Clive Handy's Blog

I haven’t written anything for some time, but I just wanted to publicise my latest web page https://bordonmensshed.com which is an embryonic attempt to write my own page about our local Men’s Shed. Men’s Sheds (or Sheds) are similar to garden sheds – a place to pursue practical interests at leisure, to practice skills and enjoy making and mending. The difference is that garden sheds and their activities are often solitary in nature while Men’s Sheds are the opposite. They’re about social connections and friendship building, sharing skills and knowledge, and of course a lot of laughter.

So please have a look, normal service will resume eventually!

The Handy Ireland Trip 1 -10^th August 2023

Tuesday 1^st August

Packed and ready to go, to pick Charlotte up at 11:00, got there a bit late but set off for Liverpool at 11.30, me driving.

Smooth journey up the M3 and M25, to the M40, no hold-ups or road works, unusual! Stopped at Charwell services 1pm -1.45pm, drove 90 miles to Stafford services, Charlotte driving. Got to Liverpool at 5.30, so in a good time. Checked into the Leonardo Hotel for one night. Found Tiger Rock Thai restaurant, had a lovely meal then wondered around the retail district for an hour or so, amazing shops and so lively. Ended up in Royal Albert Docks, beautiful area, had a drink at the One o Clock Gun and walked around some more before getting back to the hotel. Would definitely like to visit Liverpool again! Took photos of us by the Beatles statue, and the Liver Building. Got to bed pretty knackered, not a good night’s sleep only 5 hours. Made arrangements to meet at 8.00am to get to the ferry.

Nice Group shot

 Wednesday 2^nd August

Woke too early 6.00am ish, got packed and downstairs. Charlotte fetched Alphi (the MPV) from the garage, we loaded up and set off for the Stena Line ferry leaving at 10.30. Found the terminal, queued, embarked and set off for the 8 hour journey to Belfast.

We booked the Hygge lounge for the extra cost, well worth it. Very comfortable seats and unlimited tea/coffee. Unfortunately the machine broke down so they gave us access to the inclusive lounge which would have been worthwhile, maybe next time!

The journey was 8 hours, uneventful, but we started with the full breakfast (£12.50) which was very good. Chilled out in the lounge and watched TV, with subtitles and read my book. Later went up on deck, first with TC and then Fran; very blowy but not cold. I whiled away the time waiting to dock; bought sandwiches to stop the worms from biting. Docked at about 7.30pm, got off and drove through Belfast to the Air BnB on Wellesey Avenue. Got there easily and off loaded the whole car (lots) into the 1^st/2nd floor flat. Ist floor was the living room/ kitchen and main bedroom with a utility room and a bathroom and separate shower down the hall (and down two steps!). Upstairs was two bedrooms for the girls, all very spacious and comfortable except…the bloody bath towels were for children or midgets! Turned round quickly and went out for a bite. Ryan’s bar at the end of the road was fully booked so booked for the following night. We wondered further on and eventually found Ginza Kitchen, Sushi and Japanese. Lovely food especially the Tappan plates. Walked back to No 28 and basically crashed, totally knackered.

Titanic Exhibition

Thursday 3^rd August

Got up at 7.30, refreshed, good sleep; the girls sorting plans for the day, for a bus tour round Belfast city ending up at the Titanic exhibition. Walked two streets away and waited for the open top bus. Got stung by a bloody wasp, while minding my own business, damn well hurt! Luckily TC had antihistamine cream which helped. The sting lasted two weeks. The tour was circular so you could get off and on at any stop. It went through West Belfast was the seat of the ‘Troubles’. Very interesting, took great photos of the murals depicting ‘heroes’ of the IRA struggle like Bobby Sands. Got off the bus at the main terminal went for a drink at The Curious Lounge opposite the Europa Hotel, famous for the number of times it was blown by the IRA during the troubles. Went to lunch opposite Belfast City hall. They served 0% Guinness as well, result, unheard of at home. We then walked around a bit and caught the bus to the Titanic exhibition.

Quite a fantastic depiction of the ship’s story, from conception, the build, the launch and the maiden voyage. All done really well with marvellous graphic displays, interactive consoles and plenty of archival photos and cine footage. It’s hard to imagine how big Titanic was but the front of the building was the same height and width of the actual ship. We spent two hours there, also visited the Titanic’s tender vessel SS Nomadic, which was in service until 1968, used as a pleasure cruiser. We caught the bus back into the city, had booked Dinner at the Crown Liquor Pub opposite the Europa Hotel, and went there for beer and food. It is a fascinating place, we were in a booth, very private and could stay as long as we wanted. Charlotte wanted to visit Queen Katherine’s Cathedral so we trogged around a bit until we found it…and it was closed. We walked back to a pub and they called a taxi for us back to No 28.

Harland and Wolfe Crane

Friday 4^th August

Giant’s Causeway Day!

We had a light breakfast at the Air BnB, then left before mid day to drive to Giant’s Causeway (GC). Stopped off to get petrol, then the journey was 1 ½ hours to get it. Luckily it’s National Trust so as Fran and I are members it was free, even though we had to book a slot, the girls though had to pay £13 each. Got there and parked and the entrance price included a guided tour. The guide was great; he explained everything fully and showed us the whole area in a group. Walked over 10000 steps walking around and over the GC and round the amphitheatre as its known. Back to the reception area and bought souvenirs and left for home. We booked Ryan’s bar at the end of Wellesey Avenue because we couldn’t get in there the night before. The food was lovely and everyone had a great meal. Back to bed totally knackered.

Giants Causeway

Saturday 5^th

Left Wellesey Avenue to drive down to Inch Beach in the south western corner of Ireland, 327 miles in total. Meeting my friend Paul Van Tromp (PVT) from my RAF days stationed in Northern Ireland. We met him and his wife Elaine at the Ardhowen Theatre in Enniskillen for coffee and cake. Had a lovely time catching up with him, he’s lived in NI for 21 years and married Elaine, a local girl. They have a grown up family. We drove on and stopped at the Custom House County Inn for a nice lunch then carried on into the Republic of Ireland. No border, no indication that we had entered the EU, the only clue was the yellow lines at edge of the road. We stopped in Galway for a look around; it’s a lovely town right on the river. Carried on past Limerick to reach Inch Beach Guest House at 22:18. Met by the owners got into bed: crashed! A very long day.

Galway

Sunday 6^th August

Had a superb Irish breakfast in Inch House, then drive into Dingle the nearby town for the day. Parked in pay car park, no machine working so couldn’t pay! Walked around the busy little town and went for a coffee in Kathleen McAuliffe a clothes shop with a cafe at the back. Had coffee and cakes.

