The House Husband

I’d forgotten just how brilliant Twin Peaks is. We have been watching it episode by episode during TV time – at meals, ostensibly. We have both series and the prequel, Fire Walk With Me but have yet to work right through all the DVDs. We are enjoying it more than the first time we saw it…which was on live TV a long time ago.

But before we could indulge ourselves today, Mirinda was busy studying and writing. She then finally submitted the draft version of one of her DBA essays. She was very pleased as she pushed the send button and it left in a blaze of binary.

After Twin Peaks and a lunch of roast chicken, we took the poodles for a lovely walk along the path from Frensham Little Pond to Tilford. The poodles simply love walking by the very smelly pigs. Though, more than the smell, I think they quite fancy the ears.

Startled pig on the way to Tilford

The best bit of this walk is the path that follows the river (yet another tributary of the River Wey). It is all, as Mirinda described it, very Enid Blyton. Today the water was quite swollen with the rain we had yesterday and the reeds beneath the water were flying about, moved by the rushing water, looking like they were trees bending in a strong breeze. And so green. everything.

The River Wey near Tilford

I sometimes have to pinch myself when I see how truly beautiful it is where we live. I expect to wake up in the house in Lumsden Street, Cammeray with the sad realisation that the last 35 years have been a dream. If so, I’m quite happy to stay asleep. So, I guess, I’d better stop pinching myself. Just in case.

Back home, Mirinda distributed the plants about the garden, ready for my eager going-green fingers this week. And the weather, contrary to earlier reports, was dry and sunny all day. I sometimes love it when the BBC get it wrong.

Last May (the 18th to be precise) I took the bus out to Frensham kennels to pick the dogs and then made the long walk home. Well, I did it again today. While the day started grey, I had been promised by the BBC that it was going to all go away by mid morning, so I set off, full of the joys of spring. And the BBC did not disappoint. The day turned out beautiful, cloudless and cold. Perfect for a long walk.

Frensham looked lovely (regardless of the fire damage that is slowly growing back) as we crossed the road and headed towards the Little Pond.

Up the hill to Frensham Little Pond

The day was alive with the sounds of birds and the distant (which quickly grew closer as we approached) clackle of chainsaws as forestry people work to strip away the dead trees. A few people were out walking their dogs and the poodles ignored all of them, being intent on keeping an eye on me in case I left them again.

Particularly Carmen, who, every now and then, would jump up at me. I guess she was making sure she wasn’t dreaming. I think she hates having to be in charge (a role she takes on if Mirinda and I aren’t around) and is just completely relieved to not have to think any more. Maybe she’s trying to tell me that Day-z was disobedient. Or perhaps she’s telling me about their holiday at the kennel. Whatever it is, neither of them were going very far from me.

We were going to stop off at the Barley Mow in Tilford for a beer (like last time) but it was closed, so we sat on the banks of the river and looked at the bridge without a beer for a ten minute rest. Not that the poodles actually rested. I am constantly amazed at their stamina. Any normal dog would have a lay down after a long hike but not our two. They are like the Duracell bunny. Without the pink fur.

One of the two Tilford bridges

After almost constant nagging, we set off again, crossing the bridge, just in time to walk passed a young girl with a black lab. She was walking the same way as us and the only reason I passed her at the beginning of the footpath was because the lab was interested in sniffing at something on the footpath post. Then, for the next half mile, amid the sounds of nature, all I could hear was her side of a conversation with her boyfriend (I assume) as she walked and talked on her phone.

We soon managed to lose her and were once more left alone with the birds, distant cars and planes flying overhead. In fact, after her we saw a guy with one of those really ugly dogs and that was it for ages. The next people we saw were at Moor Park, which they are still working on. And then we met Archie.

Archie looked like a knitted dog. He was quite obviously still a puppy with lots of bouncy energy. He very clearly wanted to play with the poodles, who weren’t having a bar of his boisterous playfulness. He was about the size of a standard poodle and jumped and ran all over the place. His owner and her son tried to get him to return to the house but he was intent on being naughty and nothing was going to stop him.

A few times we had to stop and try and grab him – the girls were excellent bait to attract him – but he was wily and managed to avoid all of us. The woman explained that he had already been for a long walk and there was no need for all the running about. As she explained this, she interjected with various versions of ‘Archie’ ranging from begging to respect-my-authority tones. Eventually the kid (a good deal smaller than Archie) managed to grab him and we parted, the poodles very glad. I liked Archie but he could do with a bit of basic training! Like his own name, for a start.

As we drew closer to the Shepherd & Flock roundabout, I spotted this pair of horses in a paddock, obviously enjoying the sun. The one on the ground is not dead…just resting. I saw it blink a number of times.

