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Before I start, I'm currently listening to what I believe to be Brandon Flowers' first solo single. It's rubbish.
This entry is bought to you by ASDA cold relief capsules, so if it makes even less sense than usual please blame them.
I spent last weekend in Devon staying with a friend from uni and her fiance. She's a Devon native who moved back home after uni. We hadn't seen one another since I moved back from Plymouth in October 2004. She bought a cottage with her fiance (who I hadn't met before) around Christmas time and invited me to visit shortly afterwards. When the nice people at South West Trains sent me six tickets to travel anywhere on their network for free at weekends it seemed like the perfect opportunity to accept her invitation.
I was pretty happy on Thursday evening. My mum had kindly waited in my flat for a Hotpoint engineer to turn up and fix my washer/drier which had stopped heating up on the drying cycle. It was fixed sucessfully which cheered me up no end. I then went out for drinks with a former work colleague which involved a very enjoyable Malaysian meal and Brooklyn Lager which were both firsts for me.
Unfortunately, when I woke up on Friday morning I felt a bit rubbish. I thought I might have a bit of a hangover and soldiered on but I was on a bit of a go-slow and ended up catching a much later train than usual. The train was also on a go-slow, randomly stopping between stations for several minutes, and I missed the train to Exeter. As a result I had to wait an hour for the next one and was late to meet my friend. No matter though. I knew the journey was going to be slow as the Waterloo to Exeter St David's route is a slow one. There's a quicker route from Paddington via Reading but that's not on South West Trains so not eligable for my free deal. It was quite nice though. The train was fairly empty so I had space to spread out a bit. I managed to read all of the September issue of Empire and a chapter of a work related book.
My friend was waiting for me at Tiverton Parkway and drove me to her village (it's a small town officially but it seemed like a village to me!) in her convertable MG. The cottage is over 200 years old and absolutely lovely. Just the right size for a couple and their two cats. They also have a largeish country cottage style garden containing a big apple tree which they share with the other cottages in their terrace. Their cat had kittens a few of months ago and I was really excited to find out that they'd kept one of the litter. I adore cats and was absolutely enchanted by the 14 week old jet black fluffball. In my opinon their cats are perfect. Independent enough not to get under your feet or constantly begging for attention, but docile enough to curl up on your lap for a cudde. Both cats shared my bed part of the time. The kitten curled up behind my bent knees and when I moved he dozily followed which was super cute. On Saturday morning he was woken up and totally spooked by my mobile phone alarm vibrating and shot out of the room. He then crept back and hid under the futon, a space so tiny that his little ears were squashed, and refused to come out until he was sure the 'danger' had passed. Bless him!
Despite the weather being far from perfect I had a very enjoyable weekend. On Friday evening we went for a walk around the village and then to the local pub for a few drinks. On Saturday, we planned to go for a walk on Dartmoor but the TV weather advised against it due to low cloud so we went down Exmouth instead. When we arrived it was raining and very windy so we went for lunch in the hope that it would clear up. Fortunately it brightened up in the afternoon so we went for a walk along the cliffs and down to the beach. Living so far inland I don't get to see the sea very often so it was really good to get some sea air and see the lovely views over south Devon. I'd actually been to Exmouth once before as a kid on a family holiday. I was suprised that I remembered a couple of things, namely the boys brigade campsite at the top of the cliff and the fancy clock tower on the esplanade. We also went for a walk around the town. I was pleased to see that there are still some nice little independent shops there. On the way back from Exmouth we stopped off at a very sophisticated (and suitably expensive!) permanent farmers' market where I picked up some locally made fudge to take to work. Saturday night was spent relaxing in front of the TV watching Anchorman on BBC3. I love that movie! On Sunday, we went for a wander around Exeter. My friend very kindly agreed to walk around the cathedral with me despite the fact that she goes there often as the school she teaches at does their Christmas concerts etc. there. I felt a bit guilty until we discovered that they don't charge for entry on a Sunday. I donated the entry charge anyway but at least it meant my friend didn't have to cough up. Exeter cathedral is my mum's favourite and I agree with her to some extent. In my opinion one of it's strengths is that it was built in the 1300s and hasn't been significantly changed since giving it a strong sense of cohesian. Many of the cathedrals I've visited have been the victim of various misfortunes over the years (fire, civil war, collapsing foundations etc.) and now look like the bits don't fit together very well. Exeter cathedral is also relatively small and not too overwhelming to look around. After visiting the cathedral we had lunch and then I left for home. By this point I couldn't stop sneezing and had realised that I had picked up a cold. I spent most of the journey home sneezing and blowing my nose. Yuck.
