Spring has arrived!

Hello all!

I put about 600 miles on my car this week as activity to cover my region picked up. I spent Monday in Dorset which is directly South of Bristol, also on the coast, just a different one. The first 35 miles were on the motorway. The next 55 were on village-to-village roads. As I was driving, BBC Radio 2 was announcing where there were flash flood warnings as I turned dow a single lane road that ran along side of a swelling creek to get into Dorset. It was beautiful, but I would have rather been fishing. I now understand why there are so many Land Rovers in this country. If a car would have been driving on the same road coming towards me, one of us would have had to have pulled off into a cut-away on the lane to let the other pass. The good news is that the daffodils were in full bloom and there were lambs in the fields. Spring is in full bloom on the south side of the Southwest of England! This is most definitely a place to return to do a walk about or two.

Last week, I joined a gym. The gyms are almost always associated with a hotel. I had noticed that when staying in hotels that are in more remote areas. Same is true here. My drive to the gym is 30 minutes. There is a single lane road, two single lane bridges, 3 or 4 villages to pass through and then you get to this! It has a spa, salon and private wine/juice bar for members. The hotel is called the Cadbury House. It's really beautiful. I went today for a short work out. Tomorrow, I go back for my induction [orientation]. The trainer will walk me through a series of assessments and then put together a program designed to help me meet my goals. It's all captured on a key that I plug into each machine that I use and it tracks my progress. It really is very cool. Very 21st century after passing all of those sheep to get there!

I also stopped today at Clevedon Golf Club and signed up for a golf lesson. Time to get serious about practicing. During the week, I actually work next to a golf course. I plan to spend some time there on the driving range. Clevedon Golf club proudly boasts of having one of the most picturesque golf courses in the South West. The views from the course are second to none, with the new Severn [river] crossing adding to the splendid scenery of the opening few holes.
Clevedon Golf club was formed in 1891, golf has been played on the current site upon the Castle Farm since 1889. In recent years the course has seen some major changes with the introduction of 5 new holes, and the construction of 18 new USGA specification greens to meet the demands of golf into the next century. And it has walking public walking trails along the coast. I'm going to go back tomorrow and take advantage of the predicted sunny weather and have a walk about along the coast.

New Words/Phrases

Airy Fairy - means wobbly

Moner - means frowning face [versus smily face, like Emily's!]

Stick to the knitting - mind your own business and FOCUS!
That's it for now. Keep in touch and happy birthday to my niece, Emily!

There's a constant ringing in my ears ...

I would just like to say that this serene sceen from my home office has lost a little bit of it's charm. I have been introduced to bell rehearsal. From the sounds of it, the ringers who practice in the evening [around 9:00pm] have more experience. Probably all adults. And certainly head to the pub for a pint after their hour or so of rehearsal is over. I'm not sure yet how many bells are in this tower. Sounds like A LOT. Perhaps six. There is also supposed to be a melody or pattern. My ear is not yet trained enough to hear it. Now the one or two bell ringers that woke me up this morning, were not nearly as good. Sparse. Clearly no pattern. The later morning team did a much better job. Honestly, I would like to know what they are rehearsing for? Easter, perhaps? I thought it was quaint around Christmas, but then, I don't think I was listening to rehearsals.

New word/phrase:

I have new phrases for you. First of all, Agony Aunt. An agony aunt is someone that you share your troubles with. Kind of like Dear Abby in the paper.

And have you heard of DeMob Happy? In its long form, it means Demobilization Happy and used to describe individuals who are about to be discharged from military service. They are likely to walk around with a smile on their face and not be bothered by much.

Well, I'm off to buy a clothes dryer. I got the green light this week, so I'm going to quickly secure one before they change their minds. Dryers here do now have to be vented and the water is collected in a pan at the bottom which has to be emptied. All I know is that I am looking forward to having soft bath towels again!

