Henry and me

Weare getting to know one another now and yesterday I ventured right down to our local railway station, where I discovered that I can catch a train at 0833 and arrive in Princes Risborough just 33 minutes later ar at 0906. Useful. Eh?? We will have to try it one day.
My, Cathy you are working hard, but if you are enjoying it, as you seem to be - go for it. I hope you come away with your pockets jingling. Well done Kate, for helping out. love from grandad.

Wednesday Eve

Welcome home to Britain, Pete,Jan,Jessica,Bethany and Amy,I hope you were able to get done what was needed before the start of the school year, good luck with the house hunt, and good luck with the new school everyone!

• I have now finished my 'women in tune'(WIT)Festival cooking which was very enjoyable but very tiring..8.00 til 8.00/9.30 depending on the hicupps.......... gas bottles running out/cookers not working etc, but all were fed eventualy and only two tricky customers, lots of sunshine and happy people.Kate came to help in the kitchen and did most of the work for the spinnach quiche for 120 women.(I don't know how I suddenly have itallics and power points?) So I have three days off, today to recover,and two days to get anything that's not crossed of the uniform list and sew in name tapes, then the last weekend of the holidays before Kate starts Secondary School, Edmund starts sixth form and I have a weeks work cooking in a rehab centre.
• It looks like a nice day out yesterday a pity it was to busy for the 'Henry mark2' but I'm pleased to hear that Mum is one of the 'Ladies that lunch',

Hell's Bells!

We googled this bloom out of the front garden at King's Sutton, and it seems that it is a Brugmansia or Horn of Plenty Datura

A Grand (Union Canal) Day Out

Having tidied up the garden with the new strimmer on Saturday and trimmed the roses and installed the new sun shade on Sunday, we felt that a run out in the Scenic was due, partly to test whether or not the scooter would fit into the back of the car without too much trouble. I dug out a canvas racheted lorry strap out of my car and we lashed the buggy down securely using the cargo mountings fitted to the car.












Dad had a map showing items of interest to do with the network of waterways round about, so after strapping in 'Henry MkII', we headed off for the The Canal Museum and The Boat Inn at Stoke Bruerne.













I sat in the back next to 'Henry MkII', to observe any shifting around and Dad drove with Mum in the front, and the journey went well, without incident.
Stoke Bruerne is a tiny village with a very large waterway facility and clearly attracts a lot of visitors so that parking tends towards busy!
We found a temporary car park opened up in a ridge and furrow field for £2, and Dad decided to forgo the buggy and manage with his stick so, as it was gone midday we were thinking about lunch arrangements.
"2 courses for £10" was written up on a sandwich board, so we took the last table for lunch.
Mother had a full meal of Mediterranean Soup and Trout with Almonds and coffee with petit fours and finished the lot.









As it would happen, I was out with my mates Kevin and Gary yesterday looking at ride-on mowers for their new spread in Cornwall, and spotted a pair of ramps for £50 in a box, which I bought for use in getting 'Henry MkII' in and out of the Scenic without having to remove the batteries. Which means that 'Henry MkII' (or Thunderbird 1) could travel down to LLandewi Breffi, or Princes Risborough in the Renault (Thunderbird 2) for taking on walks up the Hills or down the Valleys.
Mother doesn't seem to feel the need at the moment but the thinking is that for Dad, an assisted ramble is now on the cards.
'Thunderbird 1' has a range of 28 miles ( 14 there and 14 back) and a top speed of 8mph on the road, although should be used at it's restricted setting of 4 mph for use on pavements.
To be fully set up, what needs to happen is for 'Thunderbird 1' to get a no-fee tax disc, and for 'Thunderbird 2' to get a BlueBadge for preferred parking.

Almost ready to set off....

Well done Edmund - we had every confidence in you!

Okay folks, we're almost ready to set off. I'm disconnecting the ADSL now so we will be out of contact until we arrive in the UK on Wednesday evening.

Loads of love to every one

Pete and Jan.

From HQ

Well done, Edmund for your 2 A*, 3 A's, 3 B's, 3 C's etc.etc, We are really proud of you. Grandad.

