There comes a time when every man has to admit, it needs a spoiler!

Today is total rantification day, I’m not a big fan of so called talent shows, I dislike the fact that some people choose to embarrass themselves and stand up in front of the nation’s TV viewers after having convinced themselves that they can sing and dance, when in fact they have what could be called shower talent. Well the latest fiasco has resulted in Cheryl Cole being labelled racist for not choosing one lass out of thousands.

My point is this, walk down any city street and pass by homeless people who sleep in the cold and the rain, think about children being abused, starved and beaten because mummy and daddy can't afford this week’s rent, perhaps even consider the hundreds of British soldiers fighting in a conflict that they should never be involved in, spare a thought for thousands of people being held against their will and being beaten and tortured because of political or religious view.
Now before folk go getting on their soap boxes because a young lass with her whole life ahead of her got reject from a talent(less) show, and ask yourself which is a more worthy cause?
This isn't about racism, sexism, the fact that she's below a certain height, too fat, too skinny, too northern or too southern. It's about viewing figures and lining the pockets of the people involved in producing such programmes. Every time the X-Factor runs there's some sort of controversy, and every year thousands of threads are started to encourage people to stop voting/watching or buying the music. The only result is that every time it happens the viewing figures increase as people tune in to see more of the arguments and tantrums. The solution is simple, if you enjoy the x-factor, watch it and continue to enjoy. If you don't like it, change the flippin' channel. Or watch a DVD, or take the dog for a walk. The girl concerned will benefit more from not getting through than if she'd won the thing. Look at the results of last year. The lad that won is doing what? One single in 12 months, Jedward a UK tour and a TV series. So winning means nothing in the end anyway. With the right management team behind her she could be a rising star without over priced phone in votes that are fixed.

It’s not even down to Miss Cole who goes through, that’s just part of the show, a token sequence to maintain the illusion that the hopefuls are being given a fair chance. The producers decide who goes through and tell the faces of X-Factor who they want for the live final. So all these deluded fools who start hate groups on facebook need to take a good look at the real world and see that the campaigns of hate are just as bad as the racism they clam occurred. Hate does nothing more than create hate, there’s enough of that in the world without more being generated over the rejection of a child from a singing contest. There was never this much commotion over New Faces or Opportunity Knocks, and let’s face it that’s all the x-factor is. Oh I could now go on about the other talent type shows, Take strictly come ice skating for instance, take a handful of out of shape celebrities and throw them in at the deep end learning to do “proper” dancing or skating. Then when they have their first go at it, so called experts tell them how rubbish they are. Well of course they’re rubbish, they’ve never done it before. How about this for a concept, celebrity tree felling. We can get some relatively unknown TV peeps to cut down trees, from a sustainable source, but only give them 2 minutes training with a chainsaw and then when they’ve dismembered themselves we can tell them they’re rubbish. OK so probably not a good example, but you see my point. Alright it’s all in the name of entertainment, but wouldn’t it be better if the experts told them that they’d shown great improvement after three lessons rather than go for personal attack. But then I guess that’s not what these shows are about.

My next rant is very far removed from the above, cars! What the heck do car designers think they’re doing? The government babbles on about how we should be more eco friendly and join Greenpeace and all become ecomentalist. They tell us we should drive green cars that use alternative fuels. Have you seen the option available? They’re ridiculous, they can’t design cars anymore, it’s all done by a computer that takes a ball of plasticine and squishes it about a bit and ends up with something that makes the Jetsons space car look high tech. Why these people think we want to drive around in four wheeled bubbles is beyond me. The thing is they can make a cool looking electric car, they proved that with the Tesla. Seat have a concept called the IBe, it looks a bit like an Astra but it’s electric, Jaguar have designed the C-X75, it’s rather nice. We then move on to Kia’s endeavour in the field of battery powered cars, it’s called the Pop, and from the look of it, it very well might, Bubble #1. Bubble #2 is the Toyota FT-CH, Toyota take bubble #3 with the FT-EV II both TOYotas are along the same lines as the monstrously hideous Prius. A brilliant idea, an engine that runs on petrol/diesel and electric motors that are charged by the engine, the drawback is that it makes for a very quiet car; this means that people are more likely to get splattered because they never heard the car coming. Back the bubbles, Peugeot have a concept they are calling the BB1, oddly that almost spells bubble, it is hideous! No really, it’s the most ridiculous looking thing I’ve ever seen. I thought the Smart for2 was stupid, but the BB1 out stupids even my idea of a three wheeled wheelbarrow for carrying you’re drunken mates home on a Friday night. Other bubbles include the Renault Twizy which looks like a cross between a smart for2 that been shrunk in the wash and an action man tank. Not quite a bubble but still rather stupid looking is the Nissan Townpod, it’s a chunkier version of the Note, but a bit rounder.

Before I go I would just like to mention Lotus, with Rover and Jaguar owned by BMW and Aston Martin owned by Ford, the last bastion of British car design is probably Lotus, although they’re owned by Proton they still count, just! Lotus has, in the past, made some fantastic looking cars, the Esprit, the elan and the over powered go-cart that is the Elise. Looking at their concepts it seems that they’ve stolen the front end from every Lamborghini ever produced. Except for one car, the City Car. It’s not even original, it’s nothing more than an overpriced Toyota Yaris, Google it it’s an insult to the whole of Lotus’ history. Two blokes called Percy were sat in a shed in Norfolk and thought lets rip off the Japanese. Whatever happened to classics? They’d have done better if they put an engine and a spoiler on a grand piano.

Right I’m done,

Hopefully I’ll be in a better mood for my next entry.

Ta ta

Just when you thought it was over, what is with the new trend of putting the letter “I” in front of everything? Not to mention all the different pods that are about now. It’s not as though we’re peas! Or should that be I-peas

Who ya gonna call? well someone with a bit of common sense would be a start!

Those of you who know me well will be aware that I have more than a passing interest in the paranormal, and I have long been interested in conducting an investigation in an alleged haunted location. I have considered various places to carry out such activity and have considered many factors, the first being access. Ideally the location should have free and unlimited access and fairly isolated from built up areas, so as to rule out distractions from traffic and public activity. So somewhere off the beaten track would be a good start. The location would also have sufficient parking or be well within walking distance of such parking. Once a location has been agreed upon by all interested, we should carry out a daylight visit to risk assess the place and decide on the areas that warrant particular attention. The main issue here would be equipment, I have a DVD camera that has a night vision facility and, if I ask nicely, access to a video tape camera that also has night vision. I don’t see any issues with cameras, almost everyone I know has a digital camera, and considering that most mobile phones feature a fairly good camera we should be able to get plenty together. I also have access to a rather good 35mm still camera, although I would have to ask permission to use it. Considering that such investigations normally take place at night, a good supply of torches and batteries would be a necessity. One piece of kit I would like to have is either an EMF meter or a K2 meter. These are available to buy, but I can’t warrant purchasing one if it isn’t going to get used regularly. Another useful bit of kit to have at hand would be some form of audio recording equipment. Again I have 2 of these, one is powered by a single AAA battery, the other has a built in rechargeable battery. Of course the most vital part of any paranormal investigation is a group of investigators. A few friends have expressed an interest and I’m quietly confident that I could muster the troops for a Friday or Saturday night effort. Where locations are concerned, one place that has intrigued me is a place known as Oxney Bottom. It’s an area of woodland between St Margaret’s and Ringwould on the road from Dover to Deal. It has the remains of a 16^th century chapel and a ruined manor house. I grew up hearing many tales of the area, including the legend of the grey lady, seen by motorists; many of them claim that the apparition forced them off the road. There is also a claim that a small boy ran away from home, made his way to the woods where he fell down a well. Apparently there is a capped well in the area; it would have served the manor house and small village. There are rumours that the boys’ remains are still at the bottom of the well, and he has been seen running through the woods. The only issue with an investigation here is that I suspect the wood surrounding the remains of the chapel are private property and that police were investigating the removal and damage of the no trespassing notices. An obvious choice for a location would be Pluckley, but I think the locals take a dim view of people running around the village with camcorders and torches. Of course if any of my readers have any suggestions for a good place to visit leave details here or mail me at the usual address, you can, of course, contact me via facebook.

Well that’s it for this entry, sleep well.

A haunting we will go!

Hello there, you’re back, it’s been a while, how have you been? I’ve been quite busy since my last post, work has been fun, I’ve been in the workshop this past week and a bit, the interesting thing is that once I got back to my main role at work I realised that it’s the flipping computers that are getting me down. Six years ago they were slightly above average Dells, now they’re slow cumbersome monsters that actually manage to ruin my day. Combine them with what could be the worst internet connection in the world and the computers are just about beyond useless. Still, the chances of getting upgrades are extremely unlikely so I guess I’ll make do and keep my gob shut. Nuff sed!

Way back at the beginning of the month I was asked if I would give a talk about the south east coastal defence batteries, I spent a bit of time putting something together and reading through my notes (not that you’d think it) and on the evening of 29^th I gave my talk, whilst I was a bag of nerves I had some positive feedback and it seemed to go very well. I’ve discovered that I’m a bit odd when it comes to giving talks, I’ve given three for the astronomy club and now one for the archaeology club, it seems no matter how much I prepare I lose it a bit at the time. Oh well I’m sure I’ll get better as time passes.

