AUGUST 2014
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Sunday 31 August
2014 |
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There was
one runner of interest yesterday, at Newton Abbot: Hollow Penny (Alan King/Richard
Johnson) won the Handicap Chase [2 miles ½ a furlong] (5 ran). And two
runners of interest at Worcester today and this is how
they fared: Bold Tara
(Martin Keighley/Killian Moore) refused to race in the Mares’ Handicap Hurdle
(7 ran). Uriah Heep (Alan King/Tom Bellamy) finished 5th in the Handicap
Hurdle [2 miles] (7 ran). There’s
National Hunt racing at Huntingdon tomorrow, but no runners of interest. However, Davy Russell visits the track to
ride for Irish trainer PG Coffey. Redwings’
Tiny Tucker is now just over a month old: https://twitter.com/RedwingsHS/status/505317975894003713/photo/1 I’ve been
busy creating and re-creating jewellery this weekend and watching the World
Equestrian Games coverage on the BBC, mainly on the red button. It’s a shame William Fox-Pitt dropped from
first to third on the final day of the three-day event individual event, with
German riders taking gold and silver. Great
Britain won team silver, again behind the Germans. Sadly British team member Harry Meade, son
of Richard, lost his horse following the cross-country section on Saturday;
it collapsed and died. Earlier
this evening I had a problem with my router, so spent around 45 minutes on
the phone to Sky ... that’s 30 minutes waiting in the queue to get assistance
and 15 minutes to sort out the problem!
And, having seen my homepage on Windows 8, I’ve
added additional photos to fill some of the blank screen space!!! As tomorrow is September, I guess Choc will be
back in the saddle before month’s end. J |
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Friday 29 August
2014 |
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There are
two National Hunt fixtures tomorrow, at Market Rasen
and Newton Abbot, with one runner of interest at the latter: 17:35
Hollow Penny (Alan King/Richard Johnson) – Handicap Chase [2 miles ½ a
furlong] And two
runners of interest at Worcester on Sunday: 15:40 Bold
Tara (Martin Keighley/Killian Moore) – Mares’ Handicap Hurdle 16:10
Uriah Heep (Alan King/Tom Bellamy) – Handicap
Hurdle [2 miles] The final
four Strictly Come Dancing contestants have been announced: Jennifer Gibney from Mrs Brown’s Boys, and wife of the show’s star
Brendan O’Carroll; I’m not a fan of the programme Caroline
Flack, TV presenter; something to do with X-Factor I gather, which is why I
have no idea who she is! Gregg
Wallace from Master Chef Tim Wonnacott from the Antiques Roadshow
and Bargain Hunt It’s another very quiet weekend for me, with
nothing in particular planned. But, no
doubt, I’ll be getting my pliers out again to do a little jewellery making! |
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Thursday 28
August 2014 |
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One result
to report today, from Stratford: Gimme Five (Alan King/Paddy
Brennan) finished 3rd in the Juvenile Hurdle (7 ran). I overlooked a runner at Worcester yesterday, the
Martin Keighley-trained, Tom Bellamy-ridden Right On Roy finished 9th in the
Standard Open NH Flat Race (10 ran); he was making his racecourse debut. Right On Roy, whose sire is Double Trigger,
lost an eye as a foal. It always
amazes me that horses can judge distances at speed and the like with just one
eye, this year’s Hickstead Showjumping
Derby winner Adventure de Kannan being a prime
example. Also the talented National
Hunt mare As I Am. There’s National Hunt racing at Bangor on Dee
tomorrow but no runners of interest. I notice that ex-Alan King inmate Nikos Extra won
at Stratford today. It seems that I did Hollow Penny a disservice
when he won at Fontwell Park earlier in the month,
for runner-up that day Giant O Murchu won at Fontwell Park yesterday; the form wasn’t that bad after
all! I’m feeling very tired again, despite it being only
a four-day working week. My workload
does not seem to have subsided much and I’m going in early, working through
my lunch-break and leaving a little late just to keep my head above the
water. First in, last out; nothing
changes. |
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Wednesday 27 August
2014 |
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Here are
today’s results for my runners of interest at Worcester: My Lad
Percy (Martin Keighley/Richard Johnson) finished 2nd in the Handicap Chase [2
miles 7 furlongs] (7 ran). Kyles Faith (Martin
Keighley/Ian Popham) finished 2nd in the Selling
Hurdle (6 ran). Classic Colori (Martin Keighley/Killian Moore) finished 7th in
the Claiming Hurdle (8 ran). Two
National Hunt fixtures tomorrow, at Fontwell Park
and Stratford, with one runner of interest at the latter: 13:50 Gimme Five (Alan
King/Paddy Brennan) – Juvenile Hurdle The eleventh Strictly Come Dancing competitor was
announced today – Pixie Lott. |
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Tuesday 26
August 2014 |
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There are
three runners of interest tomorrow, at Worcester: 17:05 My Lad
