Odds and Sods

Another catch up

2010-11-18T19:51:00.002Z

Sorry, it is a long while since I updated this blog, my excuse is that there has been a lot going on and I have not had time. Whilst that is partly true, it seems to be one of those things that you are always going to do tomorrow!

Flossie has now settled in as a manic 8 moth old, mad as a wasp and keeps us (and Oscar) permanently entertained.

I have now completed my year in the chair of the Alexandra Lodge which has been a fantastic experience, now have the back benches to look forward to!

As busy as ever at work, a number of high profile projects on the go, but constantly overshadowed by the uncertainty that surrounds all our jobs a South Holland District Council merges with Breckland Council in Norfolk, an exercise that will see a lot of job losses, as well as a lot of good people leaving the Council due to the uncertainty of the future for the remaining jobs, and the complete loss of moral amongst the staff.

However, life must go on, and some of the projects are so important to the economy of the district I can only hope common sense prevails.

Citro�n UK Microsite - Airdream Plus / C3-airdream-plus

2010-07-23T21:25:00.000+01:00

Citro�n UK Microsite - Airdream Plus / C3-airdream-plus

Flossie arrives

2010-05-22T14:37:00.003+01:00

Following the loss of Poppy a month ago, we felt that he time was right to get another companion for Oscar (and for us!) as he was clearly missing her.

After searching without success for a rescue dog, we decided that we would take the plunge and get ourselves a puppy.

Hence the arrival this morning of Flossie.

We fetched her from Stanwick near Rushden, she is the result of a scruffy coated Jack Russell dog, and a smooth haired Fox Terrier bitch. The bitches father was a 4 times Cruft's winner so we were told!

We got home with her without incident at around 11.30 this morning, and before midday she had fallen into the pond, and had stuck her head into Oscar's bowl whilst he was eating and got snapped at for her trouble, so an exciting morning for an 8 week old Puppy!

She is due at the Vet on Monday for her jabs, we will see how long it takes for her to settle in, she is already showing s distinct interest in tennis balls (who does that remind you of?

April 2010

2010-05-05T15:00:00.000+01:00

Broadband woes

2010-03-20T11:07:00.002Z

On Tuesday the 2nd of March, my ISP, Direct Save Telecom decided to switch off my broadband for no good reason. They did not bother to tell me they had done this, so when the red light appeared on my router, I assumed the router had packed up, and promptly bought a new one from Amazon which arrived on Thursday 4th March. (superb service as ever)

Thursday evening saw the installation of the new router to cure the problem and lo and behold, the red light was still there!

At that point I rang DST who after running through the normal checklist (is it turned on etc) announced the reason I could not connect to the internet was because I did not have, and never had, broadband on my line.

As you can imagine, I was somewhat perplexed at this announcement, I think I would have noticed if I had been without broadband for 18 months, not having it for 18 hours was like having your arm cut off, so I discounted that statement. They had been charging me for it as well, so I am pretty sure it had been working!

When I then asked what they were going to do about it, they said I would have to apply as a new customer which would take up to 14 days. What choice did I have? None, so reluctantly accepted my fate and on Sunday the 14th March the little red light suddenly turned green. No warning, no apology, and no response to my 2 emails asking for some kind of compensation for time without BB, the purchase of a new router, and the cost of mobile broadband in the interim period.

So, if you ever consider moving to Direct Save Telecom, think twice. Yes they are very competitively priced, and to be fair, before this happened, the BB link had never gone down, but what a fiasco!

Winter arrives

2009-12-18T22:25:00.003Z

Winter arrived today, causing the usual chaos. On my journey into work this morning I saw three cars in trouble before I reached the main road.

I took this picture from the back door at around 7 this evening, not bad if I say so myself!!

Pampered Pet!!

2009-12-12T15:04:00.000Z

Here are a couple of pictures of Oscar in his usual laid back pose, pampered, moir?

All go

2009-12-06T22:24:00.002Z

Last night I visited Sherwood Lodge in Nottingham as the guest of David Smith who I met through my late friend Geoff Parker. Sherwood is a very friendly Lodge, and I am hoping that three or four of their members will come and visit us in March.

Three Masonic functions this week, including a visit to Spilsby, December is going to be a very busy month!

2009-12-04T16:05:00.002Z

Wednesday last saw my second evening in the chair as WM, 83 people in attendance, a superb evening enjoyed by all. It has taken 10 years to get to this position, and all the way along, people have told me how much I will enjoy it, and how quickly the time will go, they are right on both counts. We have a busy December with various Masonic social events etc, so am looking forward to a few days off over Christmas to recuperate!

2009-10-10T20:37:00.003+01:00

I have scanned some photo's today that I have borrowed from my ex Mother in Law, they are pictures of the farm from years ago, the one shown here is from around 1955, a great example of the transition from horses to tractors, it must have been an interesting time.

The Chair

2009-10-06T15:34:00.002+01:00

Well, tomorrow night is the big night, I finally attain the chair of the Alexandra Lodge, they said it would take ten years, and it almost has!

2009-09-08T14:03:00.002+01:00

John and Jen, the lanlord and landlady of our local pub, have bought a boat, and Gill and I went down to St Ives last night to have a look and pass on a few tips. Daniels Dream is a Sea Aird 24, fitted with a 140 hp Mercruiser petrol engine, and looks to be in excellent condition.

She is currently moored at Jones Boatyard at St Ives on the Great Ouse, a really lovely river with a constantly changing landscape and a number of really pretty towns to visit like St Ives, Huntingdon and St Neots.

John very kindly let me take her (him?) out for a short cruise, most enjoyable.

Fingers crossed for fine weather this weekend for the European Finals at Santa Pod, and Goodwood Revival the weekend after.

