Jihadi John identity revealed & the pond needs attention

Interesting headline in the Express this morning.
The Sky News  story on the theme indicates MI5 have known his identity for some time - - -









In an effort to "get on with my book" im having a go at writing first thing in the morning, I can almost always find an excuse "not" to get on with it during the day

I'm up to the part of my career when i spend some time in 50 Missile Regiment Royal Artillery who were stationed in Menden, Germany.  Unsure if i had made the right move at first i am suddenly "in the right place at the right time!"

 My first walk after the holiday was a bit of a dull weather affair

Although the snow drops are still in bloom but are looking a little jaded now

As i reached this point the wind increased to 30mph plus and i'm looking directly at it funnelling down the valley from Bakewell

For yesterdays walk the sun shone and the sky was blue

 The hillside leading up to the Nine Ladies Stone Circle looked to be enjoying the sunshine as much as the sheep

Even the sun on the far bank though couldn't make the cold river look inviting.  I did see 2 of the 4 Swans i took pics of before the holiday

The view North up the valley looked stunning though even in the very cooling breeze

I noticed the pond pumps looked to be covered in old foliage yesterday so it looks to be a bit of pond cleaning up day today - - -
I shall start logging again soon but the first job will be to bring down all the "fire ready" wood to fill up the new store.  Having said that the new store needs a roof so that will have to be completed soon - - -

 cool stats again, one of my instruments is showing 9c! cant imagine why

Still pretty gloomy on the weathercam.  Forecasters indicate a wet and windy day!

Enjoy the day

Follow this link to see  our weather website

Or this one just to see  Live webcam - - Birdfeeders

Dont sleep its bad for you - back to the Challenges & Opportunities

Hey ho - - - as i spread "butter" on my toast this morning, well you can now cos its good for! I had just been reading how in the Mail Too much Red wine is bad for you the "experts can say "too much" is bad for you but "its difficult to say how much is ok" - - -

The Express on the other hand have come up with the idea that too much sleep is bad for you - - - the text  behind the headline is full of the usual rhetoric which no doubt another "expert" can prove is just rubbish - - - one the other hand though? - - - I guess it can be right actually because if you cant drag your lazy arse out of bed long enough to get out and earn some £s your life is surely going to get more and more difficult - - -

The holiday was a great success and we had a fabulous time at kurumba
The flight back which is normally a bit of a trial seemed less so this time even though we had almost 3 hours in Doha airport.  The stop over was less of a hassle than the "sprint" through it we had on the way out! lol

Little man enjoyed his stay at the 5 star hotel and amused the carers by escaping out of his "room" every time they opened his door but then just wandering around looking at all the other occupants.  Hes back to his usual self at home now - - -

our next holiday is back to the lovley Lake Dsitrict at the start of winter

now that's what you call a sunset!

Back to the everyday challenges and opportunities i guess! - - -

Not bad stats almost into double figures on the temp. - - -

the weathercam pic is a little dull it has been raining quite recently and is forecast through until 12:00

Enjoy the day

Follow this link to see  our weather website

Or this one just to see  Live webcam - - Birdfeeders

Holiday blog - - a few days at Kurumba

Picasa web album Link : to a few Holiday snaps, I'll add a few each day   

Sunday 15th Feb

At last! the day we actually go on holiday. Off to the airport soon
The flight to Male was via Doha in the Gulf and we only had an hour to wait between flights.  When we were coming into land the pilot said the Temperature was 90F and we had thought how cool it felt as we walked across to the terminal building - - - we were in for a surprise  "Wait" turned out to be a misnomer because once we got to the display showing us the gate for the onward flight we were down to 45 minutes and the display showed "boarding"
The gate was D22 and we were at A16!  there followed an ungainly speed march through the whole of the terminal past every other set of gates - - - would we make it? of course the place is packed and everyone is ambling along except for half a dozen crazed Brits! B10 to B30 - - - C10 to C30 where were the B----y Ds? down an escalator looking back Sally is looking decidedly uncomfortable by now.  At last we are on the D set of gates and we reach 22 in a lather and are rushed through onto a coach, without air conditioning and after a short delay are whisked off to the aircraft.  As soon as we are sat down it sets off - - - just made it!
Monday 16th

