Well hello there, it's been a while, I haven't picked up a brush for about 5 years and was on the verge of giving up the hobby all together. My collections have grown and quite a high proportion of my collection remains unbuilt, unpainted and still boxed.

My enjoyment of the game has waned with the new edition releases, I wasn't overly keen on 5th, 6th was hard work, 7th introduced some awful changes and 8th is trying to be simple but is even more complex than ever. 4th still remains my favourite edition closely followed by 5th, despite it being the beginning of daft and pointless rules.

That said GW does seem to have listened, at least in part, to the players and collectors. They're now releasing some excellent boxed games. The most notable of these is the latest edition of Necromunda. A skirmish games set in the bowels of massive cities in the 40k universe. It was with much excitement that I bought my copy of the game, which has remained in mint condition for the last few months.

Another game that came out was Shadespire, it's a 2-4 player skirmish game set in what was known as the Warhammer Fantasy universe, small groups of models battle each other for some reason or another. I never really played Warhammer Fantasy Battles, but I do have a favourite race from the game, the Skaven. They're vicious, devious ratmen. Cowardly, cunning and spiteful. I discovered that a Skaven expansion set for Shadespire was available. It contained 5 fantastic models and I decided that I had to have them, so they were bought. Then I looked closely at the photos of the painted models and thought they really looked hideously brilliant. The detail is incredible and each model tells a story, I didn't feel that my painting skills would do them justice. I asked one of the guys from the Thursday night group if he would paint them for me, he's much better at it than I am. In between me handing them over and Jack returning them, I bought another Shadespire expansion, Sepulchral Guard, 7 models represent animated skeletons. Ever since watching Jason and the Argonauts and the skeleton fight scene I've like skeletons from the fantasy setting, so I had to buy them, rude not to. The models stayed in the box for a few weeks, I considered asking Jack if he would paint those as well. Then he returned the Skaven in all their colourful glory. The models look fantastic, Jack if you ever read this "Thank you so much!"

Jack's work on the Skaven triggered something in my head, and I decided that I'd paint the Sepulchral Guard models myself. With absolute respect to Jack, I'm so glad I did. As I write this I have almost almost finished the fourth of the 7 models, the rest should be finished by Sunday evening, Monday at the latest. When they're done I plan to paint some of the models from the Necromunda set.

A copy of the full Shadespire game has been ordered and I'm looking forward to painting the 8 models in that. That means I'll have 4 complete warbands for the game.

So my love of the hobby has been restored and I'm painting again, and I have Jack to thank.

Below are images of the completed Sepulchral Guard models, I'm not putting the Skaven images up as I didn't paint them, but trust me, they are stunning.

When the last 3 models are done I'll post photos.

Until then, here's some skeletons.

This one's my favourite of the set

Heads up you crazy chicks!

A few months ago I had a moment of insanity and I decided to raise money in aid of Pilgrims Hospice, "hmmm", I thought, "what's the best way of doing this?" After much pondering I was inspired, "I know! I'll run the risk of incinerating my feet!"
So I'm doing a firewalk, Yes you read that right, a firewalk! I will be taking a leisurely stroll on 850 degree coals,
So If I am willing to risk losing the soles of my feet, you can lose a few quid, So make a donation, it doesn't matter how much, it matters because someone you love, or even you could find yourself in need of the support that The Pilgrims Hospice provides, so you know it makes sense.
Some of my friends are just as mad, so you'll be helping them out too.

Follow the one of the links below, click the donate button next to one of the names, ideally the chap called Steve, he's a sterling fellow! Make a donation.

Simples!

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Steve-Walker25

https://www.justgiving.com/teams/AASteam

colour me confused

I decided to give this Astrophography malarky a try, I have this:

So I trotted out one night in December and stuck the camera on a tripod, connected the remote commander gubbins and took some photos, the didn't come out too bad. I did some reading and learned a bit more about taking photos of the night sky, I trotted out again and had another go, they came out a bit better, plus I managed to photo the ISS. Yay, go me!






I also have this:

This is a SkyWatcher EQ3-2 mount, it's very technical. However, this is a much better tripod than the one I put my camera on. So I figured that it might be a good idea to slap my camera on to this mount, easy! Um... no! not even close to easy. It turns out that in order to use the EQ mount for astrophotography I needed some more kit, of course I would, I never take up a hobby where I don't have to spend money, that would be too easy. So I did some more research trawling the interweb to learn what I would need.
It turns out that there's a lot of astrophotography kit that's dedicated for the task. But it's got quite the price tag on it, so I did a bit more web trawling and I also phoned a telescope sales chap. I asked about a set up called the SkyWatcher Star Adventurer, very pricey, particularly when you add on on the fact that the whole shibang needs a decent tripod to put it all on. The telescope selling chap talked me guy talked me out of it, go fig, His reasoning was that I already have the EQ3-2 mount, so all I needed was a motor drive kit and a bracket to mount the camera on.

So I bought this:

It's an L bracket. Of course it is! The bottom bit is a dovetail thingy that goes on the mount itself, the on the bit that sticks up, the problem is that I don't have clue on how to put all three bits together, I'm sure I'll figure it out.

Oh for goodness sake

It’s no secret that I like astronomy, I like collecting fossils, I have an interest in the paranormal, I also like a good conspiracy theory. For some strange reason I’ve been viewing a lot of videos on YouTube that claim to show evidence of ancient civilisations on the moon and Mars. The main problem with 98% of these videos is that they all use the same images as the “evidence” for their claims. In my opinion these videos should all be listed under Entertainment or even comedy. All of the images that are claimed to show either organic or artificial objects can also be explained as natural, whether they are lava tubes, craters, or plain and simple rocks. We can see features on earth that whilst being natural in their origins they are nothing more than that. Why is it that when geological features are found off Earth the crazy people scream “cover up” or “conspiracy”? bot the moon and Mars were geologically active in the distant past and evidence of that is being found today. Why? because the imaging technology has improved and we are able to see these features much more clearly. An example of this is the “Face” on Mars. When I was much much younger I saw the Viking 1 images and I was astounded, now that the area has been imaged by MRO with higher resolution cameras it is clear that the “face” is nothing more than a mountain, oh well, no aliens then. Look at the image below, the bottom right image is from Viking 1 the main image is from MRO. I’ll let you decide.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve commented on some of the videos, giving my somewhat more rational opinion of these “strange” features, I’m waiting for one of the video owners to message me claiming that I’m part of the conspiracy and involved in the great cover up, should that happen I will reply.

What puzzles me about all these alien civilisation videos is that they all claim that NASA has altered the original images, it that’s the case how did the undoctored images end up on the web? leaked I suppose! My question to all of the folk that believe this utter twaddle is real would be, why would NASA want to conceal it, what could they possibly have to gain from hiding the existence of ancient cities elsewhere in the solar system? in fact how would anybody benefit from withholding such information? The usual response is “they don’t want us to know!” why? I ask, the well thought out reply is generally “because they don’t!”

Well that’s informative, they may just as well have put a “So there!” on the end just to give it more credibility.

So I’m going to answer the questions myself, Is NASA hiding evidence of ancient intelligent life on the moon or on Mars? No! has intelligent life ever existed on the moon? Only when the Apollo astronauts were there. Has life ever existed on Mars? Possibly but only microscopic form, and single celled life can’t build cities.

ta ta!

Sundays aren’t always dull

After the frankly god awful day that was Thursday I really needed a lift, herself mentioned that when she was on the way back from the vet hospital she had told Lukey that she wanted me to go to Astro Club on Friday as it would give her time to reflective on recent event and deal with it all in her own way. So on Friday morning I gathered up my scope and headed off to work and at the end of the day I set off to Ashford where I was met by two of clan Badger and Lukey-boy. At Astro club we had a talk on whether or not the moon landings had been faked, the talk was very well presented by a chap named Denver, it was his first presentation for the club and for a first time he did a sterling job. After the talk some of the members, myself included, headed outside with our scopes for an evenings observing. To be honest the conditions weren’t ideal but I saw Venus in half phase through my scope, through Jasons scope I saw Mars and could make out the polar ice caps and some dark regions. I had a look at the moon and just before the end of the evening I had this years first view of Saturn, so all in all a good night.

Saturday was quiet, a little too quiet with a certain little lady no longer with us. Herself headed out for a few hours to meet up with a lass that she nannied when she was younger, they have stayed in touch over the years, I know that Trudes has a special place in her heart for Liz and I think seeing her helped cheer her up after the week she’s had. I stayed home with the pups and had lots of snuggles which was rather lovely.