Percy (Martin Keighley/Richard Johnson) – Handicap Chase [2 miles 7 furlongs] 18:05 Kyles Faith (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham)
– Selling Hurdle 18:35
Classic Colori (Martin Keighley/Killian Moore) –
Claiming Hurdle As
expected, here is a picture of Martin Keighley undertaking the ‘ice bucket challenge’: https://twitter.com/belindakeighley/status/504330983689424896/photo/1 And a piccie of Wilde Blue Yonder taken this morning, by Steve
Ayres, too: https://twitter.com/orse_racing_lad/status/504192810506289152/photo/1 The
contestants for Strictly Come Dancing 2014 continue to be announced: Thom Evans
– rugby player Alison
Hammond – TV presenter Judy
Murray – mother of Andy Frankie –
Saturdays Simon Webbe – Blue Sunetra Sarker
– Casualty Steve Backshall – wildlife presenter Scott
Mills – Radio 1 DJ Mark Wright - TOWIE Jake Wood
– Eastenders I know Judy Murray, also Steve Backshall, vaguely Alison Hammond, Simon Webbe, Scott Mills and Sunetra Sarker; the latter only because I’ve seen the odd episode
of Casualty since Lee Mead joined the cast!
I’ve heard of the Saturdays but have no idea who is in the group, I’ve
never heard of Thom Evans, I never watch Eastenders
(or Coronation Street) and I’d need to undergo a frontal lobotomy before I’d
watch The Only Way Is Essex! I have to confess to watching Doctor Who on
Saturday and really enjoyed it. Being
ancient, I remember all of the previous doctors, my favourite was Jon Pertwee. Peter Capaldi’s interpretation of the character seems
promising, so I shall tune in again next Saturday, when I gather he will encounter
the daleks once more! |
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Monday 25 August
2014 |
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There was
National Hunt racing at Huntingdon and Cartmel
today, but no runners of interest. Tomorrow
there’s just one National Hunt fixture, at Sedgefield, but again no runners
of interest. The final
flat fixture was held at Warwick racecourse today; it will be solely National
Hunt code from now on. More Warwick is
one of the racecourses which I really should visit, as I’ve been to my
favourite small racecourse, nearby Stratford, a number of times. I’ve been to Worcester on four occasions, Uttoxeter once and even Market Rasen
a couple of times, so my only excuse is the season of the year. Warwick will now be operating between
September and May, so you never know. Here is a piccie of Big Bucks with his ‘carer’ and enjoying his new career: https://twitter.com/PFNicholls/status/503597369360130049/photo/1 Paul
Nicholls has now undergone the ice bucket challenge, raising money for Motor
Neurone Disease: https://twitter.com/PFNicholls/status/503610079032389633/photo/1 And here
is the photo of Matt ‘Yeeehaaa’ Chapman being ‘iced’ at Windsor on Saturday: https://twitter.com/MCYeeehaaa/status/503567329880702976/photo/1 Martin
Keighley has been nominated too ... so expect pictures soon! I bought
some more beads at yesterday’s Bead Fair in Hatfield, but I did walk not
drive there and back so I don’t feel quite so guilty! And I was very good in Hobbycraft
on Saturday, as I spent just £0.97 over the value on a gift card! It’s well expensive in Hobbycraft,
as they charge over the odds for their products, presumably because they need
to pay their retail unit rates; my tip is to buy online from other reputable
suppliers if at all possible. The good news now is that a number of fairly
local bead fairs, such as those scheduled for Sandown Park and Kempton Park
this autumn, clash with my provisional racing diary. Choc vs. beads – no contest, Choc triumphs
every time! |
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Saturday 23
August 2014 |
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Here is a
photograph of Thursday’s winner, Classic Colori,
ridden here by trainer’s wife Belinda in last Saturday’s charity race at
Newmarket. Not only was he the yard’s
5th winner of the season, but also Martin’s 150th winner since they started
up. https://twitter.com/belindakeighley/status/502496492238962688/photo/1 As well as
taking the ‘Ice Bucket Challenge’
at Newton Abbot on Thursday, AP McCoy rode his fastest ever 100 winners in a
season. More Nick Luck
has been ‘iced’ today: https://twitter.com/TVNewsroom/status/503092003329294336/photo/1 And Clare Balding
and Frankie D: https://twitter.com/Channel4Racing/status/503173953528283136/photo/1 Lydia Hislop has done a selfie ‘ice’: https://twitter.com/LydiaHislop/status/503128242417840128/photo/1 ATR’s Matt
Chapman has also taken the challenge at Windsor this evening, with four
buckets of water. Not my
idea of fun. I once had a freezing cold
shower after a night camped out on the pavement at Wimbledon; it was so cold
it took my breath away! Taking of
Windsor, stud ‘returnee’ Al Kazeem won a Group 3 race this evening. More It seems that I was fibbing about there being no
National Hunt racing yesterday ... there was ... a mixed card at Ffos Las! Not easy
to spot on my BHA 2014 Fixture List when not written in red lower case font
like the solely jumps cards. But,
having said that, there were no runners of interest anyway! It’s all very quiet for me this weekend ...
