Nostalgia

We have visited Cornwall many times over the years. At first with the girls and then, as they grew up and flew the nest, by ourselves. One of our earliest trips with the girls had us staying in some log cabins at Deerpark. While there we would visit Looe and Polperro. Both seem to have been permanent fixtures on our itineraries over the years. So it was that we found ourselves heading east to Looe, this morning.

The car park has been extended, but other than that little seems to have changed. We wandered across the bridge to East Looe and made our way through the town pointing out the various haunts and landmarks that we have seen so often. The little gift shop, the fish and chip shop, the cafe by the pier, and so on. It really was a very nostalgic trip.

The Silver Vixen found a branch of Sea Salt so the Gorse Fox had plenty of time to stand outside and watch the tourists go by. He observed that there is clearly some new statute of which he was not aware. It seems that every other tourist has, by law, to have at least once dog with them. The dogs have to be on leads so that they can cause the maximum chaos as they make their way through the throngs of tourists as the wander up and down the narrow streets.

The promenade by the banjo pier has been extended (though the pier itself is blocked off). The little beach was packed with what the Gorse Fox first assumed to be walruses, but they turned out to be holiday-makers gently roasting in the lovely sunshine.

We stopped in a little courtyard for a cup of tea and a scone, then made our way back to the car and the hotel.

We have spent the afternoon out on the lawn with J&T (and a G&T). It was very comfortable and peaceful until a loud-mouth harridan from Birmingham plonked herself down about 20 feet from us and started to hold court for the people next to us. The Gorse Fox has never been interested in golf… and after this afternoon’s rant, he is even less interested. 

In the end, to save the precious remains of his sanity, he had to get up from the lounger and go for a walk. There are times like this that you wish the Uber had a sniper service.

Mill pond

 It’s another fabulous start to the day. England have beaten Germany in a knock-out tournament for the first time sine 1966, there are blue skies, a bit of very high cloud, and the sea is as flat as a mill pond. No definitive plans yet, but we’ll make a decision over breakfast.

(The 1966 World Cup Final was one of those moments that stick in the memory - the Gorse Fox was 14 years old and we had just returned from a week in Eastbourne with our Grandparents. We got home to Cockfosters just in time to see the kick-off and watch the whole game).

Padstow

As it was sister J’s birthday, the Gorse Fox had booked a table at Rick Stein’s Seafood Restaurant in Padstow. We all piled into our car and pottered off to the north coast.

Padstow was busy when we arrived and the car parks at harbour level were full, which was expected. The streets had effectively been reclaimed by the tourists and the Gorse Fox had to crawl through the streets to find a spot where he could leave the Silver Vixen, and J&T. He then drove back up the hill and parked in the high level car park.

The Gorse Fox wishes local authorities would standardise their “pay by mobile” suppliers. The Gorse Fox had to download yet another app for Padstow parking (that’s four separate parking apps). Once done, it was pretty painless and quite reasonably priced.

He headed back down the hill and met up with Trev outside the gin shop. The girls were in Sea Salt. We had assumed they were shopping, but it turns out that the Silver Vixen had, again, been used for target practice by a passing gull who was clearly quite unwell. She had to strip off and work her way through the wet wipes; it’s a shame she had walked into the window display instead of the changing rooms - but the tourist will remember it for a long time. (The Gorse Fox is, of course, joking and she was in the changing rooms).

The Gorse Fox and Trev went and sat by the harbour (oblivious to the seagull drama). The world passed by. The sun was out and the tourists filled the roads and paths.

Eventually, the girls joined us and we made our way along to Rick Stein’s. We were ushered to a table by the window and made very welcome. It sure has changed since the Gorse Fox and Silver Vixen last had a meal there. After a bit of analysis we reckon that it was November 1996. Despite that, there was no plaque celebrating our visit. 

The menus were handed out and the experience began. Three of us started with the coconut prawns, and Trev had scallops. Then we moved on to the main dishes. The Silver Vixen had traditional fish a chips (though the chips looked more like railway sleepers). J&T both had sole in a vermouth sauce, and the Gorse Fox had hake on spinach. The whole thing was exquisite. We virtually licked the plates clean. Then there were the sweets. The Gorse Fox did not participate but the other three tucked in. It really was a very special lunch.

Leaving the restaurant we went for a short stroll around the harbour, then, with an eye on the time for the car park, made our way back up the hill and headed south back to our hotel.

Good Start

 It’s a lovely bright and sunny start to the day. It’s the Gorse Fox’s sister’s birthday so we have plans to go across to Padstow for lunch. Let’s hope the north coast is just as bright and sunny.

Charlestown

 There was heavy overnight rain (according to the Silver Vixen), though the Gorse Fox didn’t hear it. When we woke up, it was a lot brighter than yesterday and the blue patches in the sky were growing as the morning progressed. 

After a good breakfast we debated what we should do and decided that the first order of the day was to have a quick look around the property. Having had a quick look to the west and south of the building we decided that a walk into Charlestown would be a good plan.

We met up with J&T and strolled up the hill, passing the various million pound properties with 10 million pound views. 

At the top, we dropped down onto the footpath and walked down the hill into Charlestown. It must be 30 years since we had last visited the little port. The Gorse Fox had forgotten what it was like, but it clearly catered better for tourists than it had in years gone by. 

It may not have be quaint, but it was an attractive little harbour. Over the year it had been featured in a number of TV and Film productions, and was proud of these associations.

