The House Husband

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.

Every year there’s one. We almost went to the one this year. To be fair, we did go but we missed it.

We’d spent the day working on various things (Mirinda on her DBA essay and me fiddling with software on the PC) and, by about 4pm were ready for a walk. We bundled the girls into Sidney and set off for Hankley (or Blackdown, as Mirinda insists on calling it now).

We were almost there when the rain started. Mirinda feels like she’s in that early phase of the possibility of the outside chance of a cold, so we decided to drive back home. The poodles were very confused.

Back at the house, Mirinda suggested we walk up to the Avenue of Trees then down to Castle Street for the Food Festival. This sounded like a good idea. The dogs were completely thrown by going into the house then back out without removing their lead.

We had a lovely walk along the trees, chatting with a woman walking a Drontal dog and a Cocker-doodle. It was raining lightly but the trees and an umbrella protected us.

I love it when Castle Street is closed to traffic. There’s always a carnival atmosphere with marquees down both sides and people eagerly inspecting the wares on display. Regardless of the reason, there’s always a beer tent with a healthy crush of thirsty customers and a pork roast with healthy gloops of apple sauce.

We turned into Castle Street off the little lane all expectation and delight. The street was still closed off but everyone was packing up and going home. We’d missed it!

Rather than just turning back and going home, we sat outside Cafe Rouge for a latte before turning back and going home.

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There was a HUGE party on Mitchell Island tonight. Hope it was fun. I send our love to Uncle Les & Julie.

Last Sunday I wrote about how lovely Hankley was even while temporarily in the grip of a war zone. On Thursday, the headlines in the local paper screamed out the news that 90 acres of the heathland had been devastated by fire. A few weeks ago, a similar fire left most of Frensham looking like the Australian bush after a summer fire. We feared the worst.

It took 12 fire crews the best part of a day to put the fire out but they valiantly managed to keep the fire within a relatively small area. As we walked towards the Lion’s Mouth, we could see a strip of black, cutting a harsh swathe across the top of the small valley we walk up. When we reached it, the smell was awful and the landscape alien.

You don’t realise what the ground looks like when it’s covered with vegetation but now you can see the pockmarks, dips and whorls in the ground.

As we reached the look out point we looked down on the dead land. The bowl where the army guy had yelled at us last week was black – the soldiers would have to wear black camouflage as the green would really stand out! It wasn’t as extensive as the fire at Frensham, which is something to be grateful for.

Apparently the Frensham fire was started by some moron lighting a camp fire. While the fire service is still investigating, preliminary thoughts are that the Hankley fire was started by some idiot burning a car. Clearly there are people who don’t care about beauty, wishing to destroy it. They must have very sad lives indeed. I am SO glad I’m not one of them.

I’ve patched together two photos to give a rough idea of the extent. This is the view from the hill we regularly stand on.

Hankley - the bowl after the fire

On a happier note, dinner at the Pride of the Valley was very nice last night. Not quite on the level of St Johns (although they do very good desserts) but still lovely.

If I ignore the grapes mushed up in the middle of the creme brulee, I would give it easily 9/10 – better than mine. Sadly, I couldn’t ignore the mushed up grapes so it gets just 6/10.

They have regular dinner and jazz nights so we may go again for one of those.

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it (or Mirinda for that matter) but where we walk at Hankley is mostly MoD land. We quite often see little heads pop out of the heather, faces painted to match the flora and clothes perfectly camouflaged. Sometimes we see groups of soldiers just ‘hanging around’ or driving big army trucks. There is always used shell casings from rifles littering the paths. This makes it sound quite busy when it’s definitely not that! But last Sunday capped it all.

We were happily walking along, poodles cheerfully trotting ahead of us, when there was a couple of loud explosions in a wooded area on a hill across from us. As we turned a corner we spotted, what looked like, a couple soldiers chatting to a druid. They were quite a long way off.

The explosions had made the dogs a bit nervous and their tails were down as they walked very close to us. Suddenly gunfire erupted from in the wood. The soldiers and the druid started yelling things and a truck appeared on the ridge ahead of us.

With careless regard, the driver barrelled towards the soldiers and the druid, almost taking corners on two wheels. It’s important to realise that Hankley is almost all sand and the paths are a bit dodgy for walking, let alone driving. It reminds me of the Dakkar Rally roads. Anyway, the truck backed up a small path and the soldiers and the druid piled into the truck and it drove off.

This was all very exciting but it all happened quite a way off. Clearly the army was playing some war games and the druid was possibly a guy dressed as an Afghan or Taliban or some such.

When we reached the highest point and stood to admire the view a voice suddenly sounded from below us. A soldier was standing waving and yelling at us. He said there was going to be a few loud explosions in about five minutes. He wasn’t warning us off, just letting us know. We figured it would be a good idea to get moving on.

We walked along the ridge, towards two army trucks. I spotted little faces peeking up at us from the foliage and there was a little group of soldiers and people dressed up as Afghans or Taliban or druids, just chilling in the sun, not far from us. We quickened our steps.

After a while there was a sudden explosion where the soldier who yelled at us had been and all hell broke loose. Soldiers broke from cover, the group with the druids stood up and started milling and the big truck headed in to rescue them.

More explosions and a big puff of green smoke erupted from the back of the truck – presumably to cover the rescue. Gunfire sounded from the hill opposite and, from a quiet sedate heathland, we were transported into a war zone. Amazing. The poodles were less than enthusiastic.

After a while the whole thing was repeated on the original hill with explosions, gunfire, rescue by the truck and returning to the ridge. We presume they then settled down to run the hill top rescue again.

We figure they like having a few civilians wandering through their games as it gives it all a bit more realism. It gave me the smallest inkling of how it is in a war zone. Lots of noise, smoke and yelling.

I would just like to say that soldiers are amazing. Being an atheist, I can only admire the fact that they lay down their lives for us every day. These games help them to lessen the toll and I’m very thankful.

Today I put the whole of our Brittany trip on the blog. It has to be the quickest I’ve ever managed to put a journal live. Ideally I would make entries ‘live’ from holidays, but it gets impossible when I have no Internet connection. Anyway, I think this worked fine. And now I shall work on the photographs. There’s 400+ that I need to whittle down to a more manageable number.

Today we went into Farnham to shop (me to Waitrose, Mirinda to get new glasses), took the poodles to Hankley for a long walk and watched a sad movie. Such a nice normal day.