tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-193506682009-11-03T14:13:11.619+01:00The rantings and ravings of a soon-to-be disenchanted repat.Norfolk Dumplinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11106975147903536776noreply@blogger.comBlogger987125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19350668.post-42578380568396110902009-10-30T20:02:00.002+01:002009-10-30T20:04:17.090+01:00

One: Raking up pine needles from the lawn on a windy day.Two: Teaching the cats to wipe their muddy feet before walking all over me.Three: Getting PJ to stop playing video games and go out with me to get a curry. Now. I'm hungry.

Norfolk Dumplinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11106975147903536776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19350668.post-80549338660050939962009-10-29T19:20:00.004+01:002009-10-29T19:35:06.936+01:00

On our return, I discovered a huntin', shootin' and fishin' catalogue had been delivered to us by mistake. I cracked it open and was enthralled! Finally, an entree into the lower levels of the rural aristocracy, the class to which I should clearly belong. It's all pheasants and foxes all the time. On ties, on braces, on boxer shorts, on cufflinks, on teatowels, on luxury cravats, waste paper bins

Norfolk Dumplinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11106975147903536776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19350668.post-90217632717238277672009-10-29T19:14:00.002+01:002009-10-29T19:20:14.489+01:00

We were supposed to be going up to London for a dinner with the great and good tonight, but the plague/man-flu/cold continues, so we gracefully withdrew -- distributing our germs to the great and good seemed unfair. Luckily, we had no such compunction about spreading them to the less fortunate (in so many ways) inhabitants of Southampton, so took a brief shopping trip there instead. I had a 20-

Norfolk Dumplinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11106975147903536776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19350668.post-25659849310375721582009-10-28T10:08:00.001+01:002009-10-28T10:10:32.454+01:00

1. Some pictures of my niece.2. A line of bruises down my thigh from other people's laptop bags on the Tube.3. A rotten head cold.I hate going to London.On the plus side, we were given a free mint Aero on emerging from the Tube at Goodge Street on Wednesday morning. It's amazing how much a free 50p bar of chocolate can brighten your day.

Norfolk Dumplinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11106975147903536776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19350668.post-84934300229134969182009-10-18T17:14:00.003+02:002009-10-18T17:24:56.762+02:00

For the past few months, the railway station at Winchester has been worked on -- or rather, from the customer perspective, worked over. Ticket barriers have now been installed at the entrance to each platform, not for the benefit of the passengers -- who struggle to get suitcases through the tiny gates or to run for a train if late. No, these are revenue-generating gates, the front line in the

Norfolk Dumplinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11106975147903536776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19350668.post-39537500383159377722009-10-18T16:55:00.006+02:002009-10-18T17:25:20.151+02:00

Yes, it's weeks 2 and 3 of the digital photography course -- and we actually got to take some snaps! We also learned about depth of field: the wider the aperture, the shallower the depth of field; the narrower the aperture, the deeper the depth of field. And one-third of the depth of field is in front of the point of focus and two-thirds behind. Confused? OK, let's take a look at it in practice

Norfolk Dumplinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11106975147903536776noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19350668.post-69747258999423144072009-10-14T18:13:00.001+02:002009-10-14T18:14:03.036+02:00

Of course I was. Four mice today. FOUR! One wriggling, two dead, and one disemboweled. Lovely.

Norfolk Dumplinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11106975147903536776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19350668.post-77144648968674848072009-10-11T12:03:00.002+02:002009-10-11T12:25:30.621+02:00

Business at work means that when I finish for the day, I rarely feel like pottering about the Web or constructing blog posts. Books, TV, playing with the cats, or removing the mushrooms lurking about under the surface of my once pristine lawn -- fine. Using the PC? Not so much. To get back into the swing of things, a quick roundup of life chez Dumpling.TV: We've finally finished Season 5 of The

Norfolk Dumplinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11106975147903536776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19350668.post-47839570490285951962009-10-04T11:45:00.003+02:002009-10-04T11:48:25.260+02:00

Nine goals in 2 games -- and Norwich are suddenly 7th in Division One (or Three, to those of us who remember a time before the Premiership and Championship nonsense). We're still a long way off the leaders, 11 points behind Leeds, but our goal difference looks healthy for the first time since our opening-game drubbing. Perhaps we can make it back up? Perhaps we won't face the horros of Division