Netbook

2009-08-19T21:56:00.003+01:00

I have bitten the bullet and treated myself to a Samsung NC10 Netbook. It is extremely light, very portable, and as long as you accept it is never going to be as fast as a full size laptop, it is fine for everyday tasks. I have also got a mobile broadband dongle to go with it, but not sure yet whether I will keep this. It is on a month by month contract so I will give it a couple of months evaluation to see if the 5GB allowance is enough.

Combined

2009-07-26T18:40:00.002+01:00

Today we have been combined, the field of Oilseed Rape that has surrounded our house on three sides disapeared in the space of around three hours, having taken since last September to grow.

It had effetively blocked our view when sitting in the garden as it had grown to around 2 metres high (I'm trying to go metric, it was 6 feet high really) and now we suddenly surrounded by open views again.

2009-07-03T21:01:00.000+01:00

2009-07-03T09:28:00.000+01:00

nigelburch.wordpress.com for drag racing related comments and pictures.

The Kitchen is finished!!

2009-07-02T15:13:00.002+01:00

The kitchen is officially finished!!

It has taken the best part of 5 months, but three weeks last Tuesday the new kitchen was declared finished and open for business. It has been a bit of a learning curve but we have got there and it was worth the wait, we will be having a kitchen warming party in the next few weeks to celebrate.

Busy times

2009-06-30T11:38:00.003+01:00

We have just returned from two busy weekends, weekend of the 20th and 21st, we went to the wedding of my cousin Gordens oldest daughter Wendy, just outside Farnham.
We had an excellent weekend, staying as guests of Angela and Ben, Gill and Angela grew up together in Thailand and have remained in touch ever since. Ben is a fellow petrol head, used to drag race in the States in his youth, even owning his own speedshop at one point!
Weekend just gone we went to London to see BB King at Wembley Arena with friends Trevor and Sue.
Gill and I went down on Saturday and fought our way from Wembley to Richmond (two and three quarter hours!) to see Gill's friend Barbie, another longstanding friend from South African days.
Had lunch with Barbie, got back to the hotel just as the heavens opened on Saturday evening.
Trevor and Sue came up on Sunday morning, Trevor having returned from the States on Saturday afternoon after being delayed at JFK for seven and a half hours, put our problems on the tube into perspective!!
Great concert at Wembley Arena, BB King was supprted by John Mayell's Blues Breakers, but BB was the star, 83 years old, on stage for 2 hours and then after the last song, put his hat and coat on, waved goodbye and left. Brilliant!
Came back yesterday morning, back into work today where the A/C broke down after 5 minutes and they cannot come and look at it until tomorrow.
Joy.

Election night

2009-06-05T17:59:00.003+01:00

Having done the job of poll clerk at the last District Council elections, I decided that this time, for the County and European elections, I would like to be a counting assistant to see the other side of the democratic process. I arrived at the South Holland Centre in Spalding just after 21.30 hrs and took my place at one of the tables. Nothing much happened until around 22.30 when the first of the ballot boxes started to arrive, and the first job was to verify the returns, in other words make sure that there were the number of voting slips in the box that the presiding officer had declared. I thought that this would be a mere formality before we got on to the real work of counting votes. Wrong. We finished verifying just after 03.00hrs! The counting itself was a much quicker process, that said, it was 05.30 hrs before I got home, too late to go to bed and be back in the office for 07,45, so I did a few jobs and was back in the office at 07.30.

I must say that unlike being a poll clerk, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience, and will definitely volunteer again, might be as soon as October, who knows!

What fun

2009-05-28T20:11:00.002+01:00

Here is another bird picture taken on the bow of our boat last week on the Broads, the Herons were so tame, we saw one on another boat, perched on the bow rail like this one, ride all the way across one of the broads, he must have been on there for at least 10 minutes, easier than flying I suppose?

Electioneering seems to be crawling to a minor crecendo here in rural Whaplode, the BNP were first into our letterbox, and also first into the rubbish bin, there is a real danger that they could make inroads this time. I do hope people are sensible and do not let the MP's expenses crisis, scandal though it is, tempt them to start voting outside the main three parties. Voting for the also rans who really do not have much of an idea about politics, but hey, sounds like fun, will simply waste votes and give the less than ideal mob a foothold. My opinion only, by the way!

Norfolk Broads

2009-05-27T21:08:00.003+01:00

I have just returned from a week on the Norfolk Broads with friends Scott and Di, unfortunately Gill was not well enough to go, she had inherited the cold that had kept me off work for most of the previous week.

The weather was reasonably good, sunshine and showers, but never stopped us from doing what we wanted to do.

There was not as much wildlife as I had hoped, although we were lucky enough to see an otter, first I have ever seen, but did not manage to get a picture.

I did however, manage to get a picture of a coot with the strangest feet, he came and perched on the dinghy I guess they help him paddle faster!

Back to work this week, only 114 emails yesterday morning, so back to reality.

Mr P

2009-05-05T21:06:00.003+01:00

Andrew Petcher has mentioned on his blog 'Have bag, will travel' how he nearly sideswiped a pheasant over the weekend, and asks the question how could anyone shoot such a magnificent bird?

This reminded me of January last year when for two or three weeks, when I went out to the car in the morning, this beautiful cock pheasant was waiting for me, he was so tame I could almost touch him. They really do have the most striking plumage, and I managed to get some close up pictures of him which I think you will agree, show him off at his best.

We called him Mr P, and he is still hanging around the garden now, but somewhere along the line last year he injured his leg, so he now hops along like Long John Silver without a crutch, but at least we know it is him! Click on the pictures to see a bigger image.

