Margate

The above picture was in fact taken at Broadstairs and is of a Charles Dickens commemoration procession which we chanced upon. The photo below is of the closed double Dungeness Nuclear Power stations. 

Also at Dungeness local fisherman have a beautifully arranged fish shop the like of which I had not seen before, also a lunch shack. We enjoyed a fish lunch  in the open air with views over Dungeness towards the sea on one side and the nuclear power plants on the other.

Many memorable moments but the most dangerous  made only by younger brother and myself,was  a long beach walk along the beaches from Margate to Broadstairs where there was a long section of rocks and stones under the cliffs. Thankfully younger brother and I reached Broadstairs without injury.

We were thankful to take the train back to Margate. The journey  and ticket costs.back to Margate illustrated for me at least, how far we had walked.

Overall, an excellent break away for arranging which, many thanks to sister in law Jan

St Georges NHS Hospital Trust

Having my annual infusion for osteoporosis earlier  this week was informative. The bus to St Georges NHS Hospital Tooting was the sensible way to travel there as car parking is difficult. There was little queuing for the infusion and I was treated promptly.

The helpful infusion nurse upon seeing the book I was reading, mentioned that her father was reading the same novel The Predicament by William Boyd. I told her my view that the book was fascinating but probably more apt for male readers than female; but who knows?

The infusion went well and quickly, possibly because one or two other patients may not have turned up which is a waste of NHS time and money. Later I was asked to attend the St Georges Pharmacy receive two weeks supply of vitamin D globules. 

Amazing that the visit to St Georges the supply of the globules and today's visit to the Raynes Park GP surgery were all free of cost to me. 

The doctor at Raynes Park told me that my kidneys were deteriorating  and that this resulted from a number of factors. about which she will liaise with St George's.

The GP who told me that she had a full working today today (Saturday) said that she would  let me know if   the St Georges Rheumatology department  advised on  any further action that I could usefully take, beyond my daily walks over Wimbledon Common.

Fortnum & Masons Tea for Three

Youngest sister very generously provided a tea for three at Fortnum & Masons for mrs maytrees, herself and myself as a birthday present which we enjoyed enormously  earlier this week. The picture above was taken after we had consumed  not only much of the tea but also the top up sandwiches wihch were kindly provided for no extra cost.

Mrs maytrees and I arrived slightly early so were able to enjoy looking at the Fortnum & Masons food and wine shopping areas. Sweet Alice biscuits which I recollect from a visit some 50 years previously are no longer on sale presumably because the manufacturer has disappeared. None the less there were some wonderful  foods, teas, drinks and biscuits, beautifully displayed for sale in the crowded shopping areas.

Some 15 minutes before our high tea was due to commence, we took our seats in the restaurant foyer on the fourth floor. There was a comfortable sofa for us to occupy whilst we waited and an excellent pianist played on the nearby grand piano.

An elegant lady soon came over to guide us in to our table where shortly afterwards we were joined by youngest sister,

The  tea was of course delicious especially as I had opted for the savoury version whereas mrs maytrees and youngest sister had chosen the normal cream tea.

The waitress told me that the large tea room had been opened to celebrate HM Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee, explaining why last time I had visited the F&M tea room, the venue had been much smaller and on a lower floor.

The tea itself was delicious as one might expect, though the price had risen somewhat since my visit  years ago.

After tea, we walked  through crowded Piccadilly to nearby Hatchards bookshop,  taking the Jubilee line back to London Waterloo, thence home.

 

Maurice and Maralyn

A friend of mrs  maytrees gave me the above as part of a birthday present from her husband and herself a couple of weeks back. 

Thank you Lynette, a very interesting read.  of an exciting true story and quite unforgettable.

The account starts with the  couple buying a suburban house and preparing to live  normal suburban lifestyles. However they fairly quickly become bored  and decide travel for a new life in New Zealand.  They sell their house and use the proceeds to build  and stock  a sailing boat whilst avoiding installing any modern communications instruments such as a radio, on board.

Eventually the voyage commences and the couple travel alone in the Atlantic across to the Pacific Ocean with a view to arriving in New Zealand several months later where Maurice already had new employment organised.

Disaster then strikes when their sailing boat is struck by a whale and despite attempts to prevent  sinking the boat goes down leaving them with a dinghy and raft. Before the boat sinks however the couple were able to store tins of food and water onto the dinghy including a bithday cake which had been brought to celebrate Maralyn's biithday due to take place during their voyage.

The account continues with details of the couple's attempts to survive and the passing by of many ships which failed to spot what must have been a small speck in the sea..

The absorbing account  also details dreadful pain, diarrhea and illnesses affecting the two of them. Their fishing attempts given that the absence of fishing hooks  and their eating of turtles, flying birds as well as fish are set out and are fascinating. Yet when almost faced by death,, salvation occurs..

