Saturday, November 27, 2010

"Staying Cool" in the Snow


Have just spent a couple of nights away in Birmingham to celebrate our anniversary. Accommodation was tall and round in the shape of the Rotunda where we stayed on the top floor. Staying Cool offer various self catering apartments for rent and the location could not have been more perfect for our needs.
Spent Friday wandering around the Jewellery Quarter and doing some Christmas Shopping around the Bull Ring and Christmas Market. In the evening we went to see Chris Addison do stand up at the 'Alex'andra Theatre: very funny, satirical whimsy, but surprisingly cold in the stalls. Seeing the audience hunched in hats and coats prompted his idea of carol singers gathering for mince pies before heading out on the town. Perhaps they should have sold hot chocolate in the interval rather than ice cream!

Sunday, October 10, 2010

G R & E Signs


Had a pleasant day exploring the NEC at the Grand Designs Show. Clearly you are no-one if you haven't yet installed fully retracting fold-out patio doors, but for those who are more concerned with saving the planet, there was plenty of suppliers promoting the Government Feed in Tariff scheme.
For those who invest in the appropriate technology (usually solar photo voltaic panels) an application can be made to subscribe to FITS. Not only will your regular energy supplier be obliged to pay for all the electricity you generate (whether you use it or not), but you can use whatever you generate for free and even sell back any excess that you don't. Obviously solar is less effective at night so there is still a need to buy energy in the regular fashion, but the savings and return on investment can reach 10% rather than virtually nothing with your money in a bank.

Friday, September 24, 2010

Bon Anniversaire / Voyage (*delete as appropriate)


Had a lovely weekend back in Lincs to wish Happy Birthday and Good Luck where appropriate. Events ranged from Curry at the Agra via cakes at a Garden Centre to Driving Green Lanes in a Landrover. All good fun and quite frenetic. The pics are from Haverholme and High Dyke (Old Ermine Street)

Sunday, September 05, 2010

Saturday, September 04, 2010

Come In [insert #], You're Time Is Up

In an effort to make the most of a Summer that seemed to pass us by, a hastily planned day on the water was in order. With Tesco sandwiches in hand and a faint recollection of how to row, we managed to get all the way upstream , enjoy our picnic and be back before the anyone sent search parties. A perfect way to enjoy the best of our Warwickshire countryside.

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Motor Heritage Museum, Gaydon

Whilst not as big as Coventry Transport Museum this permanent exhibition at Gaydon has many distinctive and unique motor cars. Astons, Rovers and various other British marques feature highly but this can easily be forgiven. I particularly liked the Tracked Land Rover Cuthbertson conversion and the Alec Issigonis Lightweight Special Race Car.

Monday, July 19, 2010

29 Steps to Heaven

The spiral staircase leads up to the main door, which opens on a single large room, furnished with all the mod cons required for comfortable late mediaeval living.
Our weekend break also included 'comparative castling' at Chepstow, Raglan and Caerphilly with a monastic detour via Tintern. All this was bookended by stops at Coughton Court and Penderyn distillery

Sunday, June 06, 2010

Sketchy Bunnies

Over the years, I believed my little blog had covered many of the strange and unusual aspects of lagomorphic endeavour.
I was wrong.
There are some sick bunnies out there.
Be afraid.
And be careful.
No one is safe.


Sunday, May 23, 2010

Kirby and Ashby


Castles and Picnics seemed quite appropriate given the uncharacteristic weekend weather. All very nice and rounded off with a trip to the flix on the way home.

Sunday, May 02, 2010

GT4...3...2...1...Go!


It's 2 years since I ventured down to Silverstone to see GT Cars swimming around in the fog.
This year the weekend tickets for £26 each allowed us to stop for Friday practice on the way back from Cornwall. Although generally sunnier and drier, the cold wind still meant it was a bracing experience.
Both Saturday qualifying and Sunday Race day afforded us some close up views of some exciting racing. The whole event was much bigger than before but still nothing like the same scale as F1 or even the Touring Car Championship. If you like cars and noise it's to be recommended!

Friday, April 30, 2010

Cornwall


Our first experience with The Landmark Trust was very pleasant. The hamlet of Coombe, just north of Bude in Cornwall is owned by the Trust and most of the buildings have been renovated to provide self catering accommodation.
Mill House dates from around 1700 and so the lack of modern distractions such as TV, Phones and Internet should be no surprise. However, all other facilities and the idyllic setting more than make up for this. There are plenty of walks and just down the lane is Duckpool, a rocky cove that looks west over the Atlantic.
Our stay allowed us the chance to visit the Eden Project once more and discover what had been added since we first went in 2000 and later in 2002. Most notable is The Core, which features The Seed sculpture by Peter Randall-Page and plenty of information on environmental matters.
Also, we took a trip to Ilfracome and explored rock pools around the Tunnels Beaches as well as excursions to Arlington Court, Okehampton Castle and Lydford Gorge, before heading home via Silverstone.

Friday, March 26, 2010

Motor Parade


Took a day trip to Milton Keynes - don't ask - and kept tripping over mean motors. Not sure why...Just coincidence I think. I spotted one of each of the above.
Anyway, in response to my brother's tweet: 'Yes... what recession?'

Monday, February 01, 2010

RC About Face


What seemed like a very cold day for racing RC Cars actually turned out to be a very cold day for racing RC Cars - but with the unexpected benefit of Ice Racing!
Clearly thoughts about how we might recover an overturned or sinking car were well considered (not) before throwing caution to the wind and a four wheel drift to the icy shoreline.

Monday, January 25, 2010

Miike Snow is a Swedish band, who formed in 2007. The Guardian spoke highly of the band, saying their "coolly emotional pop suggests a-ha meets Animal Collective". 'Black & Blue' was featured in Sony's 2009 Christmas ad campaign, and "A Horse Is Not a Home" was the single of the week on the UK iTunes store. Their new single, 'Sylvia' is out now.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Friday, January 15, 2010

How to Spot a Pothole Blackspot


Grrr. Barely 2 weeks after repairing a tyre damaged after hitting a pothole it's gone and happened again.

According to Warwickshire Council, a hole this big anywhere in the road is classed as large. It only needs to be half this deep if it's in the wheel track. As far as my car is concerned when it hits the equivalent of an immovable wall at 40 miles per hour something is going to give (and it isn't the immovable wall)
I will be pursuing the people responsible...