Light

Well the nights are starting to draw out finally....

Spring?

Is this the first sign of spring when you see that gorse brush is in flower?

45

45th day of the year and I think for most of that it has been raining, if not it feels like it has been!

Weather

Not enjoying the weather, beginning to wonder when will the rain stop. I know I am not near any rivers or the sea but day after day of rain is doing my head in.

Wet

It's been so wet this year will it ever get warm.

Drink of the day

The drink of the day today is Berra moretti and very nice beer it is from Italy.

What day is it?

Work up today and for some reason that I have yet to work out thought it was Monday and time for work, it's that bad that I could not understand why the alarm had not gone off or why the telly was not showing the news like it normally does.

Lucky for me the tv did go to the new at the top of the hour 6am if your interested and so knowing I indeed could have a lie in did till 7am!

So why the confusion on what day of the week?

Sadly I can tell you it was not caused by drink, I suspect that at this time it's down to all the huge stress at work, I don't think it's doing me much good. But I don't know how to get the stress level back to something I can handle.

Dry

So yesterday we had a dry day out there in the big bad world, and I might also add we also had blue sky. I am not quite sure how to handle it this blue sky stuff.

So I expect that today it will be wet, as we don't normally have a couple of dry days in a row these days.

Spring is when?

So I know that spring is not supposed to happen for a while yet, but I have just noticed that a lot of bulbs are browning and that some are now starting to form flower heads.

I think this is a bit early?

Bumble bee

So my first bumble bee today, he was a good size but I think he was not that happy about the weather as he was crawling around on the ground and not flying. So I put him out the way so that he did not get stepped on.

Blossom

Saw my first cherry blossom today, don't know if that's the earliest that I seen some or not but February does seem to me to be just a bit early. But what surprises me about it is the fact that the weather has not been that nice and still it's flowering.

Month 2

Well month 1 went rather quick I think!

It's also the most wet month I can ever think I have lived through so far.

Let's hope that later in the year we have a hot dry few weeks.

Rain

I never knew it rain so much. According to the weather service it should now rain until next Thursday!

Oh goody....

Stress part w

Stress it appears that it can hit people in very differant ways. I have read somewhere that you need some stress in your life to work better.

I some how don't think this is always true.

Stress

Stress it's not very nice and when you lots of it at work there come a stage when you just want it all to stop.

Colder

Wow has it turned colder, not happy about this change in the weather.

The other drink of the day

The other drink of the day today is....IPA Reserve by Green King all I can say is its nice very hoppy and works well as an alternative drink to London Pride.

Drink of the day

The drink of the day today is.... London Pride a nice real ale

I have spoken about it before and it has not changed it's just nice.

Drink of the day

The drink of the day today is .... Tea not much else to say about it.

Blue sky

We had some actual blue sky today which was nice.

Dark

Just why is it so dark at 11 in the morning?

Wet

Still have rain but at least for a hour or so we are now getting some sun shine if if does not last for that long.

Ice

Clearing ice off the car in the dark is not fun as I always seem to miss a bit.

Sunset

So sunset for me here in the UK today is 4.18 so why do I need a light on at 4.17!

What happend to twilight? Does. It only happen in the summer?

I don't know the answers to this question.

drink

Drink

although I do a blog now and then when I talk about the drink of the day. I don't talk that much about any of the real ales and a like that i also drink. Not to sure why that is but thats just the way it is.

So to set the record straight today I am drink SOL beer and very nice it is too. thing is I think it is a summer and BBQ beer as its needs to be ice cold and you need to be in your shorts in the sunshine with your sunnyes on.

Drink of the day

The drink of the day today is .....tea

As I have already said lots about tea I am not going to repeat it all here again, so the drink of the day is like I said tea.

Blue sky

I am beginning to wonder what blue sky looks like and also what bright sunshine is, so far this year there has not been much of either. I suppose the good news is that it's a different kind of weather from previous years at this time of year so I suppose one should not moan about it. 

But as I am from the UK it's part of my make up, to always have something to say about the weather otherwise what else would I have to talk about?

Chips

How come, home made chips taste better than anything you can get at a chip shop?

Dark

Still to dark at 4 pm when will it be lighter?

Rain

I don't ever remember it raining for this long and hard ever. I suppose this is what global warming is all about.

Drink of the day

The drink of the day today is.   Tea...

Tea is always a great drink to have epically when you don't have sugar in it so you can actually taste the tea and not the sugar.

Wet

Wet yet again, I am so happy I don't live too near the sea as it looks like it's not a very nice place to be at this time.

Some of the photos that I have from places I have been scare me in just how high water levels are and what the sea in bad times can do.

Blue sky

We finally had some blue sky this year!

Rain

So it's still raining.... Do not think it has stoped this year.....