We decided that a coffee would be an entirely appropriate excuse to sit by the harbour and watch the world spin by. We grabbed a table at the Pier Hotel (where Becky had stayed last night - unfortunately, she was already on her way back up to London, so couldn’t join us). Eventually, we dragged ourselves away from the view and made our way slowly back to the hotel.

By now the clouds had rolled away, and we had a deep blue sky and pleasantly warm sunshine. We sat out on the lawn with some tea (and a beer) and watched as several scones disappeared, as if by magic. T went for a swim while we had another tea and another beer. It was a perfect afternoon.

As the Gorse Fox writes this, we are having a quiet hour before heading to the bar, prior to dinner.

Brighter

 

There is a patch of blue! It is looking brighter. There was heavy rain overnight, but it has stopped and it seems to be drying up.

No plans made, as yet.

Go West

It looked promising. We had woken to a dry and fairly bright morning (but that, as the forecast promised, can be deceiving). We finished packing and loaded the car, bit by bit. Everything was squared away, we locked up and set the security system and were on the road before nine o’clock.

The Gorse Fox had debated with himself and Google Maps regarding the route. He decided that the “Jurassic” route along the south coast was likely to be slow, given the weather forecast (heavy rain). Another route cut through Salisbury and up to the A303 west of Stonehenge, but that meant getting round Salisbury. The final choice, a few miles longer, nipped up the M3 to Winchester, along the A34, and onto the A303 east of Andover. This final route was chosen. What a good decision that proved to be.

Including a brief comfort break, our journey took 4 hours and 40 minutes. The Gorse Fox was able to sit at the speed limit the whole way down (and thanks to the Adaptive Cruise Control hardly had to touch the pedals at all). It was a very comfortable journey and the forecast rain didn’t actually start until the last 20 miles. That did mean, however, that we arrived in an absolute monsoon. We parked the car and left all the luggage to collect when the rain eased off.

We settled down in the bar for a cup of tea and a sandwich, while waiting for our room (and a break in the weather). When the room was available, the Gorse Fox went and got the luggage - the rain had not relented, he was soaked. He had to change and his trousers were at the bottom of his case. He stripped ti pant and started to unpack. Just as he dragged on another pair of trousers, there was a knock at the door. It was Becky.

The Silver Vixen’s niece has been down in Cornwall for the past couple of weeks and we had suggested she come and meet with us and have dinner. She had checked in to another hotel, in Charlestown, down the hill. We had a lovely afternoon and evening, catching up on all her news and the family gossip. She has been down as an experiment to see if she could relocate here yet still do her job effectively. Was the WiFi good enough? Is the train journey to London manageable? Can she live on her own? Where would she like to settle, and where did she feel wasn’t right? Her checklist was extensive, but the results were looking positive. She’s headed back home to Clapham tomorrow… and then has some decisions to make.

We had dinner in the Spa Bar and Restaurant. This is a less formal dining room than the main restaurant. As expected, the food was excellent. We all started with a chicken and bacon roulade with salad; for the main dish the Silver Vixen had confit duck, Beck had a beef dish, and the Gorse Fox had monkfish. As we were looking at the sweets menu, J&T arrived. They, like us, had had a very good run down from Wokingham. We continued to sit and chat for the rest of the evening.

Becky said her goodbyes and headed back down the hill (texting her safe arrival). J&T went to stretch their legs, and the Gorse Fox and Silver Vixen headed up to bed. It had been a ver good day.

That was quick

 The Gorse Fox hadn’t realised how influential he can be. Only yesterday he sent a letter to his MP saying Hancock should resign. Within a couple of hours, he, metaphorically, fell on his sword. 

Moral of the story? Don’t disappoint the Gorse Fox to the point he has to write a letter!

How does he do it

 The Gorse Fox had his usual Saturday morning call with his cousins. The attendance was a little sparse, but it was still good fun and a chance for some banter. The Gorse Fox made the mistake of signing off with the words "Got to go, we need to take the cat to the cattery"

Little furry ears must have been listening. Jasper had been asleep on the bedroom floor, but 30 minutes later when it was time to go, he had disappeared. He was hiding under our bed, right in the middle where we couldn't easily reach him. This is the first time he has hidden under our bed for months. How did he know? Did he hear the Gorse Fox? Has he checked the Google calendar?

Eventually, we dug him out and dropped him into his carrier. We took him across to the cat whisperer, where he quickly settled and will now enjoy ten days of pampering.

Once home we retrieved the suitcases and began the lengthy process of selecting, down-selecting, culling, and then packing. The Silver Vixen is still at it but should be finished by bedtime.

Responsibility and Honour

The Gorse Fox has slept on it. (Actually, given that he is referring to the revelations regarding Secretary of State, Matt Hancock, and his Aide, that may not be the best choice of words). In the end, the Gorse Fox decided it was time to take a stand.  So it came to pass that he has penned a note to his MP.

I am both a constituent of yours and a member of the local Conservative Party.

Dear MP
Like so many of us, my family has been supportive of the Government's policies regarding suppression and beating the COVID-19 pandemic. 

I was embarrassed by the farce regarding Dominic Cummings last year, but tolerated it and felt that his sacking was an end to the matter - even if it did give many people excuses to break the lockdown. 

