A reasonably uneventful flight apart from 2 hours on the tarmac in Bangkok while BA technicians tried to decide whether to take off again due to 'hydraulic malfunction issues'. If this meant that the landing gear would not work, or the flappy bits on the wings would fall off, then I was all for disembarking but the masses in economy had no vote so eventually we took off.
Still a bit jet-lagged, so I am up at 6am ( those who know me would realise how exceptional that is ) and asleep by 10pm. The biggest problem at my mother's house ( my mother notwithstanding ) is that it is a technological black hole. No mobile phone reception on any network, sending my international roaming facility into meltdown, and no internet access. I have discovered that at certain times of day if I stand in the far corner of the garden amongst the weeds I can send and deliver text messages....sometimes. I suspect that mother has cast a protection spell similar to the one that Dumbledore put around Hogwarts, or that the cavity wall insulation is packed with tin foil, egg cartons and selenite.
So, in the absence of a viable mobile internet option, I was forced to do something I swore I would never do again and spent a week waiting for BT to supply the equipment for me to install broadband. After 2 days of apparent non-delivery (' if you are experiencing problems please visit our website' ) I discovered the BT Home Hub parcel hidden behind the wheelie bin, and today have finally made contact with the outside world.
I am not an internet addict, I can cope without it. 7 days abstinence?....no worries, plenty of other things to do. So now I am up to World 3 level 7 on 'Super Mario Brothers' on my Nintendo DS!
It appears that BT have not improved their service. After a massive 4 hours online, my Wifi is malfunctioning and connection is intermittent.
Meanwhile it has been a fun time to be in the UK with all the general election shenanigans. It is like a fly on the wall documentary about a group of boys in the playground. David and Gordon have new footballs, but they need to be inflated. Nick has the bicycle pump and is everbody's new best friend, so is being offered the team vice captaincy and all the sweeties he can eat. Great fun.
It has been one of the coldest Mays on record here, with no sunshine and even snow in the north east. I went shopping with my sister-in-law today, and she took me to a surf gear shop to help with the home sickness! The guy who runs the shop said he went to Scarborough to surf yesterday and just as he donned the wetsuit he was struck down with freezing hailstones and had to abandon the beach.
.......more tales from 'up over' to follow
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Saturday, May 1, 2010
leaving on a jet plane..
New date for my flight is Tues 4th May, so I will be leaving the lovely autumn weather behind and heading for the UK- hope that the English spring has some sunshine for me.
So, I will try to see as many people as possible while over there, although I will not know until I get to Preston just how much care Mum will need.
Ness and the gang will be home alone- pics below taken this week and show Ness and her mob going for their morning constitutional. Daft creatures follow her like a pack of dogs!
So, I will try to see as many people as possible while over there, although I will not know until I get to Preston just how much care Mum will need.
Ness and the gang will be home alone- pics below taken this week and show Ness and her mob going for their morning constitutional. Daft creatures follow her like a pack of dogs!
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| From Protea Farm 1 |
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| From Protea Farm 1 |
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| From Protea Farm 1 |
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
volcanic disruptions
Currently stuck here in Australia, flight to UK canceled, and the damned volcano in Iceland is causing major hassles. There is no way to contact BA at the moment- the website is being deliberately obtuse and the phone lines permanently on hold.
So, not a lot I can do but continue to enjoy the fantastic autumn weather here.
Vanessa got a birthday gift from Georgie ( hereinafter known as 'the animal hoarder by proxy' ) of 2 guinea pigs. She is refusing to call them 'Kath & Kim', so they have been named 'Myrtle & Sorrel'.
The new 'pig palace' is currently having coats of yacht varnish before the ladies move in.
Brian the ram has settled in well, but there has been no obvious procreative activity to date. he may turn out to be an Adam or Ian......watch this space.
So, not a lot I can do but continue to enjoy the fantastic autumn weather here.
Vanessa got a birthday gift from Georgie ( hereinafter known as 'the animal hoarder by proxy' ) of 2 guinea pigs. She is refusing to call them 'Kath & Kim', so they have been named 'Myrtle & Sorrel'.
The new 'pig palace' is currently having coats of yacht varnish before the ladies move in.
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| From Protea Farm 1 |
Brian the ram has settled in well, but there has been no obvious procreative activity to date. he may turn out to be an Adam or Ian......watch this space.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
kiwis and sheep
It was an Easter of kiwis and sheep ( always a good combination). Friends from NZ who we have not seen for nearly 15 years arrived for a holiday. When we were last together in the UK there were only 2 of them, but times have moved on...
It was great to see them and get to know the 3 boys, who were incredibly well-behaved apart from regularly bringing bugs and creepy-crawlies for us to admire.