Finally Sunday morning arrived and I was met by Mr and Mrs Badger, a chap named Kieth, Luke and Boo and we set off to Dover for a walk to Saint Margarets. The plan was to explore a few holes on the way but the first two, Langdon Deep Shelter and Fan Bay Deep Shelter, eluded us as did a third set of tunnels that are not named. Although we had a good hunt for them we were later told that both Langdon and Fan Bay are virtually covered and unless you know exactly where they are you won’t find them. We had a little more luck with one of the plotting rooms for the South Foreland batteries, but sadly the drop on the inside was a bit too high so we counted that as a loss too. I was just about to start hunting for the entrance to the deep shelter when I spotted a small head appear from a hole in the ground, the deep shelter was easily accessible and well worth the visit, similar in design to the deep shelter at St Martins Battery but I suspect in may be a little deeper.

We stopped for a bit of scoff during which we were temporarily joined by a very handsome Beagle called Charlie, I like Beagles and I would love to have one in our pack but they are hard work and apparently they can get a little stir crazy, so probably not the best choice of pup for us.

After the break for nosh we headed over to the battery where we found that there was an entrance to another plotting room. After a clamber down a 15-20 foot ladder we explored the area and found a small passage that went around the entire complex, so off I set on my run around this passage, as I walked I didn’t notice the metal bars sticking out of the ceiling, the top of my head found them though and after a spot of choice language I completed the explore and headed out. Fortunately Keith is a nurse and he checked my head which wasn’t as bad as it felt and although there was a bit of blood the wound was only small so no need for stitches or anything. After the plotting room we had a bit more of a wander, found one of the magazine stores for the guns and some very beautiful horses one of which had a foal which was extremely handsome.

Finally we headed into Saint Margarets where we waited for a bus back to Dover. OK we got off the bus a bit early and had a fair walk back to the cars, but the chaps were very helpful and pointed out the other bus stops as we got closer to them and we now know that there’s one that means we only have a short walk to the car park if we go there again in the future.

We returned to Folkestone where we said our goodbyes, and I got a bit of a telling off for the head wound, bless her. I’m not sure what’s next for our band of intrepid adventurers but I’ve been told no holes until I get a hard hat! Tee hee.

Life is a little emptier today!

As many of you know I am extremely soppy where animals are concerned, especially my own. The thought of any of them being poorly or in pain fills me with worry and I become a complete wreck. Well today has been one of those days. Ronnii, our Yorkie, was being treated for a collapsing trachea and as a result she had developed a rather worrying cough, she also had a heart murmur. These conditions eventually led to Ronnii having congestive heart failure, today the ailments finally became a bit too much for my sweet little diva dog to cope with and she decided that it was time for her to head over the rainbow bridge to be with Richie an Molly Pops. This morning she was rushed to the vet and given a course of meds that would hopefully slow down the heart failure and she would improve. Sadly, as the day progressed Ronnii worsened and by 19:30 this evening she was having difficulty breathing and this was making her more stressed taking a very heavy toll on her heart. I rang the vet hospital and explained the situation and I was told to bring her to the hospital, since the hospital’s in Ashford and I don’t drive I called for the help of my bro who rushed to our aid and took my little golden princess and her wonderful momma to the vet. it was there that the decision was made that her chances were not good and it would be in her best interest to ease her pain and send off to be with her brother and sister. So our house in a solemn one tonight, there will no more bouncing for a stroll or moaning to be on the sofa with me, one less wagging tail when I come home and I will no longer have a fluffy golden belly that is in urgent need of a rub first thing in the morning.

Despite the pain that fills my chest I can know that the last eighteen months of Ronniis life were without doubt the best she had. She was loved and adores by all who met her and I have some wonderful memories of her. From the first day she was with us and she threw up on my bed, her floofy little bottom waddling behind me as she followed me around Bowood in the summer and how she would roll onto her back demanding a belly rub.

Ronni was is the sweetest pup a chap could have ever wanted, I have been truly blessed to have had two perfect little Yorkshire Terriers in my life, both of which will always be forever in my heart.

So I close this with tears in my eyes and a pain in my chest as I say goodbye to my Princess Ronnii Rokkit Diva Dog, run free my sweet girl, I will love you always.

 

XXXXX

So, how’s your week been?

I don’t quite know where to start, not a great has happened for most of February, that is until the 19th. A group of friends and myself decided we’d storm Dover castle. Our first port of call, after paying for the tickets, was the Operation Dynamo tunnels, They’ve recently been renovated and there’s a different entrance and the tour is guided by a disembodied voice that tells you where to go, between the mutterings of the cockerknee soldier we were given a brief history of the tunnels by our real guide. My only real problem with the English Heritage guides is that they work from a script and generally only know what they taught as part of their job, the chap taking us around Operation Dynamo was a little more willing to discuss the little known facts about the tunnels beneath the castle. During our tour we were teased by signs that indicated the DUMPY level was just through that door or just down that flight of stairs. I was tempted to ask if we could get a sneaky peek at the level below but I suspect he may have told me to stop being so daft. One thing that I did learn was that the meaning of DUMPY that I’d grown up knowing to be the correct one may not actually be the case. I’d always believe that DUMPY stood for Deep Underground Military Position Yellow, after chatting with our guide it may be that DUMPY is a welsh mining term or even the level where stuff was dumped. I don’t buy into either of them and I’ll stick with the one I know. After the Dynamo tunnels we visited the hospital tunnels before heading of to the Great tower and running up and down spiral stair cases like a bunch of mad things, I do like Dover Castle and can’t wait for a chance to visit again.

I had a blood test on the Tuesday before and last Wednesday I gave the doctors a call to see if the results were back, they were and I have to go and see him on Monday morning as there appears to be something wrong with my liver, oh well!

Friday 24th saw the monthly trip to Woodchurch and the Astro club. I got rather annoyed on this visit because after the first half talk I nipped outside and saw that the sky was wonderfully clear. Oh joy thought I, and began setting up my scope for what I hoped would be a good evening of seeing the Orion Nebula, The Crab Nebula, Mars and Jupiter. Once I had the scope set up and ready to go I looked up to choose my first alignment star to be greeted by cloud, albeit a little dispersed and having a few gaps, but cloud none the less. After a futile ten minutes I gave the whole thing up as a loss and packed the scope away. There had better be at least one good night when I can get the scope out before it’s too late for Orion and I have to wait another eight months.

Yesterday was a shop day, Warhammer 40000 is 25 years old this year and we wanted to do something to celebrate, I rather stupidly suggested that I had a go at painting a Space Marine in 25 minutes. I managed 24 and a half, but I’m not happy with the end result, I think a 2 year old chimp could do better by spitting the paint at a model.

Sunday was a quiet day, herself went off to spend the day with her lad, I spent the day day with the pups watching rubbish telly and cleaning out the Percy bird, bless him.

Sunday evening was Top Gear and Being Human, I don’t doubt that people that disapprove of there being anything that mocks our nanny state with health & safety running everything will lodge complaints about the sketch that featured driving whilst sewing on a button and driving whilst in a sleeping bag. I’m sure that anyone who thinks that’s a good idea or attempts to drive to work in a sleeping bag is an idiot and would be doing the gene pool a favour by removing themselves from it. I like Top Gear and I enjoy the rantings of Clarkson and his cohorts, and I see the program for exactly what it is. big boys and over priced toys and a chance for us to all be a little stupid.

well that’s it for now, I’ve had a rant and no doubt my confession that I like Top Gear and, now and then, I agree with the views of the presenters, will probably raise a few complaints, it’ll be a first as I’ve only ever had one complaint about my blog and that was about my cats lack of DIY skills. Actually he managed to put up a new dido rail and hang a door to the kitchen rather well, and given his lack of opposable thumbs it was quite impressive to watch, when the weather gets warmer I may let him build an extension on the kitchen, clever kitty!

So, how’s your week been?

I don’t quite know where to start, not a great has happened for most of February, that is until the 19th. A group of friends and myself decided we’d storm Dover castle. Our first port of call, after paying for the tickets, was the Operation Dynamo tunnels, They’ve recently been renovated and there’s a different entrance and the tour is guided by a disembodied voice that tells you where to go, between the mutterings of the cockerknee soldier we were given a brief history of the tunnels by our real guide. My only real problem with the English Heritage guides is that they work from a script and generally only know what they taught as part of their job, the chap taking us around Operation Dynamo was a little more willing to discuss the little known facts about the tunnels beneath the castle. During our tour we were teased by signs that indicated the DUMPY level was just through that door or just down that flight of stairs. I was tempted to ask if we could get a sneaky peek at the level below but I suspect he may have told me to stop being so daft. One thing that I did learn was that the meaning of DUMPY that I’d grown up knowing to be the correct one may not actually be the case. I’d always believe that DUMPY stood for Deep Underground Military Position Yellow, after chatting with our guide it may be that DUMPY is a welsh mining term or even the level where stuff was dumped. I don’t buy into either of them and I’ll stick with the one I know. After the Dynamo tunnels we visited the hospital tunnels before heading of to the Great tower and running up and down spiral stair cases like a bunch of mad things, I do like Dover Castle and can’t wait for a chance to visit again.

