Day 9 - Rain Rain Rain

Friday - A dreary day, heavy rain with no prospect of respite from the weather. The children reported the tent flooded again, on inspection, it appears the rubberised overseal on the inside of the stiched seams, has perished and come away, leaving the rain to filter through the stitching holes and enter the tent.
Nelly, Mr Fink and I went to Broughton to have our breakfast at The Square Cafe - delicious, recommended.

On our return, Mr fink and Bambino (the rest of the Glums had gone to explore Whitehaven) again mopped up the tent, covered the top with a 4 metre tarpaulin and secured same. the wind blew, the tarp rattled and cracked in the storm, but it held and the tent was mostly dry.
We watched films, walked the dog, observed the rain lashing down, the puddles getting wider and deeper.
Eventually we headed to bed, the storm still raging, the youngsters sent to bed with ear plugs to mask the sound of the tarp thrashing against the wind. All night it rained and rained, waking everyone up at some point during the evening.

Day 8 - David Bailey eat your heart out

Yesterday before the Glums went to Ulverston, I asked Bambi if he was passing a camera shop, could he get me a screen protector. He did visit a camera shop, he forgot to get a screen protector, but he (and Mrs Glum) gave me a new camera lens!!!!!! A beautiful Nikon zoom 55-200mm wow. How happy was I? Amazing.

Thursday - Mr Fink, Nelly and Bambino headed off to Windermere and Coniston. The rest of us were feeling lazy and didn't fancy a long car journey so we decided to take a trip to Hodbarrow Nature Reserve nearby and experiment with Marsha's and my cameras.

After a thrilling and bumpy ride through massive rain water filled pot holes, we arrived at Hodbarrow Point where there is a beautiful little cove with a sandy beach, rocks and heathland to explore.
Mrs Glum elected to sit in the car overlooking the coastline and read. Marsha, Bambi and I went on a photo safari. We captured images of a hawk in flight, catching it's tea and at rest. White, brown and blue butterflies, landscapes, cloudscapes, abstract natural images and portraits.
The weather and light was perfect, sunny bright and warm. We spent 3 hours exploring the nature reserve, old sea wall, ruined windmill, old lighthouse, coastline and rugged rocks.
The new lens really made taken excellent photos very easy indeed. I'm really pleased with the results and I'm learning more all the time.
We spent the evening viewing and explaining the photos, what a thoroughly good day.

PS. We've had a couple of evenings where we've been trying to watch the Perseid meteor shower. One of our party - who shall remain nameless - saw the International Space Station (ISS) cross the sky for the first time and remarked, "For the ISS and the satellites to be visible from earth, the lights on them must be really powerful?"

Day 7 - waterlogged tents and tasty dinners

Wednesday's weather forecast was due to be torrential rain for Cumbria so the Glums decided to strike out alone and visit Ulverston (birth place of Stan Laurel). They hadn't been gone 10 minutes when my phone rang, it was Bambi, "Did your dad (Shouty Grandad) get his tooth knocked out when he was a child? I've just met a bloke who says his brother did!"

We decided to do a recce of Ladyhall where my paternal great grandfather and his family once lived and worked a farm on the salt marsh.
We had a drive arouns and spotted where we thought the abandoned farm buildings might be but didn't know where the path down to it was so I'll have to revisit with my parents another time.
We headed out to The High Cross Inn at Broughton, a pub/hotel/restaurant I have passed hundreds of times but never been in. The pub is very welcoming, even with a little nook where you can chose a book and sit and read. I spoke to the landlady (of only 9 weeks) about how the area gets in your veins, she agreed. There was a varied and interesting menu, I had Cumbrian chicken stuffed with black pudding in mustard seed sauce - lovely. As we ate, we looked out of the conservatory across the Duddon Valley at the heavy rain pounding down.
We headed back to the campsite and arrived just as a massive cloudburst opened and started to flood the site. Mr Fink checked the tent to find one of the zips had been left open, the tent was full of 2 inches of water! So when the rain stopped, Bambi, Bambino, Mr Fink and I bailed out the tent, dried it out, repegged it (with new pegs - the family that borrowed the tent last, forgot to put the pegs back in the bag - DOH!) and rearranged the sleeping compartments to keep anything from rubbing on the sides. The girls and Mrs Glum dried the blow up beds and sleeping bags with a combination of the camp drier (until she was chucked out at 5pm) and Bambino's hair drier. It was all very 'Dunkirk spirit'!

