Twilight Zone

Aah the joys of mist; I woke up this morning to a misty outlook and for a moment I could imagine that I was in the mountains. Alas this isn't the case (live in the Fens which are FLAT!) but at least I had a moment to dream! The mist did give the drive into work a "Twilight Zone" feel though, especially since there were very few cars around. This led me to start questioning myself as to what day it really is, "it is Friday, isn't it?" Granted it is the holiday season for the school kids, but this whole week has been the holiday season, so why so few cars today compared to say yesterday when I got slowed drastically after about 2 minutes of driving (today it took me 10 minutes of driving before encountering the morning queues)? Oh well, this will add to my ODD week anyway and hopefully the journey home will be as pleasant and quiet as it was this morning.

So, on to my odd week. Monday and Tuesday are blurry days - didn't really enjoy either of these days as I was frustrated with life in general. Thankfully my good friend and work colleague was there to keep me sane (and prevent me from throttling anyone!). Monday evening was fun though as I went to tennis (now joined) and managed to keep most of the balls in the court area, although I am still struggling to keep the balls in the limits of the various white lines on the court. Two balls did escape me and the court though, much to the amusement of the coach and other tennis players.

Wednesday started off as a normal day - get to work, start working... the usual. At morning tea though things became a little more interesting: the building fire-alarm started to wail and continued to wail. After a little confusion the building was evacutated and the wait for the fire department to arrive started. This took half an hour (alarm constantly wailing) as the Cambridge fire department were busy with other emergencies, so the fire truck had to come from someplace east of Cambridge, a long drive away. Thankfully the building wasn't on fire or it would have burnt down by the time the truck got there. The problem was that a little bug had managed to get into the sensory system and set the alarm off. Wednesday evening I planned to go watch some Shakespeare (no I haven't cracked) with some friends. This plan was altered when the heavens opened and the rain came accompanied with lightening flashes and rumbles of thunder (oh man I miss those thunder storms!). This change in plan wasn't too bad though as I was happy just to have the rain, so the evening was spent in a cosy lounge chatting with my friends and annoying their cat. A wonderful evening! On returning home (driving through heavy rain), I discovered that my day of alarms going off hadn't ended as a neighbour's house alarm was blaring for 15 minutes before it was silenced.

Yesterday was an alright day: work went okay, went to the pub for lunch which was pleasant and we had storms again which was great. I was unhappy to have not had my camera with me on my drive home as the lightening was spectacular. Although even if I had had my camera with me I doubt I would have caught the flashes of light since I was having to drive and avoid puddles of water on the road. It was a pretty amazing sight though. And all that rain led to the misty morning to which I awoke!

And now it is Friday. Work colleagues are entering the building so I know that I haven't overslept by a day and the sun is shining! So best I get on with work now...

Those Kodak moments...

So I have taken the great leap and have joined the digital camera world and so far I am enjoying being on board! Yip, I have bought myself a new camera, since my old one decided to bite the bullet after over 14 years of service. I may still attempt to get the normal camera fixed in the future, but at present the buying of a new camera seemed the more sensible thing to do. I would show you what the new camera looks like but unfortunately I can't take a picture of it! Anyway, it is a Kodak model and I am really happy with it. And to show off how happy I am with it, here are some pictures I have taken with it... I take this opportunity to show you stuff growing in my garden...


Left: my first tomato - it is about the size of a marble but I am oh so proud of it... I grew this from seed.




Right: my first chilli - also about the size of a funny shaped marble. There are plenty more appearing on the plants but this is the largest one for now.




Left: a flower in my garden.





Right: a Viola in my garden.

And now I think I will quit as the computer is really slow in loading these pictures up and doesn't seem to want to load the ones that I really want to show you... will try one last time and then will quit....


Oh miracles never cease... the computer decided at long last to load this picture (poppy below). I was about to take it and the hover-fly just landed. I like really like this picture. Anyway, I think that is enough from me at present. CJ

Cambridge

So here are some photos from Cambridge. The first lot are taken along the "Backs" while we were being punted along.


This is the "Bridge of sighs"... the bridge that students go across before (or after) their exams and sigh because they are worried or think they did badly in the exams. I think it is a nice looking bridge!


Right: this is the "Mathematical bridge"





Left: This is my bridge, or better known as "Clare Bridge".





Right: The back of Kings College Chapel







Left: This is the back of the marvelous, wonderful Darwin College which is full of wonderful people (well the ones I have met! - is that better Ray? Sorry about my earlier entry :) ).