More odds and sods

2009-04-26T19:06:00.002+01:00

Despite the best efforts of the weatherman to convince us it was going to be wet, the weekend has turned out to be great for getting loads done in the garden. The veggies are all coming along nicely, at this time of year they seem to grow overnight.

The house is surrounded by rape this year, and as the wind has been in the South, there is an all pervading smell of the stuff in the house, great for the hay fever!!

Andrew Petcher http://www.petcher.blogspot.com has very kindly acknowledged my lucky guess at identifying an Oystercatcher for him on his blog, well worth reading as he goes into great detail about all his subject matter, I have certainly now learnt a lot about the Oystercatcher!

I bought a vacuum cleaner for the pond on Saturday as we are having problems with the water foaming whenever the pumps are running, we have had the water tested and it is fine, but I think 18 months of waste fish food, leaves, and the natural by products from all the fish (and with last years hatch, there must be well over a hundred) laying on the bottom cannot be doing the water any good, so decided to try and get some of it out. Problem is, it sucks the water out and discharges it out of a pipe connected to the bottom oh the vacuum, the pipe is only about 2 metres long, so we now have very well watered flower beds that smell bloody awful!!

Oh well.

Scott and Di came round last night and we went to the Blue Bell to discuss our forthcoming holiday on the Broads, it will be good to get back onto the water again.

The kitchen continues

2009-03-21T20:24:00.004Z

We are finally in a position to be able to use the kitchen, the tiles are now sealed so we can use the hob, and the oven arrived unexpectedly on Wednesday and is now functional.

We still have a lot of finishing off and decorating to do, but hey, what else are weekends for?

Last weekend we went up to Derwent water in the lake district for a couple of days and stayed in a hotel that I have always wanted to visit ever since I have been going to the Lake District.

My interest in the hotel stems from a poem I remember from when I was at school in Farnborough, all I could remember was the line 'this is the way the water comes down at Lodore' and it was the Lodore Falls Hotel (formally the Lodore Swiss) that we stayed at. Using the power of Google, I was able to find out that the poem I remembered was by Robert Southey, one of the Lakeland poets, and is an onomatopoeic poem he wrote for his children whilst visiting the hotel.

How does the Water
Come down at Lodore?"
My little boy ask'd me
Thus, once on a time;
And moreover he task'd me
To tell him in rhyme.
Anon at the word
There came first one daughter
And then came another,
To second and third
The request of their brother
And to hear how the water
Comes down at Lodore
With its rush and its roar,
As many a time
They had seen it before.
So I told them in rhyme,
For of rhymes I had store:
And 'twas in my vocation
For their recreation
That so should I sing
Because I was Laureate
To them and the King.
From its sources which well
In the Tarn on the fell;
From its fountains
In the mountains,
Its rills and its gills;
Through moss and through brake,
It runs and it creeps
For awhile till it sleeps
In its own little Lake.
And thence at departing,
Awakening and starting,
It runs through the reeds
And away it proceeds,
Through meadow and glade,
In sun and in shade,
And through the wood-shelter,
Among crags in its flurry,
Helter-skelter,
Hurry-scurry.
Here it comes sparkling,
And there it lies darkling;
Now smoking and frothing
Its tumult and wrath in,
Till in this rapid race
On which it is bent,
It reaches the place
Of its steep descent.

The Cataract strong
Then plunges along,
Striking and raging
As if a war waging
Its caverns and rocks among:
Rising and leaping,
Sinking and creeping,
Swelling and sweeping,
Showering and springing,
Flying and flinging,
Writhing and ringing,
Eddying and whisking,
Spouting and frisking,
Turning and twisting,
Around and around
With endless rebound!
Smiting and fighting,
A sight to delight in;
Confounding, astounding,
Dizzying and deafening the ear with its sound.
Collecting, projecting,
Receding and speeding,
And shocking and rocking,
And darting and parting,
And threading and spreading,
And whizzing and hissing,
And dripping and skipping,
And hitting and splitting,
And shining and twining,
And rattling and battling,
And shaking and quaking,
And pouring and roaring,
And waving and raving,
And tossing and crossing,
And flowing and going,
And running and stunning,
And foaming and roaming,
And dinning and spinning,
And dropping and hopping,
And working and jerking,
And guggling and struggling,
And heaving and cleaving,
And moaning and groaning;
And glittering and frittering,
And gathering and feathering,
And whitening and brightening,
And quivering and shivering,
And hurrying and scurrying,
And thundering and floundering,
Dividing and gliding and sliding,
And falling and brawling and sprawling,
And diving and riving and striving,
And sprinkling and twinkling and wrinkling,
And sounding and bounding and rounding,
And bubbling and troubling and doubling,
And grumbling and rumbling and tumbling,
And clattering and battering and shattering;
Retreating and beating and meeting and sheeting,
Delaying and straying and playing and spraying,
Advancing and prancing and glancing and dancing,
Recoiling, turmoiling and toiling and boiling,
And gleaming and streaming and steaming and beaming,
And rushing and flushing and brushing and gushing,
And flapping and rapping and clapping and slapping,
And curling and whirling and purling and twirling,
And thumping and plumping and bumping and jumping,
And dashing and flashing and splashing and clashing;
And so never ending, but always descending,
Sounds and motions for ever and ever are blending,
All at once and all o'er, with a mighty uproar,
And this way the water comes down at Lodore

Kitchen update

2009-03-06T15:25:00.006Z

I suppose I should have known that it would take more than a fortnight before we were back up and running again with the kitchen, but once an optimist, always an optimist!!

As I write, we are getting there, the wall is being tiled today, the new induction hob is in, and tomorrow the sink should be fully functional.

We are still waiting for the oven, don't expect to see that before the end of the month.