In the evening the boys and Marsha took Glumdog for a walk round to the lighthouse and we all went to bed relatively early.

Day 5 and 6 - Water fights and bridge jumping

Monday we had a day round the camp, Marsha and Nelly went off to the beach on a camera treasure hunt, trying to take pictures of items on a list we made up for them. Later we all headed to the river for a game of catch, Glumdog learned to swim and Bambi and Mr Fink spent a lot of their time windmilling their arms trying to stay upright in the fast flowing slippery (oddly named) River Lazy. Nelly flew her kite and I took some excellent pictures of her.
For dinner, Mr Fink cooked Bootle sausage with spuds and cabbage. Yum.
Glumdog started to bark in the night so Bambi took him for a walk in the dark. Mr Fink set off to follow but lost Bambi and soon felt he was being followed. He headed back to the static caravan with the intention of getting a torch and a 'weapon', as he was fumbling about in the shed for a shovel, he heard, "'Allo, what you doing?" It was Bambi, returned from his walk.

Tuesday we were going to head up to Coniston but as he weather seemed fair, we went to Ulpha instead.
Ulpha is my favourite place on this planet. The part I love is Ulpha Bridge where a dry stone road bridge, about 20ft high, crosses a crystal clear and deep mountain stream. The grassy banks are nibbled by sheep into lush velvet cushions and the granite/quartz rocks rise up through the turf like miniature skyscrapers.
I get a feeling of calm, peace and contentment whenever I come here. If I were a spiritual person I would say this is my cathedral or place of meditation. I feel very at home here.

We set up our picnic, chairs and blankets on the close cropped turf and the younger ones made for the freezing river, tipping each other in, setting each other adrift on the rubber ring and jumping in off the stantions of the bridge. they slipped and slide downstream and swam in the deep clear waters, only coming ashore to warm up!
Traditionally, young men have jumped off the road bridge into the fathomless depths of the river but horror stories I had been brought up with, of young lives being lost through jumping into the wrong part of the river, have always made me wary of letting my family jump from the 20ft parapet.
Bambi and Mr Fink, ever mindful of their good natured rivalry were leaning on the parapet trying to see where the deep part of the river was but the position of the sun prevented this. Presently 2 young local chaps turned up, stripped to the waist and joined our men on the bridge. they had a conversation about the right place to jump off, where in the river to aim for and how to combat the freezing shock of the water. after a few minutes, the first young man took a short run up, placed his hand on the bridge, vaulted over the dry stone wall and plummeted into the icy stream. he bobbed back up, then his friend did the same, athletically swinging his legs sideways like an athlete on the pommel horse then pencil straight into the clear water.
Our men looked at each other. Bambi took the lead, swung his long legs (he IS called Bambi for a reason!) over the wall, gave Mr Fink a nod and pushed himself off. He let out a loud yell as he went down. The triumph on his face was a picture, "I did it first! Beat ya!"
His glory was short lived when Mr Fink stood up on the wall, took a deep breath and jumped out into the air. A big splash later and a victorious hubby surfaced, smiling. Bambi was not to be beaten, "Oh no, I suppose I've got to go off it standing up as well now?" After a couple more jumps, Marsha and Nelly were asking if they too could jump. We decided, if they had the bottle to do it, they should be allowed to do it.
Nelly went first, blood curdling scream on the way down, such elation on her face when she bobbed back up. Next was Marsha, a little hesitant at first but she stepped off and took the plunge. Unfortunately, I mucked up the camera and didn't get it on video so she had to do it again. Trouble was, I missed her second jump so she had to go again! Finally, Bambino took to the wall and in a very low key way, jumped out into the freezing river.
Everyone congratulated themselves and we headed home (a little sun burned) for tuna pasta a la Nelly and a night of star gazing and meteor watching.

