Local stuff

Had our friends from Kent up to stay recently, it's always great fun and we manage to pack quite a bit in. BBQ was bit of a mistake as the day wasn't very hot so we ended up eating inside!
Popped into The Victoria on Saturday, you'll see from the attached photo the Andy has a Harley Davidson which we went out to admire, hence the photo!
Kate came over a few days later and we took her to Houghton Hall park, which was new to me too. It's enclosed fields and some woodland so fine to let dogs off the lead. Had a nice walk round and found a kitchen garden which must have been part of the main house (now offices) years ago. It also has a very nice café so we finished with a coffee there.

  

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Shillington Dig

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Shillington Dig: Great to get back to digging again and this weekend the sun shone for us. Derek got us a good gig in a 16th century cottage garden. The onl...

Shillington Dig

Great to get back to digging again and this weekend the sun shone for us. Derek got us a good gig in a 16th century cottage garden. The only frustration being that all the garden had been built up so down to about 0.5m all the archaeology was mixed up , so not telling us anything.
No Ivor this weekend  but as well as myself, Kevin, Derek & Nigel we had with us Lucy , Alison & Catherine & Dave. Too many for one test pit really but  not all were there the whole weekend.
Got cracking and were soon down to 10cm, cleaned up and recorded. As I say a nice selection of finds, pottery & clay pipe but all very mixed. Alot of Victorian blue & white and some Medieval green glazed sherds. Got down to 0.7m and calamity! Uncovered a drainage pipe. Bugger, bugger, bugger!
The owner did know there was a drain there & marked it for us but his mark was out abit!
Cleaned up and adjourned to the Musgrave Arms  for post dig analysis. The guest beer was called Jeffery Hudson, very light and citrusy, and very refreshing it was.
 Day two saw us extend the pit away from the pipe to give us more space to work. Got that extra bit down to 0.7m as well and went down another context which didn't reveal very much. Time Team always had three days to excavate, we only have two, so it was time to back fill, which I hate!
Last post dig analysis at The Musgrave and that was it. Frustrating though it was  it was a cracking weekend.

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Palestine Campaign

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Palestine Campaign: Another excellent lecture over at the University of Hertfordshire put on by the Herts At War project. Tonight was Stuart Hadaway talking a...

Palestine Campaign

Another excellent lecture over at the University of Hertfordshire put on by the Herts At War project.
Tonight was Stuart Hadaway talking about the campaign in Palestine.
He told us he was a revisionist in as much as the generals of WW1 weren't all donkey's, though he says for the Palestine campaign he'll make an exception, as some basic mistakes were made. When the British pushed the Turks back from the Suez Canal area they fought  a very good rear guard action. That's is to say a some force of Turks stayed put until the last minute to hold up the British as much as possible ( I say British but there were many Indian troops involved in this campaign as well) then they fell back to other positions, the British high command interpreted  this as give Johnny Turk a good push & he'll run away. The British were to find this was not the case when attacking Gaza where the ground they attacked over was billiard table flat.
It was a very interesting talk though Stuarts delivery wasn't as good as some. He most certainly knew his stuff  & fielded the many questions he took with ease.
Please follow this link to fond out more about the Herts At War project.www.hertsatwar.co.uk/

An idiots guide to an Idiot: The joy of .......Eurovision.

An idiots guide to an Idiot: The joy of .......Eurovision.: As naff as it usually is I think Eurovision is great! Tara & I have watched most, if not all of them since 1980. It's always been a...

An idiots guide to an Idiot: The joy of .......Eurovision.

An idiots guide to an Idiot: The joy of .......Eurovision.: As naff as it usually is I think Eurovision is great! Tara & I have watched most, if not all of them since 1980. It's always been a...

An idiots guide to an Idiot: The joy of .......Eurovision.

An idiots guide to an Idiot: The joy of .......Eurovision.: As naff as it usually is I think Eurovision is great! Tara & I have watched most, if not all of them since 1980. It's always been a...

The joy of .......Eurovision.

