Today, we attended Pete’s Funeral – a long-time friend for us both. Pete hadn’t been well for a while now, in and out of hospital on multiple occasions and because of that, we hadn’t been to see either Pete (or Chris) for a while – we think, pre-Covid was our most recent get-together. The Service, …
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RIP: Peter Juniper
Today, I (and a lot of others) said their final goodbyes to Peter. The service was held at Bluebell Cemetery in Halstead at 11.15 on a gloriously warm day. I met the current Chairman of the OCA, Cortland Fransella, in the car park and we grabbed a cuppa and sat outside reflecting on the man …
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Family Get Together – Hatfield House
Saturday the 17th Time to meet up with our cousins (on Ann’s side) for another of our cultural days out! 👍😀. Afterwards, we’re heading back with Roger, Jane and Oliver for a sleepover. Today we met up at Hatfield House in Hatfield, Hertfordshire. Sadly, Chris and Kate couldn’t make it as Kate had injured her …
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Film: The Flash (2023)
🎵🎶 “Flash! Ah-Ahhhh… Saviour of the Universe!” 🎶🎵 (No, not THAT one) 😉 This one! Official Trailers Context This promises to be a rarity – A DC Superhero movie that’s actually quite good! 👏. We’ll see! Certainly, potentially, there’s a lot to like about it based on the various threads online and for those of …
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First Visit: The Chester House Estate
Off for a ‘day out’ (just the two of us) to the Chester House Estate in nearby Irchester, Wellingborough. Bought originally by North Northamptonshire Council in 2004 as Chester Farm. Re-branded and then re-opened in 2016 as Chester House Estate, it opens from 10-4 and is free to get in with free parking too! 😀👍 …
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It’s Official – We’re UltraFast!
Well, maybe not QUITE yet, but the latest ULTRA Fast internet technology is officially on its way! Huzzah! 👏👏👍 At last! After spending the past 35 years or so, being firmly BEHIND the curve with internet-speed technology, we’re going to get the fastest available! The above leaflet arrived through our letterbox yesterday. I thought something …
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Film: Spider-man: Across the Spider-verse (2023)
A paradise for hyphen-lovers and not to be confused with ‘Spider-man: Into the Spider-verse‘ (that we caught up with last week on DVD)! It wasn’t really Ann’s thing, so Jo and I headed to the local Odeon for the 7.20pm showing. Official Trailers There’s a load, but here are the first two! What’s the story? …
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Steve visits the Gym!
Off to the Capital today – one of my less frequent trips into London these days! To think, I used to do this pretty much on a daily basis when I was working!!! 😲. What a difference, 10 years in retirement makes!!! But ME in the GYM??? Surely some mistake! Read on! 😉 The reason …
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Winner, Winner! TV Dinner! – Spider-man: Into the Spider-verse
It was another of our ‘Dinner-on-a-tray-with-a-movie-night! We invited Jo round (Janet’s away in Kos) to watch Spider-man: Into the Spider-verse on DVD. Released in 2018, and with a respectable runtime of just under two hours (1h 56m), it was worth a rewatch as it’s the indirect prequel to: Spider-man – ACROSS the Spider-verse that’s just …
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Kelmarsh 2023
Not content with getting married and having our 10-year anniversary here, as well as a visit last year around this time, we took a drive over to nearby Kelmarsh Hall today. 😀 It was certainly a lovely day for it and the Gardens (where Ann volunteers) were looking amazing! We also took a look around …
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Late May Bank Holiday 2023
Well, the weather certainly is improving! It’s a Bank Holiday too! Surely that’s a mistake!!! 😉😎☀️🌞 Friday (26th) It got off to a good start trotting off to nearby Boughton House for an outdoor showing of Top Gun: Maverick. Saturday (27th) A lazy start to the day but with some last-minute preparation ready for great …
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Film: Top Gun – Maverick (outdoors!)
What a great start to the Bank Holiday!! So good, we’ve already seen this one twice! Surely, this is the best movie in a long, long time! So, this was our THIRD viewing of Top Gun: Maverick having it seen it for the first time last June and then as a TV dinner back in …
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Film: Fast and Furious 10
Off to the local Odeon with Jo and Janet to see the recently released ‘Fast and Furious 10’ ‘Fast X’. 👍😀 When it comes to watching movies, I’ve got a very low bar – I’ll pretty much watch anything (even if it’s only ONCE!). With such a diminutive threshold (and as a self-confessed ex-petrolhead) even …
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The Gang’s all here!