Decided to walk to Dingle Whiskey Distillery after a drink at a bar, where Teresa tried draught Guinness for the first time and loved it! Also tried a whiskey I bought and that went down as well.  The distillery was fully booked, we couldn’t even buy any off sales, they don’t have a licence. Can brew the stuff but not sell it retail. Visited a few places and ended up at a seafood restaurant for a lovely meal in Doyle’s Fish Restaurant which was fantastic. Then we ended up in Neligan’s bar, fantastic atmosphere. Music was going on in the corner from a couple of guitars and singers. Sat there for a while and were joined by Linda and Dave, who were down from Dublin for the Irish Bank Holiday. Great laugh much booze drunk and good friends made. Swapped emails and promised to keep in touch. Dave is from Yorkshire but has lived in Ireland for some years, Linda is a Dubliner. Left Neligan’s with Linda and Dave and went to Curran’s bar that looked like the inside of a regular house but  had a huge area out the back where we kept on chatting and  drinking (not me!). Friends of Linda’s.

Monday 7^th

Left Inch Beach to drive to Glenda Lough and then Dublin. We were told about Conor pass by the BnB owners. It’s a mountain pass over the middle of the Dingle peninsula (part of the Kerry loop) and is only 6 feet wide. The Alphie is about that but I thought it was worth the risk. There were stories of HGVs having to reverse ¾ mile because they couldn’t get through the gap. We managed to get through though. Conor pass is like Switzerland with huge drops down one side and is VERY narrow. We carried on the journey to the Lough, stopping a couple of times on the 179 mile journey. Glenda Lough consists of two lakes one large and one much smaller set in beautiful countryside. As usual the Irish roads are superb probably due to low usage and EU money doing them up. After the visit to the Lough we had booked at the Wicklow Heather Restaurant, lovely food, ate outside with a few wasps for company. Good job we booked no way was there any ad-hoc seating.

We drove on from Glenda Lough past possibly the closest number of stud farms ever. There was certainly the smell of money in that area. Arrived at the Trinity Hotel at 10.20, ee had to wait for the car to be parked in their underground car park. Valet parking, then we got our rooms for two nights. Lovely hotel, really swish; we got an upgrade to executive rooms, so that was nice. Had a good sleep.

Tuesday 8^th

Went out for breakfast and found Fitzgerald’s bar near the river (Liffey). Super Irish breakfast again. We bought circular bus tickets a la Belfast to see around Dublin with commentary. Got off at the Little Museum, this showed a lot of history of Dublin, augmented by a humorous talk from a museum guy. Told us some potted history illustrated by artefacts in the museum. Back on the bus again and got off at the Guinness Storehouse, a fascinating insight into brewing of the dark stuff, over 7 floors with the promise of a free pint at the top. It went through the whole process and history of cooking the wort and making the beer, and done with pizzazz and flashing lights. Fantastic views from the top of the Storehouse over the whole of Dublin which is really quite small. Then after our free pint (the place was heaving) it was back on the bus for a reset and out on the town.

Found the Temple Bar, a really lively well known tourist place in the city. Singers and players belting out tunes, packed full of people. The serving staffs were brilliant and found us a table and took our orders for food and drink (Guinness of course!). Seriously good time had by all. Left there and walked around the crowded streets, visited a few shops and up and the Brazen Head, probably the oldest pub in Dublin. Another great atmosphere and full of people. Walked back to the Trinity.

Inch Beach

Wednesday 9^th

Home day!

The girls went for a walk into the shopping area: Grafton Street. We went to find it, got lost and gave up; went back to the hotel. Packed for the journey, settled up and got the car bought up from the garage. Loaded up and set off for the docks. Easy check in and line up to get on the Cat to Holyhead, Stena line; journey time2 ½ hours across the Irish Sea. Unfortunately Charlotte felt sick and collapsed in the toilets. Not very well poor love, she put it down to the vibration and the pitching of the boat, but it didn’t affect the rest of us.

Landed at Holyhead at 4.00pm, for the long journey south. Drove for a while then stopped at a place that said there were services.  We accidently came across the rail station with the longest name:  Llanfair­pwllgwyngyll­gogery­chwyrn­drobwll­llan­tysilio­gogo­goch. It was very low key, with a multi store and car park next to it. Took pictures to say we’d been there. Set up one of the back seats for Charlotte to lie down, still feeling ill. We drove on for 297 miles stopping for fuel, food and pee stops and got home at 00.10.  Charlotte fully recovered.

LLanfair Station

We did 1361 miles all together door to door, don’t know much petrol we used but spent over £300 on it, it was cheaper in Ireland, strangely. The Alphard didn’t miss a beat and was a superb ride all around the island. Grateful thanks for Charlotte and Teresa for organising the accommodation and most of the eating places. Fran made a lot of suggestions, all well received. If it sounded like an eating trip, it was; the food was fantastic and so was the drink and scenery, but most of all the company was lovely. We all gelled together and there weren’t many arguments. We all had a drive and found it easy and pleasant.   

All of us want to go back again, says it all really.

The saga of the RMS Titanic started on 12th April 1912, and 111 years later is still headline news.

When the Titanic sunk after hitting that iceberg in 1912, the journalists and early radio broadcasters who covered the tragedy would never have thought their successors would still be reporting about the effects of the sinking over 100 years later.

But the Titanic is still news and will continue to be for some time yet after the latest incident involving a ‘submersible’ which is lost somewhere in the depths of the North Atlantic ocean with minimal oxygen on board, and frankly not much hope of rescue. That 5 people have gone down in that sub and paid $250000 for the privilege of possibly dying in it beggars belief. They might call themselves ‘adventurers’ or thrill seekers but whatever, it seems a bizarre way to become a member of the Darwin group, that is people who kill themselves in the most unusual way possible.

Now of course, I hope the passengers and crew are rescued and they return to the surface unharmed, but the situation they are in does not auger well. It takes some strength of mind to enter a vessel where you will be bolted into it, with no way of exiting it from the inside, and dropped to a depth of 3800 metres to look at the wreck of the Titanic through a tiny window and computer screens. It is controlled by a computer games hand control and the passengers sit on a hard surface for the duration of the four hour journey to the bottom. But each to his own, and most people would probably say no thanks, even if they had unlimited funds to achieve this trip. But as I understand it, one of the passengers, a British multi-millionaire has already had a trip into space and taken part in other high risk ventures. I hope his family think it’s worth the risk, but unfortunately his son was with him, so they could have lost them both. I’m not trying to spread doom and gloom, but one has to be realistic, their chances of survival are pretty slim.

Titanic had a short chequered career, and sparked feature films, conjecture, expert opinion and has an everlasting fascination for most of the world. There have been several cinematic visions of what happened to Titanic among them A Night to Remember and the 1997 Titanic directed by James Cameron which made stars of Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. That one is probably the most realistic re-enactment of the actual events and was a multiple Oscar winner. Cameron was able to get down to film Titanic on the ocean floor, and spliced those images with a fictional up-to-date story about a passenger on board the ship when it sank. I wonder how he got down to the wreck and managed to shoot miles of film which was cleverly mixed with the live action. So, if that was successfully achieved 25 years ago, without mishap, what did they do right?