It has been a bit of a bumpy ride, the kitchen was 4 days late arriving, then there was stuff missing and other stuff damaged, on one of the worktops you could see where a forklift tine had gone into it. Hey Ho.

One of the funnier aspects of the whole affair has been Oscar's constant spider patrols, with all those units having the potential for spiders to hide under them, he has been very busy checking!

We are off to the Lake District next weekend for a couple of nights, hopefully by then we will be almost back to normal.

Catch up

2009-02-08T17:59:00.002Z

Once again I have been remiss in the updating of this blog, and as it looks as if I have 2 followers, using the excuse that no-one reads it probably does not cut it any more!

We are busy at the moment preparing to have a new kitchen installed, we have had some structural work done and are currently sealing the Travetine flooring that will be laid once the old kitchen is taken out. This is due to happen a week tomorrow, the 16th Feb. We have allowed 2 days to take the old kitchen out, three days to lay the floor, the new kitchen should be delivered on Saturday 21st, then start installing the following Monday. We will be a fortnight without a kitchen so that is going to be fun, I suspect our local pub, The Blue Bell Inn, will see an increase in takings over that period!

The snow has not caused us major problems although it did take me an hour to get to work on Thursday, and Gill left work in Stamford at lunchtime on Friday as it was snowing heavily again.

I lost a good friend recently, I met Geoff through sailing connections a number of years ago, and finding that he was also a fellow Mason secured our friendship. We often visited each others lodges, his was at Chilwell in Nottingham, and although he was diagnosed with lung cancer just over a year ago, he had seemed to be doing well, I was so hoping he would be able to see me go into the chair of Alexandra lodge this coming October, he would have been going through the chair of his own lodge at the same time had things gone to plan, but sadly, not so.

We have just been out to lunch at Moulton with Frank and Mo, and it was good to see some friends of many years standing, Clive and Jakki Mayes, who we have not seen for a couple of years. Hi Clive!!

Thats it for now.

2008-12-19T15:17:00.001Z

Just found this http://bigstormpicture.blogspot.com/ contains some very impressive pictures of clouds that look as if the world is going to come to an end!

2008-11-01T14:55:00.004Z

I have just had a couple of days without my computer, windows crashed on Thursday evening and I have had to start again from scratch, luckily, as windows collapsed, the Samsung software saved all my user account so when I re-installed windows and got up and running again, I had a folder on my C drive called windows old which contained all my documents, pictures and music, all 36 GB's! How you are supposed to back that much up God only knows.
It has taken me most of today to get it useable again, I have had to download a huge number of updates to get back to where I was on Thursday, don't you just love Microsoft, roll on cloud computing!!
I have bought some over winter broad bean seeds which I have planted today, it will be interesting to see if they germinate over the winter, or, as I suspect will happen, they will either rot or the mice will get them.
Last Wednesday evening we went to the Royal Concert Hall in Nottingham to see the Temptations, quite amazing, the one original member left started the band 47 years ago! It was a great night, everybody was on their feet dancing, there is hope for us 50 somethings yet!

Weekend

2008-10-27T20:53:00.001Z

We went to Boggle Hole in North Yorkshire at the weekend to stay with Julie and Joe, we met up with them in the Bay public House in Robin Hoods Bay on Saturday lunchtime, ended up with all 4 Millington brothers together, a total of 11 people for dinner back at the cottage at Boggle Hole in the evening, great fun!
Back yesterday, it was a long way to go for one night, but worth it!

2008-10-22T20:27:00.000+01:00

As you will see I have now moved across to Google as it seems this is where everyone else is going, dont want to be left behind!!

2008-10-21T19:20:00.000+01:00

Thursday, August 28

Long time

by Nigel Burch on Thu 28 Aug 2008 11:22 BST

Gosh, it is obviously some considerable time since I updated this, it just goes to show how quickly the year is slipping by!
Our first anniversary came and went in May, in the form of an anniversary dinner at the Petwood Hotel with family and friends, had a super week in Wales at a very nice hotel, www.neuadd.com and were blessed with great weather despite going prepared for the worst.
On arrival at the hotel, however, the signs were not encouraging, we could not get down the drive as there was an air ambulance blocking the way. We half joked that we hoped it was not a case of food poisoning as one of the main reasons for choosing this hotel was the food!
Turns out some poor chap had a stroke in the dining room, we were told a couple of days later that he was fine, and was left with no lasting side effects.
The hotel itself was wonderful, nothing was too much trouble, the chef had cooked for Prince Charles, the Emporer of Japan, and was the head chef whenever the Welsh assembley held a formal 'do' so he came well recommended. The final touch was the washing of the car on the morning of our departure, definately one to be recommended.
June and July are now history, the weather was not that good, we did manage to go to London for a couple of days with Trevor and Sue though, friends from Northampton. Travelled down on a Wednesday and did a tour round Grand Lodge, lunch across the road at Woolfes grill, and then to Sadlers Wells Theatre for a performance of West Side Story.
In the evening we found a very nice Indian just round the corner from the Cavendish Hotel where we were staying, which was a fitting end to an excellent day.
A bit or retail therapy on Thursday morning preceeded the journey home.
Over the last few months we have been very busy in the garden, the veg plots have done well considering it was the first year, a few lessons have been learnt, particularly where catapillars are concerened, but we have had some good successes, in particular with courgettes, onions, chillies, new potatoes and broad beans.
We currently have a box full of tomatoes that we are ripening indoors, and are just starting to eat baby turnips. All very satisfying!
The pond has established well, we are currently overun with baby fish, hopefully Jeff Goodley, the conservation officer at SHDC is going to relieve us of some of them.
A couple of weeks ago Gill and Scott both had trial flying lessons that were bought as birthday presents, and we had an added bonus of a pass up the runway by the Lancaster, and last weekend (bank holiday) we went and spent Saturday night with Scott and Di in a cottage they rented just outside Bridlington.
Next Wednesday the new Masonic season starts, and the weekend of the 6th and 7th sees the European Finals at Santa Pod, so fingers crossed for some good weather.
Where has the year gone? Answers on a postcard etc