Norfolk Dumplinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11106975147903536776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19350668.post-65590984223268560062009-09-29T19:45:00.004+02:002009-09-29T20:02:34.127+02:00

After last year's abortive attempt at an MA, I've opted for something less academic but more creative: a beginner's course in digital photography. 24 weeks, 60 hours, of learning how to use my rather nice Pentax digital SLR camera properly -- no more "Auto" settings for me! We kicked off last night with an "in at the deep end" session on what all the different settings on our cameras mean, which

Norfolk Dumplinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11106975147903536776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19350668.post-67699349127028161352009-09-27T20:13:00.027+02:002009-10-04T11:49:52.793+02:00

The Reading Detectives project is keeping me healthy in both mind and body. After reading the poems of Hampshire-based poet Edward Thomas, killed in WW1, we set out on the literary trail that East Hants so kindly provided. It's a killer!You set out from the church in the village of Steep and amble gently through some woodland, past some sheep in a field, and then alongside the sort of houses I

Norfolk Dumplinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11106975147903536776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19350668.post-44950803180152213252009-09-21T19:12:00.004+02:002009-09-21T19:32:31.998+02:00

A week back at work and the holiday is already receding into the past, so I'll keep this short.1. The Welsh Highland Railway from Caernafon to Hafod y Llyn and back, via the Aberglaslyn Pass: Excellent. Steam trains, beautiful scenery (especially on a nice day), and lots of men with beards and cameras, heads poking out of the windows in a flagrant violation of the many notices that say "Do not

Norfolk Dumplinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11106975147903536776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19350668.post-91177770606506938582009-09-16T19:43:00.005+02:002009-09-16T20:01:50.559+02:00

This was the day that the holiday really gelled. We'd set the alarm for 7 a.m. to see if the weather had improved, and it had. Not a cloud in the sky, just early morning mist, so we set off to explore Portmeirion village while it was empty. It's hard to describe just how bonkers this place is and the lack of other visitors made it particularly odd -- as if we'd just walked onto a deserted film

Norfolk Dumplinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11106975147903536776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19350668.post-15106849569908578062009-09-15T19:40:00.002+02:002009-09-15T19:45:45.551+02:00

Three, apparently. One of the twin glories of the British B&B is the full "English" (even if you're in Wales) breakfast: cereal, juice, toast, and a fry-up.* All B&Bs now have their act together and provide a hearty vegetarian variation on the theme -- but after three days of fried eggs, veggie sausages, fried bread, beans, mushrooms, tomatoes, and hash browns, I called it quits. From then on, I

Norfolk Dumplinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11106975147903536776noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19350668.post-91899798462984942762009-09-15T19:19:00.003+02:002009-09-15T19:29:51.240+02:00

Oh boy! When it decides to rain in Wales, it really rains! Our plans to visit Harlech Castle and stroll around Porthmadog were abandoned for a quick drive-by/through in each case, followed by a trip to Criccieth in search of a promised but never found Lloyd George museum. We ended up at Outdoor World instead, checking out the tents that we will (I hope) never buy. I didn't mess up the lighting on

Norfolk Dumplinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11106975147903536776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19350668.post-58433810645327920732009-09-13T20:49:00.003+02:002009-09-15T19:19:01.826+02:00

This is why we came to Wales -- to do the walk along the old railway line and over the railway bridge into Barmouth. Or rather, to cycle it -- we're not total gluttons for punishment. Actually, after 2 years of only sporadic cycling (Hampshire is hilly!), getting back on bikes was both good and painful. Luckily, the weather improved greatly from the night before, giving us blue skies and sunshine

Norfolk Dumplinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11106975147903536776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19350668.post-54171768838189031792009-09-13T20:37:00.006+02:002009-09-13T20:49:06.386+02:00

This is not what you want to see as the mist descends over the Cambrian Mountains, the light starts to fade, and there are no signs of a diversion around what turns out to be a landslide. Some helpful Welsh ladies told us we would need to go via a town that sounded like a sneeze but was actually Machynlleth, something we figured out after a Penguin (for sustenance) and 5 minutes staring at a map.

