Met up with Ange, after picking up Helens folks. We set off up to the left hand side of the castle up the fill and past the gated community at the top. Great view on you left as you go up the hill, at the top we cam across a couple of Munkjak deer. We then headed over towards the common on the edge of Ashridge estate. It was a bit muddy out and about. We saw the usual birds, lots of Bumble bees, and even a few Butterflies.
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A coming of age drama. after a youth orchestra practice Jenny Miller accepts a lift from a stranger, and a relationship develops. He truns out to be a bit of a gentleman rogue, but you get the impression his intentions are genuine.
There are lots of funny moments in the film and it is a great story. Many well know British actors.
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Helen and I went for a walk round little Hampden on Sunday, starting at the car park at Whiteleaf, and I used a new Blackberry App calls GPSLogger to record the walk. It was not too warm to start with and warmed up as the time went on. After 2 hours of walkig we had both had enough, stopped off at Tesco in Princes Risboro on the way back to get a couple of naan bred to do with Daal and Potato and Spinach curry.
Saw lots of birds they seemed to be out eating the buds of trees, particularly the Larches. Saw a ChiffChaff in an Oak tree on the edge of Hamden House.
Got this through LoveFilm, a great way to lazily see current films & good value too. It’s the story of a bomb disposal team in Iraq. Good cast & acting but the plot felt weak. We were a bit disappointed but may have been hoping for too much from the Oscar winner. 3 stars
in a car… We decided to make the most of the very welcome spring weather with a trip to Wimpole Hall. The National Trust were running a free access weekend for many of their properties. Unfortunately the journey was somewhat elongated by major road works on the A14 which seemed to nobble every assoiated road in the vicinity. However we got there at last! and toured the house (refurbished in the 1930’s by Rudyard Kipling’s daughter). Well worth a visit, and the gardens look like they will be impressive once a few more flowers are out. The farm is great for kids – lots of new born lambs, piglets and some huge shire horses. Then back to the ranch for a lovely chinese and a game of whist. A good weekend.
Not the the faint hearted, this film is full of swearing. Two Irish contract killers (Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson) are sent to Bruges by the boss (Ralph Fiennes) to keep out of the way. One is not glad to be there the other loves all the culture and old stuff there is to offer.
The plot gets thickens and twists and it is very funny.
On my Lord, what do they think they are up to? New Labour must feel, with the election looming, that they are doing so well in the polls they should try to ensure they alienate every potential voter from The Chalfonts to Waddesdon & beyond by slinging a high speed rail link through the Chilterns. Obviously the existing rail network has been invested to to a point at which no further improvements can be made so, and as we have £30 billion slooshing around in the public coffers and in need of a home (the homesless/NHS/education/care of the elderly/decent equipment for our troops and MP’s expenses having clearly been overfunded already), they must have pondered long and hard what to spend it on.
On a serious note, the Chilterns are one of the primary reasons why so many of us choose to live or visit this area. They provide a green lung for London and an immediate escape from noise, pollution and urban living that that dogs much of our daily routine. Any infringement into this AONB will weaken its protected status and before we know it we will have Tesco, Aldi & Starbucks setting up franchises in the Lee. Perhaps a multiplex at Ballinger! Sorry, I have gone into rant mode again. We have been spoilt and assumed this Eden as our automatic right for too long. So speak now and smite the developmental serpent, or Paradise will indeed be Lost.
http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/rail/pi/highspeedrail/hs2ltd/route/keyplan.pdf
PS This was a party political broadcast on behalf of no party but the Sharpie one!
PPS Thanks to Steve for letting us know about the route, cheers m’dear
Sat on plane waiting to take off from Belfast city, all was going well until the despatchers and the crew could not agree on numbers.
In the end we the ground crew had to go to each passenger in turn and mark us all off the list of passengers thay had. As I write this we are 15 minutes delayed.
In the end a gentleman was taken off the plane. It was not clear if he was on the wrong plane or not. The attendent would not tell me, but I got the impression that he was and the despatchers were embarassed that they had allowed him through.
One of the pilots of the plane is female, I don’t think I have ever noticed a female airline pilot.
Back to Luton airport for a trip to Belfast. Thought I would have breakfast at the airport, this time, as I noticed that Pret does porridge. Turns out to be good porridge, I guess because it has been on the heat for a while the oats really get a chance to expand, so the whole thing is much more creamy. I opted for a dollop of honey for £1.99, which means they are making big margins on materials. I get a kg of Tesco value oats for less than a pound, and all you need for a portion of porridge is half a mug full. A bag lasts me a couple of months.
On the way in I stopped off in W H Smiths to get a paper, and noticed that the advertising screen above the tills was showing and error message, as I like to collect public error messages I thought I would share it with you all. It is an AVG anti virus message complaining that the license had run out.
Anyway the plane is about to push off and so am I.
Poppy is a happy go lucky primary school teacher and the film centres around her simple day to day life, as is traditional in a Mike Leigh film. The film starts off with Poppy having her bicycle stolen, she is just sorry she did not have a chance to say goodbye! So she decides that she should have some driving lessons, the instructor turns out to be an very angry person, and the relationship between the two is hilarious, as they are at the extreme ends of the happy spectrum.
The film carries on you meet her sisters and family , and the friend also a teacher who she lives with. During the course of the film normal everyday things happen, she goes to dance classes, meets a bloke, has difficult situations to deal with in the class rooms etc etc.
The film is a typical Mike Leigh film, it is about normal people, in normal lives, (although this one is far more happy), but somehow he manages to keep your attention, proabbly because you want to know what is goint o happen next, and a lot of the scenes are visually stunning, in an understated way, when is a Tesco express service station in front of a Gasometer make a great shot!
I give the film 5 out of 5, and would recommend everyone what it, it is just a lovely film with a nice story.
