A BREEZY WEEK IN "SUNNY HUNNY"

Four weeks since I last did a blog posting - disgraceful! What's my excuse? Well I've been busy but given that I don't actually do any work I guess it's not the strongest of excuses. Last week though the Troy family was on holiday in the neighbouring county of Norfolk. We rented a lovely small home in Hunstanton, or "Sunny Hunny" as its known to its devotees. Its the only resort on the east coast where you can watch the sun set over the sea according to its publicity blurb. We were very pleased with our seaside retreat which is pictured here -

Unfortunately it was only the part of the house this side of the hedge but it is bigger than it looks with 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms as well as a large living room and more than adequate kitchen. Its set in a nice private garden close to the cliffs and within walking distance of both Hunstanton town centre and the sandy beach and dunes of Old Hunstanton.

During our stay in Norfolk we did however visit a somewhat larger house . Sandringham, the "Queen's Country Retreat in Norfolk" is only a short drive from Hunstanton and the house is set in lovely grounds. It is used by the Royal Family solely for holiday breaks rather than any official business and so the rooms open to public view have a nice family feel to them (in a Royal sort of way!). There is also a great museum as well as the beautiful grounds to admire. The last time we visited there, in 2000, the house was closed to the public but it was a Sunday and we actually saw the Queen and the Queen Mum coming out of the local church. Obviously there is no Queen Mum there now but Charles and Camilla are staying at Sandringham this week. Here's a photo of the house and grounds -

If look closely you can see that it is somewhat larger than the house we rented.

There are some excellent beaches on the north Norfolk coast. When the tide is out you can barely see the sea. When the tide is coming back in it advances at quite a pace and it is easy to get trapped on a sandbank island. On one beach, Brancaster, where we spent the day, there was ship wreck visible in the distance. This photo, taken by telephoto lens, brings it in a little closer.

I wanted to take a close-up look but there was a water channel in the way. Afterwards (back home) I googled "Brancaster Beach Wreck" and discovered that the wreck is the SS Vina and it was used for bombing practice during WW2 (although I could see little resemblance to Dresden). The water channel near it is quite treacherous and many people have got into difficulties trying to cross it to get to the wreck. Feeling very sensible, but frustrated, I didn't attempt it on the rising tide.

One evening we went to Thornham Quay. It was high tide and the road had a caution sign noting "Tidal Flooding". This was indeed correct - the calm water in the foreground of this photo is in fact the road down to the quay.

The quay is where the two yachts are moored. Finding the quay end at high tide involves stepping from one foot deep water to twenty foot deep water in one step (not recommended).

We had a very quiet but most enjoyable week and we can thoroughly recommend the Norfolk coast for a lazy peaceful holiday.

Hopefully you won't have to wait another month for my next blog posting.

FAVOURITES

"Favourites", or rather because the software is American, "favorites" are a very useful feature of Windows Internet Explorer. Having a few minutes to spare before my evening meal, I decided to count how many websites I have in my own "favorites".

And the answer, which totally took me by surprise, is......

568.

Five hundred and sixty eight! Wow! That's a lot of favorites.

Now because I'm a qualified accountant, you shouldn't be surprised to learn that I do in fact have my favorites neatly filed into 23 named folders. And indeed, some folders have folders within folders (ie. sub-catagories) so there are in fact more than 23 folders altogether. I'm not going to count them all though, as that would be rather nerdy.

I'm now wondering if I'm alone in having so many website favorites all neatly filed in folders? Do let me know.

LADIES HAVING FUN ON THE BEACH

The title of this blog may encourage some unwanted hits from Google but as you read on you'll see that it very much sums up today's experience.

My father and I are having a few days up in Northumberland, staying with old friend of mine. He told us that today we should witness something unusual and interesting on Bamburgh beach. So we got down their late morning to see a hive of activity. Most of my photos of Bamburgh beach comprise the castle, the dunes and beach together with a wind swept couple and their dog. But today the beach was quite crowded...

On closer inspection the hive of activity was a crowd of ladies from the Women's Institute (WI) making sand sculptures. In all there were 13 groups from various parts of Northumberland. The local Bamburgh ladies can be seen here...