Weekend in Norfolk

by Nigel Burch on Sat 19 Apr 2008 21:50 BST |

Last weekend we spent 3 days in Norfolk, starting out on Saturday morning visiting Frank and Pat Allwood at Mundesley who were Gill's guardians when she was at school in Guildford and her parents were still in Thailand. They are both in their 80's and unable to get about, but they have a live in helper, and seem to have a steady stream of visitors to keep them company. We left them around lunctime and went into Cromer for lunch at the Cliftonville Hotel, a very nice Edwardian pile about 500 metres from the pier.
We walked down to the aforementioned pier after lunch, and walked to the end to have a look at the brand new lifeboat that was only commisioned in January this year. We left Cromer, and set Deirdrie (satnav) to take us to our hotel, the Saracens Head just outside Aylesham. I knew that satnav was not infallible but this little exercise proved it, landing us in somebody's drive about half a mile from our destination. We found this out by asking a woman with tweeds and labradors who made it obvious that we were not the first to end up down this particular road and have to ask her the way!
When we finally found the elusive hostelry, we followed our instructions that had been left on the mobile to gain entry to the place, and unpacked.
On arrival, I saved the destination as a favourite with Deirdrie, confident that we would have no more problems in that department.
As it was only 4pm, we thought we would go for a ride to get a feel for the lay of the land, so off we set, safe in the knowledge that we would now be able to get back. After about an hour of exploring the Norfolk countryside, I hit the favourites button, Saracens Head, and off we went. 15 minutes later, Deirdrie confidentley announced "you have reached your destination" Fine, I had no idea where we were, we were certainly not in the car park of the Saracens Head which is where we should be. To my total shame, we had to resort to a thing called a road map to determine that we were still about a mile from our destination. I can only conclude that this particular part of Norfolk is the UK's equivilant to Area 51, everyone knows its there, but it does not officially exist!
We arrived back to find the owners in place, and the rest of the evening passed very pleasantly, with an exceptionally good dinner, which is what the place is famous for.
Sunday morning saw breakfast at 9am, then it was off to Blickling Hall to do the stately home thing. On arrival, we decided it would be a good idea to join the National Trust as now we do not have the boat we will probably have more opportunity to visit places this year, so that is what we did. We were lucky enough to get on a guided tour of the house which was very interesting, after which we had a wander round the gardens in warm sunshine which was a treat.
After buying some plants at the garden centre, we retired to the estate pub for lunch before setting off to the coastal garden at East Runcton.
After an hour or so walking round this very stylised garden, and a couple more plant purchases, we set of to have a look at the windfarm just outside Cromer.
We arrived back at the Saracens Head just in time for the bar opening, I love it when things work out like that!
Another excellent meal followed, after which we retired tired.
Monday morning brought another 9am breakfast after which we said our goodbyes, and headed off to Morston Quay to exert our right as National Trust members to park for free, and also to get a boat out to look at the seals on Blakeney Point. All the boats were packed with it being half term, but we managed to squeeze onto one and duly set off out to sea.
Blakeney Point is a spit of land jutting out into the sea that seems to be growing at an extraordinary rate, probably some 3-400 metres a year.
There were plenty of seals to see, they really do look quite comical out of the water, but they probably think that we do in the water, so I guess thats fair enough.
It turned really cold whilst we were out there, so once we got back to the car, we decided to get back home and pick the dogs up before it rained, good job we did as it p****d down about half an hour after we got back.
All in all an excellent weekend, hopefully the first of many.

Garden update

by Nigel Burch on Thu 20 Mar 2008 18:06 GMT

I have had a few days off this week, and we took the chance on Tuesday and Wednesday to make a start with planting some of the bigger items that need two people to handle. We have put a couple of bigplants in the pond area, and a couple along the back fence. We have also planted some roses that were a wedding present from Julie and Joe, and Gill has planted some prims for a bit of instant colour.
I set some Broad Beans in one of the vegetable beds a few weeks ago, and they are just starting to poke through. I have also set some climbing beans that Bruce gave me in pots in a propogator, and drilled some radishes outside. However, with the Easter forecast in front of us, I think gardening is now on hold!
Whilst on the subject of the weather, I think our plans to go to Santa Pod are well and truley scuppered, and I guess if we still had Saratina we would be unlikely to have been able to go out boating.
So it looks as if we will get the chance to do a bit more decorating, the kitchen is next on the list!

Thursday, January 24

Hospital and holidays

by Nigel Burch on Thu 24 Jan 2008 18:27 GMT

I had to make a short visit to hospital yesterday to have cyst removed from my arm, it did not take long and as yet has not caused me much of a problem although the doctor who performed the procedure commented that it was deeper than she thought and so had to make a bit of a hole - I was not looking so I will take her word for it! It has been sent away for analysis.
I took Gill and Jill down to Heathrow this morning, got there in 2 hours without any problem, and was back home in time to note on the departures website that they were half an hour late leaving. They have a 9 hour flight so they are welcome to that bit.
I went down to Crosshall on Saturday to hand the keys to Saratina to her new owner, and was surprised to realise it was a guy that I had met a couple of times at the Seamaster rallies, when I went to the first one (for me) in 2006, he met me at St Neots lock, came onboard and helped me to moor up at the rally site. I am a bit happier knowing it has gone to someone I know, and that he will look after her. Stupid, isn't it, getting attached to boats!
If anyone wants to post a comment at any time, click on 'leave comment' at the bottom of each article.
Work tomorrow, then decorating at the weekend.