   Male immigration hall is thankfully almost empty and in 15 minutes we are outside being greeted by a long line of people with the resort name boards.  5 minutes later we are getting on our speedboat with the guy in the overalls hogging the picture!  lol   - - - we speed across the couple of miles to the resort seeing a small pod of dolphins on the way dabbing ourselves with the cold hand towels and swigging some cold fresh water

Its early in the morning about 07:30 and we are aware we might not get into our room until 14:00.  As we step off the speedboat a smiling old familiar face appears and whisks us off to a "temporary room".  At least we can shower and have a bit of a sleep.

 theres a Maldivian downpour!  and 20 minutes later you wouldnt know it had rained and the sun is back out

just after lunch we get into our pool villa and the holiday really starts 

Tuesday 17th 

We settle into the well rehearsed "routine" of an early morning snorkel 

these bat fish are really curious,normally they shy away if you go close to them but these 2 followed us for a while 

sundowners at the beach bar then a quick change and off to dinner then hit the bar where Sally's old mate the cocktail man demonstrates his latest mixtures - - -  

Friday 20 Feb

We are having to modify our early morning snorkel routine due to the extremely low tides because you cant get out through the gaps in the bund.  So its a quick dip before lunch now once i prise Sally away from one of her books!  

here's Sally in reflective mood surveying the low tide level !

 a few hours later the top of the bund is hardly visible and its easy to swim through the gaps 

we ate in the Japanese restaurant last night, it only seats about 20 and is a bit expensive although on our dine around all inclusive package it comes as part of the deal

this thing nearly swam into me the other day, I'm reliably informed its a "ray shark" (Maldivian name) or known as a shovel nosed ray elsewhere.  They normally stay in the deep water so maybe that accounts for it almost bumping into me

sitting in the bar at lunchtime, not many people about, i never fancied sitting in one of these things especially in the full sun

down at the sand bar for the sunset with a few crepuscular rays showing for a while

Saturday 22 Feb 
We walked along the beach first thing planning our snorkel for around 11:30 today due to the low tide.
For Fridays snorkel the water had been a little cloudy so we were surprised to see it so clear when we got in today

having gone out through the gaps in the bund here's Sally swimming over the reef towards where it drops down into the deep part where we normally get the best pics

always an amusing fish to come across this Sweetlips will just stare at you with its big soulful eyes before hiding somewhere

not sure what these are but in the right light the yellow spots look like LED's

Sally gets a close shot of this green Pipe Fish there were 3 or 4 of them and they didnt appear to be interested in us swimming over them

we finished off the daylight at the sand bar watching the sunset

As an after thought when packing for the holiday I stuffed in the pile of Army records referring to my time with 50 Missile RA.  I have managed to sort it into chronological order today so will get stuck in tomorrow

Monday 23 Feb
We spotted a snorkeler in trouble on our early morning walk, a Japanese girl had gone out through the bund and along to a particularly shallow bit of the reef.  She was stood up in knee deep water on a small patch of sand surrounded by coral waving her arms about.  I ran back to the "hut" put on my fins and swam out to her.  She wasn't too far away from a channel through the coral back into the lagoon so i guided her back through.

Tuesday 24th Feb 
last day today and trying to check in on line is like trying to contact the planet Zorg with a pair of flags!  the computer now refuses to recognize me as a user but i hacked into the guest user but cant up load any of my "user" pics - - - hey ho back to reality!


Eureka!!!! 
1 glass of wine later!!  i managed to restore the computer to an earlier restore point and i am at least recognised as a "Key basher"  I will not cast nasturtiums at Sally who was using the computer when it decided to go into "sulk mode" not allowing us to do anything - - -
Snorkeling yesterday was a bit disappointing because of reduced visibility  so as we were opposite the sand bar

"how fortunate"  we had a couple there before retiring to our pool.
the day before however the water was very clear and it was Sally who spotted an Eagle Ray, we used to see them on a daily basis but this was our first encounter this holiday

this ones about 5 ft across the wings and has a 6 foot tail and was 7 or 8 metres below us "flying along the edge of the reef

not wanting to upset it too much i managed to get a little closer as it cruised down the reef wall. I remember years ago in Hakuraa we got a shot with 5 Eagle Rays cruising along

There are quite a few small lizards on the island and we spotted this handsome chap on our wanderings this morning.