Good times.

Day 4 - loose dogs and water fights

Today we headed off to Wastwater to Britain's favourite view. The roads were twisty and narrow the weather dull and moody. The shadows cast onto the 3 mountains bordering the lake made them look broody and sinister.
We paddled in the cold dark waters, Glumdog found a dank, stagnant puddle to jump into and the kids (I include Mr Fink and Bambi in this group) all paddled across to the little island for a photo opportunity.

We then headed up to Wasdale Head at the top of the lake for a pint of cool Weston's cider and a stunning view of the river. We would have gone for a walk to see the smallest church but the weather beat us to it and we headed back to camp.

Glumdog rode in the Fink car on the way home, we decamped at the static only to find the campsite cat, 'Prince' curled up and fast asleep on the chair on the veranda. We shooed the cat away but he just sat on the grass near the veranda. Glumdog was desperate to make friends with the cat so he jumped over the gate and headed for the cat. The cat just sat and looked at him, gave him a couple of cursory swipes and before any harm to come to either of them, I grabbed the dog. I returned him to the veranda where Mr Fink put him on his lead. I decided I would tether him down on the grass, as I led him down, he lunged, the split ring on his collar broke, his dog tag fell between the slats on the veranda and the dog honed in on the cat.
again the cat did nothing but stare at the dog, the dog did nothing but stare at the cat and I again caught him.
By the time the Glums returned to camp, Glumdog's lead was firmly secured to a peg in the ground and the cat was sitting just out of reach.
We decided we couldn't have the cat loitering near the dog, for it's own good so I chucked a couple of pints of water at it and it soon got the message and wandered off.
I mentioned to Marsha that the dog tag was under the veranda and she might like to crawl under to fetch it. She took the broom and squeezed into the crawl space. I couldn't resist and reached for the pint of water I had to hand for the return of the cat and poured some of it onto the boards of the veranda.
Marsha screamed!!
Anyway, she found the tag and joined me and Bambi on the veranda. "Which one of you soaked me?" she asked. I naturally pointed to Bambi. Marsha threw a pint of water at Bambi.
Bambi then threw a pint of water at me for telling fibs and for getting him wet!

We rounded off the day with dog walks and the Olympic closing ceremony. All in all a great day.

Day 3 - Banana Boats and Pies

Today the 'men' fixed the dog gate to the static's veranda. This was a poor excuse for a trip into Millom to the hardware shop where they spent ages drooling over power tools. We managed to stop Bambi from buying a hammer drill. We visited the best pie shop in the world and drove back to the site, the car filled with the wonderful scent of meat and potato pies. Yum!

The rest of the day was spent in and around the beach, football, photographs and the Glums' inflatable 2 man canoe. It's bright yellow and hard to miss. Bambi and Marsha paddled in the sea, joined by Mr Fink. Mrs Glum, glumdog and I relaxed on a bench overlooking the estuary. Beautiful.

In the evening Mrs Glum made a delicious spag bol. We went bed, tired and happy.

Day 2 - Friday

I had booked Marsha and Nelly on a day's horseriding, trekking up Black Coombe. Meanwhile everyone else went to Ulpha (a local beauty spot where local teenagers jump 20ft off the quaint road-bridge into the mountain stream. A dad and his children were jumping and I wanted to test my new camera so I asked if I could take some action shots of them, to which he agreed. The photos came out perfectly, I am so pleased with them. I asked for the family's email address so that I could send them on, only for the mum to tell me their camera had broken on the first day of their holiday.

Bambino and Mr Fink went downstream, about 30 minutes later they returned. Bambino was soaked from head to foot. Mr Fink had explained that the river was deep enough to jump in so Bambino had swung from the branch of a tree, accidentally slipped and fell in! Like father like son? I think so.

