I Am Only Making One Post Today,

and as soon as I post it I will be out to visit Duncan, 

back to Tuesday, it was a bright sunny day, as I made my way out of the park,

at the entrance as we found early this morning when I dropped Diana off at work, 

most of the work was finished on the mini roundabout, 

and there it was, the culmination of 11 weeks work, the job is scheduled to be totally finished 1 week from now, 

the Zebra crossings all painted, all that has to happen now is the Belisha Beacons to be plugged in, 

I made my way across the tracks, 

to the ticket office to buy next months tickets, only one of the roller shutters was down, which means the other window although closed will be manned, the assistant taking a break or out shopping, a 30 minute wait and the station was open for business, tickets to visit Duncan for next month purchased and I was on my way, I had to drop of the pieces of kit that was replaced into the post office to have them returned to BT

past the green, 

and church, 

and then a bit of fun, I have seen many post boxes decorated with a 'cap' but this has to be the best so far, 

a knitted cat atop the box!

who ever knitted this must have taken so much time and trouble, but I have to admit it did look really cute, and from a distance quite realistic, 

into the post office, parcel dropped off and receipt given,

back into the park,

and home for a afternoon of catching the rays, after Diana arrived home I popped upstairs for our evening meal, after a that and a BattleBots, and a Antiques Road Trip it was time for a recommendation from John and Alley, 

Wycliffe, they had watched it and knowing our liking for murder mysteries thought we might like this as well, and we did! from IMDB 'Supt. Wycliffe keeps the Cornish coastline crime free as he tackles arsonists, kidnappers and the odd psycho', as it happens the area looked just like the windswept and stormy coast that we visited back in February 2022, it was so stormy our aircraft from the mainland to the Scilly Isles was cancelled! back to the programme, it was nice to see a young Bill Nighy who we both enjoy watching as a actor, particularly in spy based films and series, after which Diana was off to bed, for myself one from Have I Got A Bit More News For You, before I too was off to bed.

First Thing On The Way To Diana's Work,

it is all go as far as the workmen are concerned, 

at the new mini roundabout, now painted,

as well as the Zebra crossings, takes shape, 

at this time of the morning, 

there is not much traffic, after a few ZZZs the BT technician arrived, so out with the 4 boxes that arrived from BT whilst the BT Hub and BT box were both a easy swap over, the telephone switch was a tad more problematic, but soon all was working, and as a bonus the new BT box switches on instantly, the old box took a couple of minuets to gather its thoughts, after thanking the technician he left, I package all of the kit that was to be returned to BT, they had thoughtfully provide a couple of plastic bags and a pre paid adhesive label, job done I will drop that off at the post office tomorrow,

for myself set up the sprinkler on a patch of grass that was going brown,

and relax, 

as the sprinkler did its job, it was so sunny,

 I listened to more of Round the Horne in the afternoon, dated but oh so funny, moving the sprinkler every hour or so, back upstairs Diana was home so time for our evening meal, after which a BattleBots and a Antiques Road Trip, 

before a Poirot: The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb, sleuthing at its best, 

we followed that with Night of the Demon, as it is known in the UK or Curse of the Demon in America, we have watched the film so many times and still thoroughly enjoy it, black and white of course, which almost makes it all the more frightening, after which Diana was off to bed, for myself one from Have I Got More News For You, before I too was of to bed.

You May Remember Our Trip,

to The Galeon Andalucia,

that is Diana with her backpack walking towards the ship, 

and onboard, we posted our day out and trip to the vessel here, 

and this is a photograph I played with of Diana and The Galeon Andalucia, it was a grey day, well the sad news is that she has now departed Ramsgate,

photograph by David Stearne of The Galeon Andalucia leaving harbour, He said of his photos: “Dawn, and the sunrise over Ramsgate Royal Harbour picks out the Galeon Andalucia up and ready for an early morning departure for Poole, “She makes her way out under her own power, past the harbour arm light and out into open sea. Worth getting up so early to capture this view!” so if you missed a visit in Ramsgate head on down to Poole she will be there from 31 July 2024 to the 4 August 2024, for more details have a look here.

How Times Have Changed,

back in the day from the Thirties through to at least the Fifties, 

studios would line up a film’s cast and have them walk in costume sometimes between takes, sometimes on the set, but often in local streets around the studio lot, with everyone looking so happy, imagine that happening today! So here is a bit of a quiz, try to name the stars in each photograph, and here is a clue, one is a ex US president! I have left a small space between each photograph and who they are,

above George Raft, Ida Lupino, Ann Sheridan, Humphrey Bogart 

 Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire with composer Irving Berlin

Sidney Greenstreet, Deborah Kerr, Clark Gable, Ava Gardner, Adolphe Menjou

David Bruce, Deanna Durbin, Dan Duryea

Barbara Stanwyck, Fred MacMurray, Joan Bennett

Lilian Bond, Clark Gable, Rosalind Russell

Ronald Reagan, Ginger Rogers, Doris Day, Steve Cochran

Cary Grant, Katherine Hepburn, for these and many more, have a look here.

Sunday Was A Bit Of A Celebration,

it was the first day off that we could have a celebration, 

of Diana being a UK citizen and passport holder, so glad rags on, 

and we were out to the Elm Tree, at Elmers End, one bus and we were here, 

the front of the pub was covered in flowers,

on the window sills and in hanging baskets,

as we were a tad early the pub was not yet open, 

so we needed no excuses for a few poses!

I have to say it was a glorious day, 

a couple under the sunshade, 

Diana does not want to get brown,

and a few more,

at the front of the pub, then it opened,

so a spritzer cocktail for Diana,

with pomegranate in it, 

for myself a bottle of bubbly, 

all set, 

'Cheers!',

our starters arrived, lamb kebabs for Diana,

squid and prawns for myself, as it happens I do not eat squid, but Diana informed me they were very nice, as were the prawns,

'Cheers!',

on to our main courses, roast beef for Diana,

pork belly with crackling for myself, sans gravy and cauliflower cheese,

on to our desserts, a homemade Banoffee pie with cream for Diana,

with a coffee, 

a 'Cheers!' with a latté coffee from Diana,

for myself a ice cream, I was so full, the meal came to £107.40, service charge not included, outside onto a number 54 bus, and home, where it was feet up for a port as we watched Columbo, but the television was a bit of a disaster, whilst the programs had been fine over the past few days, today the signal was yet again terrible, the program on the Columbo channel was just about watchable, but when there was a commercial break all of the advertisements were unwatchable, still the good news is that on Monday morning a technician will be calling round to fit the new BT box and hub, in the evening we decided to give up on normal programs and watch a couple,

 from Frontier, the story growing ever more interesting and involved, before Diana was off to bed, as she is on a early start tomorrow, for myself a film on Netflix,

The Rundown, 

AKA Welcome to the Jungle, which was good fun after which I too was off to bed, but before I close this post I have to say this will be the only post today, as I was typing this I had a telephone call from the BT engineer to say he was near, so with that I will sign off for today.