October - Goodbye Aunty Edna
Aunty Edna died on 6th October. I couldn't make the funeral as I was in Devon but John emailed a copy of the service booklet.
I watched a lot of Rugby (World Cup) - mainly England matches. It seemed very decadent to be sat watching TV on a Saturday morning.
Mike did a half day choral workshop with Chiswick Choir which ended with a short concert. I walked over to Grove Park (2.4 m) for the concert, and then we went out to eat with 4 other members of the choir (Caroline, Brian, Christine and Mike K) at Tarantella. It was nice to eat there at a reasonable time for a change - usually it is after a full concert and we only sit down at around 10.15 pm.
Geoff Willis died on 7th October. We went to the funeral - which turned out to be a full on Requiem Mass - music by Faure with The Long Day Closes by Arthur Sullivan at the end. It was a very long service indeed - the music was great but the clergy indulged in lots and lots of words and plainsong. Also everyone took communion, not just the family. There was a very long wait afterwards while the family were at the crem - and in fact people eventually got fed up and started on the food. A QP was rung afterwards - and had finished before the family were back. Many people had left by then. The church was packed and it was a good send off.
Walking
Maryanne and Kath and I had a date to walk on 2nd October but the weather forecast was dire and luckily we could all make Thurs 4th so we postponed until then - it was cold and grey but dry! We did the Middle Assendon circuit which Maryanne needed to recce for the Ramblers the following week. Once again I left Suki at home. It was a good walk - roughly 6 miles - but it did have a lot of uphill bits, including a long steep ascent at Stonor to get up on to the ridge. Unfortunately when we got back we found that The Rainbow pub was closed. A bit disconcerting for Maryanne as she had booked it for the Ramblers lunch, but hopefully it was just a one-off. We tried the next pub down the road, The Golden Ball, but although it looked like an ordinary pub outside, with signs for Beer, Garden etc it turned out to be rather a posh restaurant inside and was only doing expensive 3-course meals. It had a plaque outside commemorating the use of the pub in an episode of Midsomer Murders! We decided to forego lunch and go our separate ways home.
At the end of the month we walked again, this time with Alan, Mary and Madeleine. It was a nice 6.5 mile walk, relatively flat by Maryanne's standards, from Hedgerley taking in part of Burnham Beeches. It seemed funny to be there without Suki.
Suki
Suki continues to be reluctant to walk very far - sometimes she just digs her heels in until we turn for home. At other times she starts stumbling on her front left leg, then hobbles a bit and then sits down and won't move. I have had to carry her home on a couple of occasions. So I have now got her a dog carrier rucksack - a good one which is nice and sturdy with good straps for me. I used it for the first time to take her to the vet - she had a bad stomach thing, eating very little and having little control over the other end! She was ill for quite a long time and I had to feed her white fish/chicken and mash or rice. She was very good in the carrier and just sat there looking out with a long suffering expression on her face! It worked very well and was comfortable for me to wear and not too heavy - although I don't think I will be taking her on long walks in it. The vet gave me even more medication (£180) and advised lots of rest. Very bad for my fitness levels though, not going out dog walking!!
Devon
My friend, Anne, from Roving Ringers retired as a vicar at the end of September, but the house she had purchased needed some unexpected building work doing and she was not able to move in until the beginning of November. She couldn't stay in the Parish (after all the big goodbyes!) so needed somewhere to stay - and I was happy to oblige. It is nice to be able to help friends out in this way. She has stayed before, and Suki was very intolerant of her jack russell, Sam. So this time I met her in Parke when I arrived in Devon, and we went for a walk with both dogs and then had a coffee in the cafe (ie indoors but neutral ground). This seemed to do the trick as both dogs seemed much more settled with each other - although Suki occasionally had a low growl just to ensure that no-one forgot whose house it was!
The three of us had a nice week. Jayne was in packing up mode and there was lots of frenzied washing, drying and cleaning going on! The start of the week was wet, cold and miserable, but we had a couple of lovely days towards the end and we took the two dogs up on the moor for about an hour and a half. Suki managed to keep walking the whole way - I think having another dog around helped - although I had to keep her on the lead and keep encouraging her, and we had to walk quite slowly!
Jayne and I met up with Lee and Emma, kids and dogs in Totnes on Saturday It was quite a damp day but luckily not pouring. Again Suki did really well and kept walking all day - she and Nev walked together the whole time and again I think having the other dogs around helped keep her going. Nev's legs are bad now and he can't get up on the bed unaided and has been struggling on the really long walks so they obviously had some empathy for each other. We walked along the river and back and then had a really good carvery at The Dartmouth Inn for only £7.95.
Anne and I went to 8 am together on Sunday at Chudleigh and she realised she had been at college with the vicar, Paul, although he didn't recognise her. After ringing she also went to the 9.30 service at Bovey - she said it was very good and she was impressed with the vicar. He was celebrating 20 years to the day of being vicar at PPT - and there was a large cake! I couldn't believe he had been there that long - I can remember the previous one!