I had a blood test on the Tuesday before and last Wednesday I gave the doctors a call to see if the results were back, they were and I have to go and see him on Monday morning as there appears to be something wrong with my liver, oh well!

Friday 24th saw the monthly trip to Woodchurch and the Astro club. I got rather annoyed on this visit because after the first half talk I nipped outside and saw that the sky was wonderfully clear. Oh joy thought I, and began setting up my scope for what I hoped would be a good evening of seeing the Orion Nebula, The Crab Nebula, Mars and Jupiter. Once I had the scope set up and ready to go I looked up to choose my first alignment star to be greeted by cloud, albeit a little dispersed and having a few gaps, but cloud none the less. After a futile ten minutes I gave the whole thing up as a loss and packed the scope away. There had better be at least one good night when I can get the scope out before it’s too late for Orion and I have to wait another eight months.

Yesterday was a shop day, Warhammer 40000 is 25 years old this year and we wanted to do something to celebrate, I rather stupidly suggested that I had a go at painting a Space Marine in 25 minutes. I managed 24 and a half, but I’m not happy with the end result, I think i 2 year old chimp could do better by spitting the paint at a model.

Sunday was a quiet day, herself went off to spend the day with her lad, I spent the day day with the pups watching rubbish telly and cleaning out the Percy bird, bless him.

Sunday evening was Top Gear and Being Human, I don’t doubt that people that disapprove of there being anything that mocks our nanny state with health & safety running everything will lodge complaints about the sketch that featured driving whilst sewing on a button and driving whilst in a sleeping bag. I’m sure that anyone who thinks that’s a good idea or attempts to drive to work in a sleeping bag is an idiot and would be doing the gene pool a favour by removing themselves from it. I like Top Gear and I enjoy the rantings of Clarkson and his cohorts, and I see the program for exactly what it is. big boys and over priced toys and a chance for us to all be a little stupid.

well that’s it for now, I’ve had a rant and no doubt my confession that I like Top Gear and, now and then, I agree with the views of the presenters, will probably raise a few complaints, it’ll be a first as I’ve only ever had one complaint about my blog and that was about my cats lack of DIY skills. Actually he managed to put up a new dido rail and hang a door to the kitchen rather well, and given his lack of opposable thumbs it was quite impressive to watch, when the weather gets warmer I may let him build an extension on the kitchen, clever kitty!

Well that was a let down

I thought I’d publish this on the Blogger page as well, just for the fun of it!

It’s been an odd week, primarily because it started on Saturday, the oddness that is, not the week. I had been very keen on the trip to astronomy clubs stargazing event, right up until Saturday afternoon, Sir Luke rang to say that he was on his way and he would be a matter of minutes, a bi earlier I’d bought the scopes down and sorted out all the necessary kit that I’d need for the evening. I’d sorted out a couple of spare laptop fans as one of the chaps had mentioned that his machine kept overheating and that its fan may be on the way out.

No sooner had I said ta ta to Luke I called him back and told him to go without me as I didn’t feel particularly chipper and thought it best if I stayed away as I wasn’t in a particularly good frame of mind and rather than sitting with a face like a yawning donkey I would stay home and spend the evening feeling sorry for myself. However like the good mate he is Luke took absolutely no notice of me and called in anyway, after a few minutes and strict instructions from herself to “naff off and have some fun!” we packed the scopes in the car and headed off.

If I’m honest I really enjoyed the evening, but I think I’d have enjoyed it more had my head been a bit more right, still the fixing of my head will take time but it’ll happen.

I was supposed to head off to the Kensington Olympia for the 2012 Toy Fair,I’d hoped that the finances would have become available in time, sadly they didn’t so I spoke to the designated driver on Monday and made the decision to give it a miss. I was very disappointed about this as I had been looking forward to the trip to the city and a rather sterling breakfast before the event.

So instead of going to London this morning, I was going to work, oh well!

It being Wednesday meant that we headed to the gym with some of the chaps, whilst they were making full use of what appears to be medieval torture equipment I went for a weigh-in, Since my last one, which was November(ish), since then I’ve lost 3 kilos which is, I think, a good thing. It’s definitely time to take stock and get to grips with the weight loss, my goal is two stone over the next six or seven months, how hard can it be?

I aint afraid of no ghost!

A while ago I was invited to take part in a paranormal investigation with Jason from Ashford Astro, it was originally scheduled to run through from October 30th through to October 31st. Unfortunately the event was postponed and was now going to take place on Saturday 12th November. This struck me as a good thing because the event wouldn’t be marred by the whole issue of All Hallows Eve.

over the following two weeks Jason mentioned that he had a total of five places to offer, I was definitely wanting to go so I asked him to book one for me, Lukey showed some interest and after giving it a bit of thought he decided he was in. Huzzah! Luke and I set off from foggy Folkestone at 16:00 heading for Jason's where we would trade up from the Ford KA to a Jag, and at 17:00 we set off to a place called Sible Hedingham in Essex, no I’ve never heard of it either!

Jason had mentioned that he expected the run to take about two hours, en route we chatted about our various experiences and what we could expect from the evening. Jason also gave us an insight into one of the chaps that would be there. The fella in question was going to be the medium for the evening, I have to be honest and say that I did develop some preconceived ideas about John, The image I had in my head was that of a Derek Acorah type who was probably a bit mad, I’m happy to say that was not the case. Jason's estimate for our travel time was spot on and we arrived at the venue just a tad before 19:00.

The venue was brilliant, the building dates from the 16th century and contained many original features. we were introduced to the other guests and John gave us a run down of how the event would progress and split us into teams. My initial thoughts of John were shattered as soon as I met him, he is a warm and welcoming chap who had none of the stereotypical attitude of certain media hungry mediums. He joked about himself and what he does, although he takes what he does very seriously. During the meet and greet and general chatting to get to know each other better I found myself being constantly drawn to a fireplace. The main fireplace was very impressive and a second, slightly smaller one, backed onto it from a room opposite. This room was used as the pubs restaurant, The fireplace was large, about five feet wide and three feet high. What was odd about was the fact that the whole thing was giving me that all to familiar urge to clamber in to see where it went. I’ve been near fireplaces that were much larger and never got that feeling before which is why I found it so odd. Earlier John had asked us all to mention anything that we felt or saw so I made him aware of the way the fireplace was affecting me. He said he’d tell me a bit more about it later in the evening. After a cuppa we were taken in to the restaurant where we were prepared for the event and we set off on the first investigation of the night.

We headed upstairs to the lounge, we investigated this area for about 25 minutes, one chap said that he thought he heard someone breathing in one corner of the room so many photos were taken. Although there was little in the way of actual activity a few people did say that they felt like they were being touched or pushed, oddly a lot of this seemed to be centred on the girly types, one person became very overwhelmed to the point that she was feeling ill and rather exhausted so the first investigation was bought to a close for a cuppa.

During the break we were all sitting chatting when the K2 meter started going mental so we started an impromptu EVP session, although the lights on the meter danced back and forth they were so intermittent as to be random, a few times the meter appeared to be responding to questions, but not often enough to be able to make a definite decision.

The second investigation took us to a bedroom that featured a large walk in wardrobe that had originally been used as small room and it still had the original doors. They were made from a very dark wood that might be oak, but I don’t know my oak from my willow. a few minutes into the investigation I put my hands on one of the doors, after a few seconds I had to move away from the doors, in fact the vibe I got from the doors was so overwhelming I had to leave the room. Once out of the room I calmed myself down and regained control of my emotions. Shortly after leaving the room John bought one of the lasses out of the room,he asked me to tell him what I had experienced. I told him that it felt as though a wave of every possible negative emotion had washed over me, hatred, anger, and bitter rage and it seemed as though it was all wrapped up in unbridled misogyny. John said that I had felt exactly what he expected.

We soon moved from the first bedroom to a second bedroom, no sooner had we all gathered in there someone said that they thought they heard a door close and went to have a look. It transpired that it was a cat flap being operated by one of the house cats. It was at this point I realised that the people I was with were not the sort that would hear something and straight away claim supernatural activity, go take a look and come back with some out landish tale of doors closing on there own, but were prepared to be honest and open. Sadly the second room yielded no activity of any sort so we left and returned down stairs for a break and a cuppa.

After this break we split into our arranged groups, the group I was in headed down to the cellar, unfortunately we experienced absolutely nothing, however the lack of feeling in both the cellar rooms was very noticeable. As a group we agreed that there was nothing of merit happening in the cellar we would head back upstairs to what was referred to as the hub.

After the first set of group investigations John asked for a volunteer to spend ten minutes in a part of the building known as the barn and then take a walk around the churchyard, I was up for that so I said I’d go. Into the barn I went where I spent my allotted ten minutes talking to myself, again no activity save for the ringing of a church bell and the hooting of an owl. Satisfied that the barn was a let down I headed for the church. Walking round the church was an odd experience. I expected to feel something simply because I was in a graveyard at stupid o’clock in the morning on my own. However I felt totally at ease, not even a little uneasy because of where I was, I must admit I found that a bit odd.

