Another busy week passes. We continue to get away with a mild winter. It is now six months since Geraldine died. Yes it hurts less. But I still miss her many times a day and don't want to change this. The house is once again quiet after a Christmas full of visitors. I still visit Geraldine in the cemetery every week, which makes me feel better in some ways. I never expected to do this with such frequency. Some events like the family party on Sunday are much harder than I expect them to be. Geraldine was always better than I on social occasions. Kate is still suffering from her car accident before Christmas. Her medical and physiotherapy reports are scarily reminiscent of those Geraldine was giving before her diagnosis. I know the cause of Kate's symptoms is different but the similarity is not good.

Slightly over a week since the last entry. I have been away for a couple of days.

Another week has past. It included my first birthday since Geraldine died. We now settle back into normal routine having survived numerous emotional triggers over the past three weeks.

Here we are with the first Christmas since Geraldine died over. A place that I have wanted to be for a good part of the last month. But I think that I can take some positives. Most things that we did over the Christmas period were a success. I was able to enjoy most of it and I think that everybody who was kind enough to spend time with me over Christmas also enjoyed most of it. There have been tears, some unexpectedly, others fairly predictable but there have also been lots of smiles. Give or take the odd duck call given as a present to a small child that annoyed his grandfather, Kate and I seem to have catered pretty well on both the present and the party front. It had become hugely important to me to do so, so I have a certain smug sense of satisfaction.

Christmas is coming and I wish a very merry Christmas to any poor soul who has nothing better to do than read this at Christmas time. 

Another week nearer Christmas. Two portions of turkey and, thankfully, no white Christmas. Not that I am a party pooper but my Christmas plans include a couple of days away and I need to be able travel away and back again. Preparations for Christmas mean that I am not able to fulfil my normal quota of three golf games and two walks as a minimum.

A bit remiss. Over a week has passed since the last entry and preparations for Christmas are becoming frantic. Many of these come with sad memories of the last forty Christmases, which will never be matched.

We are into December and Christmas is coming whether we like it or not. Actually, we probably don't like it this year.

The biggest part of a week passed an winter closes in a little more. It is significantly colder and darker than this time last week, although we must remember that this time last year we were under snow!

Only one day since the last entry. Never mind. 

Another week has passed. The dry, mild autumn continues and my outdoor activities remain unaffected by winter.

Another mild November week. Another week of Eurozone crisis and my golf trolley still does not work.

A few days have passed. Now it is real November; it barely gets light and drizzles a lot, although it is still fairly mild.

Another week and more has past and a lot has happened both to me and in the big world outside.

A few days of good golf and walking since the last entry. 

Only a short time since the last entry. But never mind.

Another week has passed and I slowly return to normal after an eventful couple of weeks.

Nearly two weeks have passed since the last entry. These have been two weeks of highs and lows. I have been on the annual golf tour. Also I have got through what would have been Geraldine's 60th birthday. I will deal with the period chronologically although this does not necessarily reflect the importance or emotional impact of the events.

Another week. Some more golf. A few crises. A late summer. England progress in world cup.

I have been neglectful of this blog. More than a week has passed and I have been mostly playing golf. I think that it is the first time I have ever played seven consecutive days.

Another week and a bit have passed. I have been away on my own for the first time. Whilst there were constant reminders of happy days with Geraldine, there was enough enjoyment to make it worth while, I was taken by surprise last evening, however. I have been getting on well, keeping very busy and remembering happy and sad things about Geraldine and our forty years together about hourly. The thought comes, is welcome, maybe brings moisture to the eyes sometimes and I continue building a life for myself of which Geraldine would approve and which gives me pleasure. Last night from nowhere I suddenly found myself sobbing for a few minutes. I thought I was running out of tears but there are still many there. I think in a strange way this was as welcome as it was unexpected.

Not very long since the last entry. Mostly golf in the meantime. Kate has gone away so my house will probably have no visitors for two weeks. Times like this make you realise how lonely one can get. I have arranged to go away for a couple of days next week, all part of the grand plan. I am also playing a ridiculous amount of golf.

Another few days. Another few tears. Another golf victory.

Another busy week has passed since the last entry.

Another busy few days have passed including a golf major, a test match and the start of the football season.

Biggest part of a week has gone since last entry. I have not spent much time at home but have taken plenty of exercise. 

Yesterday was a superb walk with Kate in Cressbrook Dale. It was a reasonable 6.5 mile walk through varied terrain with a reasonable amount of up and down. Both of us were a little out of practice and this walk was far enough. The most notable spot was Litton Edge, new to both of us, where fabulous views were accsessed for very little effort. Kate stayed the night where we shared a few drinks and ate gammon steak. The journeys to and from the Peak District were punctuated by periods of silence as we both ran through events of the last few weeks in our minds: at least that is what my mind did, I suppose it was the same for her. I don't mind this. I want to remember the good times with Geraldine as well as enjoying the present.

Yes I know and I am not going to blog every day.

I woke up this morning and there was nobody else in the house. That is how it is going to be. Tim and Kate have been wonderful. (So has everybody else.) But they have to work and we all have to resume our lives. Tim left on Monday afternoon and Kate yesterday. They will ring frequently and we will see one another more frequently. I went for a walk. I had tidied the house, put the washing out and made the bed by 9:30. Geraldine trained me well when she knew I would be alone. I went for a walk at Fradley junction. I got there very early. It is somewhere we got to know quite well. I must make sure that I continue to go to nice places we enjoyed together. We never did a decent walk there. I have now and it was good. There was a lot going on on the canal. The sun shone. It was my first walk since April and I enjoyed it. Just as well, my planning is for more walks than before. I have always walked alone from time to time so did not miss her too much. But nobody to talk to about the walk when I got home. That is when I decided to restart the blog. Not every day - too much. Fed all the pots and treated the lawn and it is still only quarter past six. Tomorrow I'm playing golf. Soon be in a routine.

Winter has maintained its icy grip here in the East Midlands for the last week. Golf is impossible and travelling to the Peak District to walk is inadviable and maybe irresponsible. The height of the snow reduced with a small thaw on Saturday, when clearing much of the drive made access to and from the real world easier. We are promised a thaw over the next few days and the temperature is currently above freezing. However, any golf this side of Monday seems unlikely and the seniors Chrismas competition on Monday must be in doubt. Even the presentation evening on Friday was cancelled because of the weather.

With the closeness of Christmas, we have spent much of the last week getting ready for same. Geraldine continues to be somewhat unwell so I continue to maintain the house. Detailing my activities every day for the last week would be even more boring than usual, so I won't.

I will mention the annual family get together in Bristol, which took place at the Codrington Arms at Yate last Sunday. Our numbers were smaller than usual because of the weather and a bereavement. It was great to see all of those who made it and thanks to brother Jeremy for his organisation. This was a new venue because we could not get in at the Compass. I suspect we will return there next year.

Two items of news are worthy of comment this week. I exclude the farce of Lib Dem ministers threatening to abstain from voting on their own policy in order to justfy a complete desertion of principle.

We have the Wikileaks publication of thousands of confidentiol documents from American diplomats. Those in favour would cite the public interest. However, the documents are indiscriminate and have not been filtered in any way to consider public interest or indeed the right of the USA to conduct business in private. Most documents are gossip; not in the public interest. Some are terrorist charters; in particular the list of vital facilities for USA security worldwide. The internet is a great thing as is investigative journalism where there is a real public interest. However, exposing everybody's private thoughts on the internet will make diplomacy impossible. The Wikileaks website does not do this. It appears to expose only the private thoughts and conversations of Americans. This makes it something more sinister than an investigative site and a potential threat to our national security as an ally of the Americans.

On a much lighter note, what about our boys in the second test at Adelaide? We outplayed the Australians on their own turf and take the lead, deservedly, in the Ashes series. It is so long since we have had something like this to crow about that we must make as much noise as possible. Fortunately the next test is two weeks away, so we have longer than sometimes to enloy the moment.

Winter has come severely making walking and golfing impossible. We woke up to about an inch of snow on Saturday morning. Since then, the temperature has rarely got above freezing and last night another eleven or so inches was added. There is no sign of any let up in this severe weather.

Last Thursday there was golf on a very cold and frosty day. I scored 33 points, jointly winning the front nine and the match. This meant that the only payment was to Mel for winning the back nine.

Friday started with an expedition to Arnold to purchase a new battery for Geraldine's car. It continued with me driving her to the physiotherapist and concluded with a very pleasant meal with Sheila & Alan, Christine & Mark and Eunice & Keith at Larch Farm. The game pate was excellent as was the trio of venison, although the latter was in far too big a portion to eat at one sitting. Black sheep flowed freely as did the conversation to make an outstanding evening.

Saturday dawned to lying snow, which has been there ever since. The main event of the day was England vs South Africa at rugby. It turned out to be a brutal match which was won, unfortunately, by the better team. England have progressed during this autumn but this match showed that they still have a way to go. In the evening I cooked a meal of turbot. Unfortunately, Geraldine was not feeling too well and I ate it alone.

Sunday was golf free because of the snow. I went for a walk round Bestwood Park. It was a clear crisp morning and a nice walk with good wildlife, but not as good as golf.

Monday too was golf free. After completing the housework, I went to Specsavers for a hearing test. The good news is that despite a noticeable deterioration, my hearing is only just below normal for my age and needs no artificial aid.

Tuesday was another snowbound day. I returned to the model boat making for the first time for a while. It remains very difficult but slow progress continues to be rewarding.

Last night resulted in about another foot of snow. Doing anything is now difficult although I did manage to get the car out to take Geraldine to appointments.

Tomorrow FIFA decide the venue for the 2018 World Cup competition. By general consent, England's is the best bid but is struggling a little amongst the internal politics of FIFA. It is now struggling more as a result of BBC's Panorama programme on Monday exposing corruption amongst a couple of the delegates some years ago. Everybody says that they are right to do these things as it is the public interest to expose corruption, which may well be true. However, this programme has been trailed for about 6 months. The timing in this week must be deliberately to coincide with the decision, and therefore deliberately to effect England's bid negatively.

Another week. The grip of winter becomes tighter as snow is forecast in the next couple of days.

Since the last entry.

On Thursday 18 November there was golf. It was not terribly good but accumulated 32 points. The money was shared by Malcolm & Rick.

Friday was a walk from Ashford in the Water up to the Magpie mine. Unfortunately the mist never completely cleared and so many of the views were truncated but this was compensated by some of the atmospherics produced by the sun and the mist. Details are elsewhere on this site.

Saturday reviolved around England rugby team's victory over Samoa. It was a come down after the superb performance of the previous week but still showed the recent improvement. Had the three disallowed tries been scored, we would be lauding the team on another outstanding victory. As it is they are receiving much unjustified criticism for the closeness of the result, ignoring the outstanding defensive performance of the Samoans. Nevertheless, I hope that the team are working to tighten their defence before the South Africans arrive this Saturday.

Sunday was more golf, a medal. It was an up and down performance, finishing with a net 79, six over par. Not good enough to prevent another handicap increase, but the best in our four ball.

Monday was seniors golf, a stableford in extremely cold weather. I played pretty well and threw away a decent round in a couple of holes. The finishing 33 points was enough for second place in the first division, amongst the money again.

Yesterday we went to Carsington Water for lunch, a stroll and a bit of bird watching. The highlights were a huge number of lapwing, which spent a lot of time in acrobatic aerial displays.

Today Geraldine was less well and I had to drive her to the physiotherapist. She is getting a little depressed that pain continues to be so severe three months after the first injury. I empathise with that and am pretty much as depressed as her, although I do not suffer the pain.

The big news story this week has been the need for the Irish government to seek a huge financial bail out from the EU and the IMF, after frequent denials in the previous week. The story is a familiar one, with the Irish banks being even more overextended in unsustainable loans than other countries (except Iceland). But it is also a story of the power of financial markets over governments. In the end it was the raising of interest rates for the government's borrowings in a concerted move by the markets. The markets knew that if they moved together the bail out would come and much more money could be diverted into the pockets of the market movers. It has happened before and will happen again. It is difficult to think haw this could be regulated.

Another week, some golf and winter grows.

Last Thursday, 11 November as predicted the weather made golf impractical for the second consecutive time. Instead I returned to the model boat, which is progressing, albeit slowly.

Friday I did get out, doing a walk from Rufford Park to Edwinstowe. It was a decent walk close to home. Details are on the walking pages on this site, briefly up to date! In the evening we had a very pleasant evening out in the Hutt with Alan & Shiela. The company and beer were as ever excellent. The food was a bit ordinary for the second time in a row. We are looking elsewhere for our next outing in two weeks.

Saturday saw England's rugby team shake off the sloth of the last eight years and produce a brilliantly exciting performance to destroy Australia. Where did that come from? Can it be repeated? Only time will tell but it was good at the time. In the evening I cooked Geraldine a three course meal, which was much better than that at the Hutt. Tomato soup, griddled sea bass fillets and butterscotch tart washed down with excellent red wine.

Sunday was golf, a greensome medal. Guy and I played pretty well for a level par 73. Results have yet to be posted to see whether we qualified for the golfer of the winter semi finals.

Monday was more golf with the seniors. As ever it was good in parts. 32 points was 5th but not enough to prevent another 0.1 on the handicap. An increase to 19 is looming in the next few weeks unless I can produce an overdue good singles round.

Tuesday we drove to Matlock Bath and had a very pleasant walk along the river. Geraldine's health has been impriving at last but this was still just about as much as she could do and resulted in a painful night. Progress is being made but there remains a long way to go.

Today is forecast rain. Geraldine is currently receiving physiotherapy. We will then do a little Christmas shopping, hopefully leaving Friday free for a walk.

Yesterday Prince William announced his engagement to Kate Middleton. I am a royalist and proud of our royal family. I think they are one pf the things that makes this country special. I think that she is a very brave lady to sign up for many years as a princess in the very public eye, followed by a period as queen. Very good luck to them both. And what is wrong with a good royal wedding to take our mind off of the economic gloom?

The last week has seen the serious onset of winter. The early November storms have had the temerity to disrupt golf an threaten to do so again tomorrow.

Since the last entry.

Saturday 6th November saw the start of the autumn rugby internationals, with England losing to the New Zealand all blacks as has become traditional. Two tries down early in the game and it was becoming a familiar story of England since their world cup victory being outclassed by the southern hemisphere teams. After that something stirred and the game became a little more even for the remainder of the first half. Through the second half, England became at least equal and maybe superior at times. So defeat with honour. Is this the start of a revival? We will find out next Saturday when Australia are in town. If England carry on where they finished on Saturday... and tighten there defense... . A lot of ifs! We shall see.

Sunday was golf and a singles stableford off of white tees. White tees are difficult in winter with reduced ball flight and no run on hitting the ground, but not as difficult as I made it. I come 20th with 24 points. For a long time 20 points seemed a tough achievement. I was 10 points behind playing partner Ken and deserve the extra 0.1 shots on my handicap.

Monday was to have been seniors golf but heavy rain and strong winds made the journey to the golf club unnecessary. Instead I did my duty and cleaned the house from top to bottom; Geraldine is still incapacitated. My brownie points continue to mount.

Tuesday was bird watching at Old Moor. Nothing rare and particular disappointment at the feeders, where there were no tree sparrows or bullfinches but compensation with a great spotted woodpecker. The other highlights were the huge flocks of wigeon and lapwing & golden plover.

Today we have visited Lincoln, taking in a pub lunch and a visit to the cathedral. despite several previous visits, there was a lot that seemed new and the magnificence of the place is worth many visits. Perhaps it is increasing age but many of the places we revisit seem very fresh these days.

Tomorrow is supposed to be golf but the weather forecasters promise a repeat of Monday!

David Cameron has just returned from a diplomatic visit to China to promote British exports. He has been strongly urged to codemn the Chinese for everything from occupying Tibet, imprisoning a Nobel peace prize winner (although his imprisonment was much of the reason for the prize), denying human rights, paying low wages and having the death penalty to holding their currency artificially high and causing too much polution. This does not seem a particularly sensible strategy for a man whose mission is to sign trade agreements with the Chinese. I think he got it about right by stating that the west has concerns about China's human rights record. He also helds out western style democracy as the only acceptable form of government, which is an often repeated huge conceit. The world should apply pressure and if necessary sanctions to its members who abuse human rights. The world should also negotiate agreements on polution control and trade, wages and currency and is actively doing so. But it is not the duty of an invited guest needing cooperation from his host to unilaterally condemn his host for this wide range of supposed crimes.

Another week passed. We are into November, the clocks have gone back and we are really going headlong into winter.

Since the last entry:

On Friday 29th October we visited Belton House, probably the last National Trust property of the year. We have been a couple of times before but sufficiently far removed to seem fresh. The gardens were in full autumn colour and full of children enjoying a variety of haloween trails during half term.

Saturday I cooked Geraldine a three course meal. It was a delicious pumpkin soup (isn't it difficult to extract the flesh from a pumpkin?), Trout with parmisan & basil dressing and apple crumble. It was a delicious meal washed down with a good bottle of red wine.

Sunday was golf, the first round of golfer of the winter. Guy and I failed miserably to qualify with an aggregate score of 49 pints. We were not last, beating Ken and Mark by 3 points.

Monday was more golf with the seniors. Another six pars and failing to play to my handicap, although the 33 points was enough to reach the buffer zone and prevent a handicap increase.

Tuesday was a walk through Cumber Park with Geraldine, enjoying what is becoming the end of  the drawn out spectacular show of autumn leaves.

Wednesday was a walk in north Nottinghamshire based on Sturton-le-Steeple, which perversely has a church with a tower. It was a very scenic walk on the Nottinghamshire Lincolnshire border, although the views were dominated by two power stations. Details will soon appear on the walks pages.

Thursday was a day out playng golf with brothers Simon & Jerry and Berni at the Players Golf Club in Bristol. Details are elsewhere on this site but let it be recorded that a superb day was had by all, Jerry & I won the match with a bit to spare and my 36 points was the highest of the four.

Today has been spent shopping, cooking and cleaning. Even in retirement there are things to be done.

We keep seeing Liberal Democrat ministers and others appearing on television defending the indefensible. They made a big play during the election of abolishing tuition fees. Now, as part of a government in a coalition into which they freely entered, tuition fees have trebled. However you dress this up, it is  a complete reversal of what they were so proud to stand for. It is not the fault of the previous government; the level of the deficit was fully stated. It is not part of the coalition document, so not part of the price of joining government. It is purely a disasterous reneging on a major election policy and, ultimately, indefensible. Nobody resigned. As far as we know, nobody threatened to resign. Why should any thinking voter believe any of their principles in future elections?

Holidays over. Still doing excess chores because of Geraldine's incapacity but back to updating this blog on a Thursday.

Since the last entry.

On Saturday 23rd October we crossed the Pennines to Sale to send a pleasant evening with Tim's mother-in-law, Sue. We had a nice meal and shared a few drinks and good conversation.

Sunday was the main reason for the visit, the arrival of the wedding photographer, who showed us a dvd of the wedding photographs. They were very good and brought back good memories of a sunny day in June. We are all to get a non-copyright disc of all of the photographs to do with as we please. Then a very nice trip back over the pennines in the sun.

Monday was Seniors golf, the last of the summer eclectic on a very cold morning. I had a disasterous start with only 1 point after three holes and did well to recover to 31 points. It was respectable, finishing sixth in the first division but not enough to avoid another 0.1 shots on the handicap.

Tuesday was birdwatching at Rutland Water. It was a damp, showery day and many birds had found a drier place to stay. However, there was still plenty to see, the highlights being little egret and pintail.

Wednesday was my first "proper" walk for some time. I walked from Castleton, through Cave Dale and over Mam Tor in glorious sunshine. It was a great walk. Details will soon be posted elsewhere on this site.

Today was more golf. I actually played quite well. My 21 points on the front nine took the money easily. A bad three holes from 14 to 16 salvaged an ordinary round from a great one. It was still enough to halve the match with Rick, but was ultimately a disappointment.

Politics this week has been dominated by the debate on housing benefit. Mr Cameron is probably correct when describing the rapid increase in housing benefit as a budget out of control. His solution however is unthinking and uncharitable. Merely to put a maximum is another way of punishing people for being poor. It is difficult to see anything other than an exodus of poor from the high rent area of the south east. The caring solution would be to look at the criteria for housing benefit and tightening if necessary, whilst clamping down on fraud and near fraud to deprive those who do not need whilst protecting those whose need is great.

Another two weeks, another holiday and a lot of chores as Geraldine is still somewhat incapacitated as a result of her torn intercostal muscle.

Since the last entry:

I finished the last entry waiting to go to Twelfth Night at Nottingham Playhouse. We duly went and had a good evening. It was in modern dress as expected at the Playhouse but the plot fitted well with Viola and her brother stranded on a Carribean Island. So far so good, as was the use of black actors as the natives. However, where the production fell was that the black actors adopted very thick Carribean accents which meant that , whilst we were able to follow the plot, having pre read a synopsis, many of the subtleties of Shakespeare's dialogue were lost. This is a bit silly and adds nothing to the performance.

On Saturday 9th October I continued the autumn gardening by giving the grass what is hopefully one of its last cuts of the year, followed by a thorough scarifying, removing a wheely bin full of moss and thatch. The grass looks the best it has all year.

Sunday 10th was golf, a medal. My 78 points was ok and just scraped into the buffer zone, giving no change in handicap.

Monday was more golf, this time with the seniors. I came fifth with 34 points, once again in the buffer zone. On return from golf we set off south to Shillingford in Devon to spend time with Geraldine's sister, Jenny and her husband John. We arrived in time to share some good beer, good food, good wine and good conversation before retiring.

Tuesday was a glorious day that we spent beside the sea, first in beautiful Appledore and then on to Instow, to run the dog on the beach. Home to more good food, good drink and good conversation.

Wednesday was spent beside the Exe at Bickleigh and beside the Tiverton canal. Both of these were excellent and seen in good weather.

Thursday was to Beer, a pretty seaside village that I had not visited before. The day was bitterly cold but fine with good clothing. The centrepiece and highlight of the day was a visit to Beer Quarry Caves, a fascinating underground quarry that is now a vast network of tunnels and caves with a very interesting history. We were glad to have an informative guide. Left alone in the caves you might never find your way out. Eventually back for drinks and dinner via Budleigh Salterton.

Friday was to Exmouth. This is a very pretty seaside resort with miles of golden sand and a splendidly revived harbour area, which now boasts a good number of very desireable waterside appartments. It is also where the Thornton children spent our earliest seaside holidays. We have occasionally visited in the past and found no evidence of the remembered beach side chalets or the wired railway sleepers close by that were a launch pad for the sailing club and a playground on the rising tide for the small Thornton children. The latter will obviously have been long condemned by heath and safety but we did find in the harbour area a few old chalets that were right next to the sailing club. I think that is where my early memories were made. Thanks to Jenny & John for indulging me. Back home then to a last supper, with more beer, wine and good converstaion before retiring.

Saturday we rose to a superb full English breakfast provided by Jenny before returning to Nottingham.

Sunday was back to golf with a match play format. Guy and I lost 6 and 5 to Stuart, who played superbly, and Derek, who need not have been there. We were part of the Lady Captain's team who were soundly beaten. Well, there is always next year.

Monday was more golf with the seniors. 34 points is becoming a habit. This time it was out of the buffer zone and another unwanted 0.1 shots are added to my handicap.

Tuesday was bird watching at Attenborough. This saw the return of the first winter visitors, with good numbers of wigeon, teal and pochard settling in

Wednesay was a walk through Clumber park, about the limit of Geraldine's ability to walk at present.

Thursday was more golf on a bitterly cold day, which was extended by a ladies competition starting from the 10th as we approached, resulting in a 20 minute wait in the cold and a slow second nine. Under the circumstances, 30 points and second place was not bad.

Today has been more gardening, clearing leaves, and escorting Geraldine to the physiotherapist. The latter is our first use of BUPA havig been a member for 30 odd years, but it did provide instant and satisfactory attention following a referral only on Wednesday.

Yesterday was also the government's spending review announcement. The centrepiece of this was massive welfare cuts, supported by cuts elsewhere "that will not affect front line services". It is tabled as fair, with the richest bearing the greatest burden. Front line services will clearly be affected. Those myriads of back office staff being made redundant actually do something. Stretch the imagination and say that half of this activity is unnecessary, that still leaves a lot to be covered by the remaining front line staff in addition to their other duties. And fair. Well, if the tax increases of the last government are added, there is a weak arguement to suggest fairness. In reality it is an idealogical shrinking of the state, in particular its responsibility towards the least well off in society. Cuts or tax increases are necessary to rebalance the economy after the high expenditure that prevented the banking crisis turning into a depression. The level of these cuts risks losing that gain. The manner of the cuts lessens our society as humane.

Another week, another holiday. This time I have been on our annual golf tour. We visited North Norfolk.

Since the last entry:

On Friday October 5th I spent the day cutting hedges as part of a long preparation of the garden for winter.

Saturday, remembering that I was in the short interlude between two weeks in America and four days in Norfolk, I spent sweating over a hot ironing board. Fortunately the Ryder cup was on, providing a very good and exciting diversion.

Sunday was the start of the golf tour. Details of the courses are elsewhere on this site. I drove to Kings Lynn to meet up with the other ten golfers at lunch time. The draw had already been made and paired me with brother Jeremy and Peter. The handicap committee met and, for no real reason, reduced my handicap from the newly reduced club handicap of 18 to 17. Undaunted, I played a tough course well and won the first day with 32 points. From there to Le Strange Hotel in Old Hunstanton, our base for the tour. Our first few drinks and a good meal set us up for the week. The handicap committee imposed a further reduction to 15.

Monday was Sheringham. We did not play until 1:30, which gave us the opportunity to watch the delayed final day of the Ryder cup for a couple of hours. I played with John and Iain Digby, which was handy as Iain was able to report regularly on the Ryder cup progress. I played the front nine well with 19 points, at which time Ryder cup victory was confirmed. Whether it was this or last night's beer, my performance deteriorated fast with a miserable 9 points on the back nine to move back through the field. Back to the hotel for more beer and good food.

Tuesday was our home course at Hunstanton. I played once agan with Iain, this time in a two ball. It was a pleasant game with the golf in and out. We thought that our equal scores of 22 points were reasonable on a tough championship course in a wind and were astonished to find that we were last by three points. This led to a return of handicap to 17 for the final day. I was jointly with brother Simon three off of the unwanted wooden spoon trophy.

Wedneday was Thetford on the way home. I played with Simon and Peter again. We were three of the last four. Peter, in last position, started well. I started badly and Simon was steady. The wooden spoon loomed large. I improved. Simon deteriorated and the pressure was off. In the end, I finished with 24 points, beating Simon by two and surprisingly finishing half way up the field. Peter won the day but remained behind me. Berni had a very bad day, making the spoon his own. Back to the club house for steak pie, jam roly poly, the presentation and the goodbyes. Another successeful tour concluded. Well done Digs and Simon. Then home.

Thursday, for a change, I played golf. The advantage of the home course was clear as I scored 34 points, outscoring every day on tour. It was ok but well below Malcolm's 39 which took the money.

Today is Geraldine's birthday. We have been for a drive in the Peak District with a lovely lunch in the Cheshire Cheese in Castleton. We are now preparing to go to Nottingham Playhouse to watch Twelfth Night.

Did I mention the Ryder Cup. Whilst being away for some of it, I was able to watch quite a lot and was cought up in the excitement of the last day whilst we were playing Sheringham. Yes the weather was bad, but the 2010 Ryder cup will still be remembered as one of the best and closest on record. Well done Europe. Well done Monty.

Another two weeks passed, another holiday. We have been on a super two week tour of New England and Canada in the fall. We return to find that autumn has arrived here too, with autumnal weather preceding change of leaf colour. We missed the visit from the Pope and the Lib Dem party conference. Both were doubtless fascinating and likely to have matters of opinion but I know of nothing other than their passing so have insufficient evidence to form an opinion.

Since the last entry:

On Tuesday 14th September we drove to Heathrow to stay overnight at the Heathrow Thistle, where our car remained for the duration and from where we were able to make a timely departure on the morrow.

Wednesday 15th was to terminal 5 to depart on our adventure.Terminal 5 worked like clockwork, although they hunted hard for my metal hip. I had my first experience of a full body scan. Then, after the usual waiting around, by BA to Boston. There we were picked up by coach, taken to our hotel and then out to view Boston by night. This was a ploy to keep us awake and I think that we did not get the best out of our trip up the Prudential tower because we were fighting sleep.

Thursday was a tour of Boston followed by free time there. Our impression of Boston grew more favourable by the minute as we saw the combined beauty of a bustling modern city living comfortably alongside the historical sites from the cradle of the American war of independence. Fabulous place, well worth returning.

Friday we went to Cape Cod. The day started well with a trip to Plymouth, a photograph of Plymouth rock and once again the opportunity to soak up history. The day deteriorated after we returned to the coach and drove down a tree lined motorway to Chatham. This was a small town of no real interest where we had to forage before returning to Boston along the same tree lined motorway. If you ever do this way, either terminate at Plymouth or find a way of driving a coast road.

Saturday we left Boston for a beautiful drive through New Hampshire to North Conway. Unfortunately, the fall colours were just developing and not at their best. Nevertheless, it was a beautful drive. The highlight was a cable car up Cannon mountain at Franconia notch.

Sunday we continued from New Hampshire into Vermont. As we drove north the leaves became more colourful and by the time of our overnight stop at Stowe, we were relishing New England in the fall.