I was glad to see the firm stance that Matt Hancock took when Professor Ferguson breached lockdown. I am, however, appalled at the recent disclosures of his behaviour with his aide. It is not the incident itself that I find so galling. It is the utter hypocrisy of his stance. This IS a resigning matter. He has clearly breached the very rules that he set out for all the rest of us. It is a matter of honour. 

In addition, I would like to call out the clear "one rule for us, and another for them" so clearly witnessed at the G7 beano in Cornwall, where no social distancing or quarantine was evident and the stance being taken regarding the UEFA VIPs access to Wembley. 

I no longer believe the Government has any moral authority left regarding control of the pandemic.

The Gorse Fox has spoken

Gadgets

 In case you were not aware, the Gorse Fox likes his gadgets. This poses a problem before a trip. Which gadgets are essential? And which gadgets are just nice to have? What chargers and adapters are needed? Is everything charged up? Are all the right charging cables available?

The Gorse Fox has had the day to ponder these First World problems. Batteries have been checked and topped up, cables have been packed, chargers have been packed, and we are now satisfied that we have the right mix. Having said that, the Gorse Fox was concerned that some notes he wrote to explain the data transfer and GPS settings for his camera’s photos had gone AWOL. They are probably a victim of his summary disposal of OneNote. The Gorse Fox has rewritten and tested new explanatory notes and filed them in a new Photography folder in iNotes.

Got it

The Gorse Fox decided that the scanner issue had to be resolved. He started up Merlin (the Windows laptop) and downloaded the full set of device drivers from the Brother website. He then applied the drivers and tested the outcome.  Success!

As a more complex test, the Gorse Fox has just scanned part of an 1888 map of Birmingham. The scan was beautifully clear and the resolution high enough for the Gorse Fox to blow it up to examine it in detail that he just couldn't detect on the paper map.

Scanners

 The Gorse Fox has several scanners. Two are embedded functions of his printers - an A4 Canon, and an A3 Brother. With the recent demise of Condor (sitting in a decaying pile of feathers by the Gorse Fox's desk), he needed to scan to his MacBook (Harrier). The A4 Canon printer/scanner worked without a problem. The A3 Brother, however, could only be recognized as a printer, not as a scanner. Nothing he has tried so far will get the scanner function visible. In a fit of pique, the Gorse Fox decided to try and access it from his new Windows laptop (Merlin). He was convinced this would work. Wrong!

He will have another try on another day. The A3 scanner is not something he uses much, but there are times when it is invaluable. This problem needs to be solved.

Countdown

 Ellie wandered into our room at about 6:40 and asked for the iPad. She settled down between us and watched YouTube Kids until it was time to get up. We got here ready and offered her breakfast - which she declined (as is now quite usual). Urband-cub arrived to take her to school and the Gorse Fox went along for the walk.

Today was a bit of a change from the usual. We had decided that, with an impending trip away, we didn't need to trouble Ocado. We crafted a much cut-down list and popped round to Sainsbury's.

Back home, the Silver Vixen retired to her sewing room to finish off the buttons on her latest project. The Gorse Fox got on with some admin and then put his feet up until it was time to collect Ellie.

The bright sunny morning had become slightly overcast. It was still warm, but it was clear the weather was changing. Despite this, we were able to stroll round to Dizzy Ducklings then take Ellie to the small play-park for a good 45 minutes. Hopefully, it will have worn her out and she will sleep well tonight.

Adventures

 The day started bright and shiny with blue sky blanketing the south coast. The Gorse Fox popped around to the Urban-cub to escort her and Ellie to Dizzy Ducklings.

Back home, he changed and headed off for Wednesday's football. The teams were picked and the Gorse Fox expected a rerun of the Alamo. As usual, they were somewhat skewed - and this was not helped by the fact that one of the goalies had dropped out. We were resolute and managed to keep things to a creditable 1-1 at half-time. The second half saw a change in tactics. Suddenly we were 3-1 down. We fought on. 3-2, then 4-2, then 4-3, then as we threatened to equalize, the final whistle blew.

This afternoon, the Silver Vixen had to attend a funeral for the husband of one of her friends. This left the Gorse Fox in charge (with Jasper's consent). He had to collect Ellie from Dizzy Ducklings, then amuse her until the cavalry arrived. 

The Gorse Fox had a plan. He tried to install the child seat in his car. The first part of the plan failed. It would not fit. 

The Gorse Fox moved to Plan B. He collected Ellie, then offered her the choice of playing in the park or taking the bus to the beach. The bus and beach won. 

So it was that we found ourselves singing "The Wheels on the bus go round and round" as we lurched into Bognor Regis. We alighted and strolled down to the beach. Ellie played on the swings and slides and then she informed the Gorse Fox that she would like ice cream. The Gorse Fox had expected this (indeed, Urban-cub had warned him that it was a likelihood).

We queued for ice cream. The attendant kindly loaded a huge lump of strawberry ice onto Ellie's cone. She settled down at the side of the promenade to enjoy it and watch the world go by.

Once the ice creams were finished, we returned to the playground, then ventured onto the shingle bank. The tide was way out but in the distance, we could see people frolicking in the shallows.

We headed back to the bus terminus and managed to get straight onto a bus as it was preparing to leave. We were home in no time and the Silver Vixen had beaten us to it, arriving a couple of minutes before we did.