I was still on leave today so I took paracetamol and went up to the British Library to see the Magnificent Maps exhibition with my parents. It's free and I thoroughly recommend it. Saying that I'm a long time admirer of maps generally so I'm a bit biased. We were thrilled to see our humble home town (at that time a tiny hamlet) recorded on a woven map presented to Elizabeth I (although perhaps not that suprising as her step mum Katherine Parr lived in the village next door) but I was most impressed by this modern artisitic map of London called The Island Zoom in to see the amazing detail. I love it and wish I had space to put a copy on my living room wall.
All in all it was a very good weekend. I just wish I felt a bit better. Before this I hadn't had a cold for several years so I can't complain too much but I really hope I'm OK for work tomorrow. I've got a meeting at our parent department in the morning and then so much to do in the run up to month end.
I'm now gearing up for lots of celebrations of milestone events which are a bit scary to contemplate. On Thursday 2nd September I'll be attending my first ever baby shower which signifies the next stage in my life, the progression from the 'wedding' stage to the 'babies' stage. On 6th September my brother in law turns 30 - the first person I know in 'my' school year to do so. On 20th October my dad turns 65 and finally retires and to round things off on 26th October my uncle turns 80.
Oooh, and Republica are playing in London in October. I wonder if I can convince anyone to come and see them with me.
This entry is bought to you by ASDA cold relief capsules, so if it makes even less sense than usual please blame them.
I spent last weekend in Devon staying with a friend from uni and her fiance. She's a Devon native who moved back home after uni. We hadn't seen one another since I moved back from Plymouth in October 2004. She bought a cottage with her fiance (who I hadn't met before) around Christmas time and invited me to visit shortly afterwards. When the nice people at South West Trains sent me six tickets to travel anywhere on their network for free at weekends it seemed like the perfect opportunity to accept her invitation.
I was pretty happy on Thursday evening. My mum had kindly waited in my flat for a Hotpoint engineer to turn up and fix my washer/drier which had stopped heating up on the drying cycle. It was fixed sucessfully which cheered me up no end. I then went out for drinks with a former work colleague which involved a very enjoyable Malaysian meal and Brooklyn Lager which were both firsts for me.
Unfortunately, when I woke up on Friday morning I felt a bit rubbish. I thought I might have a bit of a hangover and soldiered on but I was on a bit of a go-slow and ended up catching a much later train than usual. The train was also on a go-slow, randomly stopping between stations for several minutes, and I missed the train to Exeter. As a result I had to wait an hour for the next one and was late to meet my friend. No matter though. I knew the journey was going to be slow as the Waterloo to Exeter St David's route is a slow one. There's a quicker route from Paddington via Reading but that's not on South West Trains so not eligable for my free deal. It was quite nice though. The train was fairly empty so I had space to spread out a bit. I managed to read all of the September issue of Empire and a chapter of a work related book.