Monday we continued north, crossing the Canadian border to our hotel in Montreal. We were taken out in the evening to savour Montreal by night and enjoy a meal. The meal was fine but the night tour was rubbish.

Tuesday was unfortunately the first wet day of the trip. It was the day of a long drive to Quebec city. This turned out to be one of the highlights of the holiday, despite the weather. Quebec is a city worth travelling a long way to see.

Wednesday the sun came out again. Our tour guide John had a day off and we were escorted to the Laurentian mountains by Renee, who turned out to be the worst guide in the world. He told us a great deal about himself, which was boring, and next to nothing about the beautiful places we were travelling through. Nevertheless, the leaf colours were at their peak, we had a lovely cruise and superb views of the mountains, and we saved money as we did not have to tip the guide!

Thursday was on the road again. First to Ottowa and then on to Toronto. Ottawa was a surprisingly interesting city and well worth a visit. This was my third visit to Toronto, so I turned down the opportunity to ascend the CN tower, beautiful though the views are.

Friday was off again. First to the Niagara falls. Again my third visit but the magic remains. It is one of the most beautiful places on earth. We declined another ride on Maid of the Mist and instead ascended the Skylon Tower. This proved to be a tatty but well worthwhile activity, with really fabulous views of the falls from the very windy viewing area on the top. From Niagara, across the Rainbow bridge, back into the USA and on to Rochester. The hotel in Rochester was probably the best of the two weeks, making up for the lack of anything else to do in the town.

Saturday was a long drive through New York state to the city of New York. Our hotel was in Upper West side, on Broadway: right in the thicjk of it. We did New York by night, the highlight being an ascent of the Empire State Building. Once again I had problems with the metal scanners. The organisation of the building was chaotic meaning that it took 90 minutes for the ten fantastic minutes at the top. But it was well worthwhile.

Sunday was a day in New York. It started with a very good city tour and concluded with free time spent in Time Square and Central Park. A great day leaving you feeling good about New York.

Monday was the last day, unfortunately a very wet one. We joined the Circle cruise for a three hour cruise around Manhatten. It was superb but would have been even better had the skyscrapers not had their heads in the clouds. But you can't change the weather and our two wet days were amongst the most enjoyable days of the holiday. Good quality days trump bad weather. And so to Newark airport. Taken aside once more for a very thorough body search. Only one small part of my body was not squeezed and I am very grateful for this. And so on to BA for a bumpy overnight flight to Heathrow.

Tuesday28 September. Back in Heathrow. Pick up car. Drive to Nottingham. Sleep a bit and then reminice a busy but enjoyable two weeks over some real English beer.

Wednesday, a bit of a dead loss. Much sleeping and shopping but pretty much back to normal by the end.

Today was a return to golf. My 34 points off of my newly reduced handicap was very acceptable. It was one point fewer than Rick but my 19 points on the front nine took the money there.

We return to find that the labour party have a new leader. They have chosen Ed Milliband over his more experienced and more electable brother. David Milliband joins an elite group of Iain Macloed, Dennis Healey, Michael Hestletine amongst others who did not become party leaders because they were too moderate and too popular. The party chose to move away from the shadow of its most successeful period in government ever and "back to its roots". Ed Milliband joins such as Ted Heath, Michael Foot and John Major as leaders elected because of whom they were not rather than who they were. Sad but predictable.

Only a few days since the last entry, most of those spent on the golf course!

Saturday 11th September was spent doing gardening and housework. Geraldine is still unable to lift or twist, so all of that was down to me. I do not complain, she has always done a lot for me and did everything for a couple of weeks after my hip replacement.

Sunday was golf, a singles stableford. My 35 points beat Guy and Ken and finished 11th in the division. It was enough to keep the handicap unchanged in the buffer zone.

Yesterday was more golf, a seniors stableford. I won the first division with 39 points, despite failing to score on the last hole. This caused a handicap reduction and my handicap is down to 18 and likely to remain there for some time as the actual handicap is 17.8. It has been a busy but productive period of golf.

This is the week of the TUC conference. Yesterday we saw the surprising sight of unions agreeing combined action against the policies of the government, and some calls for civil disobedience. Firstly, this is not, in my opinion, the role of trade unions. The government must govern and the TUC must represent the interests of their members. Whatever else is said, this government were elected on a stance of severe spending cuts. The other fascinating issue is the fact that the left in general and the TUC in particular fell out with the the labour government and any support during the last election was at best luke warm. Did they not consider the alternatives? It remains a curiosity in this country that the left prefer opposition because they can be pure to their principles. The right will do anything to get into power, where they can revert to their principles. Which is likely to fasion the country in the way you prefer?

Another two weeks have passed. We spent last weekend with our son Tim and new daughter-in-law Vicky and I have played a great deal of golf. But that is really no excuse for sloth in updating.

Anyway, since the last entry:

Friday 27th August we went bird watching at Attenborough. There were relatively few birds, late August is not a great time for bird watching but highlights were little egret and little grebe. In the evening we ate at the Hutt with Alan and Sheila, anither excellent evening. The food was disappointing, unusual for the Hutt, but the 'Golden Sheep' and the company were excellent.

Saturday 28th was a quiet day doing chores. Geraldine is suffering pains in her arm and chest, which Kate diagnoses as intercostal muscle damage but I think she needs to see a doctor.

Sunday is golf, a medal. I finished second with a net 74, my first weekend prize for some time.

Monday was bank holiday and mixed golf. June and I were terrible and deservedly finished last with a pathetic 21 points in betterball. Nevertheless we enjoyed the company and neither of us needed to feel that we had let down the other.

Tuesday was seniors golf and a better day. I finished third with 32 points. Unfortunately prizes went only to first and second. Geraldine finally went to the doctor, who confirmed intercostal muscle damage and prescribed pain killers and anti-inflamatories. Unfortunately the second of these caused a bad reaction of body twisting stomach cramps. A call to the surgery resulted in an immediate consultation (well done NHS) and a recommendation (unneeded) not to use the anti-inflamatories again and a further drug to sooth the damaged stomach. Since this occasion she has been improving but currently any activity requiring lifting or bending (which covers most household chores) has to be done by me.

Wednesday we took a leisurely drive across the dark peak, resplendent in purple heather, to Biddulph Grange gardens, which were themselves excellent with the dahlias in full bloom.

Thursday was golf. Les, Malcolm and I played in the rain. I won the money with 32 points and, by luck rather than judgement, none of us suffered from hypothermia.

Friday was off to see Tim and Vicky for the first time since their wedding. We called in at Runnymede for a quiet stroll through history in a beautiful spot by the river before descending on Reading. We spent a lovely evening with a few drinks and an excellent lasagne before retiring in the early hours.

Saturday started late and with delicacy.  We eventually drove to a beautiful Thames side pub, the St George and Dragon at Wargrave where we had a lovely leisurely lunch washed down with soft drinks. Then we returned to Reading to view their honeymoon photographs, a few more drinks, a splendid slow cooked barbeque (yes I know that is an oxymoron but it was lovely) and a somewhat earlier night.

Sunday, after a great breakfast, we returned to Nottingham. Kate is at army camp so there were only two of us for dinner, which was steak & chips.

Monday was the seniors open golf at my golf club. I played with Terry. We did not play well but somehow accumulated 35 points. The winning score was 43 so we were well out of the prizes.

Tuesday we took a trip to Brodsworth Hall to walk round and picnic in their unique and beautiful gardens.

Wednesday was the autumn meeting of the John Player golf society at Rushcliffe golf club. This was a new course to me and turned out to be very enjoyable. Details are elsewhere on the site. My 32 points was in third place but I did win the nearest the pin prize.

Yesterday was more golf. I scored 35 points but was outshone by Mel who took the money with an impressive 41.

Today was the final of the David Downes seniors' knock-out competition. It was a repeat of last year's final against Ernest. I started suprbly and was five up after six. my game deteriorated badly after this as putting became a mystery. After 14 holes I was down to one up. I then managed to halve three holes before winning the last to become the first person to retain the trophy.

So much for the golf triumph. What about the Koran burning? It is a manic publicity stunt by a deranged an unimportant man. Surely enough said. The consequences lie at the door of the world's media and latterly politicians giving the story the oxygen of publicity and stirring up religious hatred. Well done.

Another week has passed. Another holiday. This time we entertained Geraldine's sister Jackie and husband Mike for a week.

On Wednesday 18th August we went to Fradley Junction (new to us) for a very pleasant canal walk before moving on to Cannock Chase for a picnic amongst the blooming heather.

Thursday I played golf in the morning with no great success. The afternoon took us to Nottingham Castle. The castle grounds were great, with the expected fantastic views over Nottingham. The castle museum however was a great disappointment. It was a collection of stuff presented in a pretentious way that told no story and no history. We left no wiser but significantly more bored.

Friday we went for our walk of the year from Howden resevoir to Slippery Stones. Jackie & Mike enjoyed the wild beauty of the place as have we and our guests on several visits this year.

Saturday was to Sudbury Hall and the Museum of Childhood, an ideal venue for a wet day. The museum was a great success. It was slightly depressing in that on our last visit we were able to see many of our childhood favorites as museum pieces, today many of our childrens favorites were also there. We also went round the hall, which was ok but not the National Trust's best presented property. What is needed, failing one of the excellent audio tours that English Heritage do, is one piece of A4 in each room telling just a little of the context of each room without too much detail. Room guides are scarily keen to dissemble their knowledge but life is too short to listen to all of that.

Sunday was more golf, a pairs competition with no partner - Mark pulled out on Saturday evening. Nevertheless, I had some decent pracice and enjoyrd the company of Martin and Dougie. The afternoon was spent in the sun at Rufford Abbey, which has been very much improved since our last visit. Nottingham council have achieved much of what we wished for at Sudbury Hall.

Monday was our first visit to Belvoir Castle, another good wet weather destination. We were very impressed with the castle and with its presentation. You were not watched with the intensity of National Trust and once again we had one sheet of A4 in each room. The ladies withdrawing room was the highlight of a good day. Very well worth a visit.

Tuesday Jackie & Mike returned to Tiverton. We had a quiet dat catching up with chores.

Wednesday was the semi-final of the David Downes seniors' knock-out that I won last year. I progressed smoothly to the final, beating Steve 7 and 6, sweet revenge for the defeat three years ago. The final is against Ernest, a repeat of last years' close call.

Yesterday was more golf, in the rain. I fully expected to return home golfless but was pleasantly surprised when Malcolm & Les turned up. It was a fairly slow and wet day. My 30 points took the money to extend a good week's golf.

The Chile miners discovery is a moving story. Having been assumed dead for over two weeks, we find that they are alive and well, although a little hungry, sharing little more than a picnic over that time. Then they find thaty they need to stay in this confined space with their few colleagues and presumably complete lack of sanitation or privacy for four months will stretch the will to live of most people. One can only wish them well an be glad not to be in their place.

Again a while since the last update. Too much golf perhaps.

Since the last entry:

On Saturday 7th August Kate and I paid our annual visit to the Lake District. This year Skiddaw was the target. After a night in the Shepherds Hotel in Cockermoth, we set out for Skiddaw in low cloud. The forecast was for some improvement although certainly not the wall to wall sunshine of Haystacks last year. We set out clad in waterproofs and soon got extremely warm. The walk up was steeper for longer than any of the ther hills that we have climbed. It did eventually level out before the final push to the summit plateau. We were still in cloud on the top so missed the promised 360 degree views. Nevertheless, there was a huge buzz in reaching the summit cairn. And so back down. The Country Walking route went down a different way but involved crossing a trackless section of the hill to another track. Discretion being the better part of valour, we abandoned this and decided to return by the same route. We were rewarded by a few breaks in the cloud giving fabulous views over Keswick & Derwentwater.

Sunday there was no golf. The club championship, for which I qualified, was played over the Saturday and Sunday and clearly I was not available on the Saturday. I used the enforced golflessness to clean the cars and weed the rose bed.

Monday was seniors golf. All started ok; I was level par with 18 points at the half way stage. However, on the 13th green we were confronted by a member of greenstaff on the green. He stood up ,still on the green, and waved for us to play. It is against all your instincts to hit a golf ball at somebody. The result was a duffed shot and then a wait until he deigned to look your way. I picked my ball up in frustration, recording zero points and walked to the next tee. We played the next hole (not particularly well) to find on our arrival at the green, that he had driven further up the course and we were faced with the same situation. I gave Gerry back his card and walked off of the course. this is the first, and hopefully the last time in nearly 30 years of golf that I have walked off in the middle of a comptition.

Tuesday Geraldine and I went for a drive to Gibraltar Point for a walk round the reserve and a spot of bird watching. This is probably the worst time of year for bird watching but views of common sandpiper and avocet made it a decent day.

Wednesday was a repeat of one of our favourite Peak District walks around Surprise View, taking advantage of the heather in full glory. Details of this will shorly appear elsewhere on this site.

Thursday was golf. a seniors open with Alan at Cosby, which is one of my favourite courses in the area. We had a very good day with 38 points, respectable but not good enough for the prizes. Details of the course are elsewhere. We finished as clouds gathered and those following us would have got extremely wet.

Friday was another seniors open with Alan, this time at Wheatley in Doncaster. Again the weather was inclement. We played most of the round in light rain. 39 points would have been closer to the prizes but still outside. Details again elsewhere. Once again we were lucky. the drive back down the A1 was done in heavy rain. In the evening we went to the Theatre Royal to watch the comedy "Murdered to Death". It was a well presented farce. Lots of opportunity for good laughs with absolutely no deep meaningful prose. A good night.

Saturday was more gardening in advance of a visit from another of Geraldine's sisters. Jackie and husband Mike arrive later today.

Sunday was more golf, a medal. Ken and I were a two ball and really did not play very well. Both scored over 80 which will result in a handicap increase.

Monday was back to seniors and a bogey competition. I finished in third place with minus one, sufficient to get into the buffer zone and no change of handicap.

Which brings us to today, waiting for the arrival of Jackie & Mike for a week long visit from Tiverton.

Last weekend saw the USPGA championship - the fourth major. It was a fascinating tournament won once again by a first time major winner, this time Martin Kymer from Germany. Whether we are seeing a new set of stars emerging or a run of freak results will become clear in the fullness of time. But with others like Watson, Johnson and Macilroy close once again, it looks as if a new group of stars are emerging.

We also see that Tony Blair is to donate the millions of pounds from his to a British Legion charity. Firstly, we must ask why this is front page news. It is excellent that a rich man decides to give away a little of his fortune but disappointing that "his people" feel the need to publicise the fact far and wide and more disappointing that the many noisy self appointed Iraq ravers find it necessary to appear again on TV spouting bile. The whole is a fairly unedifying exploitation of a noble and sizeable charitable gesture.

Another week has passed. The sunny summer of June is now a distant memory but we have reasonably warm and reasonably dry weather under all that cloud.

Since the last entry:

On Saturday 31st July we had a big go at the garden, fighting back the privet hedge. I also cooked Geraldine a meal. It was meant to be three courses but she declined the sweet. Nevertheless, she seemed impressed by the scrambled eggs and chives wrapped in smoked salmon, followed by baked sea bass and washed down with excellent red wine.

Sunday was the Admiral Shirebrook pairs stableford. Guy and I did ok at 39 points but it will not be enough to win anything. Nevertheless, golf seems to be improving again.

Monday was more golf, the Veterans' trophy. This is the only medal competition that the seniors play and it was very slow. With an 8:30 start, we did not get off of the course until after 1:30. Nevertheless, the golf was good and I finished with a net 69, four under par. It was enough to get second place behind Rick, who got net 66. It was also enough for a small handicap cut of 0.4, which takes me to 18.5, unfortunately not reducing my playing handicap. I do not understand how the competition standard scratch was 70 when only Rick and I from a field of over 30 scored under 70.

Tuesday Geraldine and I went for a short walk at Hose in Leicestershire. It was a very varied undemanding walk, much of it along the towpath of the Grantham canal. Full details will shortly appear elsewhere on this site.

Wednesday we used our National Trust membership to visit Wightwick Manor in Wolverhampton. This turned out to be a fascinating place it was Victorian and mock tudor. But no expense was spared and it looked tudour, in fact more tudour than many other tudor properties. Disappointingly, they seemed surprised to have visitors. The car park was too small and the tea rooms appeared to sit about ten people. There were very few places one could shelter from the light showers whilst waiting two hours for your timed ticket to become valid to see the house. A rare slip up for the National Trust.

Yesterday was more golf and, whilst I did not play particularly well, I scored ok with 35 points. That actually makes a good round as scoring on the "ok" holes is vital when you start playing well in order to achieve a good score. Jack scored 37 points to take the money.

Today I have cut the grass and now wait for Kate to finish work so that we can go on our annual hill walking trip to the lake district. Tomorrow we tackle Skidaw.

England suddenly seem to have learned how to play cricket. reasonable results against a vaiety of nations (including Australia) have been dismissed as a flash in the pan. However, there are only so many flashes before it becomes a full scale conflagration. I think that continued success against Pakistan has finally reached that point. As I write, Pakistan are 64 for 7 in their first innings of the second test. Yes, I know they are a weak side but we have heard so many similar dismissals of opponents over recent years that I feel this might be the real thing.

Another bit of a delay since the last update. We have had relatives. It sounds like a disease but is much more pleasant. Geraldine's sister Jenny and husband John came to stay for a few days last week.

I last updated on Tuesday 20th July, awaiting Jenny & John's arrival. They duly arrived and we took them out for a short walk along the Trent from Trent lock to Sawley lock. On return we had a few drinks in the garden followed by an excellent meal.

Wednesday we drove to the Peak District for another short walk from Curbar Gap to Wellington's monument. This is a walk of continuous vast views and almost continuous picnic opportunities. We enjoyed the former and took advantage of one of the latter before a gentle drive through the Staffordshire moors to Hartington, stopping at Bakewell for ice cream and Hartington to buy cheese. Then home to the customary drinks and meal.

Thursday the weather was forecast to be less good. We went to visit Burleigh house, which has the advantage of a roof. We first visited the garden of surprises as rain did not look imminent. It is a magical place. unfortunately the final and best surprise was spoilt because a group of teenagers were playing with the sensors. We waited ten minutes or so for the surprise to be released but to no avail. Perhaps some supervision is necessary by the charity as, in my opinion, the right of children to have fun does not include the right to deny pleasure to others. Then to a picnic. This was first spoiled by persistent deer who drove us from the picnic area to the car, and then by a thunderstorm. After this had abated we went into the house, which was stunning as usual, well presented, and with the added facility new to us of an audio tour.  Overall the day was a success, concluding as usual.

Friday we walked again, this time over our new favourite, from the end of the Derwent reservoirs to Slippery Stones and beyond. This was once again superb and concluded with a blissfully deer free picnic overlooking Howden reservoir. Then back via the Winnats Pass and over Mam Tor. This turned out to be a hugely succesful diversion. Our guests enthusiastic response to the views made the day.

Saturday was departure day for Jenny and John. However, being the busiest holiday travel day of the year, they decided to travel to Devon later. This gave us time to inflict one more walk on them after a full English breakfast, we went round the lake at Clumber park before sending them on their way after a week that we at least greatly enjoyed, full of toasted tea cakes and crumpets.

Sunday was golf, the delayed Waterloo competition. We finished some three shots over par, not challenging the prizes in any way other than Guy's two.

Monday was seniors golf. My pathetic 28 points included six pars and five "no scores". A somewhat erratic and disappointing day's golf.

Tuesday we visited Rockingham castle. This was a first for us and a pleasant surprise. I am reasonably well up on history but was not aware of the historical significance of Rockingham. House and gardens combined was a great day out.

Wednesday was a short walk from Alstonefield to Wetton. Wetton was new and turned out to be a pretty hamlet and ideal picnic spot. A full review of the walk will soon occur elsewhere on this site.

Thursday was more golf and, whilst I did not hit top form, some sort of stability was returned with 35 points. This was nowhere near enough to challenge John, who took the money with 43 points.

Today was more golf, this time the quarter final of the David Downes seniors matchplay (which trophy I currently hold). I did play at the top of my form, beating Eric five and four. If I was able to play as well in stroke play as I do in match play, my handicap would come tumbling.

Our new Prime Minister has been touring the world and trying his hand at diplomacy and, in my opinion failing miserably. First to USA and the astonishing statement that the UK was a junior partner to USA in 1941. This was probably UK's finest hour, when we stood alone in Western Europe defying the Nazis, a year and more before the USA entered the war. This ignorant statement must have offended many Britons as well as making Cameron a laughing stock to any of his hosts with a basic knowledge of history. Then to Turkey making a speech against Israel. The content of the speech was fine. Its location absurd. Speeches critical of other countries are fine in this country, in the United Nations or, best of all, in the country of the criticised people. Not in a country currently your host, where there is no opportuntity of reply to the criticised. Then to India to criticise Pakistan. This of course wnt down well in India, who are sworn enemies of Pakistan. However, in addition to all of the arguements above, it completely dominated reporting of the trip, overriding the business mission that was supposed to be the purpose. Please Mr Cameron, leave diplomacy to the diplomats and put down the self important hat that suggests you can change the world this way.

The entries to this blog are getting few and far between. What with a selection of 60th birthday parties, a wedding, a holiday and some great sporting events, this summer is passing at high speed and time for such things as this are limited.

I left the last entry on Wednesday 30th June, about to go to the opera. We duly did and watched Opera North perform Mary Stuart. The reviews of this perhaps less well known opera were mixed as was the opera's recall of history. Nevertheless it was a superb evening with great performances of memorable music.

The following day, Thursday July 1st, I returned to the golf course. The game was at best patchy but my 35 points was enough to take the money.

Friday was a day of preparation for the start of our St Davids' holiday.

Saturday 3rd July we set off on the long drive across the midlands and mid-Wales to a tiny village next to the city of St Davids. On arrival we found a superb cottage with lots of room and what was to be a much used patio with great views over St Davids Head.

Sunday was very wet and misty to start. We set out on a driving tour visiting the surprisingly industrial little villages along the coast to Fishguard before cutting in land as the weather improved to Llys-y-Fran reservoir and back via the pretty village of Solva. We spent the first of many evenings enjoying beer and good company on the sheltered patio.

Summer returned on Monday. We drove the five miles to St Justinians before setting out on a most beautiful cliff walk beside Ramsey Sound. The blue of the sea met the blue of the sky with fantastic views throughout. Details of the walk will shortly appear on the walks pages. After lunch we returned to St Davids to visit the superb ruins of the Bishop's palace and the rather small and austere cathedral.

Tuesday we set out on the Dale peninsula to St Anne's Head, where did a short walk to the lighthouse with great views over Milford Haven. Then on to Marloes and Wooltack Point for another great walk through the deer free deer park with great views of Skomer Island. The highlight here was spottings of gannet, shag and guillemot.

Wednesday was wet again. We set off a bit further afield to visit Laugharne castle before following the again improving weather to visit the beautiful old town and beaches at Tenby.

Thursday the sun shone again and we went to Strumble Head, probably the most beautiful of all the beautiful places we visited in the week. The views were once again fantastic and I walked alone for some distance across the costal path.

Friday was another of those days where the weather was less good. We set off in land visiting some disappointing spots before arriving at Carew, where we spent quite a long time in the excelently presented castle and tidal mill, before progressing to the ruins of Pembroke castle to wrap up a super holidy.

Saturday we had to clear up and take the long drive home through ever increasing temperatures to a very hot and dry Nottingham, where not a drop of rain had fallen during our week away. We applied copious water to seemingly dead plants, causing a Lazarus like recovery.

Sunday was back to golf with a medal. I made the world's worst start but then made a good recovery to finish with a net three over score of 76, which was good enough to qualify for the club championship. Unfortunately I cannot play as I will be walking in the Lake District with Kate.

Monday 12 July was 34 points in a stableford competition with the seniors. The sixth place was not enough to stop another 0.1 shots being added to my handicap. Every round of golf at present seems to be a pretty good 15 holes spoiled by three very bad holes somewhere in the round. This is a very frustrating situation.

Tuesday was bird watching at Rutland water. There was a pretty good variety of birds there, highlights being the sand martins and quite a lot of little egrets.

Wednesday was spent in the garden, fighting back against the very rapid growth of shrubs in this supposedly dry and unproductive summer.

Thursday was a return to mostly good but sometimes awful golf. 34 points again but today Malcolm came good to take the money comfortably with 43 points.

Friday was the annual golf match between Bristol and Nottingham. This year we had a new venue, having been let down by Blackwell golf club. We went to Droitwich golf club, which turned out to be a much easier and shorter course but nevertheless interesting and we were trated very well by the professional and catering staff. The members decided to return to Droitwich next year rather than to Blackwell. As for the mach, Chris and I played pretty well, winning the first match two and one. The next two were halved, giving us hope of a close match, but the remaining four all went to Bristol, who retained the trophy.

Saturday was our 39th wedding anniversary. We spent the day gardening before going to The Hutt for an excellent meal washed down with copious Adnams and Malbec.

Sunday was an early tee time for a shotgun start in the earlybird competition. We played reasonably well for a four under par 68. After asking around we thought we had a chance of a prize, until the presentation was made to a team 14 under. The breakfast was served quickly on our return to the club house and was very welcome. The afternoon was spent in front of the television watchin Louis Oosthuizen's serene progress to winning the Open at St Andrews. Unlike many previous "unknown" winners, Oosthuisen did not profit from the mistakes of others, but played superb golf for the final two days, making him a worthy winner. I belive that he will go on to win many more times. The Open was at St Andrews for the first time since we played there last March (remember, where I birdied the 10th), which made watching it even more interesting. With course planner in hand I was able to visualise the course and its difficulties and relive the superb moments when WE WERE THERE.

Yesterday was golf. I finished second with 36 points but have never felt worse playing to my handicap. I played great golf for the first 12 holes getting to five shots better than handicap and in a position for a really good score before throwing it all away with a poor finish.

Today I find an hour to update this blog whilst waiting for Geraldine's sister Jenny and husband John, who are visiting the north from their Devon home for the rest of the week. The weather forecast is mixed but we will have a good time.

Quite a while since the last entry. This is because life has been dominated by the wedding of son Tim to now daughter in law Vicky. And quite rightly so.

Since the last entry.

On Saturday 19th June we went to the Hutt to celebrate Shiela's 60th birthday. It says something about our friends when we have two 60th birthday parties in consecutive weeks. This one too was great. There were six of us sat down for an excellent meal. The London Pride flowed freely and a good time was had by all.

Sunday was golf, a better ball stableford. I could still taste the London Pride as we started, not a particularly pleasant experience. We started slowly but got better, finished with 37 points: nothing special but ok.

Monday was more golf. I played reasonably well for most of the round and had high hopes of delaying the imminent handicap increase by getting into the buffer zone. However, a disasterous 18th hole left me with 34 points, another 0.1 shots means that I am once again a 19 handicap golfer.

Tuesday was more golf, this time representing Oakmere in the Spondon Trophy. I played the best for some time. We played the first nine on the little liked Commanders course, where I finished 5 up. I retained this for the next five holes, running out 5 and 4 winner. Overall the team won 5-2 and progress to the next round.

Wednesday was a quiet day spent keeping the garden in check.

Thursday was more golf, a bit up and down. My 35 points was joint best on the day but no money was won. After the golf was a trip to Moss Bros to pick up my tail suit for the wedding. In the evening, Geraldine's sister sammy and husband Roy arrived as we are providing their transport tomorrow.

Friday we drove to Shrigley Hall (near Macclesfield) for the wedding. We arrived in time for a very expensive sandwich before departing to St Mary Magdeline church in Sale for the rehearsal. This went well. We went on to Vicky's mother's house for som lemonade and curry before returning to Shrigley for a few drinks with Tim and his friends (Jason and Paul from Bermuda, Matt & Dev from New York and best man John). A good time was had by all. We helped Tim show moderation so that he was in perfect condition for the big day.

Saturday was the wedding day. We had a quiet morning before changing and driving back to Sale in plenty of time for the 3:00 start. The clans gathered and were welcomed. We entered the church. The bridal party were traditionally late but worth waiting for. Vicky looked beautiful as did the bridesmaids, particular mention for daughter Kate. Following the very modern service we returned to Shrigley for champagne and canapes, photographs, a splendid wedding breakfast and partying until 2:00AM. The food was good. The wine was good. The speeches were amusing and suitably brief and the dance band was superb. It was a superb an memorable day rewarding all of the planning, worrying and negotiating that had been put in.

Sunday dawned and I felt better than I had any reason to expect. We helped clear the hotel, said fond farewells to family old and new, sent the happy couple on their way and returned with Sammy & Roy to Nottingham in time to watch the football. This turned out to be the only mistake of the weekend. More later. We then had a lovely meal with Kate, Sam and Roy, washed down by some of the excellent rioja left over from the previous day.

Monday was back to normal and golf. A decent front nine was followed by a poor back nine and fifth place with 32 points. Another 0.1 shots on the handicap.

Tuesday was more golf; the latest match in defence of the trophy won last year. The poor form of the previous day held for the front nine. Neither of us played well but Bob finished 2 up. For the back nine I remembered how to play and turned the game round, finally concluding on the 16th having won 4 and 2 to reach the quarter finals.

Today I have been bird watching at Attenborough. This is not the best time of year for birding there, but I spotted a decent nimber of birds. The nesting common tern the highlights. As I write, we are preparing to visit the Royal Concert Hall to watch Opera North present "Mary Stuart".