although I have done some ‘recreational’
shopping today! Naughty, naughty. And there’s a bead fair in Hatfield
tomorrow, which I hope to attend. |
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Thursday 21
August 2014 |
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Ffos Las: Fighter
Jet (Alan King/Richard Johnson) finished last in the Handicap Hurdle [2 miles
4 furlongs] (7 ran). Newton Abbot: Classic Colori (Martin
Keighley/Killian Moore) won the Maiden Hurdle (5 ran); well done to the team,
their 5th winner of the season. Georgian
King (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) finished 2nd in
the Handicap Chase [3 miles 2½ furlongs] (5 ran). Shock news
today that jockey Jamie Spencer will be retiring at the end of the season ...
he has a new job! More No National Hunt racing tomorrow, the next
fixture being Cartmel on Saturday. I’ve not ordered my Cheltenham Festival tickets
yet, but I have just renewed this domain name for a further three years ...
so hopefully both Choc and I will keep going for a while yet! Further news regarding yesterday’s theft ... the
current thinking is that my mother was targeted by pick-pockets; she didn’t
lose her wallet and credit cards, they were stolen from her zipped-up across
the shoulder bag whilst she was in Marks and Spencers. A very nice policeman has visited her and
they are now investigating. |
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Wednesday 20
August 2014 |
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Three
runners of interest tomorrow: Ffos Las: 16:30
Fighter Jet (Alan King/Richard Johnson) – Handicap Hurdle [2 miles 4
furlongs] Newton Abbot: 17:25
Classic Colori (Martin Keighley/Killian Moore) –
Maiden Hurdle 18:00
Georgian King (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) –
Handicap Chase [3 miles 2½ furlongs] I’m liking this photo of Ruby
Walsh at York races today! https://twitter.com/Racing_UK/status/502126267349864449/photo/1 Well done Oli Bell! Ruby
hasn’t got webbed feet then ... he has got long second-toes though. I’ve got long second-toes – a Celtic trait
evidently. It can be referred to as ‘Greek’ foot, as opposed to ‘Egyptian’ foot where the big toe is
longest! I believe Choc also has ‘Greek’ feet! It has not
been a good day for my elderly mother.
She lost her purse and wallet after the check-out in the local M&S
food hall this morning. Sadly it
wasn’t handed in by a kindly fellow-shopper; instead they decided to go on a
spending spree with her debit and credit cards. Just goes to show the kind of scum who live
in this country these days. Fortunately she will get most of her money back,
although she’s lost around £40 in cash.
