The House Husband

For our last walk of 2011, Mirinda decided we’d all go to Hankley. Although grey and grim, it was still very beautiful. Oddly, a lot of other dog walkers must have thought the same thing because we saw more people than we normally do.

Sadly we also saw (and, even sadder, heard) a couple of trail bike riders ruining everyone’s day but their own. Still, what can you do. In a free society, those that wish to ruin have as much right as those that wish to enjoy. Personally, I think the army should use them for sniper practice.

It was also Carmen’s first long walk and she managed very well although a good deal slower and more considered than of old. I think Day-z was a bit frustrated at the lack of pace.

Speaking of Day-z, Mirinda spent an hour with the dog brush, making her look like a huge, black cotton wool ball. She looks more like a Bichon Frise than a poodle! Mirinda described her as looking like a big puddle of fluff.

Day-z shows off her bouffant

She now looks twice the size of Carmen who is normally the butterball around here.

This morning I was in the dining room, looking out at our wonderful path. There was an awful lot of action around the bird feeder. Gold finches, blue and great tits, green finches…they were all going crazy. I raced upstairs for the camera and telephoto lens. By the time I returned, they’d all gone off somewhere else.

I was a bit annoyed. Still, I stood around for a bit, just in case they decided to unexpectedly return. The big mob didn’t but this little fellow did.

Siskin coming into land

I had no idea what he was but I knew I hadn’t photographed him before so I just went mad and snapped away. He was quite helpful and stuck around for a bit.

He is a siskin which is a type of finch. Mirinda tells me that they are quite frequent visitors during winter.

Siskin in portrait pose

It’s New Year’s eve as I write this, which reminds me of something I read the other day. I’m presently reading Agincourt (a book about the lead up to the battle, the battle and the aftermath) and I read the following in a section where the author was explaining the difficulties giving precise dates for historic events.

Throughout the Middle Ages, the Church, which preferred to start the year with one of its major Christian festivals, successfully opposed attempts to revert to the pagan Roman practice of beginning the year on 1 January. Even though the spread of Protestantism in the sixteenth century gave it renewed credibility, it was not formally adopted in England as New Year’s Day until 1 January 1752.
[Barker J 2010, Agincourt, Hatchett Digital, p213-214]

Here’s a cheeky robin, unsuccessfully trying to hide behind the chain on the floating table.

Peek-a-boo

Though today started off quite dull, the afternoon was gorgeous. The sky was blue, the temperature cold, the sun was big. A perfect winter’s day.

In the afternoon (Mirinda had a guitar lesson in the morning) we took the dogs to Hankley. We timed it well as we enjoyed the fantastic afternoon light as the sun descended. Though, had we been a mere ten minutes earlier, we would have witnessed a Montgolfier landing very close!

Montgolfier at Hankley

When we first spotted it, the balloon was still quite full but the closer we drew, the flatter it became. Until eventually, the passengers were starting to fold it up. Fortunately Carmen didn’t know what it was because she totally hates Montgolfiers ever since that big scary one tried to attack her in East Worldham.

As we sauntered passed, the pilot (I assume) was trying to tell the ground crew where they were. Eventually he just climbed the big hill onto the ridge where they picked him up.

Pilot and basket

Actually we saw more people at Hankley today than we’ve ever seen. I think a lot of them had just waited around as the Montgolfier landed and was packed away.

There was a pair of horse riders, sitting in their saddles, watching. When they left and climbed the hill they actually galloped. We see a lot of riders walking but I think this is the first time I’ve seen them gallop. It was quite exciting though at a great distance.

When we reached the wooded area of the ridge, a whole army of soldiers was sitting around being instructed (apparently if they see a church in the distance, they must not say “Oh, look, there’s a church.” Rather they must yell out “Reference church!“. I don’t know why. Mirinda thinks it saves someone blowing up the church.), their faces painted, their firearms looking lethal. It was all a bit intimidating until one of the soldiers started making a fuss over the girls. They were all pretty young and we figured they were maybe cadets from a local school.

We managed to get by them all unscathed and made our way back to Sidney. Somewhere in the last bit, Carmen hurt her back leg. I couldn’t find anything in her paw and there was nothing obvious on the leg itself so I have assume she’s just twisted it or something. We’ll see how she is on Monday and take her to the vet if there’s no improvement.

Here’s Barry again. One day, I swear I’m going to take an in focus photograph of a blue tit!

Barry on the floating table

The late afternoon light at Hankley is beautiful. Everything looks washed with warm watercolours. The views welcome you, beckon you onward.