Anyway we await the outcome of the rescue attempt with trepidation and hope against hope that the occupants are returned unharmed

So the latest news is that the sub has suffered a catastrophic implosion, the end caps of the submersible were found blown off the main body. This would have caused the submersible to flattened within a couple of seconds, so those on board would have not had a chance to feel anything. This has been seen several times in films and their reconstruction seems quite realistic. My condolences to all on board, I guess they all knew what dangers they faced, and signed waivers for what could happen to the sub. RIP the five men who persished.

Back in the days before Covid, Boris, Elections, Ukraine, the cost of living crisis and other sundry interruptions, we had a Men’s Shed in Bordon. I have written before about our magnificent workshop we built in a old warehouse. To remind you what Men’s Sheds are about:

‘They’re community spaces for men to connect, converse and create. The activities are often similar to those of garden sheds, but for groups of men to enjoy together. They help reduce loneliness and isolation, but most importantly, they’re fun.’ This is a direct quote from the Men’s Shed UK Association. Unfortunately it hasn’t been much fun lately.

After we spent a year building a superb workshop in Prince Philip Park in Bordon, we had it just right: a ‘clean’ workshop, and a ‘dirty’ workshop, tea bar, wood store internal and external and a whole range of machinery, tools, hardware and accessories to build, well just about anything. After all if we could, when most of us are in our seventies build two 6m x 3 m workshops with walls, roofs and be fully equipped with electricity and a place to relax, we could probably tackle most things. But the rug was pulled under us when the hosts, the Furniture Helpline lost a contract with a local council to remove waste to recycling stations around the area. It was a lucrative contract and paid for the rent on the building in which we were co-located with them. They couldn’t afford the £12000 a year rent so had to leave and since we were on their shirt tails we had to go as well. So, after being used for six months in anger, we had to strike the workshops and find somewhere to store a huge amount of 8 x 4 panels, lathes, table saws, drills and myriad tools and hardware. Luckily one of our members had a lot of land around his house so we bought a car porch and stored as much as we could in there. Some of the rest went into his disused swimming pool and the benches and cupboards went into a unroadworthy lorry belonging to the Furniture Helpline in Prince Philp Park.

This left us without a home, and we’ve been this way since the end of March 2022. We aimed to raised money from any source so we applied for various grants. We were lucky to be offered £5000 from Wates the building company but only to be used on renting or buying a building. We applied for a grant from East Hampshire District Council and this is still ongoing, but whatever we apply for from that direction they automatically half it. We’ve been offered a piece of land a mile away by the owner of a defunct golf course who wants to try to lease some of this out, and has offered us a nice piece of about 1/2 an acre with water and sewerage but no building. There are other local councillor grants of £1000 that can be applied for, and I will chase those up.

We created a ‘club’ with a chairman, treasurer and secretary (me!) and meet monthly to discuss progress and come up with ideas. Everyone is still enthusiastic though I can’t see why when all they want to do is create stuff in wood. But I’m glad they are. I’m also applying for charitable status so we can claim gift aid, and hope we can find other sources of income form somewhere, anywhere. The problem of loneliness is all pervading to some people and we have helped some of our members in a big way to come to terms with mental health problems. Often all they need to do is talk and we are good listeners and solution offerers. We are NOT however trained in any mental health aspect and can’t be carers to anyone with a mental or physical disability. This is where we may have come unstuck in some of our applications. With the best will in the world, we can’t accept someone in a wheelchair for example, if they want to use any power tools because we are not set up for that kind of thing, and to have some where separate for such disability would cost a lot of money and would probably only be used intermittently. This is not discrimination, it’s practicalities that determine whether we can or cannot accept disabilities. Similarly, anyone with severe mental illness, for example: vascular dementia or autism, would be difficult to accommodate because we have neither the skill or training to help these sort of people. I’m sorry if that sounds discriminatory but it’s not meant to be; we try our best to accommodate anyone we can.

So, back to the problem in hand, we had some publicity in the local paper and I’m hoping to get more from other sources but its always difficult. I f anyone reads this and wants to help please contact me by leaving a comment and I will get back to you. I wouldn’t say we are the solution to the worlds problems but given a place to work and a bit of luck we may to be able to help a great many people in the local area.

There are buildings that have been empty for years but every enquiry has been met with ‘oh, we’re looking to let that commercially’. Some of those buildings: Lloyds Bank, The Garrison Church, the RAF club, the old Fire Station have been empty for up to five years. There doesn’t seem to be a rush to occupy those recently, although the old HSBC bank in the town centre is being turned into ‘another’ fast food joint, as if Bordon hasn’t got enough. When the army left the town, we were promised an ‘Eco’ town, then a environmentally aware town, and finally a climate aware town or whatever. There are slated to be 3300 house being built in the area and yet where are the infrastructures? The secondary school opened two years has to be extended because it isn’t big enough, despite demolishing the old school and swimming pool which was very popular with the local residents. The medical facilities are being lumped together in a ‘Health Hub’ which will include a hospital of sorts, when there is a perfectly serviceable and not that old hospital which had been run down so that there are hardly any facilities there and people have to travel miles to get help. I don’t know how much the health hub is costing but can it be money well spent when there is already a similar facility in existence? Morrisons have promised to build a supermarket on reclaimed army land on which even more houses are to be built. It doesn’t auger well does it?

Anyway off my rant horse, with all this housing being built, the facilities needed to entertain and feed and provide health care for the occupants should be given priority, and the men’s shed would be there to help lonely and displaced who need a helping hand.

The Aussie Holiday 2023

Thursday 2^nd March/Friday 3^rd March

The day has come, we’re on the way to our 5^th trip to down under. Instead of flying to Melbourne as before we are exploring new ground in Brisbane.

A bit of background, our daughter and son-in-law moved to Melbourne in 2013, and we have visited them there four times up until 2019. In 2022 my son-in-law got a new job in Byron Bay, 200km south of Brisbane. So, this is our first visit to this part of Australia. So, our flight was at 20.35 (8.35 pm) and our eldest daughter took us to LHR (Heathrow) and progressed through security and bag drop having pre-checked in online the day before. Our ride was an Airbus A380 operated by Singapore Airlines to Changi, a 14-hour flight. The departure lounge was quite full so it was expected that the aircraft would be well loaded. There was a passenger compliment of 263 so not a full load. The A380 could take 600 but I doubt one has actually flown with that number. Singapore operates a daily service to Changi using the A380. Our 2^nd journey from Changi to Brisbane was in an A350. There’s quite a difference between the two. The 380 is configured 3-4-3 across the body, whereas the 350 is 3-3-3, giving you less width and less length, making it less comfortable in my humble opinion. I’m terrible with sleeping on planes so I didn’t get much even though it was overnight. We were two meals, both tasty and adequate. We landed at Changi at 17:00 local (it’s 7 hours ahead of UK time) and we had about 4 hours waiting for our connecting flight. Luckily the hold baggage are relocated to the next aircraft so we only had our carry-ons with us. Since we are not entering the country, there’s only cursory security to board the aircraft. We boarded at 2130 local (2.30 pm UK) for the 8-hour flight to BNE (Brisbane). We were served one meal at 2.00 am! I didn’t get any sleep again, wriggling around trying to get comfortable in two narrow close seats (I know 1^st world problems). At least I saw a movie in each leg: The Forgiven with Ralph Fiennes in the first and Top Gun Maverick in the 2^nd. We landed at BNE at 07:15 local and taxied for about 15 minutes to get to the stand. As we got on board at SIN, I saw someone I knew as we passed to get to our seats, and we met again at the luggage carousel. He had been on a business trip and was flying home to Gold Coast. He offered us a lift but we had already bought train tickets to get to a station where our daughter and son-in-law were to pick us up. They met us and we drove into the local mall for breakfast. Then it was about an hour’s drive to their home in Byron Bay. We got there and at last, we stopped moving! We chilled out for the afternoon and then went out for dinner at a local pub nearby. A lively place with lots of youngish people eating. I had a pasta sausage dish which was tasty and very filling.