Not the Euros

 The rain was still falling when the Gorse Fox got up this morning. It was due to ease off by lunchtime, but in practice, it had dried up by the time the football started. The Gorse Fox had checked on Google. The traffic looked terrible, with overrunning roadworks on the A259 at Angmering, and long queues on the A27 into Arundell. He opted for the A27. Good move. By the time he got there, the queues had gone and he whistled straight through.

It was important for the Gorse Fox to arrive in plenty of time today. Robert Plant (of Led Zeppelin) has been doing some concerts with someone called Suzi Dian. Due to the demand, an extra concert was being arranged - in Worthing. By pre-registering, the Gorse Fox got the first shot when the ticket went on sale at 10:00. He stood there, pitchside, phone in hand. As the clock ticked to 10, he hit the button and got straight through. Two tickets were paid for and our e-tickets nestled in the Gorse Fox's inbox. Perfect!

The football? Less so. The Gorse Fox's blue team lost the first game and his own performance contributed to a couple of goals for the opposition. The second game was much better and we managed to win that, though the Gorse Fox did have to intercept shots on our goal and take control of several goalmouth scrambles. The last game was another disaster. Even our goalie commented that there was nothing the Gorse Fox could do when overrun by 3 or even 4 attackers - our own players still stuck at the wrong end of the pitch to help.

Back home, the Gorse Fox was glad to see that his clutch of old Ordnance Survey maps had arrived. This has kept him amused for several hours as he has tried to locate where various ancestors had actually lived. 

Grey and dull

It's about 6 in the evening. It's the longest day of the year and it's grey and miserable. In fact, it is so grey and miserable that we have had to put the lights on. The Gorse Fox wondered, for a minute, whether he had fallen asleep and woken up in the North. (He checked in the mirror and noted that he wasn't wearing a flat-cap, and Jasper hadn't morphed into a whippet)*

The Gorse Fox spent part of the morning working on the family tree. This got him perusing some old maps and made him realize that there are plenty of ancestors for whom he has no contemporary maps. This drove him to one of his favourite websites and set him wandering through their indexes looking for the relevant sheets. These are now on order.

We collected Ellie from Dizzy Ducklings and she had a lovely afternoon with us. Urban-cub collected her soon after 5, and they have now gone home.

* No stereotypes in this blog!

Wet

 The Gorse Fox isn’t saying it’s wet this morning, but and aircraft carrier just went past the front door. The Gorse Fox suspects that we will take Ellie to Dizzy Ducklings by car!!

Super

It has been a super day. As you will have seen from the earlier post, Ellie had some face paints. Both the Silver Vixen and Gorse Fox became the artist's canvases at some point or other. It has just occurred to the Gorse Fox that he is still festooned with the sparkly paints several hours later.

Urban-cub, Ellie, Cousteau-cub, and the Coventry Hobbit all came round to visit and to wish the Gorse Fox a happy Father's Day. It really was a lovely day.  Urban-cub took over the preparation of lunch and finished us all off with a mountain of food. (The Gorse Fox had slow-cooked some beef at 110C for 2.75 hours having left it overnight in a dry rub... it was sensational).

Cousteau-cub and the Coventry Hobbit left soon after lunch - CC wasn't feeling too good, and they had to get back for the dogs. Urban-cub and the Silver Vixen took Ellie to the park after lunch while the Gorse Fox started to watch the Italy-Wales game on TV. It has just finished, as the Gorse Fox writes this, and though Wales lost 1-0, they did get through to the next round of matches.

Father’s Day - Ellie has Face Paints

Very quiet

 It has been a bit grey, but at least it stayed dry. It has also been immensely quiet. The Gorse Fox started his day with the cousins' Zoom call, but as it started to ramble on a bit, he dropped off the call after an hour.

Much of the rest of his day has been spent working on genealogy. He has had another contact from a DNA match and has been trying to trace a link between the families. There are so many coincidences in our families during the 1800s in Glasgow, but despite every effort, he has yet to find a solid family connection. (When he says coincidences... they lived a few doors away from each other, they both had fathers called James, they were both tailors, they were born within about 5 years of each other, they both had links to the Gallogley family - it is almost too much of a coincidence; but at this point, that's all it is).

Meanwhile, the Silver Vixen has been dead-heading the roses, and Two Hats, next door, spotted a tiny indentation on the bonnet of our car (probably a stone chipping) and promptly fixed it.

Deluge

 We have been subjected to a deluge of Biblical proportions for much of the day. Ellie woke us at 6:45, demanded the iPad, and settled down to watch YouTube Kids.  The Gorse Fox slipped out of bed, showered, and then got things on the move.

We drove Ellie to Dizzy Ducklings because of the monsoon. Then after a quiet breakfast, we popped to the shops to complete our weekly top-up.

The rest of the day has been fairly quiet, though we have watched some football. Frankly, watching Croatia against the Czech Republic, the Gorse Fox thinks that watching paint dry would be more stimulating.

Urban-cub collected Ellie late afternoon, and she is hosting Cousteau-cub for a sleep-over tonight. We will watch the England-v-Scotland game.

Living on the edge

 Ellie wandered into our bedroom at 3 a.m. and tapped the Gorse Fox on the shoulder (he was already awake, having heard her get out of bed and potter across the landing). 

"Grandpa" she said. 

"What do you want?" he asked. 

"iPad" she responded. 

"It's too early" he said "let me take you back to bed". 