As naff as it usually is I think Eurovision is great! Tara & I have watched most, if not all of them since 1980. It's always been an alternative night in & can be great fun. Afew years ago we had a Eurovision party & got a good number of people, instead of bring a bottle we asked everyone to bring a food of one of the counties taking part. Some of our friends had better imaginations than others, Alan brought baked beans as a traditional English thing, but David excelled himself & seem to bring something from at least half the counties taking part! Anyway we all had a great night........no idea who won though!
Tried to do it again just a couple of years ago & got such a poor response we didn't bother!
Got to say we both thought this years was quite good, there didn't seem quite as much voting for the neighbours & more about voting for the songs. On Taras suggestion  we tried to pick the top three who would win so not necessarily our favourites, the total points that our choices scored in the competition determined which one of us won, the prize being a small gift bought by the loser. My top three were Spain, Denmark & Albania , their points came to 471. Not bad I thought. Taras choices were Germany, Italy & Austria who's points came to 990!So it's me to find a small gift!
However neither of us predicted the real winner in Israel. A complete load of old cobblers if ever there was & very typically Eurovision. Not a bearded lady this time but a short fat bird called Netta making weird noises & dressed as part Japanese Geisha part Christ knows what. Graham Norton added the odd quip and the three & half hours seemed to fly by. Most of a bottle of red wine probably helped, it was a great evening of having a laugh together, can't wait till next year!

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Bank Holidays

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Bank Holidays: Sitting here after a really nice Bank Holiday weekend.Had another doggie guest over night Saturday /Sunday, a 5 month old German Shepherd p...

Bank Holidays

Sitting here after a really nice Bank Holiday weekend.Had another doggie guest over night Saturday /Sunday, a 5 month old German Shepherd pup, a lovely dog but huge! Bigger than Ida already, he was just doing what puppies do and couldn't really have been better but we were both knackered by the time he went home!
Julians birthday on Sunday so we took him the Victoria's Beer Festival which was great fun. 10 ales and two ciders on offer, a nice mix of darker as well as lighter beers as well which is a welcome change, as so many places now seem to go for lighter ales only. Just trying them in half pints, we sat in glorious sunshine in the pub garden (the 'we' being self, Tara & Julian).Tring Beers 'Coley Dog' was one of my faves, quite pokey at 5.2% & of course you know me and my refreshing golden ales and 3 Brewers 'Golden English Ale' fitted the bill perfectly & at 3.8% a good quaffing beer.
Joined for a while by Big Man, always a pleasure to see him, we've known him since  before he was called Big Man and that's a long time! Alittle later Olly joined us as well. Now Oliver likes his cider and partook of the two offerings here, though the cider that was supposed to be apple & elderflower was changed to apple & rhubarb. This one was just nectar, really easy to drink and a great flavour, even if you don't like rhubarb, which Tara as it happens doesn't, but she did like this cider. Ambled  (staggered!?)  back to Ella & Julians & brought kebabs on the way. A great day.
Impromptu BBQ on Monday, not many bods available so just us, Olly & Laura & Ella & Julian.  The usual BBQ type fare, all cooked in the traditional way of burnt to buggery on the outside & raw in the middle. Assorted salads & odds & sods to accompany and pud was, what else but strawberries & cream. Managed to get a couple of  IPA's down my neck as well, perfect for another hot day. A glorious weekend, first of many this summer I trust.

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Dance up the Sun!

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Dance up the Sun!: Stayed with our dear friends in Kent again and was out at 4.30am this morning  to witness the age old tradition of 'Dancing up the Sun&...

Dance up the Sun!

Stayed with our dear friends in Kent again and was out at 4.30am this morning  to witness the age old tradition of 'Dancing up the Sun' to welcome in Spring & Summer.  Assembled at The Star at St Marys in the Marsh where the assorted dancers and musicians made ready. The sun was due up at 5.28am the dancing commenced around twenty minutes before that. I just love the fact that this has been done for hundreds of years and even this morning Morris sides the length & breadth of England would have been out doing it. It's that real link with history that I think is so brilliant. The Romney Marsh Morris Side are only into their second year as a side but are going from strength to strength (follow this link to find out more  https://www.romneymarshmorris.com/ )  The dancing looks superb but that's because they put in a lot of effort with weekly practises. It takes it out of you as well, I can vouch for that having taken part in a come and have a go session for the side, though of course there's no chance I could have joined them, the commute from Bedfordshire to Kent would never have worked!
After enjoying their dancing The Star was laying on a cooked breakfast which we all tucked into, washed down with a pint of Whitstable Bay Pale Ale at 7.30am ! It had to be done. It was a great morning and a pleasure to support the side.