Drunk

I wonder just how many people around the world on the 1st January are drunk in the morning?

How many are over the drink drive limit?

I suspect that it is rather a few...

Happy New Year

So it's 2014 time to wish you a happy new year and all that sort of stuff.

2014

So a new year starts.

I wonder just how many times I shall manage to do a blog entry this year more or less than last year?

We will just have to wait and see.....

Drink of the night

The drink of the night is......

London Pride by Fullers served cool but not chilled it tastes great and is a nice smooth drink. in fact the taste is rather hard to discribe as its rather a complex tasting ale which is one of the reasons that I like to drink it.

The other reason is that its a nice ale to drink and relax with, surely thats the only other reason to drink an ale?

food

food what to have on the last day of the year?

do you go for a curry? fish and chips or a sit down meal or as we are have a hotbuffet meal?

One thing that i can say  and confirm is that anything is better than nothing as at this time I am hungry. 

why are ipad cases expensive?

why are ipad cases so expensive from apple?

i could not belive the cost of a case for the ipad air, 65 quid why?

in the end i found a case that i like complete with a bluetooth keyboard for 25 quid and its leather. I am still trying to work out why the huge mark up from apple.

Things to be said

I have to admit that I seem to write more posts to this blog when I am not at work. I suppose because I have more free time, which allows me time to do something that I don't do enough of and that's to just think random thoughts.

I happen to think that a bit of random thinking does you good it allows your brain to just let go and not worry about things, that must be something that we all need. I am sure that day dreaming is good for you so I shall carry on free thinking or day dreaming when I have the chance.

Drink of the day

The drink of the day today is....

Coffee again and it's nice to have a relaxed cuppa before going out and about.

Last day of the year

So it's the last day of 2013 and I had a lie in again to 0700 am!

I know isn't great!

So I have only a few hours left to blog in this year, luckily I do have things I want to blog about today, so there will be more than one blog post today.

And why not is a day off for me and the weather is not great and there is not that much on the telly and I am not reading any books at this time so why not keep this notebook of mine going?

Reading

In an earlier post I said that I was having trouble reading any of the 17 books in my reading pile.

Well I have to report that today I brought a book and I have read it!

The book is called 1339 facts to make your jaw drop, I can report that it does have facts that will and did make my jaw drop and on more than one occasion.

Reading

Just had a look at my book reading pile and the news is not good I still have 17 books to read. For some reason I just don't seem to pic up a book and read it anymore.

 is it because I need glasses so that I can read the small print?

 Is it because the iPad takes up my free time? 

Is because I am lazy? Is it bacuse there is too much other stuff to do?

I don't know which or all of these is the reason all I do know is that I am not reading as many books as I used to. What's more annoying is that there are some great books in the pile that I do want to read!

Rain and rain

Wow there is a lot of rain today and it's rather cold which is something I really was not expecting but I suppose considering the time of year it should not be a surprise.

 The good news is that finally the nights are starting to get shorter and that is always good in my book.

Spelling

Why is my spelling so bad and I have a spell checker......

Lie in

To day it had a lie to seven in the morning bliss!

End of the year

So the end of the year is approaching and there is very little of 2013 left.

I suppose there will be websites full of looking back at the year why?

Do will all suddenly forget what has just happend?

Rain

Just how much rain is there up in the sky at any one time?

Billion liters ?

I have yet to find an answer to this question.

American pancakes

So what to eat on a Xmas Saturday?

Yes that's right American style pancakes, which I have never made before.

I am happy to report that they turned out well and will have them again.

Games

As you know I have an iPad air the 128Gb model, don't ask but it has a lot to do with composing music and writing books on it.

Anyway as I was saying I play very few games on the iPad mainly due to the fact that I get board or stuck or just plain loose interest in the game.

But one game that I do play is real racing three I am just good enough to get through a level or two, which is nice as getting stuck in a games sucks, I could emanation here that game call candy crush with I got stuck on a level for more than 2 months but I won't as it appears that I am not the only one to get stuck on a level. It also turns out that it's the main reason why people stop playing the game.

Any way back to real racing 3 which I seem to play at some level of competence it's fun and it's nice just to complete a race, wining is always also nice but for me that does not always happen.

I have found that the game is not fair in that to win on some of the events the car really needs to be fully tooled up and that cost game credits that you can win or buy with real cash. It goes without saying that if you don't win then you can't get the credits you need to upgrade your car.

As I moly play the game now and then I have so far not spent any real money, but I have spent hours and hours playing the game.

The other thing that is no about it is that they do updates and some of them have even good for me at the low level I am playing at.

So if you have an iPad. And you are bored why not download it and give it a go its free as long as you don't get greedy and want it all.

Drink of the day

The drink of the day today is.....coffee that's a real surprise not!