I returned to the pub where I sat watching a monitor that was showing the feeds from four IR cameras and chatted with the chap who was the tech for the event, I look forward to seeing the findings as there was some intriguing stuff.

One more investigation that also yielded very little. The other teams had slightly more eventful investigations towards the end of the evening, Jason reported that a plastic cap from a beer keg was thrown across one of the rooms in the cellar and that some plaster fell from the wall in the other, normally that would sound fairly mundane but Jason’s a sound minded chap and I’m sure that there was more to it than plaster just falling. Luke had some experiences in the barn, he told us that his group saw lights and were getting knocks on request.

After a while the event was bought to a close and Jason, Luke and myself headed home. I’m slightly less sceptical than before and I would certainly do more of these events, Luke tells me that he feels the same way.

I got home at around 08:30 on Sunday morning and went to bed, when I woke up I reviewed the audio recordings from my digital recorders, there’s nothing particularly unusual on the recordings except for the one from the very first investigation of the lounge, at about 13 minutes in there is what sounds very much like a growl or snarl, there were no animals in the room.

So there you have it, my experiences from my first, and hopefully not last, paranormal investigation. I met some cool folk and was made to feel very welcome.

In closing I send huge thank you to Jason for taking Luke and I along and also to the other folks who were there for the warm welcome and making us feel part of the team. Finally to the residents of the venue for allowing us into their home.

Blessed be.

A bad day

Every now and then I have to go to a gym, not to do rubbish exercises, it’s a work activity, a few months ago I was going along quite regularly and getting weighed every two weeks. I managed to shed about three stones, quite an achievement for me I thought. Many of my friends have noticed a reduction in my size and my clothes are noticeably looser. Today I went back to the gym for the first time since March and got on the scales, I was a bit annoyed to learn that I’ve gained half a stone. One of my mates has signed up to a site that helps you track the calorific intake and exercise you do. It’s a well known fact that me and exercise aren’t the best of mates but I think I need to start doing a bit more. According to the blurb that healthy types blabber on about, doing 30 minutes of light exercise that gets you slightly out of breath will help you get closer to an ideal weight. So tomorrow is, with the best of intentions, the start of a new regime. I plan to walk home after work, From work to home is approximately 1.5 miles and should take about half an hour, so that should do the trick. I’ve signed up to the same web site to aid in my efforts so all I need to do now is find the will power to stick to my guns regarding the calorie intake. If I’m honest, that’s where I’ll struggle. I have a very sweet tooth and a tendency to over do things where cake is concerned so I think the thing to do here is avoid the cakes all together. Whilst I’m happy to walk home after work I don’t fancy the idea of walking home in the rain, I want to lose a bit of weight, not contract double manflumonia.

On a more serious note our little Ujio headed off to Ashford via the lukeymobile this morning, he’s, Uji not Lukey, off to have an operation called a Femoral Head and Neck Excision, basically the ball on the top end of his femur is being removed. It sounds horrid and I don’t doubt that it is. Because of the seriousness of the op, Uji will be staying in Ashford overnight and Sue will be taking us to collect him if he’s allowed home tomorrow. Herself called the vet earlier and was told that he’s had the op and it she was told that the procedure had gone well and to give them another ring a bit later for a more detailed update. The good news is that he’s up and about and walking on three legs, he’s had a howl and had something to eat and drink. All very good signs that he’s doing ok and he should be home tomorrow, even if only because of the howls. I’m sure he’ll be up to no good and bothering his sisters in no time. Plus herself will be able to relax when he’s back where he belongs.

So with Uji doing well, Ronnii bathed and Izzy looking longingly at herself in the hope of a pickled onion Monster Munch, I shall leave it there.

 

TTFN

Exercise is good for, apparently

Yes I know it’s been a while but things have been a bit up and down of late, herself has been very poorly after more radiotherapy and I’ve been a bit lacking in motivation. We returned to the Western Heights a week ago.

On the Saturday before I was at the shop and struggling with the early stages of a bit of a cold. I played a quick game, which I won, and then Sue ordered me to go home based on her conclusion that I looked like I had recently died. So I did as I was told, a rarity for me, and headed home. Upon arrival I told herself that I was being pursued by the grim reaper and was going to bed. I have a rather odd immune system, A streaming cold usually results in me being out of action for a day or two, I went to bed and slept for a few hours. I woke up feeling groggy, herself gave me some pills before I went off. I rose at about 19:00 and joined herself in the front room. I continued to rest on the sofa and we had a relaxing evening. I went back to bed a bit later, took a couple more tablets and settled for the night wrapped up. by the morning almost all signs of the previous days malady had gone and I got a text from the Manky one saying that they’d be collecting me at 10:30. they arrived and we headed down to Cassa del Lukey to collect the rest of the party and then off to dover.

When we arrived at Saint Martins car park and were informed that a hole had been discovered, more info was soon forth coming. Apparently the hole was only big enough for the tiny girly type that was in attendance to squeeze into. We headed off to investigate, my response to the earlier assessment of it only being big enough for the girly types was a resounding PAH! In I went. Having spent my formative years curtailing the best efforts of girly types to join our group of young ne’er do-wells in our explorations of all thing Napoleonic, I wasn’t going to let a girly type get one over on me by exploring without me, it could be dangerous and there may be spiders and other things that make the girly types scream as they activate scaredy-cat mode. We spent about fifteen minutes exploring some rather spectacular passages and rooms and then we headed over to Saint Martins Deep Shelter as a few of the party hadn’t been there before. I never get tired of visiting the Heights and, hopefully, I never will.

Once we exited the Deep Shelter we headed over to the Redoubt. The place is as spectacular as I remember. It must be at least twenty years since I last visited the fort and it’s as grand as I recall. The Western Heights Preservation Society have done some brilliant work in restoring the place to it’s former glory. There was some chaps doing re-enactment who were equipped with muskets, they are rather loud. and the representatives of WHPS were on hand to answer questions about the fort.

We spent a good few hours there watching various displays of life as a British soldier during the Napoleonic wars before heading over to the grand shaft, which we descended with gusto, the problem was that once we reached the bottom, we had to climb back up. By the time I reached the top I was knackered. My knees were rather angry with me for making them climb up 150 steps, and they weren’t overly impressed with the fact that I had to climb more to return to the car park.

Despite the climbing of stairs and the deafening booms of the muskets, it was a fantastic day out. I looked over at the castle from the ramparts of the Redoubt and felt a longing to return to Dover Castle. I must chat with the chaps about it and get something planned.

Thursday 27th saw an impromptu trip to the shop to collect this months copy of White Dwarf, I’ve been looking forward to this issue more than any other this last year as it features the details of the new Necron models and codex. Something that has been long overdue since fifth edition was released. I know that I have a separate blog for the gaming events but the new Necron release is rather special, I shall be nipping down on Thursday to collect my order so that I can, with luck, have the new models painted and the new rules committed to memory in time for the next adult gaming day. It’s on the 20th November so I’ll have two and a bit weeks.

I was down at the shop again on Saturday, I played what could well be the last game I play with the Necrons using the old codex, I went up against Tau and won, huzzah.

Sunday saw me and five of my friends set off along the shore towards Samphire Hoe which lies between Dover and Folkestone, we managed to get about three quarters of the way there before we were blocked by the sea as it hadn’t quite gone out enough to allow us to walk along the final stretch. So we stopped for a spot of lunch before heading back.

On the way one of our number noticed a hole in the cliff, I don’t know how high up it actually is but it’s certainly higher than a three storey house. We reach the point on the walk near the hole, I gave it some careful thought and consideration and started to scramble up the cliff. I managed to get to a point that was probably twenty feet away from the hole. I couldn’t see a suitably safe path that would take me up to the hole so I decided to turn back. I probably took three steps away from the hole when it occurred to me that I was so close, how difficult could it be to cover the last stretch? So I spun on my heels and set off in an effort to reach the hole, surprisingly I made it! The tunnel I was stood in the entrance of was probably about ten feet high eight feet wide, it appeared to go back some distance. The entrance also house a six feet around steel tube that turned out to be a drain sluice. Well I figured I’d gotten this far so I might as well take a look inside the tunnel. I scrambled past the steel tube and headed along the passage. I had no idea what the tunnel was or where it went. As I progressed I felt the pressure in the tunnel change, “that was odd” thought I, but I continued in. I then started to hear a rumbling noise, I thought at first that it was just the sea being amplified, oh how wrong I was. suddenly the rumbling turned into a roar as a train screamed past the opposite end of the tunnel. I now realised what the tunnel is, it’s an old access passage for the Abbotts Cliff section of the railway line between Dover and Folkestone. Deciding that there was no point exploring any further I made my way out of the tunnel to find that Chippy had ascended the cliff in order to make sure that I was ok, apparently I’d been in the hole for ten minutes. It really didn’t seem that long, more like five.