The next set of photos are taken from the Cambridgeshire County Fair from 2005... the huskies are the ones I have been wanting to see perform twice but alas have missed them due to different circumstances (we were late the one year and they didn't come the next!).





Right: these are Alpacas, aren't their faces just so cute? Although I felt sorry for them on this day as it was hot and look at all the wool they have!



Left and below: these chaps are Morris Dancers, they dance around to music and tap sticks together or wave hankies around. Odd but hey! After the Crow Festival, this tradition doesn't seem too weird.


And now I have to finish up again as I need to drive back to Cambridge. Will hopefully add more photos soon. CJ

My UK life so far...

While I am able to use my Dad's computer and since I have found a number of photos on it showing various aspects of my life in the UK so far I thought I would take the opportunity to share these moments with my friends. The photos will include places where I applied for jobs and got interviews but in the end either didn't get the job or declined to take it, where I have lived (Cottenham) and where I live now (although things have changed a bit) and various sites around Cambridge. So here goes...

Let me first look at the Rainforest centre where I had my first interview, these are just pics from around the forest centre.

Pretty flowers all around....


... and animals too.






Next are photos from the Cumbria zoo at which I was offered a job (although not the one I applied for originally). It was an amazing place but the salary (as is usual with anything to do with zoos or animal work) was a bit on the low side. There were very few bars around and the animals were kept in their enclosures by electric fencing. It was much more open and free.


The Caoti enclosure (left) was one such enclosure that if the caoti climbed to the end of the branches of the trees and dropped down they would land outside the enclosure. Not sure if they ever tried but they seemed pretty happy where they were.



The Lemars (right) were all zenned out! And they had free reign over the park, except at night they were put back into their cages. Oh and they weren't allowed into the Australian section.

The Australian section had various animals from, um, Australia. This was a great area as the public could walk around amongst the animals, just had to be wary around the emus and the back legs of the kangaroos.













It was during this interview that I came face to face with a giraffe (at the giraffe's head level) and it licked me... how amazing is that!!! A memory that will stay with me forever, along with touching a rhino and stroking a cheetah.

The next photos are taken from around Cottenham - some of the inside of my flat and the outside (not really that exciting) and then also the village itself.


Left: The lounge (before I added all my stuff).







The outside of the flat block (right)





And the village green (left).







This is Madingley Hall, close to where I work. We sometimes come walking here at lunch time to visit the geese and feed the fish and ducks (if they are around).



I think I will publish this post now and at a later stage I will show pics from Cambridge itself and of my new home. I have a dental appointment to get to and it has taken me longer than anticipated to get all these photos up. Hopefully the wait for the next load of pics won't be too long. CJ

The end is near...

Our second last day in Gran Canaria saw us heading west again but this time in a bus. I think I would have preferred to have done the bus trip before we drove places, but I managed to keep my eyes off the road and pretended that the bus-driver was quite capable of keeping the bus on the road. We jumped off the bus at Arguineguin and decided to walk for a bit (not out of fear mind you, just because that was where we were heading). On our little walk we managed to accidentally head out of Arguineguin (tiny place really) and landed up in an area called Anfi Del Mar (photo to left), which was even smaller than Arguineguin. It was a pleasant little place and we spent a fair amount of time around here looking at the shops, sitting on the beach, watching fish (right) in the little river going under a bridge and walking around some little gardens.

In the afternoon we left Anfi and headed to Peurto Rico via boat. This was a fun trip and gave us an opportunity to see the coastline from the sea.


Left: Peurto Rico from a distance




Right: The harbour of Peurto Rico



After walking around PR for a while, we caught the bus again and headed back to our "home". After dinner we decided to end our last evening in Gran Canaria with a walk on the Maspalomas dunes. Despite my being an idiot and injuring my toe on a stick while walking to the dunes (oh the pain and the blood!) the walk and view were a good ending to the holiday.












Our last day in GC doesn't warrant a new entry... we didn't do much except relax around the pool and go to the beach for a while until it was time for us to catch our cab to the airport. During this last car trip in GC I decided that taxi-drivers in GC should all be shot! The first taxi-driver we had (Day 1) was a maniac and insisted on driving top speed (through roadworks) while chatting on his mobile phone. The guy we had on the last day was more sedate but I soon realised that this was due to his being sleepy and practically falling asleep at the wheel while doing about 120km/h. I was not amused and despite thinking my two days in the hired car were low days for car travel, this last car trip proved that the hired car trip was a day in heaven in comparison. Man oh man was I glad to get out of that death-trap and get onto a plane. Not a good end to a pretty good holiday. I would recommend the visit to Gran Canaria, but seriously, pick your taxi-drivers with care and don't look at the roads when driving around (unless of course you are the driver!).