Friday, January 18

First of the year

by Nigel Burch on Fri 18 Jan 2008 20:00 GMT

I guess this blog would have been better if it was called 'The not always monthly!' but I don't think anyone reads it so it does'nt really matter!
Christmas and New Year came and went, we both only had Christmas day and Boxing day off and it was then back to work on the Thursday. I never mind going straight back, I prefer to have days off when the days are longer and you can get out and about.
Just before Christmas someone put an offer in for the boat which I reluctantly accepted, reluctantly for two reasons, firstly it was a lot less than I had hoped for, and secondly it meant the end of boating. As of tonight, the cheque has cleared so it is all over.
I am going down to meet the guy and hand the keys over tomorrow morning, and probably have one last look over the boat, it will seem strange that it will not be mine, but such is life. Debts have to come before pleasure, I hope the new owner gets as much enjoyment from her as we have done.
Work is very hectic at the moment, there is a lot of stuff going on in the Economic Development Department, watch this space!
Gill is off for a few days holiday from next Thursday, it will do her good to have a break what with work, decorating, the garden, and the traumatic period in November with the death of her brother, I hope she gets the chance to relax.

This Saturday we have Julie and Joe and Scott and Di coming over for my belated birthday dinner that had to be postponed in November, so that will be good.

More garden and another funeral.

by Nigel Burch on Sat 01 Dec 2007 15:23 GMT

The guys from Garden Force finished work here last Monday by laying the front lawn and putting up some railings at the end of the drive. They have completed the whole thing in 11 days, and we are very pleased with the work they have done, will happily recommend them to anyone. It is now up to us to start and plan our planting regme, which I am sure will include a number of alpines and marginal plants aroung the pond area.

I was sad to hear of the death of my Aunt Emily yesterday, she had been suffering from Alziehmers for some years and will be sadly missed.I suspect the funeral will be in Farnborough the week after next.

Scott and Di both start new jobs this coming Monday, Scott is going to work for a colleague who has set up his own business, and Di is changing career to become assistant Parish Clerk at Crowland.

The car had to have its first visit to the garage this week, the glovebox had jammed, 5 minutes in the workshop and it was sorted, so not too serious.

I have to go to Nottingham again this week, this time to Government office, I will try the train again, but I suspect I will have to drive to Stamford as the connection from Spalding does not get to Nottingham until 10.30.
I think I can get a tram from the train station up to Talbot Street, it will be an interesting exercise!

Also in Nottingham tomorrow night as we are going to see Michael Bublay at the Nottingham Arena, hope I'm not the only bloke there!

Monday, November 19

Of gardens and funerals.

by Nigel Burch on Mon 19 Nov 2007 02:24 GMT

The landscape gardener has started work and has got a lot done in the first week. The back and front gardens have been completely cleared, trees felled, new pond created, fish back in and he has started to put down the hardcore in preparation for the stone dressing.
He has created four raised beds in the front garden, and has agreed to do another two making six in all. Pictures as ever on http://picasaweb.google.com/nigelburch
On the evening of Thursday 8th we received the news that Gill's brother Iain has died, so Gill has been down in Dorchester with her Mother trying to sort things out and arrange the funeral etc. This will be held on Tuesday 20th at Weymouth Crematorium, and afterwards at his tennis club, he was a fan of real tennis.
I have now offered a half share of Saratina for sale, more details at www.yachtfractions.co.uk
The new car seems to be going well, I am very pleased with the economy, returning high 50's wich with my style of driving is pretty good, and seems to perform as well as the coupe did!
I was also sorry to hear of the death of Henry Watson, father of my friend Paul who lives in Formby. Henry had been ill for some years with respiratory problems, probably caused through a lifetime working with wood dust.

Thursday, November 8

Saratina

by Nigel Burch on Thu 08 Nov 2007 20:32 GMT

It looks as if the boat selling season has come to an end, and we have not had any interest in Saratina despite dropping the price twice, and spending more money on her doing up the exterior woodwork.
I will now have to have the engine and water systems winterised, but will leave her in the water.
I am now considering selling a half share in her, this would probably allow us to be able to keep boating, and give someone the chance of a 27 ' boat at 21' boat price!
On Saturday, I am going to help Scott to put the body on his car, so it looks as if he is approaching the final phase.
We are hoping the landscape gardener will be starting early next week, it is time for a transformation of the back garden and the creation of a new pond, and we intend to have some raised vegetable plots in the front garden with the spoil from the pond.

Thursday, October 18

update

by Nigel Burch on Thu 18 Oct 2007 21:11 BST

Winter draws ever nearer, and Saratina is still unsold. I have had the exterior wood taken off, sanded down and re-varnished, and along with 2 price drops, I had hoped this might create a bit of interest but up to today (18/10/07), no joy.
David has put his boat up for sale on ebay, it will be interesting to see how that works out.
We are going to Yorkshire on Sunday for a couple of days to stay with Julie and Joe at boggle Hole, and then down to Dorchester the following weekend.

Sunday, August 19

Saratina

by Nigel Burch on Sun 19 Aug 2007 19:36 BST

After much soul searching, we have made the decision to put Saratina up for sale. I was hoping that we would be able to keep her, but it is just not going to be possible. She will be for sale at www.crosshallmarine.com within the next few days.
Last weekend we had a superb couple of days with our friends Geoff and Val Parker on board their 32 ft yacht Araby, cruising up to Woodbridge in Suffolk on the Saturday in near calm, but having a good sail back on Sunday in a force 4.
Only glitch to the weekend was the engine failing to start on our approach back to Shotley, Geoff demonstarting his 30 years experience by sailing into Shotley lock and coming to rest without incident.