Later we drove over Corney Fell, beautiful big skies and views across the fells to Wasdale and Scafell Pike (NOT 'SKAW' but 'Scar'). Many many photo opportunities. Bambi was driving the fell road where there are intermittent, signposted, 'passing places', he reversed back to one of the passing places, told me to come and take a photo of him. He was standing by the sign with his back to me and his hands hidden. When i looked up at the sign, some bright spark had peeled off the 'A' in 'passing' and replaced it with a bit of tape, turning it into an 'I'. Very funny!

We met the girls on the return from their ride, they were saddle sore but exhilarated, they'd had a lovely day.

The Glums ; Finks Holiday : Day 1 in the Big Brudder House

It's holiday time, The Finks are off on tour with The Glums. We call them the Glums but they are anything but glum. there's Mrs Glum (terrific cook), Mr Glum or Bambi (chronic clumsiness, all round nice guy), Marsha (surrogate daughter of mine), Bambino (tall, great SOH) and Glumdog (young wire haired fox terrier).

A 240 mile journey took about 5 hours, as we came off the M6 at junction 36, the scenery changes, the sky widens and the fells rise up to meet it. I'm home. Cumbria.

I wasn't born in Cumbria, I'm a Southern softie. My parents, Nanny and Shouty Grandad are Cumbrians and I've been visiting the county ever since I was born. I have always felt an affinity with the area, I feel calm and rested after only a few hours in the fresh salty air. "Where the mountains meet the sea".

My Aunty Joannie, who owns the static caravan at Haverigg, kindly allows us to borrow it. At the back you can see Black Coombe (1970ft), at the front, the sea. It's beautiful.

We explored the beach, took photographs (I have a new camera which I'm learning to use) and enjoyed the sunset. In the evening the kids went to bed in the tent and Bambi - ever competitive - challenged Mr Fink to an arm wrestle. (Bambi and Mr Fink have a long history of of good natured rivalry, usually with Bambi ending up injured or coming second.)

I video'd the arm wrestling match but can't upload the video as the connection here is too slow. They locked hands at the dining table and started to strain. All of a sudden there was an organic sounding 'crack' and Bambi screamed. It appears Bambi has badly strained a tendon or muscle.

Happy Days

Good Friday. Yes i agree it was good. A wonderful afternoon spent with The Glums in the local woods, walking, climbing trees, taking photos, throwing tennis balls at each other and generally enjoying each others company.
I don't have natural brothers and sisters but in Mr and Mrs Glum I feel I do.
Mr Fink was turned into a 'ninja' by Nelly and he tried to locate her zombie style. It was really quite spooky!
We finished our walk with tea (supplied by me) and cake supplied by Mrs Glum. Then we headed off to the Grand Union pub at Three Locks near Leighton Buzzard. A lovely meal with good humour.
We headed home (Mr Glum got a bit lost) and had a smashing day.
Thank you friends, we love you. xxx

A Peaceful and Happy New Year to you all!

Wow, didn't that come and go fast?

Christmas Eve was spent with The Glums, wonderful food by Mrs Glum, great home movies by Bambi (Mr Glum). the most amazing surprise came when the glums insisted (as they do) that we open each other's gifts on the spot. Mr Fink and I were handed a long package. We looked at each other in puzzlement, this gift was about 2 metres long by half a metre wide???? as we unwrapped it, we realised what it was. (In the blog entry, "you can take the girl out of Colney" - you will remember Mr Fink and I went to a junk emporium, while there we spotted the most beautiful paining of a lady in a red velvet dress reclining, we both fell in love with it but couldn't quite justify spending the money just before Xmas, so reluctantly we left it there. We mentioned this in passing to The Glums' the next day and thought no more of it. The next day Nelly and I went back to the junk shop to get the picture for Mr Fink but it had gone. Doh!) The Glums had visited the shop early the next day and bought it for us. We were speechless, what a lovely gift. Thank you!