We also collected our new dorper ram. Sticking with The Archers theme he needed to be a bit of a Lothario in order to perform his duties, so we have named him Brian.
He is currently following Lilian around with a stupid amorous look on his face.
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| From Protea Farm 1 |
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| From Protea Farm 1 |
We also collected our new dorper ram. Sticking with The Archers theme he needed to be a bit of a Lothario in order to perform his duties, so we have named him Brian.
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| From Protea Farm 1 |
He is currently following Lilian around with a stupid amorous look on his face.
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| From Protea Farm 1 |
Thursday, April 1, 2010
quote of the week
This week we went to the pre launch party of the 'Gourmet Pantry' at Thistle Hill, one of our local wineries. Obviously the main reason for attending was free wine, but an additional bonus was the chance to catch up with locals in the hospitality industry and swap stories about the joys of dealing with the public ( running this business has so many parallels with running a vet practice, and the delightful general public are the common spanner in the works ).
Having vented our communal spleens about feral children, obnoxious over 60's, and people's inability to understand basic rubbish recycling, Kate's sardonic comment was a belter.
' I mistakenly thought that Fawlty Towers was a comedy; I now know that it was a documentary'.
Blogs have been few and far between recently, mainly due to the fact that my Mum is seriously ill and I have to return to the UK in a couple of weeks. So Ness is having a crash course in all the business/internet stuff that I primarily deal with and trying not to panic about flying solo.
Fully booked for the Easter holidays, but hoping to get a little free time to go shopping for a ram- the girls are fat as houses after the rains and accelerated grass growth, and they need a man soon. Looking into getting a dorper boy and breeding wiltshire horn x dorpers, working on the principle that they will look very stupid and taste good.
Having vented our communal spleens about feral children, obnoxious over 60's, and people's inability to understand basic rubbish recycling, Kate's sardonic comment was a belter.
' I mistakenly thought that Fawlty Towers was a comedy; I now know that it was a documentary'.
Blogs have been few and far between recently, mainly due to the fact that my Mum is seriously ill and I have to return to the UK in a couple of weeks. So Ness is having a crash course in all the business/internet stuff that I primarily deal with and trying not to panic about flying solo.
Fully booked for the Easter holidays, but hoping to get a little free time to go shopping for a ram- the girls are fat as houses after the rains and accelerated grass growth, and they need a man soon. Looking into getting a dorper boy and breeding wiltshire horn x dorpers, working on the principle that they will look very stupid and taste good.
Monday, March 22, 2010
biblical plague events
We appear to be living the plagues of Egypt at Protea Farm at the moment.
The frogs have returned with a vengeance and are keeping Vanessa a hostage in her own home at night by suckering themselves to all the windows and peering in with little froggy eyes.
The plague of flies are a given at this time of year, but the locusts are exceptional and hopping all over the gardens. Tonight on the tennis court under the floodlights the locusts were swarming and almost stopped play. Difficult to return serve when locusts are crawling all over your head.
...so we await the hail, livestock death, and boils.
I was interested to read in the UK news today about the lovely lady B & B owner in Berkshire who turned away a respectable middle-aged gay couple who had booked a stay for the night at her establishment because allowing them to share a bed under her roof was 'against her convictions'.
I wonder whether we should stop allowing rampantly heterosexual people utilising our facilities. Actually, while we are at it we could preclude children ( noisy,messy things ) ladies with long hair ( too much bathroom cleaning afterwards ) people with irritating laughs, men with beards and sandals, and all those who have religious beliefs, orange cars or sisters called Gladys.
Welcome to the Inhospitality industry, nice one Mrs Black.
The frogs have returned with a vengeance and are keeping Vanessa a hostage in her own home at night by suckering themselves to all the windows and peering in with little froggy eyes.
The plague of flies are a given at this time of year, but the locusts are exceptional and hopping all over the gardens. Tonight on the tennis court under the floodlights the locusts were swarming and almost stopped play. Difficult to return serve when locusts are crawling all over your head.
...so we await the hail, livestock death, and boils.
I was interested to read in the UK news today about the lovely lady B & B owner in Berkshire who turned away a respectable middle-aged gay couple who had booked a stay for the night at her establishment because allowing them to share a bed under her roof was 'against her convictions'.
I wonder whether we should stop allowing rampantly heterosexual people utilising our facilities. Actually, while we are at it we could preclude children ( noisy,messy things ) ladies with long hair ( too much bathroom cleaning afterwards ) people with irritating laughs, men with beards and sandals, and all those who have religious beliefs, orange cars or sisters called Gladys.
Welcome to the Inhospitality industry, nice one Mrs Black.
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