It’s that time of year again! The weather is improving and it’s time to ‘get the Band back together’. In our case, not so much ‘the Band‘, but the Trainers! And those Trainers were the members of my Department from back in the 80s. We’ve kept in touch ever since – and today was the …
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A Mini Adventure
A boys’ day out for me! John C and I took a drive to the Mini production line in Cowley! 👍👍 These days, early departures for me are rare, so leaving ours at the unearthly hour of 7.30am felt like a bit of a stretch. It was going to be worth it though! We arrived …
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The Colour Purple
No, not the 1982 movie, but simply some news about my never-ending quest to acquire some top-end internet speeds here! Boys and their toys ehh???? 👍😀. Since I last whinged about all of this back in February, when I first saw CityFibre in the area, things have moved on. Again, courtesy of CityFibre, it looks …
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Film: Guardians of the Galaxy – Volume 3 (2023)
Yes, it’s that time again! Off to the local Odeon to see Marvel’s latest Blockbuster: ‘Guardians of the Galaxy – Volume 3’ – their 32nd in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU)! 32nd? There’s a general feel that Marvel is going through a bit of a ‘fallow’ period at the moment, but in its defence, I …
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Pacific Paradise – Day 28/28
Saturday, 6th May: Coronation Day – Heading Home Our final day here in LA! So, for the last time (for a while)… “Hello, loyal Readers!” 👍 They Think It’s All Over… Well, even by our standards, that was some holiday! They think it’s all over! Almost! Our flight is an overnighter, leaving LA at 10.30 …
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Pacific Paradise – Day 27/28
Friday, 5th May:Venice Beach,Los Angeles Good morning, loyal Readers! 😎. This is the penultimate day of our holiday – and the weather forecast, as you can see, is ‘varied’ (polite version!) 😟. It’s our second day here in Venice Beach, Los Angeles, where (luckily) the weather has, so far, defied the official forecast and been …
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Pacific Paradise – Day 26/28
Thursday, 4th May:Venice Beach,Los Angeles Morning All! 👍👍. We slipped into dock just after 6.15. It looked like a grey day out there! But here’s hoping! At just after 8.45am, we were back on dry land, having said goodbye to the Regatta. Our next stop? The Kinney hotel, west of Los Angeles, about a 50-minute …
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Pacific Paradise – Days 20-25/28
Sea Days x6: Friday, 28th April – Wednesday, 3rd May Hello you! It’s been a while hasn’t it? 😉. ‘Days at Sea’ are inevitably, part of the whole ‘cruise experience’ and it’s all about making the most of that time away from land. SIX days IS a long period, and it pays to have some …
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Pacific Paradise – Day 19/28
Thursday, 27th April: Honolulu (Day 2) – Pearl Harbour Aloha! 👍😎. It’s our final Port day today in Honolulu where our priority is to visit the Pearl Harbour Memorial. Time permitting, we also want to cover the Red Route on the Trolleybus that we postponed yesterday because of the deteriorating weather. The latest forecast shows …
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Pacific Paradise – Day 18/28
Wednesday, 26th April: Honolulu, Oahu IslandDay 1 “Aloha loyal Reader!” Guess where we are! Yes, it’s our second day in the Hawaiian Islands and our first day (of two) in Honolulu. We docked around 6.20am (local), 5.20pm (KMT). Our first view wasn’t that impressive, though! 😟 We have two major priorities today: the first? Stay …
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Pacific Paradise – Day 17/28
Tuesday, 25th April: Lahaina, Maui Morning readers. Welcome back! After four days at sea and 2000 (ish) miles, 🥴🥴 our journey northwards from French Polynesia to the Hawaiian Islands has been completed. We arrived into Lahaina, on the Northwest coast of Maui Island (part of The Hawaiian Islands) at 10.03am local time (9.03pm, UK time). …
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Pacific Paradise – Days 13-16 (of 28)
Friday, 21st – Monday, 24th April: All at sea, heading for Lahaina, Maui Morning All! 👍👍. For us, a slight change of routine begins today. Yesterday afternoon, we left French Polynesia and we’re now heading north (ish) for the Hawaiian Islands. We’ve got four days at sea (and about 2000 miles!) ahead of us to …
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Pacific Paradise – Day 12/28
Thursday, 20th April: Nuku Hiva Welcome back Readers! 👍👍. Here we are, just arrived on the volcanic island of Nuku Hiva, one of the most remote places on the planet. We’re told that the nearest land mass is actually Mexico, some 2650 miles away! Needless to say, we’re closer to the Amazon than we are …
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Pacific Paradise – Day 11/28
Wednesday, 19th April: All at Sea! Heading for Nuku Hiva Thanks for letting me know that some of my recent postings are not making the journey to your end! I have no idea what’s going on, but it’s being investigated back in the UK as I write this. Hopefully, things will improve over the coming …
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Pacific Paradise – Day 10/28
Tuesday, 18th April: Still Cruising!Rangiroa Welcome back Readers! 👍. The techy issues that began yesterday may not have been completely resolved, but if you are reading this, then things are OK for now. Onwards and upwards ehh?!?! 😉 Today, we’re heading for Rangiroa, north-east of Bora Bora (where we visited yesterday). For a quick summary …
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Pacific Paradise – Day 9/28
Monday 17th April Cruise (Day 2) ** I’m getting a few reports that this site is mis-behaving. If you can see this, you’re OK for now! ** Morning all! Another day, another French Polynesian Island! 👍. Here we are in Bora Bora! We’re here until fora fora o’clock this afternoon. 😉 If you’ve just discovered …
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Pacific Paradise – Day 8/28
Sunday16th April All Aboard: Cruise (Day 1) For a quick summary of our holiday plans, click on ‘Paradise Found’ above 👍 “Ahoy there me hearties!” 🦜🏴☠️ It’s Sunday, 11.45am, local time (12.45am, Kettering Mean Time) and we’ve just said goodbye to the Apartment where we’ve been staying for the past few days. We took the …
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