Oh yes. And the World Cup. I was unable to watch England's first match because of Jackie's 60th birthday but unfortunately was able to watch their other three. All were disappointing or worse. We see a lot of people saying don't blame the manager, the players are not good enough. It is all the fault of the Premier League. I say rubbish. The players might not be good enough to win the world cup or even to beat Germany but they are certainly good enough to beat USA, Slovenia and Algeria comfortably. In advance of the world cup, any of England's second team would have been a shoe in for any of these teams. Player for player, England were in a different class. There might be an issue about the premier league in that the European football royalty have hugely underperformed. France and Italy did worse than England. There may be something here about too much pressure in European Champions league. Few of the Italian players play in the Premier leage and many of the Spanish, who might yet win the cup, do. So let us not do the traditional English thing and rubbish the world class business that is the Premier League. The fault must be either with the way the players are asked to play, the fear of failure of the players or the lack of motivation (possibly because the world cup seems less important than European cup). Either way it comes down to the manager. His job is player selection, playing systems and player motivation. He has failed (whatever his previous successes) and should go.

Another week has passed. The world cup has begun and we have had some more glimpses of summer.

Since the last entry:

On Friday 11th June we went to Bristol for a party to celebrate Geraldine's sister Jackie's 60th birthday. On the way we went to visit Westonbirt Arboretum and spent a lovely sunny afternoon enjoying walking through the late spring display of greenery and rhodedendrons. we then proceded to Geraldine's older sister, Sammy, and spent a pleasant evening with her and Roy.

Saturday was the day of the party. We went for a short walk at Chew Valley Lake before helping Sammy prepare the house for the party. Shortly before four the birthday girl arrived. She had been unaware of the party in her honour until they had been on the way from Devon. A great time was had by all. Many thanks go to Sammy for her hard work and to Jenny and Mike for keeping the secret.

Sunday, after a leisurely full english, we returned to Nottingham in time for Sunday roast with Kate.

Monday was senior's golf, four clubs and a putter. I played reasonably well for 32 points, in the top four. I chose the clubs well in that, were I to have to chose four clubs tomorrow, I would chose the same four.

Tuesday was the John Player Society Jubilee meeting at Stoke Rochford Golf club. We had a lovely day for it. The course was in the best condition I have seen it in the four times that I have played, and it is always tough but excellent. I found that I could putt better on these greens than those that I play every week. I scored 35 points off of a reduced handicap, which was second only to George. He won the cup, which I had won the previous two years and I took the first division prize.

Wednesday was another sunnyday. Geraldine and I went for a walk in the Edale valley. It was a super walk, of which more on the walk page. We found an idylic picnic spot with fantastic views across the valley to the great ridge, Mam tor and Rushup edge.

Today was more golf. My 32 points were mixed, with seven pars but a lot of poor holes. It was not able to compete with John, who took all the money with 43 points.

The football world cup has been running for a week. It seems to have been dominated by fear in that there have been few goals and many draws. England have made their customary slow start, but are in good company amongst the top teams, with Italy and France doing no better and Spain, the pre tournament favourites, doing worse in the only significant shock result so far. The other startling feature has been the loud plastic horns, which cannot be so bad as they upset some of the worst prima donna footballers such as Portugal's Ronaldo. I'm sure that it will improve soon. Meanwhile we have the US Open Golf to amuse us.

Another week has passed and my update on the blog has returned to its natural Thursday.

Since the last entry:

On Saturday 5th June I was alone as Geraldine was in Manchester at the hen weekend of Vicky. I went for a walk in sunny Derbyshire from Tideswell through Cressbrook dale. It was a superb and scenic walk on a great day. Full details as ever will soon appear elsewhere. In the evening I went to the last night of the Nottingham Classics season at the Royal Concert Hall. The highlight of the concert was the Halle's performance of Ravel's Bolero, which was quite literally brathtaking. Unfortunately, I was sat next to a silly man who decided that every piece was superb, reqired a standing ovation and loud shouts of "Bravo". Does he not understand that things can only be superb if they surpass the normal. Everything cannot surpass the normal.

Sunday I went to the golf club to play in the Waterloo trophy. We were first off at eight o'clock. The thunder started at about two minutes to eight and continued until the competition was abandoned at 9:30. At least I had time to tidy the kitchen before Geraldine's return.

Monday was more golf with a disappointing 31 points. Another 0.1 on the handicap means that the next QR will see my handicap rise, unwanted, to 19.

Tuesday was very wet, so I spent the day working on the boat. It is very difficult but I persevere. The job today was sanding and shapin blocks, reducing their size by half. I made a pretty good job of it, but the sawdust resulting is still falling out of the air ont the surfaces, much to Geraldine's displeasure!

Wednesday was showery and forecast, correctly, to be too wet for a walk. So we spent a plasant day out with the National Trust at Sudbury Hall.

Today was more golf in persistent drizzle. I was not at one with my driver and overall form is in a bit of a dip. In the end I did quite well to get 28 points. Malcolm and Rick shared the money.

The fallout from the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico continues to get more outrageous. The incident is an environmental disaster and shows both the risks of drilling for oil one mile down and the lack of preparedness of the industry to cope with extreme incidents in that depth of water. It also shows how quickly BP are able to respond, trying a whole range of ways to reduce or stop the leak, which are right on the frontiers of technology. It appears that at the moment, most of the fresh oil is being contained.The problem with the millions of gallons of oil that have escaped into the water is huge. Actually, given the immense quantities of oil, the visible effects are remarkably small, although I fully understand the possible ecological effects that will not become clear for months or years. Clearly, as soon as the emergency is over and the position becomes stable, it is incumbent on both the industry and the government to investigate fully and learn from the incident before considering restarting oil extraction at that depth. Equally, should BP or the rig's owners have broken any laws they should prosecute. BP have already agreed to compenstae those whose livelyhood has been disrupted and to pay for the clean up operation. I suspect that those promises will be tested in the courts as people jump on the compensation bandwagon. Meanwhile, what of Obama? He desperately wants to be seen to be doing something. There are elections in the autumn and he is already not looking too good. Presumably his oil industry advisers cannot think of any better way of attang the leak than BP are already doing. So he rants about how BP are to blaim. He uses the "British" for the "B", which has not been in the companies title for over 20 years to blame somebody else. His ever increasing blame yelling has even finally caused the usually simperingly pro-American British people to stand up and notice. He and his advisors should be working closely with BP to bring things under control as soon as possible, not standing and yelling in frustration. He is appearing daily as a smaller and smaller man!

A long time since the last entry. No real reason, just idleness & golf I assume.

Anyway, since the last entry:

On Saturday 22nd May I walked alone in the Peak District joining the villages of Taddington, Chelmorton and Flagg. It was a good walk across high ground in parts of the Peak District less walked. Full details will appear shortly elsewhere on this site.

Sunday was golf, a better ball medal. Guy and I scored 1 over par, somewhere in the middle of the field.

Monday was seniors golf. I got a respectable 34 points to finish fifth. Not enough however to avoid a handicap increase of 0.1 shots.

Tuesday 25 May we went to Chatsworth to walk round the garden. this is always a pleasant experience although the day was a bit chilly. We caught the late azaleas, the late bluebells and the early rhodedendrons.

Thursday 27th was more golf. I continued some reasonable form and took the money with 36 points.

Friday I walked with Kate. We walked up Kinder scout for the first time with my new hip, with no alarms. The superb walk on a lovely day took us over Brown Knoll and round the head of Edale before descending. Details again will shortly appear elsewhere on this site.

Saturday was spent gardening, leaving time free for golf on Sunday; a singles stableford. My 28 points was disappointing and gets another 0.1 shots on the handicap, which is now approaching 19 again.

Monday was a bank holiday, and so a mixed competition. I played with June in the blue ribbon trophy. After a good start we faded and our 32 points, whilst better than the last mixed competition, was well outside the prizes.

Tuesday June 1st we used our National Trust membership to visit Hanbury Hall. We visited there last year but it was pleasantly surprising haw many changes had been made. A good day out on a day of dodgy weather.

Wednesday I represented the seniors in a match against Cotgrave. We lost our match on the last green, usualy a sign of an enjoyable match. However, Brian and Chris were not enjoyable to play against. They took themselves too seriously and indulged in gamesmanship frequently through the match. They then ignored us and talked amongst themselves through the meal. It was a thankfully rare unenjoyable experience in seniors golf.

Thursday was the seniors open at Newark. Steve and Robert were everything Brian and Chris were not. We had a super game and meal, with the added pleaure that Alan and I were amongst the prizes. Our 44 points finished third. The prize of a gap wedge will be mentioned every time I use it for the foreseeable future.

Today has been more gardening. the garden is now pretty much up to date and we are able to sit in it this evening and enjoy the summer sunshine.

This week's news has been dominated by the mass murder in Cumbria. These things happen rarely. I understand that this was only the third such event in this country in the last 20 years. The press and public appear to demand that it was somebody's fault. Clearly it was the murderer's fault. Equally clearly, he had a dramatic and tragic mental breakdown. But please be real. It was not the fault of gun laws and it was not the fault of the Cumbrian police. I do not know the answer but I suspect that more people were killed on the roads that day than by the murderer but the sheer horror of the individual event drives us to need to do something and blame something. It would be pointless.

Another week has passed and miraculously summer has arrived. The weather has improved significantly since our change of government.

Since the last entry:

Saturday 15 May was the FA cup final. In a previous existence I attended about 20 of these, which were the highlight of the sporting calendar. Things have moved on since then: the event is less important in football terms; presentation is all, so all singing must be led, loudly; and the cult of celebrity means that the build up is about a few people rather than the teams and their achievements. Nevertheless, it is a big event and worth making an effort to see. Briefly, after Chelsea had dominated the first half, it looked as if romance might win as Portsmouth were given a penalty. But they missed and the rest, as they say, is history.

Sunday was golf, a better ball medal. We did ok with a one under par score but not well enough to trouble the prizes.

Monday was more golf, this time a stableford with the seniors. The magic of last week has gone. 32 points was close to normal and middle of the field.

Tuesday Geraldine & I visited the Peak District. Geraldine has had a bad back so we took it easy, walking on the level from Baslow to Chatsworth and back again. Very undemanding but very pleasant.

Wednesday was bird watching at Rutland Water. The sand martins were in disappointing numbers; perhaps we were a bit early. The star, making all worthwhile, was another sighting of an osprey.

Yesterday was more golf, this time representing Oakmere in the Spondon Trophy. I started my match incredibly badly and was five down after five holes. I was happy and relieved to make the match last until the 17th hole. In the event I was one of two losers saved by five winners, so we progress to the next round.

Today has been gardening in the sun, achieving quite a lot. We have some shopping to do and then plan to enjoy the warm evening, perhaps sharing a bottle of wine and a meal outside.

The coalition government continues to develop and has a number of promising policies, not least abolition of the HIP. However, they are showing scarily anti-democratic tendencies.They have already increased the majority required to call another election to a number which ensures that it cannot be done without Conservative party support. They have suspended rather than abolished Home Information Packs because abolition would require  parliament to scrutinise a change in the law. The result is good but the means bad. And they have cooked the back bench committee so that the 70 odd ministers can now have a vote to neutralise any opposition; something even Margaret Thatcher did not attempt. I think that what they are trying to do in coalition is by far and away the best thing for this country at this time. But I worry that three anti-democratic measures before the Queen’s speech is three too many and redolent Of one Herr Adolf in the thirties.

So here we are, a week after the General Election with a "stable coalition government". Add to that an outstanding week's golf and there is plenty to write about.

Since the last detailed entry:

Friday 7 May was a late start having watched election results until 4:30 in the morning. I felt a little honoured when the labour party held my constituency (Gedling), it became the moment that Mr Cameron was unlikely to have an overall majority. It is nice to have ones vote count. Having cut the grass and tidied the garden a little we went to the Hutt with Alan & Shiela to share a few pints of Black Sheep, some good food and good conversation.

Saturday was another quiet day. I prepared a meal for Geraldine of nachos grande followed by pork in mushroom and vermouth sauce. It was an excellent tasty meal washed down with good red wine.

Sunday was golf, a medal. My performance was very ordinary with a net 84 shots. The 0.1 handicap increase resulting was enough to raise my handicap from 19 to 20: an unwanted move.

Monday was more golf, the John Hall trophy for the seniors. My handicap increase had not been posted so I played from my previous handicap of 19. Everything went very well and I finished with 42 points. This won the first division and finished second overall, one point behind Barry, who won the trophy. As I got 25 points on the back nine, had I played off of my new handicap, the trophy would have been mine. Oh well. Que sera sera. The other result was a handicap reduction to 18: much more desirable. I never did get to play off of 20!

Tuesday was the first round of the David Downes seniors' knock-out, defending the trophy that I won last year. I was playing Rick, one of the bigger bandits in the seniors, off of my new reduced handicap. We both played pretty well and I triumphed again with a 3 and 1 victory. In the afternoon it was Moss Bros to get measured for the suit for Tim's wedding next month. The big black lady who measured was kind enough to keep the results to herself!

Wednesday I walked alone in Lathkill Dale. It was a superb walk from Youlgrave, similar to one done last year. Full details will shortly appear elsewhere on this site.

Thursday was more golf. The new handicap has now been posted. The good form continued and I won the money with 37 points, outscoring even the new handicap.

Today has been another day of gardening and catching up with those things that need to be done even if one is retired. What with the second day like this and the cup final tomorrow I need to be careful. I am in danger of becoming a couch potato. I must get out more.

So we have a coalition government between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. I think that I am pleased. Given the election result, this was the best way to ensure stable government, which has to be for the good of the country. A rainbow alliance of the lesser parties would be absurd. It would still not have had enough seats and would have been headed by the party just voted out of government. A minority Conservative administration would have been weak and could have lasted for only a short time. So Mr Cameron, quite bravely, put together this coalition. It is extraordinary some of the reaction against it, from all directions. It s not a sell out from the Conservatives; it is the only way they can guarantee needed legislation. Yes they had to moderate. that is the great strength of multi party politics and coalitions. It is not a sell out from the Liberal Democrats; they are in government, they are gaining electoral reform, their tax allowance policy and several other concessions. They are able to dispose of right wing policies designed to make the rich richer such as million pound inheritance threshold. Their more natural partners would be Labour but that was not the will of the electors. There are issues. Europe is a huge difference of philosophy. I hope that the coalition will help encourage Conservatives back to the mainstream there. The other half of the compromises ensure that we do not think of entering the Euro nor if an illegal immigrant amnesty. I wish them well. My politics has always been left leaning and I am one of the greatest non-fans of David Cameron. But I still wish them well and feel that the lack of generosity in the newspapers does them ill. Just please do not preach. The sycophantic tone of yesterday's press conference telling us how excited they were to be changing politics rewrites history; this was the last place Mr. Cameron wanted to be Mr Clegg as deputy prime misister was not in his worst nightmares six weeks ago!

Most of the election results are in and we do not have the historic result predicted. The Liberal Democrat surge predicted did not occur. They in fact ended up with fewer seats than they had in the previous parliament. So we end up with David Cameron, probably leading a minority government, because it is the Conservative's turn to be in charge; a return to the old politics rather than the historic change predicted.

This will take us to a strange place. In all probability there will be another election in the next two years, which makes it impossible for the Conservatives to introduce their constitutional changes as they include fixed term parliaments. So it is very much the consolidation of the first past the post system and Nick Clegg becomes yet another politician who nearly broke the mould of UK politics.

The strategy is relatively high risk for Mr Cameron in that he will plan something short of two years of handling the deficit and introducing the necessary unpopular measures before returning to the country and saying please give me a mandate to continue with the unpoular measures that I have started.

Interestingly, the Conservatives won the election although with far fewer seats than they expected when the election was called. The Liberal Democrats equally did extraordinarily badly after their remarkable surge at the leaders' debates. The Labour party did better than they expected at the start. So it is a remarkable truth that Gordon Brown won the election campaign although he clearly lost the election, which has been a certainty for the last year.

Another week has passed and we finally reach the day of the general election. I have just returned from voting. More on the election later.

Since the last entry:

On Friday 30th April the weather was indifferent so I spent the day working on my latest model boat. It is harder than the last, which is, I suppose, progress. I keep thinking that it is going to be too difficult for me but press on and make a bit of progress. So far so good but next I need to shape some substantial pieces of wood, which I think will be beyond my capabilities but I will press on and hope to make a bit of progress.

Saturday I set out to walk up Back Tor from the Strines Inn. When I got there the footpath was closed for forestry work and there are no alternative footpaths from anywhere near the start shown on the map. Instead I set out along a permissive path. After a mile this proved totally uninspiring so I returned to my start point and salvaged the day with a pleasant walk around Dale Dyke reservoir. Scarily, on the way I met a couple walking in the opposite direction, noted with a cheery "Good Morning". On my return on the other side of the reservoir I met them again. Having complemented me on the speed I must have achieved, they asked me to look at their map to confirm that they were going south-west along Strines reservoir. I was unable to do this as they were actually walking north-east along Dale Dyke reservoir (towards thir car, which they told me was in Bradfield). Having convinced them of this, I continued to my car . Inexplicably they decided to continue in my direction. I left them behind, returned to my car and settled down to lunch. Some time later the couple reappeared, arrived at the road and studied the map for some time. They were on the only road in the area with a good view of Strines reservoir; setting the map should be easy. After a lengthy study they set off along the road away from their car. I might be doing them an injustice but I doubt it. They might still be walking now for all of their map reading skills. I still do not know if I should have stopped them. But they might have wanted to go that way.

On Sunday it was golf with Guy. A stableford. I played reasonably well but had a couple of bad holes. The upshot was a respectable 32 points but another 0.1 shots on the handicap, now only one bad round away from an unwanted increase to twenty.

Monday, being a Bank Holiday, was more golf, this time with the ladies. It was unseasonally cold, and after a heavy shower, I lost all feeling in my hands, which makes swinging a club with any accuracy unlikely. I eventually lost all will and ability to play golf. With a better ball score of 26, June and I were not high on the leader board.

Tuesday was more golf, a match with the seniors at Maywood golf course. I approached my partnership with the captain (Bob) with some trepidation after the previous day but it turned out to be a good day. I played prettty much as well as I could and we walked off as winners by 3 and 2. The team however lost the match.

Wednesday was our annual pilgrimage to Calke Abbney to see the bluebells, which were just about at their best, providing a backdrop to a delightful walk. There was the added delight of a field full of cowslips to make us even more glad that we went.

Today was more golf and more bad golf in the rain. My 24 points was pathetic and more than 10 short of Darren who took the money.

Today is the general election. I am a follower of politics and am glad to be part of what most predictions say could be a historic realignment of British politics. I have alredy voted and will be there following every piece of news until 4:00 and beyond in the morning. All expectations are for a hung parliament, with a revision of the electoral system hanging on the distance the Conservative party fall short of an overall majority. There is always the possibility that this speculation will be in vain and we will end up with Mr Cameron as Prime Minister because it is his turn. But above all, it is great that we are in a position to cast our vote and effect these potentially great events. I dispair of those who say they cannot be bothered to vote; they are often amongst the first to complain when the government do what they do not like.

Another week has passed, mostly golf and election campaign. The latter now has only one week to run. We have still had no politicians knock our door despite living in a Labour held marginal.

Since the last entry:

On Friday 23rd April I walked alone in Derbyshire from Bradwell, across Abney Moor and back through Great Hucklow. This was a very reasonable walk through part of the Peak District that I have not walked much. it had good views throughout. Full details will shortly appear on the walks pages.

Saturday was a day for gardening and washing cars. Much of the gardening was repairing the lawn with a sort of "divot mix" to try to discourage the birds, whom I try to encourage elsewhere in the garden. They still peck at my new repairs. Why are they so ungrateful when I feed them all year?

Sunday was golf, a better ball stableford. Guy and I achieved a respectable score of 37, although not much to worry the prize committee.

Monday was more golf. I am actually getting to play quite well but am still unable to avoid the one or two bad holes in the round. My 35 points was enough to reach the buffer zone but was amazingly as low as eighth on the day.

Tuesday was the Spring Meeting of the John Player golf society at Ormonde Fields golf club.It was the first time we have been there for some 20 years and it was a pleasant day. Full details appear on the golf course pages. Suffice it to say that I parred the first, played the second well for two points and accumulated only another sixteen points in the remaining sixteen holes. This was a bit scary as I feel that I am playing quite well. I put it down, hopefully, to slow play.

Wednesday we went to Cleethorpes. It was surprising how many people were there this early in the year. It was also surprising how few birds were there. I am sure that we have seen more in the summer months in previous years. Nevertheless, we had a pleasant stroll along the sea front and round the lakes. A decent day was had by all.

Today was more golf and I am pleased to say that my good form returned. I scored 21 points on the front nine and 19 on the back, making a more than respectable 40. It turned out to be all in vain as Malcolm had "one of those days" with two halves of 23 points, taking all of the money with ease.

As I mentioned, next week is the general election, which promises to be historic in several ways so one would think that it is important to give proper consideration to how to use your vote. So what reasons are we given to vote one way or the other. David Cameron started well by saying that we should vote for him because he is not Gordon Brown (and I have come across several people claiming they will vote for anybody who will get Brown out). Nick Clegg trumped David Cameron by telling us that we should vote for him because he did not represent one of the old parties. Then we have had the Leadership Debates telling us to vote for the party of the most talented TV performer. These last two reasons seem to have propelled the Liberal Democrats into a historically important position. Then David Cameron says we should vote for him because a hung parliament will upset the financial markets. Gordon Brown says we should vote for him because he has been there a long time. Now we should not vote for Gordon Brown because he called a bigotted voter (who had been haranguing him on every subject in a scatter gun approach) a bigot (in a conversation that he had every reason to believe was in private. He was, after all, sat inside his car; but nowhere is out of bounds of the prying press.). All three parties say we should vote for them because they do not do negative campaigning and the other two parties do, as well as being a danger to democracy, complacent, inexperienced and probably having bad breath. The one reason we do not seemed to be asked to vote for anybody is becaust they will represent us well and their party will manage Great Britain well.

Back to Thursday with a short update as the general election becomes ever more uncertain.

Since the last entry,

On Tuesday 20th April we used our English Heritage membership for the first time this year, visiting Kenilworth castle. We have been there once before, some years ago, but were attracted to return by the Elizabethan garden. The castle is an impressive place and well presented through one of those audio tours that English Heritage do so well. The gardens were impressive from a distance although less so when you get close. Nevertheless, a good day was had.

Wednesday we walked in the Upper Derwent valley. This was a walk inspired by my recent walk there with Kate. I know that Geraldine will not be interested in the walk that we did to Crow Stones but I equally knew that she would like the wild country around. we therefore parked at the end of the Howden reservoir, walked over the hill to Slippery Stones and then just walked along the Land Rover track for a mile or so until we reached an ideal picnic spot. A splendid easy walk that we intend to repeat when the heather is in bloom.

Today was more golf. It was one of those almost great rounds. I felt that I played most of it pretty much as well as I can. I collected 21 points on the front nine despite missing three putts of under two feet and duffing a chip. On the back nine I managed to fail to score on two holes and had four putts miss be less that a centimetre and still got another 15 points. I took the money on the front nine but Les beat me on the back and overall. If only .......... .

The general election campaign is now half way through and we are witnessing the startling rise of Liberal Democrats as a result of the first leaders' debate. I was actually a little disappointed. I recorded the debate as I was out on the night  and watched it later after reading the analysis and seeing the opinion polls. I expected something special but found a man simply saying "I am not one of the others." and "Let us find a consensus on this." somehow looking fresh as the other two more familiar leaders repeated themselves and bickered a lot. There was certainly not a breakthrough based on policy; many of Lib Dem's policies are dangerous. It was barely "Britain's Got Talent", more "The Generation Game". It does not seem a sensible reason for a minor revolution.

Nevertheless, we today have the Tory press (Telegraph, Mail, Express and Sun) all running exposees on Mr Clegg. This too is no way to run an election campaign. Policy does not come into it. Credit to Peter Mandleson of all people for stating that this approach is unsavoury.

But it seems that a hung parliament is on the way and probably a formal coalition based on a promise of electoral reform. Politics may well never be the same again.

A bit late updating the blog this week. That is because the host site was not working on Thursday and this is my first opportunity since.

Since the last update:

On Friday 9th April the sun shone. Gardening and car washing were the order of the day.

On Saturday we went for a walk from Waterhouses in Staffordshire, again in part of the Peak District with which we are relatively unfamiliar. It was a lovely walk on a lovely day,the first time this year that we have been able to have a leisurely picnic half way round. Full details will shortly appear elsewhere on this site.

Sunday was golf, a better ball stableford. Guy and I accumulated a relatively uninspired 34 points, which did not trouble the leader board at all.

Monday was a greensome stableford at seniors. I was drawn to partner Peter, who is probably the worst golfer in the world. Expectations were low but I must have inspired him. We scored 37 points: joint second best on the day. We were kept out of the prizes only on count back.

Tuesday we did our annual walk from Milldale to Dovedale. It was again a lovely day and there were an extraordinary number of people around, including some apparently lacking in either sense or feeling, who were frollicking in thr River, which must have been freezing. The crowds remind us of why we only do this walk very early in the year. Much later and the resemblance to Blackpool beach will increase.

Wednesday was a bird watching trip to Attenborough. The highlight was the first time I have seen a red crested pochard in the wild.

Thursday was more golf with a respectable 34 points without ever playing very well. It was not enough. Les and Mel shared the spoils. In the evening we went to the Royal Concert hall to watch the Northern Symphonia. It was an excellent concert with a good variety of music. The most striking feature of the evening was that there was not a free seat in the house. I expected the hall to be at best half full for what we assume is a relatively minority interest on a Thursday night. Great that it was full. We had to rush home after the concert to meet younger brother Jeremy, who had arrived ahead of Friday's events.

Friday was the annual trip to golf at Woodhall Spa with brothers Simon and Jeremy and friend Berni.It was probably the warmest and sunniest day that we have ever had on this superb course. We all had our moments although alas Jeremy and I lost by one point to Simon and Berni; the second year in succession that we lost. The consolation was that my 31 points was the best individual score of the day.After a pint of Batemans, we returned to Nottingham before taxiing out to the Hutt for some good food, good, beer, good wine and good company. A great day became even better when we found that the guest beer was Timothy Taylors Landlord. We returned home and had a whisky with Geraldine to round off a great day.

Saturday they all had to leave early; never a good idea after a heavy night. We arose soon after 7:00 in so that Geraldine could provide bacon and mushroom rolls all round and then the departed to various points south. After a deep breath, I spent the rest of the day first cutting and then scarifying the lawn, which now looks pretty damn good.

Sunday was a medal at the golf. Only Ken and I played. All went very well for 13 holes and I was level par net. Then it all went horribly wrong with a ten at the fourteenth, including two unplayable lies. I was a little erratic for the remainder of the round, finishing net 80, seven over par. But it was a lovely warm day, so who is complaining?

Today was seniors again, a stableford. All of the nice sunny weather has become a thing of the past and we played in cold showery weather. I started awfully, losing a ball after three bad shots and struggled to 10 points after eight holes. I then remembered how to play and amassed a further 24 points in the final ten. The overall 34 points was enough to make the buffer zone and delay the increase in handicap to 20 for another week.

When talking about Sunday 11 April I did not mention that the evening was spent watching the climax of the Masters. Phil Michelson narrowly beat our local boy Lee Westwood into second place. Michelson won because firstly he gained five shots in three holes at the end of the third round and then he played a better final round than Westwood, including a couple of memorable shots. Westwood did pretty damn well but Michelson did better. And congratulations to the television director; we saw Tiger Woods playing golf quite a lot because he was in contention but we had a balanced selecton of players and watched a golf tournament rather than the Tiger Wood show. Well done!

Back to updating this blog on a Thursday, I have five days to account, each of which has contained a round of golf. The golf season starts at the beginning of April and, combined with the Easter holiday, it has got of with a busy, if not successful period.

On sunday, April 4, we played a Texas Scramble, always a disappointing way to start the season. The weather is warmer, we are on the proper tees and we play a stupid "fun" competition. we did ok although not getting too close to the prizes.

On Monday I played in the mixed Carlton Trophy, two from four. I played with John, Margaret and Sue and we finished a reasonable third in very windy conditions.

Tuesday was seniors because they are not allowed to book on bank holidays. I struggled to 30 points, which was eighth in the first division and moves me ever closer to a handicap increase to 20.

Wednesday I played at Mapperley Golf Club in the Spondon Trophy. Mapperley is a singular club on a steep hillside and home advantage is huge for them. We lost six matches to one. I lost my match five and four.

Today was more golf and it continues to be quite good play interspersed with dross. This left me with 31 points, well behind Malcolm who took the money.

We are now officially in a General Election campaign. I enjoy such things and find them quite entertaining. The tenor of the campaign was probably set by David Cameron in his opening statement, "Vote for me because I am not Gordon Brown". Unfortunately we all appear to vote against rather than for things and threfore we deserve what we get. This time we have the leaders' debates, which means that more than ever we are voting for a prime minister rather than a party or an individual. Nevertheless, I look forward to the next four weeks, particularly as I live in one of the "Ashcroft marginals" that the Conservatives must win to gain an overall majority.

A little more than a week since the last entry. Spring is really in full swing. There has been serious snow in Scotland and April Fool's Day has merged into Easter.

Since the last entry:

On Friday 26 March I went bird watching at Old Moor RSPB reserve. As ever there was a good variety of birds, although no rarities.

