Fareham - Havant Symphony Orchestra

On Saturday I went Christmas shopping as Maria had a rehearsal for a concert. In the evening we went to "Ask" in Fareham for something to eat, accompanied by her fellow musician Jon the Tuba player. I then went to watch them in the concert given by the Havant Symphony Orchestra. (Grieg "Overture in Autumn", Svendsen "Norwegian Rhapsody No 1", Rachmaninov "Piano Concerto No 2 in C minor"and Glazunov "Symphony No 6 in C minor"). The soloist was Katya Apekisheva. We stayed for drinks afterwards too.

On Sunday we had a quiet day to ourselves, apart from food shopping at Tesco.

Man Flu

I've got a cold today...feel pretty lousy.
Maria got me some "Lemsip Max Strength" which help. Basically I've spent two hours doing the "christmas jigsaw" which will get me into trouble I know :-)
The new "10,000" hour light bulb that I fitted in the lamp outside last week has died, so I put in another one. Luckily we've received 2 free packs of long life, low energy bulbs, one from British Gas and one from EDF energy.

Family History

I went off to Aldershot Family History Centre today - its provided as a free service by the Church of the Later Day Saints (Mormons). I'd asked them to get a copy of the parish register from St John the Baptist, Hoxton for me.

I went through it and found what MAY be my Great, Great Grandfather's baptism record. However on the 1851 census his place of birth is given as Cumberland Market (which is near Regent's Park) London. In this entry his parents are living in East Road, Hoxton. In 1851 there is another Richard Hamer who is in Whitechapel. He gives his place of birth as Whitechapel too. Whitechapel is about 1.5 miles away. Cumberland Market is about 3.5 miles.

In both cases they are living with their mother Mary and their father is not there. Two James Hamers died in London between 1841 and 1851. I guess I'll have to track both families for now.

Croydon!

I went off to Croydon for an interview yesterday.

I got there nice and early so I was able to walk around and enjoy the sights. The picture is of the "famous" "threepenny bit" building near East Croydon station. I think threepenny bits were phased out in the 1960s so that dates it a bit. The guy in the hoody looks a bit surprised that I was taking a picture.

I used to work in East Croydon, the shop has been converted into a solicitor's office. The buildings opposite have been knocked down and are to be re-developed as Ruskin Square / "Croydon Gateway" This second picture is a view from the station of the development area. At least the Warehouse Theatre will get a make over as part of the works.

Anyway, I've been invited back for a second interview next week which is nice.

I went by train, using the vouchers sent to me by SW Trains after the farce a few weeks back.

The local police Sergeant called me today. They've leafleted the street asking if anyone is interested, but the PCSO who was due to accompany me on a walk about tonight is off sick so I guess we'll do it another day.

Digger

The local council have finally started doing something about the drainage (surface water run-off) in our street.

It floods every time it rains...see picture taken from upstairs at our house :)

This morning a big yellow jcb digger (Nizlopi reference anyone?) turns up and started digging a hole. Good job the neigbours have taken down their trampoline!

I had a word with the driver. I offered to take out the end fence panel to make it easier for him, but he said it wouldn't help as there is a concrete weather board under it.

They are putting in a new pipe under the fence to link our drain to the one 50 yards away in the next street. Then they are putting in a new over-flow to take the extra into the culvert down by the play park (about 200 yards further down). He said they were going to put in a new soak away, but after under 2 metres they hit sand so they gave up on that idea.

I was a bit worried about damage to the fence - loosening the posts, and to the tree - as they have taken out half the roots but we'll have to wait and see what its like afterwards.

I've been painting the cloakroom today as well - I took out the cover for the pipes under the sink, so I've got some more "making good" to do as well now.

I've got a meeting later with the Police about Neighbourhood Watch, down at the police station.

Neighbourhood Watch

I've been emailing the police for the past couple of weeks about the neighbourhood watch. The Inspector called me this morning so I told him that I'd offered to help and to speak with the police sergeant and had no reply yet. So I assume he'll chase it up. I spoke to Mark, Graham and Mary (up the hill) yesterday. They seem interested too. It appears that not only did someone drive into Mark's van and drive off without leaving their details but also someone tried to break into it. Mary said yesterday that someone tried to steal the alloy wheels off someones car the other day.
Maria was wondering if she'd heard the thieves the other night when she woke up at 4 am.
The owners of the car whose wheels nearly got nicked have installed CCTV monitoring.