Horses enjoying the day for a change

Rather than risk the horrid traffic of the roundabouts, I was prepared to walk along the road footpath and cut up through the hospital but then found a footpath! It runs up the side of the antiques centre on the corner and connects the two roads, coming out opposite the 6 Bells pub. When I think about the awful time we had when we went via the main road in May, I could kick myself. This was much nicer. And it only slightly brushes against the council estate.

We arrived home at 2:30 and, starving, had lunch. It was then into the garden for some serious weeding (with a break to chat with Mirinda) and partial dismantling of the cairn. I stopped when I disturbed a small frog who had taken up residence among the rocks. Normally I’d just pick him up and move him but Carmen shows an unnatural interest in frogs so, as she was sitting not far away, watching me intently (in case I was planning an escape through a tunnel) I left the remainder of the cairn for tomorrow when, hopefully he’ll either have re-homed himself or Carmen will be busy elsewhere.

I know I’m going to ache tomorrow but I feel nicely exercised and particularly lifted after a hot shower. A great day.

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Last night, Nicktor & I watched Animal Kingdom, an Australian film starring Jackie Weaver, Guy Pearce and Ben Mendelsohn (amazingly evil) along with some very talented actors I’ve not heard of before. I watched it after Joanne’s recommendation when we met in Brisbane last year. It was fantastic. Nicktor loved it as well. So, thanks Jo, it was an excellent choice. xx

And, for the record, Aldershot played rubbish football last night, drawing 1-1 with Gillingham. We have another match next Tuesday so maybe I’ll be able to write something about that one because last night was just RUBBISH!

What a lovely weekend we had! First the Chawton visit on Saturday then a lovely relaxed day at home with the garden and the puppies. We rounded it off with a very long walk around Frensham Little Pond yesterday, visiting late in order to avoid the sun a bit. As it turned out, we could have left it later as it was still hot.

On the way home we stopped in at The Barley Mow at Tilford for an icy cold beer (yes, I had a lager) and a cider, enjoying them in the gorgeous countryside that surrounds the beer garden. The cricket match had just finished on the green and the spectators were lined up on the benches outside the pub, beers in hand. It was idyllic.

Before we left, we popped down to the fence to have a look at the river that I claimed wasn’t there. On a small island made from bits of mud and foliage, were huddled a family of ducklings. Mum wasn’t far away, keeping an eye out as her brood squished up together on their tiny bit of land. It was so cute, I had to take a photo.

Huddling ducklings behind the Barley Mow, Tilford

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We watched two films this weekend which I want to share. On Saturday night we saw Avatar. I tend not to believe the hype around big blockbuster movies. I wait to see them myself and judge then. If anything I’m turned off by something that claims to have cost extraordinary amounts of money and to be the biggest selling movie of all time. Especially when I’ve seen some wonderful films that cost very little. However, I thought Avatar was brilliant. At 2 hours 40 minutes, it’s long but not once did it falter. The story is engaging, the acting superb, the special effects…well, they are so incredible I thought it all looked real. You forget you are watching CGI. The Na’vi are so real, so utterly convincing, that you feel their pain and their love for their planet. A masterpiece of cinema. I couldn’t fault it at all. I particularly liked the Na’vi Rough Guide! Cute.

Last night we watched a very different movie. We watched Did You Hear About the Morgans?. It, honestly, could not be more different. It stars Sarah Jessica Parker (who I normally can’t stand) and Hugh Grant and is a RomCom. I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised. Apart from the two assistants, I thought it was very witty with Parker and Grant playing well off each other. The two second leads (Sam Elliott and Mary Steenburgen) were wonderful and shone a little brighter. If you like a RomCom, you’ll like this a lot. Even if you don’t like Sarah Jessica Parker!

I picked the poodles up from Frensham Kennels today. I caught the bus out to the ponds, walked to the kennels and then we started the long trek home. It took us over 3 hours! After a short wander around, to make sure everything was as it should be, they both crashed and refuse to move while I ate my lunch.

It was a lovely walk. We went along the edge of Frensham Little Pond and then through to Tilford where we stopped for a beer at the Barley Mow. How idealic. Sitting in the beer garden, overlooking fields, poodles treading all over me as I sipped a pint of Old Hookey. The sun was out but every now and then would have clouds scuttering across it, cooling everything down.

We walked along the Moor Park Nature Reserve which was lovely. The path is part of the Greensand Way, which starts in Haslemere and is woodland on one side and open fields full of wildlife on the other.

