September Phil

It looks like we have seen the end of our late summer.  It took a while to get started but it still lasted very well for a British one.  Claire and I have still been sharing our trips to Melton to see Mum so we can go twice as often.  Claire goes once a week and so do I but not together.  Unusually, twice this month I have taken Georgina with me as she has been back for a short time but I always forget to get photo’s of her.  The first time we went over Mum had cooked Rouladen, a German dish made from thinly sliced steak stuffed with goodies inside.  I haven't had this for years and asked Mum for a recipe on my previous visit.  This must have been enough for her to make it the first time Georgina came with me.  I really must have a go at making this for myself.  Anyway, after lunch Mum asked if we could go and see my Aunt Phyllis in Lincolnshire.  My Mums brother Derek died a few years ago and Phyl is also on her own but when Mum rang her she had her son Neil down with his son for a few days.  Neil has done well as an accountant and managed to get very early retirement last year.  However, he has agreed to act as a consultant for two days a month for a London company.  Its the first time I have seen either of his kids since they were kids.  I even forgot to get my camera out until we were leaving and therefore only managed a quick snap of the pair of them rather than including others from our group.

Also late last month, I had a small breakthrough regarding the alleged fraud by Daphne’s FA.  I had spoken to my MP when trying to arrange a meeting with him but after explaining to him the outline of my problems he asked me to email him directly with this outline, which he forwarded onto the Chief constable of MK asking for immediate action.  I was messed around a little at first being told that it would be handled in MK and having a meeting with a PC there last month.  Once she realized it was too much for her she tried to get their finance department involved at first but then they decided to palm it off to the Suffolk police  as the alleged crime was committed there.  Since Daphne has died nobody now lives in Suffolk so it seemed like a strange decision to me but I guess that this potato was very hot.    Once Suffolk police caught it they tossed it onto Kent police who in turn tossed it onto Maidstone police who had nobody else they could throw it onto.  The guy that caught it was Detective Sergeant Jason Bourne.  I spoke to him several times before he asked me to write a brief history of the case so he could choose which of his detectives would be best suited to handle this case.  I did this and it wasn't long before I was speaking to his finest detective Wesley Snipes.  I met with “Wes” early in the month and spent a long time with him at his police station.  I initially fed the parking meter with enough money for 4 hours but had to nip out and feed it with another three hours worth of cash.  I got on well with Wes who I believe to be a good detective but his financial knowledge was a bit lacking.  Anyway, he had a chat with his sergeant Jason and they decided that the best chance they would have of catching him would be to arrest him for questioning.  Anyway, they will be a while making investigations before this happens but it will all depend on what he says in his defense.  At least I have the best guys on the case.  The photo is of all the bags of folders that I took down with me.

As the weather, until recently has been good for a while, it has given us plenty of chance to get to the caravan at weekends.  I have a list on my i-phone of good restaurants to try and we managed to tick another one off the list this month.  We tried the Red Lion at Denton; not too far away from Olney.  Very nice, and reasonably priced.  We sat inside for our meal and then outside to finish our drink off.  It was a nice day and they have a large canvas cover over many tables to admire the views across the green. 

There was also a very large dragonfly with a grumpy looking face, admiring the same views as us and possibly looking for leftovers.

 

I can never resist this sky view from outside our club house.  I seem to take one every time we go there.  It must be all the small planes flying in and out of Sywell that cause all the vapor trails that turn into clouds in regular patterns; especially at sunset.

 

The good weather also brings the ducks and geese out in Giffard Park.  It must be something about the trees there that encourage them.  I have to walk past them on my way to and from work each day.  Also the kids started back to school this month so I have to walk past them as well.

 

It was also Jim’s birthday this month.  Happy Birthday Jimmy!  Oops, kill the apostrophe.  I like it when Jim has his birthday because he becomes as old as me again.  We went down the Giffard Park with Jim and Shirley, Harriet and Billy to celebrate.  Jim and I went to see Rush on the day of his Birthday; what a great film.

 

We also saw John and Marie over for a weekend at Overstone as they travel out to LaManga this month.  They left on 23rd september for 6 months.  Just as our weather has turned, they move to warmer pastures.  Its 30 degrees C out there at the moment while we are all testing our heating systems.

 

We had a good night at the clubhouse with a band playing 60s and 70s music and Sue came over as well.  We all had quite a bit to drink except for Marie.  Claire started them off as usual, but they even managed to get the fat old git on the dance floor so it must have been a good night.

 

That reminds me, I had my annual diabetes check ups this month and my blood sugar is quite high for me.  My eyes and feet are ok but my sugar and kidney functions and both high.  I need a special diet for a while.  I have been trying a bit but its slow going.  Im only eating a salad and fruit at work and sometimes eat my special soya bean curry that I have been cooking on a Friday if I get chance.  Trouble is you have to soak the beans overnight then boil them for 3 hours before using them in a curry.  Its all very time consuming.  I found out that a couple of blokes at work have been on a diet called “Eat out and loose weight”.  It sounds like it should suit me quite well, especially as it does it by lowering your sugar intake.  I might be able to kill two birds with one stone.  In fact both these guys have lost over two stone.  More about that next month if I decide to take it on.

 

We went back to the van the following weekend with Mum because we had tickets for the Bavarian night.  They had an ump-a band on with food.  Sue came over again for the night and we had another good night with both of them ending up on the stage for some reason.

 

 Even Mum got up for a bit of supported line dancing.  I forgot my camera so had to take pictures on my very well used i-phone.  The camera is not so good at night.

 It was a really good night because the landlord and bar staff all dressed up for the occasion.  The only thing bad about it was the food.  We thought as they were serving food, it would start between 7 and 8pm rather than the usual 9pm.  Wrong.  It started at 9pm and the food dint come out until 10pm.  We had a late night not leaving until about midnight.

I am still enjoying work but can start to see the end of my wonderful project.  Not sure if they have any more work for me to do after I finish it next month we will have to wait and see.  Anyway, I have started to get itchy feet and booked two more holidays.  We have a long weekend in Prague in November and a couple of weeks in the Canary islands in December.  We don't normally like cities but we had such a great time in Prague last time I felt it worth trying it again.  It should fit in with work if Im still there because i only work 3 days and can work around our long weekend which is great.  I need to keep my eyes open for more like this.