Their industrious approach with spades and buckets of water put the nation's children to shame. Working labouriously on their hands and knees, spades furiously digging, hands gently caressing the sand, buckets of water making just the correct texture of sand. Then out of mounds of sand there slowly arose elephants, turtles, lions, seals, hares and rabbits. Oh, and of course an armadillo. Following a brief soujourn to the pavilion for fish and chips (the WI not us) it was time for the judging. The winning entry was this excellent elephant.

Another sculpture was this rather dashing hare.

Then after tea and cakes the WI ladies assembled for a group photo on the cricket pitch and a local celebrity (aka my old friend) drew the winning raffle ticket.

MY BLOG'S FIRST BIRTHDAY

Tomorrow - Wednesday 27th May 2009 - marks the first anniversary of my blog. One year and 57 posts after my first tentative posting. It does feel to be more than a year ago that I first set up this blog and said "Hello" to the world.

I've just spent a few minutes looking back over the postings made in these last twelve months. It was a quite nostalgic and enjoyable experience. I've resolved that I must print out all my postings and keep them as a family record. This last year was supposed to be one of quiet retirement - stress free relaxation. I think on the whole I've achieved that whilst at the same time having some varied and interesting experiences.

I changed my name. I first registered on Google as "East Anglian Tory" to enable me to comment on my friend's blog about his own attempts to become a Conservative Councillor in Northumberland. (My friend stopped blogging there after the election but still blogs here). I then set about exploring the blogsphere leaving comments as I went and then someone incorrectly referred to me as "East Anglian Troy". I actually liked that name so when I started blogging on my own account I became East Anglian Troy with Mrs Troy and Troy Junior making up the remainder of the family. However several people then started calling me "EAT" which I felt just wasn't me, so I decided, like Madonna and Cher, to be simplify matters and became just "Troy".

I've really enjoyed blogging although recently I have lost momentum (and I some readers) due to the time committment needed to run my own County Council election campaign. However a number of blog friends have stuck by me through thick and thin. At the end of 2008 I announced my first listing of eight "Troy's Stalwarts" and now its time to update it. Three of those Stalwarts have dropped away - Trixie, who sadly has left the world of blogging; Hadriana, due to other time committments (although she and Trixie will remain "Honourary Stalwarts"); and Carol, who stopped following this blog after I met her at DJ's book launch. I like to think it was some perceived anti-Scottish sentiment I expressed here rather than her meeting me that turned her away!

Anyway, without more ado - the first birthday Stalwart listing....(cue drum roll)...

From the initial roll call of Stalwarts we still have:-
Debs, Crystal Jigsaw, DJ Kirkby, Ladybird World Mum and Brit Gal Sarah.

and introducing four new Stalwarts:-
Kitty, Lane, Helen M Hunt, and The Dotterel.

So now we have a total of nine "Troy First Anniversary Stalwarts" as well as the two Honourary Stalwarts mentioned above. A great big THANK YOU to you all for your support and encouragement.

You may be wondering how I determine Stalwart status? Well all these Stalwarts have on a regular basis left comments on my blog and, after all, that is the only record I can have of your visits. There are three others who have left several comments - Catharine, Cheshire Wife and Granny. I hope you'll continue to converse with me over the remainder of 2009 - it would be nice to end 2009 with a dozen Stalwarts.

So one year and counting. A year of garden makeovers, several memes to help you get to know me better, some rants and ravings about Government incompetence and borrowings, Hong Kong and other trips, book and entertainment reviews plus day-to-day observations and musings. It was great meeting several of you in person during the year and I'm look forward to meeting at least one more stalwart very soon.

Once this election is out of the way after June 4th I hope to get back to blogging on an at least weekly basis, hopefully even more regularly. In the meantime, here's a new badge for my first anniversary stalwarts.

Finally I'd like to also express my appreciation to my 20 Followers - I know some of you are reticient when it comes to commenting but its nice to know you are there in the background. The more the merrier!