Getting back to the subject of work, one of the guys has been watching videos of alleged poltergeist activity; he’s been asking me if what is in the video is real. How on earth do you answer a question like that? I decided to go down the logical route and give him my honest opinion, not always a good thing in my experience, I explained that whilst I would not rule out the possibility of genuine supernatural activity, I am fairly convinced that most if all of the videos that are available to view on you tube are either blatant fakes or simply a case of misdirection. After this chat I could see cogs whirring and he eventually asked me how such videos could be faked. Well rather than go into elaborate details I thought I I’d show him. So yesterday I went to work armed with my video camera and a rough idea as to what we would do. Fortunately my workplace has a very well equipped woodwork shop and a couple of my workmates go fishing so there was plenty of props and the guys soon entered into the spirit of the thing. Initially the lads were a bit bemused about what we were doing, but once they saw the results of our early efforts they were both amused and impressed. We had a couple of takes, ooh technical terms, out of the six separate sequences I selected one good one and one slightly daft one, although I find the whole concept of these sort of videos more than a bit daft. After a bit of tweaking the video was ready to be posted on YouTube. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against the videos that get put on the web claiming to show ghostly goings on, but I wonder if they are doing more harm than good to any chance of genuine discoveries in the area of paranormal studies. Either way the video is available for all to view, and can be found by going to YouTube and searching for kalon1701. Go take a look; it’s worth a giggle, if nothing else.

If you do choose to view it, please don’t have nightmares, after all it’s just for fun.

Bye y’all.

Right, getting onto a more serious note… ooh, look, a shiny!

I finally managed to get a couple of days off and I have the snots, bloomin’ typical. I don’t have anything particular planned for the time off. I probably just lounge about for a bit, I have a friends laptop that needs looking at, a talk on Lydden Spout to prepare and somewhere in the region of 250 miniatures to paint. I think I’ll manage to get two of those done, although I should get on with the miniatures as I want to have as many as I can finished before Christmas. The problem isn’t so much time as space. It’s a fifty/fifty split on the location of models that need building and painting some are at Tea’s whilst the others are in storage. In order to transfer the remaining models to Trudes I need to make some space for them. That means either sorting out the spare room or the shed. I need Tea’s permission to transfer everything to the spare room and I think she’s a bit loath to give it the ok as it’s currently a study for her wee man. Either way I need her to tell me what can be put where and when. The problem with me is that I like to be around people when I paint, firstly because I like to get feedback on how a model is coming along and secondly because I like to be around for Tea when she needs anything. So even if she does give the go ahead to take over the spare room I expect I’ll still sit in the kitchen.

We went down to Hythe today; we were heading to the Barrow Hill vets, for two reasons. First we were going to collect Molly pops’ ashes, we decided to have her cremated as we would not want to leave her remains in the garden should we ever move. Trudes has done this for two of her other dogs. Secondly, we had to take the new full time foster dog to the vet for a check up. The poor little lad has been through quite a rough time in his short life. Let’s start right at the front, shall we? Ok, first he has a wart on his nose, it’s about the size of a pea and he catches it now and then, which makes it bleed. His teeth are in a very bad state; at least one is loose and will need to be removed. His teeth also need a major clean, it looks as though they have never been cleaned. His right eye has been removed, we don’t know why. Rich’s left front elbow is, as the vet described it “trashed!” it seems it had a condyal fracture this is where the humerus splits at the elbow some time ago, as a result he has very limited movement in it and he has stretched the ligaments in his right foot where he has been compensating for the difficulty he has walking, although he does walk very well. moving on from the problems with his feet, he has a grade five heart murmur, whilst this is serious, possibly life threatening, as long as he isn’t over exercised he shouldn’t have to many problems because of it, the heart murmur is being treated with medication. His general physical appearance is reasonably good, his coat is soft and shiny but he could benefit from a little weight gain. We do have to be careful with this due to the problem with his heart. Finally Rich is monorchid, this means that one of his gentleman’s jewels didn’t drop properly when he was a pup and is currently hiding in a cavity in his groin. We also think that he may have been treated quite roughly in the past, he tends to cower and pull his ears tight to his head, he also wraps his tail tight to his hind area, from what I understand, this is a typical fear stance in a dog. We have no real clue in to his past because he was found abandoned in an alley, fortunately a kind member of the public found him and took him to their local dog pound who contacted The Little Dog Rescue. We were asked if we would consider another full time foster and Tea agreed to have the little chap bought to the house to meet Molly. They took to each other very well, there were no signs of aggression from either dog and they interacted well together. So, based on Molly’s opinion of the little chap we said we’d give him a loving and caring home, lord knows he needs it. Sadly, Molly didn’t get to welcome him into the house, but he came to us anyway.

Again, we have no real idea of how long he will be with us; all we know is that he will end his days with us. We have the full support of TLDR with his vet bills, these will be covered by money raised by the charity, and they will also cover any special dietary needs he may develop.

As i said earlier, the poor little chap has had quite an ordeal, however Tea and I will ensure that he gets all the care and affection that he deserves. Hopefully my friends will show him the same warmth they showed Molly.

In the words of Mrs Doyle, go on, go on, go on!

I know, I said I wouldn’t post for a few days, but I thought I’d drop in and write a few words. Firstly a huge thank you to everyone for the wonderful messages of support and sympathy since Friday, you have no idea of how much it has helped us. We both miss Molly a great deal, and although it will take time, we will come to terms with her passing.

Not a great deal has happened over the weekend, Tea and myself popped into town to see a friend and have a coffee, then do a little shopping. Ooh exciting stuff! I managed to get my mitts on a copy of Island of blood on Saturday, drool. I also managed to pick up this little beauty, it’s called the Chapel of Sanctuary. It’s resin and has a really nice weighty feel to it. It’s an unusual model by GWs standards, firstly because it comes out of the box already painted, and there’s no real assembly needed. Although it comes in two pieces, the sections slot together nicely and it can be taken apart for taking home. Whilst it can be put on a table as a terrain piece, it also makes a rather fine display stand for a well painted miniature or a diorama.

Whilst I was at the shop on Saturday, Pete, a fellow gamer, mentioned that he was looking for a random game at some point. We talked about various options one being my folding table, the other being the dining table at Tea’s. Fortunately her royal gorgeousness was at the shop, talking shoes with another friend, so I got the ok from herself and then gave Pete my contact details and let him know that he and Ali have the standard open door policy. I spoke to Smiffy last night, with luck he’s going to come up on Wednesday, possibly for a spot of painting. Painting will be good, I need to throw myself back into it, I have so much to do and it’s about time I cracked on with it. Especially if I do get Island of Blood, otherwise it will mean that there will be another seventyish models waiting to be painted, at the moment I have more than double that. So I must crack on and finish what I started.

I’ve also been asked to do a talk for an archaeology club that some of my friends are part of, they want me to do a presentation on Lydden Spout. Usually when people think about archaeology, they tend to think about the Romans or Vikings and older periods. Few people think that something from the mid twentieth century is archeological, is that a word? I suppose they feel that because it happened within living memory, it’s not worth the effort. Personally I think it is, and I can think of a few people who would agree with me. Well that’s on the 29^th so I have three weeks to get it sorted. I have some pictures that were taken when Lydden Spout was in service, and I have a map of the whole emplacement somewhere. I think the time limit is 45 minutes, but I’ll have to check that. I think the presentation should be in two sections, the first half being about the role it played in the war and the second being about the condition it’s been allowed to get into now. It makes me sad to see these places being so neglected.

Well that’s me done for now, I’m getting back on track. Forgive me if I digress now and then, but that’s what I do.

One last thing, as you know, Molly was a foster dog from The Little Dogs Rescue, they’re a charity that works toward providing homes for dogs that are unwanted and/or unloved. Some of the dogs, like Molly, require special care and need to be fostered because the illnesses they have incur high costs which the rescue covers. This means that although the people caring for the dog have the chance to give a foster dog all the love he or she may need, they don’t have to worry about the vet bills and, in certain cases they are also provided with food for the dog, should a special diet be needed. The money to cover this is raised through fund raising events and donations, without these they would not be able to help the poor abandoned, unloved and often mistreated dogs that come to them. So if you find yourself at a loss for what to do with a handful of small change, pop in to the shop where I run the gaming group, we have a collection tin there, or why not visit the website and take a look at some of the little furry lads and lasses who need your help. Go on, give a little dog a chance for a better life. You can donate by visiting http://thelittledogrescue.proboards.com/index.cgi and clicking on the donate button.

Thank you for taking the time to read down this far

Kindest regards

ME

Toodles my little cream puffs!

I don’t do little dogs!

Feeling a little out of sorts and not sure what to do today, Trudes was insistent that I kept to my usual Saturday routine. Although I wasn’t really feeling up to it, I also didn’t much fancy sitting in the house. Whilst I would have been happy to leave my wonderful fiancé sleeping in, the house just doesn’t feel the same. There’s no clickety click as molly goes for a drink, Trudes and I are just sitting quietly doing our own thing, both very solemn. Despite the sadness I’m feeling, I know that our little lady is running through the fields, her sight restored, her Cushings and diabetes have gone, and she has a full and beautiful coat of soft, warm fur. She will be easy to spot as she will be the sweetest, prettiest Yorkshire terrier there. I’m not a religious man, I lost my faith many years ago, but I am spiritual. I am sure that when I am called I will cross that bridge and my dog will be waiting for me with a pink sparkly ball resting between her front paws. For me that may be many years, but for Molly it will be only a moment. She will be so busy chasing squibbles with her friends that she won’t even notice time passing.

