Barrington Court Estate (Click on the image for a larger view) So, here we are for the next week, about three hours from home at the National Trust’s ‘Barrington Court’ estate in Yeovil – an empty Tudor manor house, beautifully restored in the 1920s with some rather posh accommodation nearby called ‘Strode House’. But first, …
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Author:Steve Palmer
I got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 - well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all its forms), together with a fondness for the art of writing seemed to be the perfect combination to contribute a few words to the online community. But I'm no Samuel Pepys! If you're looking for deep and meaningful comments on a variety of subjects, then you've arrived at the wrong site! I only pen for pleasure! On average, my posts appear about twice per month, covering family & friends, cinema visits, eating out, holiday experiences and techy stuff. Oh, and as this is my hobby, there are no sponsored links nor adverts here – it's all done with love!
I hope you find it enjoyable, interesting and occasionally, even helpful!
Three 5ives
A bit of a rush today as I finished the Class at 3pm, drove over to Bedford and headed for the Capital. The reason? The semi-regular get-together members of ‘The 5ive’ – our informal gathering for those of us who worked with BA ‘back in the day’ on their SMA project. Tonight, we were a …
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Tablet Coaching: Google Maps
Auto cross-posted from my WordPress Blog: Today, we showed the Class how to use Google Maps, including planning journeys using public transport. Steve PalmerI got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all its forms), together …
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Laptop Coaching: Getting around Windows 10
Auto cross-posted from my WordPress Blog: Today, we explained how to navigate around the desktop of a Windows 10 Device and also how to access and run their installed Apps. We also showed the Class to how to customise the look of their Device’s Desktop. Steve PalmerI got into blogging quite late in life, not …
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Laptop Coaching: Word Processing (Part 1)
Auto cross-posted from my WordPress Blog: Today, we ran an introduction to Word Processing and explained the main differences between ‘Word’ and other FREE alternatives. Steve PalmerI got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all …
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Top Haturday & Sunday
Another family & friends get-together today as we headed for Kilworth Theatre and their final performance of Irving Berlin‘s Top Hat. It was obviously a popular choice, having run for a whole month – 16th August until 17th September. Roger, Jane and Oliver are with us for the weekend and joined us for the event, …
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Film: Victoria and Abdul
It was off to the local Odeon today to catch the just-released Victoria and Abdul starring Judi Dench and Ali Fazal. In a way, it was a little like 1997’s Mrs Brown, also starring Judi Dench in the royal role, but this time it was set in the final years of her reign and charted …
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Tablet Coaching: eMail (Part 2)
Auto cross-posted from my WordPress Blog: Today, we concluded our Lesson on getting the best from eMail using your Tablet. Steve PalmerI got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all its forms), together with a …
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Laptop Coaching: Lesson Plans
Auto cross-posted from my WordPress Blog: Today, after last week’s introductory ‘getting to know you’ Lesson, we presented the Class with their proposed Lesson Plans for the next 35 Tuesdays. Steve PalmerI got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of …
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Laptop Coaching: Managing your Photos (Part 2)
Auto cross-posted from my WordPress Blog: Today, we concluded our lesson on Photos. Specifically, we looked at how Phones, Cameras, and Memory Sticks can be used to transfer photos to a Windows 10 Laptop. Steve PalmerI got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! …
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Harey Sunday
This was nice. Lydia and Derek treated us to lunch together with David and Valerie for all the help I’d given them sorting out their broadband connectivity issues a few months back. Eatery of choice was the popular The Hare in Loddington. Unusually, the Pub car-park wasn’t rammed and we were therefore easily to able …
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The King’s Men
Well, it wasn’t quite all of the them (see the photo below) and luckily, we didn’t have to go to ‘the top of the hill’ to see them. What we did see (and hear) was 7 (of the 15) guys who are Choral Scholars from the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge, performing in a close-harmony …
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£1-a-Day (2017) How Did We Do?