Hankley access road

We took the poodles for a lovely run around, something they don’t get with me any more…until the cast comes off anyway. Carmen went delirious. I now think it wasn’t the bog last week so much as she was just overjoyed at being off the lead. If today was anything to go by.

Not that she had a chance today. There’s no bogs at Hankley; just a cool, clear stream. And lots of sand. Which means she brings a beach home with her but at least it doesn’t smell like the pits of hell!

Soft autumn light at Hankley

As we managed to fit three days into yesterday, we decided to take it easy today and spent the day at home. Mirinda with her studying, me with…well just pottering, really.

We did go for a walk at Hankley late on. It looked lovely in the late afternoon sun.. The heather was all out, looking fresh and pinkish purple. This week, I made sure I had a card in my camera!

Heather at Hankley

As we walked we spotted, what looked like, two cheese scones in the path. This was a bit odd. I bent down and realised they were actually a couple of fungi, to all intents and purposes, out for a day in the country. We were quite amazed that someone (or thing) hadn’t kicked them over, squashed them or otherwise disturbed their progress across the path – given that fungus travels so slowly.

Scones or mushrooms?

They are actually a type of puff ball fungus which have shot their loads, which is how they spread their spores. That’s why they are open at the top.

The heather from the ridge, Hankley

We also watched Fire Walk With Me, in two parts today. It is the prequel to Twin Peaks and is seriously disturbed. Because it’s over two hours long, we watched half at lunch and finished it with dinner. It filled some holes but then created a whole lot more. David Lynch does like his obscure puzzles. Mirinda is not so keen.

It’s not often that I get to sit and listen to Mirinda play her guitar. What with her jetting all around the world and only being here on the weekends. She also tends to play when I’m cooking dinner. So it was a rare treat this evening to listen as she practised.

We had a pretty chilled day all round. Basically the entire day amounted to taking the poodles to Hankley for a walk after lunch. Which was lovely.

On the way home we decided to check out Headley, a place Mirinda was keen on checking out just in case we wanted to live there at some stage. We had a lovely drink in the pub.

The Holly Bush at Headley

I was going to take some photos of Hankley and Headley but I forgot to replace the memory card in the camera. A bit pointless, really. The pub was taken with my phone.

We also had a lovely time listening to Molly sing a few songs. Here is my new favourite, As Soon As I Get Home from The Wiz.

She was awarded “most outstanding junior vocalist” in The Illawarra Song and Dance Festival and I should damn well think so! I seriously doubt there’d be many more like her.

I went out and snapped a few photos of our red tulips this afternoon. Firstly because I like taking photos for the blog and secondly, because mum loves the colour red. It made me wonder what they looked like last year. So I hunted back through the blog to April 2010 and found a rather wishy washy shot of the same tulips. It’s here. Though, to be fair, we were away on the Isle of Wight this time last year and maybe the tulips were passed their best by the time we returned to them. Meanwhile, here’s the stunning 2011 collection.

The red tulips, glowing brightly in the afternoon light

We had a deliciously lay-about-Sunday today. Full of sitting in the garden (for a bit) watching 30 Rock (for a bit) and walking the poodles on Hankley (for a big bit).

Carmen was particularly pleased with this last bit as she was allowed off the lead. And boy, did she take advantage of it. She went mad. Running through the woods, across the stream, up the hill. Her coat was so astonished, it kept coming undone. It was wonderful to watch. She generally runs everywhere but this was somehow more of a liberation thing. Like she’d been in quarantine for too long and this was her first glimpse of freedom. She truly took full advantage of it. Day-z tried to keep up with her but it was frenetically difficult.

Mirinda was overjoyed because we saw (mostly heard) lots of skylarks. After the fire she thought they’d all died, never to return but it seems they have just moved. High up in the sky, showing off to attract a mate, we saw them. We even spotted one come down to land. This is a photograph of him looking a bit odd. Mind you, he was a long way from us, his head is turned away and this is a digital rather than optical zoom. He also blends in quite well with his surroundings.

Very tiny skylark from very far away

OK, it’s quite difficult to see so, here is the RSPB’s version of the same bird.

The skylark from the RSPB

The air, however, was full of the sounds of his call…and those of his competing friends. It was wonderful. It was also quite nice that there wasn’t many groups of humans wandering around.

The gorse has also started opening up and the faint smell of coconut is starting to appear. If you want to read some fascinating stuff about gorse, here’s a good link. This really is a wonderful time to be wandering around the Southern English countryside.

First gorse of spring on Hankley Common

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It was Mother’s Day in England today – the best day NOT to have Sunday lunch in a pub – so Happy Mother’s Day to both our mothers all the way over there in Australia. Because it’s celebrated on a different day in Australia, I’m sure you were only spoiled the usual amount rather than the extra special spoilage you get on Mother’s Day but still, WE thought of you with extra love.

