Great action scenes and car chashes galore. Helen gave it 4 stars but I am more conservative so only 3.

He then gets cuaght and goe to prison where he meets Ewan McGregor and falls in love. The film then continues with him in and out of jail and going to extreme  lengths to be with the person he loves.

When I see Jim carrey in a film I can’t help thinking that it is all a bit tongue in cheek, and to some extent the film is, but it does not distract from what is claimed to be based on the true life events of Steven Jay Russell. Altough there are some seriuos parts to the film the exploits of Mr Russell are so extreme it almost becomes comical.

Well worth a watch.

The guide told us that it is colloquially known as “the devils pinch”, which I think is a great name, somehow fitting and very colloquial. Ever since then I just can’t help running my fingers only the leaf as described above, to feel for the feature. It is just compulsive and impulsive.

I have done some googling on the subject but cannot find any reference to reeds. Some of the things I found are:

• There is a canyon some where in Austalia, on the Wolgan River, in Katoomba with the name. Apparently a bad accident with a team of horses pulling logs happened then in the 1870′s
• A few references to marks on the body similar to liver spots.
• References to a feature in a cave, perhaps where it gets really narrow, again a good name for such a place.

So now we have a reference in the reed’s Devils Pinch. I wonder how long it will take to start appearing in Google searches.

We took a great road which took us via Scole and Diss in search of an Army Surplus store, I need some buckles, webbing, and proper poncho. We found a very interesting store down a housing estate it was the proper thing it had a yard full of green and grey metal junk. Unfortunately shut on bank holidays, mental note to self to make a return journey! (Helen says not with her!).

We soon arrived at Fowlmere after various detours in Thetford forest avoiding traffic. Turns out we had been there before, and did not see much. Today was going to be a repeat. We are in late August and had arrived at mid day, so the odds were really against us. We did the tour round but there was not much to see. The list was Coot, Moorhen, Mallard, Heron, Blue Tit, Long-tailed Tit, and Brown Trout! The reserve is very quiet and secluded, great for a gentle stroll.

We left the reserve and said we would stop if we saw somewhere worth while for a bite to eat. What a mistake that was! Bury Lane cafe in the garden centre just north of Royston. We dropped in for a some food and to sample the goods in the veg shop. We sat down and a waitress was there instantly, too quick for us to decide, so we sent her away, 15 minutes later Helen caught her eye and she took our order. Our drinks came first with an apology that the food would be 10 to 20 minutes, I almost walked! When the food finally arrived to be fair it was nice, I had tuna and sweet corn baguette and Helen baked potato and beans which she complimented.

Back in the car we then drove straight back to home and reality. I got straight onto making the jam. I just got rid of the the stones by the squashing method, i.e put between thumb and fore-finger and squeeze/squash out. I add equal amounts of sugar and not water. Give a good stir and wait for the sugar to draw the liquid out of the fruit. Put on the heat and bring to the boil slowly , you do not want to burn anything. Once boiling turn the heat down and wait till it is ready. There are ways to check that the jam is ready, using a cold saucer or a thermometer, but I have found that if you keep it boiling for about 20 minutes the white foam disappears and the jam gets kind of thicker. I just seem to know when it is ready.

The plums were a bit under ripe and at the start I thought it would not work, but after some boiling a really deal purple colour leached out of the skins. The jam tastes great, quite sharp but the plum flavour is really intense.

I modified the gorilla pod by shortening the two front legs this allowed me to set a small aperture, and by using the 2 second delay on the Lumix LX3 I got some really clear shots. Once we hit Westleton Heath we headed towards Dunwich. We started to get the odd light shower but nothing was going to dampen our enthusiasm, we were really happy to be out in the fresh air. We bagged a Coal Tit on the way down.

Coming across the Dunwich museum was well timed. There was an art exhibition going on in a hall behind the museum, some great original water colours and prints were on show. Mainly Suffolk and Essex, painted early in the morning. The guy who had painted them explained to me that he had been a container boat captain for a Brazilian company. He had worked 3 months on 3 months off then retired at 52, lucky bastard!

We also had a look round the museum all about Dunwich, I really had not appreciated just how much of a town existed around 1900′s, then we drifted down to the car park and famous fish and chip establishment down by the sea. We sat out the front with our bowls of chips and beverages, there was quite a wind blowing, I literally had a storm on in my tea cup. We scanned Dingle marsh for signs of Hen Harrier, but it was wishful thinking. I did spot a bird in the distance but we could agree what it was, when it flew away we were able to identify it as a Greenshank, by the long white patch on the back, a good tick.