Blustery January

Hi all! Finally getting to a new post. I desperately needed two things: time on the computer that wasn't related to expense reports or research, and new material! Got some. First, let's talk about the origin of the Easter Bunny. Whilst I was driving to Glocestershire last Tuesday, I saw large sheep [lambs on their way], green fields [winter wheat is up], a few Pheasant roosters, and a few Hares [as in the large rabbits that live in the fields, not those growing on your head]. They live in in nests, called "forms". I suspect they are called that because in the shallow hole, the hare takes the form of the ground. You can't see them until you are right up on them. At any rate, there is bird called the Plover that will hijack an abandoned form and lay its eggs. If/when the hare returns, s/he lies [or is it 'lays'] on the eggs. Now suppose you happen across the hare and scare it away. There you would see that the Easter Bunny left you some eggs. I'm sure there are more possibilities, but I like this story. And if you could see the size of these bunnies! I think they would give Allie a run for her money!

I did a bit of a walk-about yesterday. For the first time in a long time, there was sunshine predicted until about 4 o'clock, so I put on some down and headed for the sea. Aside from a short car ride, I have not been to the shore. I walked to the docks and harbour, then turned to follow a trail along the shore. There was a peer where the fisherman were allowed to fish from, but you had to have a license, a security code to open the gate on the peer, and I guess the going uniform for one who fishes is a jump suit of red and black. The guys waiting in the harbour for the gate to open were wearing the same red and black jump suit as the guys sitting on the peer.

I found a pub. The Royal. Great time and location for lunch! And what a great location. It looks out over the bay. I could see the suspension bridge to Wales. Further down on a road called The Woodlands, I walked along a lane of houses that look out over the bay. One house had a dragon's head that greated you in the drive. Further down, I found myself on Lake Road, and I knew where I was. Relatively speaking, not far from my house. I had obviously taken the scenic route past the docks, locks and peer. A great walk!

And I almost forgot, right before the holidays a guy came knocking on my door selling milk. As it turns out, I can have mild delivered to my house. Partly because of the pure nostalgia of it and partly because he called me "love" the entire conversation, I now have my milk delivered to my house. They have a larger menue, including dog food, so I am quite certain I will expand my services, but it was certainly a fun conversation. That's all for now. Take care and drop me a line!

Happy New Year!

Hello all, after taking a break for the holidays I am back in my house and finally, I have Internet at my house. Not sure if that's a good thing or bad [more frequent posts or less meaningful]. Ah, well. So it is.

I took the opportunity during the holidays to head back to the U.S. and spend time with family and friends. I also was able to rescue my four-legged roommates from the kennel and keep them with me for two weeks. They have eight weeks [and counting] left on their quarantine. They are scheduled to begin their overseas journey 25 Feb.

New Word/Phrase:

Do you know what "Fly-tipping" is? Flytipping is the illegal dumping of waste. It can vary in scale significantly from a bin bag of rubbish to large quantities of waste dumped from trucks. Fly-tipped waste may be found anywhere, such as roadsides, in lay-bys [waysides, for those of you from Wisconsin or rest areas without facilities] or on private land. It's a real problem here.

I have been spending my time in my house [when I am here], unpacking and organizing. I have a long way to go. I need to get some pictures of the recycle center in town before I write about that, but suffice-it-to-say it is efficient. I actually enjoy going! Good thing!

I have my room, my closet [this is actually a bedroom], my bath and the guest room completed. Tomorrow I am going to try and tackle my office. I am supposed to be able to work from home when not "seconded" or in London. I didn't spend much time getting my office organized in the absence of having a phone, Internet or printer. That is all behind me now!

New Word/Phrase:

"Seconded" means to work in a dual role. The individual brings their experience to the place to which they are seconded and take back to their knowledge of issues which they acquire during their period of secondment.

I am getting ready to begin exploring the countryside. I really want to have my house in order before embarking on that. Hard to come home to piles of "stuff" ... and, it's raining anyway!

That's it for now. Drop me a note when you have a chance. Happy Leap Year!