I started my climb back down the cliff and I have to admit it was much easier getting up, I had a couple of worrying moments where I lost my footing or slipped on the clay of the cliff, but I made it down unharmed so all was well in the end. After we left the tunnel we headed back to the sea wall, shortly after we were back on stable ground we stopped for a short break and I swear I saw a penguin, it was only a little one but I’m certain it was a penguin. The chaps didn’t believe me and mocked me about it for the rest of the walk, but they can mock all they want, there so was a penguin, so there!

Eventually we made our way back to the East Cliff Pavilion and back to chez Lukey for a well deserved cuppa.

So there it is, an eventful week full of fun and excitement, I think the outings will be put on hold now until the warmer weather returns. (he says trying to sound all sensible)

Until next time…

Exercise is good for, apparently

Yes I know it’s been a while but things have been a bit up and down of late, herself has been very poorly after more radiotherapy and I’ve been a bit lacking in motivation. We returned to the Western Heights a week ago.

On the Saturday before I was at the shop and struggling with the early stages of a bit of a cold. I played a quick game, which I won, and then Sue ordered me to go home based on her conclusion that I looked like I had recently died. So I did as I was told, a rarity for me, and headed home. Upon arrival I told herself that I was being pursued by the grim reaper and was going to bed. I have a rather odd immune system, A streaming cold usually results in me being out of action for a day or two, I went to bed and slept for a few hours. I woke up feeling groggy, herself gave me some pills before I went off. I rose at about 19:00 and joined herself in the front room. I continued to rest on the sofa and we had a relaxing evening. I went back to bed a bit later, took a couple more tablets and settled for the night wrapped up. by the morning almost all signs of the previous days malady had gone and I got a text from the Manky one saying that they’d be collecting me at 10:30. they arrived and we headed down to Cassa del Lukey to collect the rest of the party and then off to dover.

When we arrived at Saint Martins car park and were informed that a hole had been discovered, more info was soon forth coming. Apparently the hole was only big enough for the tiny girly type that was in attendance to squeeze into. We headed off to investigate, my response to the earlier assessment of it only being big enough for the girly types was a resounding PAH! In I went. Having spent my formative years curtailing the best efforts of girly types to join our group of young ne’er do-wells in our explorations of all thing Napoleonic, I wasn’t going to let a girly type get one over on me by exploring without me, it could be dangerous and there may be spiders and other things that make the girly types scream as they activate scaredy-cat mode. We spent about fifteen minutes exploring some rather spectacular passages and rooms and then we headed over to Saint Martins Deep Shelter as a few of the party hadn’t been there before. I never get tired of visiting the Heights and, hopefully, I never will.

Once we exited the Deep Shelter we headed over to the Redoubt. The place is as spectacular as I remember. It must be at least twenty years since I last visited the fort and it’s as grand as I recall. The Western Heights Preservation Society have done some brilliant work in restoring the place to it’s former glory. There was some chaps doing re-enactment who were equipped with muskets, they are rather loud. and the representatives of WHPS were on hand to answer questions about the fort.

We spent a good few hours there watching various displays of life as a British soldier during the Napoleonic wars before heading over to the grand shaft, which we descended with gusto, the problem was that once we reached the bottom, we had to climb back up. By the time I reached the top I was knackered. My knees were rather angry with me for making them climb up 150 steps, and they weren’t overly impressed with the fact that I had to climb more to return to the car park.

Despite the climbing of stairs and the deafening booms of the muskets, it was a fantastic day out. I looked over at the castle from the ramparts of the Redoubt and felt a longing to return to Dover Castle. I must chat with the chaps about it and get something planned.

Thursday 27th saw an impromptu trip to the shop to collect this months copy of White Dwarf, I’ve been looking forward to this issue more than any other this last year as it features the details of the new Necron models and codex. Something that has been long overdue since fifth edition was released. I know that I have a separate blog for the gaming events but the new Necron release is rather special, I shall be nipping down on Thursday to collect my order so that I can, with luck, have the new models painted and the new rules committed to memory in time for the next adult gaming day. It’s on the 20th November so I’ll have two and a bit weeks.

I was down at the shop again on Saturday, I played what could well be the last game I play with the Necrons using the old codex, I went up against Tau and won, huzzah.

Sunday saw me and five of my friends set off along the shore towards Samphire Hoe which lies between Dover and Folkestone, we managed to get about three quarters of the way there before we were blocked by the sea as it hadn’t quite gone out enough to allow us to walk along the final stretch. So we stopped for a spot of lunch before heading back.

On the way one of our number noticed a hole in the cliff, I don’t know how high up it actually is but it’s certainly higher than a three storey house. We reach the point on the walk near the hole, I gave it some careful thought and consideration and started to scramble up the cliff. I managed to get to a point that was probably twenty feet away from the hole. I couldn’t see a suitably safe path that would take me up to the hole so I decided to turn back. I probably took three steps away from the hole when it occurred to me that I was so close, how difficult could it be to cover the last stretch? So I spun on my heels and set off in an effort to reach the hole, surprisingly I made it! The tunnel I was stood in the entrance of was probably about ten feet high eight feet wide, it appeared to go back some distance. The entrance also house a six feet around steel tube that turned out to be a drain sluice. Well I figured I’d gotten this far so I might as well take a look inside the tunnel. I scrambled past the steel tube and headed along the passage. I had no idea what the tunnel was or where it went. As I progressed I felt the pressure in the tunnel change, “that was odd” thought I, but I continued in. I then started to hear a rumbling noise, I thought at first that it was just the sea being amplified, oh how wrong I was. suddenly the rumbling turned into a roar as a train screamed past the opposite end of the tunnel. I now realised what the tunnel is, it’s an old access passage for the Abbotts Cliff section of the railway line between Dover and Folkestone. Deciding that there was no point exploring any further I made my way out of the tunnel to find that Chippy had ascended the cliff in order to make sure that I was ok, apparently I’d been in the hole for ten minutes. It really didn’t seem that long, more like five.

I started my climb back down the cliff and I have to admit it was much easier getting up, I had a couple of worrying moments where I lost my footing or slipped on the clay of the cliff, but I made it down unharmed so all was well in the end.

Eventually we made our way back to the East Cliff Pavilion and back to chez Lukey for a well deserved cuppa.

So there it is, an eventful week full of fun and excitement, I think the outings will be put on hold now until the warmer weather returns. (he says trying to sound all sensible)

Until next time…

Lordy lawks, what a bloomin’ week!

I haven’t been keeping up with blogging, to be honest I haven’t been able to put my mind to it. I should have done a post last Sunday but I was too knackered and sore so I thought I’d do it on Monday instead. bad idea as I was in more discomfort than Sunday. Why, I hear you ask, was I  so ache ridden. Well the reason is that on Sunday I went back to the Western Heights in Dover, this time there were more bods coming along and I had set myself a personal goal of accessing a part of one of the places we saw on our previous visit.

On arrival at Saint Martins car park we learned that some of the chaps were already in the deep shelter, this was a relief as I was sure that it would have been sealed by now. We spent some time exploring the shelter and accompanying Gun batteries before heading down to the Grand Shaft. Whilst exploring the gun placements it was noticed that Saint Martins Battery was running alive with the most annoying creature known to man, a beast so foul and toxic that the mere thought of them sends a shudder down my spine, my hair stand on end and my stomach churn. What vile animals could promote such feelings of dread and repulsion? Children! Don’t get me wrong, not all children are evil minions from a hell dimension, I actually do know a handful that are quite pleasant to be around and I can stand more than ten minutes of. The children that were out in force on Sunday however were the worst kind. CUBS, I assumed that they’d been taken there for a day of history, it seemed as though they’d actually been handed blue smarties and cheap cola on arrival and told to run free like little apes released from a zoo. There were some adults who were alledgedly supervising the little “darlings” by supervising I mean sitting on the floor scoffing cucumber sandwiches and nattering about who’s doing what to who and when*, whilst ocaisionally shouting things like “do be carefull” and “mind you don’t fall”. So wanting to put distance between us and the horrors we headed down to the grand shaft. After walking down a 200 year old flight of steps our ears were assaulted with the yelps and screams of yet more cubs. It transpired that the walk down may not have been in vain, the gates to the Grand Shaft were open, Woo Hoo! We made enquiries about the possibility of going down the shaft, only to be told, by a very glum adult cub that the shaft was only open for the cubs. I looked around at the 40+ kids who were running here and there in a pattern that could only be explained using the chaos theory. It seemed clear to me that they were more interested in playing “hit the small kid with a stick” than the history of their surroundings. So having no luck with Captain Grumpy we headed away from the Grand Shaft and I led the party in search of a Tunnel that I half remembered, sadly my memory painted a better picture of the tunnel so we  made our way towards the engineers tunnel via a route that was last trodden by Raptors, or so it seemed. Fortunately it turns out that badgers are excellent path finders and he soon had us back on track. As we were walking through the early Cretaceous forest I noticed that an access door to the Drop Redoubt was open, my heart stopped. I absolute do not condone vandalism and I would not damage a property to gain access, but if someone else has chosen to make access possible, I would certainly take advantage of it. I mentioned To the Badge that if we could get in, we would go for it. Further along our walk we saw a group from the WHPS (google it) on one of their work days. When we got to them we enquired about the chance of a walk round the redoubt, we were politely told no as there was already a tour in progress and the next one, at 2pm would probably be full, of cubs, and Health and f*****g safety wouldn’t allow us to just wander around on our own. We decided not to wait and headed off to the North Entrance. After scrambling through a very small hole into the drawbridge mechanism pit we tried to find a way of getting up to the top of the fifteen feet wall to further explore the place. We managed to get a fair few of our number up and it was so very worth it. during the explore of the system I took a picture of a hole that I fell down in my now distant youth and we eventually headed out and on to the Detached Bastion where we finished a brilliant days exploring.