Molly had such an effect on me that I felt compelled to do something to commemorate the time we had, so over my heart there is now a little turquoise paw print with a tiny little on the large pad. I chose this because she truly has left paw prints on my heart; Tea suggested the colour as Molly had a turquoise T-shirt with Daddy’s Girl on it. Tea says that she was a proper little daddy’s girl, and for the most part I would have to agree. For the last two weeks or so, she was coming up to bed with me. She made me laugh as she bounded up the stairs, occasionally miscounting and expecting one more than there was. She’d snuffle around the landing before going into my room, where she would wait for me to lift her on to the bed. After a minute or two of shuffling around to find a good spot, usually right in the middle of the bed so that I would have to move her over. We would then have a cuddle and a little play before settling down for the night.

Something else that I loved doing with Molly was taking her out. Tea would get her ready in one of her, many, little outfits. My favourite is her little red dress with white spots.   Because she didn’t walk too well we carried her most of the time, but we let her have a bimble about now and then. Because we carried her it meant we got lots of cuddles and the odd whiff every now and then, oh my that girl could fart! It didn’t matter to me one bit what anyone thought when they saw me with her, I was so proud that she was with us and nothing can take away all those happy memories.

Almost everyone I know who met Molly Pops couldn’t resist her sweet endearing face, her fur had grown since she first came to us and she had the most adorable fringe that covered her eyes.   She had started to grow fur where she had lost it and she was covered with a very soft coat of fine fur, almost like a puppy. My favourite time with Molly was bath time, Tea and I felt that as she spent most of the day with Mo-Mo, I should have bath time. If I had my way I would have bathed her every night. She had special soap that helped with her itchy skin, which she had as a result of the Cushings and allergies. After getting her out I would take in to the bedroom and put her on some towels, so that the bed didn’t get wet, she would roll around on the bed whilst I blasted her with a hair dryer. She would smell so sweet as the soap was an aroma therapy type thing with all manner of oils and stuff in it. Molly also had the most amazing smile, people tend to look at me like I’m a bit odd when I say that animals smile, but from the picture of Molly posted here, I think it’s fair to say that’s a huge grin.

So there you have a brief insight into the wonderful times Tea and I had with our little Molly. I write this not because I’m sad but because I want to share the wonderful sense of joy that she bought to us, the love we gave her was returned, plus more. Was she spoilt? Yes, but after all that little dog had been through she deserved every second of it. Was she loved? I don’t think the word truly describes how we felt about her. Was she happy? I don’t doubt it for a second. Would I have another dog? Yes, we both feel that it would be wrong for us not to give another dog a loving home where it would be safe and well cared for. Plus I think Molly would want us to, she knows how much we loved her, and she would want us to show that love to another little dog.

The next dog we have is down to Tea, although I would like to meet it before a definite decision is made. Ideally I would like a Yorkie puppy, but again that is down to Tea. I know she would like an older dog; all I want is a dog that’s well behaved, house trained and affectionate. Not too much to ask is it?

I may not blog for a few days now; I will probably throw myself into painting miniatures and spending time with Tea so that we can start our healing together. Trudes has had a pink version of the paw print tattoo put on the inside of her left wrist. I shall probably blub a few more times over the next few days when I tell friends who are not online but have met or knew about Molly.

Hopefully my next entry will be brighter and back to my usual standard of rant filled rubbish.

Until then, stay well, and let your pets and your family know how much you love them, especially your pets because your time with them is short and every moment should be treasured.

Goodbye my sweet girl, you will be so sorely missed.

Of all the blog posts I’ve written over the last few months, this is probably the hardest. As you would have read on yesterday’s entry, Molly came home from hospital. Although she wasn’t herself, she appeared to be on the mend. Trudes and I were so happy to have her home, she snuggles up on the sofa beside her momma and had a sleep, she then bimbled over to her bed by the TV and dug out a pigs ear and spent about twenty minutes having a chew. I fed her at eleven, as per the vets’ instructions, and gave her a shot of insulin. With her fed, watered and jabbed I let her out for her night time pee and we set of to bed. I put her blanket on my bed, in case she was sick during the night, and spent about an hour lying with her gently stroking her and chatting to her. Eventually we fell asleep. I woke up with light the still on and our girl snoring away in a state of total comfort and bliss. I gave her a kiss and settled into bed properly. I awoke to Molly desperate for a pee and eager to get downstairs, so off we went. Knowing that wasn’t due to be fed I just sorted out her tablets and tried to give them to her, she wasn’t interested. This is when I realised that she was still poorly. Trudes had heard the sound of my panicking and came down to offer the voice of reason and suggested putting her pills in some cheese, that worked! I set off for work more than a little worried. My phone rang at about ten, it was Trudy saying that I should come home as Molly had been very sick and was not eating; she added that she had spoken to the vet and that he had said that if she was not keeping food down without the help of a drip it was not a good sign. In a way it was, Trudes and I both feel that Molly had manage to recover enough to be well enough to spend one last night with us at home, with that done, our sweet little Molly Popples let Trudy know that she was ready to cross the rainbow bridge. I spoke to my boss and explained what was happening and he told me to go. I phoned the friend that had taken us to collect her last night, I guess from the tone of my voice she knew why I was calling, and she simply said that she would meet us at Trudy’s. Shortly after I arrived home two of my very close friends, who also adore our girl, came to say goodbye. We drove to the vets in Hythe and shortly after we got there I had one last cuddle with our Molly and Trudes carried her in to spend the last few moments with her.

So I write this with a shattered and heavy heart in the front room of a very empty house. Trudes and I feel blessed to have had the few, all too short, months we had with Molly, but we rest easy knowing that she loved us as much, if not more, as we loved her. I don’t doubt that we will, given time, foster or adopt another little dog, but I will always have a Molly shaped hole at the centre of my heart. She was the first dog in my life that was mine, and that makes her extra special. Despite all her ailments she never once complained, not even at the end.

So goodbye my sweet little Molly Popples, I will love you forever and you have left paw prints on my heart.

When you have read to the end of this entry, please take a moment to speak a few words for our girl, and then, if you have a pet you hold dear, go and love them. Hold them and kiss them and tell them that they mean the world to you. For the love of a pet is unconditional, and they return the love you give without question.

To have loved and then said farewell is better than to have never loved at all.
For all of the times that you stooped and touched my head, fed me my favourite treat and
returned the love that I so unconditionally gave to you. For the care that you gave to me
so unselfishly. For all of these things I am grateful and thankful. I ask that you grieve
not for the loss but rejoice in the fact that we lived, loved and touched each other's lives.
My life was fuller because you were there, not as owner, but as my friend. Today, I am
as I was in my youth. The grass is always green, butterflies flit among the flowers and
the sun shines gently down upon all of God's creatures. I can run, jump and play
and do all of the things that I did in my youth. There is no sickness, no aching joints
and no regrets and no aging. We await the arrival of our lifelong companions and know
that togetherness is forever. You live in our hearts as we do in yours. Companions such
as you are very rare and unique. Don't hold the love that you have within yourself.
Give it to another like me and then I will live forever. For love never really dies
and you are loved and missed as surely as we are.

Rainbow Bridge

Just this side of Heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge. When an
animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet
goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our
special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of
food, water and sunshine and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and
vigour; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong
again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times
gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small
thing: they each miss someone very special, someone who was left
behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly
stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; his
eager body begins to quiver. Suddenly, he breaks from the group,
flying over the green grass, faster and faster. You have been
spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling
together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses
rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and
you look once more into those trusting eyes, so long gone from your
life, but never absent from your heart.
Then you cross the Rainbow Bridge together...

I think this last one sums up our last day with Molly.

Do you think the time is right?
May I say goodbye to pain filled days and endless tired nights?
I've lived my life and done my best, an example tried to be.
So can I take that step beyond, and set my spirit free?
I didn't want to go at first; I fought with all my might.
But something seems to draw me now to a warm and loving light.
I want to go, I really do; it's difficult to stay.
But I will try as best I can to live just one more day.
To give you time to care for me and share your love and fears.
I know you're sad and afraid, because I see your tears.
I'll not be far, I promise that, and hope you'll always know,
that my spirit will be close to you wherever you may go.
Thank you so for loving me. You know I love you too,
And that's why it's hard to say goodbye and end this life with you.
So hold me now just one more time and let me hear you say,
Because you care so much for me, you'll let me go today.

Is tired nights accurate? Maybe not, Molly would bound up the stairs to with either me or her mommas bed, and she would sleep soundly through the night, with the occaisional snore and a little yip now and then as she chased squibbles and bunnies in her sleep 

Thank you for taking the time to read through this.

Kindest regards

Steve

Welcome home Molly Popples

What a week it’s been! As many of you know, Molly Pops has been very poorly since we returned from the weekend camping. On Tuesday, the vet said that she wasn’t improving as well as they were hoping. Trudes was told that we should realistically prepare for the worst. This decision was pending a conversation with one of the directors of TLDR, fortunately the vet was told to do everything that was needed to give Molly every chance of a full recovery before considering the final option. On Wednesday Trudes and I went up to the hospital to see her, what a change! The listless little pup that we left there on Monday was nowhere to be seen. In its place was our little girl, she made all her noises and danced around her little kennel as though nothing had happened. Later that night Trudes phoned the vets, on a different matter which I’ll come to in a bit. The vet told her that our visit, albeit brief, had done Molly the power of good, and that she would most likely be coming home tomorrow. Such sweet news, so with help from a close friend, we set off to bring our princess home. We had a very good chat with the vet, he gave us some advice regarding her jabs, and he has also suggested that we take her for a glucose curve once a week. This will help to monitor her glucose levels so that we can ensure that she’s getting the right amount of insulin. Molly is home now, and as I write this she is curled up on the sofa next to her momma snoring away quite happily. This house is once again a home.