She started to walk towards the door then said "Nana take me". The Silver Vixen rose from from the arms of Morpheus and conducted Ellie back to bed. No more was said. No sound was made.

At 6:17 Ellie pottered into our bedroom. Tapped the Gorse Fox on the shoulder and said "Grandpa, iPad". She always was eloquent. He quiesced, and she settled back down for 45 minutes with the iPad.

After we had dropped Ellie at school, the Silver Vixen went to have coffee with some friends. The Gorse Fox settled down to do some admin., the top-up shop could wait for tomorrow There was a pile of scanning (and shredding) to complete. It then occurred to him that his new backup system didn't, as yet, incorporate the folders where his newly scanned documents would be saved. A few minutes of adjustment and that too was under control.

At lunchtime we had a call with the school where Ellie will go in September, then headed off to collect her from Dizzy Ducklings. The Gorse Fox was chatting with one mother and mentioned Ellie's nocturnal visit. Some hours later, back home, the Silver Vixen asked about this. "Did Ellie get up in the night?" she asked. The Gorse Fox explained and then pointed out that she, the Silver Vixen, had emerged and taken Ellie back to bed. The Silver Vixen had no recollection of this. 

Hot One

 It was a hot one; like 7 inches from the midday sun... (with apologies to Santana). The Gorse Fox wandered around to Urban-cub's house to walk with them to Dizzy Ducklings. Then, once home, it was time for the SPF 30, a quick change, and off to football.

The Silver Vixen was meant to have Zoom Pilates but wasn't feeling 100% so having taken her blood pressure (which was ridiculously low), decided to just have a quiet morning.

The Gorse Fox rolled out for the orange bibs today. Looking at the teams, we were a little unbalanced, but it could have been worse. Obviously, the weather was affecting my teammates. There was a terrible case of lethargy permeating the players. The Gorse Fox was not affected. In fact, he had a wonderful game and thoroughly enjoyed the freedom afforded my lazy players and the fact that we had ditched the 3-touch rule. The final score was 2-1 to the yellow bibs, but the Gorse Fox was happy. He had provided an assist for our goal and blocked several certain goals at our own end.

Back home, there was time for a shower, a bite to eat, and 45 minutes rest before collecting Ellie.

It's a very bucolic scenery as we walk through the development towards the school. Paths have been mowed into the wild grass, and the next field has been seeded with wildflowers. It really is a most pleasant walk.

We collected Ellie and allowed her 30 minutes in the playground with her friends. We then wandered home and started to feed her as she said she was hungry - peperami, chicken, cheese, chocolate mousse, jelly, lolly, fish fingers, new potatoes, carrot, and sweetcorn. She demolished most of this over a 90 minute period.

It has turned immensely still. Thunderstorms are forecast for tonight. Let's hope they don't wake Ellie.

P.S. Note to Gareth Bale (who has just won and taken a penalty for Wales against Turkey) - Don't try to be clever - just hit the damned ball as hard as you can, keeping it low. We are building a new spaceport and can use that as a launchpad in the future - and maybe get that ball back, when it stops orbiting.

Early drop

 Urban-cub was scheduled to start at 8 over on Hayling Island. We were up and about before 7 so that she could drop Ellie off as soon as she liked. In the end, it was about 7:10 before she turned up. We gave Ellie breakfast and got her ready for school before walking her round to Dizzy Ducklings.

Once back home we both had places to be. The Gorse Fox had to get to football, and the Silver vixen was going to visit the Stitch Witch, who recently broke her foot somehow. (The Gorse Fox can't remember if she was trampolining, base jumping, or parachuting - or maybe she just fell off her broomstick).

We had a good turnout at football with 38 players on today's roster. The Gorse Fox found himself on a team that you might view as mediocre. It turns out that mediocrity is all right. It forced the team to play a passing game, and use teamwork to the maximum. We won the first game 3-1, which surprised us immensely. The second game was a 1-0 loss, unfortunately; particularly as the Gorse Fox managed to hit the post twice. The last game was a resounding 4-0 win.

The Gorse Fox didn't feel as if he had played particularly well, but we did well. Hopefully, he will play better tomorrow.

This afternoon, the Gorse Fox wandered along to collect Ellie. The Silver Vixen hadn't slept well last night, so he felt that giving her an extra hour or so of peace might be appreciated. Ellie wandered out of Dizzy Ducklings - acknowledged the Gorse Fox then looked around for the Silver Vixen. Finally, she returned to Gorse Fox and interrogated him regarding the missing nana. Satisfied with the explanation, she informed the Gorse fox that she was going to the park to play with her friends. The Gorse Fox tagged along carrying all of the usual post-school detritus, the lunch bag, the backpack, and the scooter. We had a pleasant 45 minutes in the playground, then headed home to shatter the peace.

Urban cub arrived just before 5 to collect Ellie.

Neighbours

 Ellie slept through, and again we were up and about and pottering in the kitchen before she emerged. She was a cheerful little soul, and after all of the usual preliminaries we took her off to Dizzy Ducklings.

Once home, the Gorse Fox retired to his study to examine the output from the overnight backups. Did they run? Did the new reports provide useful data? The answer to both questions was a resounding "yes". The Gorse Fox did, however, decide that one additional piece of information in the report would be very useful. This really was a JTLOC - just two lines of code. Applied and tested, the Gorse Fox shut the laptop.