Handbells
On handbells in Devon I rang a QP of Little Bob and Yorkshire major on Monday which was fun. On Tuesday evening we attempted a QP of six spliced which was going well until Tim miscalled it (he put a bob in which would have been there if we were going for a peal but which shouldn't have been there for the QP). Thereafter the attempts fired out pretty quickly. So we then rang some plain courses of Double Norwich whilst thinking about the "boxes" - in fact Tim was calling out "front box, middle box...etc " while we rang. I found it really interesting and have a much better understanding of what that now means - and in fact it was quite helpful at times although I still fell back on knowing the line when I wasn't sure. So that was fun too. Someone dropped out of the peal attempt on the Wednesday, which was supposed to be Ipswich, so we rang some Delight Minor. We were aiming for a peal of 7 but after a good 1440 of Kirkstall and London Victory we fired out after lead of Elston, so couldn't count what we had done as a QP. We rang some plain courses of the others so that Sue could get a feel for them and then rang a QP of Bedford and Merton spliced plus Burnaby and then a QP of Elston. That was a fun evening too. It's quite unusual to have a whole week of fun handbells! Back in London there was an unsuccessful attempt at Superlative with Steve, and a successful peal of Kent with the Southwark band - my 150th in hand and my last as a regular member of the band. I was finding the travelling too long and hard and they now have enough without me.
London
Jayne came back with me on the Friday and stayed for the weekend. On Saturday I went off to the Middx Autumn meeting and striking competition. We rang first and I spent the rest of the afternoon holding an umbrella over the judge! He was quite chatty and we enjoyed each other's company.
On Monday 21st Jayne and I got up at 3.40 am and went off to Heathrow for Jayne to catch her flight. The check in process was a nightmare as it was all automated, but nobody could get through it without needing assistance which was a long time coming! However she eventually got through the departure gate and I went home and went back to bed.
Had coffee with Muffie the following day - always enjoyable. We went for a short walk round Osterley followed by a long coffee and toast in the cafe. The next day it was supper with Caroline and Pru - again always enjoyable.
I walked to Barnes on the Friday - which helped push my steps up above 20,000. Linda gave me a lift back at the end. It was a good practice - a strong QP band including a visiting ringer from Seattle (David) plus me. It was just like the old days, with touches of 8 spliced and single surprise major methods being rung quite well.
David (Seattle ringer) came over to ring some handbells with us during the week. We had a very enjoyable evening - knocked off a QP of plain bob minor and then played around with some Stedman Doubles, Double Court and Cambridge. He stayed for some supper (luckily I had two portions of bean/veg curry in the fridge which I eked out between the 3 of us with 2 bags of express rice).
I watched a lot of Rugby (World Cup) - mainly England matches. It seemed very decadent to be sat watching TV on a Saturday morning.
Mike did a half day choral workshop with Chiswick Choir which ended with a short concert. I walked over to Grove Park (2.4 m) for the concert, and then we went out to eat with 4 other members of the choir (Caroline, Brian, Christine and Mike K) at Tarantella. It was nice to eat there at a reasonable time for a change - usually it is after a full concert and we only sit down at around 10.15 pm.
Geoff Willis died on 7th October. We went to the funeral - which turned out to be a full on Requiem Mass - music by Faure with The Long Day Closes by Arthur Sullivan at the end. It was a very long service indeed - the music was great but the clergy indulged in lots and lots of words and plainsong. Also everyone took communion, not just the family. There was a very long wait afterwards while the family were at the crem - and in fact people eventually got fed up and started on the food. A QP was rung afterwards - and had finished before the family were back. Many people had left by then. The church was packed and it was a good send off. Walking
Maryanne and Kath and I had a date to walk on 2nd October but the weather forecast was dire and luckily we could all make Thurs 4th so we postponed until then - it was cold and grey but dry! We did the Middle Assendon circuit which Maryanne needed to recce for the Ramblers the following week. Once again I left Suki at home. It was a good walk - roughly 6 miles - but it did have a lot of uphill bits, including a long steep ascent at Stonor to get up on to the ridge. Unfortunately when we got back we found that The Rainbow pub was closed. A bit disconcerting for Maryanne as she had booked it for the Ramblers lunch, but hopefully it was just a one-off. We tried the next pub down the road, The Golden Ball, but although it looked like an ordinary pub outside, with signs for Beer, Garden etc it turned out to be rather a posh restaurant inside and was only doing expensive 3-course meals. It had a plaque outside commemorating the use of the pub in an episode of Midsomer Murders! We decided to forego lunch and go our separate ways home.
At the end of the month we walked again, this time with Alan, Mary and Madeleine. It was a nice 6.5 mile walk, relatively flat by Maryanne's standards, from Hedgerley taking in part of Burnham Beeches. It seemed funny to be there without Suki.