Saturday was bird watching again. This time to Attenborough. The highlight here was the first sighting of sand martins this year. Whilst one swallow does not make a summer, five or ten sand martins give hope.

Sunday was golf. My 31 points was well down the field. Another 0.1 shots on the handicap.

Monday was seniors golf. All was going reasonably well until I failed to score on the 12th. I then failed to score on the 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th and 17th. In fact I thought I might never score again. A late flourish of two points on the 18th restored some confidence but it was a bit scary. Curiously, there was no handicap increase, presumably because of the small field and nobody beat the standard scratch.

Tuesday was all about tidying the house for the visit of prospective buyers. They turned up on time, looked interested but no offers as yet.

Wednesday was cold and showery so we did more bird watching, this time at Rutland Water. Once again there was a few sand martins visiting for summer whilst the teal, shoveller and goldeneye had yet to leave after their winter visit.

Thursday was more golf and a sense of deja vu. All was going reasonably well until I failed to score on the 12th. I then failed to score on the 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th. I stopped the rot earlier tha Monday with two points on the 17th and three on the 18th. But what is going on?

Friday was another miserable day which we spent driving around the area once again looking at possible places to live if and when we get a buyer for our house.

Today we have been for a very pleasant walk on the Trent at Collingham. It was very reasonable and a little better than expected in some ways in that there was a lot of waterside walking after we had left the river bank. Full details will soon appear on the walks pages.

This week has seen the Conservative party become increasingly desperate for popularity. We have seen them apparently desert their stance on being harsher with the defecit than other parties and have suddenly decided that they can spend their probably ficticious efficiency savings in generating a tax cut, through not implementing one of the government's few positive moves on the defecit, increase in National Insurance. Business leaders are in favour. Surprise! They would equally be in favour of a reduction in any other business tax. It seems bonkers to me that we are able to spend what little savings we can identify. If you make savings, use it as a down payment on the defecit! Today we find that all cancer treatments must be available to all, not just those judged effecive by the advisory panel NICE. So expensive and unproved drugs become available at huge cost and undemonstrated efficacity. Another good way to cut the defecit. Please stop using focus groups and the Daily Mail to find out what is popular and become politicians of principle, honesty and trust. Some Hope!!!!

Another week of decent weather and the golf is improving. The weatherman stated that next week will be much colder so perhaps we will have a white Easter.

Since the last entry:

On the evening of Friday 19th March we went to the Hutt with Alan & Sheila. It was a very pleasant evening centered around a mixed grill and copious amounts of Bombardier. We keep thinking that we should go elsewhere but it is conveniently placed between Nottingham & Mansfield and the food and drink are pretty good.

Saturday we continued good eating. this time I created a three course meal of tomato soup (home made, of course), Salmon in a brioche crust and almond fudge crumbles. All was washed down with excellent red wine and a good night had by all.

Sunday was golf, a medal. I played ok but there were too many bad holes. The net 80 meant another 0.1 shots on the handicap.

Monday was seniors golf and the recent improvement continued. My 36 points was towards the top of the field and in the buffer zone meaning no change of handicap.

Tuesday I walked with Kate from Earl Sterndale and across the "dragon's back" of Chrome Hill. This was one of the few parts of the Peak District that I have never walked and was a superb experience. Full details will shortly appear elsewhere on this site.

Wednesday we spent driving around looking at houses that we feel that we might want to buy if we are succeseful selling ours. We covered several areas of south Nottinghamshire that we do not know well, convincing ourselves that there are plenty of acceptable houses around.

Today was golf again and the improvement continues. I took the money with two equal halves of 19 points. Perhaps the old magic is returning. As I type we await Mr Greenwell, who is the first potential buyer to view our property. I wish us luck.

Yesterday was the pre-election budget. It was a thankless task for Mr Darling. He approached it by saying very little other than the mandatory forecasts, a little help for small businesses and first time buyers, and strenuous efforts to highlight differences between the parties in advance of the election. Of course it was an electioneering budget. Mr Cameron in his reply ignored the budget completely and laid into the government's record. Today the budget is criticised by Mr Osborne, who refuses to spell out how he will reduce the deficit, for failing to spell out how the government will reduce the deficit. He then criticised the government for its few tax increases, which you would have thought that he would have welcomed as movement to reduce the deficit. I am tempted to say that the parties seem never to learn that the electorate want to hear what they are going to do, not them rubbishing the other lot in schoolboy terms, but I suspect that they have learned that in reality we respond more to the negative campaiging. In these days of high level research and spin, it would seem bonkers otherwise.

Another week. Spring has continued to spring and increased activity on the golf course has been accompanied by increased temperatures and increased sunshine.

I left the last enry awaiting England rugby team's visit to Murrayfield. The only good news is that they avoided defeat and retained the Calcutta Cup. In reality, it was no great pleasure to watch a turgid match made worse by the referee's inability to do anything about set scrummages taking two or three minutes each. I do not think that I am prepared to disrupt this Saturday evening to watch England's final match in Paris.

Sunday 14 March was the Golfer of the Winter semi-final. For the first nine holes I played like a man who had never held a club before. Guy held the score together at 17 points. For the back nine the positions were reversed, I remembered how to play and he forgot. Another 17 points left us some 10 points short of that necessary to qualify for the final.

Monday was more golf with the seniors. I am now playing reasonably well as long as I do not have to hit any irons. This is sufficient to stop any chance of winning. 32 points under those circumstances is not bad. Handicap climbs another 0.1 to 18.9.

Tuesday revolved around estate agents as we finally agreed to put our house on the market. there was much taking of photographs and signing of forms, preceded of course by much tidying and tittivating.

Wednesday was the first of the biannual Seniors vs ladies golf matches. As ever, the ladies adapted the rules so that we played better ball match play off of full handicap with five courtesy shots. I partnered Rick. Our match was halved. Overall the seniors won by a single point, perhaps providing some justification for the handicap "adjustments".

Yesterday was more golf and I played better than I had for some time for the first 13 holes. Then it all went horribly wrong. I still finished with 35 points but that was a poor third, eight points behind Les and Mel, who I partnered and who both played superbly.

Today is filling in forms and welcoming energy assessors associated with the Home Information Pack required before you can sell a house. It seems completely pointless but is the law. If this is completed early enough we might take the air and sunshine at Attenborough nature reserve before seeing Alan and Shiela for a meal this evening.

The news this week is about the looming BA strike, which seems a clash of intransigent "macho" management and unions wishing to show their strength. There is a reasonable chance that they will destroy a once great company between them. I hope not. It is worth noting that the members vote for the strike (in a secret ballot) was huge so there appears to be a genuine grievance. What is sickening however is the politics of it all. We see the inglorious sight of David Cameron demanding that the Prime Minister intervene. Had they intervened, he would of course have condemned their interference in a private sector dispute. He the demanded that the Prime Minister called for union members to break the strike. That would, of course, have involved:

1. Taking sides in a private sector dispute.
2. Ignoring the huge majority for a strike.
3. Denying the Labour party founding principles.

So it was never going to happen. Cameron then tried to link this to the money given to the Labour Party by the Unite Union (out of voluntary political fund donations from their members), suggesting that the government cannot govern because they do what the unions tell them to and somehow this not only cancels out Conservative funding issues from Lord Ashcroft, but is somehow worse. This demonstrates once again why the Tory party might become the next government by default rather than convicton. they appear to have no convictions, only the insulting (both to their opponents and the electorate) Yah boo politics that Cameron ridiculed so eloquently on his election as leader.

A little bit late updating the blog this week. Too much going on.

Since the last entry:

On Friday 5 March we spent the day cleaning the greenhouse (it was predominantly green, it is now clear). in the evening we went to the Theatre Royal to see Present Laughter. it confirmed that Noel Coward remains funny even today. It was disappointing that the theatre was only half full on a Friday despite a well known play with a celebrity cast. They missed a jolly entertaining evening.

On Saturday we drove first to Sale to meet up with Tim, Vicky & Vicky's Mum. We went from there to Macclesfield, first to check us into the Best Western Hollin Hall and then to Shrigley Hall, the venue for their wedding reception. Firstly a meeting with a nice lady called Sophie, who kindly bought us all a drink, then a look round the splendid facilities. Then to the restaurant for a food tasting. They provided us with five full plated meals for each course representing the three main choices from Tim & vicky. When we started the restaurant was empty and we did not feel self conscious passing the meals around. However, the place filled up with bright young things in designer dresses for this is footballers' wives country. Vicky described the clientelle as lollypop ladies - impossibly thin with big hair. We did eventually feel conspicuous. Nevertheless, we helped the chose their wedding menu and retired to the bar for a few expensive drinks before returning to Hollin Hall.

Sunday started with a leisurely breakfast. They coped very well with my impersonation of a grumpy old man. First the coffee was too strong. In my opinion had I drunk it, I might never have slept again. The lady produced weaker coffee. Then the chice of preserves was inadequate. Uncomplaining, she produced maramalade. We thanked he and left for a very pleasant drive across the Peak District in bright sunshine.

Monday was seniors golf. A front nine/back nine contest. I was nowhere near on either but it was not a QR so the handicap was unchanged.

Tusday was another lovely day so we went for a walk on Stanton Moor. It is only a short walk but is good under foot and has great views throughout. Great for Geraldine who has not walked much for a while.

Wednesday was all about cleaning the house and maximising its appeal to valuers due the next day. In the evening it was back to the Thatre Royal, this tiime to see Opera North perform Ruddigore. The difference from last Friday was stark. Every seat was taken even though this was a mid week and very much light opera. I do not know why opera is so popular in Nottingham. The show was great and it was nice to meet with old friends Roger & Shiela in the interval.

Thursday was more golf. My 33 points was quite respectable but not enough to stop Malcolm & Mel from sharing the money. I had to lunch at the golf club - apparently my presence reduces the value of the house. From there to Quick Fit for new tyres. A child looked at my tyres and told me what I already knew. I needed two new tyres. He was doing a special offer on Michelin, two tyres for £350 with a £15 petrol voucher.The rest of my tyres are Pirelli, how about those? Two for £309. It was a difficult decision but I went for the Pirelli. There was a 30 minute wait. Not to worry, I was not wanted at home. I still got home just before the second agent. I was able to prove the reduction in price caused by my presence was a fallacy.

Yesterday was a super walk with Kate in the Upper Derwent Valley. As always with Kate we started in the rain, although the weather improved during the walk. It was a super walk in an area I have not walked before, from Slippery stones bridge to Crow Stones. Full details will shortly be elsewhere on this site.

Today we look forward with some trepidation to England's visit to Murrayfield in the six nations. Never mind, only one week to go. Then we do not have to put ourseves through the roller coaster of hope and dispair that comes from following England at Rugby Union.

The news this week has been dominated by the recall of John Venables to prison. Newspapers are falling over themselves to print details of his identity and reason for recall despite refusal by the legal authorities to release the information in the interests of fair trials. "We have a right to know" comes the cry "Particularly Jamie Bulger's mother." Why do they have a right to know? What will we or they do with the knowledge? The only benefit form knowing would be to identify the man and allow vigillante attacks. Surely we have rights only to useful things. Even criminals have rights as in the right to justice. As somebody said, there is a big difference between what is in the public interest and what interests the public, particularly when the latter is defined by the tabloid press.

Another week has passed. We are now in March and it is officially spring. Remarkably, the weather transformed with the start of spring and today is the fourth day without rain or snow, with reasonable spells of surprisingly warm sunshine and with reasonable temperatures.

Since the last entry,

On Saturday 27 February we were promised a dry but cloudy day. I therefore took the opportunity to go bird watching at Attenborough. As you will guess, five minutes after I left the car, a steady light but insistent rain started to fall. I carried on regardless, seeing all the birds that would be expected, although no rarities. I returned home in plenty of time to see England's rugby team losing to Ireland; once again there will be no triple crown or grand slam.

Sunday the forecast was for a storm, with heavy rain and strong winds. On arrival at the golf club, it was cold and a bit breezy and stayed that way through the round. My 32 points was the joint third best score in difficult conditions although I was fifth on countback.

Monday was seniors golf an I was attrocious. My 25 points was amongst the lowest, and for the second consecutive day, another 0.1 shots on the handicap.

Tuesday started with the car being MOTed. It passed all right but did I know that as it is four years old, it is due a change of brake fluid and air conditioning fluid. And there seems to be a water leak, would you like us to investigate? That'll be £219 thank you very much, and they did not even find where the water was leaking! To use what was left of the day well, Geraldine and I went for a walk in Clumber Park in the sunshine. The brighter weather raises spirits a lot.

Wednesday we had estate agents visiting to value the house. I must make it untidy as I was dispatched to walk in Derbyshire. It was a super walk up the flanks of Win Hill to Wooler Knoll. The views were made better by bright sunshine on the snow which remained on the highest ground. Full details will shortly appear on the walks page. On return I found that estate agent one had valued at slightly above our expectation, which is good. Estate agent two was some £70,000 lower. It transpired that she had done the wrong sort of comparisons before viewing and had tried to bluff rather than send us a quotation later, Her revised quotation that afternoon was similar to the first. That is one estate agent that we will not be using. Two more valuations are booked for next week.

Today was more golf in the sunshine. The standard of golf was much better, and I shared the money with Les after scoring 38 points.

I cannot get upset about Michael Ashcroft's tax status. However, given the interest generated, it seems of some import. What amazes me is that the Conservative party do not seek to defend him, and by implication themselves, in any way. All they do is try to say that the other parties have similar donors. Given the importance of him and his money to the Conservative Party, you would hope that they could do better than "He is not much worse than others. Please ask them questions." This stategy has failed to take away the pressure. Please discuss the issue in qusetion rather than try do deflect questions. The current attitude gives me no confidence in the ability of our potential government to handle a crisis.

Back to normal Thursday update so a short entry.

Since the last entry:

On Tuesday, 23 February, there was still snow about so walking was not really a runner, so I went bird watching at Old Moor RSPB reserve. Geraldine stayed home claiming that she was all birded out. Turned out to be a very good day. The inclement weather had brought in unuasual species, particularly Bewick's swan and Barnacle geese.

Yesterday saw the start of the thaw. We went to the Peak District to see the snow on the hills before it melted. Despite being a gloomy and misty day, the views were spectacular and it was fascinating to see how much more snow there was on the east side of the high hills than the west. Combined with a pleasant, although not cheap, lunch at the Yorkshire Bridge Inn, it was a good day.

Today has seen the return to golf. We had a good turn out of eleven golfers this morning, presumably because of the shortage of golf lately. I played pretty well with two equal halves of 20 points beating my handicap by four points. It was not enough to even tie to stop somebody else winning any of the three corners. John won the first nine with 21 points. Darren won overall with 45 points, including 26 on the back nine.

We know there is a general election coming. We have seen the bizarre publicity given to the Gordon Brown bullying row. We must not, we are told, believe the denials from all parties involved but we must believe the anti-Brown journalist who is trying to sell a book and we must believe the charity lady who betrays the confidence of her clients (and is now represented by Max Clifford). Add to that the remarkable statement by Mr Hague that the government are deliberately running up debts in order to make life difficult for an incoming Conservative government and you know that the squeaky clean Mr Cameron, who arrived hearalding a new politics moving away from "Yah Boo" and personal attacks has long gone now that he wants only to be elected. Alas, not good for any of us.

A bit of a delay since the last entry. I have been on my summer holidays in Norfolk. We spent the inside of last week self catering near Fakenham particularly to spend time looking at winter birds. I find that I have time to update the blog this morning because we had the heaviest snowfall of the winter overnight and golf is off - again!

Since the last entry, On Friday 12 February we spent a fairly gloomy day shopping and preparing for our forthcoming trip. The day turned out to be a very good one when we heard that Eunice's chemotherapy had been successeful and she no longer has cancer.

Saturday I spent the day walking through and above Dovedale. This was the walk that  had stupidly failed on earlier in the week. It was very pleasant, not too strenuous and reasonably good underfoot. Full details will appear shortly on the walks pages. In the evening we went to the Hutt to have a splendid evening with Eunice & Kieth, Alan & Shiela & Mark & Christine celebrating Eunice's results. It would have been difficult not to have a good time.

Sunday was golf, an agregate stableford golfer of the winter. Guy & I did reasonably but not exceptionally. Having qualified for the semi final the week before, we were in the competition only for fun.

Monday we set off for our holidays in Norfolk. It was a fairly cold and damp day. we warmed ourselves with an Olympic Breakfast in a Little Chef on the way. We passed the time waiting for the cottage to become available walking by the sea at Hunstanton. There was a strong wind and it was seriously cold, illustrating the need for layers for the rest of our stay. Eventually we set off to the cottage. It turned out to be seven or eight miles outside of Fakenham very much in the middle of nowhere. It was attached to and overlooked by the owners accomodation, which was closer than we would have liked but in fact was no problem. There was a snow shower on Monday night that turned the grass white, although it was clear again by morning.

Tuesday was forecast to be the least settled day. We set off for Ely to view the cathedral. It is a remarkable place and one of the most spectacular cathedrals, more interesting because of the size of the city. The Octagon tower is the height of the experience. We departed from Ely and drove to the Wildlife & wetlands Trust at Welney. The star species here are whooper and bewick's swans, which we duly saw. We timed our visit for the 3:30 swan feed. It was interesting although the swan numbers were a little disappointing. We did not see the anticipated flights of swans coming off of the fields for an easy meal. They apparently stay feeding in the fields until dusk and come in to roost at the reserve then. It was too cold and uncertain to try to capture these moments.

Wednesday we went to the Broads. We have visited before and found that, although there are some accessible pretty villages on the broadland rivers, most of the broads are accessible only by boat. This time however, after visiting Wroxham, we went to Barton Broad boardwalk. This is a recently made boardwalk through what we now know is Carr woodland at the edge of the broad. I can best describe the area as a swamp where vegitation is growing at the edge of the broad. Clearly it is because of this that such places are generally inaccessible. We were told that such Carr woodland is of international importance, containing ten times the number of species of London zoo. It made for a spectacular and informative walk, with the climax of a viewing platform onto lovely Barton Broad. We did some unschduled bird watching here. Stars were a peregrine and a flock of goldeneye. On leaving here we drove up to Cromer, West Runton and Sherringham before returning to our cottage. The early part of the evening turned out to be clear and frosty, allowing us to do a little stargazing where there was sufficiently low light pollution to enable us a rare glimpse of the Milky Way.

Thursday was Tichwell Marsh RSPB reserve. We have visited here before and it is one of the very best RSPB reserves with a variety of habitats attracting lots of birds and lots of species. Stars were pintail, water rail and green sandpiper. We went on Thursday because I had found some tide tables the previous week indicating that high tide at nearby Blakeney was about 6:00 in Sunday. Adding an hour a day, as one does, I calculated that it should be about 11:00 on Thursday, bringing the sea ducks near the viewing platform. It turned out that high tide on Thursday was about 6:30. How does that work? There must be something funny about the Wash like there is in the Solent only different. Anyway, I could still see the sea about 20 yards away and I have a telescope. The sightings book said that the previous day there had been 2,500 common scoter on the sea here. I have never seen a common scoter. How many common scoter did we see that day? Nought out of 2,500. But we still had a good day, We then drove along the coast via Brancater Staithe and Burnham Overy Staithe to Wells next the Sea, where we went for a reasonable walk out to Holkham beach. We also saw some spectacular flights of Brent geese. On our return to Wells, it started to snow, so we set off back to our cottage. It snowed quite a lot that evening and we had some fears of a weather caused extention of our stay.

However, the snow stopped and, despite having to scrape snow from the car, we were able to reach the main road. We visited the beautiful village of Blakeney on the way home. It summed up the week. Jolly cold but beautiful and overall a great success. Returning to Nottingham, the house was surprisingly cold despite having left the heating on the timer.

Yesterday we had to make an emergency visit to Curry's to buy a replacement for our washing machine, which has been making serious bearing noises which suggest that it was not up to the task of clearing the backlog of washing from the holiday.

Which brings us to today. A couple of inches of snow means no golf today and almost certainly none tomorrow, The snow is thawing but nowhere near fast enough to clear the course in time. So we wait in for the new washing machine, some football this afternoon and Kate visiting for supper.

What about Amy Williams then? Sliding down an icy track on a tea tray doesn't seem my sort of fun but it appears to be something that we British are good at. First and sixth is a sensational performance and to win an individual gold medal in the winter olympics, out of doors is almost unheard of. It is a world cup and ryder cup year but there will not be many sports acievements to match this in 2010.

Winter continues. The start of the six nations promises spring but there is no sign yet of spring weather.

Since the last entry.

I spent Friday 5th February doing what was needed around the house and cooking a meal for Geraldine. We had a starter of spicy meat balls followed by a Catalan pork stew. The whole was washed down with a bottle of good red wine.

Saturday we went to the Peak District for a gentle walk through Tideswell and Miller's dales. The end of Miller's Dale, where it becomes Water-cum-Jolly dale was flooded, perhaps showing the wisdom of walking where we knew there were good paths. Returning home I watched the start of rugby union's six nations championship with England for once looking quite good making a three try winning start against Wales. Perhaps this is the year!

Sunday was golf, a better ball medal for golfer of the winter. Guy & I played pretty well. Our net 67 was in third place, comfortably enough to qualify for the semi finals.

Monday was more golf. The good putting form of the previous day deserted me and a very ordinary 29 points meant another 0.1 shots on the handicap.

Tuesday we went to the sea side. A combined trip with bird watching at Cleethorpes. The wind was too cold to allow one to stop for too long to scan the birds, but a good variety were seen, with sanderling and ringed plover the highlights.

Wednesday I set off alone for a walk based on Dovedale. After I had parked in Dovedale and put on winter walking clothes, I discovered that I had brough Geraldine's size 7 boots rather than my 10 1/2 s. I returned crossly, more so because I could not think of any way of blaming anybody else. I went to Attenborough in the afternoon to save the day and saw, amongst other things, my first kingfisher for some months.

Today was golf on a frozen course. It was a game of two halves, a miserable 13 points on the front nine continuing the bad form from Monday. The second half was so different with 21 points taking that money with something to spare. We had the unusual result that four of us tied the overall score with 34 points.

I have just read that the department set up to govern MPs expenses will cost far more that MPs have been asked to repay even with retrospective rules applied. This has got to be completely bonkers. Why not give them the rise they deserve and police expenses with a small department as in any other business with the sanction of expulsion if submitting false expenses.

Another winter week has passed and alas my golf handicap has increased.

Since the last entry:

On Saturday 30 January I returned to Attenborough for a spot of bird watching. Returning so soon after the previous visit was driven by the publicity thet Attenborough is at the moment one of the best places in the UK to see the elusive Bittern. Of course, I did not. In fact numbers of birds were very low all round although I did see most of the species that you would expect at this time of year.

Sunday was golf, a medal played on a very frozen course. My score of 72 was one under par, enough to get in the buffer zone and enough to beat Guy. The loelight of the round was a wait of 20 minutes in the cold on the 10th tee as people not in the competition had reserved tee times. Oakmere Park must be the only golf club in the country to actively encourage slow play! Although the ettiquette of those teeing off was at fault. It did not occur to any of them to say "You are only a two ball and getting cold. Go in front of us."

Monday was seniors golf. A stableford again on a frozern course. My first drive hit a stantion and ended up some 50 yards behind the tee in a practice bunker. Not a great start to the day, contributing to one point after three holes. I recovered to finish in the middle of the field with 32 points, but not enough to avoid the 0.1 on the handicap that increased from 18 t0 19.

Tuesday we went birdwatching at Rutland Water. There were good numbers of birds, the highlights being brambling on the feeders. The cold weather has strange effects. Where have all the lapwing gone. I have seen none whilst visiting reserves three times in the last week.

Yesterday was another of those days spent catching up on the things that need to be done even when you have retired.

Today was more golf, although not as we know it. No frost this time but a light covering of snow made conditions even harder. I got 29 points, trailing John by 1, although my 16 on the front nine was more than enough to take the money there. My overall loss was greater than this as my driver broke (No I did not throw it. A panel fell out of the bottom). The replacement Nike cost £150. I expect my handicap soon to come back down at that price!

This week Mr Cameron has announced that he will not make swingeing spending cuts in an emergency budget should he get elected, just a few cuts to start the process without choking the recovery. This is an eminently sensible policy, in agreement, finally, with the rest of the world. The sad part is that it illustrates him to be all about wrong footing the other party rather than doing what is best for the country. All of the macho posturing of Dave defying the world was based on an assumption that the recovery would be such that cuts would be appropriate at election time and hard man Dave would be seen strong and principled. Now that the recovery is less strong than hoped he is shown for what he is: a posturing politician, unfortunately very much like Gordon. Whatever happened to principles?

Another week passed. Winter is still here but accompanied by improving, although cold, weather. I have restarted walking as well as bird watching and golf as we finally return to normality from our brief winter hibernation.

Since the last entry,

On Saturday January 23rd we travelled to Reading to meet Tim's future mother-in-law. All went well. After a superb cold meat platter, the ladies settled down to talk wedding talk, leaving Tim & I to play Wi golf. It was an unfair match as he has played several times before but good fun. In the evening we shared a few drinks and a sausage casserole and generally got on fairly well together.

Sunday was a late start and a leisurely breakfast before returning to Nottingham in time to share Sunday roast with Kate, who was fresh back from a TA training weekend that involved her getting stuck in a bog on a Yorkshire moor.

Monday was senior's golf. Alas, it was one of the less enjoyable games. I arrived at the course at 7:30 and did not tee off until 8:45. This despite a promise when I voted for the new system that all "early golfers" would be off by 8:30. Protests were made! I played with Les, and with Alan and Ernest, who must be amongst the slowest golfers in the world. They not only play slowly but rush onto other fairways to have a chat with other members and continue chatting amongst themselves whilt I was playing my shots. I was relieved this morning to find that Les felt the same. I might be paranoid but so is he! In the end, 32 points was not too bad, although it gives another 0.1 shots on the handicap, getting very close now to 19.

Tuesday we went walking. We tried to get a walk good under foot after recent rain and snow. We succeded, walking near Cromford at Black Rock. Details are elsewhere but it was a very good interesting and varied walk without being too demanding.

Wednesday, after a painful visit to the dentist, I went bird watching at Attenborough. This so soon after the last was prompted by press reports that the best place in Britain to see bitterns at present is on our doorstep. I failed to see a bittern. In fact bird populations in general were very low there. I know not why.

Today was more golf. I played with Les and Les. I played very badly until the forteenth hole, when I suddenly started hitting the ball properly. The last five holes were of a winning standard, but too late I fear. Steve & Lee shared the money. If only I knew what changed, I could be more confident on my next outing on Sunday.

Yesterday the UK officially emerged from the recession. There was a very small positive growth, leading the doom mongers to predict dire times ahead. To be quite honest, I know few people for whom the recession had a large impact. There are a few who do casual building or driving work, which has been harder to come by, and I cannot be alone in getting poor, indeed negative, returns from investments. The latter has reversed recently and I have returned to square one. It is distressing to see the Conservative party decrying the government's successful efforts to protect jobs through spending. It seems that all economists in the world other than those advising the Tory party agree that spending by almost all governments have seriously mittigated the effects of this recession, exemplified above all by much lower levels of unemployment that in recent, shallower, recessions.

Another week has gone. The snow has gone with it and life is beginning to return to normal. Golf has restarted although walking waits until next week.

Last week I noted that we had started decorating the kitchen. We have now completed that although it took longer than planned. It is a job well done and filled the latter days when normal activity was restricted by snow. On Friday night and Saturday the snow rapidly disappeared under assault from heavy rain. The result of this was that the golf course reopened, restablishing normality, on Sunday.

On Sunday 17 January I golfed for the first time with my new trolley. There was only Guy & I so we were unable to enter the competition. It was probably just as well. Sixteen holes only were open and several of these were on temporary greens. Nevertheless, we had an enjoyable round. It was nice just to be out on the course again. We both played reasonably well but Guy played better and took the money.

Monday 18th was more golf, this time a 3 from 4 seniors competition. The course was fully open. I played with Malcolm, Alan & Les. We all played pretty well and won the competition with 111 points.

Tuesday was damp and misty. I set off to go bird watching at Rutland Water. The mist lifted as I drove down and all seemed well. However, on arrival at the lake it became apparent that the fog had sunk and not lifted. Vision was restricted to a couple of feet. Bird watching was pointless so I returned (through the sunshine) to Nottingham. We did make good use of what remained of the day by putting up the new blinds in the bathroom and the newly decorated kitchen.

Wednesday we had a more sucessful day bird watching, this time at Attenborough. There were fewer birds there than expected at this time of year but we had an enjoyable walk round the reserve and saw most of the birds that we expected. Highlights were sparrowhawk and peregrine.

Yesterday was more golf. I had a very steady round, accumulating 36 points. This was not enough to catch Les who took all the money with 41 points, including a hole in one at the 12th. His outgoings probably exceeded his winnings for the day. I am glad he was in my group. It is always a privilege to witness such.

Today was reserved for a return to walking but has been a day of continuous rain. I have therefore abandoned ideas of walking and have set out on administration. We have booked our first holiday of the year. I have tried to book our golf society days with limited success. Ormonde Fields is booked for spring. Stoke Rochford is requested for summer and Chesterfield, planned for autumn, is not accepting society bookings. I have also sent off several booking forms for seniors opens.

The rescue effort for the Haiti earthquake has been extraordinarily slow. Given that almost unlimited money and goodwill is available and the aid is being delivered by those most expert at it, it is difficult to understand why. Much of the problem seems to be the lack of any functioning local or National government and part of the problem seems to be the US military. Unfortunately all we get from the media is a catalogue of what is not happening rather than a useful analysis of the problems.