Sunday 4^th March

Chilled morning, went to the monthly Byron market. It is massive and covers two car parks. I bought two plectrums from a guy selling those and nothing else! Wandered around and found a band playing and had a coffee under a shade; bloody hot. Picked up a mobile phone pack from Aldi and have now got a local number. Walked down to the beach about 15 minutes away; it was deserted.

In the evening visited Mike, Lauren, Dylan, and Aiden at Pottsville about 45 minutes away. Mike is a colleague of Kevin at Fliteboard. They moved up from Melbourne where Kev first met Mike when he started with Fliteboard down there. Had a lovely ‘tea’ prepared by Lauren, who is a professional baker.

Monday 6^th March

Shopped at IGA, a supermarket 2 minutes walk away for the first time. An amazing array of fresh fruit and vegetables. Prices are probably higher than in the UK but the quality is excellent.

Tuesday 7^th March

A really chilled day, went into Byron Bay (BB) with Teresa (TC) just to show us the town, bought jacket potatoes for dinner, and got over jetlag which is why we are taking it very easy to settle in. Their house is a two-story with two bedrooms, ours is very comfortable. They have two cats: Mouse and Fox, and they seem to have accepted us very easily. Mouse is a black and white male, three years old and the dominant of the two, and Fox is a grey Chartreau male, one year old and twice the size of Mouse. Where Mouse is a lively intelligent and resourceful cat, Fox is slower and less agile; he can’t jump and is not nearly as ‘touchy/feely’. They are inside cats as a rule, but are allowed outside under supervision. Mouse has a habit of trying to escape and has managed to jump over the garden fence a couple of times, but is recovered very quickly. Fox has never attempted to skip jail.

Wednesday 8^th March

After a relaxing morning, TC booked us into an afternoon film in the local cinema to see the film ‘Tar’. It’s about a lesbian orchestra conductor who works with the Berlin Philharmonic, but she wants to change personnel in the string section. Eventually, she is ousted by her male colleagues, comes back, and knocks her male replacement off the conductor’s podium. It looks and feels like a biopic of a real person but is total fiction, starring Kate Blanchette. Bought veg at the IGA and made a Thai green curry at home.

Thursday 9^th March

Went to the BB farmer’s weekly market.Bought Manuka honey made in Australia, actually in BB! I thought manuka only came from New Zealand but apparently, it was Australian Aboriginals who started collecting honey from manuka plants, recognizing the wonderful qualities it possesses. Bought a lemon drizzle cake to share. Went to Aldi and got glace cherries. Had lunch at a lovely cafe Expresshead. We both had the best eggs benedict. Went home and fiddled with TCs guitar. The strings are much too thick and she has trouble playing it. I had trouble as well so I made a point of getting some new ones. Sat the rest of the afternoon on the patio, lovely and warm and sunny.

We are going out to a concert in the evening, weren’t told much about it, but I guess it was to do with my birthday which is tomorrow. I suspected I was developing gout, which can happen during the flights, so I visited a local chemist but colchicine is only available on prescription. Very helpful pharmacist Simone helped to get one after getting the OK from an online doctor. All this costs, of course, no NHS here but I hadn’t applied for the pay the reciprocal agreement so had to pay the $65 for the pills. They worked and helped to reduce the swelling. We’ll see what it’s like after a few days. Fran had a suspected DVT from the flight and got a GP appointment for Friday. Here of course you have to pay for everything as a visitor though citizens do get costs returned, through what they call ‘bulk billing’ which is funded by Medicare the equivalent of the NHS. Australians pay 2% of their taxable income towards the Medicare levy which is set by the government. If you don’t get bulk billing, you claim Medicare individually, generally the same as a private patient.

We went to the local theatre where TC had booked us to see ‘Dark Side of the Moon’, which was a quad recording of the original album released 50 years ago. They played the whole album without interruption. It also included a fantastic light show interspersed with a live band that played some tracks from ‘Wish you were here’, and ‘The Division Bell’. There were graphic images fitting in with the music on four screens, with a speaker in each corner to match the quad output of the original. It seems out of date now with surround sound but in its day quad sound was state of the art and still sounds good today. The audience mostly stood around and was encouraged to move around to get the full effect; there was minimal seating. It was a fantastic experience. We met Jaff a colleague of Kev and Sara his GP’s wife, a very nice couple. Sara had escaped the NHS in the middle of the covid pandemic.

Friday 10^th March

My Birthday! 72 today eek! Fran and TC went to BB to visit an Op shop (second-hand shop), a big thing in Oz, they all love them. They came back with some bits. Then we walked over to the Docs, nearly next door to the IGA, and saw the very nice Dr Doug. He diagnosed a small DVT and referred her to the radiologist three doors down for a scan. Got it dressed by the nurse and gave her scripts for penicillin and blood thinners. The scan was an hour later and Dr Doug phoned not long after that to confirm that the radiologist had confirmed it was a DVT and to rest her leg as much as possible. TC had gone and got the prescriptions.

We drove off to Kirra to a special restaurant called Siblings. We met the aforementioned Ben (from the plane) and his wife Sam, her father Melvyn, and their 4-year-old daughter Phoenix. Ben’s colleague Josh was also there with us four. We ordered 2 small plates and a main course, which was all a bit much really, but it was Ben’s recommendation, who has a huge appetite. We came away with a doggy bag (box!). TC and Kev had cocktails, Fran had wine, and I had 0% beer and water. Getting drunk on my birthday is not on the cards these days. It was a really nice birthday though, the restaurant bought a cake and everyone sang Happy Birthday. I drove home after offering, so Kev and TC could have a drink.

Saturday 11^th March

 Today was 2-year-old toddler Van’s birthday party. His birthday was on Thursday. Van’s parents are Leah and Nathan, he is from Essex originally; he’s lived in Oz for 10 years, and Leah is Aussie. They invited us along with Kev and TC, who provided coffee at a park not far away. Leah provided food and the rest of the party stuff, other guests bought along various snacks and stuff. Talked a lot to Lilah who is Leah’s mum and is Danish but has lived there for 30 years.  Nice lady, chatted about Denmark, drank coffee, ate cakes, and had a nice party for Van. Had a chilled-out afternoon, and went out to dinner at a restaurant in BB.