Well, I’m done for 2017, it’s 5am on the 8th (the day after this year’s campaign ended) where David, Paul (Marsh) and I have now survived this year’s challenge of living on a £1 a day each, for food and drink – for seven days . Last year, the two of us (David and me) …
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Tablet Coaching: eMail (Part 1)
Auto cross-posted from my WordPress Blog: Today, we began to look at how to set-up an eMail account on a Tablet and then covered some of the ‘essential functions’. Part 2 next week. Steve PalmerI got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My …
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Laptop Coaching: New Class of 2017
Auto cross-posted from my WordPress Blog: Today, the new Tuesday Class started their lessons. Over the next 30-or-so Tuesdays, we’ll be providing guidance and hands-on practice on the core functionality of a modern Windows 10 Laptop. Steve PalmerI got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into …
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Laptop Coaching: All about ‘Photos’ (Part 1)
Auto cross-posted from my WordPress Blog: Today, in a two-part lesson, we looked at the Windows 10 ‘Photos’ App. Steve PalmerI got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all its forms), together with a fondness …
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Shuttleworth Heritage Day 2017
We love Planes! So, meeting up with Chris and Gill today at Shuttleworth for the Shuttleworth Heritage Day was a great idea! I can’t believe that we’ve never been here before – it’s only a 45 minute drive away! The weather wasn’t up to much, but that didn’t dampen our enjoyment of the event. There …
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£1-a-Day (2017)
Here we are again! More-or-less a year after last year’s event, I’m doing it all again! This time, although David (supporting the Salvation Army) and I are eating together, I’m raising money for Barnardo’s with my old ‘mucker’, Roy Clark (who just happens to work for them and who is also surviving on a £1 …
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Blow-out Thursday
Ann cooked a ‘big-breakfast’ for me as part of my ‘final meal’ before I embark on this year’s £1-a-Day Challenge for Barnardo’s, starting tomorrow. If that wasn’t enough, I then drove over to Cambridge to meet with Sally B for a catch-up and a full lunch at Café Rouge in Bridge Street. Thanks Sal! Good …
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Tablet Coaching: Core Apps – Google Chrome
Auto cross-posted from my WordPress Blog: Today, we discussed the various Browsers that are available for your Tablet whilst concentrating on the features of ‘Google Chrome’. Steve PalmerI got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in …
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Gambling on a Bank Holiday Weekend
Here we are then, all set to enjoy a Gambles Weekend… and then some… SaturdayThe extended weekend began with us travelling down to Stevenage Station for 11am to pick up Denis. Then it was off to Roger, Jane and Oliver’s for the Bank Holiday weekend. Bev was unable to join us because of her nursing …
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Tablet Coaching: Essential Routines
Auto cross-posted from my WordPress Blog: Today we spent time looking at a number of ‘essential routines’ that should be carried out to keep your Tablet performing to its best. Steve PalmerI got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of …
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Laptop Coaching: 1 to 1 Tuition
Auto cross-posted from my WordPress Blog: Today, we left the lesson-plans behind, and carried out 1-to-1 sessions for each member of the Class. Steve PalmerI got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all its forms), …
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Sunday Sondes
It was a welcome return with David and Valerie to the Sondes Arms today for their Sunday Lunch. We haven’t been here since last October, and it was just a busy as I remember it. Their reputation for serving massive, high quality portions for their Sunday Lunch obviously still continues! As we arrived, the queue …
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Victoria and the Chinese
It was off to our favourite City today – London – to catch-up with the Palmer side of the family and to meet Connie (Dad’s ex-work colleague) for our annual Summer get-together (a bit late this year – June in 2016). We drove over to Bedford and arrived just before 10am. We managed to get …
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Tablet Coaching: Core Apps – ‘Camera’
Auto cross-posted from my WordPress Blog: Today we looked at another Core App installed on all Tablets – The Camera. Steve PalmerI got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all its forms), together with a …
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Laptop Coaching: eMail (Part 3)
Auto cross-posted from my WordPress Blog: Today, we concluded our look at using the eMail App on a Windows 10 Laptop. Steve PalmerI got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all its forms), together with …
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La Picnic
It was our annual trip to Lunaflix’s outdoor cinema presentation tonight – the Film? 2016’s La La Land; the venue? Boughton House. We’d been here last year to see Pretty Women and I immediately noticed this time, it was much better supported (with apparently, over 400 tickets sold – last year it was more like …
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RIP Bonbon
Bonbon (with her sister) – just a few months old Well that was a total shock! I was doing this-and-that at home, I’d dropped Ann off at the Station (as she was out all day) and then I washed the Jaguar. So far, so normal! Who could resist her? We were due to be out …
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To the Moon and Back!
Time for my three-monthly catch-up with Ian and Mags tonight. As a bonus, our two Anns came along too! That’s a first! We had a torturous journey there with a massive tailback on the M6 (which we cleverly avoided by using the ‘country route’) together with the mother-of-all-jams queuing to get into Stratford (which we …
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