But of course it has put her through lots of stress and the worry of
having to cancel all her cards and get them reissued. Not to mention the feeling of being
violated. |
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Tuesday 19
August 2014 |
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There were
two runners of interest at Worcester this evening and this
is how they fared: Kyles Faith (Martin
Keighley/Ian Popham) finished 2nd in the Handicap
Chase [2 miles 4 furlongs] (10 ran). Midnight Thomas (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) finished 7th in the Handicap Chase [2 miles &
½ a furlong] (10 ran). No National Hunt racing tomorrow. |
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Monday 18 August
2014 |
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Two
runners of interest tomorrow evening, at Worcester: 17:40 Kyles Faith (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham)
– Handicap Chase [2 miles 4 furlongs] 18:40 Midnight Thomas (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) – Handicap Chase [2 miles & ½ a furlong] Today didn’t go to plan ... I was hoping to
reduce my work hours ... unpaid hours that is. I’m paid for 7.5 per day, but have been
working 10 due to a very heavy workload these past few weeks. One of my colleagues is on holiday this
week so the team was due to operate at 75%, but despite that I was hoping to
get a lunch-hour at least. Then
another team member phoned in sick, so that was that and it became yet
another 10 hour day without a break and I’m worn out. Most weeks I work 3 or 4 hours overtime,
but this is ridiculous ... I’m getting too old for this game. |
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Sunday 17 August
2014 |
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Two runners
of interest today, at Southwell, and this is how they
fared: The Kvilleken (Martin Keighley/Richard Johnson) finished 4th
in the Handicap Hurdle [2 miles 4½ furlongs] (10 ran). Bold Tara
(Martin Keighley/Ollie Garner) finished 8th in the Handicap Hurdle [3 miles
& ½ a furlong] (11 ran). Here is a piccie of Belinda Keighley aboard Classic Colori at Newmarket yesterday: https://twitter.com/belindakeighley/status/500713611564949504/photo/1 It has
been an excellent effort by the GB & NI Team at the European Athletics
Championship in Zurich; winning 12 gold medals, with an overall tally of
23. It’s the best haul ever, 9 being
the most gold medals they have won at a single European Championships in the
past, with 19 in total. There’s no National Hunt racing tomorrow. |
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Saturday 16
August 2014 |
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I should
have written a blog yesterday, forewarning of two ‘runners of interest’ today, but I was so tired yesterday evening
that I kept dosing off to sleep in the armchair. This meant that I missed some of the BBC’s
coverage of the European Athletics Championships from Zurich, including Adam Gemili’s 200 metres win for GB. Very annoying. So after watching the Great British Bake
Off’s spin-off show, Extra Slice, followed by Sweets Made Simple, I called it
a day. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Another
downside to falling off to sleep in the armchair is that I wake up with a
very stiff neck the following morning, courtesy of my cervical spondylosis! Anyway,
one runner of interest ran today at Market Rasen: Pantxoa (Alan King/Aidan
Coleman) finished 2nd in the Jane Clugston
Challenge Cup Handicap Chase (5 ran); he put up a very good front-running
performance, jumping well apart from clobbering the 6th fence, but found one
too good for him at the end of the race. And the
second ‘runner of interest’
competed at Newmarket ... Many happy
returns of the day to Belinda Keighley; today she celebrated her 40th
birthday by riding in a charity race at Newmarket in aid of Racing Welfare
... and she finished 2nd. Her mount
was Classic Colori, trained by husband Martin; the
horse having got the all clear following a health scare earlier in the week. Also a
very happy birthday to my friend Lesley for yesterday. Phil
Taylor is seeking to recruit a jockeys’ valet: http://jobs.careersinracing.com/index.php/jobs/jockeys-valet-2/ I know one
jockey I’d like to valet for ... the only problem is that I’d spend too much
time fondling his equipment!!! Tee-hee :-D Tomorrow,
there are two runners of interest at Southwell: 15:30 The Kvilleken (Martin Keighley/Richard Johnson) – Handicap
Hurdle [2 miles 4½ furlongs] 17:05 Bold
Tara (Martin Keighley/Ollie Garner) – Handicap Hurdle [3 miles & ½ a
furlong] I’ve no special plans for this weekend; next
weekend I’ve made arrangements to have my hair trimmed, and also to visit a
local bead fair. I’ve also made plans
to attend Martin Keighley’s Public Open Day on Sunday 07 September with my
friend Lesley. J |
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Thursday 14
August 2014 |
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Here are
this evening’s results from Fontwell Park: Uriah Heep (Alan King/Richard Johnson) finished 2nd in the
Novices’ Hurdle (5 ran); he lost out to an AP McCoy-ridden, John
Ferguson-trained horse. Hollow Penny (Alan King/Richard
Johnson) won the Handicap Chase [2 miles 2 furlongs] (6 ran); Giant O Murchu was the runner-up, so the opposition wasn’t
exactly strong ... but I suppose you can only beat what’s there! Friendly
Society (Noel Williams/James Banks) finished a distant last in the Handicap
Hurdle [2 miles 6½ furlongs] (10 ran). I notice that
Daryl Jacob is back in action following his Cheltenham Festival injury. No
National Hunt fixtures in the UK tomorrow. I very
much enjoyed my trip to Guildford to see Lee Mead in concert at the G-Live
venue. I collected Lesley from her
workplace in Watford en-route; fortunately the traffic was moving smoothly
through the town, it being the school holidays. The M25 wasn’t so good; we joined at the
Chorleywood junction at around 16:30 and got snarled up between the M40 and
M3. You leave the motorway at Junction
10 for the A3, the same as when travelling to Sandown Park, but turn right
heading away from London instead of left.
