We had John and Carol Curd over for dinner. Main course served was the pan fried marinaded salmon on a bed of green beans.
Many bottles of wine consumed on this hot evening.
Ludgershall Bike Night 2016
Rosemary dropped SadGit Richard G and me off at Ludgershall at last year’s Bike Night. The Bike Night is held every year. Hundreds of motor bikes turn up for the evening at this small rural village in Buckinghamshire. As you can see there are hundreds of people wandering up the village road looking at the bikes, admiring the machines, chatting, drinking beer and eating. This year the evening was warm, still, and fabulous. Cheese, biscuits & red wine were waiting at home for us following Rosemary’s resumed chauffeuring duties.
Bletchley Park, The Bombe
Visited Bletchley Park today with Valerie and Norman. This was definitely not the best day to go, Fathers Day. The exhibitions were busy, overflow parking was in a nearby school.
We had been to Bletchley Park, years ago. Several restaurants have been added since then. With lottery funding a working Bombe machine has been recreated. This was demonstrated with an explanation on how it works. We next viewed some excellent displays which went into greater detail of the decoding process. I never managed to get around the whole of the site. I will be visiting again, the tickets allow free entry for a whole year. The National Museum of Computing is on the same site. They house the replica Colossus machine along with other old computers. This is definitely on my wish list.
Bletchley Park House
Next we walked around Bletchley Park House, where there was an exhibition of the The Imitation Game film. This is complete with Bombe machines used in the Benedict Cumberbatch film. These don’t work, just the dials rotate with the electric motors behind. The sound engineers used the recreated Bombe for sound track on the film. Wrens who had worked on the real machines back in World War II say it does make the correct sound.
Second Visit to Bletchely Park
We did make a second visit to Bletchely Park when Richard and Andrea visited us. Rosemary, Richard and I visited the park (Andrea was off at a Conference). It was less busy, but still busy. This time we saw a few other huts. One very amusing one was the use of carrier pigeons for intelligence purposes. Did you know there had been undercover spy pigeons? Each side was shooting down pigeons, or using birds of prey.
Caius College Garden Party and Illuminated Caius Choirbook
Rosemary and I visited Cambridge for the Gonville and Caius Alumni garden party. This is a thankyou event to those alumni who donate to the college. Despite high fees paid by undergraduates, their payments only cover half the costs. When I was a student at Cambridge, tuition costs were fully paid, and I also received a grant for living expenses. I feel a debt of gratitude which I now repay by donations to Caius college. This is big business to the college, who have a set of rewards depending on the value of gifts made.
The day was a sunny day, and the city was lively with the Brexit campaign in full swing. The city was full of those supporting the Remain campaign. Of course the majority of those we spoke to at the alumni party were in support of Remain. Education and research is so bound up with freedom of movement and research grants from the EU. It is no surprise that Cambridge voted to remain.
The food at the party was as usual excellent. I have never seen so many prepared Cromer grabs. Wine and fizz was available in good quantities. After the congratulatory speeches we hastened to the Cockerell building where the Illuminated Caius Choirbook was on display. We were also entertained to some singing from the Caius Choirbook and came away with a CD.
Starling being fed in old Rayburn solid fuel cooker
Picture of a Starling chick being fed in an old, disused Rayburn solid fuel cooker which a pair of Starlings were using as a nest. This was the second time Starlings have done this, the previous time being two years ago. I managed to grab a few pictures of the chick being fed. The next day it had fledged and gone. The pictures were taken through an open window on a Canon EOS7D Mk2. The lens was a 100 – 400 Canon.
Both parents were feeding one chick. At least, I believe there was only one chick. This was the same as the previous nesting two years before.
Botswana and Victoria Falls
I have published my complete set of pictures from our trip to Botswana and Zambia. Any spelling mistakes, please refer to Rosemary, she sense read the diary, correcting, unbelievably, stalks to storks (it spellchecked, so must have been ok, I thought). We were away 23rd April – 7th May 2016.
The pages to view are here at Botswana and Zambia Safari.
Waddesdon Manor Christmas Lights 2015.
Waddesdon Manor Christmas Lights 2015. Bruce Munro’s installation of lights at Waddesdon Manor called SOS, This is his final year of three years at Waddesdon Manor. The lights on Waddesdon manor were by Woodroffe Bassett design. We visited with Ian and Julie. Lovely warm evening for December. You must watch the video to hear the sound track associated with the lights in the tent.
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The Amazing World of M.C. Escher at Dulwich Picture Gallery
Rosemary and I ventured into London to see The Amazing World of M.C. Escher exhibition at Dulwich Picture Gallery. His graphics were truly amazing, from his original portraits and drawings, onto metamorphosis, and tessellations. There was also the iconic waterfall. He worked with British mathematicians, like Roger Penrose who gave Escher the idea for the stairs picture. Exhibitions of his work are very rare in the UK, and this one is well worth visiting. It is on until the 17th January. We also ate lunch at the gallery restaurant, tad expensive, but very nice meal.
Back in Central London we visited the Chris Beetle gallery. They are the gallery that sell the original Matt cartoons which are published in the Telegraph. I have an original Matt which Rosemary bought me for my birthday, its of Cyber Crime. Sorry Guv I had to taser the computer. R had tried to buy me a Glastonbury Matt, but it was sold in minutes of being published. The gallery staff were in fact setting up an exhibition of Matt Cartoons, presumably the ones which did not sell. They also sell originals from many other cartoonists and etchings from a variety of books.
A coffee in a Cafe Nero, then a stare at some of the shop windows as we walked our way to Piccadilly Circus and back home.
Crystal Palace from West Dulwich
Fortnum and Mason
Fortnum and Mason and Selfie
Mars, Venus and Jupiter
I have been meaning to see Mars, Venus and Jupiter for the last few days, but been thwarted by not waking up and the clouds. First saw them at 2.00am on Saturday morning, saw two bright objects in the sky, low to the horizon. I thought the other object must still be below the horizon. So went back to sleep, to wake at 4.45 am to find cloud.
After the Kingswood fireworks, I set the alarm for 4.45, prepared the camera and went to bed. Woke and it was misty, but the stars were still visible. This time I saw the two bright objects high in the sky? Where was the third. Puzzled, fired up google Night Sky and searched for Mars, Venus and Jupiter. Duh, of course Mars was not as bright as Venus and Jupiter. The red planet was easily spotted with binoculars. Here is a photograph of the planets, from left to right they are Mars (red), Venus (the brightest) and Jupiter.
Mars, Venus and Jupiter on 1st November 2015 a 5.42 EDT, Kingswood, Bucks, UK