Blimey, not another year.

I see it's been nearly a year since my last post and that was just a 'holding' post, explaining why I hadn't written anything for months and months.

Well, here goes, another 'holding' post and, I hope, the start of a new wave of informative and highly amusing jottings.

It will take me a while to fill you in on what I have been up to with Skylark including my latest mooring in Ely, her new paint job (inside and out), the new tv aerial, her fantastic new name sign and much, much more. I just can't wait, I hear you say!

But first of all, a word of warning. A few months ago, my computer was hacked into by a very friendly chappy purporting to be a BT Engineer. He said my broadband had shown a lot of unusual activity for a few months and he kindly said he could sort it out for me. Being a bit of numpty, I agreed and so he carried out some more unusual activity including transferring all my money from my bank account into his. Fortunately my bank agreed to pay it back as this was clearly a fraud and advise me to change all my passwords and have my computer deep cleaned, not just the occasional brush with a duster I give it.

Anyway, to cut a long and very disturbing story short, I now have a very secure internet connection with all sorts of electronic belts and braces to make sure it doesn't happen again. One ongoing problem is that all my passwords are so complicated (and no longer stored on my computer for easy access by me or any other scallywag), I have some difficulty in opening my accounts. Did you know, when you sign in, if you get just one letter, number or symbol wrong, you have to start all over again? It's a right faff but I suppose it's worth it in the end.

So, (and I use that word in the context of its original meaning, not as the the first word in an answer to a question), I will try to work out how to access my blog on a more regular basis and share with you some of my more recent activities. Most will be about Skylark but there will also be a few bits about other things like the time I tripped over my long dress as I ran across the Regal stage during a brilliant performance as the dame in Cinderella. Anyway, must go, dentist waiting to see me. BFN.

I've been 'off air'

My regular reader will be wondering why I have not been reporting on my recent activities. In fact, I don't think I've posted anything since the middle of last year. So, if you've missed my ramblings, I'm sorry and hope to put things right.

My voluntary work with Suffolk Lowland Search and Rescue has taken up quite a bit of time and effort, and I have also volunteered to work with the Air Training Corps as a Civilian Instructor.

I'm planning my next world trip; to circumnavigate the Netherlands by Land Rover and Brompton folding bike. Although, when I say planning, what I should say is I'm going in a few days. I hope to return, unscathed in a couple of weeks. This may be followed by another long cycle trip maybe from Bewick upon Tweedle-dee to Suffolk along the coast road but that will have to wait until later in the year.

I still have time to take Skylark out for various trips and I did actually manage to start the repainting last year. More on this to follow, including when I'm planning to finish it.

So, you can see I've been busy constructively filling my days at the Twilight Home for the Prematurely Retired and have found my Blog has just slipped to the bottom of my 'Things to do' list.

That leads me to my thought for the day - when the only thing on my 'Things to do' list is 'Do nothing but drink soup through a straw and have my nappy changed', that will be the time to concentrate more on my Blog. Goodness knows what I will write about then!

New Activities

In addition to my jaunts on Skylark, I have now joined the Suffolk Lowland Search and Rescue (SuLSar). It's exactly like Mountain Rescue but without the hills. So far, I have had basic training to be a Search Technician and have been called out a couple of times to search for missing persons (mispers - their term, not mine). 

It's ticking a number of boxes for me - it's interesting, enjoyable and, hopefully, useful. I'm also learning a lot of new stuff about navigation, communication, first aid, working with the emergency services, bike and river bank searches, etc etc. The men and women are from all walks of life and all of them have a similar sense of duty and humour to me. I hope my initial impression and enthusiasm lasts. If last weekend in Thetford Forest is anything to by, it should do...

By the way, the lady in the dark blue, sitting at the corner of the nissen hut, has a special place in my heart as I sat with her for about an hour in a crashed car, holding her head straight. She was a casualty in a multiple pile-up and my job was to protect her from further injury and keep her mind of her broken leg and possible broken back. I soon realised chatting to a complete stranger on the back seat of a crashed car, about your and her life, is a good way to get to know someone. When we said goodbye at the end of the exercise, we had a little hug - it seemed a bit daft at first but it was definitely the right thing to do. At least she survived the trauma of the accident and my droning on about life in Suffolk.

Talking of new activities, I have also joined the Air Training Cadets as a Civilian Instructor. Once my application is finally approved by the RAF, which could take months I am told, I will be a fully fledged instructor to talk to the youngsters about trekking, woodland crafts, camping, navigation, etc. Despite the slowness of the admin, I have already started to the get involved.