Radio 4's Word of Mouth

Clive's boss Fiona was a guest on Michael Rosen's Radio 4 show Word of Mouth last night talking about new words (Fiona and Clive work in the new words section of the Oxford English Dictionary. We like to think of it as the media friendly, sexy, glamorous part of the OED).

More film crews in Oxford this morning. They were filming at the cafe in Broad Street. Its the next installment of 'Lewis'. Clive says he saw Billie Piper yesterday on Magdalen Street. She is allegedly engaged to Laurence Fox (son of James) who is Lewis' sidekick DS Hathaway. Hope the episode they are filming isn't set in a hot summer as its freezin' ere.

Will is back after his week away in Holland and I can report he had a great time. To show what a ol' festival hand he is now, the tent was fine and he even had a fresh set of clothes in a sealed bag all ready for the trip home!

Any photos Will?

Gemsi x

wet but happy

great news pete!!!! congratulations!

...and it was lovely to see you, hugh and margaret, if too briefly. I think your house looks fantastic. I love the view of the church spire from the back.

we had a wonderful holiday in Skye -here we are in the blessed rain - and Julian is rested in a way i haven't seen him in a long time. Here's a toast to holidays and a very well deserved one for this particular hoodie. Also, as you probably all know, Julian is a marvelous boyscout. He took me up mountains, helped me across streams, picked mussels and cooked them on the camp fire and we had fresh espresso with hot milk and midges every day...we are planning more camping holidays in the future in our new blue tent. It beats touring in mediocre hotels is all I can say!

you can see more photies here:
http://flickr.com/photos/93563935@N00/sets/72157601481740263/

Exhibit No 1

Angelo Badalamenti – Laurens Walking
Sorry Ezappy, unfortunately we were having too much fun at the time to take a photo of Grandad nipping down Withall Street with Edmund riding pillion, as Grandma got the serious giggles (which are fantastically contagious). But do have this photo of Clive leading the way to the 'White Horse' tour guide style...

Grandma looked gorgeous in her new outfit and I hope I'm even as half as classy as her one day. Thanks everyone for lovely day and great to see you all - intense family fix! Thought of you Pete and the ladies this mornning with your early start. Hope you made the ferry ok.


My Grandad (cheeky ain't I)

See you all soon

lv Gemsi & Clivos x

The Straight Story [1999]

(Highly recommended Disney movie)

mum&cath

mum&cath
Originally uploaded by ezappy.

girlie moment ahh!

Thomas&Grandad

Thomas&Grandad
Originally uploaded by ezappy.

T&G in the pub. Have we got one of Edmund doing riding 'shotgun' on the back of 'Henry'?

Dad's new 'Henry' the scooter
Originally uploaded by ezappy.

cathy&steve

cathy&steve
Originally uploaded by ezappy.

Well done to Hewsappy for booking us all in at the White Horse for Sunday Roast and (Fish Pie for Clive) all washed down with delicious Brakspear's Ale mmmmm. AND Mother tucked in to a full portion of Roast Beef, Yorkshire Pudding and Roast Potatoes and vegetables plus a Summer Pudding for desert (after a purely medicinal G&T).
Adderbury for length,
Bloxham for strength,
and King's Sutton for beauty.
(Old Rhyme).

NEWS FROM HQ

Thank you to Cathy, Pete and Jan, and lovely Steve for coming all the way from Wales, Spain and Farnham, to see us at the weekend.
Also Jess, Beth and Amy, Edmund, Thomas and Kate, and for Gemma and Clive. It was a lovely weekend and we had a lot of fun. not least of all was for you all to see me trying to manage Henry's Mobility car. That, too, was fun - especially the ride to and from no 31 to the White Horse, with Edmund on the pillion. We had a lovely Sunday Roast lunch, and a happy family afternoon. We hope you all got home safely, in that awful rain, and we thought about you, Pete at 4 o'clock this morning as you started out on your return car journey to the Costa Blanca. You are all lovely and we love you all. Didn't Mum look smashing in her Woodstock outfit and she shares with me all of the above. Love from DAD