The book continues with details of their survival; radio and TV appearances and how they felt but the above is sufficient for this blog post leaving any blog reader who is interested, with the task of buyng the book to read the full story.

UK Politics Today

 

Politics in the UK has changed substantially  in recent years though in my view, not for the better.

Reform is a comparatively new political party that people are voting for probably because Nigel Farage and his team have not yet been in full national government. Reform's local government victories meanwhile do not appear to illustrate that they are any better than the more established political parties, as many of  the local councils they now hold are  embroiled in arguments.

The Green Party has altered from being a party principally  concerned with the environment, to being a political  party on the left of Labour. 

Like Reform, the Green's political successes to date have not given the areas  they have  won, any advantages over those previously 'enjoyed'. Like Reform's leader Nigel Farage, the Green's leader, Zack Polanski is embroiled in argument. In the former's case about  failure to declare  promptly, large donations and in the latter's case about non payment of Council Tax over some years.

The Conservative Party has previously had so many issues  of malfeasnce that it was trounced  by the Labour Party in the UK general election some two years ago.

The Lib/Dems seem to me to change their policies from time to time. to suit their political situation, Thus when in power with the Tories they dropped their promise to reform the university student  finance system, though to me, their current leader Sir Ed Davey, is their largest failure given his various non political gimmicks.

Not being Scottish I know nowt about Scottish politics save for their enthusiasm for independence.,They apparently signify that  England should pay them  on independence  rather than the Scots bearing their share of the national debt if/when going alone.

The Labour Party is currently in turmoil. There is as yet no leadership contest but their current leader Sir Keir Starmer is weak having made U-turn after U-turn. Whether Andy Burnham the current mayor of Manchester wins the by-election that a resigning Labour MP has created for him is as yet unclear but that will take some weeks, during which time the grand ship UK will be almost rudderless. 

Currently the Tories in my view are being led by a competent politician  Kemi Badenoch but she will need time to secure more support in the country given her predeccssors' many failings.

Labour is in disasster territory but as the picture above, of the PM visiting AFC Wimbledon illustrates, they did well in the recent local election in Merton having seen off the Lib Dems, possibly assisted by the huge payment received by Merton Council upon selling off their company CHAS,  owned since 1996,for £186m.

Still, other international democracies are suffering their own problems the USA  for example. I hesitate to add the EU which is not actually a democracy though that trading group is undoubtedly suffering..

70th Birthday Party at The Goring

 

A huge thank you first of all to birthday girl youngest sister who organised and paid for what was a very successful and happy occasion of lunch and tea, which we all enjoyed.at London's Goring Hotel situated just behind Buckingham Palace.

Seeing all living brothers and sisters gathered together for the frst time for many months was a treat and the weather held good for us all.

The event was a great success hosting  in the case of the maytrees family, our four children and three grand children.

Oldest son flew over from his home in Jersey Channel Islands and youngest son overcame his damaged leg with crutches still managing to attend on time.

Oldest daughter came with her 12 year old daughter and 9 year old son and youngest daughter attended with her husband and 6 month old daughter. 

Speeches were excellent as was youngest  brother's film show, which included some old family pictures one of which showed nana in a great photo along with a hideous looking  7 year old maytrees. There were also some .recently taken short films by each sibling and some grand children  

A great  birthday party and maytrees family as well as siblings and their families get togethers.

Richmond Park

A beautiful spring day led to mrs maytrees and I deciding on a trip to nearby Richmond Park.

Pembroke Lodge in Richmond Park is a very popular venue for wedding receptions which may be the reason that the cost for lunch certainly by today's standards is quite inexpensive. We were informed that the fish for my selected fish and chip lunch would take three more minutes. A Chinese girl next in line also decided to wait which surprised me as fish and chips used to be a  meal  mainly appreciated by the British and Irish. For example during a visit to Iceland which is surrounded by  fish, we could not find any straight forward fish  and chips.

The fish duly arrived and along with a pile of carrots and peas put on my plate by the waitress serving behind the counter. The meal was delicious to eat at the nearby dining room overlooking Petersham. Cheap but very tasty. 

I wonder if the costs of restaurant meals will soon increase though, given the war in Iran and the blocking of the Straits of Hormuz.

After the main meal, mrs maytrees and I adjourned for ice creams at the Pembroke Lodge  cafeteria outside. Joining two girls at a large table  in the shade, we began to chat. One of the girls was from Ontario Canada and was holidaying in England for her first time. It turned out that she was a student at a university in Ontario. The expense  for higher education studetnts today reminded me that years back  in the UK university fees were non existent though only about 4% of the school population reached university. Today of course that percentage is far higher but substantial fees have to be paid by most students.including it turned out, those in Canada.

After our ice creams and saying farewll to the Canadian girl, mrs maytrees and I went for a stroll in the glorious sunshine before returning to the car.