The doorbell rang. It was a neighbour. She is a lovely lady, an absolute gem of a human being. She had called to thank the Gorse Fox for the work he had been doing to defend the Italian Garden from the Joni Mitchell attack. It was so nice of her to take the time to come and say thanks.

Talking of neighbours, the Gorse Fox had offered to take Old Bill to the hospital for his eye surgery. We headed off towards Shoreham. We had a wonderful run through and the Gorse Fox delivered him to the door with 25 minutes to spare. He then went and parked up by M&S and went to do some shopping while waiting. New socks and some new loafers were acquired and all of the merchandise in the store examined. He returned to the car. It wouldn't be long.

After 30 minutes more, the Gorse Fox went in and grabbed a coffee, and watched some of the football on his phone. He returned to the car. It wouldn't be long.

The phone rang. There you are, it wasn't long. Lady Penelope explained that Old Bill was, in fact, last on the list and it would be at least two more hours.

The Gorse Fox did another loop around M&S then walked down to Next. He watched some more football and then drove down to Next and parked up there. He did another loop round Next, and watched some more football on his phone.

Eventually, the time ticked by and the Gorse Fox drove back to the hospital car park and sat and waited. Old Bill wandered out into the daylight and the Gorse Fox helped him into the car. With the help of Google we selected the best route home, and despite his worst fears managed to get home in about 50 minutes. At that time of the evening, it was a real result!

Deeper Satisfaction

It was a stunning day. There was wall-to-wall sunshine throughout the day and the temperatures were in the high 20s. This encouraged the Silver Vixen to venture out and plant some of the flowers she had purchased a week or so back.

The Gorse Fox had woken up with an idea to further enhance his little backup system. First, he had to check that it had worked overnight - and it had. With a little tweaking, however, he should be able to dig out some deeper diagnostics about each run.  Like most JAFLOCs(*) it took a bit longer than planned, but in the end, it was working perfectly. Again, the Gorse Fox will have to check it in the morning, but he has every confidence that it will be okay.

After lunch, we both stopped to watch the football. It was a win (1-0), which was good, but the Gorse Fox didn't really feel that it was a convincing display. The England team was competent, but not convincing. Let's hope that, as the tournament progresses, they settle into the competition.

Urban-cub brought Ellie round at tea time. Ellie will stay with us overnight, as Urban-cub has an early start in the morning.

(*) JAFLOC - Just a Few Lines of Code

Deep Satisfaction

 The Gorse Fox knows that the things that amuse and entertain him are not necessarily the same things that amuse others. Today has been a day that has provided him with great satisfaction.

There was the usual preamble to the day followed by the call with his cousins. He had to set up the call via his iPad as the usual iMac is now acting as an elegant doorstop (and provides no more function than that). Like so many of these calls, it came to an abrupt end as the time expired and none of us had noticed the countdown. The Gorse Fox raised the fact that a stranger contacted him yesterday having found that he is a DNA match and appears to be a second cousin. The Gorse Fox passed on all the information he had, but none of the cousins have a clue as to who he may be. Whilst he gave some background information he doesn't know much about his family and has no clue how we connect. The Gorse Fox will have to delve a little deeper.

Once the morning call was complete and a few domestic chores were crossed off the list, the Gorse Fox returned to his study. He needed to complete his interim backup system. The code came together fairly easily and a few tests were executed. The code was tweaked and a few more tests were run. Finally, it was ready for prime time. He went through and manually triggered the backup for each of the more precious or more volatile file systems. All went well, so the code was dropped into crontab so that it executes automatically according to the schedule that has been set. The Gorse Fox will check in the morning to see if everything worked as planned. Very satisfying.

The Codefather

 Cousteau-cub gave the Gorse Fox a t-shirt with the emblem "The Codefather" on it. He's been wearing it a lot since the weather perked up. He wasn't, however, wearing it today as he swung into full code mode. 

It took a while to get started. He wanted to check a few of the command options and get them working before he bothered embedding them in code. Several hours were wasted trying to work out why one folder would mount in the server, but a seemingly identical folder would not. It turned out to be a "feature" of the way in which the NAS server handles NFS. Eventually, the Gorse Fox found the right tweak to allow the files to be mounted.

The coding could now start. The Gorse Fox has now got an hour or so of code behind him. Hopefully, tomorrow will see it finished - and once finished, all of the backups should drop back into the daily schedule

Echo

 The Silver Vixen had an appointment at St Richard's Hospital cardiac unit today. The Gorse Fox drove her there but wasn't allowed to go in and accompany her. He waited in the car park and was astonished to find her walking back to the car within 15 minutes of arrival. As usual, every at St Richard's went like clockwork. We now await the analysis of the data and the review by the specialist.

Scam

 The first scam of the day has just been neutralised. The Gorse Fox received a text message with a link to a voicemail. He was suspicious. He didn’t click on the link. He went to the “Who Called Me From” website and checked the number… sure enough it was known number used in the current spate of delivery scams.

Message deleted.

Overcast

 Today was less spectacular. It was still warm, but fairly overcast throughout the day. Ellie slept well. In fact it was 7:40 before she emerged, the Gorse Fox and Silver Vixen already downstairs and marshalling the day. Urban-Cub turned up in time for the walk to pre-school, but then went home for a day of household chores. She has an early shift tomorrow, so whilst Ellie went back to her after school, she will be back here overnight.

