this, with the incoming heatwave, I think being by the pool will be a better idea.
Later in the day, we returned to The Bell Inn, at Chittlehampton. Knowing that we were to go there, I did not eat lunch but still was too full with my main course to have pudding! As before, good food with huge portions. On our return home, it was another round of the game (my daughter was pleased as we won this time) and then we finished watching The Interview.
My daughter is a dirty rotten ice cream thief. But more on that later.
I woke late. Or rather I got out of bed late. Leia woke my wife and me early, but as I had been up late watching Man on Fire with my daughter she woke and looked after her while I slept.
Man on Fire is an awesome film. I watched it many years ago, twice in fact. Once an edited version on a plane, and then a few months later with friends. I had bought it on DVD but it is in a box at home, but I have watched it and the deleted scenes. It is an amazing film, one that still brings me to tears. It is the masterpiece that the character Creasy decides to create.
Anyway, after doing some shopping with my wife, we returned home. I hid some ice cream in the freezer to surprise my daughter with. We went to South Moulton to return to a shop that the others like while I took Leia for a walk. After this it was a trip to North Moulton for lunch. Lunch was okay, but nothing compared to the meal we had yesterday.
For dinner we had a takeaway, when there I bought some treats for my son, well for all of us, but it is my son who likes them the most. I had chosen badly, and instead ate some ice cream that had been hidden. That was when my wife told my daughter about the other hidden ice cream. It is Strawberry Shortcake flavour and is one of my favourites. I was to let me daughter know about it later, but when she heard it was in the freezer, she found it, and then to ensure that I would not eat it, licked the top of it!
Anyway, I am about to take Leia out for a nighttime walk so she does not wake us up in the morning again. Good night!
Today we watched Wedding Season. One of the children chose it. As a Rom-Com, it was okay, good even. The issue I have with them is that they are predictable fairytales. What I look for in them is how well they are out together and if there is anything new. With this being an Indian romance in the USA, it did offer something not often seen, at least by us. While not a masterpiece, I do recommend this for light watching on Netflix.
We retuned to the Pyne Arms again today. After today’s meal, we hope to return as we had a great time. My wife was not as keen on her main course, but the vote was that the Wagu beef burger was the best burger I have ever tasted. Each of us want to try something different when we return. It was an amazing day when we got there and the image was taken near the pub.
Last of all, Arsenal. I have finally got to watch the game. It was a match I was very nervous about considering the score last season. From the highlights, we were lucky to win and our defence will be tested against better teams, but it was good to get the three points. Hopefully our youthful team will pull through the challenges that they will face and finish in the top four…
Everyone is asleep right now. We have had a long day and I am trying to keep my eyes open to watch the highlights of our win last night,
Unlike other years, we left earlier today, getting up at 0330. My wife and I took turns with driving and sleeping. Leia has been looking out for the cows that were present last year, but so far, no joy for her.
I do have more to discuss, but I am knackered and have to go to bed (and watch the Arsenal highlights tomorrow).
The kids are enjoying the school holiday. My son has been helping with tidying the house a bit. Both claim to be studying for next academic year. I am sure one is and I am sure that the other intends to do so.
In the morning before work, I took Leia for a walk in Highwoods Park, which as usual, she loved. It is relaxing for me to take her there, though on one part where I took her off the beaten track, I did have to carry her over some brambles. She loves walking through the undergrowth, just not where her paws get hurt. Later in the day, I returned to the park, but in a different area of the with my daughter for her evening walk. I had asked my son if he wanted to come but he declined. Leia loved the walk, not just because rabbits came out at dusk (though she did see and chase one in the morning), but because she was with more than one of us.
We all watched Lightyear. We had intended to watch this on the big screen, but, like with Minions, we did not get to do so. Most of us liked it, though not all. We already had some idea about it from Toy Story 2. I felt that it was an enjoyable fun filled film with an amazing character. Not sure that there is scope for a sequel, and the end was a bit too corny for
me. Overall, a shame that we did not get to watch it on the big screen.
Once upon a time, there was a girl who was in love with a boy. They broke up. He met someone else. She made an amazing album. I was told about the latest addition to this story on the weekend. Enjoy.
First of all, family. My son was in a mood with me for most of yesterday. This did appear to lift when the rest of us got back from the film, but I was going to bed. Still, I much prefer him being in a good mood than not. This did mean that we did not watch Grey's Anatomy, but we did watch Ms. Marvel. She appears to be his favourite superhero at present. Not mine, but I did love the final episode and I do think that she is a great character. If pressed, I would probably say I enjoyed it more than Thor: Love and Thunder. I think.
My daughter has started to read about biology in preparation for her A-levels. My wife is still hoping that she will attend Colchester County High School for Girls for her sixth-form education, but I have accepted that this is very very unlikely and that she will be going to the sixth form college. My wife and I agree, that the standard of teaching and the support that she will get is not going to be as good at the sixth form college, but I do think that this will be an experience closer to university than remaining at her current school and this may aid her when (or if) she goes to university.
My son did not join us in watching the football, though again my wife and daughter watched it (along with Leia at times). It was frustrating at times, notably once Germany scored as we were hoping to watch the end of the game before we left to watch the film. It is not often my daughter watches football with me, though my wife will watch the major matches and we do have fond, but sad memories of them. We had to leave once extra time started, but were very happy to get the alert by text that the Lionesses had won. At least, a trophy for English football since 1966!
Right, the film. I have not experienced such depression and despair watching a film in a while. I loved it and I cannot understand why it has not been appreciated. True, I did wonder why the body of Chase had not been eaten by alligators after his fall, but I felt that the film conveyed how Kya felt really well. It may be that the film does not match up to the book, or it could be that the trailer ruins too much of it. Like with most films that I want to watch, I did not watch the trailer before the film and this may have meant that I was able to appreciate it more than the critics. I am very glad that I watched it and I will be watching this again when it is on the small screen.