Yesterdays excellent news about Molly did come at a price; well we thought so at the time. After the hospital we returned home and on the way we had to drop off food for Obi Kat, as we were leaving the little tinker shot out into the main road. We set off in pursuit as the road at the front of the house can get quite busy and he only really goes out in the back yard. Well the inevitable happened and there was a very loud thud. Suddenly I felt something wash over me that I haven’t felt for a very long time, it was really only after the event that I realised that I had become angry, although absolutely fuming would be a better description. There was lots of swearing and ranting on my behalf, I think the poor lass who was driving must have been absolutely terrified. Firstly hitting a cat and then having me ranting at her in my best angry voice. Bless her though she did offer to help, but I just swore at her some more and suggested that she left the area. With the help of a couple of friends, search parties were sent out but to no avail. it was whilst we were search for Obi that Trudes phoned the vet, who told her that a cat will tend to hide away until it has calmed down, then once the nerves have settled and the adrenaline has worn off they usually come home if they are able to. With nothing more to do than wait for Obi Kat to return home of his own volition. We also had to get Trudes home so that she could rest, so plans were put into place for the event of his return.

This morning I received word that he had indeed returned home and appeared to be no worse for wear, he does have a splintered claw and grazed pad, but that may have happened when he bolted. Before we went to collect Molly, Trudes and I went to see Obi to discover that he is indeed absolutely fine; maybe his moggie pride has taken a bit of a bashing. So despite the worry of Molly and the moggie, it’s all sorted and both the fur balls that I love are fine, although I have to say that I don’t really view Obi as my cat any more. He came into my life at a time when I needed something to take my mind off the situation I was in with my life. Fortunately I know that Obi will be loved by his new friend as much, if not more than me. I will still visit him and take him food and treats, but it seems the right thing to do, as much as I would love to have him with me, there is too many complications. With Percy the (non) homing pigeon doing a good impression of kitty lunch, we’d be forever shooing him away from the feathered fella.

So with Molly home and almost back to full health, we have opened our eyes to the fact that her time with us is really limited. We don’t know if we will get just a few more short weeks or a few months, either way we will make every moment we have with her as precious as we possibly can. We will love her and ensure that her quality of life is the best we can provide. We also need to use the time we have with her to prepare ourselves for the day when Molly does cross the rainbow bridge. I know that no matter how much we prepare for that day, it will break my heart. However we will both know that when she crosses the bridge she will have Sam and Willow and Max, Trudes’ previous and much loved dogs, waiting for her to chase squibbles and snuffle rabbit raisins, I can just see the four of them sniggering at the stories each of them have about their lives with Trudes, and in Molly’s’ case the both of us. But for now, all that matters is that she is at home with us where she belongs.

So we come to the end of another solemn blog, well almost. I’m actually going to end with something a bit cheerful, well for me anyway. Sitting at the shop are seven boxes from Games Workshop, they are brand new copies of The Island of Blood. Three copies have been ear marked, I know that one is for me and one is more than likely for Smiffy. It will be so bloomin’ hard not to come home without it on Saturday. But, considering I’ve put this on my Chrimbo pressie list (113 days), if I were to bring it home I think I will be sleeping in, if not under, the shed.

Yay, a happy ending, well sort of, I Love my dog, I love my girly, I love my ex cat and I even love the (non) homing pigeon in the back garden. I’m off to catch up on all the Molly snuggles of missed out on over the last few days.

Nite all!

XX

Whilst people can turn away and let you down, a dog will always be there for you and can always be trusted.

I had a fantastic weekend away with some great friends; I wish it had been longer and that I’d had the chance to catch up with the guys that had left by the time we arrived. I’m looking forward to the next time we get the chance to get together and relax with a few beers. I’m not expecting this week to pass by very quickly; I also don’t anticipate a very bright one. The reason for this is that Molly is not with us at the moment, here’s a brief account of the situation; we have a 12 year old Yorkshire terrier who has Cushing’s disease, diabetes and she's blind. She's only been with us for 4 months, but she's the first dog that has ever got to me in the way she has. Yesterday, being Monday 30^th, she became very ill very quickly due to complications with the Cushing’s and the diabetes and she was rushed to the veterinary hospital in Ashford. Whilst they will do as much as they can for her there is a very real possibility that we may have to send her over the rainbow bridge. We thought we were going to lose her a few weeks ago but she pulled through. I'm hoping she will this time but I also know that the day will come when we will have to say goodbye as it won't be fair on her to keep her going. However, I know that when that day comes it will absolutely devastate me. I know she's just a dog at the end of the day, but no animal has ever made such an impact on me. We have to consider what’s right for Molly Pops, but it doesn't mean I have to like it.

Those who have met Molly will know what a sweet little pup she is, I know she 12 but all dogs are pups to me, even a few of my friends who ”don’t do small dogs” can’t resist a sly little ruffle of her fur when they think no one’s looking. She just has that effect on people. Spend twenty minutes with her and I defy anyone to not think she’s a sweetie. She has such a strong character, despite her blindness she bimbles around quite happily, alright so she bumps into things now and then. She looks so cute when she runs up the stairs to wake Trudes up in the morning when I take her coffee to her. She hardly ever complains when she has to have her twice daily jab. I also think she’s been good for Trudes whilst she’s been having her treatment. Here I was thinking that I’d be the strong and keep it together, it’s been the exact opposite. Trudes is being the strong one, holding back on the emotions whilst I’m falling to pieces. Again, anyone that truly knows me is fully aware that whilst I like to think I’m a strong fella and can take what life throws at me, in reality I’m just, as Trudes would say, a big soppy bear of a man, so what! I don’t care really, I’m more than happy to walk around town with my Molly in my arms, even when she’s wearing one of the many outfits that she has, whether it’s a pink leopard print jumpsuit or her little red dress with white spots. My little Popples is worth every moment I spend with her, and I think she knows how much I love her. She and Trudes mean the world to me.

Right I’m off for yet another blub and to send some healing vibes to little Molly Popples, if you have any spare, perhaps you could send a few her way too. Thanks for reading.

Blessed be!

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My sweet Molly Popples.

Someone to comfort to dry up those tears,

Someone to be there, to quiet your fears,

A companion, a pal, a very best friend,

Someone to trust and to love till the end.

I love you sweet Molly Popples.

Rant, tents, tiddlers and poorly pups.

Rant #1 Friday night arrived, well evening, and after I had done my chores for obi I headed home via one of the local chip shops. At 19:05 I ordered cod & chips for two, at 19:10 one of the chaps behind the counter smiled at me and said sorry. Now if the chippy had been busy, I wouldn’t have minded so much. However, I was the only customer! When the chap apologised, probably for the lack of activity, I expressed my displeasure at the amount of time it had taken them to not batter the fish and drop it in the oil. I then left the shop, saying I would get the order at their nearest rivals.

Rant #2 this is aimed at the callous twonk who couldn’t wait five seconds for an animal to get out of the road, so he/she ran it over. The animal in question was a young gull, yes I know that there’s millions of the little blighters and that they can be a pest, but this little bird was the young of a gull that has become somewhat of a local mascot near the shop where I help out on Saturday. The adult gull has been named Oscar by the locals. They feed him and he is quite the cheeky little chap. He once tried to nick some cork from the shop. For the last few weeks he has paraded his chick up and down the area and seemed to be quite a doting parent. Unfortunately there’re no parental controls on this blog and there’s a chance that folk who take offence to harsh language. So I’ll do my best not to swear. So far as I’m concerned the owner of the car is a heartless moron, there were small children who witnessed your blatant act of animal cruelty. Just because you have a car, you don’t have the right to drive as you please. A little patience wouldn’t be too bad, but no, you felt the need to get to your destination as quickly as possible. Would it have made that much difference if you’d waited for the gull to get out of your way? Had there been a cat or a dog in the road, would have ploughed into that without a single thought for the animals owner. You inhuman troll; I hope that Oscar and his entire gull mates crap on your car, and your head, everyday for the next month.

On a brighter note we had a fantastic weekend. It started off well, I set off for the shop on Saturday morning, and I was twenty minutes behind schedule. Fortunately the advance team were en route to prepare for the oncoming tide of noisy sprogs, and the bus was late, this added ten minutes to the delay. Somehow the bus journey ran to time, and I made five minutes up. The shops incoming customers were a little sporadic, takings would have been a bit better had the National Express agents’ web site had been up and running. The afternoon gaming session was a bit quiet as most of the lads were out making the most of the last weekend of the summer holidays. Trudes arrived with the lovely Miss Molly and I shot off to Waitrose to stock up on provisions for the evening in tentville. The transport shuttle from star base Smarden arrived and we set off for our weekend break.