The morning was lost to the usual shopping tasks… but then we were afforded the chance to spend some time quietly reviewing possible holiday options. Clearly, people have booked most of the available accommodation for the summer holidays, but we persevered. Our idea is to find somewhere where Ellie can have a holiday. We used HomeAway, Booking.com, Trivago, Expedia, Cottages.com, and Airbnb. We must have viewed several hundred properties in all. Finally, we found a place near Exmouth (so it’s not too far from home) that looks ideal. Let’s see how it works out!

G-Force

 It has been another glorious day. No cloud dared to sully the perfectly blue sky. The sun beat down and, hay fever aside, was a perfect day.

The Gorse Fox wandered round to Urban-Cub’s to accompany them to Dizzy Ducklings, but then got changed and headed off to Worthing for football. His initial view of the teams filled him with dread, but then it became clear that we had a ringer on our side. It was very close to start with, but we gradually built up a lead of 3-2 but then managed to pull away to 4-2, then they scored, but we immediately responded. Eventually, this cat and mouse finished with a final score of 6-4.

The afternoon was spent looking after Ellie, who will stay with us overnight.

Christened

 It has been a glorious day. The sort of day that makes the heart soar.

The Gorse Fox had football planned. It was a busy session with 34 players turning up. 10 players split off to play 5-a-side, the rest of us split into 4 teams and played on the big pitches. Our first game went well, and we won 3-2. The Gorse Fox managed to christen his new boots with a cracking goal. The second game was harder, but we managed a creditable 1-1 draw. The final game was painful. We lost 5-2. As usual, the Gorse Fox thoroughly enjoyed the session.

This afternoon, the Gorse Fox popped across to John Lewis to collect the new iPad that we have bought for the Silver Vixen. Then he spent some time during the afternoon setting it up for her.

The Gorse Fox has come up with a plan for his backups (now that Condor is dead). He is going to write some code that will run on one of the Raspberry Pi, and be scheduled as a "cron" job. He has a plan but now has to get some time to implement it.

Retrenching

 Week after this morning’s disaster, the Gorse Fox has been retrenching on his MacBook. Everything is still available from the NAS and the backups. In fact the only regular app that isn’t available on the MacBook is the software he uses for one part of his backup. That is not a major problem, however, with a few tweaks to his normal use and a few manual procedures to cover the backup of the Raspberry Pis.

Splat!

 Oh dear!

The Gorse Fox was doing some work in his study. All of a sudden there was crack, then everything went quiet. All of the power had gone off. A little investigation in the cupboard under the stairs showed it was just one power circuit. He switched it back on and went back to check on everything. All the power outlets seemed fine and all of the various machines had come back on… all except the iMac, Condor.

So far, no amount of coaxing and cajoling will bring it back to life. The Gorse Fox will leave it and try again later. The loss of Condor would be a blow… but he had been planning a replacement when the new iMacs are released.

He may have to make do with the MacBook for now. (What a good job everything is backed up)

Bored

 At 03:32 this morning there was a patter of tiny feet into our bedroom. Ellie stood by the Gorse Fox and announced "Grandpa, I am really quite bored waiting for my light to turn yellow".

Stifling a smile the Gorse Fox tried to convince her that it was much too early, and that she should return to bed and go back to sleep. The Gorse Fox was not convincing enough. The Silver Vixen intervened. Ellie went back to bed, cried for a few minutes, and then went back to sleep.

At 6:30 her highlight turned yellow. There was spatter of tiny feet. "Grandpa, my light is yellow. Can I watch your iPad?". She hopped into bed with us and settled down with the tablet for half an hour.

Slow

 We had a lovely evening wit Old Bill and Lady Penelope for the Anniversary. We went into Chichester on the bus and then wandered along to Cotes Brasserie. We had a very pleasant meal with dear friends then pottered back to the bus station. The next bus was 30 minutes away so we popped over the road to the railway station and grabbed a taxi. We were back home within 15 minutes.

It was a slow start to the day. Jasper had clearly woken the Silver Vixen and she got up to let him out... peace returned... and we had a lie in.

Much of the day was spent doing admin for Ellie's school admission, and then sorting out and standardising more address within the family tree software. There is still a large tranche of unprocessed addresses, but the balance is now in the Gorse Fox's favour.

Urban-Cub has just turned up with Ellie, who will be staying with us overnight as Urban-Cub has a 5 a.m. start.

Lost and found

 The Silver Vixen had a day out on Thursday. When she returned, she realised she had lost her sunglasses. She retraced her steps, where possible, and then concluded they must have gone missing on the bus. On Friday, she phoned the bus station. Sure enough, they had been handed in - but were at Portsmouth (where her bus was destined). They said they would send them back to Chichester during the day. This morning, she hopped on the bus and popped in to Chichester. The glasses were there and she hopped straight onto the return bus. The whole trip couldn't have taken more than 30 minutes and the Gorse Fox has a very happy Silver Vixen.

The Gorse Fox had his usual call with the cousins and has spent much of the rest of the day working on the Silver Vixen's branches of the family tree. There have been no major breakthroughs. In fact, it has really been a day of tidying up. Better luck next time!

This evening we are going out with Old Bill and Lady Penelope. Two Hats and Tinkerbell were also meant to be with us, but Tinkerbell has hurt her back and isn't mobile at present. Anyway, the excuse for the excursion is their Wedding Anniversary, so we are honoured to be invited. Plan is to take the bus into Chichester, eat, then get either the bus or taxi home.