Then there is cricket. The performance of the England team in the final test could be described as a disaster, but of course there is no comparison at all with a real disaster as in Haiti. All of the old problems seemed to reoccur and the good feeling that we were developing of being able to live with the best is much diminished. Nevertheless, we played a series away to the best team in the world and emerged with a draw.

And then there is the Iraq enquiry. I said on these pages when it started in November that it would be of limited use as the chattering classes had already reached a conclusion. This has been proved to be the case in spades. We see many of the servants of the government rewriting history and trying to dissociate themselves from the decisions made. Most notable of these was Sir Christopher Meyer, a critic of the government since his retirement, reporting on a meeting at which he was not present stating that it was here that the Prime Minister made a cast iron guarantee to Mr Bush that UK would support America in a war. Several people who were there have now testified that this is not the case. The press, who were also not there, condemn these people as liars on the basis of Sir Christopher's evidence. Minds are so closed that the enquiry is indeed pointless. We even had a Conservative MP on Question Time last night implying that she was swayed by untruths from Mr Blair and might otherwise have voted against the war. It is a matter of record that the Conservatve party were much more strongly in favour of war than the government of the day and were strongly in favour of regime change at any price. But there is an election coming.

Another week has passed in the deep freeze, although we are promised the start of the thaw tomorrow. I have not been out of the house since last Friday. I suppose that one of the advantages of being retired is that one does not have to brave the difficult conditions but it is rather sad when today's promised trip to Homebase is considered a cause of excitement.

As for golf and walking, I periodically book a time at the golf club for a couple of weeks hence and cancellations come with similar regularity. Much of the Peak District is still under snow with the Snake Pass having been closed for several weeks. Driving there to walk would seem irresponsible, particularly for a 61 year old with a dodgy hip. My birthday presents have been delivered and the X-Box game from Kate I have been able to use. However, the electric trolley from Geraldine & the haversack from Tim just serve to remind me of what I am missing. I am threatening to walk round the block with trolley and wearing haversack just to get the feel of them.

We have decided to decorate the kitchen. Wallpaper has been stripped and paint applied to ceiling, doors and windows. Today's trip is to buy wallpaper and blinds. Hopefully all will be finished by the end of Saturday when there is a chance of resumption of normal life, although Sunday's golf must already be in doubt.

Yesterday saw a major earthquake in Haiti. Why Haiti? It is one of those God forsaken failed states which seem to attract all of the troubles in the world. What have the people of Haiti done to deserve it. They live in abject poverty in a state dominated by armed militia and unable to feed itself. As if this were not bad enough, this is only "the worst earthquake for 30 years". We complain about the worst winter for 30 years in this country!!! The intervening 30 years for Haiti have not been unevenful. They are regularly hit by hurricanes including the remarkable achievement of four in two months only a couple of years ago. What has Haiti done to deserv all this. The Dominican Republic, with which Haiti shares an island, is a major holiday resort and seems unaffected by this earthquake and much less so by hurricanes. It really seems unfair. Those who bemoan life's unfairness should be reminded of how much more unfair life would be had they been born Haitian.

The country remains in the grip of the longest cold snap for 50 years. The golf course is closed and driving to my normal walking haunts would be reckless both in terms of the driving and the walking. Golf is already cancelled for Sunday, and doubtless Monday will soon follow. Next Thursday already looks doubtful. The upshot is that I am able to spend more time developing the grumpy side of my character as can be seen at the end of this entry.

Since the last entry:

On Tuesday 5 January we took advantage of an apparent slow thaw to deliver to Kate her Chrismas present of a gate legged table (self assembly of course). It was too big and heavy in its original packaging to take up the stairs to her flat, so we had to dismantle the packaging and take it up in parts. Three climbs of the stairs later and all the bits were in Kate's flat. Self assembly in this case meant assembly by Dad. All went reasonably well. IKEA self assembly is relatively simple. The table looks good in her flat and it was nice to make what is an increasingly rare visit. Kate visits us at least weekly so visits to her are rare.

Tuesday night and Wednesday was the heaviest snowfall of the winter so far. I believe that in Nottingham we had less snow than most of the country but is was still significant. We chose not to go out on Wednesday. We don't have to because we are retired. Instead we had time to look properly at Christmas presents and find places for them to live.

Thursday 7th January was my 61st birthday. It was the day of yet another cancelled game of golf. I was fortunate with presents. The golf trolley from Geraldine needs me to choose so I got a bottle of single malt on the day. Kate's present has yet to be delivered so I got an Ella Fitzgerald CD collection on the day. The haversack from Tim needs me to select so I got a Joan Baez CD on the day. I listened to quite a lot of music on the day and started work on the new model ship that Tim gave me for Christmas. It promises to be even more difficult than the first but I will overcome. We also shopped, so there was the need to take the car out. For the first time in the 20 years we have lived in this house, I was unable to get the car up the gentle slope to the road. I had to attack the ice & snow with spade and salt to get through to a small section of tarmac to get a purchase. In the evening, Geraldine cooked me an excellent rib-eye steak which we washed down wit an excellent bottle of the left over Christmas wine.

Today we did manage to get out to view snowy Nottinghamshire from the A roads. The snow in the fields and woods is beautiful and in many ways it is nice to have a proper winter. However, a glance down the side roads illustrates the down side of all of this, as does the snow covered golf course. Yes it is nice, but enough is enough!

The cold weather seems to have gone to our politician's heads. First we have the Conservative energy spokesman deliberately starting a scare about energy security by quoting a true but irrelevant statistic about gas storage. He knew tht it was irrelevant but was irresponsible and inept enough to think that scaring the public unnecissarily was his role, adding fuel to our knowledge that the Conservatives are not a credible alternative govwernment. Not to be outdone, we had the inept attempt to unseat the Prime Minister. The labour party seems concerned that it might not lose the next election after all. So perhaps they needed to make sure that they fail to seem like a credible government. Even the inept Conservative party should be able to make the government seem divided. Then finally we have the Conservatives again trying to demonstrate that disruption caused by a fifty year weather event is the government's fault. Surely if we were able to cope seamlessly with such an event it would demonstrate wasteful over preparation for the other 49 years.

There is good news however from England's cricketers. They are able to compete with the best in the world. When they are outplayed, they have the guts and ability to avoid defeat. It is a long time since we have had that sort of team. We are not the best in the world but we are not the basket case we were!

As we sit in a frozen wintry world, we can look back on a very good Christmas and a great New Year houseparty.

Christmas Eve started well, sharing a steak & bottle of wine and a few drinks with Geraldine. This was much quieter than revious Christmas Eves because Tim was with his future mother-in-law and Kate was working night shift at Queens Mecical centre.

Christmas Day dawned cold and white. Kate returned from work. Father Christmas had called in the night. We opened the presents that he had delivered and Kate went to bed. We set out to go to the Christmas Day service at Southwell Minster. It took a while to extract the car from under a sheet of ice. It had rained in the night and frozen. The first set of traffic lights was red. I braked. Very little happened although we eventually stopped. We continued gingerly up the A614 and turned off for Southwell. The car went round the corner in a sort of four wheel drift. We decided discretion to be the better part of valour, having considered the stupidity of parking the car in a ditch on Christmas Day, and returned home. The rest of Christmas morning was very quiet; we did not wish to wake Kate. However, at 12:00 we had the first beer, exchanged the first telephone greetings with family and woke Kate. Christmas was now in full swing. More presents opened over a beer or two; a superb turkey dinner; The Queen whilst enjoying an after-dinner whisky; a careful walk with Kate around tthe streets of Arnold, avoiding the icy bits; washing up; Christmas Cake and mince pies; Games and drinks until the small hours.

Boxing Day involved clearing up a little and awaiting the arrival of Tim & Vicky in the afternoon. After much kissing, tea and present opening they settled in quickly. That night's excellent meal was sandwiched between two sessions of fairly competitive game playing.

Next day I had planned to take Tim to golf. What with snow and frozen ground, we decided against this. We decided instead to take Tim & Vicky for a walk beside the Trent on Victoria Embankment. This turned out to be a lousy idea. When we got there it was drizzling so we aborted. Cleverly chosing a different way home, we managed to get caught up in the traffic around the January sales. We did better in the evening, where another session of games was punctuated by a lovely roast beef meal, washed down with the excellent bottle of red wine that I won on golf tour in October and kept for such an occasion.

Tuesday was a return to golf with a mixed 2 from 4 competition: The Christmas Cracker. I played with John & Margaret. The course was frozen and difficult and 15 holes only open. We played fairly badly but still walked off with a prize for the best three ball on the day. That does not say very much for the quality of the other 3 ball. When I returned, Tim and Vicky had set off on their return to Reading. It took much longer than they expected because of an accident on the M40 but all ended well.

Wednesday was a day of cooking and cleaning in advance of the arrival of our New Year gusts tomorrow.

Thursday, New Years Eve, was more golf. Four of us braved the elements to play on the course that was much more playable than on Tuesday. I parred the first two holes but deteriorated thereafter to finish with 29 points. It must have been difficult as I was only one point behind Colin, who took the money. On return, Kate had arrived as the first of our New Year guests. She was keen to show off her new car picked up that morning. I was honoured with its first meaningful drive. It is a very smart Golf sport, a slight step up from her previous standard Golf.

Later in the afternoon, Geraldine's sisters Sammy & Jenny arrived with their respective husbands Roy & John. John had driven them all up, having stopped at Bristol to pick up Sammy & Roy. After afternoon tea, we all put on party gear for a few drinks, New Year Banquet, a few more drinks before the champagne and party poppers to welcome 2010 and the new decade. A pretty good evening was had by all. We finally retired as 2:00 approached.

New Year's day started with a latish full English Breakfast. We then went for a walk in frozen Clumber Park. After a cream tea, we all got dressed up for a murder mystery dinner party. Were there prizes for dressing up, they would probably go to Jenny, John & Kate (who played John's mother despite being some 35 years his junior). All made great effort, however and a great night was had by all. Roy, for the third consecutive year, was the murderer. Once again, 2:00 was approaching before we retired.

Saturday started with a leisurely self-service breakfast and a quiet morning. In the afternoon we visited the brewhouse museum in Nottingham city centre. It seemed to go down particularly well with Sammy & Roy, who lived through the second world war and to whom the memorabilia of the time was very relevant. On return, afternoon tea and assembly for an evening of quizzes and games, punctuated by a spaghetti bolognaise. We laughed and drank once again to the small hours.

Sunday should have been golf, but the snowfalls on Saturday made this impossible. Instead I rose and cooked our guests a full English breakfast before they went on their way to their own homes: Kate to Gedling, Sammy & Roy to Bristol, Jenny & John to North Devon (having dropped Sammy & Roy off in Bristol). The Bristol journey got off badly with a puncture a couple of miles away that proved harder than expected to change the wheel. However, all is well that ends well. All have phoned to confirm their arrival in the right place. Having cleared up, I found time to post photographs of the event elsewhere on this site.

Today once again should have been golf but weather forbade it. Instead I have shopped, ironed and taken down Christmas decorations, filling the day surprisingly well. Those Christmas presents that I planned to revisit and enjoy at leisure have not been touched but the forecast is for the freeze to continue at least until the end of the week. Golf and country walking seem seriously endangered so time will probably be plentiful.

Anyway, I wish everybody all of the best for 2010

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Its Christmas Eve. The world is seasonally white. I don't care what the bookies say about a white Christmas. To me if the fields are white and it's Christmas, that gives us a white Christmas. So there.

I have had man flu most of this week and golf courses, roads and the Peak District are under significant amouts of snow. So we have been preparing gently for Christmas in a period devoid of golf or walking.

Last Sunday, 20th December, we braved the elements in driving to the Compass at Tormarton for our family Christmas party. We continue to grow in numbers. In the last year we have sadly lost one adult but gained three children. There were 22 adults and 5 children sat down for dinner. There was a risk of the 5 turning to 6 at any time as Sarah's second is imminent. Overall the meal was excellent (despite a shortage of creme brulee and an oversupply of Christmas pudding) and the seasonal good cheer was in better supply than last year. This year we had crackers, party poppers and streamers. Most importantly though, we had the annual reunion of the clan. Thanks to brother Jerry for arranging the do again.

Monday was the first day of cancelled golf. It was also the first day of a bad cold which came on very suddenly in the night. Most of the rest of the week has been spent washing hands and avoiding breathing near Geraldine in the hope that she can avoid suffering this over Christmas. Preparartions for the big day continued. Presents are now wrapped and we are more or less ready to go.

Tuesday was more or less lost. Having spent the night in the spare bed, I was rubbish on Tuesday. I did manage to provide a taxi service to Sainsburys twice, but otherwise contributed little to the smooth running of the household.

Wednesday was better. Another night in the spare bed but felt more human in the morning. I was able to finish the present wrapping and make great progress on the preparation for our party ot New Year. Circumstances this year mean that the gap between the family Christmas and the New Year Party is scarily small, so it is well to have got ahead.

Today is Christmas Eve. We are ready to go. Geraldine is cooking ham & making jelly. I will iron and watch carols from Kings. Tim is at Vicky's mother's house in Manchester and will not be with us until Boxing Day. Kate will join us later today before disappearing for a night shift at the hospital. She will be back in the morning and will have slept a little before joining us for pre-lunch drinks and the rest of Christmas.

I love Christmas. The family gatherings, the relaxed atmosphere, the games, food and drink, the presents, the absence of television (other than the Queen) and the whole tradition of it all. This year is different for us. It is the first year that we don't have both Tim and Kate for the duration. But, hey! Tim is 33 and would inevitably be pairing up. When he arrives we have new pleasures of the second half of Christmas with Vicky. Great isn't it!

So Happy Christmas to anybody bored enough to be reading this and hopefully one more entry to come in the noughties.

We are now in the firm grip of winter as Christmas approaches. I have eaten turkey with trimmings three times so far.

Since the last entry:

On Friday December 11th I walked with Kate from Grindleford, along the Derwent and back along Frogatt Edge. It was a lovely walk even on the misty day that we chose and well bears repeating on a fine day when one can appreciate the views from Frogatt Edge.

Saturday we went to Geraldine's sister Sammy's house for her family Christmas party combined with an 8oth birthday celebration for brother-in-law Cedric. All five sisters were present with respective husbands. Sammy did us proud as usual with a splendid meal. Cedric was presented with a cruise on the River Avon with a meal. Presents and conversation were exchanged with sufficient vigour that the excellent party did not break up until midnight was approaching. Geraldine and I, as usual as the farthest travellers, availled ourselves of Sammy's spare bed.

Sunday we awke to an excellent leisurely full english breakfast before making our way back to Nottingham in time to spend Sunday evening with Kate and BBC Sports Personality of the year.

Monday was the senior's Christmas competition at the golf club. I played with Terry, Bob and Roger. We scored 79 points in the 2 from 4 competition giving us second place winning a bottle of good wine each. Then followed a very average 3 course Christmas lunch, the second such this season at the golf club. However, the company was good and we enjoyed the quiz. A good day broke up at about 3:30PM.

Tuesday was a day promised to Geraldine to help her preparations for Christmas. We shopped cleaned and cooked for England, achieving most of the set objectives.

Wednesday I went bird watching alone on a cold and drizzly day to Blacktoft Sands. There were few birds there and fewer people but I saw my first hen harrier as well as large flocks of redwing, fieldfare, lapwing and snipe.

Thursday was more golf, this time the Bill Lowe mixed greensomes. I played with Jean on a very cold day punctuated with snow showers. The golf was not good and we finished with a miserable 24 points. The captain was too courteous to tell us if this was the lowest score on the day. We then sat down to my third turkey dinner of the season. It matched in quality the first two. I was glad of both the good company and the knowledge that my next turkey dinner will be on Christmas Day and will be excellently cooked by my wife.

Friday was another icy cold day with snow showers. After trteating ourselves to a full english breakfast, we went for a bracing walk in Clumber park. There were relatively few other brave souls there, which meant that the wildlife was even better than usual.

Today we have been singing carols by candlelight in Treak Cliff caverns. this is a new venture for us and was a great way to really kick off Christmas. We took Alan & Shiela and followed the carol singing with an excellent pub lunch in the Cheshire Cheese in Castleton. The day was such a success that I suspect it will become a traditional part of Christmas.

As I mentioned, last week saw the BBC Sports Personality of the Year. It was awarded to Ryan Giggs, a jolly good footballer whose main achievement during 2009 was to continue playing into his mid 30s. This achievement was felt greater than that of a raft of world champions in many other sports. It is the almost inevitable conclusion in a public vote that the person who partakes of the most popular sport will win the event. Our gymnasts and female athletes can hope only for success in olympic years.

Another golf filled week as Christmas approaches and the weather finally dries after a monsoon like early winter.

Since the last entry:

On Friday 4 December I hit Nottingham town centre on what is hopefully the last Christmas shopping expedition. I fought through the crowds to achieve most of my goals. This is another occasion when one is grateful for having retired as the crowds are significantly thinner when one is able to shop during the working day. The evening was th men's presentation evening at the golf club. It consisted of a low key presentation to the few who bothered to turn up, with the added delight of a very small portion of very mild curry for the very high price of £5.50 per head. There are few things in life more boring than golf club presentation evenings but if one wins a trophy, one should make the effort. A photograph of me receiving the David Downes trophy is on the Oakmere Park web site.

Saturday I cooked a posh three course meal for Geraldine that turned out to be a great success. The courses were tomato soup, medallions of beef with madiera sauce and truffle oil followed by floating islands. The quality of the meal and the company made the effort worthwhile.

Sunday was the first Christmas meal of the season as part of the turkey trot at the golf club. This is a "fun" competition of 2 from 4 medal with pins in "interesting" positions and using a single club tee to green on the long 15th where the last 30 yards are over water and the pin is in a very "interesting" position. All four scores count on this hole and the second and seventh, also over water.The pin on the 16th was sufficiently "interesting" to be off of the green completely. The whole competiotion is a shotgun start followed by Christmas dinner and presentation. Prizes are turkey and spirits for winners, stuffing and foil for those who fell foul of the 15th (12 strokes or over). We were due to start at 8:00 but it was raining heavily as it had been for several hours. The start was delayed until 8:30 by which time the rain had become torrential and the course had begun to flood. The met office predicted the rain to stop at 9:15. In fact it stopped just past 9:00. Having given the green staff an hour to mop up, we started at 10:00. The excellent condition of the course at that time gives credit to the draining properties of the sandy soil and the efforts of the green staff. It was a long day but one of the highlights of the golfing year was saved. By the way, we (myself, Guy, Marc and Terry) won no prizes, good or bad.

Monday was more golf, a stableford with the seniors. The quality of my golf is not great at present. I could not hit a barn door with my putter. The result was 27 points, near the rear of the field and another 0.1 shots on the handicap moving it ever closer to 19.

Tuesday Geraldine and I went walking. The weather forecast was rain moving in from the west so we set off east for a walk from Tetford in Lincolnshire. It was a lovely, varied walk on reasonable paths after the recent rain. The stated 65 feet of climb was nothing less than a lie. Memory map made it 465 and it felt like more. Nevertheless, it was a pleasant and varied walk in decent weather. details will shortly appear on the walks pages.

Wednesday was more golf. This time it was a match against the Commanders club, who are also based at Oakmere Park but on the nine hole course. This was a home and away match playing the first nine on our course and the second nine on theirs. I played with Bob, who had a bad day and was about as much use as a chocolate teapot. We played Bill and Richard, to whom I was giving far too many shots. I managed to hold them on our course and for a while on theirs but we eventually lost 2 and 1. This annual match reminds me what a horrible golf course theirs is and I will not be tempted to play there again until next December. The match, won easily by the Commanders, was followed by soup, sandwiches and socialising in the club house.

Today was normal Thursday golf. The frequent practice of the last few days has borne fruit. I played better than for several weeks, scoring 36 points. This gave me to money for the best score and a tie for the back 9. The front nine was won by one of several Johns who now play with us on Thursday. This one is John Walton.

This week has seen the start of the Copenhagen Climate Change Forum. This is clearly a very important event in our efforts to minimise the effect of man on climate change. I wish them every success and, for the sake of my children and grandchildren, hope that they can develop a strategy to maintain our prosperous life style whilst reducing its impact on the climate. My personal view is that man made climate change is a real phenomenon with serious effects. although these effects are exaggerated to scare us. It is this propoganda effect that worries me. There is a significant minority of scientists reflected through society in general, who do not think that man made climate change exists as a significant force. They are entiltled to their researched and firmly held opinion. It is an insult both to them and the rest of us to call them "climate change deniers" or "flat earthers". Theirs is a valid scientific opinion which should be heard. We have recently heard of University of East Anglia scientists deliberately supressing data which did not support their theories. We have ever increasing catastrophic predictions of climate change effects which are designed to scare us. We are grown up thinking people. We should be fed reasoned fact rather than exaggerated propoganda and abuse of sceptics. That should not stop cooperation in development of a coping strategy in any way. Most people react against propoganda so it becomes counter productive. Stop it and get on with finding a solution. My personal view is that throwing money at technologies such as carbon capture and nuclear fusion is a very important step which is understated. We have more and better scientists than ever before. Let us use them. Purists, of course, hate this approach. The only solution must be to reverse human development and civilisation. I know, and I think that they know, that it won't happen. So let us try and do things that will happen.

Another week of frequent soakings as the dry autumn turns into very wet winter.

Since the last entry:

On Friday 27 November I went for a walk alone on Stanage Edge. The forecast was occasional showers. It was dry but rain set in and continued variously heavily for the remainder of the walk. For the second week in a row I was in one of the most beautiful places on earth in pouring rain. Visibility was still good enough to serve as a reminder as to why Stanage Edge is treasured above all of the other Peak District edges.

Saturday was as Saturday has become a day for catching up on all of those things that have to be done even when one leads a hedonistic retired life style.

Sunday was golf. It was supposed to be better ball golfer of the winter. However, Guy and I were alone and therefore unable to enter the competition. We did play. It did start raining on the second hole. Greens did begin to flood by the ninth, at which stage we retired to the clubhouse. The sun did come out as we were leaving the club and remained out for the rest of the afternoon.

Monday was more golf at seniors. I arrived to find that not only had my win last week been cancelled with the competition but also my handicap reduction for scoring 40 points had been reversed. Things did not get much better. I continued the bad form of the past week and ended with another 28 points and a handicap increase to 18.2, getting very close to 19 rather than the close to 17 that I had believed when I got up this morning.

Tuesday we walked in Bradgate Park on a very cold frosty morning. It was a reasonably undemanding walk in a beautiful place and is well worth repeating. There was constantly good views and it was excellent under foot except for the final climb, which was a lot damp.

Wednesday we went to Rutland Water bird watching. The birds were relatively sparse but we saw all of the species that we expected. The highlights were a huge flock of golden plover, a beautiful charm of goldfinches and a number of goldeneye.

Today was more golf. more rain and more bad golf. I finished with 28 points. John took the money. My short game has, hopefully temporarily, deserted me.

Yesterday David Cameron made a pitch for the unthinking Daily Mail voter. He has decided there are votes in rubbishing health and safety. He quotes such things as safety goggles for conkers and hairdressers not allowed to use scissors in the full knowledge that these might have occurred once but are little more than urban myths. He knows, or at least as a senior politician I hope he knows, that health and safety legislation has reduced the number of accidents at work hugely. He knows that Health & Safety legislation is built around risk assessment. The significance of risks associated with the task must be considered and steps, proportional in cost and effort, taken to remove or reduce significant risks. Sloppy risk assessment can lead to traverstys such as goggles to play conkers and nuts bearing notices "May contain nuts". Mr Cameron knows, as I do, that changes in legislation will not help here. But he cannot resist a populist headline.

Another week passed and we begin to remember how gloomy November can be.

Since the last entry:

On Friday 20th November I went for a walk alone. The walk from Castleton took me onto the great ridge for the first time this year, this time stright up to Hollins Cross and then along to Mam Tor. I started and finished the walk in bright sunshine. However, just as I arrived on the ridge it started raining hard. This continued until just after I descended from Mam Tor. Nevertheless, it was a descent walk. Details are on the walks page.

Saturday I had to sit through the last of England's autumn international rugby matches. It was a much improved performance but still a comfortable win for New Zealand. There is still a long way to go before we achieve a team comparable with those captained by Beaumont, Carling or Johnson.

Sunday was golf, a stableford off of white tees in a gale. Once again the error of playing winter competitions off of white tees was shown. I played quite well for my 26 points and another 0.1 shots on the handicap.

Monday was seniors golf, a stableford off of yellow tees (which reduces the standard scratch by 2 shots). The course at this length is playable. I won the first division with 40 points. As we early starters sat in the bar after our rounds the heavens opened and there was a very heavy rainstorm for some 20 minutes, causing the greens to flood. Chris declared that the competition was cancelled. However, the web site shows the competition and my handicap reduced by 0.6 shots to 17.5, its lowest for some time.

Tuesday was damp and drizzly. There was once again much shopping to be done, what with Christmas on the way and all that.

Wednesday was a short but pleasant walk near Peterborough along the Nene. There was lots of waterfowl interest and it made a pleasant early winter day out.

Today was golf. We played off of yellow tees so there is no excuse. I played probably the worst I have played for ten years, amassing a pathetic 20 points. The only mitigating factor was the wind, which made the game more difficult but not as much as we made it. Malcolm won the money with 29 points!!! We should all be ashamed of ourselves.

This week sees the start of the Iraq inquiry. In my view it is a waste of money. The minds of the chattering classes, led by all of the media, are closed. The war was illegal, led by Tony Blair, Who lied to the country, etc. etc. If the inquiry finds this it will be universally welcomed as a vindication of their prejudice. Any other outcome is a whitewash somehow orchestrated by Gordon Brown. In fact this outcome is already assumed by the press making any rational assessment of the inquiry's findings impossible. So there is only one acceptable outcome making the inquiry pointless and we have weeks ahead of selective reporting of the proceedigs of the inquiry, reporting only those snippets favouerable to the desired outcome. Two days in and we have two such snippets together with a shock headline in the Independent as to how the Prime Minister is already gagging the inquiry.

Another week. Winter storms have started and, horror of horrors, the weather has begun to affect the golf.

Since the last entry:

Last Friday, Friday 13th indeed, I went bird watching at Old Moor. There was a good variety of waterfowl but the highlights were a kingfisher displaying itself on a post for some time and my first ever little owl.

Saturday morning I spent tidying the garden for winter, removing flowers from the front border, throwing out the tomato plants from the greenhouse and pruning the roses hard for the winter. In the afternoon I watched the England rugby team labour the beat Argentina at Twickenham in what was in truth an awful match. I will watch next week's match against New Zealand in hope rather than expectation, in an act that could be thought masochistic.

Sunday was golf, a greensome medal for golfer of the winter. It is a surprisingly hard format. Guy and I played all right and returned a 79, which is well off of a score to qualify for the semi finals.

Monday was seniors golf. We arrived at the course in horizontal rain, which led to cancellation of the competition. However, the rain eventually eased and around 9:30 I was amongst seven intrepid souls who set out to golf. Putting was silly for the first couple of holes until the greens dried a little. This seemed to set the scene as a "fun" game where the score did not matter. My final score was a rather pathetc 23 points. The best score was 31 points, shared by Chris and Bob, meaning that nobody had to pay.

Tuesday was my one-year check up at Barlborough hospital following my hip replacement. After much prodding and poking and stretching the rather scary physiotherapist pronounced me normal. She declined my request for a certificate to this effect that I could show to my friends. Although I limp more than I did before the operation, it is interesting to fill in th "Oxford hip score" sheet to find that my abilities now are significantly greater than they were before the operation and that my abilities now would not justify hip replacement. I am now discharged.

Yesterday was wet and windy. It appeared a good day to visit the centre of Nottingham for Christmas shopping. The last statement is probably an oxymoron. But it nevertheless was reasonable use of a bad weather day completing something necessary.

Today was more golf. It was made difficult by a very strong wind. (We were lucky not to be in Cumbria or Dumfries & Galloway where the strong winds were accompanied by heavy rain causing substantial flooding.) I actually made light of the difficulties and played pretty well. I scored 33 points and won the money by some distance.

Yesterday was the last Queen's speech at the opening of Parliament before the general election. A lot of rubbish has been talked about this. It was, as is every Queens Speech , a list of the current government's plans. At this stage of a parliament, these are inevitably the start of the general election campaign. All future government policy announcements, in particular the pre-budget statement, will be considered in the same way. There is nothing in any of this that is different now to every other pre-election situation. Clever remarks by Nick Clegg (the speech should have been cancelled) or by David Cameron and most of the press (the speech was somehow undemocratic in that the Queen read out "the Labour party manifesto") are disingenuous. They continue the slightly ridiculous stuation that we are in now (and were in twelve years ago in the final stages of John Major's government) that anything done or said by Gordon Brown is wrong and pilloried by everybody. Gordon Brown did not help because he gave in to what has been one of his biggest weaknesses, the choice of policy not on its merits but on its ability to cause difficulties to the opposition. Hence enshrining in law the timetable to reduce the deficit and the right to a good education is rather like passing laws against sin. It is very difficult to oppose but makes absolutely no difference. Nevertheless, the pageantry of the state opening of parliament is one of those things to make us proud to be British and have customs and ceremony going back hundreds of years that are the envy of the world. Gordon Brown did not hijack it. He did what every Prime Minister does; he outlined his programme for legislstion that will become law in the next parliamentry session provided that it is not unduly delayed by opposition in parliament.