On arrival we loaded the tractor trailer with more stuff than we probably needed and I drove the machine to field we were camping in. Little Miss Molly decided that she was going to check out all the new smells and noises, so she and her momma walked all the way, although Tea prefers the term bimble. We unloaded and I took an opportunity to head up to the pond for a short stint of fishing, I like fishing! I can’t think of anyone I’d rather fish with, Manky and Jason from astronomy club were already tiddler bashing, so without delay I picked up a rod and started drowning bait. It was too long before I caught my first over sized minnow, the cheeky little piscine had more or less swallowed not only the bait, but the whole blooming hook. This needed forceps to remove; once the hook was out I released the little beggar and promptly dropped the forceps in the drink. This was the first disaster. After a bit more fishing we returned to camp for dinner. Dinner wasn’t quite ready so I went to finish off putting our tent up. This led to the second disaster; I’d forgotten the inflatable mattresses! Oh dear lord what was I to do? The first part of the plan that popped into my head was to ask around the others to see if anyone had at least one spare mattress, if they had then at least Trudes would be comfy. Sadly no one had a spare, so stage two was to either set off back to Folkestone and grab our mattresses or go to B & Q in Ashford and buy at least one for Trudes, then at the last moment, one of the chaps, namely Jose offered his mattress for the night. Trudes would have that and I’d make do with the floor. Once that issue had been fixed, I had to sort out one or two other issues, but I won’t go into detail here. By the time the tent was sorted, dinner was too. It was braised pork and new potatoes, yummo! A bottle of Doom Bar helped to wash it down, oh my it was good. Once I’d had my nosh it was time for Molly Pops to have hers, the usual mixture of finely chopped hot dog sausage sprinkled with bionic Biotic, its amazing stuff, Molly has a fine downy coat where she was a baldy girl when she first came into our lives. Once the divine miss M had scoffed, I headed off to get her jab. When I returned Batty mentioned that he had a couple of trout that he was going to cook, he asked if anyone would like some, Trudes has since discovered that she now likes trout, Good oh!

With dinner for everyone done some of the gang started building a camp fire, once it was ready to light, down came the rain. However, seeing as how we’re all completely bonkers, we lit it anyway. Fortunately it was too long before the play stopped rain and we were all sat around a roaring campfire swapping jokes and laughing ourselves sick. Early on I had fixed up some bananas with chocolate buttons in them, they were placed on the hot embers to melt the chocolate, to be honest the one I had needed more chocolate and a little longer in the fire, but never mind, I know for next time. There were also toasted marsh melons, one of my faves. The evening drew on and we had a chance to see the ISS as it went over plus a few other satellites. The beer flowed well and then the port was opened. This is the best part of any camp fire, a group of good friends, a warm fire and a bottle of port or four definitely warms the cockles. To top the evening off nicely we were regaled with the tale of a rather impertinent bunny by the name of Foo Foo, booze, bonfires and bunnies. Could the night get any better? Well considering I was with a group of some of my closest friend, and my two best girls, Trudes and Molly Popples were there, no, I don’t think it could. Eventually the fire died and we retired to our beds.

Sunday morning I was gently woken up by the missus taking photos of, what she described as, a giant caterpillar, the cheeky madam! Realising she meant me I let her take some more pics. Then I spotted my pup outside my section of the tent, I called to her and she came bounding in for big loves and cuddles. I grabbed another half and hours doze and then I slipped Molly in with Tea and headed off for a quick fish, this actually turned out to be a quick sit and watch Dave catching fish every ten seconds whilst my bait got ignored. After an hour I headed back to the camp to fix Molly breakfast and collect her morning jab. Once my pup was sorted, I went back to the pond for a bit more humiliation, sorry, fishing. This took up an hour or two, just as Dave left he mentioned that there were some large fish near the part of the pond he was walking past so I thought I’d have give it a go. My idea paid off and I caught the biggest fish I’d seen since we arrived, I was chuffed. Then off for some nosh and to see how my girls were. It turned out that Tea wasn’t aware that Molly Pops had been with her for the morning because the little angel didn’t to disturb her momma so she kept really quiet so that mom could sleep, ain’t she a sweetie?

Breakfast was followed by more fishing which was over all too soon as the weather turned nasty and the rain and the wind returned. Chris had arrived whilst I was up at the pond, and I spoke to him about the possibility of running us home, he was more than happy to do this. So at 17:30 we set back to Folkestone. The main reason we had to return was due to the fact that a friend from Northshire was visiting, although we did toy with telling him that he’d be on his own, but return we did.

It transpired that it was a god thing after all as Molly stated being sick just after midnight and carried on throughout the night. By Monday morning she was not at all in a good way, as I write this it is 19:30 on the 31^st of August and our precious little pup is in the pet hospital in Ashford being looked after by the wonderful vets and nurses of the Barrow Hill surgery hospital. All we can do now is wait and hope for the best, fortunately our Molly’s a fighter, but I’m sure a healing thought would help so please any you may have spare for our little girl. I’ve spent most of today worried sick and blubbing like a blubby thing.

My friend Karen took us up to the hospital, as a thank you we treated her to lunch and then met up with Teas young man to take him to see a film, this had been arranged before we went camping, and as we weren’t expecting Molly’s health to take a turn for the worse, we couldn’t let him down, and since I was a complete wreck, Trudes suggested that I stay with them and see the film. We saw the Last Airbender, whilst it’s a good film, one of the funniest lines has got to be “I’ve always known you were a bender!” closely followed by “you’re a bender?” Well I sniggered and I think Trudes did too. She missed the last few minutes as she missed a call from the vets and had to call them back.

Molly is suffering from something called Diabetic ketoacidosis, hopefully we’ve caught it early enough and she will be home with us soon.

So an eventful weekend that could have ended a little better but these things happen and I’m looking forward to have Molly cuddles very soon. I’ll keep those who want to know how Molly Pops is doing either here or through Facebook.

Insert title here,

With less than twenty four hours until we take to our sleeping bags for a night under canvas, I am quite looking forward to sitting round a camp fire sipping port and noshing on bananas with chocolate buttons melted in them. All manner of silliness will ensue, hopefully we’ll have clear skies for a spot of naked eye astronomy and satellite spotting, and then over to the pond for a bit of bait drowning, otherwise known as fishing.

NEWSFLASH.......

Just entered the bad books because I refused to despatch a rather large arachnid.

Anyway, I digress. The last time I slept in a tent was my last visit to Lyme Regis, which is also when I broke my toe. It did smart and there were some choice words, none of which can be written here.

When we return home on Sunday we will have the company of an old friend who’s visiting from Northshire, there are also plans to do a bit of shopping on Monday, if Trudes has the strength I shall treat her to the fancy coffee doodad that she likes; I shall have an iced vanilla milkshake thing.

I should think that treats will be unlikely as I shall no doubt be having a few too many whilst camping, when we get back to sillyvisation I shall be back on tub watch. The current status is another kilo lost and 0.4% total body fat has been dropped, I do hope nobody slips over on it. The next big milestone is Trudes return to the hospital for, what is hoped to be, the last instalment of lump watch. If all has gone well we shall be celebrating, I don’t yet know how, and then we can concentrate on getting my brave wife to be strong and healthy and getting our wedding plans off the ground.

I think we’re both agreed on a quiet affair with just a few close friends and family, suits me as long as it’s what Trudes wants.

I saw my boy for the first time in months on Wednesday, he asked if he could come up for a visit, I explained that he doesn’t need to ask, he just needs to let us know that he’s on his way. Even if he only gives us a couple of hour’s notice of his imminent arrival, I’m sure Trudes will have no objections. It will be brilliant to spend some quality time with him, he’s grown so much. He’s six foot two and stick thin, the sod! But his character hasn’t changed a bit. I’m sure him and Trudes will get on like a house on fire, no doubt at my expense. He’ll probably give her loads of ammo with to have a giggle at me with, and I don’t doubt that by the time he leaves we will have very sore side from the jokes and silly stories. This is the main reason I’m trying my hardest to keep Trudes and one of my oldest friends separate. If laughter is the best medicine, then Stu can cure Trudes of anything. Of course it comes with a price, namely my total humiliation, light hearted of course, but if anyone person can reduce me to a babbling wreck with tales from the days of my roguish youth, Mr Green is the man, and oh lord does he have some tales. I expect that some of the guys that we’ll be spending the weekend with will all have an embarrassing tale about me to share with T. Should be a laugh though.

So, until Monday when I report back from camping, I bid you farewell.

Camping, Chrimbo and consoles!

I can’t believe it’s only Wednesday, this week seems to be dragging. I guess it’s because it’s so close to payday, the last week of the month always seems to be the longest. It may also be due to the fact that I’m looking forward to the weekend. I’m at the shop on Saturday, not supervising the gaming, although I shall take a rule book, some dice and some blast templates as the sprogs either don’t have them or regularly forget them. I won’t be taking any models. I’m running the shop for the day so that my friend can have time with family. After the shop we head to a friends for a spot of camping, I haven’t camped (ooer) for a few years and I’m really looking forward to kicking back and having a few beers. Some Doom Bar has been sent ahead for the evening. I hope to get a spot of fishing in on Sunday, also something I haven’t done for some time.

We’re taking Little Miss Molly Pops, and she getting a special outfit made to keep her (not quite so) baldy bum warm, as usual pics will be on my FB page after the event.