Norfolk Dumplinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11106975147903536776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19350668.post-76117432840789929092009-09-06T11:03:00.005+02:002009-09-06T11:15:24.269+02:00

Our tour of aging British seaside resorts, accompanied by lashing rain and lots of fish 'n' chips, continues in 2009: This time its Wales. North Wales to be exact. We've just spent the night at The Clive (very pleasant, great food, lovely service), outside Ludlow, and will shortly head over to the very not-Welsh-sounding Barmouth on the mid-Wales coast for a couple of nights. After that, it's on

Norfolk Dumplinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11106975147903536776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19350668.post-74477780549988011102009-08-25T19:40:00.002+02:002009-08-25T19:44:37.966+02:00

If a busy road leading up to a roundabout had a pavement and underpass on one side and a narrow verge leading to a blind corner on the other, would you:a) Use the pavement and underpass as God (in the form of Eastleigh Council) intended?b) Walk in the road up to the roundabout, clamber awkwardly up the verge to get out of the way of the oncoming cars, and then decide that walking in the middle of

Norfolk Dumplinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11106975147903536776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19350668.post-65395085952346991252009-08-23T14:52:00.002+02:002009-08-23T14:55:24.663+02:00

After a disappointing 2:1 loss to Brentford (Brentford!) mid-week, we rebounded to a more promising victory over Wycombe. We now have Ian Culverhouse back at the club and a new manager in Paul Lambert. Let's hope he lasts longer than 2 weeks, unless his two predecessors.

Norfolk Dumplinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11106975147903536776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19350668.post-45906716724134706802009-08-23T14:39:00.003+02:002009-08-23T14:51:24.722+02:00

We've joined Blockbuster. Yes, I know -- we had a subscription to LoveFilm but let it lapse when it became clear we just weren't watching the DVDs quickly enough to make it worthwhile. It's really annoying to work out that the DVD you failed to send back cost about the same to rent as it would have done to buy. Boo! The problem, I think, is that you can put together a list of films that you want

Norfolk Dumplinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11106975147903536776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19350668.post-36789845004881621792009-08-21T18:22:00.003+02:002009-08-21T18:27:53.497+02:00

While reading a story about this year's record A level passes, I realized that it's exactly 20 years since I got my results. Which means I've been alive longer since I took them than before I took them. Which is ... scary.Still, I'm glad. I'd hate to be a teenager again -- and I'd hate to be a teenager now. I'd like to think that our exams were harder (or marked more severely), but just passing

Norfolk Dumplinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11106975147903536776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19350668.post-77301892281294601622009-08-18T17:49:00.003+02:002009-08-18T17:58:51.823+02:00

"Who killed Cock Robin?" "I," said the Sparrow,"With my bow and arrow, I killed Cock Robin."*"Who saw him die?" "I," said the Fly,"With my little eye, I saw him die."**One robin, two mice, and two pools of vomit. What a day.*If by "Sparrow" you mean Nin and/or Shin and by "bow and arrow" you mean claws and teeth.**Which would be me and PJ.

Norfolk Dumplinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11106975147903536776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19350668.post-13876196100109295472009-08-16T20:36:00.002+02:002009-08-16T20:44:48.839+02:00

In our ongoing attempt to catch up on the TV we missed while in Amsterdam, we've been watching The Thick Of It -- BBC2's delightfully sweary "mockumentary" of government life. I know, I know: swearing isn't big and it isn't clever -- but this is just incredibly funny, and, scarily, seems like it would be incredibly accurate. We're going to watch In The Loop (the movie follow-up) tonight.We're

Norfolk Dumplinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11106975147903536776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19350668.post-71194396533015746432009-08-16T20:03:00.000+02:002009-08-16T20:32:46.642+02:00

Well, that's better -- I suppose. Given that we have but a temporary manager. However, I think our treatment of Bryan Gunn has been pretty shameful. We (and he) would have been far better served by letting him go at the end of last season, hiring a new manager, and then giving him our full support, rather than binning him just 10 days into the new season. An embarrassing situation all round.

Norfolk Dumplinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11106975147903536776noreply@blogger.com0