And that endith my Gran Canaria holiday.

Return to Gran Canaria

Okay, I must admit that the Interlude from the holiday went on a lot longer than anticipated. So for those of you who have been holding your breath for all this time... please breathe now! Hopefully I will now be able to get a bit closer to finishing chatting about my holiday in Gran Canaria.

So a brief recap - My folks and I went on holiday to Gran Canaria in March. After 7 days of walking around checking out the various places on the island, my Dad hired a car and we braved the roads. My last entry on this subject, entitled "Kerb", saw us on day one of the car hire where we ventured into the interior regions of the island. This entry is now day two of the car hire where we decided that the coastal route to the west of the island was a good idea...

Again I was placed in the front passenger seat with the map in one hand and the eyes on the roadside, yelling "KERB" on the odd occasion (or more likely all the time due to my panicked state not really due to my Dads driving!). The coastal roads were in fact more windy and busy than the interior roads and I was in a state most of the way. Our aim was to get to the look out point at Anden Verde, going through Puerto Rico, Mogan and San Nicolas De Tolentino. We initially stopped at a look out area called Mirador de Balcon to take pictures...


This (left) is looking to the south of the lookout point.


And to the right is the view looking north.



After this stop, we continued north to the Anden Verde lookout and stopped again to take a couple more photos. The one shown on the left is of the view looking north. If you have good eyes and you look carefully at the photo, you can see Tenerife in the distance with its snow capped mountain.

At each of these stops I took the opportunity to take a breather and try reduce my adrenalin levels (didn't quite work but hey!). I was fascinated at these points (and this goes for the first day of the car hire) to find that at the tops of these mountains there was always a cyclist or two having a little rest before continuing on their way... and they never seemed to be going downhill! Crazy cyclists!


On the way back towards Maspalomas, we stopped off at various spots to take in the view or to just have a break. The first of these stops was to look at a geological wonder - we didn't know what it was, hence the "wonder". We reckoned that this (pic) formation was due to an old lava flow and that the various minerals in the flow were making their presence known. The photo doesn't quite give the formation justice - the green was a lot more spectacular! You have to see it in real life to appreciate it fully.

The main stop we made was at Puerto de Morgan where we decided to relax on the beach and people watch. Some of the sights were pretty scary - thongs and g-string swimming costumes were a bit off-putting, especially on people who shouldn't be wearing them! While sitting on the beach and relaxing, the peace was often disturbed by hooting horns in the distance (oh and the occasional angle-grinder at the building site not far off). On listening to the horns, the observant type would realize that it was only horns that belonged to big vehicles that were sounding - buses, trucks and any other HGV. Looking up at the side of the mountain (which was a backdrop to the bay/beach where we were sitting), one could see the reason for this honking of horns. About a quarter of the way down from the top of the mountain (pic) was a road and at the one point the road did a major turn. The honking of horns was to warn people on one side of the mountain that something big was about to come around the corner and needed to use both lanes of the road to do so. So basically the big vehicles were saying "yahoo, I am coming ready or not! Get out of the way!!!". Amazingly no two large vehicles traveling in opposite directions ever seemed to want to come around the corner at the same time. I presume "first to hoot" gets right of way. Scary.

After this revelation, it was time for us to face that same road. I was not amused but we made it safely back to our accommodation and I was happy to see the back of that hire car.

Old MacDonald had a Farm!

Sunday afternoon saw us (me and my folks) at the Tatton Park (Cheshire) farm yard looking at all the rare breeds of farm animals they had there. It was a lovely visit and I got my full of stroking animals and chatting to them, I even tickled some pigs noses (varsity friends will know what I am talking about). So, here are some photos to show you what we saw...

(Left) This is "Blue" the male Clydesdale horse. Nice and friendly and got a good scratch and pat from all visitors!




(Right) This is a Clydesdale foal and it is seven weeks old... it is not a little foal! It was already reaching shoulder height of adult humans!



(Left) And this is Mom... very relaxed lady considering her foal had been taken "away" from her for the first time and was surrounded by people - she was watching very carefully though to make sure no harm came to her youngster (it was off to the right of the picture).