With it being a bank holiday, I think the plan is to do very little on Monday, Trudes has hinted that there’s a pair of shoes she quite likes so they may have to be put aside for Christmas. I’ve mentioned two potential pressies to herself, the first being the eagerly awaited, well for the gaming geeks amongst us, Isle of Blood. This is a new boxed set from Games Workshop. It features the new 8^th edition rules and two armies of finely detailed models. The other pressie is slightly more expensive than the game. I would like a new, more powerful telescope. I’ve got my eye on one, it’s made by Skywatcher and has a motorised equatorial mount. I suspect I may have to count it as a Chrimbo and birthday pressie, but I think I can live with that.

Trudes has reciprocated the start of pressie lists, only hers consists primarily of shoes and handbags. Well, she is a girl! I expect that non footwear related gift ideas will arise closer to the time, and I shall endeavour to get her some of the goodies that she requests, plus a few surprises.

I’ve never been great at buying for others, at the opposite end of that scale I think I’m relatively easy to buy for. Pretty much anything that goes beep will do for me. Speaking of things that go beep, I really must dust off my 360. It must be over a year since I last used it, and longer for the PS2. If any of my readers happen to have a spare copy of Hogs of War floating about, please get in touch. Apparently it’s one of the few computer gamey majigs that Trudes actually likes. I wonder what it would take to turn from geek-girl to gamer chick. Although technically, they’re not that different.

What I need to find is a game that is very immersive, the down side is that if I manage to find her a game that she likes, I won’t get a look in. Tee hee, I’ll get a slap for that.

There’s two games forth coming that are on my “I’d like that” list, the first is Fable 3 and the second is Star Wars, the Force Unleashed 2. These are just up my street for gaming; they have elements of the old style platform, the shoot ‘em up and a good amount of puzzle solving. Although if mindless blowing things up is what floats your boat, I don’t think you can go far wrong with any of the halo or Call of Duty games.

On facebook I’ve made a photo gallery of cars I like, just for fun more than anything else. I plan to add to it now and then, if you get a chance take a look and see if you agree with my choices.

Well that’s about all for now

Excelsior!

moaning is something old people do.

Since Sunday my left shoulder has become very sore, probably as result of hoiking myself in and out of holes, I have to say that it was worth it. I haven’t had that much fun for a long while and I can’t wait to do it again.

I’m currently supporting the gym run at work, no I don’t make use of the amenities, that’s a concept that is totally alien to me, I have been making use of a very accurate set of weighing scales. Over the last months, I’m not entirely sure how long really, I’ve lost over two stone. Currently I’m losing about two pounds a week. I’m not absolutely certain what I’m doing, but whatever it is it’s working. A lot of my friends have told me that the weight loss is showing, plus I’m having to put new holes in my belt. By my reckoning, if I maintain the trend I stand to lose around four stone over the next four months. I may put a few pounds back on in December, but at least I have a target. I’m hoping to lose at least half of that by Christmas. Wish me luck on that.

Now for a bit of a moan, TV, with particular reference to weekend programmes, they’re rubbish! People say how rubbish things like Doctor Who, Merlin and Primeval are, but really look at the forthcoming season. This weekend will see the broadcasting of two programmes that centre around second rate pop stars that have been given video cameras so that they can film their day to day living. We also get the return of x factor, also known as talentless chavs who have been told by their nans that they sing well in the shower. Sadly the nan omitted to tell them that they’re deaf from all the raves they attended when they were younger. We also have the pleasure of less than minor “celebrities” throwing themselves around a dance floor, only to be told how rubbish they are at dancing. Well duh! These people aren’t professional dancers, so of course they’re going to be rubbish. At least we say goodbye to the mind numbing trite that is Big Brother. What’s happened to all the writers? Surely there’s a few good ideas floating around out there, or do we have to suffer East Coronation Dale and celebrity dog walking for the next eight months?

On a brighter note for those who enjoy being entertained by the idiot box when it has a proper programme on, Mark Gatiss, He of League of Gentlemen, Doctor Who scriptwriter and co-writer of this years, rather good, adaptation of Sherlock Holmes, is working on a new adaptation of H G Wells’ The First Men in the Moon. I reckon that’s something to look forward to. Wells is considered, by many, to be the creator of modern science fiction, some would argue that Jules Verne holds that title; maybe we could do a TV documentary on it! I remember the Lionel Jeffries version from 1964, it wasn’t a bad film, and because Wells lived in the area, Dymchurch gets a mention.

So there you have today’s blog, a bit of a rant, and a bit of good news on a personal level.

Oh happy days

Sunday last saw me and a group of my very close friends return to Lydden Spout to further explore the area. We all met at the bottom of Folkestone Hill, I’m a Dover lad so it’s always been the hill into Folkestone rather than up to Dover. Two of us got the bus up, as there wasn’t room in the car. Dave and I got a bit lost so we called into a local tavern to ask for directions, the barman, for some unknown reason served us to pints of ale whilst we studied the map. Once we had our bearings we set off in search of the rest of our party. They were lost too, well, I say lost, they’d parked the other side of the pub. They’d also sent one of their number in the pub to ask if anyone fitting our description had been in, we’d been rumbled. Having regrouped we set off for our destination. The walk wasn’t as pleasant as the last time we were there. We had a force 10 gale blowing and no sun. However, we didn’t let that deter us, and we made headway to the holes. I was confident that the entrance to the deep shelter was somewhere down the cliff face, so myself and the rear admiral had a bit of a scramble down the cliff in an endeavour to locate it. We had no luck and realizing that we were in the wrong place we scrambled back up. I’m not as fit as I use to be, after that ascent I was quite knackered. We moved on to hole #1. A bit of a tight squeeze but I managed to get in and the exploring commenced. These holes have been there for over 60 years, they show many signs of neglect and abandonment, but they’re still impressive. They were excavated by the royal engineer corps to accommodate the crews for the large guns that defended that section of the coast. This battery, along with two others in Dover and another three between Guston and St Margaret’s were pivotal to defending the channel from the German war machine. Sadly history hasn’t been kind to these amazing places. In fact none of the fortifications have survived well, except for the installation beneath Dover castle. It seems to me that rather than preserving these places, it’s quite the opposite, and they are being allowed to fade away in the hope that what they stood for, and against, will eventually be forgotten. This is a great shame as both the wars are an important part of history, not just ours, but the whole of Europe’s. Anyway, I digress, after the first hole, or to give it its correct designation, Magazine store #1, we headed back to the cliff face in another attempt to find the deep shelter. This was the equivalent of an air raid shelter for the gun crews. We found some steps heading down the cliff and, again two of us climbed down. A third body went down a path that was slightly to the west of the steps where he stood on top of a well constructed wall. We didn’t find the entrance, but I have since learnt that body three was very close, it’s at the base of the wall just to the left of where he was stood. I also have it on good authority that the entrance is very close to total collapse, so maybe it was a good thing we didn’t find it. I just hope that when nature does finally have its way and seals the entrance permanently, no one is in there. Returning to the top we headed over to the hole we first explored on the walk a few weeks ago. Not much had changed, apart from a few more spider egg sacks. As we started to walk back I noticed what appeared to be a large, rusted, hatch lid. It was too heavy for me to lift it on my own, but it was clear that it could be lifted. So Dave and I took the initiative and lifted the hatch. Beneath it was a shaft with a ladder going down one of the side walls. After a brief discussion it was agreed that some of us were prepared to climb down the ladder and see what was down there. We had found the emergency escape shaft to the plotting rooms; this was the control room for the guns and also housed the Battery Command Post. The larger room was the plotting room itself and doors lead off it into smaller rooms which housed the ventilation plant and probably mess rooms. Something that we all thought was a very touching tribute to the men that manned these positions was a visitors book that someone had left there, along with some photos and letters from, I think, former servicemen and women. Again the area is well preserved, to the point where some of the light switches and power outlet switches work as well as they would have sixty years ago. Flicking the switches made a resounding click. I’m certain that if there was still power to the facility, some time and effort could easily restore this place to its former glory. We were about to head home when we found centre battery point and more holes. The magazine tunnel was the hardest to enter, there was virtually no foot purchase and the access hole was quite deep. We managed to get in and explore what may be the longest of the three tunnels. Getting out was even more difficult than getting in. Dave had to be yanked out, sheer bloody mindedness made me determined to get out unaided, if only to prove to myself that I could. Finally we ended our day’s adventure and walked back to the pub. As we sat, partaking of our refreshments, Dave and I started thinking about the visitor’s book. It’s been left on the floor and is likely to get damage through moisture. Initially we thought about installing a shelf for it to rest on, but that would involve drilling into the walls. The more I think about it the more I feel that it would be better to put a table of sorts in there, that way the book would be off the floor and may last a little longer. The annoying thing is the idiots who have nothing better to write than offensive comments. Which is ridiculous when you consider the efforts they went through to get down there in the first place? I don’t know what’s worse, the fact that these places are being allowed to decay, or the idiots who have no respect for the history they are helping to destroy.

For our next adventure I’m hoping we can visit some of the fortifications on the western heights, if the guys were impressed with Lydden Spout, the Detached Bastion will certainly have the same effect at the least.