NEXT WEEKEND - 18-19 August

It looks as if we will be having some visitors. Pete and Jan and family are coming on Sunday (Maybe Sat eve too) Cathy and John and family are also coming on Sat/Sunday. Both families are bringing tents (I think) to camp out on the back lawn. We are searching around for chairs -hope the weather is fine so we can all sit outside.
Julian and Ruth called in on their way to Ashford to catch the Euro train, spent an hour with us, having been climbing in Skye. Annika with husband and children have been staying at J& R Bedoin house.
Hope Will is having a good time with the pot smokers in Holland. but any one else is welcome to join us on Sunday. Don't want to spoil Pete's surprise but he has been offered a job at Princes Risborough C.S school. Decision time!!!!!!
Hope as many as poss. will be coming on Sunday. DAD and MUM

Will is off on his holidays...

to the very cool Lowlands Festival in the Netherlands. He's been round to borrow our tent and he flies out tomorrow to Amsterdam with the lads- lucky devil.

love Gem x

Another enjoyable day

Pete, Jan and the three girls arrived after lunch, and we had a lovely get-together. Amy as usual, was the life and soul of the party, but we all squeezed into our small dining room to enjoy some party biscuits and Amy's favourite cheese. It was lovely to see Jan after her medical 'scare'; and also Jess and Beth after their camp in Anglesey. Pete enjoys using my electrical woodworking gear and I am grateful to him for 'boxing-in' a conglomeration of cables and switches, which faced me in the conservatory. Our plums are approaching maturity after Steve and I spent some time shoring them up to stop them breaking the branches like the plum tree we had in Chinnor. The tree is only small, but is crowded with fruit, so we look forward to some stewed plums in the not too distant future. After a week of lovely summery weather, we awoke to rain this morning, but our cleaning ladies will be here soon, so we may have to eat lunch in our rejuvenated 'garage' - thanks Pete for all your work in tidying it up.
Julian and Ruth spent the night in the Lake district, after an 8 hour car journey from Skye yesterday, so we may see them as they head south for their return to France.
Cathy and family are back in Wales after their lovely holiday in France, but as Cathy is busy on her 'field work' in outside catering we may not see them for a while. I expect Edmund is looking forward to getting his exam results. Good luck, Ed!
Love to all from Mum and Dad.

A MOST ENJOYABLE DAY

Having cancelled our proposed visit to Long Hill, we decided to explore some of Northamptonshire's beauty spots. After a not very nice trip up the A 43, to Northampton, we continued north up the A508 to a lovely country park at Pitsford where there is huge lake/rezzy with plenty of car parking, many walks, cafe, shops (selling bicycles of all things!) and we spent some time enjoying the view. After 6 pm we continued to enjoy the day, by returning along the 508 until we saw a sign to Church Brampton leading to Little Brington until we came across Althorp House in Harlestone. There was some big event where the entrances were closed so we did not venture in, but continued all round the long wall, over the M1 and A5, heading for Daventry, before turning south to home and tea. There are many places to visit and in the passage of time we will try them all. Pete and family are to spend next Sunday with us and we may even see Cathy, John anf family and perhaps Julian and Ruth after their trip to Skye. I figure that we must be in the very centre of England, so no excuses!! Love from Dad and Mum

A MOST CONFUSING DAY

I thought I would try out the journey to Milton Keynes yesterday, but on arrival at Central M/K all I could see was acres of cars parked, with no spaces left for yt, so Mum says - lets go home, so we went to Stony Stratford and parked by the roadside and had a cheap lunch. John Lewis will have to wait !!
We are off to Farnham tomorrow with Gemma and Will, to join Steve at Gloria's lovely house in the woods, where he is 'Old Man sitting' on Henry Smith, aged 93 as Gloria and Tony want to get away for a break. We have been there before, but Steve wants to make sure that we take our Moto in case we get lost. Lol Dad

Ezappy's thought of a way

.. to see brother Nic and Jen next year!





DRIVE there!