Blackmoor walk

We went to church this morning (15th Oct 08) - Maria sang solo in the penultimate hymn which went down very well I thought. I went to the DIY shop and picked up the paint for the toilet. On the way home there was a huge queue of cars waiting to use the recycling centre in Station Road, so I rand the "101" service when we got in. They said they'd send the police round if they were free. Later on we went for a walk and I took these pictures of the autumn leaves, St Matthew's church and one of a local dog wearing a florescent jacket. I emailed the picture of the dog (Jack) to Beth. She loves florescent jackets.

On the way back we met Mary. Turns out she had been hassled by an inconsiderate driver while out walking. I told her to report it to the police/council using the "101" service.

Petersfield

Maria went to get her hair done today. I went looking for the paint to "do" the walls in the cloakroom/toilet. We'd chosen the Dulux "Lught and Space" reflective paint called "morning light". None of the DIY shops in Petersfield stock it. I did the big Tesco shop as well.

Car

We picked up the repaired car today. Looks very nice indeed. Smells funny though: they'd valeted it as well inside using some sort of honey-smelling cleaner.

Outpatient appointment

I got the bus to Alton today as I was due to see the Doctor. That went well, however on the way back I couldn't find a bus stop that claimed to serve the bus I was going to get back (the 272). So, stupidly, I thought I'd walk back. I did a mile or so before I found that the pavement disappeared, so I had to walk in the road and jump onto the kerb when a car came by. Then it got dark too. I walked on to East Worldham (and 2 1/2 miles in all) then called a taxi to go the rest of the way. I should have given up on the 272 and got the no 13 and walked from Whitehill centre. Got home about 6 pm.

Half eaten

I was woken up last night by one of the cats meowing...usually a sign that she has caught something. No sign of anything when I came down stairs in the morning, but then I found half a mouse on the back step when I went out. She must have dropped it as she came through the cat flap...eugh! Apologies if anyone finds this disgusting.

Remembrance Sunday

Maria was playing trumpet (Last Post, etc) at a Remembrance Day service at a care home run by her Dad in Aldershot. We had lunch beforehand at The Princess Royal in Runfold. Lunch was okay...a bit dull I suppose, but the service was okay. Not as busy as last time we went there, possibly as the lunches were more boring. Most of the deserts had chocolate in them too.
The service went well...the old folks liked it

Refund

I got a letter from SouthWest Trains today (7th Nov).
They apologised for the problems I'd had last month (see post for 23rd October) and sent me rail vouchers for £10.
No explanation for what went wrong with the "live departure boards" though.

Neighbourhood Watch

Yesterday (3rd Nov) I went to a Neighbourhood Watch meeting at the Forest Community Centre. I'd registed with the Hampshire volunteer service and opted to help with the Neighbourhood Watch. I was called by the Inspector who passed my deatils to the Policeman who deals with the watch. In turn he suggested I could come along and maybe volunteer as local co-ordinator.
There was no obvious way to volunteer at the meeting, so I've emailed them today.

Halloween, Car, etc

On the 27th October we sent off for Maria's new driving licence - to get it updated with her new nam and add a new photo.

We picked up the wedding photo album from Coole Media on 29th October. It looks great. Nigel has done a great job on it.

After getting the album we went down to Lyme to stay with mum, unfortunately we had a small car accident shortly after Ringwood. The car in front of us (a BMW) was "tail-gating" the van in front if it. In short, the van stopped abruptly, the BMW in front of us stopped, released his brakes and then stopped again. Our car went into the back of the BMW. The BMW driver apologised, he said that his brakes "locked" but despite that it was "our fault" as we went into the back of his car. Not much damage to his car though. We were able to keep going to visit Mum, but called the insurers from the McDonalds at Dorchester. We then arranged to swap over the courtesy car on Saturday morning between 10 and 12.

After visiting Mum for a couple of days we went to Wells for Halloween.

We had fun going out with Rosie, Henry and Mary. We walked around Wells in the afternoon, then made "scary" biscuits with Rosie and Henry.

The kids dressed up (as a ghost, a skeleton and a little witch) and we went trick or treating. Rosie made Maria dress up as a witch too!

We left early the next morning to get home to swap the car. We got home at 9:45. The driver arived at 10:00. He'd arrived early but had gone off for a cup of tea while waiting for us. The loan car is a Mitsubishi Colt. Slight panic as Maria's driving licence hadn't come back from the DVLA yet, but they accepted the driver number only. Luckily the DVLA's form told us to keep a record of it.