That’s about it, no painting or astronomy this last few weeks as Smiffy’s been away with work and family commitments and the sky’s been rubbish.

Hopefully there’ll be something a bit more exciting over the next few days. but before I go I would like to bring something to you attention.

Please visit the website below and read the info then sign the petition. Lets work together to save the little chaps life.

http://www.savelennoxpetition.co.uk/

Thank you

One day like this a year would see me right.

So where was I? You know about the new scope, right? Yeah ok so did we talk about the day out fossil collecting? No? ok so that’s where we start, Sunday June 3rd, I’d arranged with a few good mates to head off down to Cliff End for a spot of fossil collecting, unfortunately the weather, and the tide was against us. So not a great deal of fossils were found and rain stopped play. We headed back to Rye for a pint and then headed our separate ways. To be honest if it hadn’t been for the company, I would have been rather disappointed with the day. Oh well some things just aren’t meant to be. 12 days later I’d planned to get together with a few friends again to view the total lunar eclipse, the weather put paid to that too. I spent the next two weeks carefully watching the weather forecast to keep an eye on how things were shaping up for the 3rd July. With June being unusually cold and wet I half expected today to be a complete wash out. Having no alternate arrange as stand-by a cancellation due to poor weather would have been bad form. I woke up and snuck in to snatch Uji from his Mommas arms so that she could get a bit of a lie in and I took the pups down stairs for their breakfast. I spoilt myself with a bowl of sugar puffs. I generally don’t bother with breakfast but today I figured I’d need the extra kick and sugar puffs do the trick quite tastily. When herself arose I took Ronnii for a quick stroll and headed down to chez Luke to join up with the rest of the away team. After a quick brew we headed off to Dover and the Western Heights car park.

The first port of call would be the Knights Templar church and then over to Saint Martin’s battery. Since we were there I thought I’d look to see if the deep shelter was accessible, to my surprise and elation it was, I won’t go into details on the how, suffice to say we could get in, oh sweet joy. After a minute or two getting everyone in we began exploring what is a short tunnel system that was built in the 1870’s, it was used as a shelter for troops during the first and second world wars, after a short walk along the ground level passage that gently slopes down and turns to the right, we reached the top of a flight of stairs that headed down to the main shelter area. The construction of the shelter is similar to the construction of the tunnel complex in the cliffs above the Eastern Docks and the deep shelter of Lydden Spout. It features two long passages that have rooms between them. These rooms would have served as sleeping quarters for the men who manned the guns that defended the towns’ western side. After the deep shelter, we head down from the battery and through the wooded area below where we came across the main entrance for the deep shelter. Sadly this is not accessible, rumor has it that a major collapse has long since filled it in. After a bit of debate it was agreed that we’d skip the Grand Shaft and head straight over to the Drop Redoubt Fortress. Work on this imposing building started way back in 1779 and was completed in 1807. It was built as part of the defenses for Dover during the Napoleonic war, but fortunately never saw action. Work continued through the 1800s and many features were added, including five bomb proof casemates. Four Caponiers were added with access to the top of the redoubt; officers’ quarters and cells were also added. During the Second World War the Redoubt was home to a squad of commandos who were under orders to destroy Dover Harbour if the enemy managed to invade the country. This unit of commandos was top secret and the lines leading to the fort were mined. Also on top of the redoubt can be found the Bredenstone, also known as the Devils drop of mortar. It is actually the remains of a second roman pharos that stood opposite the one located in what is now the grounds of Dover castle. After a walk around the Redoubt we walked along the lines and headed to the north entrance, although we managed to gain access through into the machine room that still houses the mechanism for operating the drawbridge, access to the main sections of this part of the defences is near impossible without strong rope and the ability to climb walls like Spiderman. One of our number, the smallest and lightest was elected to scale the remains of a severely rusted spiral staircase that would have been incredible in its time. When it was realised that the spiral went up but nowhere else we gave up on the North Entrance and scrambled out again. I did find a toad, but it may have been a frog, I can’t tell the difference, I’m not sure there is one really. We then set off for the detached bastion. A really nice walk through wooded, almost glade like, area that could be a million mile from the town and a million years in the past. I did worry that we may have disturbed a pack of Raptors when one of the away team sneezed like a girl. We even threatened to have him sorted out by a Diplodocus, it didn’t work and he sneezed again, no raptors though. Odd that I can be relieved and disappointed at the same time. Finally we reached the access point for the bastion; my heart sank when I saw that it had been sealed with half inch thick steel plating. we’d come so far and I must admits my hopes were rather high, so I thought I’d have a walk round the western side of the caponier to see if there was another entrance. As we turned the corner we spotted someone leaping out of the building, apparently when Dave tapped on the steel plate with his stick he put the fear of the Rozzers into the youngsters that were there. Initially they were a bit concerned that we may have been there to tell them off for being there, they were rather relieved when we told them to make way as we wanted in. The detached bastion was commenced in 1804, also as part of the Napoleonic defences, however because some chap in wellies sent old boney packing at Waterloo it wasn’t completed. It was added to in 1859 but still incomplete. After 1945 it was no longer needed by the military and abandoned. Then Her Majesties government turned the, rather grand, citadel into a youth detention centre and many of the passage ways were blocked of and sealed up to prevent the inmates doing a runner.

I had a thoroughly brilliant day and visiting the playground of my youth restored some very happy memories and we must do it again. I haven’t told the guys that there are other parts to explore, and although they’re not as grand as the places we visited today, the western outworks are worth a trip as it rounds of the exploration of Dovers hidden past. I’m sure the chaps would be up for it. What has surprised me is that I can still squeeze myself into the places still. Next year I shall watch out for the open day and we can visit the redoubt and get a look inside, that would make for a good day out and has the added bonus of being able to ascend the Grand Shaft.

It is, however, a great shame that the tunnel systems and fortifications are being allowed to fall into such a bad state of neglect and disrepair. Although I like the fact that the pathways in the lines on the western side of the lines twist through thickly wooded areas and I wouldn’t want to see that cut back, I would like to see the buildings at least partially restored and the walls given a coat of white wash to cover the graffiti.

Ok, so I lifted the title of this entry from a song, but it’s very pertinent to the day. It was spent with some very special friends and in some very special places. Not much could have made it better, save the presence of my nearest and dearest, and one or two friends who shared my childhood adventures on the western heights. Some are still around; one left us all too soon. So I dedicate today’s entry on this blog to tunnel rats old and new.

By the way, pictures of the day are available to view on Facebook and Picassa, a video will also be available once I’ve converted and edited it.

I'm making perfect sense, you're just not keeping up.

Hello, sorry it’s been a while, I have to be honest nothing much has happened in my wild and, more than slightly, off kilter world. We have a new member of the family, he arrived a few weeks ago and already he’s worked his way into my, far too soft, heart. He’s only a little one so we should have many happy years with the little fella. His full name is Ujio Pocket Samurai, Uji for short and he’s a Chinese Crested, for those not in the know it’s a breed of dog. He’s mostly bald with just a few tufts of hair around his feet, on the end of his tail and on his head, hence the crest. He’s a lively little thing and we I was a bit worried about how Ronnii would react to him. It’s turned out rather well, she growls at him now and then and the other day we had a moment where she put him in his place and he did the doggy equivalent of a panicky squeal, but he does that a lot, I gently put my hand on him and with the noise he made you’d have thought I touched him with something red hot with the noise he made. We think he may be a complete wimp, one of the many good things about having a very young pup, he’s coming up to 15 weeks old, is that he’s very playful and this has bought Ronnii in touch with her inner pup a bit. She’s had a go at playing and she and Uji have had a couple of gentle playfights. these are a joy to watch as Ronnii is such a quiet little thing, she gets a bit excited when she sees her lead and does what can only be described as jumping for joy. At the moment Uji’s a bit of a handful, but once he’s got the grasp of house training there aren’t many problems we’ll need to over come. I haven’t told Trudes yet but I am becoming rather fond of the little man, Sunday Trudes went to her folks for the day and the three of us had a very relaxed day with some quality bonding time. I’m please that Ronnii’s taken to him though although I suspect that because he’s so young there may be a possibility that she may get a bit protective of him. If you visit Ujis blog there’s a video of them playfighting, I have to admit it is rather sweet to see.

