A burger and a kite
A sunny Sunday, some handiwork in the garden, some wine and a rare (but well-done!) burger, and in the afternoon some serious kite flying in a blustery wind.
A burger and a kite
Games with the kids
Games with the kids
A 5 mile circular stroll with the little ones as well as our Berlin son began just outside Reigate, (near a couple of fine pubs) and took us through woods into the centre of the town. A fine walk on a dull day. On another day we’ll do it again but make use of one of the pubs.
Back home for a late lunch followed by a long session playing Monopoly Deal, a great card game for young and old. Congratulations to 8-year-old Chloe on her wins!
I’ve recently become a cribbage fan and I’ve got Chloe playing the 5-card version, whilst for us grown-ups the 6-card version is a better challenge. I’m doing pretty good playing random Internet opponents.
What with the pre-dinner pints with my son at one of our local pubs, it’s been a lovely few days with the family.
Emsworth station, bus-replacement service
Emsworth station bus-replacement service
If you ever find yourself at Emsworth train station and there is a bus-replacement service, here is a map of where to catch the bus. Don’t make the mistakes that I made of either expecting it to leave from the station or from the bus stops just outside the station. I waited outside the station – no bus came. I waited at the bus stop just outside the station on the main road – no bus came. Interestingly a man in one of the houses by the bus stop came out to point out that on several occasions he had told people that the bus replacement service didn’t leave from the bus stop! He told me where he thought they left from – he was quite correct though I actually ended up catching a local bus service from the town centre.
See also www.nationalrail.co.uk/posters/EMS.pdf for related maps and information.
Fireworks out the window
GPS – how odd!
GPS – how odd!
Tracking my activity (walk) into the village, my iPhone’s GPS put me in some odd locations.
The red block is where I shopped in Waitrose – I never went to the left as would be suggested by GPS. The red circle is where I stopped to make a longish phone call.
All very odd, though perhaps explained by the accuracy of GPS, the strength of the GPS signal and the quality of my iPhone’s GPS receiver,
Update: I came across the following at Why-is-GPS-data-sometimes-inaccurate
When signals from the GPS satellites bounce off buildings, the GPS receiver can be confused by the extra time the signal took to reach it. In these cases, you may observe sudden large errors in position. There is not much that can be done to reduce the effects of multipath errors – GPS is simply less accurate in canyons, whether they are made of buildings or natural formations.
Born under a gooseberry bush
I didn’t know that!
Out the window
On my son’s trip from Berlin to the Baltic the cat had to be in the front seat, whilst here at home a hot-air balloon appeared first thing in the morning.
When Covid stops you doing much
I’m on my 5th day with Covid and there’s no sign of improvement. In isolation, other than from my wife, there’s little enthusiasm or energy for doing much. But I have felt able to tackle my laptop’s downloads-folder which has filled up considerably over the past year or so. The folder mainly contains images downloaded from the camera or phone, some of which I had dealt with but not deleted or filed away, and some which have just got ignored. After much effort the downloads folder is now in good shape with just two, near-empty sub-folders.
I found these 4 images which have some interest, particularly the main one of 8-year-old Chloe in a rather stunning outfit.
Oaks Park walk
Unusually for me I was out of the house before 9 this morning – I’m a shockingly slow riser, normally. I’ve done this 7 mile walk many times but it was good to be walking again after an absence of a couple of weeks. Through the woods then past the back of the prison and onto Oaks Park. Everywhere the grass was very long but fortunately I don’t suffer from hay fever. As usual I do some reading in the shade, with my usual coffee and a Kit-Kat from the excellent café.
A sign on the path invited me to find the open art studios and I came across just one with an open door. Looking inside there was no sign of the artist so I was reluctant to enter their private space which was a typical working studio with the paints and equipment as well as walls covered in paintings. I can’t believe I didn’t take a quick photo – my artist daughter would have appreciated and envied a fellow artist’s workspace. I turned around, walked in a circle and decided to go back to take that picture, but the door to the studio was now firmly closed. I should have grabbed the opportunity when I had it!
Solent Way (part 3) Beaulieu to Hythe
The 3rd part of the long-distance Solent Way goes from Beaulieu to Hythe. At just over 6 miles it isn’t the nicest of walks, much of it being along the sides of busy main roads.
Trains to Lymington followed by the 112 bus (Tuesdays & Thursdays only) to Beaulieu took me to the start of the walk. At the end there was the ferry across Southampton Water and then it was on to Southampton station and the return journey home. A long and exhausting day even though the walk was relatively short.
The next section is a short 6 miles from Southampton to Hamble.
The 60 miles of the Solent Way
- Walk 1: Milford on Sea ⇒ Lymington (9 miles) (✓ 4th July 2019)
- Walk 2: Lymington ⇒ Beaulieu (10 miles) (✓ 4th May 2022)
- Walk 3: Beaulieu ⇒ Hythe (6 miles) (✓ 10th May 2022)
- Walk 4: Hythe ⇒ Hamble (7 miles)
- Walk 5: Hamble ⇒ Lee On Solent (7 miles)
- Walk 6: Lee on Solent ⇒ Portsmouth (6 miles)
- Walk 7: Portsmouth ⇒ Hilsea (7 miles)
- Walk 8: Hilsea ⇒ Emsworth (8 miles)
Solent Way (part 2) Lymington to Beaulieu
The 2nd part of the long-distance Solent Way goes from Lymington to Beaulieu. At just over 10 miles it isn’t the nicest of walks, being along the sides of extremely large fields and mainly on quiet, country roads. ie There’s not much to see in the way of views.
It’s almost 3 years since I did the first part of the Solent Way. I hadn’t expected this delay in progressing through the 8 parts. The next section is a short 6 miles from Beaulieu to Hythe, followed by the ferry across Southampton Water for the 3rd leg, Southampton to Hamble.
The extremely pretty Buckler’s Hard looks as if it could justify a longer re-visit but on this occasion I was just passing through. On leaving I spotted this lovely boat being worked on in the boatyard and I got talking to its owner who, amazingly, lives only a few miles from me.
The 60 miles of the Solent Way
- Walk 1: Milford on Sea ⇒ Lymington (9 miles) (✓ 4th July 2019)
- Walk 2: Lymington ⇒ Beaulieu (10 miles) (✓ 4th May 2022)
- Walk 3: Beaulieu ⇒ Hythe (6 miles)
- Walk 4: Hythe ⇒ Hamble (7 miles)
- Walk 5: Hamble ⇒ Lee On Solent (7 miles)
- Walk 6: Lee on Solent ⇒ Portsmouth (6 miles)
- Walk 7: Portsmouth ⇒ Hilsea (7 miles)
- Walk 8: Hilsea ⇒ Emsworth (8 miles)
Sutton 1 Leyton Orient 0
A goal up after 20 minutes, Sutton went on to produce a dire performance at the end of the first half and for the whole of the second half. With just 30% possession overall, and not a single attack on goal in the second half, I don’t know what went went wrong but it was not pretty.
Sutton 1 Leyton Orient 0
things change 