Sunday, July 8

Holiday and lead up

by Nigel Burch on Sun 08 Jul 2007 20:14 BST

On Friday 29th June I was priviledged to be one of 7 people to be invited to a meeting with His Excellency Mr Vygaudas Usackas, Ambassador of the Republic of Lithuania who was on a 2 day visit to South Holland as a guest of South Holland District Council.
The purpose of the ambassadors visit was to gain an insight into the area and businesses that his countrymen are now living and working. His Excellency had a private meeting with a number of prominent business men from the Agricultural, Horticultural and Food manufacturing sectors. The meeting was held at the University of Lincoln Holbeach Campus, and we then accompanied the Ambassador on a tour of the Campus facilities.
You can hear more on the visit by going to Terry Huggins blog at www.terryhuggins.me.uk and downloading his June Podcast.

On Sunday 1st July Gill and I went up to Cumbria for a few days belated honeymoon. We stayed at a superb hotel, The Lovelady Shield Hotel just outside Alston high in the North Pennines. The weather, as elsewhere, was not all that we had hoped for, but I guess we were lucky that it seemed to rain at dinner time, all through the night into breakfast time, but the days themselves were not to bad although sunburn was never going to be a problem!
We had a couple of days in the lakes visiting favourite haunts, a day touring Kielder and into Scotland, and a day at Beamish open air museum. It is a disconcerting part of growing older that whenever you visit a museum, there are more and more things as exibits that make you say " I had one of those" or "I remember that!"
Pics on http://picasaweb.google.com/nigel.burch

We have a busy few weeks coming up, next week is the Seamaster Rally, the weekend after that Tatton Park flower show, and the weekend after that my cousin Rob's 60th birthday, will have to dig the flares and stack heels out!

Due to the weather we have had little chance to spend time on the boat, and with the exception of next weekend, it will be August before we get down there again.

Saturday, May 26

Wedding

by Nigel Burch on Sat 26 May 2007 20:35 BST

After many months of preperation, Gill and I did the deed at the Petwood Hotel, Woodhall Spa yesterday.33 guests attented what turned out to be a superb day, the organisation and attention to detail by the hotel was everything that we had hoped for, and a great time was had by all.
You can view some pictures here.

Sunday, March 11

Boat Club

by Nigel Burch on Sun 11 Mar 2007 05:03 GMT

As of the 10th Marc 2007 I have taken over the running of the Whitehouse Boat Club website at www.whitehouseboatingclub.org.uk
The club is based in the grounds of Crosshall marine at St Neots where my boat is kept, we always welcome prospective new members.

Sunday, February 25

Cold

by Nigel Burch on Sun 25 Feb 2007 20:00 GMT

We have both had bad colds this week, I had most of last week off work, Gilly is about 4 days behind me so has been at her worst yesterday and today.
This means that she has not felt up to coming over this weekend and consequently did not make it to Ladies night last evening.
It now looks as if Saratina will go back into the water at the end of this coming week, so it will definately be without a floor! It is frightening how quickly the lay up period has gone, there were lots of jobs I was going to do, and virtually none of them are done.
On Wednesday evening I am going to Nottingham to Keith Taylor's leaving party. Keith concieved and started the Food and Drink Forum, and until last summer, was the driving force behind it. He then took a step back to the point where he is now to retire, the end of an era.

Thursday, February 22

End of Feb update

by Nigel Burch on Thu 22 Feb 2007 20:45 GMT

I have now posted a number of pictures onto my web-album, the link to which is in the previous post.
The reason I have had the time to do this is that I have been off work with a terrible cold. All around me in the office had been dropping like flies and I thought I had avoided it but no such luck! It struck when we returned from Dorchester last Sunday after visiting Gilly's mother, and now Gilly has succumbed as well. We have to get better for Saturday night as it is Lodge Ladies night and I do not want to miss that.
I have tonight posted a comment on the Great Ouse Boating Association website saying that now we are to lose the duty concession on diesel for our boats, I am going to use this opportunity to move over to Biodiesel. I know a chap who produces locally so I can pop over to Long Sutton and get my cans filled, doing my bit for the environment, and getting a quieter, smoother, cleaner running engine into the bargain.
I am having a new cockpit floor made for Saratina, the Marina rang on Tuesday to advise that she goes back into the water in three weeks time, it may well be without a floor!
Plans for the wedding are continuing apace, dresses, flowers, food, wine and champagne are organised, it is just my suit now, but that will not be a problem. Looks like we will have to be at the Hotel the day before as Gill has a number of friends coming the night before, and we cannot really leave them there on their own!

Wednesday, February 21

New! Click the link to go to my new web album.

by Nigel Burch on Wed 21 Feb 2007 21:34 GMT

Assorted pictures

Friday, January 12

Flood!

by Nigel Burch on Fri 12 Jan 2007 16:45 GMT

After a number of emails from the Great Ouse Boating Association warning of rising river levels, I went down this morning to have a look for myself.
THe boat is ok as it has been lifted out and is sitting on higher ground, but there is a tremendous amount of water going down the river.
I visited River MillLock at Eaton Socon, and Papermill Lock at St Neots, the Environment Agency have padlocked all the gates open to allow the maximum amount of water to get down the river, and it does look spectacular! (see attached pictures)

2 Attachments

Sunday, December 24

Seasons Greetings

by Nigel Burch on Sun 24 Dec 2006 21:54 GMT

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all!!