We stopped and checked out Mother Ludlam’s Cave. Well, as far as you can. There’s a massive great locked iron gate in the front of it. She was, apparently, a witch who lived in the cave and doled out herbs and potions. She was a white witch but, clearly, mad. There are many legends associated with her. Interestingly, the name, Ludlam, could have a number of sources but the most common is that it is of Celtic origin. Either after Ludd, the founder of London, Lud a healing god or Ludwell which means ‘bubbling spring’. Whatever the history, the spring is still there, bubbling out of the cave. The poodles had a big drink from it. Anyway, here’s the cave as it looks now.

Mother Ludlam's Cave, Moor Park

Apparently in earlier, Victorian days, it was a big tourist spot. It had a little picket fence around it and was furnished. Going back to Mother Ludlam, one legend claims she would loan out cooking utensils (don’t ask me why) and one day she lent someone her biggest and bestest brass cauldron. It was never returned and eventually ended up in Frensham church. You can see it there today, though the church people claim it was a bowl used for brewing church ale.

The oddest part of our walk (ignoring the pig that looked dead) was when we reached the Shepherd and Flock roundabout. There are claims that it is the biggest settled roundabout in Europe. It has a big pub and a number of houses on it as well as a heavily wooded area. It’s like a little village. Well, the path I was following went under the road and straight into a little lane of, what looked like worker’s cottages (Victorian and possibly used by the original railway workers) and a Tudor farm house. The lane is quite low so any casual walker would have no idea they had suddenly set foot on a busy roundabout – if they were deaf. As you walk up the lane and the pub hoves into view, the traffic becomes visible and you realise, with horror, there are cars constantly whizzing by.

We finally reached the house and I made myself a late lunch and much needed coffee. I figured the poodles would just stay, flaked out on the floor. Silly me! They had a brief rest with me then ran around like idiots, playing with Day-z’s toys. They have a hell of a lot more energy than me! I stayed collapsed.

It was a well mixed, delight of a day. From Farnham to Tilford to Woking. Most enjoyable…even with gout.

According to the BBC, today was supposed to be bright and blue and warmish. As we woke, the view out the window was grey and gloomy and chilly. This changed quite quickly. As I walked into Farnham, the clouds split apart and the sun burst forth.

During the week, at the Talking Newspaper, one of the stories I read concerned the re-opening of the Rural Life Centre at Tilford after the winter break. I’d never been. I thought that Mirinda had but she hadn’t either. I told the poorly sighted listeners I was going to visit this weekend. So we did. After lunch and a couple of episodes of CSI, we set off.

The Rural Life Centre was started in 1969 with a single plough. Now, thanks to the hard work of a group of very determined volunteers, it covers 10 acres, has a small railway running around it, has numerous buildings taken from other places and more farm implements than anyone could hope to shake any form of wood at.

It reminded Mirinda of Australiana Village. It is a collection of buildings, some old, some not so, which contain memorabilia. Everything has something to do with rural life, as the name suggests. A lot of the buildings have come from local areas, been dismantled and then erected here. For instance, there’s a grain store which was once in Borelli Yard in Farnham. Naturally, Mirinda fell in love with the green gypsy caravan.

Gypsy Caravan

This isn’t an original one, though. It was built by one of the volunteers (called ‘Rustics’) and he sleeps there when he’s one site, working. For that reason, it’s not open to the public like everything else. Because he may be asleep in there. It’s very pretty and would look quite natty in our back garden.

They also promised a working Wealden furnace which is yet to be completed. This was the main reason I wanted to go. I thought it was going to be a bloomery but, no. It has an overshot wheel and hammer and everything! It’s just not quite finished. Looks like I’ll just have to go back then…

There are lots of buildings and lots of stuff. I shall post some pictures later. Suffice to say, we had a very enjoyable wander round before heading back home.

Mirinda took the poodles for a walk around the park while I prepared dinner. You see we were dining early this week as we have tickets for a dance thing at the theatre in Woking. Traces it was called. It was only on for one day. We didn’t miss it.

It was actually quite amazing. Not really my thing. According to Mirinda, I am far too boring in my need for narrative. It’s an odd thing. Naturally I can watch people do some amazing things with their bodies and be stunned by feats as much as the next person but if it doesn’t have some sort of story, I just end up getting bored. It doesn’t hold my attention.

Though that’s not exactly true of Traces. I didn’t get a chance to get even slightly, minutely bored. They were very good and one impossible thing followed the next. Most enjoyable.

We managed to get home in time for Match of the Day and I just saw Chelsea score 4-1 against West Ham.

I am including the photo below just because I thought it was really funny. It’s a horse ambulance but I think it looks like a horse limo and the horse in the back is wearing shades.

Horsey G-G