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Another year older ...
May. 13th, 2007 08:26 pmStarted my birthday 2 days early by driving down to Hayling Island to meet the gentleman caller. "I hope there isn't a traffic jam on that stretch of the A34 past Winchester," I said. "Oh, you were just unlucky at Xmas," said he. And again on Thursday :-S However did pass a railway engine, which on a road isn't something you do every day!
Arrived Hayling Island to torrential rain - irritating since we had planned to visit a beachside pub we had been to before, but you can't park near it and it was raining so hard we couldn't face the walk, so we went to the Bear in Havant, about which the best I can say is 'Average'. Ah well!
Friday dawned ... well, we made it in for breakfast, anyway! Weather still blowy and overcast, but not actually raining. An improvement. Cruised down to Southport and visited the D-Day Museum, which reduced us both to tears (gentleman caller is almost as soft as me at times) although the Overlord Tapestry was impressive. "It's not a tapestry," I observed, peering at it. "It's an embroidery - actually, mostly aplique with couching and some long/ satin stitch." This was mostly in revenge for, "This panel's wrong, they didn't introduce that particular weapon until the following year ..." (Men!)
After that, nothing would do but we went to the Isle of Wight for lunch. This was mostly because the GC loves any form of transport, and just couldn't resist the hovercraft (I seem to remember a previous GC who did a similar thing with a helicopter and the Isles of Scilly). Half way across, the sea choppy and the sky grey, GC said thoughtfully, "It's going to be very silly if we get stuck and our clothes are still on Hayling Island ..." Well, yes, dear! Fortunately by the time we'd had lunch, and I'd acquired a stupidly cheap amber necklace from a conveniently located 'new age' style shop, the wind had actually died down a bit and the return journey was made without incident.
We did some wandering around shops, and then departed in convoy for A27, M27, M3 and A34 (I think - I am mildly dyslexic with numbers and can never remember them. At any rate, the roads that join Hayling with the A34!). GC headed west just before the M4, I headed north and back to Oxford in time for dinner, Criminal Minds and NCIS.
Saturday (my birthday) dawned ... damply. Wannabedolphin arrived from London in the afternoon, we watched Any Dream Will Do and sent for an indian take-out so that we could savour the Eurovision, although actually it was a bit dull this year - the first half, anyway, the sillier acts seemed to all be in the last half. Including ours, which wasn't half as bad as things that did better - but as we all know, every country votes for their friends and neighbours, and we haven't got much of either - Ireland, our nearest neighbour, gave us some points, and Malta, which still loves us for historic reasons, did also. And nobody else ... ah well.
The Eurovision did have *some* positives, since it appears to have done the trick where nothing else did and ensured my workmate and friend Sabine went into labour, 9 days late and just short of threatened inducement. Phew! Simon Patrick and his mother were apparently snoring peacefully when the proud father rang me this morning to let us know.
And so, another year older. I have many DVDs to watch, books to read and crafty things to do (thanks, Mythic!).
Today, Wannabedolphin and I braved the local garden centre - it used to be Blooms but now is mysteriously Wyvale, not sure if this was a take-over or a merger. Despite practically torriential rain, the place was heaving. I came away with a bootfull of plants as always - a half price bright orange Azalea, the tomato plants for this year (we're trying cherry this time around) and the antirhinnums I couldn't find last time we were there. I have always been fond of snapdragons, but could never grow them in London as we had rust.
Arrived Hayling Island to torrential rain - irritating since we had planned to visit a beachside pub we had been to before, but you can't park near it and it was raining so hard we couldn't face the walk, so we went to the Bear in Havant, about which the best I can say is 'Average'. Ah well!
Friday dawned ... well, we made it in for breakfast, anyway! Weather still blowy and overcast, but not actually raining. An improvement. Cruised down to Southport and visited the D-Day Museum, which reduced us both to tears (gentleman caller is almost as soft as me at times) although the Overlord Tapestry was impressive. "It's not a tapestry," I observed, peering at it. "It's an embroidery - actually, mostly aplique with couching and some long/ satin stitch." This was mostly in revenge for, "This panel's wrong, they didn't introduce that particular weapon until the following year ..." (Men!)
After that, nothing would do but we went to the Isle of Wight for lunch. This was mostly because the GC loves any form of transport, and just couldn't resist the hovercraft (I seem to remember a previous GC who did a similar thing with a helicopter and the Isles of Scilly). Half way across, the sea choppy and the sky grey, GC said thoughtfully, "It's going to be very silly if we get stuck and our clothes are still on Hayling Island ..." Well, yes, dear! Fortunately by the time we'd had lunch, and I'd acquired a stupidly cheap amber necklace from a conveniently located 'new age' style shop, the wind had actually died down a bit and the return journey was made without incident.
We did some wandering around shops, and then departed in convoy for A27, M27, M3 and A34 (I think - I am mildly dyslexic with numbers and can never remember them. At any rate, the roads that join Hayling with the A34!). GC headed west just before the M4, I headed north and back to Oxford in time for dinner, Criminal Minds and NCIS.
Saturday (my birthday) dawned ... damply. Wannabedolphin arrived from London in the afternoon, we watched Any Dream Will Do and sent for an indian take-out so that we could savour the Eurovision, although actually it was a bit dull this year - the first half, anyway, the sillier acts seemed to all be in the last half. Including ours, which wasn't half as bad as things that did better - but as we all know, every country votes for their friends and neighbours, and we haven't got much of either - Ireland, our nearest neighbour, gave us some points, and Malta, which still loves us for historic reasons, did also. And nobody else ... ah well.
The Eurovision did have *some* positives, since it appears to have done the trick where nothing else did and ensured my workmate and friend Sabine went into labour, 9 days late and just short of threatened inducement. Phew! Simon Patrick and his mother were apparently snoring peacefully when the proud father rang me this morning to let us know.
And so, another year older. I have many DVDs to watch, books to read and crafty things to do (thanks, Mythic!).
Today, Wannabedolphin and I braved the local garden centre - it used to be Blooms but now is mysteriously Wyvale, not sure if this was a take-over or a merger. Despite practically torriential rain, the place was heaving. I came away with a bootfull of plants as always - a half price bright orange Azalea, the tomato plants for this year (we're trying cherry this time around) and the antirhinnums I couldn't find last time we were there. I have always been fond of snapdragons, but could never grow them in London as we had rust.