Monday, November 27

lift

by Nigel Burch on Mon 27 Nov 2006 16:55 GMT

I had half a days holiday today (flexitime) so I nipped down to the boat to get a few things off, and have a look at the woodwork now that she is out of the water.
The runners that stretch along the side of the boat do not look too bad, so I may be able to get away with just replacing the quarter panels.
She does not look too bad underneath, but there will be a lot of polishing to do in the spring!

Wednesday, November 22

Caught out

by Nigel Burch on Wed 22 Nov 2006 22:04 GMT

I am embarressed to admit that I have been caught out: my bank account has been hacked and every last penny stolen!
I always check for the padlock when I shop online, and I thought that the use of chip and pin had made using cards safe, but someone has managed to get my card number from somewhere!
Nationwide Building Society have been very good, they stopped my card as soon as they detected unusual activity, and have promised to refund all the money that has been taken, but it is going to leave me without any money for a week or so!

Saratina is now out of the water, all water systems have been drained and the engine winterised.
I need to get down there fairly soon to get the batteries off.
If anyone reads this, could you try and add something in reply please so that I can see if the system works?
Thanks

Sunday, October 22

6 weeks in

by Nigel Burch on Sun 22 Oct 2006 09:11 BST

I have now been in my new post at South Holland District Council for 6 weeks, and it is proving very enjoyable.
I am slowly coming to terms with the concept of leaving work at work, and not bringing it home, I even switch my work phone off when I get home, what a change from Forum days!
The office is very crowded, and thus very noisey, something else to get used to, shows what a sheltered life I have been leading for the past three and a half years!
Scott and I spent last weekend on the boat, on what I thought would be my last visit to the boat before she is lifted out, but I am going down today for one last attempt, it is windy but still very mild.

Saturday, September 2

Notice

by Nigel Burch on Sat 02 Sep 2006 20:38 BST

I finally got the go-ahead yesterday morning from South Holland District Council, so have handed in my notice at the Forum.
Have had nice emails from Sam, Paul C and Jo S, I really am going to miss them!
It was Gilly's birthday yesterday, we had a nice meal at the Angel and Royal Hotel in Grantham, bit of Deja Vue as that is where we first met 6th August last year.
Heather starts work on Monday, hope she enjoys her new job.
Apparently Anne and Patrick got married yesterday.
Might go to the boat tomorrow if the weather is ok, need to have a clean up for Keith and Marie coming next Sunday.

Wednesday, August 30

Still waiting

by Nigel Burch on Wed 30 Aug 2006 21:18 BST

Still not had final confirmation from SHDC, hoping it will come tomorrow morning.

Did some painting in the kitchen and dining room,also went to Grantham and did some shopping for Gilly, she was much improved today.

Had a text from Di, they are on their way to Bournemouth.

Tuesday, August 29

End of August

by Nigel Burch on Tue 29 Aug 2006 22:36 BST

August has been a disaster weather wise, but I managed to get a weekend away with Scott when we manged to cover 42miles, despite developing a diesel leak which we managed to fix without too much trouble.

I had a fortnight off work with the intention of Gilly and I having 4 or 5 days on the boat but the weather scuppered that plan!

It did stay fine however, for Gillys house warming/garden warming/engagement party, which was a blessing.

I have applied for, and been offered a job at South Holland District Council as an Economic Development Office, I am just waiting for final confirmation before I hand in my notice at the Forum.

I shall be very sorry to leave FDF, I have enjoyed my time there immensly, and will always be grateful for the chances they have given me. I shall also miss a lot of my colleauges, I hope they will keep in touch.

David set off on his challenge, but it never really went to plan. He ended up going from Levington straight up the East coast, but only got as far as Whitby before he had to pull out due to damage to the boat.

I am now looking forward to the new Masonic season which starts next Wednesday 6th Sept.

Thursday, May 18

Looking gloomy for the weekend

by Nigel Burch on Thu 18 May 2006 14:19 BST

This weekend Scott and I are booked to take part in a boat handling competion at Crosshall Marine (www.crosshallmarine.com) organised by the Whitehouse Boating Club (www.whitehouseboatingclub.org.uk)

Having just seen the weather forecast for the weekend, it remains to be seen if this will actually take place! There is, however, a horse race event organised for Saturday evening so I am sure we will find something to do.

The laptop has gone to Nottingham but Sam is unable to do anything with it so its back to the suppliers. As I am on a training course for the next three days, and then involved in the Forum AGM on Wednesday, I guess it could be worse.

Seen brief reviews about last night premiere of the Da Vinci Code, and first reports do not seem too encouraging, no great surprise there then?

Have just watched the new Airbus A380 touching down at Heathrow - now I am not an expert, but that did not look like the best landing in the world to me, port side rear wheels came down, then the nose wheel with the starboard rears last to touch! Very impressive looking plane though, and a nice touch to do low level passes over the factories in Wales and Bristol. The comparison in size with 747's passing in front of it is spectacular.

Wednesday, May 17

Not a very good day again!

by Nigel Burch on Wed 17 May 2006 20:57 BST

This is the first entry in this blog which I only set up 5 minutes ago, not sure what I will talk about but here goes.

Today has not been much of an improvement on yesterday when I had to cancel the second in a series of workshops due to the speaker being delayed in Madeira.

Today the work laptop decided to freeze, and in hitting the power button to restart, it would seem that the operating system has become corrupted.

One bit of light relief was listening to David on BBC Radio Nottingham talking about his proposed charity race with Ray North who is going to cycle from Lands End to John 'O'Groats, whereas David is going to sail from Lands End up the East coast to Wick!

The guy on the radio could not understand why he was not taking the shorter West Coast route, and frankly, neither can I. See the photo in the album for a picture of Piglet.

Gilly has got the gardeners in which is a big relief, it has been a major plan ever since she moved in, and at last is starting to happen.