I just have to say that the coffee is one of those expensive fine ground instant ones, that have over the last year or so become popular for some reason or other.

I have a horrible feeling that they are really over priced fro what they are but, sadly I have to report they do taste better than the normal cheap instant coffee so may be that use better flavourings or something?

I don't know the answer all I do know is that it tastes nice and that's what I want in my coffee.

Today's meal

Don't normally record what meals I have but today it's cold gammon with homemade chips. This is normally something we have on Boxing Day but as we had our Xmas meal on Boxing Day everything has been shifted a day or so to the right.

Anyway cold home cooked gammon and home made chips are always very nice.

Boxing Day

Boxing Day was fun and the food was good

Year end

So it's nearly the end of the year and I am glad that I don't go to work until 2014!

Drink of the day

The drink of the day today is....

London Prode a real ale that chilled just a bit is rather nice....

Read the reviews on the internet they do a better job than me.

It's just a nice real ale to have and on Xmas eve even better I can chill out.....

I think you need to chill out and as it's been a while since my last holiday why not?

Drink of the day

Today's drink of the day is.... Chocolate Carmel and very nice it is too. It's the first time I have tried such a drink and I like it.

Yesterday's drink of the day

The drink of the day for yesterday is... Old speckled hen which is a real ale, the good news is I brought a 5liter keg of it and it's very nice thank you very much.

Winter solstice

So today is winter solstice this is good news for me as I love light and these dark nights and mornings are doing my head in.

Rain

Rain we have had a lot of that today.

Pantomime time

Have just seen my first pantomime in a few years. And I have to say that it was rather fun.

The panto was at the new Victoria theatre at Woking and the panto is Cinderella we'll work going to just to hear all the kids and adults joining in.

Work

I have for the first time in years been thinking about work while at home, this is not good and I want it to stop.

Drink of the day

The drink of the day today is..... Coffee

 and why not ?

It is good for you first thing in the morning.

Happy

Are you happy is this a question you ask yourself?

Shortest day

I see that the shortest day is not that far away this does make me happy as it means summer is on its way!

Water and iPads

It's come to my notice that condensation inside an iPad is not good. As the wife decided to use her iPad while having a long soak the condensation in the bathroom has some how managed to get into the iPad. The end result is that the iPad is now working its self with out the need for anyone to touch the screen.

This does of course make it a tad hard to use.

So before having to try and find the money to buy a new iPad, we are trying the old trick of dry rice in a bag with the iPad in it. So far it's been 24 hours, bit scared to get it out of the rice bag and see if it has worked.

But I suppose I will have to bite the bullet and see if it has done the trick.

If not I know what I am sadly going to be doing on Sunday......

M40

Went on this today, I think I was a lucky chap in that the traffic was flowing freely.

Tesoc

So from tesoc I ordered the following whisky Dalwhinnie 15 year old but they did not have that and provided me with Highland park 12 year old which one is the better whisky?

Home made

Just a note to me that home made curry is always good, even if you can't be sure what you are going to get at the end of it all.

Colder

So the weather men are saying it's going to get colder. Not happy about this.

Sunrise

So sunrise was different to the sunset last night in that it was a red sky sunrise, which if you believe the old sayings means bad weather is due soon.

Other than that the red sunrise was nice to look at.

Sunset

Tonight was one of those sunsets that has the clouds highlighted but not a lot of reds, mostly yellows. Either way it was a once sunset and that's alwYs good in my book.

San Francisco

San Francisco is a really nice place to visit, the things that I remember about it are the Golden Gate Bridge in fog  and the fact that in hot weather the main span between the towers sags by upto five feet!

That in strong winds the golden gate can sway by 27 feet!

San Franciso has 43 hills and covers 49 square miles. That the hills really are much steeper than they look on the tv or in the movies.

More later.

Roast chicken

The smell of roasting chicken is nice, probably not so good for vegetarians.

Dark

Wow it dark rather quicker than I thought it would do tonight. I suppose the fact that we are just a month away from the shortest day might have something to do with it.

Back

Back from a beak in the USA. All was good Las Vegas is an interesting place and so is San Fransico more later.

Winter colds

I still hate winter colds and ones that take ages to get rid of. So I still have the lingering effects of the cold and a raw red nose just to add to the fun.

One the the coughing fits that I had did something to the mussels around my ribs because it hurts now when I cough, which is not good, so I can say I am not happy.

Sunlight

So we are loosing daylight hand over fist as we rush towards winter.

Cold

So I have the first cold of the winter.

Sunrise

Really noticed this morning that sunrise is getting much later, had to have lights on to drive in at 7 today.

G Live

Went to G Live last night, and I must say the 20 odd million that it cost to build appears to have been well spent.