Some pictures from the day can be found on my facebook page.

feeling the love

It’s been a while since my last post, up until last Friday not much has happened to write about, and then the proverbial hit the fan. For those who aren’t aware, Tea and I fostered a little Yorkshire terrier, she’s called Molly and she’s a very special but very poorly little lass. She has a medical condition called Cushing’s disease, she also has diabetes, she’s blind, baldish and on top of all that she’s 12 years old. But despite all those things she’s a tough little cookie. She never complains or whimpers and she gives the most amazing greetings in the morning. On Friday evening I came home from work and decided to give Molly Pops a bath, so far so good. Whilst we were in the bathroom, Trudes went off to collect her friends that were coming to stay. Molly was dried and brushed and all fluffy and cute. I took her downstairs and she settled on the sofa beside me. About twenty minutes later she was sick on the sofa, I cleaned up and whilst doing so she was sick again. Within an hour she was extremely hot to the touch and her breathing was shallow and wheezy. Trudes decided that she was going to spend the night with her as she continued to be sick and was refusing food and drink. Trudes was having to use a syringe to get water into her. At about 4 in the morning Trudes woke me to tell me that Molly had had some kind of seizure, she stood up, went rigid then flopped over all twitchy and foaming at the mouth. There was more vomiting and a nasty case of the runs so Trudes made an emergency vet appointment.

We got to the vets and Molly was taken in to see the nice lady who took her temperature, 108 apparently that’s not good for any dog, let alone one with Molly Pop’s problems. The vet advised us to get her to the dog hospital, so with the agreement of Tea’s dad, off we sped. We arrived at the hospital in Ashford and were promptly taken in to see another vet. He listened to her heart and said “you’re aware of her heart murmur!” “NO!” we both replied. Anyway since she was now severely dehydrated and clearly very ill, we were told that she would need to stay in for a couple of days. Walking out of the hospital without my little Molly Popples was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do for a long time. We headed home; the journey was very quiet and solemn. About 2pm that same day the phone rang and it was the vet, I passed him over to Tea who was told that Molly’s kidneys were failing, her liver levels were elevated and her white blood cells were very high. Once Trudes told me this I almost resigned to the fact that our girl would not be coming home, and I began to prepare myself for the inevitable. The rest of Saturday remained solemn, although we went into town with our guests, Molly wasn’t out of my thoughts for very long and I’m fairly sure it was the same for Trudes.

Sunday morning arrived, I’d not had a great deal of sleep and I think Trudes had had even less. I went downstairs and pottered about, chatting with our guests, then I phoned the vet to see how my girl was doing. Good news, she’d brightened a bit but wasn’t out of the woods yet. The vet phoned again later in the day telling Trudes that she’d managed to eat something and keep it down, this was also good news. I went to work as usual on Monday morning, whilst there I got a text from Tea simply saying “call me!” My first thought was oh dear it’s bad. I rang her and she said that the vet was happy with molly progress and pending the results of a second set of tests she would be able to come home on Tuesday. By the end of the day Trudes had heard from the vets and Molly’s condition was vastly improved and she would be home soon.

It’s Tuesday now and I came home to be greeted by the best Yorkshire terrier in the world and had to fight to contain the urge to blub. She has to see the vet again on Friday for a blood test and she has more pills to take but she well and her appetite has returned.

It surprises me how much she’s worked her way in to our hearts, I know she as a limited time but it’s down to me and Trudes to ensure that for as long as she has, she’s loved. I also know that when I do say goodbye to my Little Miss Molly for the last time, it will break my heart.

Still the good thing is that for the time being she well and back to her normal self. The vet did say that he was impressed with how much of a fighter she is and that she didn’t complain once about the jabs and the prodding and poking she’s had to go through over the last few days. In fact to look at her now, you’d never know that we probably came very close to losing her.

over the last few days Molly’s blog has had in excess of 500 hits and well wishes from all sorts of places, she’s once seriously loved up pup.

Believe in the power of the paws!

The Tunnel Rats reborn?

In order to aid the growth of new feet after yesterdays hike I’ve had the day off, not done much but I nipped into town to sort a few things out and did a bit of shopping, one thing I was looking for was a decent pair of walking boots. I really enjoyed yesterdays walk, and would love to do more, but the boots I wore were totally wrong for the job. They were bought so that I had some smartish black footwear for formal occasions, they do shine up really nice. So boots are the order of the day. I need to talk to someone in the know, someone outdoorsy and clever where that sort of thing’s concerned, so that’ll be Jim at work. Another area where he’s going to come in useful is sorting out some odds and ends for the return to Lydden Spout on the 15^th of August, oh such plans.

I’ve also received some info on gaining access to the North Entrance lower levels, I just hope that the info is correct and we can get in. I’m fairly confident that the Detached Bastion is still easily accessible, although we may have to play at Indiana Jones to get through the undergrowth, but that should be fun.

It’s going to be great to be a tunnel rat again; it’s been so long since the last time I spent any length of time crawling into holes and disused forts and buildings. Yesterday bought back so many great memories. In my younger days I spent most weekends and the majority of the school holidays underground. I broke an ankle in part of the Northern Entrance; I bet that hole’s nowhere near as deep as it used to be. I expect that many of the holes I used to crawl through are much smaller now, I doubt I’d fit in the Western Outworks drainage pipe but at least I can say I did once, and if the weight loss keeps going as it is I may be able to again. So we have a return visit to Lydden Spout, the detached Centre Bastion and the possibility of getting into the lower levels of the North Entrance. I’m fairly sure that if I can find enough places I may be able to spark up and interest in tunnel ratting with more than a few of the guys that came out on the hike. I’m sure that they’ll get the bug fairly easily as most of them are completely bonkers and up for anything.

There was talk yesterday of a walk from Rye to Hastings in the not too distant future, whilst I’m not sure I’m fit enough to manage the walk, Trudes and myself could jump on a bus and meet the guys in Hastings. It would mean a bit of a trek for Trudes, but she’s going to need some outings and time out of the house when she finishes her hospital appointments and if we stay on the lower deck of the bus the journey won’t be too bouncy. If I can get Trudes to come up to Lydden Spout it would be fantastic. I’m not expecting her to crawl around the tunnels, but she can sit in the sun taking in the views and Little Molly Pops can have a mooch about on an extendable lead. I could probably rustle up tea brewing kit, there’s always a need for tea. This is the problem with not driving, it would be great to meet up with the gang when they do cycle rides and stuff. Sometimes travelling by bus makes it difficult to get to some places or you have leave at the crack of sparrow fart to meet people anywhere. One of the benefits is the fact that you can take in the view as the world passes by.

Well that’s about it for now, I’m off to bed with a head full of dreams of summer days on the heights and excitement over August 15^th.

Sleep well world.

Sore feets and tasty treats

Sunday morning arrived and I arose to tend to the needs of Little Miss Molly, as I sorted missy out the kettle went on for the morning cuppa. Once all had been tended to I set about sorting out for the day ahead. 3 minutes later on went the telly for some mindless trite. Three members of the adventuring party arrived and we head over the road to await our omnibus, I went home again as I’d forgotten my bottle of squash. Back over the road for the bus which arrived promptly, that’s a novelty! I think the best way of getting to the top of a steep hill is on a bus, it’s so easy and not at all tiring. On arrival at the valiant Sailor, which was closed, we waited for Smiffy; He was nearer to the Battle of  Britain Memorial than us so we set off to meet up with him since the memorial was our first port of call. I’ve wanted to visit the memorial for many years, but I’ve only ever gone screaming past it in a car or on a bus. I must say that it’s a fitting tribute to the brave men who defended our skies. It’s also very serene, a quiet seems to surround the whole site. We left the memorial and head toward Dover, however we were a bit peckish, that bus ride must have taken it out of us. Fortunately the cliff top cafe was open so we purchased tea and sarnies, yummo! After taking in the view it was time to head off properly and start our trek to Dover.

It didn’t take too long to find the path along the cliff top and some spectacular views across the channel and over to Dungeness. We passed through huge bushes that arched over the path making natural tunnels and in some places the cliff edge couldn’t have been more than two feet from us. The first historical building we came to was the sound mirror, a forerunner of radar. There are much larger examples of sound mirrors located at Dengemarsh but this one is a fine example, although I’m not sure that it’s as old as the Dengemarsh mirrors, I’m fairly certain it’s only been there for about ten or fifteen years. As we left the mirror we were on a tarmac pathway, this turned out to be a cycle route, we did notice some information points on the ground, one was in the style of a large open book and the other looked like a drain cover, apparently there are more of these things, but if most of them look like drain covers I think they don’t get noticed much. Continuing our trek eastward we headed down a path that was very close to the cliff edge and the girly types were thankful for the railing that had been installed.

We then arrived at a disused rifle range, apparently metal detectors will find used shells and bullets even after all these years, and a point on the walk known as Lydden Spout, this was a military installation that had three large guns and served as part of the coastal defences during WWII. We found a hole that may be just wide enough for me to squeeze into but decided against any exploration and pulled the girly type out of said hole and continued walking. The girly type then wanted to have a look around the building that are still standing. However, given the fact that the building are now used to keep cows in  and didn’t smell too nice we chose not to explore them and returned to the path. Just before reaching the buildings Dave had a call from Batty asking where we were, he was told how to find us and then headed off in the opposite direction. Whilst we waited for him to back track we found another hole. This one had slightly better access, and remembering the stand on this sort of thing I had when I was younger, we had to go in! We had to trip down the hole, the second when Batty finally caught up with us so that he could have a look see. After the hole we headed on to Dover with short stops to investigate various look out posts and gun emplacements. Like me, Dave seemed quite shocked that places that were vital to the nation’s defence are simply being forgotten, vandalised and left to rot. I don’t want to sound disrespectful, but I feel there’s more to remembering the people who served king and country than wheeling out a few veterans every November. Whilst many of the buildings are beyond saving there a quite a few that could easily be restored to their former glory with just a little effort and help from the national trust. Like the veterans, when these places have gone there’ll be nothing to show how hard these people worked. But maybe that’s what the people who have a say in these things want. If the buildings are gone then we can forget it all ever happened.