Right then, here we are just about to go for our last lunch then chill until we get transported back over to the airport later in the afternoon - - -

A savings boost! & Caution fly fishermen at work

An optimistic start to the day at the Express with a "savings boost for millions" all attributed to global stock markets soaring!  - - - must be a slack news day methinks - - -








Yesterday i decided only to do a short walk and it turned out to be a good idea

a pretty gloomy shot at the start of the walk does not convey how bitingly cold the wind was,

the large molehill, at left, featured in a previous blog has been joined by some equally proportioned ones

I discovered a newly erected stile over a fence and wondered why it was there because its not a recognised footpath at this point. To get around this point i had been using the branches of the tree to precariously get to the other side recently.

similarly at the next fence line which was impossible to get over there was yet another stile.  The river bank had also been flattened, so its now an easy stroll right by the river

 it all became clear as i approached this sign for the Darley Dale Fly Fishing Club I had seen what were  obviously new fly fishing "steps" down into the river at various points some time ago.  So the club has been developing their stretch of the River and creating a very nice footpath as well - - -

 i spotted these 4 young swans feeding i wondered how long they might be around as swans are not a permanent feature along this stretch - - -

I culled the text below from an e mail i received from The Pacific Institute  Its one of these motivational "things" I'm sure most "professionals" have been subjected to during their careers.  When i was working regularly I was subjected to it, its a bit like panning for gold, you spend hours sifting through the sand and then get the odd "nugget"

Flexibility in times of change 
"The only constant in the universe is change." Whether these words were from Heraclitus (a 5th century BC Greek philosopher) or Albert Einstein, they were correct. The ability to quickly adapt is still a survival skill, one that has set the human species apart from most others.

One of the secrets to happiness in these changing times is the ability to be flexible - the power to adapt. Some people make themselves miserable by being very stubborn about their plans for the future. They choose a path and refuse to deviate from it, no matter what.

Now, persistence and tenacity are normally great qualities to have, but when it's necessary to take a new direction, resistance can keep us stuck in the mud. The happiest and most successful people most likely are those who are eager to learn new ways. They adapt to new systems when the old ones don't work or when something better comes along.

If one career path fails, they enthusiastically learn a new way to make a living. If their marriage ends, they are able to adjust to being alone or to a new relationship. If people frustrate them and they see that these folks aren't going to change, they accept them the way they are and relax, or they express their regrets without judging or blaming, and move on.

The Alcoholics Anonymous "serenity" prayer says it all: Change what you can, accept what you can't, and cultivate the wisdom to know the difference. To these wise words perhaps we should add, "...and believe wholeheartedly in my ability to do both!"

cold soggy stats this morning and i feel the barometric tendency is rather influenced by a small rise in Bar. pressure rather than any sunshine on its way!

 the weathercam is much the same view as yesterday with some hill fog around as well as a little light rain

In Finland though its -27c so I'm glad i'm not there

Off to "the foreign" tomorrow after we put little man in his 5 star hotel, we'll be jetting off to ours, +29c there just now, no chance of any frost! - - -

Enjoy the day

Follow this link to see  our weather website

Or this one just to see  Live webcam - - Birdfeeders

cheap half term holidays & a balloon joins me walking

I cant seem to get the whole of the Express front page today but the "half" above fits in with their story about cheap half term holidays - - -





I had decided to walk up to the Nine Ladies stone circle for yesterdays bit of exercise

the start pic gives the impression that its not a bright day

although the view up the River Wye for a change had a bit of texture to it 

a few strides on the view of Peak Tor was edging towards a misty walk

it was with some surprise then that as i arrived at the circle i spotted a Balloon in the sky

it appeared to be coming in to land but i thought it would land right up here

it eventually passed quite close by the circle with the pilot giving the passengers a good view of it and the folly tower which is hidden by the trees

as i made my way back down the track it was descending

it had landed next to the track i was using - - the sheep looked a little alarmed and sometimes farmers blame the balloons for them aborting lambs

by the time i was level with it the ground recovery crew were nearby and one of them was collapsing the balloon

wandering along the river bank track i spotted 3 blokes in hi vis jackets with a theodolite on another track in the woods. I presumed they must be working on the new "Cycle path" - - -

Once again cold stats with a stiff breeze blowing just now

still not full light but the weathercam is showing a little mist on top of the valley edges

Enjoy the day

Follow this link to see  our weather website

Or this one just to see  Live webcam - - Birdfeeders