Sunday 12^th March

Chilled out all day at home with a BBQ in the afternoon. Watched Kev play the Last of US (TV Show) on Xbox.

Monday 13^th March

Kev went off to work and TC spent the day as an extra at a film shoot in Byron. We went out and bought pies in a specialist pie shop nearby for dinner. We walked around the industrial area a bit and stopped at a falafel stall and bought our lunch to take home. Delicious.

We had the pies for dinner.

Tuesday 14^th March 

Went to the local Bilongil beach, about 15 minutes walk away, for a swim.

TC and Kev had friends Ian and Janna around in the evening for dinner and to watch the last episode of The Last of US. We had watched the penultimate episode the week before. They were all big fans and wanted to watch the last episode together. We were supposed to have gourmet burgers but the place had closed before Kev could get there so we had pizzas instead. We sat at the dining table to eat then crammed into the ‘TV’ room (actually the converted garage) to watch the programme with them. Didn’t mean much to us because we hadn’t seen the other 20-odd episodes. Afterward, I picked up TCs guitar and had a play but the strings were awful and needed changing, which I did later.

Wednesday 15^th March

We relaxed during the day and in the evening we all went to the Kirra Spa in Mullumbimby (Mullum for short). It was a fantastic experience, with several spa baths, a sauna, a steam room, a quiet magnesium spa and a plunge pool. We tried it all and it was a very pleasant experience. A throughly enjoable hour. Afterwards, we went to the ex-service/bowls club for curry, which was lovely. We had a blow out meal and I drove home during a thunderstorm with loads of thunder and lightning because Kev, TC and Fran went through nearly 2 bottles of wine! I don’t drink anymore. Quite an experience!

Thursday 16^th March

Did the farmers market early doors, we went to Ballina for shopping and for TC to register and chip the cats in NSW. It’s a requirement because they were previously registered in Victoria.  Went to a really nice shopping centre and had a late brekky. Found a cCotton On shop and bought some clothes, swimmys for me. TC found a hearing test place and they were giving free hearing tests. TCs hearing is good and persueded F to get hers done. Lots of probs, so they booked her in for a full one hour test next Wednesday. Went to another Mall fir TC to register the cats and I found a music shop. Chatted to the owner and bought TC a new set of 10s for he Fender acoustic. Saw the big prawn (well known local landmark, must be 40 feet tall) Great day out. Dinner at pizza place in Byron.

Friday 17^th March

Teresa had been called for more filming in Bangalow. She drove there and left us to it. Went up and down the main street in this little town, saw their men’s shed from the outside and walked down to the creek, it was all delightful but bloody hot! Went past an eclectic range of shops, all very expensive, then watched some filming at the top of the street, but didn’t see Teresa. She was an extra in a few of the scenes, it was set in the 70s. Had lunch in Woods a lovely outside space with a ‘nourishing bowl’ which is pretty big in Australia at the moment. It reminded us of Linda’s bar in Faro, Portugal; run down and shabby chic. TC had arranged a meeting with someone she met from Monday’s film shoot about a possible internship with his company. We went to the Chrystalbrook Resort Hotel near Byron where she dropped us off to meet ths guy. It was supposed to be at the hotel but he changed it to his office. Had a cup a tea and a drink, waited two hours for TC, who apologised profusely for keeping us waiting for so long. We all went for walk around the resort part, it was like a jungle.

In the evening we went to night club/restaurant in Byron called Casa Luna (Moon House?) for the 7, yes 7 course multi-taste menu and TC got 50% off from a local app. Billy bargain. Lovely food from all over the world and as people left we were surrounded by lots of dancing young girls (it was a high table, and we were on stools). It was hell! Left there and went to Frankies for their delicious ice cream.  So many different flavours. Went down to main beach to look at the sea and the sand and the lighthouse which was on. Superb evening.

Saturday 18^th March

TC had an appointment in town so we walked to Bilongil beach and had a paddle; so hot!! Chilled out in the PM (mostly reading books) and in the evening went to Mike and Lauren’s again for a BBQ to celebrate Lauren’s 45^th birthday. Lovely grub cooked by Kev with salads and other accompaniments, with cakes made by Lauren; all delish. Sat around chatting, then I got TCs guitar out. I’d changed the strings the day before and it was playing much better. Sang a few from my songbook, accompanied by Mike and Teresa. Adapted Jo’s 70^th song with words for Lauren.

Sunday 19^th March

Fliteboard day! Kev had fetched two Fliteboards from work and we were kitted out with life jackets, helmets, strange rubber shoes (nothing kinky!) and if we wanted, wet suits; I declined. We drove off to Brunswick Heads about 15 minutes away to Fliteboard in the river estuary. It was a fantastic experience, difficult to start with but I soon got the hang of how not to fall off. Basically, a Fliteboard is a motorised (by electric motor) surfboard. It is controlled by a Bluetooth hand controller which has a lever on it to accelerate away. You have to climb on the back, stepping on the aerofoil under the water and try to slide yourself up the board to get a sense of balance.  Mine had an enclosed jet propulsion system, the other one had an exposed propeller. I stayed for 2 ½ minutes at one stage but hit the river bed with the aerofoil and got thrown off. Luckily the water is warm, approx 21C. Fran did well, 2 stints and about 50 yards, game girl!

Totally knackering, my shoulder ached after wards. We had brunch in a nice cafe then walked around town looking at circus which was in town and bought pies for lunch and went home. TC prepared meat balls we bought at the market with a tomato sauce we had bought at the earlier market on Thursday, with tagliatelle. We were all knackered so snuggled down to watch Kev play a video game on the TV, and we both nodded off! It was 8 0’clock!

Monday 20^th March

Spent the early morning gardening, strimming the grass (no lawn mower, see later), sweeping dead leaves and generally tidying up. The garden looked splendid. TC is out for the day with her internee job, and we had smoked fish paste and salad for lunch.

Later TC suggested we go down to Town Beach for a swim followed by fish and chips. Gladly! Went for a swim, Kev met us and we went for another swim off the beach. I tried to snorkel but failed; Kev said did I see the fish: I didn’t. Then Kev went to the beach car park fish and chip place and we ate that on the beach in the middle of a blanket sharing. Then we went for a drink in the Beachy (The Beach Hotel), Kev rode home (he went to work on his bike so TC could have the car). We went home with Teresa, abso knackered, early bed.

Tuesday 21^st March

TC went to yoga in the morning and we met her at Barrio for brunch. We all had pancakes with marscapone, blueberries with bacon – delish!

