Wednesday, November 05, 2008
Work goes on and The Needles.Oh and Barack Obama!
The kitchen work has continued.
By the end of the working day we have a kitchen sink with a working mixer tap - very stylish!
Most of the cupboard doors are on - with the little wooden knobs.
I still don't have the cooker wired in - or the washing machine.
And not all the work surface is on yet.
Bill and I have worked too.
I described 12 more books for EBay and listed 6 of them. I have also dealt with the sale of some postcards.
I will be back in the post office again tomorrow - it seems quite a time since I posted parcels.
Bill has continued with the Isle of Wight photo album.
I haven't felt too bad today - as yet the lurking cold has not taken over.
We went out for lunch - good food, but the atmosphere was lacking.
The Black Dog advertises a Thai restaurant and we thought we would give it a try.
Nobody else was dining today!
It felt rather echoey and empty as we tucked into beef massaman and a nasigoreng (which isn't Thai actually) and chicken satay sticks and lots of rice.
Tomorrow perhaps we will try Sri Lankan instead in the town centre.
The kitchen man will arrive later tomorrow - hooray, we will be able to have a cup of tea in bed!
The news has been dominated by the US election. I heard in the night the acceptance speech and also McCain accepting defeat. Both men showed courage and dignity. But I can make no secret of feeling thrilled about the rise of Barack Obama and yet I am cynical enough to know that it will be hard to follow through on his ideals.
It was 2 weeks ago that we visited The Needles on the Isle of Wight.
I have seen The Needles in the distance from the mainland; but somehow this landmark became a sort of iconic place that I learned of childhood, so I am really glad to have been there.
The fragile chalk cliffs have great charm.
But the spot has not always been a centre of peace.
In the mid 19th century there was conflict between politicians and Palmerston's views prevailed over those of Gladstone - leading to the development of major defences on the Isle of Wight.
Palmerston felt the UK should be better protected against the iron clad war ships developed by the French. Gladstone didn't feel we should spend the money needed to protect The Solent.
Reminds me a bit of Blair and Brown!
The remains of The Old Battery remain on the headland and we happily delved into history.
The Old Battery was re-developed later that century and was still manned until WW2. It is said that the greatest enemy of the troops was boredom!
There is also another historical connection with The Needles.
Space rockets were tested there - they were fired up, but not launched of course.
They had to be transported to Woomera base in Australia for launching.
This post card shows the original "needle of chalk". You can see from the inscription that it crashed into the sea 250 years ago.
Bill mans the look out point overlooking The Needles.
I just enjoyed the view.
By the end of the working day we have a kitchen sink with a working mixer tap - very stylish!
Most of the cupboard doors are on - with the little wooden knobs.
I still don't have the cooker wired in - or the washing machine.
And not all the work surface is on yet.
Bill and I have worked too.
I described 12 more books for EBay and listed 6 of them. I have also dealt with the sale of some postcards.
I will be back in the post office again tomorrow - it seems quite a time since I posted parcels.
Bill has continued with the Isle of Wight photo album.
I haven't felt too bad today - as yet the lurking cold has not taken over.
We went out for lunch - good food, but the atmosphere was lacking.
The Black Dog advertises a Thai restaurant and we thought we would give it a try.
Nobody else was dining today!
It felt rather echoey and empty as we tucked into beef massaman and a nasigoreng (which isn't Thai actually) and chicken satay sticks and lots of rice.
Tomorrow perhaps we will try Sri Lankan instead in the town centre.
The kitchen man will arrive later tomorrow - hooray, we will be able to have a cup of tea in bed!
The news has been dominated by the US election. I heard in the night the acceptance speech and also McCain accepting defeat. Both men showed courage and dignity. But I can make no secret of feeling thrilled about the rise of Barack Obama and yet I am cynical enough to know that it will be hard to follow through on his ideals.
It was 2 weeks ago that we visited The Needles on the Isle of Wight.
I have seen The Needles in the distance from the mainland; but somehow this landmark became a sort of iconic place that I learned of childhood, so I am really glad to have been there.
The fragile chalk cliffs have great charm.
But the spot has not always been a centre of peace.
In the mid 19th century there was conflict between politicians and Palmerston's views prevailed over those of Gladstone - leading to the development of major defences on the Isle of Wight.
Palmerston felt the UK should be better protected against the iron clad war ships developed by the French. Gladstone didn't feel we should spend the money needed to protect The Solent.
Reminds me a bit of Blair and Brown!
The remains of The Old Battery remain on the headland and we happily delved into history.
The Old Battery was re-developed later that century and was still manned until WW2. It is said that the greatest enemy of the troops was boredom!
There is also another historical connection with The Needles.
Space rockets were tested there - they were fired up, but not launched of course.
They had to be transported to Woomera base in Australia for launching.
This post card shows the original "needle of chalk". You can see from the inscription that it crashed into the sea 250 years ago.
It was really windy out there on the headland.
The Old Battery is owned by The National trust and it was whilst we were there that we decided to join and we look forward to many more interesting days out.
The Old Battery is owned by The National trust and it was whilst we were there that we decided to join and we look forward to many more interesting days out.
Bill mans the look out point overlooking The Needles.
I just enjoyed the view.
We had a very similar view as we sat in the cafe much later on in a sort of control tower eating soup and watching bird life through binoculars.
It was good to be in the warm, out of the wind and chat with others.
We reached the look out point through a long winding underground tunnel.
We reached the look out point through a long winding underground tunnel.
There were some of the 19th century cannons pointing out into The Solent in readiness to protect Southampton and Portsmouth.
This picture gives details of the secret rocket testing. Click on it to see the text clearly.
This picture gives details of the secret rocket testing. Click on it to see the text clearly.
People in nearby Freshwater knew nothing of it.
We could still see The Needles from the site of the rocket launching test site.
We could still see The Needles from the site of the rocket launching test site.
Next time we will look at Alum Bay and the fantastic cliff structures and colours.
Bonfire Night - or Guy Fawkes Night - and hardly a sound of fireworks outdoors. Festivities cannot be on the right day - parties and displays are for weekends.
Except in Lewes. Perhaps we should go one year - masses of colour and processions.