Another week and another golf partner lost in the scandal of whose turn it is to putt first. Dean is so upset by Steve being upset and not wanting to play with us any more that he is not going to renew his membership and is going to join another golf club. Now there are only two grown ups left. The two children, both sadly in thir 50s, have thrown their dummys out of the pram and will no longer play. Guy and I will have to get by alone.

Since the last entry:

On Friday 6 November I went bird watching at Attenborough. It seems to be a little between seasons and the number of birds around is limited. Nevertheless, it is a pleasure to watch them and you feel much better for having been out of doors. In the evening, Geraldine & I went to see "Cosi fan Tutti" at the Theatre Royal. It was a good night and, as always for opera, the theatre was full. I thoroughly enjoyed the performance, although Geraldine felt the music uninspiring.

On Saturday I cooked a three course meal of deviled eggs, pork steaks in gorgonzola sauce and vienetta. Actually, I did not cook the vienetta. All was washed down with an excellent bottle of red and a good time had by all.

Sunday was golf. Now only Guy and I although we had company from Richard and Andy. It was the first time we have ever played a QR from the white tees in winter. With the ball not flying far and stopping as soon as it hits the ground, the course seemed very long. This was reflected by my fairly ordinary 31 points being enough to get into the buffer zone, with no change in handicap.

Monday was more golf, this time with the seniors. The competition was preceded by a meeting, presumably because we want to dicourage the high numbers attending. Anyway, we will organise ourselves differently from next Monday. It is always nice to have a solution even if there is no problem. The competition was 2 from 4. I played with John, Bill and Gordon. Our 74 points was about the middle of the pack.

Tuesday Geraldine and I drove to Gibraltar Point for a walk round the nature reserve and then a spot of bird watching. Once again birds were in short supply but a good day was had.

Wednesday I went to the edge of the Peak District for a walk from Barlow. It was not the greatest walk of all time and the instructions were very poor. Nevertheless, I am glad to have a better insight of an area through which we drive frequently but rarely stop. Details of the walk will soon appear on the walks page.

Today was more golf. I scored 25 points and can find no real excuse. It was sunny and still. The greens were receptive but smooth. I actually did not play too badly but was unable to sink a putt. There must have been three putts on at least 14 greens. Actually, John won all of the money. He was alone amongst the five of us in scoring over 30 points!

This week we have had the rather sad spectacle of the grieving mother of a soldier killed in action politicising the incident and, with the aid of The Sun newspaper, turning it into a personal attack on the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister clearly has poor handwriting, although it is clearly better than mine. It appears that his spelling is not great either although there is some debate on this. His letter was clearly personal and handwritten and it is difficult to believe that he meant anything other than to express sympathy to the bereaved and gratitude to the dead. The mother's reaction is at one level understandable. She has just lost a son. She probably supported the war, most parents of serving soldiers do. (This includes me. Kate is in the Territorial Army and has served in Iraq and will soon go to Afghanistan). However, she wishes to find somebody responsible for her son's death and the government are handy; there has been much publicity about equipment shortages. Like the NHS, however much money is spent supporting an army at war will never be enough. However, turning to the Sun to express her vitriol becomes more duifficult to understand. The Sun accepting the complaint and embellishing it on its front page as a personal attack on the Prime Minister is despicable. Presumably it was the Sun who encouraged her to (illegally) record the conversation provoked by the article and then publishing it on their web site shows the poor lady now being used. Her ready acceptance of the PM's expression of regret in public suggests that she finally regretted the hurt she was causing. The Sun is beneath contempt on this issue. The Prime Minister surprisingly dignified and the Conservative party surprisingly quiet. Perhaps tonight on Question Time? Peter Mandleson did not really help by using the issue to try to gain party political advantage. There should be unanimous condemnation of the Sun's exploitation of the mother's grief by th political classes. Full Stop.

Another week has passed and we have seen an end to the mild, sunny autumn. I feel that I have made good use of this unexpectedly warm and dry period on the golf course and on country walks.

Incidentally, today is a special day. It is the first birthday of a small part of me. I was fitted with a replacement hip on November 5th last year.

Since the last entry:

On Friday 30th October I played golf with Tim. We met halfway and played at Kingsthorpe golf club in Northampton. My thoughts on the club appear elsewhere on this site. Suffice it to say that a good time was had by all, we both played good golf and I won on the last hole. In the evening Tim returned with me to Nottingham, a refugee from his home which was invaded by his fiancee's mother and best friend for a weekend buying a wedding dress. Tim rightly thought that he could enjoy a couple of days drinking and talking and playing with us.

On Saturday, after a late start, we went for a short walk in Sherwood Forest to give Tim a taste of autumn colour without putting too much strain on the only pair of shoes that he brought. Later we visited the Ram, a rare event since the smoking ban, before settling down for more drinks, a good meal and good conversation.

Sunday was golf. The weather forecast was awful but it was not raining when I woke up so I went to the golf club anyway. It started to rain but Billy, Kevin and I made our intrepid way down the first. Because we were equipped with waterproofs and umbrellas, we did not really notice the increased intensity of the rain until the greens started to flood. We played eight holes. There was plenty of room on the course that day. I played approximately to my handicap and was home in time to brakfast with Tim and send him home.

Monday was more golf, a stableford with the seniors. My 35 points off of the new handicap was pretty good. I finished second in the first division and in the buffer zone for handicap.

Tuesday was the only day that Geraldine and I were able to get out together. The weather was forecast as dodgy for a walk, so we visited Coventry cathedral. I have been there before but not for a long time. We were again impressed by the contrast between the old and new cathedrals and by the effectiveness of the relentlessly modern interior of the cathedral. The outside, however, looked dated and tired, which is a bit of a slight on modern architecture in that the medieval cathedrals do not look in any way dated or tired.

Wednesday I walked alone from Tissington and around Alsop En Le Dale. It was a very pleasant walk with big views, although it is surprising how muddy the ground has become at this early stage of winter. Details of the walk will shortly appear in the walks section of this site.

Today was more golf and recent good form continued. I scored 36 points and the 19 on the back nine was sufficient to take the money. Golf is at the moment profitable. I cannot drink fast enough to get rid of the monery that I am making!

Yesterday saw the publication of the Kelly report on MP's expenses. It included draconian reforms that will probably reduce the income of MPs by some £20,000 per year as well as forcing many of them to make their wives redundant. Party leaders welcomed the report and agreed that it must be fully implemented. This shows how much they are driven by public opinion rather than common sense. They know that the expenses system was set up because Prime Ministers starting with Margaret Thatcher were scared to allow increases in MP's pay. They know that the spouse of an MP is, if competent, the ideal secretary, present and available 24 hours a day and with intimate knowledge of the MP's activities. They must know that the chances of attracting the best cadidates to run the country in future are almost zero, given the desperately low esteem with which MPs are held by the public and this £20,000 a year income cut. Nobody is prepared to risk derisory newspaper headlines by stating the unpalatable but obvious truth. Is this what they call leadership?

Another week has passed, generally dry and warm although the clocks have gone back marking the official transition from summer to winter.

Since the last entry:

On Thursday 22nd October I played golf. It was another ok sort of a game with no spark, finishing with 32 points and watching Rick once again take the money. On return from the golf there was a crisis. The freezer had broken. An emergency trip to Curries was necessary. A replacement will be delivered on Saturday. In the evening we visited The Hutt in Ravenshead for a meal with Shiela & Alan. The meal, London Pride and company were excellent. There were very few left in the pub when we left. Alan & I were slightly offended when we commented on this to a waitress who replied that only the serious drinkers remained.

Friday, after a slightly subdued start, we went for a short walk along the Derwent from Curbar to Froggatt & back. It was an excellent short autumn walk. Full details will shortly appear on the walks page.

Saturday was damp & drizzly. We first awaited the prompt delivery of the new freezer and spent the rest of the day doing those necessary household chores that keep recurring. Saturday evening was the last with any semblance of light until spring 2010 because the clocks went back one hour.

Sunday was more golf. It was a stableford QR played in a gale. My 28 points was not good. failing to score on the first two holes did not help. Anmother 0.1 shots on my handicap was the result. A more serious crisis. My long term partner, Steve, will not be playing with us any more. He has fallen out with Dean over a cross remark made last week when, after missing a short putt, Dean implied to Steve that he had been using sharp practice to gain an advantage; Steve read this as cheating. Steve has been simmering about this since and cannot move on. Dean feels that he has nothing to apologise for and will not say the words that could pacify Steve. The dispute has clearly got out of hand; if they were schoolboys you could knock their heads together! Unfortunately they are not, so we are looking for somebody to make up our four-ball.

Monday was more golf, this time with the seniors. It was another stableford QR. What a difference a day makes. I got 23 points on the front nine to finish with 41 pints. I came second in the competition and my handicap reduced to 18. Another golfing crisis looms. We are to have a meeting of seniors. We have, apparently, split. There are those of us who follow the decision of the last meeting and play at 8:00 and those who ignore that decisision and play at 8:45. These last seniors do not take part in the raffle that will subsidise our Christmas lunch and cause problems for the organiser who has to come back later to do the results. The solution, according to the organiser, is for us all to play later, despite the fact that attendance is the highest for several years! I am angry. Strife at the golf club two days running!

Tuesday we have a long awaited visit from a man employed to trim our trees. Geraldine needs to supervise and make tea. Therefore I went out and walked alone. The mountain forecast for Derbyshire talked of poor visibility & drizzle so I went for a fairly lengthy walk by Rutland Water. A very pleasant walk it turned out to be. Details will shortly appear on the walks page.

Wednesday was a gloriously warm and sunny day. I remind you that it is late October! We went to Cleethorpes for a shirt sleeve stroll along the promenade, a fish & chip lunch and a spot of bird watching. The resort was surprisingly crowded. The unseasonal warm weather had brough out the hordes of mostly grand parents amusing the children at the seaside during this half term week. The birds, however, were seasonal. The winter visiting Brent Geese and Dunlin in particular present in large numbers.

Today was more golf, once again in perfect conditions. After a very respectable 19 points on the front nine, everything went a little pear shaped on the back nine. I finished with 29 points, although I did not feel that I had played badly. Steve won the money with an outstanding 23 points in each half. Two other scores of 40 plus by Rick & John went unrewarded.

There is much talk in the media about the appointment of the president of the EU under the Lisbon treaty. The favourite appears to be Tony Blair but one keeps reading and hearing such vitriol about him from our media. To which can be added horror expressed by David Cameron, who hopes to be Prime Minister dealing with said president soon. Outside this country there appears to be much support for Mr Blair. Strange, isn't it? Mr Blair was a hugely successeful politician who made the labour party electable, got elected and supervised a period of ten years of unprecedented prosperity. One principal crime appears to be causing the recession: a pretty serious feat for the Prime Minister of a small country, given the world wide impact of the recession. The other crime was to take the country to war in Afghanistan and Iraq. We forget how strongly public opinion was behind both of these wars at their start. If we want strong leadership, charisma and a proven track record, surely Mr Blair is your man. Added to that, it is unlikely to put this counry at a disadvantage having a Briton as the first president of the EU. Unfortunately, we don't like success as a nation, so Mr Blair is disadvantaged like Tesco, BAE systems and even Margaret Thatcher for being good at what he does.

Another couple of weeks have passed since the last entry. Yes, I have been away again; this time to play golf on some fabulous courses in South Wales.

Since the last entry:

On Wednesday 7th October, Geraldine & I went on a super walk in the Peak District, from Hartington, with the River Dove through Woolfscote Dale and out and back via Biggin Dale. It was a lovely walk on a lovely day. Full details will appear on the walks page shortly.

Thursday 8 October was Geraldine's birthday. She kindly let me play golf in the morning, where I achieved a repectable but losing 31 points. On return we celebrated her birthday with gifts of a printer and family tree software, flowers and a home cooked steak. Kate joined us to make a good event of the occasion.

Saturday we went out with friends Shiela & Alan, Eunice & Keith and Christine & Mark, trying out the Indian restaraunt the Ban Yan Tree that is just up the road. The evening was a success with one of the best Indian meals that we have had, and, of course, good company.

Sunday was departure for the golf tour. I left Nottingham at 7:00 in order to redezvous with the remainder of the party at Magor services at 10:30. Timing was superb as all 12 of us arrived from different parts of the country within five minutes of each other. After breakfast, handicap committee (two shot reduction without having played a shot!) and draw, we progressed to our first venue, Ashburnham Golf Club. The drive there was through rain and we started in intermittent drizzle but the weather improved before the end of the round and set fair for the rest of the tour. Details of the courses are on the golf course page. Suffice it to say that Ashburnham was splendid except for the slow bumpy greens and that I tied with Tom for first place, thus securing an excellent bottle of wine for Christmas day and a further three point handicap reduction. We then progressed to our hotel in Llanelli; a decent hotel in an unexciting town. Nevertheless, we did justice to the drink and food and went to bed sated.

Monday was down the coast to Pyle & Kenfig golf course, a magnificent venue near Porthcawl. Parking proved to be the most difficult part of the course but we overcame and progressed to enjoy a sensational course in bright sunshine. This time I came third, driving my handicap to six below my club handicap for the last half of the tour. The first part of the course was played with a bit of a hangover. I played with Nigel and Berni and we won the team prize. Back to the hotel for more food and drink. Unfortunately the service was less good today so we resolved to go out on the town tomorrow. We somehow forgot that the town was Llanelli.

Tuesday was off to the Gower for golf at Pennard, which was certainly the most frindly course an up there with Pyle and Kenfig as two of the best courses ever. I was now struggling with the reduced handicap. The score of 26 points did not do justice to what was probably my best golfing round of the tour. Nevertheless, another prize was forthcoming, this time nearest the pin (and very near the pin it was too). Back to the hotel and out to sample the highspots of Llanlli nightlife. This turned out to be a Wetherspoons. The food was perfectly acceptable and the beer good. The prices were such that it is difficult to imagine how a profit could be made.

Wednesday was golf at Rolls of Monmouth. After a journey of nearly two hours we arrived here and found that we had the place more or less to ourselves. The course was in beautiful condition and it a superb setting, being set around the mansion of thr Rolls family. I found the course itself disappointing. It was of the grip it and rip it variety, with little or no punishment for being off line. Nevertheless a good time was had although the golf descended from good scoring badly to bad scoring badly. I finished here joint last and an overall position of 6th for the four rounds. Presentations were held over lunch and thanks must go to Digby junior and senior and big brother Simon for organising a memorable tour. Then on to the M50, M5 and M42 and back home to Nottingham with many a tale to tell.

Thursday we brothers met again under less desirable circumstances at the funeral in Weymouth of Maurice, husband of cousin Judith.The day went as well as can be expected.

Friday was more travelling. This time I took Kate from Nottingham to Cockermouth in Cumbria to be in place for a walk up Haystacks on Saturday. It is always nice to spend a couple of days father & daughter bonding.

Saturday was the day of the walk and it dawned cold but sunny, cloudless and windless. It was one of these days that occur in the Lake District no more than two or three times a year. We made the most of it. The walk was superb, the views great and not too many people about. Details and photographs of the walk will shortly arrive on the walks page. I promised myself this walk within a year when I had my hip replaced. It gives even more satisfaction to know that I have fulfilled this promise to myself.

Sunday was back to golf and the annual captain vs lady captain matchplay. We played against Guy and Dean, who beat us for the first time ever in this competition.

Monday was more golf with the seniors. I started out playing very good golf, having accumulated 18 points from our first eight holes. However, at this stage we caught up with the rest of the field and play became so slow that we almost lost the will to live. The slower the play got, the worse the golf. The final score was a disappointing 32 points.

Yesterday I went birdwatching at Old Moor RSPB reserve. Highlights of a good day included bullfinch, willow tit, tree sparrow & dunlin.

Today Geraldine & Kate have gone shopping. I have a list of chores to be completed by their return, so it is probably just as well that I have nearly finished this blog.

England's football team have finished their qualifying matches for next year's world cup with nine wins out of ten and easy qualification. Thisd is a very unusual situation. It does appear to show the importance of the manager, given that the same players were available to Capello's predecessors. So well done to them and we look forward to next summer full of entertaining football spoiled by over hyped expectations of an England victory.

Less than a week has passed since the last entry but I find myself with a few minutes on my hands on Tuesday, which might be difficult to find on my normal blog day of Thursday as it is Geraldine's birthday.

Since the last entry:

On Friday 2 October I walked alone in Lathkill Dale. It was through parts of this very attractive dale that I have not walked before, climbing a "flight of steps" (some 400 feet!) to the high ground and back round the edge of the dale. Views would have been superb had it not been the day when cloud and drizzle broke the autumn drought. However, it was still a splendid walk, which is detailed elsewhere on this site.

Saturday we set out to buy Geraldine's birthday present: a wireless printer that can also be networked to my PC by USB, and some family tree software. PC World soon produced the software. Examination of the printers added confusion but very little light. A helpful assistant appeared and demonstrated an ideal HP printer. Unfortunately they had none in stock and he was unable to say when stock would be replenished. However, Derby store had six. No, he could not reserve one but it was not far away. So we paid for the software and set out for Derby. Impossible to find an assistant. You need to go to stand beside the floor manager, who shows no sign of recognising the fact that you have formed a queue. He continues dealing with a customer. Thre is no sign that this is where you should form a queue. This state of suspended animation continues for quite some time; all approaches to passing salesmen rebuffed. Finally attention! He refers back to the first contact, a shelf stacker who said he was not qualified to help. Finally the printer appears. We join another 20 minute queue at check out and leave the store with a very bad feeling, so different from Nottingham. In the evening I cooked Geraldine a three course meal. It was, unfortunately, not the greatest success of all time. The mushroom paella was really very disappointing. We will put it down to experience and try again soon.

Sunday was golf, a "two from four medal" in aid of RNLI. We played pretty well for a tolal of 137, seven under par. Results have yet to be published, so who knows?

Monday was more golf, a senior's match against Maywood. I played with Ian and we won our match on the last green. The team won overall 4-2.

Today we sit awaiting a kitchen fitter to quote for fitting integral appliances to our current kitchen, hence the free time.

I have just changed my daily newspaer, I have subscribed to the Times for many years but we have found that increasingly it does not report news but has turned every story into a Tory election poster. It was no surprise to us that The Sun, from the same owner, has transferred its support to the Conservatives. We now take the Independent, which so far is much better. Newspapers would be boring if they reported only facts. They have a duty to provide opinion and many of their campaigns have made important changes to the governance of the country. But they destroy their purpose as serious reporters and commrntators on the news if they become self appointed propoganda machines for any cause. The Sun perhaps would not be a surprise doing so, The Times is a disgrace!

Another varied week has passed as summer turns to autumn and our surprising drought continues.

Since the last entry:

On Friday 25 September Geraldine and I walked on Hathersage moor. Geraldine was using new boots so we did not want to go too far. Four miles around Surprise view, Higger Tor, Carl Wark and Burbage Brook has been done before but well bears repeating. A splendid walk detailed further on the walks page.

Saturday we had various shopping to catch up with. The greatest need was a new vacuum cleaner, satisfactorily achieved. Whilst doing this, we started looking for a present for Geraldine's forthcoming birthday. At the moment a wireless printer is favourite but what a choice is available!

Sunday was back to the golf course for a better ball stableford. I partnered Guy. We played pretty well for 39 points to take the money from Steve & Dean. Without a hiccup at the 15th and 16th, we would have been competitive.

Monday was a better ball medal, this time with Chris. We scored 73 , which was respectable but not challenging.

Tuesday Geraldine and I walked the last stage of the Robin Hood way from Hazel Gap to Edwinstowe church. This has been a project that we have been following intermittently for some four years. There is a great satisfaction, tinged with a little regret, to finish such a project. Not a bad achievement though, 105 miles meandering about Nottinghamshire from Nottingham Castle to Edwinstowe.

Wednesday was a day trip to Ripon to see Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal. We have been there some 15 years ago and had only vague memories. The visit was fantastic. The abbey lived up to expectations and Studley Royal gardens were superb. They were still under restoration and were not open to the public on the last occasion.

Today was more golf. I played well for 41 points. It could and should have been better. On the fourteenth I hit a perfectly good drive, which just strayed off of the fairway. It must have gone down one of several rabit holes in the area. There were no points on that hole, and the way I was playing would lead me to expect at least two points. Nevertheless, I did not let it disturb me, finishing with a birdie on the eighteenth to achieve the fairly rare feat on a Thursday of winning both nines and taking all the money.

The news today is of BAE Systems likely prosecution and huge fines for paying bribes to secure contracts. Clearly we cannot approve of dishonest practices but much of world business, particularly but not exclusively in developing countries, relies on back-handers as an entry point and probably an exit point. If all competitors are behaving this way it is foolish to remain pure. It is possible that the practices of which the SFO complain were uniquely corrupt. However, it is more likely that they are the necessary way of running a successeful business and reflect the revenge of the SFO for having their investigation into Saudi contracts stopped by the government. It all seems to be part of this countries campaign against world class business, apparently because it is in some way unclean. Ask Tesco!

This week the most important thing that has happened in the world this week is that I have won a golf tournament. Yes, I know that they have discovered water on the moon, the UN have agreed to stop climate change, G20 countries are meeting to decide our future financial prosperity and the law has been clarified on assisted suicide. All of these things are important but not so important as me winning the David Downes KO competition. (I was going to add the Liberal Democrat's conference to the list but nobody would think that as anywhere near as important!)

Since the last entry,

On Friday 18th September we went to Brodsworth Hall to view the  gardens in autumn. It was a very gentle day's outing and warm enough for us to be able to enjoy a picnic in the grounds.

Saturday was a day spent at home. I got out the paint pot to renew to surface of the outdoor pipework. On a roll, I then started sanding, repairing and painting the back french doors and screen, a process that was completed with the third coat yesterday.

Sunday was golf, a medal competition that started badly with 8,6,7 on the first three holes. It picked up a bit towards halfway but, after a tantrum from Guy over a lost ball leading to his early departure, I too lost my ball an entered a nil return for the first time for some years. The round finished with pars on the last four holes, the last three single puts after a bunker shot. Despite the disappointment overall, I finished with confidence high.

Monday was seniors golf. A much improved performance of 39 points got me second place. The only disappointment was that it was not enough to get me a cut in handicap. Sometimes the CONGU system seems unfair!

Tuesday was bird watching at Rutland water. We are a bit between seasons. The swallows and martins have gone but most of the winter migrants have yet to arrive. The quality of sightings made up for the lack of quantity. Highlights were a first viewing of a hobby and about a dozen little egrets.

Yesterday was the final of David Downes KO. I played against Ernest We bith played well, clocking up 15 pars between us. I was dormie 3, but he faught back to dormie 1. When he put his third shot at this par 5 some 10 feet from the pin, I imagined going into overtime. However, I put mine a similar distance and, after we both just missed the first putts, I had an eighteen inch putt, duly holed, to win the trophy.

Today was back to regular golf. Good form continued with another 39 points. This was 2 points behind Steve, but my 21 points on the back nine made the day profitable.

Nearly two weeks since the last entry. We were away for one night last weekend but mostly to blame seems lack of time because of golf.

The last entry finished waiting to go to see Blyth Spirit at Nottingham Playhouse. The show was superb and the evening seems to have so much more buzz about it at the Playhouse rather than the Theatre Royal. Shame that the better shows are at the Royal. Blyth Spirit is a very funny show first performed during the second world war. This shows the timeless attraction of well written comedy. It will be interesting to know if today's hits wear so well.

Saturday 5th we spent in house and garden catching up on those things that need to be done. In the evening I cooked Geraldine a three course meal of tomato soup, steak diane and raspberry passion. It was a success overall although we decided that we prefer our steak without Diane.

Sunday 6th was golf, a pairs competition. I partnered Dean and we beat Steve & Guy by one point. Our 41 points was just outside the prizes, which is a shame because we started slowly and should have done a little better.

Monday was more golf, the Seniors Open at Oakmere. I partnered Terry but we went nowhere near our second place of last year. Neither of us played well and 32 points better ball is really not very good.

On Tuesday I continued tha golfing marathon by driving to Painswick to play with brother Jeremy. An enjoyable day was had at an unusual golf course. More details are in the golf courses section. The only blot on an excellent day was that Jeremy played better than I and won comfortably.

Wednesday was more golf. This time the John Player Society autumn meeting at Rufford Park. I felt that I played fairly badly yet my 30 points off of a handicap of 15 (reduced by four shots because of recent success in the society) was third on the day. I would have won off of my normal handicap so it can't have been too bad.

Thursday was more golf. Another unspectacular 32 points enabled Rick to take the money once again. In the evening we went again to the theatre, this time to see The Grass is Greener, a comedy at the Theatre Royal. Again it was a good show, although the celebrity cast seemed less "believable" that the local cast the previous week.

Friday was another day of shopping and gardening.

Saturday we drove to Bristol for a gathering of Geraldine's extended family to celebrate brother-in-law Roy's 80th birthday. It was the first time that this group had been together for many years, probably because there are 60 of them. It was an excellent reunion. Three guests left the star standing as they are in their 90s. Tim & Vicky were there, a first opportunity for Vicky to realise what she is marrying in to. Tim found it remarkably easy to mix with people he has not seen for about 15 years. I was appointed to present the gift to Roy on behalf of the brothers- and sisters-in-law, nephewsand nieces. The spoof of a romantic weekend in a tipi went down well, as did the real champagne break in the Cotswolds. We stayed the night at the Town & Country Lodge near Bristol and had the opportunity for a few drinks and a chat to Tim & Vicky before retiring.

On Sunday, after a leisurely full english with Tim & Vicky, more leisurely than intended because they had not cooked enough and took a long time to catch up, we drove gently back to Nottingham.

Monday was seniors golf, continuing the poor form with 31 points and another 0.1 shots on the handicap.

Tuesday we went for a walk from Penistone, in the northern Peak District. It was a part of the world that we do not know that well and we had an enjoyable time. Full details will soon appear on the walks section of the web site.

Wednesday was the semi-final of the pairs golf. Unfortunately the ordinary form continued and Steve too played fairly badly. Our opponents Darron and Paul played well. The inevitable consequence was a 5 and 4 defeat. Nevertheless, the run in that competition was good while it lasted.

Today was more golf, more ordinary golf. I again got 32 points. Malcolm took the money.

There has been much publicity recently about cheating at sport. Yesterday we had the astonishing revelation that the Renault driver had been ordered to crash so that his team mate could gain an advantage.This episode was seriously dangerous to several groups of people and it puts other sporting scandals in the shade with the sheer lunacy of what sporting people will do to win. The rugby blood scandal seemed unbeatable for sheer bare faced cheating but this beat it easily. The football diving and poaching of children are mild and indeed very safe by comparison. One feels that an attempted manslaughter charge in this case would stick and would not be over reacting.

We have also seen David Cameron accusing Gordon Brown of lying, although he did nor use the word. "It is not about the policy, it is about honesty and integrity" he said - quoting from a stolen treasury document that has been given to him. Am I alone in seeing the irony of this?

Another week, no holidays this time.

On Friday 28th August a potential trip bird watching was cancelled because Geraldine finally gave into pressure from Kate to buy a swimming costume to do water aerobics at the gym. Shopping of various kinds had already been pencilled in. To this was added a trip to Decathlon and the very slow process of chosing a swimming costume and a new pair of walking boots. I was pacified by the purchase of a new walking pole.

Saturday, between chores in the garden, I cooked Geraldine a three course meal washed down with a bottle of good red wine. The tomato soup, steak dianne and raspberry passion sweet went down very well.

Sunday was golf, a medal. A net 74, one over par, put me comfortably in the buffer zone. Dean won the money.

Monday was bank holiday. Seniors golf was postponed until Tuesday. The mixed golf was off because of a shortage of ladies. So Geraldine, Kate and I walked the penultimate stage of the Robin Hood Way, a 6.5 mile stroll close to the edge of Clumber Park. It was a varied and interesting stage, the only problem being the absence of suitable picnic spots anywhere near half way. Geraldine wore her new boots. Kate & I insisted, against quite vocal opposition, on carrying the old boots between us. Just as well, when the new boots were discarded after about two miles. Perhaps the lesson is that specialist equipment is best purchased in specialist shops.

Tuesday was seniors golf. My 36 stableford points put me in third position and once again in the buffer zone.

Wednesday we drove to Solihull to visit the National Trust property at Baddesley Clinton. This turned out to be one of the most interesting of such visits for some time.The house was a fascinating contrast of Elizabethan and Victorian and the gardens were an interesting mix of formal and informal

Yesterday was more golf. Most of the regulars were put off by early morning rain but Les, Rick and I turned up and were rewarded by the rain ceasing early and a very enjoyable round of golf, albeit in windy conditions. I did not play particularly well for 29 points. Rick took the money.

Today was more golf, the semi-final od the David Downes seniors knock-out. I played Eric and won 7 and 6. I played as well as I am able. Eric made a lot of mistakes. I now have my first club final in the biggest part of 30 years golf. As I write, we are waiting to go to the playhouse theatre in Nottingham to watch Blythe Spirit.

The Prime Minister is today to make a speech justifying our troops' presence in Afghanistan. To me it is a no brainer that we need to maintain the commitment until such time as the Afghan troops can maintain their own defence against the terrorist-supporting Taliban. Of course we need to address issues such as alleged corruption in the recent election; free and fair elections must be a measure of success. But the absence of terror attacks killing hundreds of civillians is the true measure of the value that we are receiving for the tragic loss of soldiers' lives.Theirs at least is known to be a profession with significant risk to life and limb in protection of the civillian population.