Special Mother's Day tulips

The clocks went forward an hour last night when we went to bed which was actually the morning because, before we put them forward it was 11:10 which means when we changed it, it was 12:10 and the next day, Sunday, which is census day.

We had a lovely meal at Cafe Rouge and walked back to delirious dogs and a couple of episodes of CSI series 10. And, finally, bed.

Given that the clocks went forward, it was like we’d not been asleep for very long. The day dawned gloomy but, as it progressed, the sun came out and the sky turned blue.

After the usual shop, the challenge of filling out the census form online (twice) and Mirinda’s phone call to her parents, we gathered the poodles together for a walk. Here they are patiently waiting out the front for us. It was an excellent idea to train them to put their own lead on. And showing them where to wait. Saves us a lot of hassle.

Carmen & Day-z wait outside for their slow owners

Eventually, tt was a glorious walk across Hankley with the poodles. We saw very few people, which is always nice. We did see this lot…

Family at Hankley out for a walk

…but they were quite a distance away. We even let Carmen off the lead and she was (almost) very well behaved. The day was perfect although we had an hour less of it because of the clocks.

Back at home we had lunch and then waited for the conservatory guy that Mirinda had ordered last week. And what a lovely chap he was. An excellent salesperson, he convinced Mirinda we not only needed a conservatory but we needed his company to build it. We signed on the dotted line and they’ll start building it tomorrow!

Actually, that’s not really true. He WAS a very nice chap and not at all pushy. There was nothing to sign or commit to. He explained everything and went away to prepare a few quotes for the 37 different designs that Mirinda threw at him. When (if) we give the word, it’s supposed to be finished in about 16 weeks. It could end all of our space problems and mean we may stay here for at least five more years.

After he’d gone, Mirinda took a turn around the garden. I was in her study and thought the garden was looking particularly lush so I snapped her in it.

Our garden looking lush for a change

But, a highlight of the weekend was our joining the Farnham Humanists. I’ve filled out the form, written the cheque and will have it in the post tomorrow. They meet once a month at the Hop Blossom pub to discuss things that do not contain religion. They meet on Sunday nights. We shall both be going.

A while ago, Mirinda remarked that it would be a very nice touch if, perhaps, some day, she came home to find I’d bought some flowers and put them, in a vase, in the house somewhere. Maybe. This was a while ago. Then, yesterday, as I left the house to go shopping, it occurred to me to actually buy some. Of course, I forgot. And so Mirinda came home and, again, there were no flowers.

This morning, in Waitrose, the flowers suddenly yelled out to me. They are in a very obvious place and in a very big display. I nodded to them in thanks and collected a bunch of yellow roses. I love yellow roses. I decided to blip them, they were so lovely. One comment (from Dawn) was “I wish someone would buy me some yellow roses.”1 Here they are, looking like floral sunshine by the front door.

Lovely yellow roses

Most of the day was spent with Mirinda studying/writing an essay and me online working on the family tree. But then, in the late afternoon, we decided to drive over to Hankley for a walk. The day had been sunny with a few scattered clouds and warm. We thought it would be a lovely walk. The closer we drove to Hankley the weirder the weather became. It then rained. We stayed in the car, the dogs both looking out the back window as we passed the spot we usually park in.

We ended up back at the house. After parking the car, we took the girls for a walk up to the castle and back. Here they are trying to catch up with Mirinda who is clearly sprinting for home.

Carmen & Day-z struggle to catch up with Mirinda

We are going out for dinner tonight to celebrate…actually I don’t think we’re celebrating anything. Maybe that’s what we’re celebrating. Whatever…we wanted to go to Cote (Mirinda’s new favourite Farnham restaurant) but it is very popular (just like Clifton Cote) and we couldn’t get a table! Instead, we are off to Cafe Rouge, Mirinda’s other favourite Farnham restaurant.

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Overheard in Waitrose:
Old guy: Yep. I’m 97 today. Feelin’ pretty spry.
Woman checkout operator: Wow! 97. Happy birthday.
Old guy’s son: No you’re not, dad.
Old guy: I’m NOT 97?
Old guy’s son: Not yet, dad.
Old guy: It’s not my birthday either?
Old guy’s son: Not today, dad. Tomorrow is your birthday and you’ll be 96.
Old guy: (back to the woman checkout operator) See? It’s my birthday and I’m 97.

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1 Just in case he’s reading, this is a hint for Nicktor.