Teresa wanted to study so we decided to go into town on the heritage railway which goes from North Beach to the town centre. It’s a $10 return journey each so good value on a solar powered 1940’s train of two coaches. It’s a lovely trip and takes about 15 minutes. We wandered around BB, went to various shops then ended up paddling on the beach and saw the wreck! It’s a ship that got dashed against some rocks over 100 years ago and is still there. Had an ice cream and caught the train home again at 4.15 Only a 10 minute walk home from the station. Put the bins out (I did this every Tuesday I was there), chopped back some foliage and we BBQ’d veg and sweetcorn for dins – rain!

Wednesday 22^nd March

Went to Ballina early doors in their car for Fran’s hearing appointment. Went well – she’s a little deaf! Walked over to K Mart to 3x cat beds for Mouse and Fox. Had brunch in the mall, got home about 12.30. Had a chilled out afternoon, and dinner at home. Hearing test results showed Fran’s hearing is quite poor, needs to see an audiologist when we get home, may need hearing aids.

Thursday 23^rd March

Stayed at home most of the day, went to a nice cafe in the industrial area for late brekky. Visited the local Op Shop (2^nd hand shop) and Bunnings DIY ( equivalent to B&Q). We saw a Water Dragon there, a completely harmless lizard about 12 inches long. Looks fearsome though.

Friday 24^th March

Fran went for her 2^nd Drs appointment who booked a scan for next Thursday. Went to lunch at a Japanese takeaway and got it there and ate outside, lovely warm day. In the evening met Ben at a pub about 45 minutes away, chatted and had lovely fish and chips. Drove home.

Saturday 25^th March

Rested morning, then after doing some washing left at 1.00am to drive with Kev and TC to Brunswick Heads (where we did the Fliteboarding) for a Brazilian afternoon with BBQ and Samba band at the Brunswick Hotel. Started with sushi which was lovely followed by Brazilian style steak sandwich AND a Brazilian style pizza. All delish but a bit too much maybe. Band were excellent, and the whole place was rammed, so many people having a great time and it was so vibrant. Left there at 4.00pm to go to the ‘village’ near home. It was a former garden centre turned into a chill out space with a mobile bar and food outlets. Loads of seats and there wasn’t too many people there, but apparently, it livened up in the evening. A really laid back atmosphere, met Suzanne one of their neighbours at No 7. Her son died in the aircrash at the new Nepal airport in January.  Many causes as to why, which are still being investigated. Also chatted to Nathan, their next door neighbour at No 4 who with wife Leah have bought a house North of Brunswick at a knock down price from $1.8m to $1.3m because the owner was trying to pass it off as a 5 bedroom house, but it was only within code as a three bedroom. They are very happy. Relaxed at home in the evening.

Sunday 26^th March

Busy day planned. We got at 11.15 and drove to Tyalgum, a lovely little town near the mountains we could see all around. Actually, the ring of mountains is called a caldera which is a ring thrown up around an erupting volcano. Kev has booked lunch at The General Store which had a BBQ  and a guy playing a guitar and singing some laid-back tunes. I had ¼ chicken with roasties and cole slaw which was absolutely delish. Lovely listening to the music and relaxing long after we finished lunch. Looked around the town (actually a village), there were small eclectic shops in arcades, all very country and back in time. We then moved on to Natural Bridge, just near the border with QLD (Queensland). Fantastic walk around a paved walkway to look at a waterfall coming down over the natural bridge under which was a cave full of bats.

Then it was time for ice cream. Kev loves his ice cream! We tried in Mullimbimby but that one was closed, despite it saying it was open, so we drove back to Brunswick Head and got one at In the Pink, delicious! Walked around the block in town, a bit different from the day before. TC suggested we went to Kirra Spa again and of course we agreed. So we drove to that for 6.00pm and spent an hour in the spa. Went home and cobbled a salad together out of leftovers. Watched Kev play his xbox for while falling asleep. If it sounds like our time revolved around food and where to get the next lot, you’re right, it did.

Monday March 27^th

Went to BB to TC and Fran could get their toenails done. I walked around town waiting for them, had a coffee  then we met up and went for lunch at a shabby chic cafe. Had ‘nourising’ bowls, veery nice and filling. We decided to have a quick look at the famous Lighthouse, just a drive by. Looked fantastic, in lovely nick. Bought BBQ stuff in Aldi, sat in front of the TV watching the Mandorian; Star Wars spin- off.

Tuesday March 28^th

Had a light breakfast then drove to the lighthouse for a proper look. Spent nearly two hours there, fantastic views of the bay area and a challenging walk, but well worth it. Went to Byron Fresh for lunch, really nice. Did a bit of shopping at the IGA.

Wednesday 29^th March

 Staying at home all day – rain. Got my hair cut by Fran, went to IGA to get stuff for a spag bol. Put in slow cooker, watched the film Point Break (about surfing!).

Thursday 30^th March

Got up early (!) to go to the farmers market in town. Got some nice manuka honey to take home,  had a bacon and roll. It rained heavily overnight so the ground was a bit soggy. Went with TC to the bird sanctuary nearby. It’s a water treatment area and plant. Beautiful quiet place, nobody around. Stopped in the bird lookout for a while and walked around the whole area.  Did 10000 steps! Got pies from the Byron Pie Emporium for dins. Watched another episode of the Mandalorian (Star Wars spin off).

Friday 31^st March

Went to The Brewery – Stone and Wood for brunch, had a lovely share platter; really nice. We drove off to a beach near the lighthouse – Cape Byron Conservation and swam in the warm sea. Loads of surfers about. Climbed up to the lookout and took in the views, you can see for miles. Homoe and we’re all going to the North Byron Hotel to meet the neighbours; some turned up and left but Owen stayed. Had pizza and went home for drinks, Owen joined us. Chat turned to music, Owen fetched his didgeridoos from his house next door but one and we all had a go at playing the three of them, quite difficult (much hilarity). Then sang a few songs with me on guitar Teresa on cajon and Owen on didgeridoo. Made up a song with the ‘Byron Bay Band’ with me singing and playing guitar, Owen on didgeridoos, TC on Cajon, Fran and Kevin on maracas and filming. See below for the songsheet. Went on till 1.00am.

Chords: D G C F

This is the Byron Bay Band

We have Owen on Didgeredoos

Teri’s on Cajon

And Clive on guitar

And additionally….we have Kev and Fran

On Maracas

Try saying that when you’re sober!

This is the Byron Bay Band

We like to play together

It doesn’t matter if it doesn’t rhyme

This is the Byron Bay Band

We like to play a load of rubbish

And it doesn’t matter

Fade out.

Saturday 1^st April

Relaxed in the morning then drove to Bangalow via St Helena to visit Whitney and Drew who invited Kev and us to their house for drinks and nibbles. Lovely couple from the US with their daughter and her friend from San Francisco. Drew is starting a company called Rhubarb which aims to encourage the growth of vegetables at home to ease the world food shortage. Whitney is part of the company and is really lovely. Teresa is hoping to work with Drew in her field of app development. Went home and walked over to The Habitat (a housing development surrounding the commercial area) to visit Jess and Tara, who have a very modern one bedroom apartment. They are both unemployed at the moment but are hoping to start something soon. Late night for us. Clocks went back here now 9 hours between us and the UK.