Another week has passed, another holiday. This time a few days in London.

Last week I left waiting to visit the Theatre Royal in Nottingham to watch the thriller "Suddenly at Home". It was ok, although more melodrama than thriller. I have seen better thrillers in this summer season but nevertheless it was an enjoyable night.

Saturday 22nd August was spent gardening. We have spent quite a lot of time in the garden recently but it is now finally back to how Geraldine likes it and should be able to be maintained in half a day a week again.

Sunday was golf. There was no competition and only Steve & I were present. We played a very enjoyable match play, spoiled only by the fact that he won 2 and 1.

Monday we set off by coach to London. A taxi to our hotel followed. After checking in we went to Russell Square for refreshment before returning to the hotel to smarten up for the evening. A gentle stroll to the West End gave us time for a pint of Doom Bar before going to the Dial restaurant for a pre-show meal. It was excellent and served in a timely manner so that we could stroll to Drury Lane to locate the Theatre Royal and a pub opposite for some London Pride. Then up to the theatre balcony to watch Oliver. The show was brilliant. The theatre was very full. The only drawback was that the balcony was extremely hot. It is a slight on the theatre that they force guests, presumably mostly visitors to London, to endure such discomfort. After the show we took a cooling walk back to the hotel to rehydrate on Boddingtons.

Tuesday was a leisurely full English breakfast followed by a tube ride to Green Park, the station for Buckingham Palace. We were a couple of hours early for our timed ticket visit. We intended to enjoy the tranqility of the park for this time. However, we were confronted by big crowds on our arrival at Buckingham Palace and realised that they were waiting for the changing of the guard. We found a good spot and passed a good hour watching the best free show in London. Then on to the palace entrance for our tour of the state rooms. This tour was even better than anticipated. You see a lot of very grand rooms, competitive with any of the grand houses that are now museums. The added knowledge that these are working rooms in use most of the year makes the experience stunning. If you ever have the opportunity to go, take it. Then a quiet stroll through the palace gardens to a champagne tea at the Grosvenor Hotel. Having seen the home of royalty, one is now treated as such in a rather decadent but nice experience. Back on the tube to the hotel to freshen up before returning to Covent Garden for a few drinks and a meal followed by a stroll back to the hotel.

Wednesday was another full English, a stroll to the West End and back followed by a taxi to the coach station and back to Nottingham. A chance to reflect on a memorable couple of days.

Thursday was more golf. A fairly unimpressive 28 points meant that I was a full contributor to Lewis's winnings.

Last Saturday, of course, England regained the ashes with a comfortable win over Australia at the Oval. It was depressing to read articles in the newspapers saying that we were somehow lucky and that the Australians had better batsmen, bowlers and fielders than us. Our two wins were comprehensive. We had the better of one draw and they the better of the other. We beat them fair and squre. Well done England.

Also this week we have had continuing revelations of the Harlequins disgraceful premeditated cheating involving a blood capsule. It is a depressing inditement of professional sport that this means of cheating, up there with drug taking in its cynicism, should be committed by a rugby club famed for its cavalier enjoyment by rich city boys out for a good time. The traditional Harlequin must be turning in his grave. Has there ever been a better call for turning the clock back?

A long time has passed since the last entry. We did go away for a weekend with Tim & Vicky but that hardly excuses a two week break. The only other excuse is that I have just completed what could be described as a golfing marathon, described below.

Thursday 6 August was our regular game of golf. It must have been poor as I remember little about it at this length.

Friday 7th we set off in the general direction of Reading for a weekend with Tim & Vicky. On the way we stopped at the National Trust property of Basildon Park. It was new to us and well worth a visit. The grounds themselves seem substantial and well accessed and the house and gardens were great. Well worth the visit. We then went to Goring for riverside refreshment before invading Tim & Vicky. In the evening we had a few drinks on the patio before moving inside for an excellent meal.

Saturday 8th we went for a walk along the Thames to Sonning, where we had a pub lunch at a riverside pub. There is something very relaxing and very English about walking through watermeadows along the Thames. In the evening the weather held allowing us another opportunity to enjoy their patio and their beer before a curry dinner.

Sunday, after being treated to excellent breakfast rolls, we returned to Nottingham.

Monday was seniors golf. My 31 points were ok but not good enough to avoid another 0.1 shots on the handicap, finishing my brief time on 18. I am now a 19 handicap golfer.

Tuesday I went for a walk alone from Ladybower reservoir, over the Derwent Edges to Cutthroat Bridge. This was the first substantial walk that I have done alone since my hip operation. Another milestone. The walk was superb. After a stiff climb it was a luxurious stroll through blooming heather for a four mile descent. More details of the walk will soon appear elsewhere on this site.

Wednesday was a day spent in the garden. It is surprising how much progress can be made in even a large garden in one good session.

Thursday was the start of the golfing marathon with the Seniors open at Cosby Golf club. Cosby has long been one of my favourite clubs in Leicestershire. It was nice that having dragged Alan where he has not been before, he enjoyed the course so much that he wants to return next year. The golf? Well 34 points was never going to win prizes. We actually played quite well but I particularly was unable to putt.

Friday was the quarter finals of the seniors knock out, playing the club captain, Steve. I went into an early lead that he slowly fought back. Level after 16, he made the cardinal mistake of following me into a deep bunker on the 17th. I won that but lost the 18th to take us into extra time. I parred the 1st for the second time, giving me the match and my second semi-final of the year.

Saturday was the members invitation at the golf club. My invite was Chris and we had a lovely day's golf. The 36 points was fairly well out of the prizes but did not spoil an excellent day.

Sunday was our normal game of golf. I started attrociously in the medal and was six over handicap after three holes. I made a pretty good recovery from there to finish only four over. In addition, I won £24 for a two. The only negative was another 0.1 shots on the handicap.

Monday was seniors golf and a creditable +1 in a bogey to leave the handicap unchanged. Again out of the prizes, I had another 2 on the 8th, this time worth only £6.

Tueasday was a break from golf. Geraldine and I went for another moorland walk from Roach End. Details will occur elsewhere. Suffice it to say that the views were outstanding and the purple heather superb. There were however far too many insects in the heather to be comfortable. It must have been a mass hatching of insects whose only redeeming feature was that they did not bite. The lower level walk back was very rough and fairly unexciting.

Wednesday we were back to golf, accompanying Alan to another Seniors open, this time at Birstall. The course was again in excellent condition. Our 32 points seemed fairly bad, although somewhat redeemed when we found that our playing partners' 39 points was in the lead.

Thursday was more golf. I once again had an awful start with 14 points o the front nine. However, 20 on the back put me into second place on the day and tied the second nine, saving everybody money.

Today was the final day of the golfing marathon with a match for the seniors against the Admirals club. We won the match. Graham and I did our bit, winning 4 and 3. This evening I take Geraldine to the theatre to remind her that I am not obsessed by golf.

Yesterday the Lockerbie bomber was released.I could have been pursuaded that this act of compassion put us above the terrorists in that we value human life and dignity. I could not have been pursuaded by doubts about his conviction; until a court overturns the conviction, he is a convicted mass murderer. However, when he was recieved back in Lybia as a hero the folly of his release was demonstrated for all to see and developments of British/Lybian relationships put back many years. Well done the "Scottish Government".

Another damp week passed. Another weekend away.

Since the last entry:

On Thursday 30th July I played golf on my new reduced handicap. I played reasonably well and was not far off of my handicap when the thunderstorm hit. We had some advance notice when the sky went very dark but there was no gently increasing rain. It was immediately torrential causing us to scurry for the shelter of the clubhouse from the middle of the 18th fairway. Jack won the front nine. The remainder was cancelled.

Friday I visited Attenborough nature reserve. This is not the best time of year for water fowl. I saw all of the birds that you would expect, the highlight being a little egret.

Saturday we went to Wendover in Buckinghamshire to help brother Simon celebrate forty years of happy marriage to Sue. We went by bus to his golf club and had a very enjoyable "summer supper" commencing with a glass of Pimms, passing through some London Pride, an excellent buffet with fine red wine. The whole was accompanied by a jazz band. We returned by bus to the Red Lion, where we spent what was left of the night in a room apparently occupied by Cromwell in 1624.

Sunday, after a good Full English breakfast, we departed for Nottingham, having first taken brother Jerry to pick up his car from the golf club.

Monday was more golf, the Vetrans Trophy, a medal competition. I was plagued by a new member of our senior's section, who is without a doubt the slowest golfer I have ever played with. After seeing his several minute long pre-shot routine over 100 times, I was tempted to attack him with golf clubs. His company together with that of the worst golfer in the club, who at least plays bad golf quickly when he can find his ball, ensured that our four ball was the pariah of the course. Under the circumstances, my net 75, two over par, was respectable. It would have been more so had it not been for the two shot penalty on the 17th, where impatience led me to putt before a ball had been marked, which my ball duly hit.

Yesterday was more golf. Steve and I played our pairs KO quarter final against Sam and Wayne. We started at 5:15 and were always battling gathering gloom. We were 3 holes up at the turn and playing well. We deteriorated in the second half and were one down after 16. Now playing in the dark, by the lights of the driving range, we won the 17th and halved the 18th. We shook hands in the knowlege that we were not playing any more golf tonight and retired to the bar to decide the next action. A committee member was present and approved of our decision to toss a coin as we could not all get back to the club at the same time before the deadline next Friday. We won the toss and progress to the semi final. It would have been much more satisfactory had we putted better on the back nine and won as we should have in normal time.

The summer of sport is at its height, with the third test just having finished with England fairly narrowly failing to move two matches ahead in a rain shortened match at Edgbaston. The fourth critical test begins on Friday. The fourth major golf championship is next week. The athletics season is just getting in to full swing. And what do we find. The football season starts on Saturday. Why? Football is a winter sport. Saturday is August 8th, at least by the calendar it is the height of summer. We don't want it yet. I like football but not now. I am irritated that it has continued to dominate the sports pages during the two week close season. We don't need to play footaball until September. Stop It Please!!!

Another relatively long gap in this blog could be interpreted correctly to indicate another holiday. This time we visited Geraldine's sister Jenny and her husband John in soggy (not sunny) Devon.

Since the last entry we have had our downstairs toilet refurbished by golfing partner and plumber Guy, who made a good job of it. This was started on Wednesday 15th July, when Geraldine was visiting a friend. My activities that day were restricted to entertaining Guy and cutting grass.

Thursday was golf and a respectable 36 points before passing the money on to Rick as usual.

Friday was the annual golf match between Nottingham and Bristol employees and pensioners of Imperial Tobacco. This has been played at a fabulous course in Blackwell, near Bromsgrove in the 20 odd years that I have been involved. The match was not played last year because of redundancies being announced at both sites. This year was a welcome return. The weather forecast was awful; continuous rain all day. Fortunately it was wrong and we played out the match in nearly dry conditions. I played with Chris. We lost our match to Ian & John on the last hole and Bristol beat Nottingham by four matches to three. Overall, a superb day was had by all. The only negative was the result.

Saturday we drove to Devon. We started at 7:30 and managed to beat the traffic jam to the Bristol area. We had a lovely full English breakfast at Clevedon, our home for 10 years, at 10:00 and continued slowly to Devon down the old A38 and across Exmoor. We spent the first of many pleasant evenings with good beer, good food, good wine and good company.

Sunday was a wet day. After a slow start, we went to Wimbleball reservoir for a walk. Fortunately we had wet weather gear as the walk started dry but the entire second half was in torrential rain. Home then via their son, Jeremy's house. We met Jeremy, Marie, James & Elizabeth for the first time for several years and made contact for the first time with swine flu, which Marie was beginning to suffer from. Then on home to more good beer, good food, good wine and good company.

Monday we went to Dartmoor. After a picnic outside Princetown, we progressed to the fascinating Dartmoor Prison museum. This was an interesting insight into the fairly unpleasant history of keeping our convicts restricted. Then on to Merrivale for a short walk on the moor discovering the real meaning of the historical stone artifacts that might be missed unless you are looking. Home again to good beer, good food, good wine and good company.

Tueaday was another wet day. Jenny was well prepared and took us to Cranbrook mill where we saw how wool was spun historically and the yarn woven. Then followed a second world war exhibition, which had so much interesting information that we would still be there now had we studied all of the exhibits. Perhaps the highlight was a community project of the millenium wall, which was a 3 dimensional representation of the area. Home, via the time warped village of Broadhembury to good beer, good food, good wine and good company.

Wednesday was a reunion of Geraldine and her four sisters, together with we husbands, in Minehead. The weather relented a little to allow us to sample the outdoor delights of Minehead as well as a good pub lunch. After a good day we returned to good beer, a smaller meal of still very good food, good wine and good company.

Thursday was the sunniest day of our sodjourn. Jenny & Geraldine were suffering from symptoms which we can only assume were swine flu. We drove to the beach at Puttsborough sands, near Woolacombe and had a pleasant picnic, punctuated by a stroll along the sands and another around the cliffs. Geraldine missed both strolls and Jenny the second as they were feeling less than perfect. We then returned home by the cliff road seeing many of the spectacular sights of costal Devon & Somerset before another evening of good beer, good food, good wine and good company.

Friday the girls seemed to have made a sensational recovery and were now fully well. If that was swine flu, it seems very mild. Only time will tell if they are now immune. We returned to Dartmoor for a visit to Buckfast Abbey and a walk around Trenchford reservoir. The latter was completed in one of the few periods of prolonged sunshine of the week. Our return home was delayed by an hour by a hold up on the M5 for a car fire, but eventually we had more good beer, good food, good wine and good company.

Saturday, after Jenny had cooked us an excellent full English, we returned north to Nottingham. We passesd a traffic jam that stretched from Weston Super Mare to north of Thornbury, justifying our early start of the week before.

Sunday was golf, a stableford competition. I scored 39 points, finally reversing the upward trend of my handicap. Results have yet to be published but at least I expect 0.9 shots of my handicap.

Monday was more golf, another stableford with the seniors. I played off of my estimated new handicap of 19 and scored 41 points. This was second on the day and will lead to another handicap reduction of 0.9 shots, reducing my handicap to a more respectable 18.

Tuesday was our first walk together for some time. We walked on the Nottinghamsahire/ Derbyshire border around the village of Scarcliffe. It was a pleasant enough walk, although was not the Peak District. More details of the walk will soon appear elsewhere on the site.

Today has been one of those rare days when it rains all day. I started the day at the dentist and have continued to knock things off the to do list about the house.

In April the met-office promised us a "barbecue summer", building up hopes of a good sun tan. Since, we have had two very good weeks fortunately around our holiday in Dorset. The remainder has been "sunny intervals and showers" culminating in a revision of the long term forecast to "a damp August". One must wonder why they bother to predict seasonal weather if they have no idea how to.

Another week. Heat wave gone. Summer returns to cool damp normality. Geraldine's sister Jackie & husband Mike come to stay.

Since the last entry:

On Saturday 4 July, in preparation for her hard work entertaining her sister next week, I cooked Geraldine a 3 course meal, washed down with excellent red wine. The preparation took most of the day but the result was worth the effort and deemed a success.

On Sunday I played golf, a pairs competition. Steve & I played fairly well with a net 69, four under par. It was more than enough to take the money from Guy & Dean, although insufficient to feature in the prizes. In the evening we met Jackie & Mike from the bus station to start their week long holiday at Thornton Towers.

Monday I left the entertainment of our guests to Geraldine and devoted the day to golf. In the morning I played with the seniors. I played reasonably well but a disaster on the last left me with 35 points and another 0.1 shots on the handicap. In the afternoon Steve and I played our pairs KO match against Kevin & Kenny. We all played ok and the match was close. There was never more than one hole in the match until we went one up after 17. Steve the proceded to go out of bounds, leaving me alone on the hole I had messed up some 7 hours before. I held my nerve, parred the hole to win it and win the match two up. We progress to the quarter finals.

Tuesday we took our guests to Burghley house, where they enjoyed the garden of surprises and a tour of the house, separated by a nice picnic lunch. The evening was damp and we played indoor games before a curry dinner.

Wednesday we drove to Beverley. We lunched beside the Humber bridge, toured the minster and the old town. The evening was again less than clement and indoor games preceded the spaghetti bolognaise.

Thursday we visited Crich tramways museum at Mike's suggestion. It was somewhere new to us and was considerably better value for money than we had expected. The old fashioned tramway village was worth the time and it was our first ever ride on a tram. Later we walked around Bakewell before returning home for garden games followed by chille con carne.

Friday we visited the two halls at Hardwick. We had been there recently but our guests were impressed. In the evening Geraldine went to a retirement party - in a parish hall - with no bar. She was happy to say goodbye to Shiela and meet her old friends but the organisation was somewhat less than ideal.

Saturday we took Jackie & Mike for a walk from Parsley Hay. It was a good wild flower walk with lots of good views. Following the walk, I drove them round to see the best sights in the Peak District. We returned home for garden games and a mustard beef casserole.

Sunday I played golf, fairly badly scoring net 78 in a medal, five over par giving me yet another 0.1 shots on my handicap. Whilst I was golfing, Geraldine took Jackie & Mike to the bus station to return to Tiverton. The afternoon was spent starting the tidying after our busy & active week.

This morning I golfed again, with the seniors. I amassed 36 points without ever playing well. This should be sufficient to enter the buffer zone, giving no change to the handicap.

The last weekend has seen the first ashes test of this series, where England scraped a draw from a losing position. It is great to hear the Australians, masters of gamesmanship, whinge abut others partaking. A case of the biter bit. Nevertheless if England are to live up to their hugely overhyped expectations, we need to see a significant improvement later this week.

Another long gap in this blog indicates correctly that I have been on holiday again. This time it was to Dorset, where we had great weather. We returned to a continuing heat wave , which is breaking only today.

Since the last entry:

On Thursday June 18th I played golf. I played good golf, amassing 42 points, equalling my best score of the year. Alas, it was not enough. Rick once again took the money.You begin to think that it is impossible to win in this company.

On Friday I played my David Downes Seniors KO match against Alan. It was a seriously slow day's golf, being a two ball amongst a field of four balls in a "fun" competition. Nevertheless, class told in the end and I won the match 4 and 2 to progress to the quarter finals.

Saturday we set off with Kate for our holiday home at Bradpole, near Bridport in Dorset. It was an uneventful drive mostly on motorway, arriving just after 3:00 in the afternoon. The accommodation was modern, a little smaller than we had expected and made less comfortable than it could have been because the owners had decided to protect their furniture from wear  with a collection of slippery covers and cusions. As a result of this, we spent most of our relaxation time in the garden duiring the week, fortunately blessed with fine weather.

Sunday we explored West Bay, the sea side of Bridport. This was new to me and very pleasant. In the afternoon we walked from Tolpuddle. It turned out to be one of the less interesting walks in Dorset. Details are elsewhere on this site.

Monday we visited Stourhead house and gardens. We have visited the gardens a few times before but not for some 25 years. The house and gardens exceeded expectations and are worth taking some effort to visit. In the afternoon we drove down to Poole to reacquaint ourselves with the historic quay and the beauties of the natural harbour.

Tuesday was a break from family holiday to play golf at the Isle of Purbeck Golf Club with brother Jeremy. We had played there when on tour in Dorset a few years ago. Unfortunately that day was best remembered for the heavy horizontal rain blowing in from Poole harbour at very high speed. At its worst, electric golf trolleys were blown over. We had vowed to return in more clement weather and this was the opportunity. We had warm sunshine throughout, enhancing the fabulous views across Poole harbour available across the whole course. We both played fairly well and ended all square on 29 points, better than it sounds on a course that punishes most departures from the fairway with a lost ball. More on this course also elsewhere on the site. On return, I picked up the girls from West Bay and we drove to Lyme Regis for a couple of hours. Lyme Regis was as pretty as ever and well worth a visit.

Wednesday we went to look round the castle at Corfe Castle. I have passed it many times but never viewed the castle. It was well worth while, perhaps surprisingly for a castle that is so much of a ruin. We spent three hours on a fascinating visit. We then toured the Isle of Purbeck, enjoying its unique anmd beautiful scenery to the full in bright sunshine.

Thursday was another first, a visit to Forde Abbey and gardens. Both house and gardens were worth visiting, although if you have to chose between Forde and Stourhead, always go to Stourhead. Unfortunately, its most advertised feature, the millenium fountain was "closed for essential maintenance". There was no reduction in price as compensation. We then visited the hustle and bustle of Weymouth, concentrating on the harbour rather than the beach and drove up onto the Isle of Portland to enjoy the fantastic views over Weymouth harbour, Chesil beach and rthe Fleet.

Friday we went to Abbotsbury Swannery. We were not sure how good this would be. Our only previous visit was nearly 30 years ago. If you get the opportunity, go. Abbotsbury itself is one of the most attractive villages in a county made up from attractive villages. The Swannery has far more to it than a few swans and is a good 2-3 hours entertainment for the £9 entry fee. We spent our final afternoon back on the Isle of Purbeck, finally crossing the mouth of Poole harbour by ferry to enjoy an hour or so at Sandbanks.

Saturday, alas, was time to clean the cottage, a short exercise as it was very small, and drive back to Nottingham. There to unpack, water the garden that has been in drought, and give the washing machine a busy time.

Sunday was back to golf and a net 78 (5 over par) in a medal. This finally pushed my handicap up from 19 to 20, an unwanted advantage on the course when I feel I am playing some of the best golf of my life.

Monday was more golf with the seniors. I did not play particularly well and finished with 31 points. This added another 0.1 shots to my handicap moving it closer to 21!

Tuesday we went for a walk in Derbyshire. We did an easy and well known walk from Dovedale to Milldale becaust the day was very hot and humid. We have never had conditions quite like this time with the river apparently steaming as water vapourised from the near 100% humidity near the colder water of the river.

Wednesday I had to return to see my surgeon at Barlborough Hospital. After the custumary two hour wait and an X-ray, we agreed that my hip is improving, although is less advanced than it should be after this time and that it will probably continue to do so. I am therefore discharged until a pysiotherapy assessment in November, a year after the operation.

Thursday was golf and I played probably the best round of my life. I scored 47 points, which is certainly higher than I have previously scored and, yes, it proved enough to finally take the money even in a field that included Rick. It was obviously an easy scoring day in that Malcolm and Colin both exceeded 40 points but 47 is pretty special.. In the evening we completed a perfect day by watching an outdoor performance of the Merchant of Venice at Clumber Park after a warm, tasty, alcohol enhanced picnic. It was a superb evening much enhanced by beautiful weather on what turned out to be the last day of the current heat wave.

Today has been characterised by frequent very heavy shawers as the weather changes. We have spent the day cleaning the house in preperation for an expected visit by Geraldine's sister Jackie and her husband Mike next week.

So in summary we have had another fantastic holiday in the best weather of the summer. Since our return, the weather has got a little hotter, more humid and a bit less pleasant. However, for me I'll have dry and hot and put up with the discomfort. Being British, we have to have pages every day in the newspapers talking about record temperatures (I read "the highest since 2007". Wow!). The met office is issuing health warnings and the newspapers are once again full of global warming catastrophe stories. An untypical stretch of British summer but a typical chunk of hyperbole and hysteria.

Another week, another golf fest as summer continues.

I wrote the last entry as I waited to go to Coxmoor golf club for the Jubilee meeting. I am pleased to report that it was one of my best ever rounds of golf. I played off of a handicap of 15, four reduced from my club handicap because of two recent victories. I scored 39 points, winning the competition by five shots to retain the cup. Putting was easy as putts rolled in from all over Nottinghamshire.

Flushed with success, I eagerly travelled to Oakmere on Thursday, confidently expecting to win the money. Alas, normality returned with a disappointing 29 points on a familiar course with full handicap allowance. What a difference a day makes!

Friday, I did not bother to play golf! Geraldine and I went for a nice walk on the Lincolnshire Wolds, based on the village of Well. It was a lovely walk with fantastic views at the end. Full details will shortly appear elsewhere on this web site.

On Saturday we tidied the garden during the day, a long overdue process, recapturing some paths that we were losing. In the evening we went out to The Hutt for a meal with Alan & Sheila. Meal, sevice and company were excellent, as was the Bombardier and Malbec. In fact, it was a good revival for The Hutt after a couple of indifferent reports.

Sunday was a medal at the golf. I played reasonably and, with a net three over par, thought that I had scraped into the buffer zone. However, the competition standard scratch was reduced and my handicap rose by 0.1. Next time it will rise to 20! Dean had a superb round, winning the overall competition.

Monday was seniors golf, playing only with four clubs and a putter. Again it went fairly well. I walked off with 36 points, thinking that I was in with a chance. It was depressing to find three scores over 40 despite the restrictions on clubs.

Tuesday we completed the gardening before visiting the opera. We watched The Abduction from the Seraglio at the Theatre Royal. It was a modern setting which destroyed the true story line. There were some amusing characterisations and the music was, unlike the remainder of the show, unchanged from the original by the director. The music saved the night as it was very well done. The underwhelming nature of the applause at the end of the show illustrated what the Nottingham audience thought of the director's cleverness!

Today I have been golfing again, this time in a senior's open at Norwood Park, one of my least favourite Nottingham courses. My latest comments on the course are elsewhere on this site. The day was enjoyable. I played with Jack, Les and John. We were third at the last count at best two from four.

Yesterday, England were eliminated from the twenty/twenty cup. Very few people care. The competition and all cricket of this format is good for the game in that it attracts large crowds and revenue from sponsors. However, nobody really cares who wins (note the popularity of the non-teams in the IPL). It is a bizarre effect of commercialisation of sport. The England game slipped from trivia into farce when the mechanisms for resolving matches affected by rain were shown to be ridiculous. But nobody really cares. Like much entertainment today, it id here, then gone and forgotten. There will never be a match such as Botham's at Headingly in 20/20. But please keep the money rolling in.

Another gap in the blog for longer than the planned week. I continue to be very busy and have been away again. Since the last entry:

On Friday 29 May I went bird watching at Old Moor, near Barnsley. As with all water based reserves, the variety of species was smaller than the winter. This is compensated by the numerous birds with young, which makes the visit worthwhile and rewards bird watching rather than bird spotting.

Saturday 30th I went for a nine mile walk in the Derwent Valley with Kate. Other than getting lost through bad instructions (I have notified the magazine), it was an excellent walk. It was quite hilly and longer than either of us had walked for some time. The greatest satisfaction was that this is the first time since my hip operation that was easier now than before the operation. Details of the walk will shortly appear elsewhere on the site.

Sunday was golf and a poor 29 points ensured a further unwanted 0.1 shots on the handicap, which is now beginning to get close to 20.

Monday was seniors golf and a much better performance. I won the first division with 38 points. Disappointingly, the score was not enough to even have a fraction of a shot from the handicap, because seniors play from yellow tees.

Tuesday was more golf, this time my singles KO match against Danny Waterhouse. It turned out to be an excellent match, with both of us playing better than handicap. We arrived at the 18th tee all square. I got a par (net birdie). He got a birdie (net eagle) to win the match. There is no shame in going out that way!

Wednesday I went on a pleasant walk from Cromford to black rock with Geraldine. It was a very pleasant walk, steeply uphill at first, but then gently down to the Cromford canal and flat back to the car. Details will soon be on the walks pages.

Thursday was more golf, this time the Senior's open at Newark, partnering Alan. We were first off and played reasonably well for a team score of 39 points. As we were in the first group off and beat our playing partners, we were leaders in the clubhouse. After the meal we were surprisingly still in the prizes, although finally we were four shots short of the prizes.

Friday 5th we set off for a weekend in London to cash in Kate's 30th birthday present of a trip to a show. Today we drove to Reading to spend the night with Tim & Vicky. We stopped off at Windsor on the way and did all the tourist things except the castle, which we saved for another day. On to Tim & Vicky's and a few drinks and nice meal before bed.

Saturday we completed the journey to London by train and reached the Lyceum Theatre by tube and foot. The show, The Lion King,   was superb, fully living up to expectations. We were in the Grand Circle, right at the back. I have never been so far from a stage, but in fact the distance enhanced the experience as the actors' masks were more visible than their faces. We were sufficiently high that there was a need to hang on to something when standing to overcome the vertigo. After the show we walked to Covent Garden for a couple of drinks, an excellent meal and soak up the atmosphere. Then to The Days Hotel to sleep.

Following breakfast on Sunday we went to the London Eye, arriving there before 10:30. This turned out to be an excellent plan, there was no queue. We walked straight on and had the benefit of a pod that was only half full, allowing free movement without obstructing the view of others. Then back to Reading and on to Nottingham after a cup of tea.

Monday was seniors golf. My 34 points was in third place, but was not enough to make the buffer zone, so another unwanted 0.1 points on the handicap.

Yesterday we used our National Trust membership to visit Hanbury Hall, near Droitwich. It was an excellent day out on a day with dodgy weather forecast. The paintings on the stairway were awesome and made the journey worthwhile on its own.

Which brings us to today, when I am shortly to depart for Coxmoor golf club for the John Player golf society Jubilee meeting.

Last week we had the extraordinary political affair where it seemed that the Prime Minister might have been deposed by a revolt within his party. The poor election results seem to indicate that the "expenses scandal" had hurt the labour party more than the consevatives. The Telegraph would have been pleased with this result of their "public interest disclosure". It is difficult to see why anybody would want to take over as leader of the labour party at present. They seem guartanteed to loose the next election badly and a second change of leader within a parliament would make that worse and almost certainly destroy the new leader politically. The coup therefore duly failed. I think that the country is probably better off for Gordon to carry on for a year. His handling of the financial crisis has been an example for the rest of the world.

