Things have been a little quiet around here. Well post wise they have.

Home is anything but quiet. Ever since my wife went down with Flu or some such affliction. It really is quite nasty. Started with sore throat and tenderness extending to one ear. This steadily worsened over a period of a week, blocking nasal/sinus passages and moved onto her chest. Much coughing, croaking and wheezing. A visit to the doctor last week culminated with her being prescribed a nasal spray. By Saturday morning things were so bad that a trip to the doctors was in order again. This time the doctor was sufficiently concerned enough to prescribe steroids, antibiotics and an inhaler. I think the death rattle with every intake of breath probably nailed the diagnosis.

This last weekend was the Easter Bank Holiday Weekend. A four-day long break with possibly the best weather forecast for decades and we had such plans. Jobs to do around the garden and trips to the garden centres. To cap it all even though she was too weak to work in the garden she was also not allowed into the sunlight due to the fact that the antibiotics have a side effect which can make the skin hypersensitive to the sun. My wife being a keen sun-worshipper was decidedly unhappy at the prospect of being trapped indoors on such a beautiful weekend.

Suffice it to say things have improved but not dramatically so. My wife should have been in work today but is too weak to walk to the car let alone go to work in an office. She is now resigned to the fact that she will not be going to work this week. In her usual way she is feeling really guilty for letting her colleagues down which of course is total bollocks.

She is also heartily pissed off at, for her, the lost weekend. Lets hope she regains enough health to allow her to enjoy this upcoming wedding weekend. Another 4-day jolly….hopefully.

I am immensely proud as my granddaughter has given birth today.

So say hello Brook and Say Hello To Brook who entered this crazy screwed up world at 10:13 today

Congratulations to Brook and her parents.

My current city of residence is Portsmouth, or as it is known to locals, Pompey. Pompey should not be confused with the Roman town of Pompeii

Spinnaker Tower, Portsmouth

Pompey is home to The Royal Navy who have played a significant role in world history both ancient and modern. Here, in the middle of an active naval port, you can visit Nelson’s flagship HMS Victory, Britain’s first iron-hulled, armoured warship HMS Warrior and Henry VIIIs Tudor warship The Mary Rose. Up on Portsdown Hill you can visit Fort Nelson, part of the Royal Armouries group of museums. Fort Nelson claims to be the loudest museum in the UK as they have live firings every day. Possibly the best thing about the fort is that admission is free. Just a short trip across the Solent is the Isle of Wight where Queen Victoria had her splendid retreat, Osbourne House. While many folks head to London for their quick historical fix, they miss out on one of the many other treasures that the UK has to offer. Pompey is just 60 miles away from the capital. A short ride by train or coach

There is nothing more to say

Feeling quite pleased with myself today. I spent most of yesterday working in the garden so the view is looking very tidy. Its amazing what a difference mowing the lawn makes. Seems to make the garden bigger. Now I can start to work on pots and tubs, trimming the shrubs and cutting back the brambles and nettles which always try to take over every year. Sadly there was a casualty of my efforts yesterday.

I knocked over the bird table and its looking a bit sorry for itself. I think its repairable, we’ll see. I’m also going to have to take a look at the feet of our table too. Seems the years haven’t been too kind. The bottom of one set of feet have rotted out. Looks like I have to re-awaken my woodworking skills.

Will be heading down to the doctors later today. My wife is suffering from what we believe to be flu. Has the cough and voice of someone who smokes sixty a day. Says she feels like she has gone several rounds with Mike Tyson and then been mugged. That would be the muscle ache from all the coughing. She saw the doctor on Thursday but all they prescribed was a nasal spray to relive the congestion. Said her chest was clear. Not so sure now, judging by the death rattle when she is trying to sleep.

Have already spoken to the out of hours medics who recommended we wait till 09:00 when our own surgery will have someone on duty.

Don’t you just love the NHS

My first ever work experience was for a small company called Battle Engineering based in Battle, Sussex, England (1066 and all that). They employed just 8 people and I was taken on as a Machine Operator. Battle Engineering was, perhaps, what you might call a jobbing workshop. Carrying out all manner of work for local businesses. I think, at the time I was there, the biggest customer was Guinness Hop Farms.

Like many new starters, I started at the bottom. My working day started in pretty much the same way every day. Collect the tea mugs from around the building, wash up and put the kettle on. While the kettle was boiling I would start to sweep up around the workshop. Collecting the swarf from the floor and also emptying the swarf trays under the machines. This clearing up would be interrupted by making the first cup of tea for everyone. Once the cups were distributed I would carry on clearing up. Once that task was completed I would report to Pat, the boss, who would then give me “real” work. This might involve using fly presses, saws, drills and shaping machines. At around the middle of the 3rd week I was informed that I was being made redundant. One of the contracts that they had bid for had failed to materialise and they couldn’t afford to keep me on. So I was given a weeks notice.

At the end of the 4th week Pat asked if I had found any other work, which I hadn’t. So he offered me the job of painting the exterior of the building. I took up the offer. After all it was summer, sunny, and it meant I would be working outside and I had my transistor radio so I could listen to pirate radio all day.

This job grew and I then re-decorated the interior followed by tearing down the old office which was squeezed into one corner. This was replaced by a new mezzanine floor which I, along with much direction and assistance, installed. Once the modifications were completed Pat kept me on to work the machines again.

Over the next few months I learnt how to operate lathes, turret lathes, linishers, as well as becoming reaquainted with drills, fly presses and metal saws etc. All in all I worked for Battle Engineering for 9 months. I learnt a lot, not just about machines but also about how to get along with folks and also the meaning of adaptability when it comes to work. I liked it there, I had a good laugh and I do wonder where those guys are now.

When did all this happen ? Well it was over the 2nd half of 1968 into 1969. I remember on one of my trips to the hardware store, stopping outside the TV shop in Battle high street and watching at least one live broadcast of an Apollo mission. That would have been between October 11th, 1968 (Apollo 7) and March 3rd, 1969 (Apollo 9).

How much did I make ? Well when I started I was getting £4 per week. Of that I had to give my Mum half for my keep. This job had only ever been a stop-gap as I was due to start an apprenticeship at the Royal Naval Dockyard – Portsmouth. There I became a Fitter & Turner by trade but that’s a much longer story.

Spring is here with a vengeance. My neighbours fence is smothered with a delicate pink Clematis. The Apple Tree is full of blossom which is mixed with some form of Honeysuckle. My Flowering Cherry is also looking gorgeous and blousey. And lets not forget the various Primula plants dotting the back lawn which is bordered by many clumps of Grape Hyacinth

I think that what has really sealed it for me, is not so much the view from the conservatory, but the sounds. During the early mornings and throughout the day there is the constant bird song.

However, there is one sound which had us all confused for a while. We have a couple of horny hedgehogs who seem to have taken up position outside our bathroom every evening. Anyone familiar with these cute little beasts will know the repetitive grunting which I guess gives them the “hog” part of their name. Our latest visitors have added a high-pitched mewing sound. It must be the spines.