The little cutting that grows
A pressie for F from lovely C: the little cutting that just keeps growing!
The Rings
Cobweb blowing stroll around the rings.
Pumpkin
It's a multi-sided pumpkin, created in a flash before J arrived, and a conversation piece when we met the neighbours for a drink or three.
17.21 kWh
There's a danger that c r o s s o a k may turn into the trials and tribulations of EV charging. The novelty may wear off. Or we may give up.
Hawkers Cove
We planned a loop walk, but the path out of the cove was a swamp. So we switched to a there-and-back walk.
Eleven years later
Eleven years after we moved back from the USA we finally have faster broadband than we had there. Luke from Kelly Communications popped round this morning and pulled 100Mbps through the wall.
AirThings
An AirThings monitor. Because Cornwall & Radon. Radon is negligible. While CO₂ and VOCS spike at night...
Electric Experiences
Yes, this one is electric. With a whole new world of experiences.
Which means a whole new way of long distance trip planning. Hurrah!
But it did do Padstow via Honiton with a 15% top up at Solstice Services and 22% remaining at the end of the trip.
The house with the Spitfire
The house with the pillbox, now turned into a work of art. Spitire RF-D as flown by Wing Commander Jan Zumbach.
Welcome to our virtual tour of Durham University
With Covid and all the unpleasantness old fashioned university tours have gone all virtual. "There's an app for that" (although not a particularly good one).
A night out in Durham
An awesome meal out with Dave in Durham...
River Weir
Edit: How embarrassing, it's the River Wear. If you look closely there is a river weir, but that's not what I meant so that excuse doesn't count ;-)
Waiting
The 0720 from Cholsey used to be a magic train. A HST service that missed out Reading and then ran non-stop from Twyford.
A quote from hit makers
A quote from Hit makers: how things become popular.
> Some of my friends would welcome fashion tastes so static that a single wardrobe would last several millennia. Ironically, they tend to work in the technology industry, which embraces, and even pushes, change in just about every other category of life.
Looking back through the evidence, I can see no indication that this observation applies to me.
Edge of the trampoline
The edge of the trampoline, signifying the end of the trampoline. And an end of an era.
Student Care Package
In 2021, a student care package means fast, reliable, low latency Internet. Everywhere. Well, everywhere except where we are, where the two asthmatic mice blowing ones and zeros down a piece of string usually max out at 8Mbps.
Walking to Paddington
Things seen walking back to Paddington. Yes, I was avoiding the tube, and yes I was also missing my bike.
New Office View
I've had a few office views over the years.
There was the Barrington Hall View; the gardens of an English Country House. There were the Microsoft Redmond Campus views that included Lake Bill, a hint of the Cascades and perfectly manicured grass. The Microsoft UK office view was memorable through not being worth remembering (but the walk there and back was awesome). I'm not sure if the The Oxford Academy counts, it was a classroom not an office after all (but the commute was good too). Skype had many views, from Tallinn, to Seattle and even London. And mixed in around this period were some "I'm workings on the train office views. Amazon provided some variations on a theme, Seattle (again!) towards the space needle, and London looking East and West. Then there's been last 19 months of office views that have had a large proportion of "working from the garden".
Looks like we're flying again
After a year and a half of beautiful, plane free (or mybe more plane-challenged) skies, it looked this morning like things were getting back to How They Were.
Scotland, a rough guide
F caught me reading this this morning. He said, "you know that there's this thing called the internet". Cheeky so-and-so.
Not this one?
Probably not this one. It was more like driving an iPad than a car. Maybe this one because it feels more like a car than a computer game.
The mouth of the Camel
Snapped between the showers while on a walk with Ewok and Yogi.
Very different from yesterday's view.
Morning Padstow
Up early and a walk with the boys before breakfast.
Quay Side Reading
A quiet spot on the quay for a spot of reading.
Overheard while sat there, the crew of a boat planning to sail up to Scotland for the climate sumit, sampling the sea-soundscape on the way. I hope they got their TV slot. The producer (just arrived from south east London even though there's no petrol) sounded positive about an early morning piece to camera from the foredeck. But the lost and exasperated cameraman I saw the next morning probably meant that the tide-constrained slot had been missed.
Amazon Delivers
90 mins after the apology email that the delivery would be a day late, up pulls a branded van. It sits there for a few minutes and then drives off. I'm wondering which person or system realised that the package wasn't in the van and when, oh, and what the COE will read like. busmansholiday.
Winter Cabbages
Taken from the same spot as this pic, one of the earliest on c r o s s o a k back in 2005.
Walk, Surf, Lunch
Morning walk, some boarding (brov was sooooo right, it's warmer in the autumn!!!!), and a roast at the Harbour Inn. Tradition making?
Brick Tent Camping
I don't know who coined the phrase brick tent camping but it's perfectly apt. The project has a single pan induction hob which is perfect for brunch. There's a microwave, kettle and, most importantly a toaster. The plumbing works, just. And there's leccy too (although whether we'll be able to afford any in a month is anyone's guess). A fridge arrives tomorrow, just in time for it to be cold enough not to need a fridge. There's also a futon to sit/sleep on and a possibility of a bed arriving on Tuesday.
Tommy's Bench
Tommy Morrissey, 1915 - 1996.
> Just tell me Old Shipmates
> I'm taking a trip mates
> and I'll see you someday
> in Fiddlers Green
Futon
A futon arrived for the project. It was hanging out in the shed, but we thought quarter-past twelve in the morning was a little late to be figuring it out. Fortunately the airbed survived one more night (unlike our first attempt camping out at the project, which I'm not sure I'll ever be forgiven for). It's all quite cosy really…
Swimming
M wanted to swim in the sea so everyone got their bathing costumes ready.