All of this has put in the shade a good weekend for England's sporting teams. The cricketers, after a very dodgy start, won well enough to ensure their participation in the later stages of the 20/20 world cup. The footballers continue their best start ever in a world cup qualifying campain and even the rugby team weakened by Lions calls, beat Argentina to retain their world ranking. Such accumulations of good results for England are as rare as hen's teeth!

Another week passed, which brings me very close to completion of my third year of retirement. Looking back, was it a good decision to take early retirement? The answer must be a resounding yes, even though I have had my first significant medical problems in the past year with a hip operation and a slower than expected recovery. I still find more ways that I want to pass the time than I have time to pass. This probably is the criterion for a successful retirement.

I finished last week waiting to go to see "Evita" at Nottingham's Theatre Royal. We went and saw a superb show performed to a packed house. It is good to see that it is possible to fill a theatre even in a recession with a good show.

Saturday 23rd May we went for a walk in Lathkill Dale with Kate. It was not the most strenuous walk on record but it is always nice to visit such a beautiful place.

Sunday was golf, a medal. I played half a good round but it all went horribly wrong on the back six holes and I ended 8 over par. Another 0.1 shots on the handicap.

Monday was bank holiday and the Blue Ribbon trophy mixed stableford. Yes, it really is blue ribbon not blue riband; the trophy is a pair of scissors! I partered June and played the other half round that was wrong the previous day. The back nine was good after a very average front nine. We were not last, we beat at least Kevin and Jules, our partners on the day.

Tuesday was another walk, this time from Miller's Dale and through Wormhill. Details are elsewhere, but it is odd that a compiler of walks should send you with such enthusiasm along a path overlooking the biggest quarry in Europe.

Yesterday was a quiet day. Geraldine had to visit the dentist and thought it would be a good idea if I drove her. I, of course, agreed. The rest of the day was spent catching up on chores.

Today was more golf. Much better form except one really bad hole in each half. I finished with 32 points, which was second to Les, who walked off with all the money.

The row over MPs expenses rumbles on. Of course it does. It is in the Telegraph's short term interest to milk their illegally obtained scoop for all it is worth until the information becomes freely available to all of their competitors in July. I imagine the drip of revelations will continue for at least a month. The consensus now seems to be that we need serious constitutional reform. The system that has enabled us to remain one of the richest and most powerful countries in the world for several hundred years, punching much above our weight, must now be dismantled. We look towards America, who have just elected "Saint" Obama. We conveniently forget that it also elected two George Bushs, Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford. We conveniently forget that the most powrful man in the world needs access to hundreds of millions of pounds to get elected. We conveniently forget the serious corruption periodically exposed in USA, most recently with the state governor trying to sell Obama's senate seat. We conveniently forget that the American system leaves 20% of people out of health care.

A number of our politicians have fiddled their expenses. They will pay with their jobs and should, in the most serious cases, end up in court. The majority claim reasonable expenses, work hard, and have done nothing that even the Telegraph can find objectional. Many, who have followed inland revenue rules precicely, as we all try to do, have offended the Telegraph and might pay with their jobs. Our political system is not broken. It clearly has its faults but is probably close to the best available.

The only constitutional crisis is that the public have been whipped into an orgy of distrust through revelations on MPs expenses. The Telegraph, pursuing its short term interest continues to fan the flames (if you can fan the flames of an orgy). We now have no trust in our politicians. People will not vote next week, which might result in us electing facists in a national election for the first time in our history. This will bring us in line with every other European country in shame. That will clearly be in the public interest.

Another week an a bit passed. The weather has become confused in that we have had a period of frequent heavy April showers rendering any outside activity liable to get damp. This despite being at the end of May. This has precluded the planning of any walks with Geraldine as she is a bit of a fair weather walker.

On Friday15 May I went bird watching alone at Rutland Water. I was fortunate to be either in the car or in a hide when the showers struck. Highlight of the visit was the sand martin bank where improble numbers of sand martins go about their business at high speed giving a spectacular display.

Saturday was a little more settled and we went for a short walk in Clumber park. This was followed by a picnic overlooking the lake and the church, what must be the best view in Nottinghamshire.

Sunday was pairs golf. For many years I have partnered Steve in these events. Of late, for variety, we have drawn lots in the four ball for partners. Today, Steve announced that he wished to play with Dean, pairing the two lower handicaps. This made Guy and I feel unwanted. We felt sufficiently unwanted that we beat them by four strokes and relieved them of a little of their wealth.

Monday was senior's golf, the first round of the summer eclectic. My birdie and four pars at the most difficult holes will stand me in good stead for the remainder of the summer. However, my putting woes continued and the overall score of 33 points just scraped into the buffer zone.

Tuesday we went to Cleethorpes. Again we managed to be in the car when the showers struck, but in the meantime managed two short strolls and a little birdwatching. The birdwatching illustrated that Cleetorpes is not a good site in summer, although the quality made up for lack of quantity with sightings of little egret and brent goose.

Wednesday we went to visit English Heritage sites at St Peter's Saxon church, Barton on Humber and Thornton Abbey, near Scunthorpe. We chose Wednesday because the handbook stated that both sites are open 21 March - 30 Sep, Wed - Sun 10am - 4 pm. We thought that they would probably be open on a Wednesday. We arrived at Barton on Humber and found the church. The door was locked. The board outside indicated opening on Sat - Sun only. Fortunately Thornton Abbey had the same opening hours suggested in the handbook so the trip was not entirely in vain. A black mark for English Heritage for what could have been a wasted hundred mile round trip.

Thursday was lots of golf. In the morning I played my normal game, with some success. I scored 41 points having apparently learned to putt in the past couple of days. Although this was my best score this year, I lost money. I played with Colin who scored 42 points. My share of 22 points on the front nine at least saved 50p. After a brief rest, I returned to the course to represent the club in the Spondon Trophy. My continued improved putting enabled me to halve my match against a nine handicapper. However, five of the remaing six on the team lost their matches giving the team a comprehensive defeat.

Today we have been gardening, generally having a quiet day. This is in advance of a visit to the Theatre Royal for a performance of Evita.

In the past week, gaining almost as much publicity as accusations both founded and unfounded on MPs expenses has been the very undesirable movement of celebreties into politics. Joanna Lumley is a lovely lady and has helped the Gurka's achieve what seems like justice. However, they would not have achieved such publicity had it not been for her celebrity, and would probably not have achieved justice. We also see that Esther Rantzen is planning to stand for parliament. Celebreties are famous for being famous. They have no qualities that qualifies them to run our country other than the ability to attract publicity.  The current, often well qualifed MPs arguably struggle to run the country optimally and a few have shown themselves able to steal from the public purse. All have signally failed to run their own remuneration system in a transparent and fair way. What makes us think that empty headed celebreties would do better? We need to improve the competence of our governing class, not make it a sick joke.

As I return to updating this blog on a Thursday, what was promised as a barbecue summer is starting with a damp, cold, windy May. Politics and news has been suspended in favour of panic & publicity to reward the Daily Telegraph for purchasing the proceeds of crime. More on the latter later.

Since the last entry,

On Sunday 10th May there was golf, a medal. I got a net 78, but was in the buffer zone because the rules ignored some shots from the two eights and the nine that I took. Nevertheless, it was a disappointing score.

Monday was seniors golf, The John Hall Trophy. It was again disappointing with 31 points. This time there was no way out and my handicap increased by 0.1. The trophy was won by Rick, one of 8 new members on the day.

Tuesday, Steve & I played our pairs match play knock-out against the club captain, another Steve, and vice-captain, Bob. I find it much easier to concentrate in match play. We both played extremely well. We were six up after nine and finally won 4 and 3. Perhaps I am over the slump.

Wednesday Geraldine had a dental appointment late morning and the weather was poor. Therefore we stayed at home doing those things that were left undone because we do not have time.

Thursday was more golf. I struggled to 30 points, the slump continues. Rick joined us and took the money at first go.

Back to MPs expenses. Clearly MPs expenses system is seriously flawed, over generous and in need of revision. We have known this for some months. The full details of all MPs expenses are due to be released in the near future as a result of a freedom of information request, upheld in court. I do not know the due date but it is fixed and in the public domain. A disc containing this information has been stolen and was being hawked around National newspapers for some weeks. The Observer reported three weeks ago that it had been offered and refused this disc. The Telegraph paid I believe £30,000 for this stolen information and has been publishing revelations daily since. It would claim that its purchase and use of stolen material is in the public interest. It is not; the information is to be released anyway, which will serve the public interest better. The Telegraph has therefore committed an unjustifiable criminal act. By this criminal act it has gained circulation from its competitors, and, by publishing only Labour party misdeeds at first, which will be best remembered, it has ensured a political advantage for its supported party.

Since the revelations started, the news and political worlds have gone increasingly mad. All news reports start with 10-15 minutes on this "scandal". All other news is suspended and reported as an afterthought. MPs are pilloried for doing what almost everybody on expenses does: using the system to maximise the payout. I am sure that if the expenses of journalists or captains of industry were published in detail, the same level of scandal could be generated. (I exclude from this the MP who claimed for mortgage payments on a non-existent mortgage. He, like the Telegraph, should be subject to criminal prosecution.)

So we are asked to judge our MPs not on how good they are at running the country, lawmaking and dealing with an historically serious financial crisis. Not how justified they are on starting wars. Not how good the oppositions proposed policies are compared to those of the government. We are asked to judge them, inversely, on how well they worked the inadequate system of expenses for their benefit.

As if all that was not enough, we have now entered a bizarre competition to see which political parties show most contrition for the "scandal". We are in a bizarre competition to see which MPs can repay the most money concerning their legitimate expenses. Meanwhile, the financial crisis, the wars, the anti-social behaviour, the policing go unatended. Is any of this in the public interest?

I answer my own question with a resounding no! The criminal MP claiming non-existent mortgage payments. Yes! that is a public interest story. David Cameron's wisteria, definitely not!

This is the first entry for a month. I must ensure that this does not turn into regular neglect. Part of the reason is that I have been on holiday again. But we have been home since 21st of April. We seem to have been so busy since then. Perhaps I need to retire from retirement to create more time!

On Thursday 9th April I played golf. I scored a reasonable 37 points but was completely eclipsed by the son of one of our occasional players, playing with us for the first time. He scored 53 points. I have been playing golf for over 20 years and have never come across anybody scoring so well. He has a proper Oakmere Park handicap, although this must soon reduce.

Over the Easter weekend we, as usual, avoided the places where most people go. To those of us who are retired, bank holidays are times spoiled by the presence of a lot of people normally at work. So Fridayand Saturday were spent doing necessary jobs around house and garden.

Easter Sunday we did play golf, a pairs competition. Neither Steve nor I could produce even reasonable form and we had to pay out to Guy & Dean.

Easter Monday was more golf. Seniors are not allowed to play on bank holidays but there is always a mixed competition. This was a best two from four competition. I played with the captain and lady captain. We did ok and finished second.

Tuesday 14th was a delayed seniors day. I scored 37 points to finish fourth. My score was in the buffer zone meaning no adjustment to handicap.

Wednesday we departed for our holiday on Scottish trains. Strangely, we drove south. We wer accompanied on this holiday by Geraldine's sister, Sammy & her husband Roy. They live in Bristol, so it is from Bristol airport that we depart. We had a gentle drive down through the Cotswolds. We stopped at Bibury, which is beautiful. We did see the unusual sight of a mute swan and a black swan courting on the river Colne. The black swan was presumably an escapee from a collection somewhere. It would be interesting to know if anything came from this relationship. On arrival at Sammy's, she gave us a lovely meal accompanied by a few drinks before retiring for a very early night.

Thursday began with a taxi at 4:30. This delivered us to Bristol airport in plenty of time for our Easijet flight to Edinburgh. The only thing that kept us going was the expectation of a nice full English breakfast. Unfortunately, disappointment was to follow. The advertised breakfast roll turned out to be a butter free, dry, bready   bacon cob. This was my first flight with an artificial hip and, yes, it was picked up in security, requiring an ever more thorough search. We eventually boarded for an uneventful flight to Edinburgh where we quickly met Melanie who was to look after us on behalf of Newmarket travel for the duration of the holiday. Having overcome the instruction to find a blue coach when ours was white, we set off for Newtonmore. First stop was Perth, prosaically in Dobbie's Garden Centre. Things got better by the next stop in beautiful Pitlochry. We saw the fish ladder (fish free) and had a pleasant walk beside the river Tay. We progressed to Newtonmore and checked into the hotel. The accommodation was basic in a lift free dormitory block but the serviced part of the hotel, reception, bar and restaraunt were excellent.

Friday was our first and longest railway journey, from Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh. It was also the first of a succession of bright sunny days in which to admire the beautiful scenery. Michael Palin features this amongst his great railway journeys of the world and we were not disappointed. Having looked round Kyle of Lochalsh, a task of about 30 seconds, the coach drove us back to Newtonmore. The highlight of the return trip was a stop by Eilan Donan castle, where we added to its statistics of the most photographed castle in Scotland. Back then to Newtonmore somewhat late, where we chose to forgo the pleasures of a shower to sample the pleasures of a drink before dinner.

Saturday 18th April again dawned sunny. A much shorter coach trip took us to Aviemore where we boarded the Spey Valley Railway for our only steam drawn journey of the holiday. The scenery was only good but the romance of steam did its normal magic. In the afternoon we took the funicular railway to the summit of Cairngorm where, in clear conditions and bright sunshine. The perfect experience was avoided by having to put up with people shouting into their mobile phones "I'm at the top of Cairngorm you know.". Actually, the holiday was notable for the bad mobile phone manners. Clearly the old people with whom we now holiday have discovered mobile phones, but not yet the etiquette that you go out of earshot of others when yelling into it.

Sunday we had a longer journey again, with coach to Fort William, stopping to admire the jaw dropping views from the commando's memorial. Then it was train to Mallaig. This trip did not feature in Michael Palin's list but the loss was his, not ours. Apparently the summit of Ben Nevis is clear only ten days a year. Today, and the day fifteen years ago when I stood on it with Tim, were amongst those ten. Again the coach picked us up at Mallaig and gave us a scenic trip back to Newtonmore. We visited places associated with Harry Potter and Monarch of the Glen. Why are things not worth seeing unless they have been on television? There are so many places out there, particularly in Scotland, that are beautiful and that is why you should want to see them.

Monday was home day. But not before we spent a few hours in Edinburgh. We were able to see the Royal Mile, the Scottish parliament and Holyrood House. All of these were firsts. Then on to Edinburgh airport. Another disappointing search for food. Another full search brought about by my metal hip. And then to Bristol where Sammy once again provided a good meal and a few drinks and we were able to reminice on a superb few days.

Tuesday started with one of Sammy's full English breakfast and then we set off for Nottingham. We broke our journey at Westonbirt arboretum. We feared that we might be too early for the spring colours but the bluebells and early bloomers were superb.

Wednesday started with a visit to the dentist to be fitted with a crown and relieved of £230! We then went for a local walk in the Trent valley based on Rolleston. It was a pleasant enough walk on a decent day. Details of the walk are on another page.

Thursday was a return to golf and a steady 34 points. Les took the money with 43 points.

Friday was another walk taking in Bakewell and Haddon Hall. It was a walk of a few hills and good views of Haddon Hall and returning along the River Wye. Details, again, are on the walks page.

Saturday we stayed home an I cooked Geraldine a three course meal. The rest of the day was spent getting the garden in order.

Sunday 26 April was pairs golf. Once again neither Steve nor I could get going. We finished with 34 points betterball, which left us well down the field and again paying out to Dean & Guy.

Monday was seniors golf. We showed great fortitude in playing the full 18 holes in the rain. The golf was better than the previous day, finishing 3rd with 31 points in adverse conditions. Once again this was enough to make the buffer zone and avoid handicap increase.

Tuesday was more golf, this time representing Oakmere seniors at Springwater. We were lucky to get round more or less dry despite adverse weather forecast. Brian & I halved our match and the team won 4-2.

Wednesday was golf again, this time the John Player Golf Society spring meeting at Radcliffe on Trent Golf Club. I have played there several times before and it remains one of my favourite courses in the Nottingham area. My liking for the course was heightened by scoring 35 points off of a 17 handicap (reduced by two shots because of a win last summer). This was the highest score of the day, winning me the trophy for the second division. I also won two bottles of wine for the longest drive competition.

Thursday was back to normal golf and there was evidence that all the practice is getting me somewhere. I scored 34 points, which was satisfactory. But Les took all the money with his 42 points.

Friday 1 May we went out to Calke abbey for our annual bluebell fix. We went a little earlier than previous years. The bluebells were just out but seemed to suffer a little because the brambles had grown taller than ususl for this time of year.

Saturday we went for a walk in the Dane Valley based at Wincle. It was a very pleasant walk through an area of the Peak District that we know less well. The early part of the walk was quite steep and surprisingly muddy for this dry spring. Overall the walk was excellent. Details will shortly appear elsewhere on this site.

Sunday was golf, a stableford QR. The golf was not great, finishing with 30. This generated a 0.1 shot handicap increase for the first time this season.

Monday was another bank holiday, another mixed competition and another wet Monday. I played with June and we finished well down the field with 32 points better ball.

Tuesday was another seniors match at Maywood. This time I played with Barry and we lost 3 and 2. There was no disgrace in that. Maywood is a course where there is a lot of different club selections to avoid water. Home advantage is worth a lot. The match was lost 5-3.

Wednesday we went bird watching to Blacktoft sands on the Humber. The weather was better than forecast and the bird watching was good. Highlights were large numbers of avocet and good displays from marsh harriers.

Thursday was more golf. The putting problems of recent times came to a head. I played reasonable golf tee to green but 3-putted around 10 greens giving a score of 32 points. Malcolm and John shared the money.

Friday 8 May was spent gardening and cleaning cars. In the evening we went to the Theatre Royal to watch a fascinating version of Brief Encounter. The interpretation, particularly during the romantic bit, was bonkers but very funny. As comedy turned to tragedy, the company had the good sense to play straight and retain some of the emotion of the original. All in all an excellent show.

Which brings us to today, Saturday May 9th. We have been to Clumber Park for a breezy but sunny walk and picnic.

Which means that this blog is finally up to date. I will endeavor not to leave a month unaccounted in future.

It has been some time since the last entry on this blog. I was away living the dream. I have long promised myself that for my 60th birthday I would play golf on the Old Course at St Andrews. My birthday was in early January, which did not seem an appropriate time to golf in Scotland, so we set the date for March 27th. This was the Friday before last. We hired a cottage and invited both brothers, son and daughter, with partners if appropriate, to spend as much of the week as they could spare and the boys to share the dream with me on the 27th. We did it. We lived the dream. And it exceeded expectations.

Returning to the daily sequence of events:

On Thursday 19th of March was golf. I got 37 points, which seemed that the game was in pretty good order for the big event. Others too were playing well and my 37 points won no money. The money was shared between Les and John. Les is 87 and my hero. I never mind paying him. Everytime I golf with Les I have another 27 years to go.

On Friday we decided to use our English Heritage membership to view the early spring flowers in the garden at Brodsworth Hall. We checked on the web site to confirm that the garden was open. It was. We drove there to find a notice that the site was closed. There were a few other disappointed cars entering or leaving the site at the same time. This is the first black mark since we joined English Heritage. In order to save the day, we drove to Lincoln and visited another English Heritage site, the medieval bishop's palace. We have been to Lincoln cathedral many times but never considered the bishop's palace. It was much larger and more interesting than we had expected and turned the day into a success.

Saturday was the last day of the rugby six nations championship. It was a pleasure to see England's much maligned team beat Scotland to take second place in the series to Ireland. Second is clearly not good enough but probably better than hoped.

Sunday was more golf. This time a medal. The good form of the last two outings deserted me and a net 80 was the disappointing result. This was mothering sunday. Kate came for dinner and Tim phoned but it fell to father to cook the dinner. It was rump steak and superbly cooked if I may say so.

Monday we departed early for Scotland. The cottage we had hired was near Ladybank. We arrived shortly after 3:30 to find a beautiful place (Lomond View hired from Country Holidays) that was more than we could possibly hope. All rooms were large. The furnishings were good,  from IKEA like most at home, and the view of the Lomond Hills superb. The games room with pool and table tennis was a bonus. I used to be quite good at table tennis and it was nice over the week to find that I could still hack it. Jeremy & Eve were next to arrive (unusually for them, earlier than expected). Simon and Sue followed. Both couples responded to their guided tour with a "Wow". A pretty good start to the day. We had cause to celebrate. Simon & Sue's eldest, Martin and wife Cathy had presented them with ther third Grandchild, Edward. We toasted them with the first champagne of the week.We spent the rest of the evening with drink and games. Kate cooked an excellent meal setting the standard for the week.

Tuesday, after a leisurely breakfast, the girls did the shopping whilst the boys scouted St Andrews. I have been there before and know the proximity of the Old course to the town and to public view. This was new to Simon & Jeremy. We were all impressed and the adrenelin began to flow early for our turn on the first tee on Friday.In the afternoon, we toured the rather beautiful Fife coast until we got a phone call from Tim informing us that they were close. We took the short route back to Ladybank and arrived just after Tim & Vicky. They had just given themselves a guided tour, with the response "Wow!". This was the first time we have seen them since they became engaged so there was much kissing and congratulations. They had stopped at Manchester on the way up and had arranged the wedding & reception for next June. This inspired the conversation until the others arrived. The champagne came out again. This time the toast was Tim & Vicky. We spent the rest of the evening with drink and games. Eve cooked another excellent meal confirming the standard for the week.

Wednesday was the first game of golf. We played at the local course of Ladybank. This is rated amongst the best courses in Scotland and is used for Open qualifying. It did not disappoint in situation or condition other than the greens were very slow and bumpy. This is the risk in playing in the winter season. One assumes that they are under development for the main season. The welcome was great. I won with 31 points and a great day was had by all. In the evening the champagne came out again. The toast was the winner at Ladybank.We spent the rest of the evening with drink and games. Sue cooked another excellent meal maintaining the standard for the week.

Thursday we went our separate ways. We went to New Lanark and the Falls of Clyde. This was somewhere that had been on our list when we lived in Glasgow but I had never visited. It did not disappoint. The world heritage site was extremely well done and the walk along the river to Corra Lyn was well rewarded. In the evening the champagne came out again. The toast was to tomorrow. We spent the rest of the evening with drink and games. Geraldine cooked another excellent meal continuing the standard for the week.

Friday 27th March was the big day. We are to live the dream and play the Old Course at St Andrews. We took the ladies into St Andrews and then drove to the practice range to make use of the excellent driving range. We returned to the clubhouse and shared a coffee with the ladies. We changed into golfing gear and were transferred by buggy to the first tee. In front of the Royal & Ancient club house. Ticket & handicap certificate to the starter. All is well. We are going to tee off on the Old course in 20 minutes! It is blowing a gale and blustery showers are forecast. Who cares? We are going to play the Old Course. Many photographs are taken. "Will the 10:40 group please play" comes over the loudspeaker. I am first to drive. Nerves jangle. Slow and steady. Thwack. Reasonably long and reasonably straight down the middle of the first fairway. Yes!!! Seen it on TV. Now I have done it and can relax. The others follow and we walk down the first fairway. From then on it was all about enjoying ourselves and enjoying being there. It started raining on the second but we barely noticed. The golf was horrendously difficult in the wind. Balls were lost. Most shots played were ok. Putts on the huge greens were very fast but generally good and occasionally memorable. We arrived at the turn with Jeremy and I sharing the lead at 13 points. The 10th became the most memorable. On the green in two a long bendy putt into the hole. I have birdied the 10th at St Andrews. I might mention this any time I see the professionals playing the hole. Amazingly, Jeremy follows me in for his birdie. Tim & Simon got pars. We murdered that hole. And so onto the back nine. Wind behind now and the golf was easier. To the 17th and the drive over the railway sheds. Me first again. Over it went. Oh Yes! Tim was a bit right and left his mark on the fabric of the Old Course Hotel. Onto the last. Unfortunately one of few poor drives. Photographs on the Swilcan bridge and into the town whatched and photographed by the ladies. Putt out on the 18th. Shake hands warmly. We have lived the dream. Jeremy is the worthy winner having outplayed his handicap on the back nine. My 28 points took me to second place, I had visited some of the scary bunkers on the back nine. But we were all winners. We have played the Old Course at St Andrews!

And so to the club house. Showers. Souvenirs from the St Andrews links shop. Steak in the clubhouse overlooking the New and Jubilee courses. And you can just see the Old Course. We played that you know. Back to the cottage. Champagne came out again. Toast was the winner at St Andrews followed by living the dream. Trophy presented to Jeremy.We spent the rest of the evening with drink and games. What a day.

Saturday the party started to break up. Simon & Sue set of for Swansea to visit little Edward. Tim & Vicky set of for Manchester to report to Vicky's mum. We went to revisit old haunts in the Trossachs, which were as beautiful as we remember although jolly cold. The five of us remaining spent the evening with drink and games. We ate the remainder of the excellent meals prepared by Geraldine & Eve.

Sunday Jeremy & Eve departed for their long journey to Exeter. The last three standing went on an excellent walk in warm sunshine on the banks of the River Tay. We then went to St Andrews. We saw the Old Course in the sunshine. It happens then. As it was a Sunday, there was nobody playing. A strange sight to see non golfers wandering over the links. We toured the town, which is a beautiful place and then, as a final bonus, we saw and photographed a red throated diver (a first ever sighting for me), an eider duck and a Kittiwake. Back to the cottage for the last time. We spent the rest of the evening with drink and games. Geraldine cooked a final excellent meal confirming the standard for the week.

Monday and like all good things, this holiday came to an end. After cleaning Lomond View and a lingering goodbye, we spent the day driving back to Nottingham.

Tuesday we spent at home recovering. I relived the dream, sorting photographs from the holiday.

Wednesday was a returnt to golf as I played for the Seniors against the ladies. The overall match was a tie. Our part in it was a little embarrassing. I played with Chris in what looked on paper a strong partnership. We played Celia & Collette. They never missed a fairway, green or putt. We knew we were in trouble when we were 7 down after 7 holes. We fought back and won the eighth but eventually lost 8&7, my highest ever defeat at matchplay. Bravely, we continued to talk to the girls over the meal.

Thursday was more golf. A slight improvement gave me 30 points, nowhere near the money. Les won the front 9 again and the other Les won the back nine and the match.

Friday I had a trip to the dentist for a very uncomfortable half hour of preparation to fit a crown. Returning home, we went out for a very pleasant flat walk in the Trent valley based at Rolleston. Details of the walk will occur elsewhere on this site shortly.

Saturday I cooked a splendid three course meal for Geraldine. It was pumpkin soup, pork carbonnade and raspberry sorbet, accompanied by copious wine. I think the effort was appreciated.

Sunday was more golf. It was the first Sunday of the summer season, we were back on white pots. The competition was a Texas scramble, which as previously discussed is the least enjoyable of all golf competitions. We ended with a reasonable but not winning score of net 65.1.

Monday and seniors golf. The first qualifying round of the season. I played very well and contrived to throw away an excellent round. I scored 36 points which should have been 46. My handicap will be unaltered because the score will be in the buffer zone. I suppose the redeming feature is that form is pretty good coming into the season. In the afternoon I revisited my hip specialist as I am not as mobile as I think I should be. As normal, the appointment started some 90 minutes after the agreed time. The doctor poked and twisted and eventually x-rayed and seemed to struggle to find anything wrong. Eventually he settled for the spike of the artificial hip not being fully embedded into the thigh bone. He suggested that I return in three months to see if this has improved. Meanwhile he suggested less exercise. To me this is the wrong answer. I wanted reference to a physiotherapist but he did not think this worthwhile. My plans for the next week are probably more, not less exercise but this is followed by a week of very little exercise. If it seems better after the second week, I might try to use a buggy for two of the three weekly rounds of golf and see if that helps.

Tuesday we went for a walk in the Peak District based on Elton. It was a walk with superb views almost all the time. The only downside was a little too much walking on tarmac. Details of the walk will occur on the walks page.

Today was another fine sunny day and we used our National Trust membership to visit Keddleston hall in Derbyshire. It was only two years ago that we last visited but the hall remained a spectacular visit. We also walked in the grounds for the first time, including seeing our first swallow of the summer!

Slightly less than a week has passed since the last entry and spring appears to have sprung.

On Friday last, 13th March, we returned to the scene of our joining English Heritage at Bolsover castle. The weather was better on the second visit and we were able to enjoy the full tour. The visit was once again well worthwhile. Only one thing wrong, the receptionist tried to sell us a guide book without first informing us of the excellent free audio tour available.

In the evening we made our first visit for some time to Nottingham playhouse to see Arthur Miller's "The Price". The first half was rather like watching paint dry. However, the second half was excellent and thought provoking as Miller intended. Overall a success.

Saturday we took Kate out for a meal to celebrate her 30th birthday. La Capanna did us proud again and a good time was had by all.

Sunday was golf. A fairly ordinary performance in a medal with a net 82 shots, but I did get a 2 so will end in profit. On returning from golf, we gave Kate presents as today was actually the day. We all have a London weekend to look forward to taking in a show. In the afternoon I watched England's rugby team destroy the French. When did they learn to play like that? Why have we not seen the likes of that o