Sunday 2^nd April

In town for the morning, went to Aldi for a look. Drove over to the Farm, just outside Byron; a huge area with a restaurant. TC invited Mike and Lauren and her friend Tereza to join us, a total of 9 with Mike and Lauren’s boys Aiden and Dylan. Superb food, we all shared all the choices with dinner, a great afternoon. I volunteered to pick up the bill – $844! Oh well, it’s only money honey. We made arrangements to meet M&L when they visit London at the end of May this year on their visit to Europe. Then we walked around the farm and saw sunflowers galore! And hens. Went home late afternoon, had a chilled evening.

Monday 3^rd April

TC had the car to go to her internship in BB. We had a quiet morning and said we’d meet her in town. So we caught the solar train again, $5 each into town from North Beach Station. Went to Aldi, Reject shop and Woolworths (yes, they are still alive and kicking in Oz!). met TC in the aborigine goods shop in the entrance to the theatre. Bought a map of Australia. Met Kev ni town and went to Fishheads on main Beach. Me and Kev had a superb large fish chowder, TC had a small one and Fran had fish and chips. Drove home.

Tuesday 4^th April

Got up and went with TC to Barrio in Habitat for breakfast. Lovely poached egg on toast with bacon. TC went to circus arts for her training session and we joined her to watch only! Dinner was jacket spuds with (hot) chicken tikka masala from a packet. OK-ish.

Wednesday 5^th April

Went by car with TC to the cafe ‘Folk’ for breakfast, totally veggie. I had two two egg roll with trimmings. So did TC, Fran had toast. Went into town to visit Byron Music. TC thought she’s like to buy a ukelele because she was struggling to get to grips with the guitar despite changing the strings. The sales guy suggested she tried an electric guitar because the uke is fundamentally different to play. She had a budget of $250+ but instead spent $400 on a Fender electric copy and amp, plectrum, capo, the lot. Nice guitar and amp, she didn’t tell Kev straight away, took it home and gave it a try. Nice action. Left home to pick up Kev from work on the way to the Kirra spa (3^rd visit). Really great spa (3^rd visit): 2 x sauna, 2 x magnesium spa, 1 x steam room visit. Left there and went to Heritage Dining in Mullim (2nd visit) for a fantastic curry. Get home and Kev was gob-smacked that a ukelele had turned into an electric guitar! He had a go and liked it, and wants to learn! Chilled evening, fairly late at night.  

Thursday 6^th

Packing day! Went to the new sustainable bakery in Byron Fair where the IGA is, for lunch. Started packing. Leah from next door visited with Van, 2, and chatted about looking after the cats while we’re away in Brisbane with TC and Kev. Lovely girl and Van is a great kid. Went to IGA in the afternoon for a few supplies, then had the rest of the afternoon at home. Left at 17.45 to go to Brucnswick Heights. TC had booked us into a cabaret at the Bruns picture House. There was a French creperie operating in the front, and we all had delicious crepes. The show started late at 7.30 and included acrobats, singers, circus acts and other assorted cabaret acts like comedians and ‘exotic dancers’. Great show. Chatted to the owner/MC afterwards; did 10 years in the West End! Walked around around Bruns looking for an ice cream (again), but ended up driving to BB to look for one. Found in the Pick Ice parlour, wnet home.

Friday 7^th

Fliteboard/scooter day. Drove to Bruns to try and Fliteboard on the scooter. Spent 1 ½ hours trying it out, much easier than the flat board! Fran did all right but came off quite quickly. I lasted about 2 ½ minutes but was scared sh*tless all the time, and the look on my face shows that. Great fun.

Got home to walk across to the commercial area to see an art exhibition in the Habitat (Jefa Gallery) Very interesting, watched a guy called the Space Cowboy who painted all these fantastic artworks and animation which could be accessed by scanning a Q code and watching the painting come to life on your phone. Later went to Lilium Love General store for a meal: it was in the middle of nowhere. Lovely food , but little of it, bit scary in the dark in the middle of the forest; quite an experience. Went home to BB.

 Saturday 8^th

Brisbane day! Final packing, then we all got into the car for our weekend in Brisbane. Went via Robert Sowter Park lookout in the Tamborine mountain area, parked for a while in a hang gliding launch area, with beautiful views. Then on to Curtis Falls for the waterfall, which was spectacular and a coffee.  Looked around the strip and bought some souvenirs. Then drove on to 401 Brunswick Street in Brisbane for the Air BnB, a 2 bed apartment, perfectly placed near the city centre (well booked TC!). We bought stuff in the local IGA. Settled in, then went for a walk into the very lively city centre and finally settled for dinner in the Superbowl Chinese restaurant. Good food, except Fran’s food arrived well after ours when we’d nearly finished! Walked home via an IGA to get breakfast then home to bed.

Sunday 9^th April        

Got up to drive to the South Bank car park and walk around the South Bank. First, though we went to lunch at O Brasilaro for lunch. TC and I had Fejouda, Kev had steak and Fran had Fejoida.

Then we walked up and down the South Bank. There was a swimming pool just back from the river and 2 beaches. Home for tea and bikkies.

Monday 10^th – Last Day

Left the appt and walked around to the IGA for picnic stuff. Drove into town and parked near the Botanical Gardens. Set up on a converted park bench and had a delicious picnic lunch. Lovely, sunny and warm. Packed up and walked around a street market nearby, had a coffee in the cafe near the Calile Hotel then drove back to the apartment.  In the evening we went down in the lift and slouched in soft cussions along side the river with drinks and snacks from the nearby bar. Walked up and down the North Bank sidewalk, very long, before watching some jet skis racing around the river in the dark. Walked back, did the final packing and left for BNE. Went through security after waving goodbye to TC and Kev. It was very easy, no probs and waited for our call. A350 to SIN and it was full for the 7-hour flight. Boarded and took off at midnight. Landed in SIN, about 4 hours there, and caught the SIN-LHR flight, about 14 hours. I had picked up a chest infection somehow and coughed most of the flight. Landed at 15.30, a bit early. Charlotte picked us up and took us home in the Alphard. She had trouble starting it the weekend before but got it sorted. Glad to be home after the journey, but miss BB already!

No, I’m not talking cliches here. It’s very much the end of the year and a lot has happened, personally and globally. The Ukraine situation drags on, and there doesn’t seem to be an end of sight. Domestically we’ve had three prime ministers and four chancellors in a calendar year and none seem to know what they are doing. Anyway enough of that, other people will comment on that until the cow’s come home, personally I’m as qualified as the next man (or woman or mixed gender unknown sex being).

So since the end of my last blog (3rd August) it was Fran’s birthday and she was *0! Teresa flew back to UK again to surprise her mum, having left here to go home to Australia just 5 weeks earlier. She was willing to do it, so it was all arranged. She flew in on Friday 12th August, stayed with her sister and the party was on the Saturday. My eldest daughter and I did all the food shopping beforehand and we had about 35 guests in our back garden on a blistering hot day. Luckily the gazebo was still up and it provided welcome shelter. We hid Teresa in a cardboard box covered with wrapping paper and at the appropriate time she burst out of it to surprise Fran who nearly had a heart attack.