I have explained to the various organisers of these groups that I am fully committed to participate as needed but I also need to make time for my other activities such a boating, playing guitar and ukulele, walking, biking, holidays, AmDram, Land Rover and house maintenance, dog, chickens, etc etc. The list goes on...

Who said you can slow down when you retire?

First Boat Inspection

Just before her fourth birthday (28 April 2016), I booked Skylark in for her first Safety Inspection and she passed with flying colours. I shouldn't have been surprised but it was a bit of a relief.

Incidentally, I was told by the Inspector that my Gas Regulator made by Clesse has been recalled. Apparently those made between June 2010 and Sept 2015 had an internal part that can rust and then fail. They will replace it foc. I just need to do the paperwork and photograph it. If you have one of these, you had better check it out on the Clesse website.

I have just completed the annual service - including an oil change, filter change, checking the air filter, checking and tightening nuts, screws and fittings, cleaning everything, tidying the engine 'ole, etc.

I'm also now making a final decision on repainting the sides. I'm considering a light green by Craft Master called Bethnal Green. This should go well with the interior pant scheme and be more serviceable than the previous brand of ICI paint. Hopefully it won't fade so much either. Time will tell.

The recommended coverage is 12 square metres to the litre (with no thinning) so, as the two cabin sides measure approximately 28 sq m and I will give it 2 undercoats and 2 top coats, that makes 112 sq m. That's just short of 10 cans of paint.The supplier is near by and carries this in stock so, if I run out, I will be able to restock quickly. The deck areas will be grey to match the roof which I did last year. So, full steam ahead. I just need to find a week of dry weather that's not too windy... or hot... or cold. Maybe Northern France?

Ypres

I forgot to mention, I popped into Ypres on my way to Wizernes and stayed near the town centre with the view of attending the nightly playing of the Last Post at the Menin Gate. I got there too late on the first night and, on balance, didn't particularly want to be pushed around by the bus-loads of tourists on the second night, so I went on to St-Omer. Another time, maybe with Ben.

However, I did have time to visit Kemmel and my mother's uncle Alfred, who died on 29 November 1914. His grave is just south of Ypres - see previous posts.

That evening I popped up to the Canadian front line at Hill 62 near Sanctuary Wood and took in the sunset over Ypres in the distance. A good place to reflect...

La Coupole

After Mons, I drove for the rest of the day to St-Omer and spent the night in the small town of Wizernes. The plan was to visit La Coupole the next day but unfortunately my mains inverter had packed up so I couldn't charge my camera battery - so no photos!

Anyway, I did visit La Coupole and enjoyed every minute. It was basically a huge concrete bunker built into the hillside of a forest in 1943, designed to manufacture and launch V2 rockets on London. Thousands of German, French and slave workers built the complex including a vast concrete dome and miles of underground tunnels. This was like something out of a science fiction film but frighteningly real.

The allies knew it was there but didn't know what it was for. However, because of its size and location, they knew it must be destroyed. It was therefore bombed and finally destroyed by the Tall Boy bomb that undermined its foundations. 

The dome is fully accessible with fascinating exhibits and the visitor centre includes a 3-D film; all very interesting, especially the post war stories of how the Americans 'encouraged' the top German rocket scientists to go over to the US to help build their space rockets in advance of the Russians. Again, it was all a bit 'James Bond' but true. This is a 'must see' place.

For the background see     http://www.lacoupole-france.co.uk/

Mons

After Waterloo, I headed down to Mons, the location of the first British engagement in late August 1914. It was here that the 4th Fusiliers of the British Expeditionary Force had to hold the Germans along the Mons-Condé Canal. While the Germans were initially taken by surprise following the high rate of accurate fire of the British Lee Enfield rifle and the Lewis Machine gun, after about 6 hours of fighting, the British commanders ordered a withdrawal due to the overwhelming numbers of Germans. 

It was on this canal that the first Victoria Cross of the war was posthumously awarded to Lieutenant Maurice Dease. He is buried in the very tranquil Mons Military Cemetery to the east of the town alongside many of his comrades and Germans who were also killed at the time. After 100 years it's poignant to see the graves of both British and German soldiers lying together. 

You should read about this battle and, in particular about Dease and his mates - what brave young men...

You should see BBC iPlayer > Channel 3 > Our World War > The First Day. It is a stunning recreation of the first day at Mons.

This is available to see for 3 months from now. The other two programmes in the box set are good too.

The recently refurbished Mons Museum on the edge of the town centre has certainly had a good deal of money spent on it but I was a little disappointed. The interior is very dark and the English text on the exhibits is very small. I guess this is done to add atmosphere to the place but much of the information is hard to read and therefore the meaning is lost. 

Never mind, I could still look at the pictures.