We ran out of building to explore and were soon on the final leg of the cliff top path, Shakespeare’s Cliff, so called because there’s mention of a high cliff in Dover in the play King Lear. As we climbed the path to the top I started to flag a bit and was thankful for a rest stop at the bottom. We headed over to the south military road to walk up to Saint Martin’s Battery which overlooks the western docks, after a few photo ops and a bit of a wander we walk down the site of the Grand Shaft Barracks and up to the Drop Redoubt Fort. We walk around the base of the fort, sadly access is impossible as the place is sealed and padlocked, and the only time that access is by special permission of the English Heritage or when the preservation society has one of the two annual open days. Finally we walk down from the fort and in to Dover town where we decided to hit the eight bells on Biggin Street for a well earned pint and a bit of scram. Steak and chips never tasted so good.

We ended the day on a bus back to Folkestone, my feet are very sore, they almost feel bruised, but not being one to sit around, I’m about to help out with some house work and then head into town to do some stuff and then into Hythe to see Sue to go through some last minute planning for Sunday.

There’s plans afoot to head back to the hole in August and possibly exploring the detached bastion, oh happy day. I think I shall be taking a camcorder for the second visit.

So there it is, I walked almost 7 miles with some very good mates, I had some lovely grub and I have very sore feet and aching legs, but it was worth it. Photos of the day can be found on Mankey Badgers and my facebook pages.

See y’all.

life, the universe and other things that conspire against us!

It’s Saturday night, well very early Sunday morning, and the end of an interesting week. Work has been, well, odd. I’m not exactly sure what my job title is any more and I don’t have a current job description. When I do get one, I think it will read something along the lines of “anything and everything we tell you to do!” I had myself weighed on Wednesday; surprisingly I’ve lost a few more kilos and if I continue to do so I may actually managed to rid myself of the diabetes and high blood pressure. My doctor told me that he’s only had one patient who managed to achieve that goal so I’m determined to give him a second. OK I may slip now and then, but whatever I’m doing I must be doing it right as I’ve now lost just under 2 stones since Christmas, yay me! Another piece of good news is that little Molly Pops has been to see a new vet after the abysmal treatment by her previous one; all seems to be going well with our little miss. Not only were the nursey types cooing over the divine one, but the vet was impressed with how well her fur is growing back. He mentioned to T that it’s very difficult to get a dog with Cushing’s to re-grow fur, so whatever we’re doing we should keep doing it. Yay us!

On Thursday I got home from work and herself said that the Virgin Media box had started misbehaving, oh poop! I switched it off and back on, no joy. A phone call to the customer services told what I already knew and a tech was arranged to call on Saturday between 12:00 and 16:00 to replace the box. Hang on a mo, I thought, that means that I’m paying for something I’m not getting and I will have lost everything I recorded. Another call to Virgin got me a 50% discount on this month’s bill. Today the tech arrived with a new box, he had a bit of a struggle getting it set up, once he had got the thing connected to the telly correctly he more or less just cleared off, saying it should be set up in about twenty minutes. Two hours later the box was still in its diagnostic mode. Yet another call, half an hour later the box was sorted and working properly. The lass on the help desk had me reading numbers out to her, which she repeated back to me completely wrong and then had me looking for numbers that were nonexistent. By this time yours truly had become more than a little miffed and asked said girly if Virgin Media were going to reimburse me for the cost of a call that should never have happened. Initially she avoided answering my question, but after some prompting she relented and said that my next bill will be further discounted for the inconvenience. It seems that the problem with my original box is not uncommon, and after a bit of web surfing I discovered that both Virgin Media and Samsung, the STBs manufacturer have been aware of the problem for some time, but neither were prepared to take blame for the fact that faulty boxes were being sent out to new customers. Still, it seems that the issue has been resolved and I can get back to watching tat on the telly box again.

On Tuesday I went out to the garden to see if i could spot the ISS going over, I did and I was rather chuffed. so I printed of times when it and other bright satellites could be observed, gathered up my binoculars, went into the garden Wednesday to be greeted by thick fog, on Thursday it was cloudy on Friday I missed it. I saw other satellites but they weren’t as bright as the ISS was. still it was good to get some naked eye observing done.

Not tonight though, there had been a plan afoot, before the death of my box, for T and myself to head to Hythe for an evening out, starting with dinner at Torbay, a rather fine chippy in Hythe, and then maybe a stroll along the canal. Sadly T wasn’t up to going out, so we spent the evening in with the prearranged dog sitters. We made up some nosh and then settled into a friendly game of trivial pursuit, which I won! We then watched 10000 BC not a bad film sort of along the lines of apocolypto but in English and considerably less gory. Friends then headed home to get plenty of rest before the walk to Dover tomorrow. I’ll post pics and a report on the event either Sunday evening or sometime on Monday.

Until then, goodnight all.

My tech isn’t techie enough!

Here’s something novel, I’m going to have a rant! Back in October, my orange contract was coming up for renewal. This meant that I could get a shiny new phone. Woo-hoo, so I phoned Orange and said “oi, my contracts up, I want to stay with orange, but I want a shiny new phone!” the blokey on the other end said “fair enough and did some tappity tapping on his computer. After a while he said asked what contract I would like. Initially I asked about the I-phone, it was due to be available with orange so I asked if it was worth hanging on until it was out. Oh no, he said, the I-phone won’t be out on any tariffs under £75. Stuff that thought I and said I’d get back to him. I wanted something flashy and comparable to the afore mentioned I-phone. I’ve had an I-pod touch for a while now and I like the idea of the apps that are available, particularly astronomy apps. I hit the orange web site and had a look through the phones that were available on the price plan I wanted. There was the Samsung i8910HD, 8 gig internal memory, touch screen, 8 megapixel camera plus GPS and loads of other interesting features. That’ll do, back on the phone and after a few minutes my shiny new phone was winging its way to me spit-spot. Huzzah. When it arrived I opened the box and drooled over the shiny blackness, then I went and bought an 8gig memory card for it. This is brilliant I thought, stuff the I-phone this is much better. Well here we are seven months on, and I have to admit that more than a bit miffed and more than slightly disappointed, not with the phone, that still black and shiny and fun to play with. The source of my disappointment is two pronged to be honest. Firstly, the plank at orange was entirely honest with me, the I-phone came out two weeks later available for free on the price plan I’d gone over to. The second is the support for the phone itself. Firstly Samsung release this all singing all dancing “I-phone buster” and then drop all support for it almost immediately. When I got the phone Samsung claimed it as their flagship phone, however, none of the Samsung apps are compatible with it, and as for orange, the apps available there are worse than useless. Unless your main interest in life is football and astrology forget it! And to be honest I’m not I’m not keen on paying £5 for something that’s going to tell me I’m going to meet a tall dark stranger every other day or for something that’s going give information that I could get for free on the interweb. So no apps worth shouting about and all the support of a bridge constructed from rice paper, I have a phone that will never unlock its full potential, and my next upgrade is about 18 months away, will I stick with orange? It depends on what they’re prepared to offer me to stay. Will I get another Samsung? Probably not. Since getting the phone I’ve looked into Samsung as a phone manufacturer, whilst they make some extremely good phones, there’s little or no support for them. Basically you get what’s in the box and hope that there’s enough to keep you entertained. Judging on the way mobile tech is advancing it wouldn’t surprise me if the HTC is the way to go. Still, time will tell. Well there ya go; I’m an unhappy technophile whose tech just isn’t what he hoped for. Why is hind sight always 20/20?

oooh I’m all off kilter!

Well it’s Tuesday evening and I’m sitting listening to a film called “The Bone Collector” not really taking much notice of it as I surf the web looking for interesting stuff. I’m sitting in my spot on the sofa and I’m covered in glitter. A friend known as penny, because she doesn’t know who Stan Lee is and she glazes over when I start babbling about all things sci-fi, has spent the last two days sitting on the sofa fixing her girly face, well, I say two days, it’s really only an hour or two, but where I’ve laid on the sofa the right side of my head is now covered with said glitter. So I’m off for a shower in a bit to clear the stuff off, I shall be having stern words later, so far as waggling a finger and saying “Penny, AAAH!” bless her! She is such a sweet little thing.

On Friday I’m giving my talk on Jupiter at the astronomy club, I’m more than a little nervous and I need to have a couple of practice runs just to make sure that it all runs smoothly.

After that I need to read through my notes for the Dover walk, looking forward to that.

The missus is doing OK, although I’m sure she feels she could be feeling better. I can’t even begin to imagine how she’s truly feeling, so all I can do is be there for her and bolster her when she needs me, easy really!

Some friends have just welcomed a baby boy into the world, and I wish them every happiness, Children are great, I miss my boy, particularly as he was such a good lad when he was little. I’ve missed out on so much with him. But I guess some things just come to a natural end.

Well that’s about it for now, I expect it’ll be a couple of days before my next post, I’ll probably have done the talk, I’ll let you know how it goes.

Nite all!