On Friday 20th May Trudes took delivery of a very large box that was addressed to me. The box contained a box, which contained another box, inside box number 2 was another box. Inside this third box was three smaller boxes and a shiny tripod. In the three smaller boxes were the optics and controller for the telescope that connects to the tripod. I am now the proud owner of a Celestron Nexstar 127 SLT Maksutov-Cassegrain Astronomical Telescope. All I need now is a decent clear night to give it a run and get first light, I suspect the first object I see through it, other than the alignment stars, will be Saturn. It’s quite high in the sky fairly early on in the evenings so it’s a brilliant target for telescopes. There will also be some really wonderful objects to view as the year goes by and I’m looking forward to some great nights observing and, if all goes well, sharing those observing evenings with some fairly stellar mates, Do you see what I did their? There are two things that I am really looking forward to seeing through the new scope, the Moon is one, it’s going to be rather special, and Jupiter! Oh that is going to be absolutely mind blowing! Fortunately I have an adapted webcam for Astrophotography, one of the things that the 127 SLT is particularly useful for is lunar and planetary viewing so I should get some really good images, watch this space! Amongst all the bits and pieces that were in the box was a screwdriver, sadly it wasn’t sonic! I am so pleased with the scope I think I shall call it Winona!

There hasn’t been much in the way of painting over the last few weeks, but with the short nights ahead I should use that time to get on with the stuff that needs doing

Something silly!

A disclaimer: The blog author wishes to make it abundantly clear that the text below does not infer or imply a dislike of all things American. This post is not intended as a racial slur or a rant in favour of Anti-Americanism. The intent is to promote the humour inherent in the views of those who are passionate about the television series Doctor Who.Over the last few days I’ve been active in an online discussion based on the statements below:

The latest Pirate outing for the Who shows the commercial desire to beg fiscal favour from the American market.
An obvious pillage of Depp's franchise, as to make the Who instantly familiar to the American audience
The previous episodes were festoon with star spangled reference
To flatter to enrich BBC coffers
Isn't there a basic essential Englishness to Who?
And aren't we losing it as commercial forces corral to Americanise the franchise?
All the great American standards will be s[t]ucked into the creative vortex as Moffat resells the Who as distinctly American in flavour.
Expect future programs to include: Western, War Movie, Romantic Comedy, Horror, Action, Gangster, Melodrama, Social Conscience, Musicals

The author of that twaddle continually refers back to this as a support for the debate, when some makes a post that disagrees with or disproves his claims they are either ignored or the comment is cherry picked for any possible comment that supports the opening comments.

I did a bit of research and looked through the last few years of Doctor Who episodes, I was intentionally looking for any link, no matter how tenuous, to the Americanisation of the series, this is what I found:

Rose: The first thing we see is the American continent from space, the episode also features a conspiracy theorist, the episode also features animated shop window dummies.

End of the world, A song by American band REM, robotic spiders similar to those in Runaway with Tom Selleck and Minority Report.

Dalek: set in Utah and features many American characters.

The long game, Adam Mitchell leaves a message on an answerphone, the first commercially available answerphone was in the US.

Fathers day, the first time the tradition of Fathers Day was observed it was in Fairmont West Virginia.

The Empty Child: American Air force, “Are you my Mummy?” The modern series of Mummy film star Brendan Fraser, he’s American don’t you know!

The Doctor Dances: features music from American band leader Glenn Miller.

Boomtown, A nuclear Power station is going to be built, the first operational nuclear power station was built in Idaho.

Bad Wolf: There are wolves in North America, and it features an American character.

The parting of the ways, Features an emergency hologram of the doctor, an emergency medical hologram featured heavily in star trek: voyager, The link; emergency hologram doctors.

The Christmas invasion, the doctor quotes the lion king, a Disney film.

New earth, set in new new new new new new York.

Girl in the Fireplace, Set in France, the French assisted the American during the war of independence, this episode is clearly a nod of gratitude for that help.

Rise of the cybermen, over the course of the two parter we see airships, one of the most famous airships is the Hindenburg which crashed in America.

The idiots lantern, the Doctor was planning to take rose to New York to see Elvis Presley, you can’t get more American than Elvis, The Doctor sports a very Elvis like quiff.

Smith and Jones, the title is clearly a reference to a series set in the old west called Alias Smith and Jones, also features a moon landing, the first man on the moon was American.

Gridlock, Gridlock is the American term for a traffic jam, and again new new York.

Daleks in manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks: New York Again High rise buildings, elevators not lifts, lots of American accents The American iconography in these episodes are too many to list in full.

The Lazarus experiment, marvel comic rip off: a good old mad scientist, with an experiment gone wrong, and an outrageous super-villain on the loose. The monster is very scorpion like in its design, the Scorpion King featured an American wrestler known as “The Rock” The Rock is an alternative name for Alcatraz, a notorious American prison.

Blink: Billy Shipton refers to Sally Sparrow as “hot” an American term used to express how atractive a male finds a female.

Utopia, Has an American in it.

The sound of Drums, features a track by Rogue Traders entitled Voodoo Child, The F-101 Voodoo is an American jet fighter .

Last of the time lords, features the Valiant, Chrysler, an American car manufacturer built the Valiant and the plymouth Valiant, it also made the Chrysler valiant, The USS Valiant NCC-74210 featured in a DS9 episode of the same name, DS9, as we know is an American series.

Voyage of the damned, In 1912 the Titanic was sailing to New York.

Planet of the Ood, An Ood says Do’h! A phrase in constant use by Homer Simpson.

Eleventh Hour, Young Amy gives the doctor an apple, the Big Apple is an affection term for New York City ,

The time of Angels, the City of Angels is Los Angeles, which is where Hollywood is!

There have been 76 episodes from Rose to The Doctors Wife

Discounting the current season, 29 of those episode contain blatant or concealed references to The United States, 6 of those contain or indirect references to New York City.

Bearing in mind that many of the links are extremely sublime, my intent with the above was to illustrate the fact that if you set your mind hard enough to find a thing you will find it even in the smallest reference. If you were to do the same you would find links to almost any subject you chose,

Peeps, pups and Vikings

It’s been an odd weekend, Friday was very busy for herself, she went shopping for the grub for Saturday, I got invited to go into Folkestone for a few beers with some bloomin’ good mates. I must admit that I felt a bit of a heel at the thought of leaving herself to sort everything out, but she pointed out that she would probably get on with things if I weren’t getting in her way. Taking this as a cue to leave her to get on with it, I got the next bus down and made my way to Chambers. They were holding their annual beer festival, the first drink of the day was a (not very) lemon cider, to be honest I don’t really like cider much; I used to drink it a lot in my younger days, so it didn’t really grab me. My second drink was a pint of Strawberry Fruli, this stuff is incredible. It can only be described as a melted strawberry mivvi that has fermented just a little bit to become a strawberry flavoured lager, I say strawberry flavoured, what I mean is, being clouted firmly around the head with a punnet of strawberries that has cunningly been disguised as an alcoholic drink, you really can’t taste the alcohol. It was then decided to head down to the Pullman, a place that I haven’t been to for many years, mainly based on the reputation that the pub had, it was always a bit of a chav bin. Fortunately the reputation has been lost and it seems to be a decent place to sit and chat whilst enjoying a pint. I was studying the pump labels when it was pointed out to me that they sold my favourite beer, Doombar. I have to admit that I really like this ale, so I had a pint. We headed into the beer garden where we sat and talked and told lame jokes, and I had another half of DB. All too soon the afternoon came to an end and I headed home.