The show we went to se was called Jackson and was very good it was just sad that the place was not full but there were enough people there for it to be okay the lead singer called Ben was very good and seemed to have a lot of energy and appeared to. Be word and move perfect through all the songs.

I shall look out for more shows at G Live, the only snag with it is that old chestnut of parking, and the local council thinking that motorists should play through the nose for parking at night. Although saying that the parking was only 1.50 for the evening after a certain time.

Cat

So we have two cats and very nice they are, but lately the younger cat has taken to being rather aggressive in wanting his ears being scratched. How does he do this? By head butting you to get your attention and nudging you if you stop.

Ios7

Just a small note to me that now that I have Ios7 installed for a week or more I really don't notice any changes in the way that it works other than it just works most things work the same or perhaps a bit better.

One thing that they still have not changed is that the screen keyboard still does not have cursor keys which makes it a pain when trying to correct a typing mistake as you often end up having to retype the whole word again.

For some reason there also appears to be two different coloured keyboards why?

Any way for me it works which more than can be send for some of the apps that I use on it.

Drink of the day

The drink of the day today is.....

tea!

I don't think I need to say anything more do I?

Weekend

At last the weekend is nearly here, and I must say that I need the lie in even if it's only until 7am!

Grey sky

So all that we have had this weekend is grey sky all week end no less!

It's not cold just dull grey

Reading

Still reading which is good, currently have two books on the go. The first book I have been reading for some weeks now and is called The A303 Higway to the sun this book is okay to read but for some reason I have found that parts of it are not what I wanted to read about eg there is politics about road building ect when all I want to know about is the A303 and it's history, but apart from that it's interesting in that some of the places you pass through on the A303 are places that have a history even if they don't or did not change history.

The second book that I am currently also reading is an anthology of science fiction stories which date to the last thiry or so years the book is in kindel format and so far the stories are ones that I have never read but there are stories by authors that I have read before if that makes sense?

As a book goes it's huge 700 pages and the cost on the kindel 39 pence! I know!

At that rate even if half the stories are not to my liking it really does not matter as I am sure I will have read more that I do like.

Drink of the day

The drink of the day today is......

Tea!

Yes again! 

Drink of the day

The drink of the day today is.....

Tea!

Why not?

It always some how hits the spot.

iOS 7

So I have taken the plunge and have upgraded my iPad to the new so, it works and has given me more memory. What I find hard to believe is that people are having problems with how to use it why?

It's the same as before just that it looks much nicer!

Tanglefoot

Tanglefoot is a real ale that comes in cans and bottles. It's a strong ale but it is easy to drink and has a nice complex taste, which is the reason that I like to drink it.

The thing is does it come in draft, and if it does does it have a differ in flavour to cans and bottles? 

Does it have a different strength?

I don't know the answer to these questions.

All I do know is that it's nice to drink.

Reading

I have been able to do some reding which is nice, it's something that I have always enjoyed, so it's great that I am getting the time to do some reading and also that I am having fun and reading stuff that I have wanted to do for some time.

Mostly at this time I am reading on the iPad using the kindle programme, which for some reason is better and easier to use than the iBook programme.

 Why?

No a clue it's just what I have found that works for me.

So I am glad to be reading again after months of not reading.

Sleep

Sleep is something that when we don't get enough of it we miss it, so I am missing sleep I think I need at least 6 hours a night to function okay the next day.

I know some people need more sleep and other less but it appears for me 6 hours is just about right.

Lost light

Just noticed tonight how dark it's getting so early in the evening. This means I suppose that  autumn  is due soon.

Post holiday

Well holiday is over and that's not good as I have gotten used to the idea of having a lie in to 7am!

Missing

It's funny but we had our daughter and boyfriend say for a couple of days with us on our short break and she went home to today, don't tell her this but I missed my daughter !

It's a very strange sensation missing one of your grown up children!

It can not put into words the feeling of loss ? That one has

It's even stranger in that daughter live with boyfriend a and has now done so for so e time but still I feel a loss when she went home!

Is this normal!

I think it's something that all parents who are close to the kids feel but how you describe it to others is the problem!

So I shall say it here for me to look back on when I am older I miss my kids.  

Relax

How to relax?

I don't know how to relax but after a couple of days when I have no alarm clock telling me when to wake up I find myself awake at 7 in the morning instead of 5 so I suppose that's what a lie in is called.

The fact that I am also not wearing a watch and constantly checking the time must I think mean that I am relaxing, if this is the case then I am relaxed.

Hot tub

Why is it that a hot tube is just so nice after a long walk?

I don't know the answer but I do know that I can recommend a hot tube after a long walk especially if you end up 1377 ft higher than when you started!

September

So it's the ninth month of the year and I find myself on a short break and very relaxing it is too