Suki continues to be reluctant to walk very far - sometimes she just digs her heels in until we turn for home. At other times she starts stumbling on her front left leg, then hobbles a bit and then sits down and won't move. I have had to carry her home on a couple of occasions. So I have now got her a dog carrier rucksack - a good one which is nice and sturdy with good straps for me. I used it for the first time to take her to the vet - she had a bad stomach thing, eating very little and having little control over the other end! She was ill for quite a long time and I had to feed her white fish/chicken and mash or rice. She was very good in the carrier and just sat there looking out with a long suffering expression on her face! It worked very well and was comfortable for me to wear and not too heavy - although I don't think I will be taking her on long walks in it. The vet gave me even more medication (£180) and advised lots of rest. Very bad for my fitness levels though, not going out dog walking!!
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| Acclimatisation! | Off to the Vet |
My friend, Anne, from Roving Ringers retired as a vicar at the end of September, but the house she had purchased needed some unexpected building work doing and she was not able to move in until the beginning of November. She couldn't stay in the Parish (after all the big goodbyes!) so needed somewhere to stay - and I was happy to oblige. It is nice to be able to help friends out in this way. She has stayed before, and Suki was very intolerant of her jack russell, Sam. So this time I met her in Parke when I arrived in Devon, and we went for a walk with both dogs and then had a coffee in the cafe (ie indoors but neutral ground). This seemed to do the trick as both dogs seemed much more settled with each other - although Suki occasionally had a low growl just to ensure that no-one forgot whose house it was!
The three of us had a nice week. Jayne was in packing up mode and there was lots of frenzied washing, drying and cleaning going on! The start of the week was wet, cold and miserable, but we had a couple of lovely days towards the end and we took the two dogs up on the moor for about an hour and a half. Suki managed to keep walking the whole way - I think having another dog around helped - although I had to keep her on the lead and keep encouraging her, and we had to walk quite slowly!
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| Anne on the moor, shadows of Jayne and me! |
Anne and I went to 8 am together on Sunday at Chudleigh and she realised she had been at college with the vicar, Paul, although he didn't recognise her. After ringing she also went to the 9.30 service at Bovey - she said it was very good and she was impressed with the vicar. He was celebrating 20 years to the day of being vicar at PPT - and there was a large cake! I couldn't believe he had been there that long - I can remember the previous one!
Handbells
On handbells in Devon I rang a QP of Little Bob and Yorkshire major on Monday which was fun. On Tuesday evening we attempted a QP of six spliced which was going well until Tim miscalled it (he put a bob in which would have been there if we were going for a peal but which shouldn't have been there for the QP). Thereafter the attempts fired out pretty quickly. So we then rang some plain courses of Double Norwich whilst thinking about the "boxes" - in fact Tim was calling out "front box, middle box...etc " while we rang. I found it really interesting and have a much better understanding of what that now means - and in fact it was quite helpful at times although I still fell back on knowing the line when I wasn't sure. So that was fun too. Someone dropped out of the peal attempt on the Wednesday, which was supposed to be Ipswich, so we rang some Delight Minor. We were aiming for a peal of 7 but after a good 1440 of Kirkstall and London Victory we fired out after lead of Elston, so couldn't count what we had done as a QP. We rang some plain courses of the others so that Sue could get a feel for them and then rang a QP of Bedford and Merton spliced plus Burnaby and then a QP of Elston. That was a fun evening too. It's quite unusual to have a whole week of fun handbells! Back in London there was an unsuccessful attempt at Superlative with Steve, and a successful peal of Kent with the Southwark band - my 150th in hand and my last as a regular member of the band. I was finding the travelling too long and hard and they now have enough without me.
London
Jayne came back with me on the Friday and stayed for the weekend. On Saturday I went off to the Middx Autumn meeting and striking competition. We rang first and I spent the rest of the afternoon holding an umbrella over the judge! He was quite chatty and we enjoyed each other's company.
On Monday 21st Jayne and I got up at 3.40 am and went off to Heathrow for Jayne to catch her flight. The check in process was a nightmare as it was all automated, but nobody could get through it without needing assistance which was a long time coming! However she eventually got through the departure gate and I went home and went back to bed.
Had coffee with Muffie the following day - always enjoyable. We went for a short walk round Osterley followed by a long coffee and toast in the cafe. The next day it was supper with Caroline and Pru - again always enjoyable.
I walked to Barnes on the Friday - which helped push my steps up above 20,000. Linda gave me a lift back at the end. It was a good practice - a strong QP band including a visiting ringer from Seattle (David) plus me. It was just like the old days, with touches of 8 spliced and single surprise major methods being rung quite well.
David (Seattle ringer) came over to ring some handbells with us during the week. We had a very enjoyable evening - knocked off a QP of plain bob minor and then played around with some Stedman Doubles, Double Court and Cambridge. He stayed for some supper (luckily I had two portions of bean/veg curry in the fridge which I eked out between the 3 of us with 2 bags of express rice).