Hankley looked absolutely beautiful today. We took the poodles out for an early walk as we are off to see Susanne and Rafi for an early evening dinner and visit. We saw a surprisingly large amount of people. We don’t normally go as early so it could be that but it could also be the weather. Today was a perfect winter day. All blue sky and sunshine and nice and cold.

Hankley Common looking gorgeous

After lunch, we drove Sidney up to the station and caught the train into town. We then hopped a few Tube trains to Susanne’s place. She lives opposite Harrod’s. Well, almost opposite Harrod’s.

We had a lovely visit. Rafi and I made up The Balloon Game, which he, naturally, won although I did manage to get a few points even with his continual rule amendments. It was all pretty exhausting, I have to admit. And not easy on a full stomach. His energy knows no limit.

Meanwhile, Mirinda and Susanne had a good, long chat about various things including Susanne’s contention that we shouldn’t leave Farnham for Epsom (or anywhere else) as we are perfectly suited to Farnham. This is a view shared by Dawn as well. And me. Still, we see the architect on Tuesday and we shall see what he says.

After dinner, during the balloon game, we managed to see a little bit of Kung Fu Panda, which seemed quite silly and not a patch on Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, a fact that Rafi kept mentioning. Whenever I laughed at something he’d ask if it was as funny as the meatballs movie. I assured him it wasn’t. Every time.

Rafi explains the finer points of The Balloon Game to me

We left quite late and, as we strolled passed Harrods, I noticed the signs in the window proclaiming there was only one sale. This was rather odd as all the shops around Harrods also had sales on. Clearly the management of Harrods are stupid or just can’t read.

We didn’t get home until 11pm and Sidney was so frozen the key wouldn’t go into the lock on Mirinda’s side. It was a bit frightening as the temperature was below freezing and we didn’t fancy walking home. However, Aunt Vera came to the rescue and freed up my side of the car. We sat with the heater going for a good ten minutes before we drove the five minutes home.

Apparently it’s a good day to get married. If you add the numbers up in the date, the result matches up with the planet Venus while the number ’1′ represents the sun. That makes it a good day to marry. There are people who believe that. It does make it easy to remember when it comes to your anniversary. On Breakfast this morning, we heard from a waiting groom. I think it was the bride’s idea to get married today. He just wanted to go back to bed.

Honestly, how can any of it have any supernatural influence on anything? I know people like patterns; it’s pretty and easy to recall if necessary (the date of the great fire of London would not be so easy to remember if it happened in 1637) but none of it means anything.

It was the Global Day of Doing today. A day to reduce our impact on the planet. A day to do things differently, showing that even small things can make a difference. The reason it’s 10.10.10 is because it is snappy and easy to remember.

In honour of the Global Day of Doing, we decided to go to Hankley for a walk. Ok, that’s a bit tenuous. To be fair, there’s no link with the Global Day of Doing at all. We went to Hankley because it was a glorious day and we go to Hankley almost every weekend because we love it.

We had considered going yesterday but the day was so gloomy, it didn’t seem worth it, so we walked to the castle instead. Today, however, the promised blue skies were spread out from tree top to hill top like a large ironed, fitted, blue bed sheet. No clouds, no contrails (it was almost as if a volcano somewhere was sending up clouds of noxious gas) just blueness. It was beautiful. And warm. It could have been summer.

We spotted a group of ramblers at the top, walking along the ridge. People who ramble in groups are a mystery to me. I love the solitude of walking; not having to move at someone else’s pace; being able to see whatever you want; stopping to admire the beauty all round you. It is a large part of walking for me just to be in the landscape.

I understand people walking together for companionship. You find a lot of lonely people drawn out of their loneliness by the promise of a few hours chatting to like minded walkers. But it doesn’t work for me. If I was lonely, I’d go to the pub. If I want to walk, I want to be alone. Except for the poodles of course. And Mirinda.

Anyway, this group of ramblers were ahead of us. On Hankley there is a hill, I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned it before. it affords a wonderful panorama of the heathland bowl below it. It is just off the main path. One of the ramblers went up the hill while the others kept on the track, ignoring it. Madness. Even the person who climbed the hill (it is not steep or difficult!) didn’t stay, long enough to truly feel the wonder. Anyway, I snapped some of them approaching the hill.

Ramblers at Hankley miss viewpoint

In the photo you can clearly see the hill. Rather than turn right and walk up it, the kept going forward. Weirdos.

Speaking of weird and returning to topic I started with and the reason why today is so important…The binary number 101010 is 42 which is, of course, the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything. To be fair, though, it’s not really very miraculous. After all, today’s date is actually 10.10.2010 and not 10.10.10; I don’t think anything particularly special happened on October 10, 10.