Location Relocation

Yesterday was the final, final end to our Christmas and New Year celebrations and this is the last blog from 'At the Oaks' for some time. But, do not despair dear reader, your next item of literary merit will be available on http://wearekiwisnow.blogspot.com/


Firstly, comments on the dance. It was well attended and very enjoyable. We do need to congratulate Alan and Irene Bexton for all their efforts in this, and on the state of the dance floor, which was like a mirror.

Alan on the right running the raffle

 The only hiccup was the fact that David wore the same bow tie as me.

Identical Bow Ties

I don't think Irene and I have ever celebrated New Years Eve like this other than in 2000 when we saw the millennium in from a hill overlooking Nottingham. Back then the mobile phone network could not handle the traffic. I think it did this year. (There was a missed text from Joni when I found my phone.)


On my 'skip run' I came across the following headline 'DRUNKEN DOG OWNER BANNED'. Please let me know where the pause should be. It could be after 'dog' or 'owner'.

Julia and Joe

For the past few days we have enjoyed having Joe and Julia with us. They arrived late on Thursday. Joni and Fiona joined us and after our evening meal we all played the fantastic 'Small World' game. After our introduction to what seemed to be a complicated game, it turned out to be good fun for us all. On the following day Joe's friend Alex called over and the three of them went off to Dale Abbey.


I am glad that it was one of the better days. I had the task of taking the car for its service and MOT which meant walking into town and back. I carefully planned that I would call into the post office at the right time to pick up our dollars, having ordered them two days earlier. Bad idea. After waiting outside for 8 minutes the door opened, but not to me. 'Five minutes more' I was told. Just before 5 past came the 'f' word behind me. I gave in and entered. Now came another 5 minute wait, then off to the 'Bureau de Change' I did go. The debit card did not work, the credit card did not work, and getting cash from their cash point did not work. So back towards the bank and a measure of success. Now with sufficient funds I purchased my Singapore and New Zealand dollars. A fat wad of notes was  instantly transformed to a few bits of paper.


On Friday evening, after another lovely meal, out came 'Chart Busters'. My sister bought us this game in 1970. It has been used since then by successive groups of children and young people. It now consists of a battered board, the box lid (kept because it has the instructions) and a Tupper ware box containing some more battered cards, one of which is actually now in two pieces, and some playing pieces, some of which are the original ones. (This game can now fetch as much as £80 on e-bay.) We actually managed to complete the game by ten o'clock and I have vowed to rebuild the game later in the year.


Joe and Julia returned to Brighton on Saturday afternoon. We hope the bridge removal on the M1 did not delay them too much.

Fiona and Joni left at about the same time. This left Irene and me with the task of moving excess stuff from our bedroom back to Joe's bedroom, have tea, play 'Upwords', watch some TV and then to bed.

ASIDE
During Saturday afternoon I completed the task of digitizing about 850 negatives from 1967. A few were colour ones. I was very surprised and well pleased by the way that the scanner handled the task. With a little tweaking in 'Photoshop' the image quality is almost as good as some digital photographs taken today. This is the first time the negatives have seen the light of day in over 40 years. Not only are they a good record of aspects of the 60's including London, hovercraft experiments, college and family life, but I can see in them the kind of eye that I have for photographic composition.

Christmas in London

The author enjoying college life. Eat your heart out Sir Cliff.

Hovercraft Rally at Sutton-in-Ashfield

My Dad, my Sister Anne and my Mum

After writing the above aside it dawned on me that the negatives were a very significant aside. There is a good chance that more pre 1967 negatives will turn up, but it is less likely that many post 1967 ones do.


The negatives of 1967 chart my last full year of bachelorhood. At the very end of the year, in my effort to find a partner for the college Christmas dance, (my usual partner having failed to comply with my invitation) I entered the room of a friend and standing quietly in the darker part of the room was this drop-dead gorgeous young lady. For some reason she had never appeared on any college social scene. She accepted my invitation. And, as they say, the rest is history. By August 1968 we were married, and this history continues joyfully into today.


As for the photography; it took a back seat and re-emerged as colour slides from August 1968 and through the 70s when I turned to prints until the noughties.


RETURN TO MAIN BLOG
This afternoon we made our last visit to the allotment and now comes the task of getting ready to travel. 

See you from the other side of the world.

Blogging in 2011

Facebook has taken over blogging. But there is something about blogging which I have been missing, so I am going to restart and try to keep it up through this year.

My blog is generally intended to be pictorial and provides an excuse to pick up the camera.

January 1st 2011

Strangely this first day of the new year was a photo day. It was the first Saturday of the year and our regular trip to visit Nan Pickard. During our visit Tim and the girls turned up to visit Nan as well. It was a time for Nan to give the girls the hats that she had made them as Christmas presents.

Iona is able to blink in sync with the camera

After a number of attempts eyes are open

January 4th

Joni returns to Scotland to face the hole in his kitchen ceiling. At the time of writing we still wonder if they will be able to stay in the flat while the repairs take place.

January 9th

Jenny and Francis come to tea. They are keen to see a TV programme about clog dancing. We are able to find it on catch-up. The programme ends with an unannounced dance display in the centre of Newcastle. The dancers gradually gather. There is loud dancing followed by sudden silence and the dancers simply slip away. It was very moving for the Luckcocks because it showed a village where they used to live.

January 12th

I go to hospital for endoscopy. This is unpleasant, but bearable. At the time of writing I am hoping for results on Friday.

January 13th

Jenny and Francis take us to see 'The King's Speech'. We see the morning 'Silver Screening' at the Broadway Cinema. It is a very moving film with much historical detail and a deal of humour.

23rd January

Tim is licensed as Area Dean of Milton Keynes. Mum and I travel to Milton Keynes on Sunday afternoon. We spend an hour with Nan and then go to Christ the Cornerstone Church in the city centre. It was a good occasion and we were pleased to be able to witness another step in Tim's career and spend some time with the girls. We met some interesting people which include the Bishop of Buckingham.

The girls and Isla did readings.

The Church of Christ the Cornerstone

The altar and the lectern are solid granite but they can be moved around easily on a cushion of air.

The bag contains candles for the service.

Iona practising her reading.

Izzy practising her reading.

Irene and I were kindly invited to stay overnight. This gave us some time with the girls. In the morning we heard the girls practicing. Iona on the violin and Izzy on the cello and the double base.

24th January

Having walked to school with Tim and Izzy we left just after 9.00. Leaving MK much earlier is difficult. The traffic is much heavier than it was when we lived there.

In the afternoon we had the sad time of joining Jan at her father's funeral. It was held in the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour, followed by a burial in a very extensive cemetery to the north of Bullwell. The wake was held in the bar area of a snooker club. The sun shone and the occasion went well.

25th January

I took the car for its service and MOT. I paid my tax bill.

I pressure washed the drive and house front. Irene cleaned and swept. As soon as this was finished the roofers phoned to say that they would be starting work on Wednesday.

On Tuesday evening we heard rat scratchings underneath the floor boards. A call to action.

26th January

As arranged the roofers arrived. The garden became a workshop. They covered the drive but it was a dirty process. Having got the old roofing off it began to rain. Hurriedly they put covering over. When got back from shopping the roof was covered, but a lot of finishing off had to be done. At the very moment of clearing up it rained again. No leaks. We now await the bill.

In the afternoon we tackled the garage. There is large pit in the back corner of the garage where the old warm air system sat. This was ducted under the floor. Earlier we had placed rat poison. It was now gone and dirt showed where a rat had entered the pit. Hopefully I have sealed all access to the pit and put a sealed cover over it. We might beat the rats.