Saturday morning I woke with a start, quite literally as herself came bursting into my room, loudly informing me that it was five to nine, she scared the pants of me, well my PJ’s actually. I let out a bit of a yell, although she says I screamed like a girl. To that I say PAH! Last minute sorting was done in anticipation of the arrival of Clare, Neil and their pups JD and Max. They arrived at eleven and we had a cuppa and Clare handed Trudes a bag full of goodies, at we point she got all blubby, the great girl! Ronnii was extremely well behaved, she only growled a little bit, the most surprising of these was when Clare tried to help Ronnii onto the sofa, I can only put it down to the fact that there was new people and two strange pups in the house. JD & Max are lovely pups and so different, JD was content to lay on the sofa and take in all the events going on around him, A quiet retiring little chap but not unfriendly, in fact quite the opposite. Max on the other hand is very curious and explored the house and garden and followed Ronnii everywhere, but he too is very friendly and gentle. Trudes bought out some frozen yoghurt and peanut butter treats for the pups and the Schnauzers tucked straight in, Max made very short work of his and realising that his brother appeared to be having difficulties, he offered to help. JD didn’t bat an eyelid, he just looked at Max nicking his treat and let him get on with it. The treat was retrieved and put back in JDs’ bowl and he wasted no time in preventing Max from having another go at pilfering his treat. Shortly after this the pups were treated to a slice of Ronniis birthday cake. It was quite a remarkable looking thing, if you weren’t told that it was made specifically for dogs you wouldn’t have known, it looked quite yummy and our two canine guests soon cleared their bowls. Sadly Clare, Neil and the pups had to leave and set off back to Clacton. It was so nice to meet them all, I was impressed by the good behaviour of the pups and Clare and Neil are extremely nice people, it was a bit saddening to see them leave.

Later that day a contingent of friends from Folkestone and Ashford arrived, and we had a good time chatting and enjoying the sun. A friend from Dover also dropped in and it was nice to see him, even if he has had an extreme haircut.

The time that we spent with our friends was far too short over the weekend and the house was restored to just Trudes, me and Ronnii, so she said that I could watch Doctor Who. I’d been looking forward to this for about two months, and for me it wasn’t disappointment. The episode started off with a bang and delivered the highs and lows we have come to expect from the series, I can’t wait to see the next episode.

Sunday was nice and relaxed; herself had gone off to Thame for a dog show and to catch up with friends from the rescue. I stayed at home with Ronnii and caught up with a few hours of mind numbing TV and sleep on the sofa snuggled up with my pup, bless her!

Monday was very quiet, Trudes was recovering from the excitement of the dog show, fortunately she had a brilliant time, but it had worn her out somewhat. I had been invited to see Thor with a couple of mates on Monday night, it was a last minute thing as I wasn’t sure that I’d be able to afford it, but my sweet missus had kept some cash by so that I could go, aint she lovely!

The film was good and I recommend it, but I can’t say too much except that the lads will like it because it’s yet another comic book adaptation and the girls will like it because the chap who plays Thor is, well let’s just say that he has serious on screen presence. Oh yeah, Anthony Hopkins id brilliant as Odin!

So that was my weekend, Friends old and new, adorable pups and Norse gods.

Free time….

It’s still very strange in the house, but things are not too bad. I miss Richie terribly but I will come to terms with him not being here. Smiffy came up on Wednesday for a spot of painting, he commented on how quiet his welcome was, I guess that anyone who regularly visited the house will notice Richies absence for a while.

Wednesday and Thursday were spent at work after a two day break, and we then went into a four day weekend for Easter. I’m looking forward to this weekend as we will be having a few friends over for a celebration of Richie and Ronniis birthdays and our sweet little Molly Popples A fitting way to remember the pups that we have had the pleasure of welcoming into our homes over the last year.

Friday was reasonably hectic, herself was up before me and set about making preparations for the weekend, a trip into town for supplies was in order. I set about sprucing up the bathroom and washing and filling a paddling pool. I then got a call from my bro’ asking if I would be joining him and other friends at Chambers for a couple of beers. I initially declined as this would mean that Trudes would be left to do the sorting on her own. Herself had a different view on this and she said that if I went out I wouldn’t be getting in her way and she would probably make better progress with me out of her way. So I headed into town to catch up with some good friends and have a couple of pints. The first was a half of a not unpleasant lemon cider, although not overwhelming in the lemon department it was rather refreshing. After that I had the obligitary pint of Frulli, a strawberry lager that is extremely nice and is one of the few lagers I could happily spend the day drinking. We left Chambers and headed down to the Pullman, I thought it had closed, fortunately I was wrong. A quick glance at the tap badges and I was very pleased to see that they had Doom Bar on tap oh sweet joy! Those of you who know me well will be aware that this is my favourite ale, describing it as delicious does not do it any justice at all. All to soon the afternoon drew to a close and we headed our separate ways. some to Ashford, some staying in town and little old me heading home on a bus, well eventually, I had to wait half an hour for the bus.

There’s a few last minute things to do before the big event, one of which is to bath Ronnii so that she is all sweet and shiny for her day.

Sunday will see herself head off to Thame with a friend to attend a dog show, I’m a little worried that she may not come back empty handed, I know there are going to be some wonderful pups there and she’ll have trouble not ‘napping a couple, as for me, well with herself away and it being just me and Ronnii, I shall make the most of the day and spend the time walking my pup and painting models.

I’m not sure about Monday yet, I do know that I may have to avoid the net for most of Saturday to avoid spoilers, herself has said that she has no problem with me watching the Doc on Sunday whilst she’s away, so that’s something else I can look forward to, although there is one cloud over the Doctors return and that is the loss of Elisabeth Sladen earlier in the week, the beeb has announced that there will be a fitting tribute to her on Saturday night. I had the good fortune to meet her twice. The first was at a convention in London and the second was at the SFX weekender in February last year. She was very warm and friendly and chatted to everyone that waited to meet her and for the whole time I was in the line up I never saw her looked dismayed or downhearted at having to shake the hand of yet another fan, I also saw her interaction with Tom Baker and you could clearly see that the two were great friends.

I’ll let you know how the weekend goes and my thoughts on Impossible Astronaut, until then enjoy your weekend and don’t stay in the sun too long.

Middle aged meanderings!

It’s strange how these things affect us, when Molly left us I was totally devastated and could hardly stop blubbing, Richie has been gone just over a day and although my heart hangs heavy, I’m not blubbing quite as much. Trudes says it’s because we have Ronnii and didn’t have to face the silence of a dogless home this time, maybe she’s right. Trudes got home from the vets and she said that Richie’s passing was very calm and quiet, he didn’t complain and just fell asleep in her arms and drifted away. I’m so pleased that our little man suffered as little as possible in the end. I think it also has a lot to do with the vet that he saw, Anthony is such a gentle man, one of those types that is doing his job because he care about the animals he sees rather than that they are just a down payment on a posh car*. He treated Molly with respect and dignity at her end and Trudes said that he was just the same with Richie. He went so far as to alter his schedule so that he would be the one to help Richie on his way.

The house is very different without him, Richie that is, not the vet, that would be odd. Last night Trudes was about to ask if I’d given him his tablets, she stopped herself when she realised, for me it’s walking him that I really miss, he would stop and check the smells on everything, lamp posts, trees, bushes, Ronniis butt! I couldn’t help but have a giggle at the way he would spin around before setting to his business. The annoying way he would bark as loud as he could when he saw another dog. Ronnii and I had our first walk without him last night, I am sure she misses him sticking his nose up her bottom or shoving her to one side for the best pee spot. we’d probably got halfway on our usual route when she stopped and sniffed the air then she looked around with a quizzical “something’s missing” look about her, she then gave a dismissive shake of the head and we continued on our way, a few steps later she stopped again. this time she walked around me almost searching for our lost companion. Ronnii’s spent he morning today wandering from the front room to the kitchen and back and occasionally coming over to me or Trudes all at a loss. She definitely senses that something’s not right.

For the afternoon we headed into town and walked down to the harbour, where we, the human members of our party, had a cuppa and a packet of crisps, the pup had to settle for a dish of water and a cookie that she found rather distasteful, something that Trudes confirmed apparently £1.10 was a bit over priced. After the cuppa we headed down to a, not quite as crowded as the rest of the beach, corner where Trudes rid herself of her stylish yet affordable shoes, took Ronniis lead from me and marched into the sea with little miss fluffy butt close behind, as the waves lapped at Ronniis little furry paws she did what any dog would do in that situation and sat down. She now had a soggy bottom to match her soggy feet. After the paddle we headed back to get some chips whilst Ronnii took in the sights and piscine aroma wafting from the various fish mongers on the harbour. We headed home and had to be collected by the friend that was visiting, she was supposed to arrive at 3 but came fifteen minutes early. We spent the next hour or so catching up on events since we last met up and then she and her little lady headed off. I headed down to check on a feline friend, I was rather surprised to learn that Ronnii was not completely worn out after the mornings stroll and was desperate to join me. It turns out That she does seem to get on with cats and Obi took quite a shine to her, there was head butting which is always a good sign.

The next thing that will be different for me will be coming back from work, I won’t have captain shouty welcome me home with woofs and wags, Ronnii may be excitable but the shouting won’t be there.

We’re also having company tomorrow evening, Smiffy’s due over for an evening of painting, that’s something to look forward to.

I’m back at work for two days and then of for the Easter holiday, there’s a slight chance that Trudes may be away for the day on Sunday, she’s asked if I would like to go along but I wonder whether it may be good to let her have the time out.

It’s a few days away yet and you never know I may change my mind, I do that from time to time.

Anyways, ta ta for now.