After a quick look at the sea we headed up the hill and along the ever moving west cliff path. Great views of the coast and Sole bay in the distance can be had at a couple of spots before the path heads inland, after you pass the ruins of the abbey. It then started to rain heavily as we walked through the woods towards Dunwich heath. I was glad to be able to try on the poncho that my mother in law had kindly bought for me in Millets Oxford for £1.50.

I have to say I have been considering getting one for a while, I am now a convert they cover you and your luggage, you have to be careful that the wind does not catch it but they keep the wind and the rain off. We walked though heavy rain across the heath and could not get any view of Dartdord Warblers, as we headed toward the National Trust tearooms at the Coastguard cottages, we had coffee and I had some bread pudding. When the rain had cleared we could see yet another big bank of storm clouds on the horizon, so after a couple of pictures we rushed off down to the East Hide at Minsmere, and we timed it just right the rain started as we arrived.

We spent about 30 minutes in the hide and some patient scanning revealed Little Ringed Plover, Black Tailed Godwit, and a couple of Snipe. The weather system moved on and the sun came out so we walked back to the visitors centre and on through to the Island Mere hide. I then suggested that we walk back along a footpath that runs parallel to the tarmac road, but involves an extra 10 minutes walking, it was towards the end of the day and Helen was in a “trough of disillusionment” so I got the usual ranting.

Later in the pub Helen did agree it was a nicer walk back, I don’t think the high winds and dropping branches helped the situation. We rejoined the tarmac road and walked the final yards back to the pub, the light over the water logged field was begging for photos to be taken, I obliged.

Back at the pub I stopped the GPS logger and we had walked over 13 miles (may be adjusted down). What a fantastic day out 8.5 hours out on foot, with the wife, plenty of tea and bird watching stops, can life get better?

On Saturday we woke up in good time and thought we would have a go at our day record to celebrate our recent wedding. So we got up for an 8:30 breakfast at The Eelsfoot Inn, and were on our way down to the Minsmere sluices via the path that goes directly to the sea from Eastbridge. The weather was bright with a stiff wind from the north east but the air temperature was pleasant. Saw some great beetles and butterflies on the way. Saw a spotted flycatcher on top of a tree. When we got down to the sluice bushes we paused for a while in hope of a Pied Flycatcher but it was not to be, although the lesser and common Whitethroat we adequate compensation.

On to the public hide to see some Knot, Dunlin, common Sandpiper, and Redshank. Then on to the East hide, where some Sandwich Terns appeared. We were soon sat outside the Coastguard Cottages fighting off the wasps while we ate our lunch of toasted cheese sandwiches. The wasp I trapped in a bottle was really mad, even after Helen freed it. A bit of sea watching produced Common Scoter, but nothing else the winds was probably blowing them all off shore.

Over to Dunwich Heath we did not rate our chances of seeing any Dartford Warblers after the hard winter they have suffered, but there they were loads of them. The Heath was looking good the heather was bright purple and the gorse was starting to flower giving a contrasting bright yellow. We walked to the far north end of the heath before turning round and walking along the west boundary back towards Minsmere.

Lots of different mushrooms were out a sign of the recent damp weather and Autumn approaching, the light was really bright so it was a great opportunity to get pictures. We strolled along back to the visitors centre back at Minsmere via the west hide to share a portion of carrot cake. We headed off back to Eastbridge stopping off at the Bittern Hide (not much action except a juv. Marsh Harrier) then on to the Island Mere hide, where a few more ticks were recorded. We saw a very yellow warbler in a willow tree but could not make Icterine from it.

The sun was low in the sky as we headed down the Minsmere road back to the pub, we had a great day out, but had not managed to beat our record. August can be quite a quiet, we managed 61 quite a reasonable tally. There is always tomorrow when we plan to head slightly in land then out to Dunwich and back through Minsmere again. What a great day!

A you up and coming employee then upsets the apple cart and proposes to sack people by video link, something which George does not agree with. He gets the job of raining up the new girl and is tasked with taking her on a trip.

There is also an affair going on between Geoprge and another lady whom he meets very occasionally when they happen to be over nighting in the same place.

An original scripts well acted with some very funny moments. I would recommend seeing it.