SOME RANDOM MUSINGS (HOPEFULLY AMUSINGS?)

Let me first apologise to my decreasing band of regular readers for my lack of regular postings to this blog in recent weeks. It seems however from visiting other blogs that, with a few notable exceptions, I'm not the only one neglecting blogging duties. I wonder why that is? Perhaps the warmer days and brighter evenings are taking us away from our keyboards?

One of my valid excuses for neglecting this blog is my election campaign is now getting into its stride so I've been doing some blog postings there and will be ramping up those postings even more as the campaign comes to a climax over the next 28 days. Also interesting developments at my local football club, Ipswich Town, as the football season has drawn to a close has generated postings on my football blog.

So what's been happening Chez Troy other than matters mentioned above. The short answer is not a lot. However reading my daily newspaper has brought to light some matters that caught my attention and caused some amusement....

The first is the hoo-haa regarding Marks & Spencer choosing to charge more for their bras sized DD and bigger. Apparently they charge £2 more for the larger sizes and this has caused complaints and the establishment of a pressure group on Facebook (shouldn't that be Titter?). It got me to wondering if these same people go into a curtain shop and expect to pay the same price for their curtains irrespective of the size of their windows?
Curtain Shop Customer : "I'd like to buy a pair of curtains for my living room."
Curtain Shop Assistant : "Of course Madam, this range here goes from £50 to £140 and is very popular."
Curtain Shop Customer : "Surely the price is the same for all size of curtain?"
Curtain Shop Assistant : "Oh no Madam, the larger curtains contain more material and involve more stitching."
Curtain Shop Customer : "I can't believe you charge more to people with larger windows, that seems so unfair. Next thing, they'll be charging more for larger bras!"

Another article that caught my eye was headed "Adult TV shows lead children to have sex earlier". I think adults too can learn from this. If like Mrs Troy and I, you stay up until 11pm to watch "Desperate Housewives" and then need to get up early the follow morning, all you want to do after turning off the TV is to get a good night's rest. So much better to follow the children's lead and have sex earlier in the evening!

The Scottish sporran is under threat from the European Union. Apparently they are made from sealskin and the EU is banning the sale of seal products. Synthetic materials cannot produce the same results according to the kilt industry. It will be a shame if Scottish men have to make a fool of themselves by wearing synthetic sporrans.

Finally, I read that Hertfordshire County Council is spending £5,000 a year teaching children how to catch a bus. Why the controversy you ask - I mean surely you can't expect parents to teach children how to catch a bus?

UPDATE - FRIDAY 8th MAY

Following this posting yesterday and the several comments made by my readers it now appears (for surely it can be no co-incidence?) that M&S have now changed their policy regarding charging higher prices for larger bras.

When I opened my newspaper this morning, the following advert for some reason - I can't think why - immediately caught my eye:-

Not only are M&S eliminating their £2 premium for larger bras but for the next two weeks, commencing this Saturday, are reducing all their bras by 25% (that's price not size). As a shareholder of Marks & Spencer I would encourage you all to go grab a bargain and "fill your boots (sic) up" whilst the prices are reduced.

A MOST ENJOYABLE POST EASTER JAUNT

Today's posting will be a collection of photographs taken during the week after Easter when we had a delightful few days on the South Coast of England. Having stayed a few times in Travelodges I get regular e-mails from them telling me about their special £9 or £19 room sales. A sucker for a bargain, back in February I put together a few nights of cheap Travelodge rooms for the week after Easter. I tried various intineries including Bristol and the West Country but each time a rather inconvenient £50+ room kept breaking into the cheap set. Now a Travelodge room at £19 is good value (you get what you pay for) but £50+, well I ask you! So finally I got two nights in Portsmouth (where I'd stayed for DJ and Chopper's joint book launch) and two nights in Eastbourne.

Now the weather forecast at Easter for the following week showed as "sunny intervals", "light rain", "heavy rain" and "heavy rain" for the four days we would be away. I was half tempted to cancel - I mean Eastbourne for two days of heavy rain! However the actual weather was "quite warm and sunny", "warm and sunny", "warm and sunny" and "quite warm and sunny". And by "sunny" I mean clear blue skies. So much for the BBC 5 Day Weather Forecast. I wonder how many people actually did cancel their plans based on the erroneous forecast?