(Right) This is a Red Poll. Didn't stroke these as they were not that friendly (or just fed up with people) so weren't standing by the fences...


(Left) Some piglets. There were a number of different pig breeds in the pens but we only managed to get photos of these pink ones, can't recall their names as I was too busy stroking them and tickling their noses. There was a really friendly black pig that came over to the fence rather rapidly and lifted its nose up to me to get a scratch. Aaah cute!


(Right) A sheep - these guys were confused and couldn't decide if they wanted to be friendly or not. Approached us for a sniff and stuck their heads through the fence to get a tickle but then retracted as soon as the hand came near... typical sheep really!

And finally the donkeys (Left). Donkeys always look so sad! But these ones were pretty friendly and I manage to give one a good stroke and tickly behind the ear.

Then it was off to wash the hands as they were pretty mucky by now. Oh but the fun of the visit was worth dirty hands. After a last wander around the farm yard, we headed off to the gardens to have a look at the flowers and then it was time for heading home. A good day in all, so thanks Mum and Dad for the treat.

Moulton Crow Festival!

Right, so I am on holiday and have been for a week. I haven't really done anything too exciting but have enjoyed my time just being at home and doing whatever. The whatever included painting my staircase walls and ceiling and the upper landing walls and ceiling. The ceiling painting started on Tuesday and thanks to Ray popping around to help (thanks Ray, although I may still not forgive you for taking photos :), ps would you please send them to me, ta!) the day turned into a fantastic one! I (sorry, we) finished the ceilings by lunchtime, only to discover I had no edible food (mostly frozen at this point) in the house, so off to the pub we went. Getting to the pub (Ray's choice) was an adventure in itself and despite not knowing where the closest pubs are to Cambourne (where I live) I now have a list of about 10 pubs that could be potential stops in the future! The pub lunch was really good, so if you are ever in Fenstaton (Cambridge) go to the pub at the bottom of the hill (Ray - what is the name of the pub?). Good food for a good price. After the pub the rest of the day was spent relaxing - no more painting was done!

Wednesday and Thursday was spent painting and painting and, oh, painting. This time I focussed on the walls and managed to do a pretty good job (or so I thought!), despite not having the proper tools (a really high ladder for one!). Friday I touched up the wall painting (when I discovered that I had missed painting part of the wall - how I missed that area I am still not 100% sure) and then proceeded with cleaning the house. Busy busy day, but felt really good and tired at the end of the day knowing my house was clean and there wasn't much else that needed to be done. Wow.

Saturday morning saw me heading up to Cheshire (folks) for the weekend. The roads were busy but okay. Must be school holidays or something...

Saturday afternoon my folks were kind enough to take me to the local Moulton Crow Festival. It was being held on the local football/playing field and man the place was HAPPENIN'!!! There was a little tent with a brass band in it (photo)... and if you look carefully in the photo, you can see the DJ's tent in the background. Not sure who was competing with whom, the but DJ was winning big time!

There were a number of tents containing stalls that were selling sweets, books, toys etc (all kiddies things really). And there were two activity tents/areas - a coconut shy (although I was too shy to try it... ha ha ha!) and a race for kids where the kid had to dress in varioud clothes and then hoola hoop for a while before running back to a table to finish some other little activity. This was all timed and the fastest child got a prize. Whee, what fun!

At about 3pm the BIG event occurred... the Crows came out. Now I cannot explain what this festival is all about and my folks couldn't help with that either. My mom has asked locals about it but all she gets in response is a gleeful giggle - a lot of help that!!! So, I will just explain what happens at the festival and maybe one day I will find out the traditional meaning...

All starts off with a scarecrow being wheeled into the central areana and being left there! Next a flock of crows (grown men dressed up as crows) enters the areana while dancing various steps. The crows then proceed to dance around the areana and "flock" towards the scarecrow and then run away....

Meanwhile, Mr Farmer walks around with his shotgun and occasionally pretends to shoot the crows (killing one which then gets dragged out of the areana!)

Then the crows and farmer leave the areana and after a long time the scarecrow comes to life, wanders around the areana (looking for the exit as he can't see much at all) and eventually leaves the areana (when a helpful soul or two goes out and assists him to the exit point). Then the crows, farmer and scarecrow all gather and have their photos taken.

And that was the end of the "show". These British traditions are weird!!!

Today we are going to a show of Rare Farm Breeds. I am presuming it will be more exciting and understandable than the Crow Festival. I had fun though but doubt I will get all excited about it next year, despite it being absolutely hilarious!