On Xmas Day, Mr Fink, Nelly (aka Little Fink) and I spent a wonderful day with my parents, Nanny and Shouty Grandad. Shouty Grandad spent most of the day looking for The Scotch Tape (a cassette of bagpipe music with which he tortures Nelly in the campervan) and for the campervan keys. The sight of him alternately looking worried and then smiling at the annoyance of knowing the keys are in the house but "Where?", was very funny to watch and had me giggling all morning.
In the end the keys were located in one of the many hiding places he has for items of value (you've heard the one about him stashing the holiday money in his going out shoes, forgetting and being crippled all night at a party due to ten pound notes taking him down a few shoe sizes?)
We shared gifts, swapped stories and generally had a lovely morning.
We had the best dinner ever, Heston eat your heart out. Mum, you are the best.
After dinner we played the now traditional round of homemade Deal or no Deal, which can be a bit of a trial unless Shouty Grandad is losing, then it gets really funny. Nelly made a Christmas quiz for us, this year it was boys v girls and nanny and I won! Woo Hoo - we didn't brag tooooooo much.

Mr Fink has made himself a digital jukebox, which he is enjoying playing with. 2 days ago I went to collect a pasta maker from a Freecycler and got a puncture in Mr Fink's car. Yesterday I took Nelly horseriding, Marsha was also there, Marsha's horse reared up and bucked her off. Bambi and I though we were going to have to call an ambulance for her but after a few minutes she seemed ok and has suffered no damage, thankfully. (ALWAYS wear your hat and body protector if you are playing with horses.)

It's now New Year's Eve, I received a phone call this morning from my bank, checking the validity of a purchase I apparently tried to make yesterday, £291 to Emu-Oz's Party Shop in Australia. I agreed with the lady from the bank that it was not me trying to buy £300 worth of party gear just after Xmas, so they declined the transaction and stopped my card. Well done to the bank for monitoring my buying patterns and preventing a fraud I probably wouldn't have picked up till my next pay day.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow and our traditional 'fish and chips on the beach' new Year's Day with the Glums, Southend, here we come!

Well, may I wish you all peace and good wishes for the coming year, may it find and leave you in good health, good spirits and with the people you love. xxx

Opened my mouth and put my foot in it.

Last night, Mr Fink, Little Fink (aka Nelly) Mrs Glum, Bambi, Marsha and I went to London to see Les Miserables. Mrs Glum works at a local school that organised a coach and the tickets. We boarded the bus and set off in the rush hour traffic down the M1.
Mr Fink took out his phone and began to play the on-line dart game he enjoys. Often when he goes to bed, he will have a few games of darts on the phone while I'm reading. I hear him muttering under his breath at his opponent, "miss, miss, miss". Sometimes he even tilts the phone to divert his opponent's shot.
Anyway, there was lots of banter on the coach, as there always is when The Finks and The Glums get together. I chided Mr Fink about his on-line dart playing ability and in a too loud voice said, "You're no good at it in bed, what makes you think it will be any easier bouncing up and down on the back of the coach."

You'd think that would have shut me up. No.
On the way home, one lady had been declaring that she couldn't eat any of the treats, sarnies, buns or chocs that were being shared as she was on a strict diet. During the journey through London's food quarter, she finally cracked and said, "I've not eaten for 6 weeks!" To which I replied, "I thought I could smell Lighter Life!" (Oops - i meant, "that sounds familiar - Lighter Life by any chance?" but it came out wrong. DOH!

Les Mis was terrific - I loved it, powerful voices, intimate venue, great story and amazing visuals. highly recommended.

Catch Up!