Sheltering

There was a fair bit of rain overnight. This seemed like a good excuse to shelter indoors and spend some time on genealogy. (Do you really think the Gorse Fox needs an excuse?)

The first order of the day, however, excluding breakfast, was to chase down the order for the sink washers that the Gorse Fox requested several weeks ago. Sure enough, they had arrived but nobody had thought to inform him. He drove in to Chichester (a very slow process today) and wandered in to the harwdware store.

"Excuse me, my good man, Oh, I mean woman; I have come to collect my washers".

"Are you sure they have arrived?" she countered.

"I called you this very morning and you assured me they had arrived".

"Name?"

"Gorse Fox"

"Ok I'll take a look". She said as she disappeared into a wormhole.

Several decades passed at this point and she finally returned claiming they weren't there. At this point, her clean shaven colleague intervened. 

"I remember placing the order" he confessed, "I'll go and take a look"

Another decade passed.

He returned, having grown a full beard by now, clutching a box large enough for the Gorse Fox to have parked his car and sheltered four or five homeless people within.

"Here they are" he said, as he passed the Gorse Fox three washers that would fit into his shirt pocket.

The Gorse Fox headed home and fixed the leaking plug, then filed the two spare washers somewhere he will never find them when he needs to repeat the process.

The rest of the day has been a bit tedious. Some new Scottish and Irish Catholic records have been released but despite every trick he could think of, the Gorse Fox failed to find any of his ancestors. In a fit of pique, he returned to the process of matching old addresses to locations, where they have been subsumed by more recent developments. 

Dazzled

 The Silver Vixen had a day out planned with a girlfriend. The Gorse Fox pottered off for the weekly top-up shop and, by the time he got home, they had disappeared off to Chichester. He suspects that it will be at least 6 p.m. before he sees them again - though it could be later!

The Gorse Fox was thinking about his NAS setup. The NAS itself has extra USB ports that will allow external drives to be connected and shared along with all of the rest of the storage. The Gorse Fox hadn't tried this, and as he had a spare 500GB SSD drive, he thought he's give it a whirl. it turned out to be fairly straightforward. He did have to download one bit of software and install it on the NAS, but that was quick. New drive was reformatted, and permissions were set. Voila - everything works.

The Gorse Fox has commented that he got some new football boots. They are somewhat bright. He is receiving a great deal of abuse from jealous teammates, and there are threats that we should wear protective sunglasses to prevent being dazzled.

In case you were in any doubt, the Gorse Fox decided he should include a photo.

The only dazzling will be the Gorse Fox's footwork.

Houdini

Another lovely day, though we did have a few tentative spots of rain just after lunch. They panicked, however, and decided to go elsewhere. This part of Sussex is not friendly to rain.

The Gorse Fox had football this morning, so pottered across to Worthing and met up with the lads. The teams were dreadfully unbalanced and the Gorse Fox found himself pinned back and defending for all he was worth. Things weren't helped by a couple injuries to a couple of our players. We did our best and played some decent football, but still lost 6-1.

The primary event this afternoon was Jasper's appointment at the vet. We had kept this very quiet, and only put it in the handwritten diary, in case he saw it in the Gorse Fox's Google Calendar. This worked well. He had no inkling.

At about 15:20, Jasper wandered into the kitchen. The door was closed behind him. He got a bit twitchy. Doors are never closed in the house. What was going on? The Silver Vixen snuck in. Jasper's senses were on high alert. He started to howl. Then, in an instant he charged into the Orangery. We chuckled. The doors were closed. Then there was a clunk. We looked at each other. "He hasn't? Has he?" Sure enough, Jasper had fled through the cat tunnel into the garden. This is the cat tunnel we have been trying to get him to use for six years, and he has steadfastly refused. Not today, there was no way he wanted to get into his carry-case and go to the vet. This was a case of flight. With a crash the flap was smashed open and then dropped closed. The Gorse Fox was after him in the blink of an eye (though didn't use the cat flap). Jasper was swept up into his arms and returned to the Orangery - and the catflap was blocked. So much for his days as an Houdini impersonator.

Eventually, we got to the vet for Jasper's annual checkup. He is, we are pleased to report, fit and healthy and is maintaining an ideal weight. 

Oven BBQ

What a glorious day. The Gorse Fox had to smear suncream on this morning, before going off to football. He would have burnt to a crisp, if he hadn't.

There was a good turnout at football, so we played 8-v-8 in a round robin. Our team was a little unbalanced with a surfeit of defenders, but few recognised strikers. Despite this, we managed to hold the first game to a 1-1 draw. The second game wasn't so even and with the help of three deflections, we lost 3-1. The final game was another disappointing 2-1 loss. It was hot out there, but we kept well-hydrated.

Traffic, on the way home was dreadful. The 35 minute run, took about an hour with all the grockles heading for the cost and blocking the roads (which were already suffering from an outbreak of roadworks).

This afternoon we went round for an oven BBQ with Urban-Cub, Ellie, Cousteau-Cub and the Coventry Hobbit. (An oven BBQ is basically a BBQ cooked in the oven, instead of over a grill). 

It was delicious and it was so nice to get together and have a chat. The Coventry Hobbit was trying to fit a filtration system to Ellie's paddling pool, but we concluded that there was a piece missing. He will return to the store in the morning and try to sort it out.