We parked up at 17:30 and went to buy an evening meal in Giraffe in
the town centre. The
concert began at 19:30 and Lee’s guests were Preeya
Kalidas (who starred as the original Narrator with
Lee in Joseph), Norton James, and Amanda Henderson (who plays Robyn Miller in
Casualty). Notably, Lee sang Singing
In The Rain (from same), Some Enchanted Evening (from South Pacific) and Luck
Be A Lady Tonight (from Guys and Dolls) and he mentioned that he intends to
do a concert tour next year featuring songs from the MGM Musicals – sounds
like a ‘must see’ to me! I love all the old musicals. Amanda is acting as Lee’s chauffeur during
the tour, as he’s sold his car because he’d based in Cardiff (for Casualty)
and London, and travels between the two by train! Here is a
photo tweeted by the LMAS Team (Lee Mead Appreciation Society); he’s pictured
with his guests plus his three musicians Will, Neil and ... AN Other! https://twitter.com/Meadaholics/status/499968756831879168/photo/1 The
journey home wasn’t quite so smooth, initially. We managed to get lost when trying to find
the A3; I should follow my instinct not my passenger’s directions! A couple of weeks ago, the same thing
happened when my friend Denise and I took a trip to Kempton Park. Although I am thinking that perhaps places
aren’t so well signposted these days because many drivers have satnav to guide them.
Anyway, we ended up on the road to Leatherhead; although it is
situated close to Junction 9 of the M25 so wouldn’t have been too much of a
detour. In hindsight, we could have
taken the Woking road ... but weren’t quite sure of our bearings by that
point. Eventually we did a U-turn and
went back to Guildford to start again and everything went as planned after
that! I
certainly got in plenty of 3-point (and 5-point) turn practice (6 times)
trying to find car parks, etc ... and it would have been a couple more if
there’d not been tiny roundabouts to manoeuvre around! I’m beginning to think I may need a satnav after all! It’s feeling so chilly tonight that I’ve got
goose pimples! Autumn is on the way L but that means National Hunt racing will be
cranking up a gear soon J and Choc will be back
too JJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ |
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Wednesday 13
August 2014 |
|
National
Hunt racing returned today, at Newton Abbot, following its short summer
break. Tomorrow there are three
runners of interest at Fontwell Park: 17:10
Uriah Heep (Alan King/Richard Johnson) – Novices’
Hurdle 17:40
Hollow Penny (Alan King/Richard Johnson) – Handicap Chase [2 miles 2
furlongs] 18:10
Friendly Society (Noel Williams/James Banks) – Handicap Hurdle [2 miles 6½
furlongs] I’ve been to G-Live in Guildford this evening –
Lee Mead was performing in concert. I
shall write more about it tomorrow, as it’s now midnight and I need to get
some sleep ... especially as I lay awake for 2 or 3 hours last night unable
to do so. |
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Tuesday 05
August 2014 |
|
STOP PRESS In reply
to an enquiry via twitter from Geoff Lester, who writes the news column on
Alan King’s website, Choc wrote that he expects to be back in action next
month, September. J J J J J J J J J J J |
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Monday 04 August
2014 |
|
Here is a
link to Martin Keighley’s Stable Talk column in the Gloucestershire
press. There’s exciting news too,
about the yard holding an Open Day for the general public on Sunday 07
September. More
It’s well worth
a visit and I shall endeavour to attend too.
Wicked!!! It’s so
quiet, with no National Hunt racing until Wednesday 13 August. I wish my workload was quiet, or at least
within sensible limits, but it’s manic once more. Yet again I’m at the stage when I’m so busy
that I just don’t know what to do next! On
Saturday I went to visit my friend Denise in Reading, and we headed to
Kempton Park for the Rock, Gem and Bead Show.
Needless to say I spent more than I should have done. Whoops!
The
journey to and from the racecourse proved interesting ... I followed the road
signs instead of my ‘instinct’ and
we ended up on the A329 as opposed to the A329(M) to Wokingham. On the way back we found the M329(M), but then got stuck in the inside lane just prior
to road-works and were forced to divert from the intended route. This resulted in us travelling in an
unnecessary clockwise circuit close to the centre of Reading, instead of one
via the IDR (Inner Distribution Road) to reach Caversham. Which was strange really, as Den has lived
in the town all of her life but we still got lost! I’m beginning to wonder if I need a satnav after all!
Although I’m glad we didn’t attempt to go via the M4 and M25 because
the traffic looked horrendous, presumably people returning from holiday. At least
we missed the very heavy rain showers they experienced in Reading; many of
the gutters were flooded. But I did
get caught by a large black cloud and downpour when I returned home. Yesterday I spent most of the day constructing
items of jewellery. No surprise there
then! |
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Friday 01 August
2014 |
|
Check back
soon for my first blog of the new month. |