Well, What a bizarre and busy half term I have had!
MONDAY - came back from a lovely weekend in York.
TUESDAY - household chores, spring cleaning.
WEDNESDAY - spent a lovely afternoon at my friend's house, was looking forward to a curry with a work colleague in the evening but when I arrived, they were just starting on the mints and coffee - Oops - how embarrassing!
THURSDAY - Went to the V&A in London with The Glums, very amusing day, the children were not keen on the museum so by way of a bribe we said we'd go and have a look at Oxford Street and shopping afterwards! Mrs Glum's son, Bambino (son of Bambi) said he would like to visit the Gibson guitar store near Bond Street if possible. So I looked it up on me superduper Myphone, 23, South Molten Street, just round the corner. We looked and looked, number 23 is 'Brown's'. We found a bobby, he said there was no guitar shop in South Molten Street - pah - what did he know? We found 'Gibson & Sons' at 1st floor, 23 South Molten Lane. I rang the intercom and we waited expectantly. No one responded, we tried again. still no answer. I checked the internet again, only to find out it was Gibson & Sons ESTATE AGENTS. Oh how embarrassing - we ran back to Oxford Street. (but if you type 'gibson guitar shop' into Google, it shows that address????)
FRIDAY - Took Billie Psychorabbit to Agatha's Annexe where she was groomed (Billie, not Agatha!) and she behaved perfectly, I even had a little cuddle.
Little Fink and I took the rats and Harry the cat to the vet. He wouldn't go in the cat carrier, kept spreading his arms wide, then sticking his head out so I couldn't shut the door. He yowled, all the way to the vets, becoming more and more insistent - I realised he had done a wee in the box. Oh the smell! We got to the vet's, I tipped the box up on it's end to empty the urine, that wasn't soaked into his coat, into a drain.
The vet diagnosed Harry the cat had fractured his lower jaw requiring it to be wired together for 4 weeks. Poor old boy! Later, dropped Little Fink off at overnight Scout camp - just as the heavens opened, then headed off to The Horn Reborn in St Albans for an 80's tribute band The Nearly New Romantics. FANTASTIC night.
SATURDAY - Made it home by 2.30am (designated driver) and was up again at 7.30am to pick a very muddy, but happy, Little Fink up from Lees Wood in Rickmansworth. Picked up Harry (£80, which I didn't think was bad, considering.)
I think I'll go back to work for a rest!

Hippo Gnu Deer to Ewe

Well, Happy New Year to you all. We had a terrific Christmas with family, friends and lots of silly games - particularly homemade Deal or no Deal. Nanny made a spectacular Christmas dinner, so good I didn't have room for pudding! We spent time with the Glums, more great food and daft games. New Year's Eve we were invited to one of the Four Musketeers' house for a party which turned into a karaoke fest. We left before the shots started to be drunk as we had a beach date set up for New Year's Day. We will be staying next year tho - if invited. (Judging by the hangover reports the next day - it was a monumental party!)

New Year's Day, Nanny, Mr Fink, Little Fink, me, the Glums and Glumdog (fox terrier) went to Worthing in West Sussex. We had dry, crisp weather, a lovely walk up the beach, fish and chips al fresco and lots of beach combing. We finished with tea and sandwiches on the promenade, Mrs Glum brought her little primus stove and had freshly boiled water for the tea. We did get a few odd looks from passers by, we also got lots of people wishing us happy New Year.

Mr Fink is finally loosing the plot. He went to the cupboard to get a tin tuna for dinner, reported that there was none and walked away. I checked and there were 2 tins right at the front of the shelf?????

He pout the water on to boil for pasta, sat down, watched TV for 40 minutes, went back in the kitchen, steam and condensation everywhere. He just turned to me and said, "In 8 years time, I'll be elligible to get insurance from SAGA." Hmm, it shows!