My friend was waiting for me at Tiverton Parkway and drove me to her village (it's a small town officially but it seemed like a village to me!) in her convertable MG. The cottage is over 200 years old and absolutely lovely. Just the right size for a couple and their two cats. They also have a largeish country cottage style garden containing a big apple tree which they share with the other cottages in their terrace. Their cat had kittens a few of months ago and I was really excited to find out that they'd kept one of the litter. I adore cats and was absolutely enchanted by the 14 week old jet black fluffball. In my opinon their cats are perfect. Independent enough not to get under your feet or constantly begging for attention, but docile enough to curl up on your lap for a cudde. Both cats shared my bed part of the time. The kitten curled up behind my bent knees and when I moved he dozily followed which was super cute. On Saturday morning he was woken up and totally spooked by my mobile phone alarm vibrating and shot out of the room. He then crept back and hid under the futon, a space so tiny that his little ears were squashed, and refused to come out until he was sure the 'danger' had passed. Bless him!
Despite the weather being far from perfect I had a very enjoyable weekend. On Friday evening we went for a walk around the village and then to the local pub for a few drinks. On Saturday, we planned to go for a walk on Dartmoor but the TV weather advised against it due to low cloud so we went down Exmouth instead. When we arrived it was raining and very windy so we went for lunch in the hope that it would clear up. Fortunately it brightened up in the afternoon so we went for a walk along the cliffs and down to the beach. Living so far inland I don't get to see the sea very often so it was really good to get some sea air and see the lovely views over south Devon. I'd actually been to Exmouth once before as a kid on a family holiday. I was suprised that I remembered a couple of things, namely the boys brigade campsite at the top of the cliff and the fancy clock tower on the esplanade. We also went for a walk around the town. I was pleased to see that there are still some nice little independent shops there. On the way back from Exmouth we stopped off at a very sophisticated (and suitably expensive!) permanent farmers' market where I picked up some locally made fudge to take to work. Saturday night was spent relaxing in front of the TV watching Anchorman on BBC3. I love that movie! On Sunday, we went for a wander around Exeter. My friend very kindly agreed to walk around the cathedral with me despite the fact that she goes there often as the school she teaches at does their Christmas concerts etc. there. I felt a bit guilty until we discovered that they don't charge for entry on a Sunday. I donated the entry charge anyway but at least it meant my friend didn't have to cough up. Exeter cathedral is my mum's favourite and I agree with her to some extent. In my opinion one of it's strengths is that it was built in the 1300s and hasn't been significantly changed since giving it a strong sense of cohesian. Many of the cathedrals I've visited have been the victim of various misfortunes over the years (fire, civil war, collapsing foundations etc.) and now look like the bits don't fit together very well. Exeter cathedral is also relatively small and not too overwhelming to look around. After visiting the cathedral we had lunch and then I left for home. By this point I couldn't stop sneezing and had realised that I had picked up a cold. I spent most of the journey home sneezing and blowing my nose. Yuck.
I was still on leave today so I took paracetamol and went up to the British Library to see the Magnificent Maps exhibition with my parents. It's free and I thoroughly recommend it. Saying that I'm a long time admirer of maps generally so I'm a bit biased. We were thrilled to see our humble home town (at that time a tiny hamlet) recorded on a woven map presented to Elizabeth I (although perhaps not that suprising as her step mum Katherine Parr lived in the village next door) but I was most impressed by this modern artisitic map of London called The Island Zoom in to see the amazing detail. I love it and wish I had space to put a copy on my living room wall.
All in all it was a very good weekend. I just wish I felt a bit better. Before this I hadn't had a cold for several years so I can't complain too much but I really hope I'm OK for work tomorrow. I've got a meeting at our parent department in the morning and then so much to do in the run up to month end.
I'm now gearing up for lots of celebrations of milestone events which are a bit scary to contemplate. On Thursday 2nd September I'll be attending my first ever baby shower which signifies the next stage in my life, the progression from the 'wedding' stage to the 'babies' stage. On 6th September my brother in law turns 30 - the first person I know in 'my' school year to do so. On 20th October my dad turns 65 and finally retires and to round things off on 26th October my uncle turns 80.
Oooh, and Republica are playing in London in October. I wonder if I can convince anyone to come and see them with me.