Anyway it was lovely party, although the actual day was on the Monday and we went to Hawk Conservatory near Andover because she loves Owls.

That was a lovely day with the girls, and the day before we saw an Abba tribute band at The Gilbert White House nearby (he was a naturalist and had connections to Lawrence Oates who was with Scott of the Antartic and who was famously meant to have said ‘I’m going out side and I may be some time). They were great and fairly faithful to the originals. We spent the following weekend at Weyfest, a local music festival about 4 miles away which is on every year. This year it headlined with Billy Ocean and 10cc, and loads of other well known groups. We went there every day from home but you can camp if you like. It’s a very friendly festival and seems to be trouble free. Its based on a rural life centre/museum and all the exhibits and the miniature railway are open for the three days of the festival.

The rest of the summer went quietly. Teresa went back to her new home in Byron Bay which we hope to visit sometime. It sounds idyllic and completely different from Melbourne where they moved from. Autumn came and went and suddenly we are in winter and the cold and frost got going. At least we didn’t have much snow (yet!) not like some of the country where it was pretty thick. Christmas approaches fast and we’re helping serve dinners in a local community centre for people who are on their own. Should be fun and something completely different to just sitting there, watching TV and eating non-stop. Haven’t decided about New Year yet but I’m sure we will get in to the spirit or maybe just go to be and watch it all on tele! Anyway have a good one and keep save.

There have been many comparisons between the current hot spell and the summer of 1976 when we had 8 weeks of high temperatures.

The trouble is I wasn’t in the country at that time, I was stationed in RAF Germany in 1976 and it was even hotter there. We coped. We had no air con, anywhere, especially not in cars; only the big Mercs and no one could afford one of them babys. I was on a Harrier squadron and three times a year we went into a training area, usually in woods to practice what the Harrier did best; jump up, kill some tanks or other aircraft then land in a clearing, fuel up, load up with weapons and go again. That is a very simplified version of what we did.

The ‘middle’ trip we did was in the middle of July and bloody hell it was hot. So hot that we were trying to figure out a way to cool our beer. We had a free 24 hours in the middle of the deployment, so our boss decided the best way to cool the beer was to use lox (liquid oxygen) which came out of its container at -50°C. Our boss got himself kitted out in all the safety gear when handling lox, we put the cans of beer into a plastic bag with water, then the boss squirted Lox into the bag so when it hit the water it turned it into blocks of ice, making the beer cans ice cold. Other teams looked on in envy as we stroked a finger down the side of the can and they could see the condensation dripping off the can. They were forced to drink warm beer, ours was nice and cold.

The down side was that the lox was kept in 50 litre containers which were highly insulated and mounted on a wheeled trolly. We picked up five lox trollies in turn from the supply area to cool our beer down that weekend and some admin guy afterwards questioned why we had used 5 lox trollies in one weekend. It’s easy to explain said the boss: the lox system in the aircraft were venting due to the excess temperatures of 30° C and we need to keep the lox system topped up in case of a quick launch of the aircraft. The admin guy never compared our team to others in a similar situation, or that their aircraft weren’t venting Lox, at all. Nobody ever asked for any money for the lox which was about £150 per full trolly from memory. So 5 x 150 = £750 was spent in one weekend cooling our beer (at 1976 prices). Hope nobody wants the lox costs paid back after all these years.

So in the vernacular of Crocodile Dundee, ‘call 2022 a hot summer? This (1976) was a hot summer.’ I’ll get me coat.

Seriously, why is Vladimir Putin is trying to claim Ukraine back into the Russian canon?

In 1992 Ukraine became an independent nation after the fall of the Berlin wall. They were fed up with the oppressive and controlling regime that was present and perpetrated by the Kremlin. Ukraine flourished and became a vibrant free economy without communist interference. There had been conflict in the Donbas region from the early days, then in 2014 Putin annexed The Crimea and bought it back into the Russian empire. Now in 2022, Putin has decided that Ukraine can’t cope on its own and must be bought back under the Russian wing. President Zelensky has proved time and again that his country is not interested in being part of Russia again, and Putin’s nose has been put out of joint because the Ukrainians didn’t just roll over and let him over run the whole country and install a puppet government. So what is Putin’s end game?

Clearly his megalomaniacal ways haven’t ended in total success and most of Ukraine is still in Zelensky’s hands, despite millions of fleeing refugees and devastated cities. Who can blame them for wanting to stay as they are and not be part of Putin’s totalitarian state? So what is his end game? He’s clearly not going to win the country back, but I suppose he wants the natural resources that Ukraine has. Or he is such a dyed-in-the-wool communist that he can’t bear anyone else being better off than him. I just don’t get it, he’s against practically the rest of the world, except of course those like minded, such as North Korea and China, and millions of dollars worth of equipment is pouring into Ukraine and helping their cause. Does Putin think they are all going to just pack up and go home? Will he actually achieve anything at all, besides displacing millions of Ukrainians and destroying the country and cities which will require years of rebuilding and restoration? Probably not, he’s seriously delusional if he thinks he’s going to win back Ukraine, but if he ups his game and starts using tactical nukes, all hell will be let loose and he won’t win that either. Nobody wins, and the upshot could be wideworld destruction, but not total destruction of the world because that would be impossible. I despair because no one knows how this will end, but I fear it will end badly. Someone needs to take Putin out.

So, after over 15 months of hard work erecting our Men’s Shed, we were told in early February 2022 that the lease on the building we were in was ending at the end of March

We sweated blood and tears and my heart attack in the period September 2020 to December 2021 making two fabulous workshops: one ‘clean’ and one ‘dusty’. Pictures of the workshops are in my previous blogs, but here are a couple:

Our benefactor the Furniture Helpline had lost two contracts so they couldn’t afford the £16000 a year rent for the warehouse where our shed was so they had to give up the lease, which meant we had to go as well. The £3000 local council grant which we secured to build the workshops would all go to waste, as we had to dismantle the whole shooting match. It was a sad day for all the guys who had put such a huge effort in erecting the place, only now to be told we had to tear it down:

We’re storing all the building materials and machinery/tools in a colleagues garden in various sheds and a bought carport, but currently we have nowhere else to go. There was no leeway in staying in the place, so reluctantly we had to dismantle it. Anyone got a spare 14 sq mtr shed/building we could have to start up again? We’ve had help from the district and town councils but none from the Regeneration Company who own the site, profit comes before anything I guess. My chaps are devastated, not least because for a time they will have nowhere else to go twice a week and trade banter and jokes with like minded guys while making wooden projects.

It’s very sad and I’m very upset at the reasons we have basically wasted 2 years and lot of money achieving absolutely nothing. Oh well onwards and upwards as they say.