We all wish you a happy and healthy new year. xxx

Walk With The Stars

Last week, Astral spent her second week in the local hospice. what a beautiful, serene, 'happy' place. While I was visiting on Monday, I came across a leaflet, "Walk With The Stars" raise money for the hospice by completing a sponsored 5 mile walk. "I'll do it." I thought.
I registered, i set up my sponsor page and as an incentive I said, if I were to get £100 I would do the walk in my pyjamas. The next thing I know, The Foggs (and many others) had sent £100, just to make sure I wore my pyjamas. I said If I were to raise £200 I would carry Graham T Heron round with me on the walk. My work chums pitched in and Graham was on the team. Lastly I said if I raised £400 I would wear the flashing bunny ears. Friends, family and old school chums didn't let me down and the picture shows what I looked like as i set off on my very first sponsored walk.
I was terrified, I didn't know how far 5 miles looked like, could I walk that far? How would I explain if I couldn't make it? Anyway. I met up with Bionic-Woman (had a new knee and a new wrist) and she and I walked the 5 miles. It was hard going for the last little bit and i have a decent sized blister on the ball of my foot which gave my gyp, but I did it. I walk 5 miles in 1 hour 30 minutes and felt a huge sense of achievement. (Mr Fink went to bed early as he had a Father's Day golf game in the morning) so The Glums had kindly offered to 'pick me up' and take me home. I shared my triumph with them and went home to bed.
Just one thing makes me wonder - I wonder what people would have asked me to do for £1000?

Big Bwave Puddy Tat

We're looking after The Glums' hamster while they enjoy the balmy - or should that be barmy - delights of a week in Wales.
Last night I put Cornflake, for that is his name, in his plastic hamster run around ball and off he scuttled. Harry the cat followed him for a bit and I was worried Cornflake might come to a crunchy end, but when Cornflake doubled back and ran over Harry's tail, Harry ran off through the cat flap and didn't come back for an hour. How brave? Not very!

Another busy week for the Finks

Gosh, lots to catch up on. Shouty Grandad and Nanny arrived safely in Australia, dad's leg has swollen a bit, could be fluid, worst case scenario DVT. On Saturday night we had my brothers and sister-in-laws round with their partners for a night of fun and frolic. As they came in Woogie (my brother in law) noticed the 3 piles of various rubble, plasterboard, sanitary porcelain strewn about the garden ready for transfer to the tip. "I like what you've done with the garden." he offered. "Yes," I replied, "it's Neoclassical-gypsy."

Mr Fink's rendition of a monster in Guesstures was a sight to behold as was Hi5's impression of a statue. Class. This Friday we went to Astral and granddad's house to play poker. Astral is doing well, cracking sense of humour and still has a lovely bright smile and twinkling eyes. I won the first game and Grandad and I shared the second. Good fun all round.

Saturday we had the Glums round for food and games. The children were in a funny old mood and the game never really got going, we enjoyed our dinner and has a lovely chat, we were even joined by Percy (Thrower - expert gardener) from next door and we listened while he remembered his childhood and how bombs destined for the local munitions factory, in the 2nd world war landed on his house. Interesting stuff and lovely to hear Percy tell it with such clarity.

Last week I was looking to join a new metal detecting club, I sent an email to the membership coordinator asking,

"I'm interested in joining your club and I'd also like to know the general areas you manage to dog in. I'm hoping they are close-ish to my home in ...."

Oops! I meant DIG, not DOG! Doh

Buncefield Bash

The Buncefield Bash was a great success. Lots of lovely friends, a beautiful cake (thank you Mrs Glum)and lots of silly games. We played Chubby Bunnies, where you have to place marshmallows in your mouth one at a time and take it in turns to try and say "Chubby Bunnies" coherently. If you can't you are out - oh and you mustn't eat the mallows in between. (Mr Hammer would have won this one I think if the last players hadn't started to go green!)

We also played, Eat the Donut off the Washing line without Using Your Hands. (Greedy Big Mac!)

The chocolate game, (Bambi in the lead along with Loo) was very hard this year.

The indoor fireworks from Mr Fink provided the highlight of the evening, coaxing 'oohs' and 'aahs' from the astounded crowd - mostly when we all suffered smoke inhalation!

The main event of the night was Homer allowing the children to draw on him with felt tip pens. He had it everywhere, on his tum, in his ears, he looked like a gang had graffittied him! The funniest bit was 3when Little Fink was trying to wash his face with a cloth, he was sitting on the floor and every time she rubbed his face, she banged his head on the sideboard! Poor Homer.

Graham lands in Wales

Graham has landed in Wales on his holidays with The Glums.

Here is the first picture of Graham enjoying his vantage point from the Glums caravan in the foothills of Snowdon.

