Saving the sunlight

The clocks went forward last night so we missed an hour of sleep.

I have discovered, much to my surprise, that Queensland isn’t the only bit of Australia that is scared of DST. It seems that Western Australia and the Northern Territory also leave their clocks as is.

Queensland has had a couple of DST trials as well as a referendum but the people who live in the north of the state stand firmly against having darker mornings and lighter evenings. There’s even a political party called Daylight Saving for South Eastern Queensland which did quite well in the last state elections. Their plan is to introduce DST to the south east of the state and leave the northerners in the pre-1970’s. Sort of like we New South Welsh-landers did so long ago.

Western Australia has had a few referendums and an equal amount of trial periods but, even so, they wish to keep to the old time. Not that it really affects that many people in other states given it’s so far away. It’s not like having to drive to Queensland and reset your watch as you cross the border. Besides, it’s so far away it’s basically another country anyway…a very big country.

All that stuff aside, we woke up an hour later without feeling any benefit. As Chantelle (at Starbucks) said, she’s just used to getting up in the light and it’s now going back to the dark. Still, much better the sun goes down later because it means we can go for walks later in the day without the fear of returning in the pitch.

And it was unending sunshine today as we set off across Farnham Heath.

I haven’t been to the Heath for ages. When we stayed in Frensham during the extension, Day-z and I roamed all over it. Just the two of us, exploring and keeping each other company. Today I was determined to go along with Mirinda and the puppies. And I did.

One bit that we hadn’t explored was the Forestry Commission bit on the other side of the Rural Life Museum. Mirinda has been there before and thought I’d like to see it.

I was a tad dismayed that the iron age fort remains had been churned up a bit by the logging trucks (I thought it was a Scheduled Monument) but was soon happily staring out across a field containing horses and gymkhana equipment. I reckon this is where some of the competitors at the Surrey County Show spend hours practising.

We didn’t see many people (a couple of joggers, a family with a rather boisterous Labrador) which was pleasant and added to the walk immeasurably. Though Freya probably missed making the acquaintance of a giant dog or three. To make up for it, both of them managed to bring home a huge quantity of undergrowth.

Tonight I was going to make a Lamb Shank Hot Pot (a lo-carb version of the Lancashire favourite) but, oddly, Waitrose didn’t have either lamb shanks or turnips. So, instead I made Pork with Green Butter. It didn’t matter, it was delicious.

Here’s a short video of us on the Heath.