On our first day in Portsmouth we met up with DJ, her N3S, Leigh, Leigh's husband and her three children. So Troy Junior had some good company and so too did Mrs Troy and I. We had a lovely few hours on the beach at Southsea, watched the IoW Hovercraft come in (most impressive run off the sea up its slipway) and had fish and chips in the fresh air. Here's the hovercraft charging into towards the beach:

The next day, the three of us went up the Spinnaker Tower. This is a remarkable landmark in Portsmouth. Oringinally planned for the new Millenium but I believe was completed a couple of years late and (again I believe) well over budget. However it now is a wonderful attraction on the waterfront. A real asset to the city. This is the tower:

The view from the lookout area is impressive with views out over the Isle of Wight. In the other direction is the naval base and the historic dockyards which include HMS Victory (Nelson's flagship) and HMS Warrier (the first iron-hulled warship in the world). In this picture the two historic ships can be seen (click on photo to enlarge) plus HMS Invincible aircraft-carrier and in the distance the brand new HMS Daring destroyer.

On the way to Eastbourne we parked at the Seven Sisters nature park and walked down to see the chalk cliffs where the South Downs meet the English Channel.

Later in Eastbourne we walked up to Beachy Head. It was a long way but fortunately Troy Junior is a good walker (he's had a lot of training in his eight years). It was worth the walk as the view from the cliff top down to the Beachy Head lighthouse is well worth seeing.

The only downside to holiday was that someone vandalised my car on the last night we were there. Just the wing mirror but most annoying. Eastbourne obviously has its share of mindless morons as well as nice genteel folk.

On the way back home near Edenbridge we met up with an old work colleague of mine who we hadn't seen in about 12 years (well before Troy Junior was born). So new friends, an old friend and some great sightseeing in excellent weather - all in all a great few days away.

40TH ANNIVERSARY TODAY

No we are not that old to be celebrating our 40th Anniversary today! In fact we've only been married just over two years having lived "in sin" for about fifteen years.

The 40th anniversary to celebrate (and to some extent also mourne) today is the first British test flight of Concorde. On this day forty years ago the British prototype of Concorde took to the air for the first time from Bristol. If you click here you can see archive footage from the BBC. Older readers will feel nostalgia too in hearing the unique voice of commentator Raymond Baxter.

Concorde was, and remains a wonderful achievement. We got it wrong economically in so far as we should have been making a "Jumbo Jet" equivalent of the Boeing 747. However Concorde was an amazing technical achievement. I remember following its development in my youth; the collaboration with the French, the cost overruns, the initial intransigence of the Americans in not allowing it into their country because they hadn't built it, the effects of the oil crisis in 1973 and the resulting poor sales.

Much later, in the 1980's when I lived in first Kew and later Brentford, I would see (and/or hear) it fly past on its way into Heathrow at 6pm and 10pm each evening. On a Sunday evening we'd quite often drive up to Heathrow by the runway end to see the 6pm flight come in. An amazing audio-visual experience of which we never tired. I never got to fly in Concorde, but I almost did. I actually booked a special flight through Goodwood Travel to take Concorde to the Monaco Grand Prix. I got it at a real bargain price but the organisers subsequently reneged on the deal I booked. I think they mispriced it and then cancelled my booking.


So to my lasting regret I never flew in her before she was withdrawn from service. On her last Sunday in service we took a very young Troy Junior to see Concorde land. He was too young to remember it but he can still say that he saw her. On the day of her last flight I took the afternoon off work and took the Piccadilly line out to the station before the airport. There, along with many others, I saw three Concordes come in to land one after the other, capturing it on video forever.

Concorde is also unique in so far as when she was withdrawn from service she was not replaced by something superior. Instead the withdrawal marked a backward step for aviation. So if you've a few minutes to spare in your busy day take a nostalgic click on the link above and see vintage footage of Concorde's first British test flight.