I'm glad to see he has arrived safely as Bambi (Mr Glum) did say Graham was not welcome on their holiday and something him being an endangered species and breaking him (or was it me) into small bits...or something. However, If I'm not mistaken, Graham's plumage looks a little 'dull'. Like someone has picked all the colour off him?

How very dare you? Poor Graham.

The Silly Season Begins

Long time no post.

On Sunday I left Mr Fink busily putting the camping gear away and playing with his new surround sound system (apologies to the neighbours, it wasn't my idea) and went off with The Glums to their caravan. The caravan lives, for most of the year in a secure depot, nearby. You would have thought we were on holiday, the weather was warm, Mrs Glum and I sitting in camping chairs enjoying cups of tea. Then Marsha and I picked some blackberries, unfortunately not enough for jam as we ate most of what we picked!

On the way home I happened to notice someone had left a life size plastic heron in the field and mentioned it in passing.

Later that evening we were watching Gryff Rees Jones on a program tracing the path of the River Lea through Beds and Herts when he visited Hatfield House where he was looking at an Elizabethan map. The map had a note on it to show where the heronry was. DING. "Mr Fink, do you fancy a game of plant the heron?" After I explained to Mr Fink, we set off to nab the heron. Under cover of darkness we drove to the field, I got out, Graham is so lifelike that in the twilight I thought, "If that thing moves I shall die of fright!"I abducted Graham and jumped back in the car. Next we made our way to Glum Towers. I gained access to the front porch, positioned Graham.....argh, I could hear child's footsteps going up the stairs. I quietly shut the porch, ran to the waiting car, jumped in and drove off, just as Marsha's bedroom light came on.

As we drove home, we were giggling like a pair of fools, congratulating ourselves on a fine bit of silliness. The only question is, will Bambi (Mr Glum) see the funny side or will he in his early morning stupor, fall over him and break his (Bambi's) nose?

Time will tell.

New Who, Bambi and Truffle Dog

Well, well, well. There you have it, the new Who, not Jeeves as he claimed "I told you, it's me, I've been up all night polishing the TARDIS!". I'll reserve judgement till 2010 although I did think he had a crazy look in his eyes and mad arms.

I'm going to miss David so much, I bet Matt won't be able to make me cry at the end of an episode I've seen a hundred times (Girl in the Fireplace and when Rose is left on Bad Wolf Bay).

Anywhoo! today Mr Fink mostly spent the day at home, trying to breathe, hopefully the antibiotics will kick in soon and he can get back to normal. It's been 3-4 weeks since he took ill.

Little Fink and I went for a tramp in the woods (he didn't mind) with most of The Glums. Little Fink, Marsha, Bambino and Bambi (Mr Glum) on their bikes, me following along behind with The Glum's dog, Pongo. Pongo likes to mark every clump of grass, mark on the road and stone with a sniff and a wee. I called him Truffle Dog, which i think he quite liked, although, if he had found one, I wouldn't eat it as he would have wee'd on that too!

As i was walking along I encountered a couple with an Airdale, it had mud all round it's chops and i said, "He looks like he has eaten half the forest!". The owner explained that the airedale likes to carry BIG sticks in it's mouth. He described how the dog will carry a 10 foot stick/branch in it's mouth and 'take out' passing joggers with it as he walks past.

We loaded the bikes, kids and dog into the cars and set off for Mrs Glum's yummy shepherd's pie, as we were travelling along the dark country road, a deer bounded across the road in front of Bambi's car, a stunning sight and a close shave for the deer.

Not more than 50 yards along, I caught sight of a deer in my headlights, lying on the verge at the side of the road, it seemed like it was struggling to stand. I flashed the headlights at Bambi and pulled over, we investigated and as we walked to the deer, it was clear it had been hit by a car and had been left injured and unable to stand. I phoned the police and gave them the story, they said they would send out the deer warden to deal with it.

Little Fink recons that when she grows up, she is going to be a vet and I am going to be an animal rescuer, she said she will even buy me a van to collect the animals in. (She did suggest a push bike but I declined her kind offer)!