Geoff & Chris in the UK     Letters & Photos: Previous Next

Hello friends and family in New Zealand and around the world. 

Early summer is being enjoyed, with glorious sunset like this one, seen outside our bedroom window on Friday night.

Many gardens are full of the extensive range of perennial plants this part of the world is famous for and which Chris has mostly forgotten the names of.

With Geoff getting his first pay this week, it has been delightful having some spending money for the first time! We're off the the huge new Merry Hill shopping centre in Dudley today (Sunday) to blow the lot.

Birmingham just lost the bid to be the culture capital of Europe (to Liverpool). Some press have suggested that it should be called the litter capital of Europe, due to the mess in some of the inner city areas. We don't see too much litter around here. though which is good. Read all about it!

This weeks weird discovery: 'a squirrel confounder', which is a plastic cone (like a lamp shade) that fits over a pole, to stop squirrels from running up it! This is needed for bird feeders, otherwise the cheeky squirrels can eat the lot! Why don't they wrap stainless steel around the pole, like we do in NZ to stop possums running up power poles?

Last Sunday we went for our usual long exploring expedition. We walked from the tiny hamlet of Preston Baggot to Henley in Arden (in the Vale of Arden) and back. The walk took us through the churchyard of Preston Baggot church (door open as usual so we went inside - very lovely  - cool and simple church). As we walked through Henley we climbed to the top of  the ancient Motte and Bailey Castle of Beaudesert and ate our sandwiches looking out over the Warwickshire scene - its so very gentle and looked after - a garden of a county.  Then on to Lowsonford where Chris used to go courting to the ancient Fleur de Lys inn, also famous for its wonderful meat pies. The inn sits quietly beside the Stratford canal so we sat outside and drank a glass of Shandy and watched the barges and the ducks. A lovely peaceful and refreshing end to that part of the day.

We had intended to drive home then but the 15th Century catholic priory of Baddesley Clinton caught our eye as we drove. We stopped and as we had previously invested in a National Trust membership we were able to go in free of charge. It is a moated house, much still in original condition, including three priest holes where they used to hide the catholic priests at the time of the reformation. The interiors reflect the house’s heyday in the Elizabethan era. The floors were the original boards some with inch wide gaps between and at all sorts of levels - scary to walk on! Openings in the house, to the moat, are the Garderobes (latrines). There is a delightful garden with stewponds (not sure what they are really!), a lake walk and nature walk. (thanks to the people who told us to join the NZ Historic Places Trust - it gives free entry to all the UK National Trust Properties, at 1/3 the cost of joining here).

We heard the sad news this week of the death of our dear friend Luke du Chatenier, with whom was have enjoyed many hours renovating the Hammond Bush. Luke had an artistic bent, was very gracious and gentle. We think he had a life well lived, and our thoughts go to Glennis. 

We remember Luke wearing his Festival of the Environment T shirt. Geoff wore his one today for Solihull's Environment Day. He wandered down to the local park and to see what's happening locally. This city does not score well with environmental concerns, from our flat we can also see the chimney of the huge incinerator plant, where 80% of Birmingham's rubbish is burnt. This generates electricity, but some pollution as well. There is no kerb-side recycling of bottles, tins, plastics, etc. Newpapers are collected every two weeks, but that's it. The rubbish dumps are transfer stations, taking the refuse to the incinerator plant. There are no open tips though, unlike NZ.

George is enjoying going on outings, and he's accepted that it is much easier in a wheelchair. The local shopping malls have a fantastic 'shop mobility' service, which not only provide a free wheelchair, but also cancels the charge of the car parking (which can be about £2.50 NZ$6.00)

Saturday, Chris hit rock bottom, felt exhausted, so we had a really quiet relaxing day spent mainly on the couch,

Sunday. Had a lovely long chat (on the phone and via ICQ) with the boys.

Monday, went to visit Judy, Robert ,Dawn, Tom & the twins - spent a nice evening drinking red wine and cooing over the 'babbies' - who are still so tiny but are stunningly beautiful. Grace & Caitlin, our twin nieces, born 13 weeks ago, 10 weeks premature, born incredibly tiny, less than a pound in weight, now 4 to 5 pounds.

Tuesday, Geoff & Chris both worked late. A horrific crash on the M1 motorway, where some tanks back from the Iraq war fell off a trailer and killed 5 people in cars & vans that crashed into them.

Wednesday, Geoff worked at home at night, doing some urgent programming work for Waikato Polytech, for a system he designed in 1989 and is still in use. Geoff took George to the optician, 2 pairs of glasses for £75/nz$200 so he was very pleased.

Thursday, both went to dinner at Georges.

Friday, made the mistake of going out for a meal, when we should well know that we're both tired on Friday nights. Terrible service, don't know why we bothered. Blobbing at home is much better! 

Saturday, spent several hours gardening at Judy's new house, and Chris broke her mirror - hope that's not 7 years bad luck for us. Watched the movie LA Confidential (Russell Crowe), which we found too confusing and don't see how it won two academy awards!

We see on the BBC website that the NZ movie whale rider is coming to Birmingham in July - really looking forward to seeing it. Have heard so much about it, it's bound to create a tear of homesickness...

Life here is so complicated: In the etiquette column of the Saturday Times newspaper: at parties & dinners in trendy London circles, not to kiss a woman you  have not met before is regarded as an insult. and Tipping has become such an accepted part of eating in a restaurant that it is ostentatious to withhold it.

Sad but true: Scientists at Roll Royce built a gun specifically to launch dead chickens at the windshields of airliners, and military jets, all traveling at maximum velocity. The idea was to simulate the frequent incidents of collisions with airborne fowl to test the strength of the windshields. American engineers heard about the gun and were eager to test it on the windshields of their new high-speed trains. Arrangements were made, and a gun was sent to the American engineers. When the gun was fired, the engineers stood shocked as the chicken hurled out of the barrel, crashed into the shatterproof shield, smashed it to smithereens, blasted through the control console, snapped the engineer's back-rest in two and embedded itself in the back wall of the cabin, like an arrow shot from a bow. The horrified Yanks sent Rolls Royce the disastrous results of the experiment, along with the designs of the windshield and begged the British scientists for suggestions.

Rolls Royce responded with a one-line memo: "Defrost the chicken."

Another story that I like, concerned Tube Investments, Birmingham. It was said that (by way of introduction) their new American colleagues sent over an example of their own expert engineering - a tube so fine that you couldn't see the aperture with the naked eye. The apprentices at TI sent the tube back...
With a tube inside.

Chris liked the following: Japanese Financial Crisis: The financial crisis that has hit Japan seems to be getting worse. Following last weeks news that Origami Bank had folded, we are hearing that Sumo bank has gone belly up, and the price of Khazi bank's stocks have gone down the pan. Meanwhile, shares in Kamikaze Bank have nose-dived. Bonsai Bank plans to cut back some of its branches. Karaoke Bank is up for sale, and is going for a song. Five hundred back-office staff at Karate Bank got the chop. Meanwhile, rumours have continued about Tenko Bank after the staff were locked in last night. Analysts report that there is something fishy going on at Sushi Bank and the staff there fear they might get a raw deal. - The Times

On a more serious note, Geoff has two job interviews this week. A training and support job for Shoosmiths Lawyers on Wednesday, and Specialist Computer Holdings on Friday. For the SCH job, he will have stand up and do a 10 minute presentation on 'congestion charges' - a nasty development where London charges £5 per day, if  you want to take your car into the city. Other cities, like Birmingham, are considering implementing a similar scheme to reduce congestion. 

Lotsa love from Geoff & Chris in the UK     Letters & Photos: Previous Next