Posted in May 2008

Interesting Times in Exeter

Source: hazel eyes
Tuesday 27th May 2008, 3:02pm

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad noone was seriously hurt, but the bomb was a bit of a fuss over nothing really. The only thing he blew up was himself and a toilet.

I think ThisIsntExeter summed it up best, the 'bomber' was a bit of a mentalist from all accounts. He did manage to cause major chaos though, loads of people unable to get back into work to collect belongings if they'd been out to lunch (me included), or being evacuated. Not to mention shutting down parts of the city entirely.

Off To The Pub In The Sunshine Then

Still, it wasn't too bad, being keyless and unable to get into my house, I wandered down to the pub with my colleagues. We speculated as to who did indeed plant the bomb, the merits of the new Freelander commercial and who indeed did frame Roger Rabbit over a few drinks.

Back To The Home Of The Free

Soon I received a phonecall the my other half had finished work and was able to pick me up, only slightly drunk (me, not him) so off I toddled. I think it was about 8pm that people were able to collect their cars and shop workers go back to do what was needed to their stores.

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Conservatory Cleaning

Source: hazel eyes
Wednesday 21st May 2008, 12:24pm

Now the weather has improved, its time to figure out how to clean the conservatory roof.

Grimey Mucky Yucky

More or less summed up the state of the roof. Its one of those jobs that we've been putting off, but now its getting embarrassing so something had to be done.

Power Washer Ahoy!

As our conservatory is the width of the house there's not much room to manouver brushes etc from the sides unless we ask nicely to go into the neighbours gardens (which I'm sure they wouldn't mind as they're nice). In the end though we decided the best course of action would be to stick the power washer and long brush out of the upstairs windows.

Mission Accomplished (Mostly)

We managed not to kill ourselves sitting on window ledges scrubbing and power washing, which is a relief, there's just a couple of panes left that will require a ladder and invitation into neighbouring gardens, but they will wait for the next day we're feeling enthusiastic.

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Weekend Weather

Source: hazel eyes
Tuesday 13th May 2008, 4:16pm

Whew! What a scorcher. I managed to turn slightly red from staying out yapping to friends for too long. Slightly Ouch.

Another busy weekend. Aikido practice in the morning - think I lost about half a stone in sweat, it got a bit hot by 1pm. I was out with friends Saturday night, then Sunday we ambled over to a friends house after watching some archery. Its a bit more interesting shooting than it was watching. Our friends weren't far away so we went over to them and played with their 24 week old bull mastiff puppy, who is absolutely gorgeous, and watched the fish.

Unfortunately it was the hottest part of the day and even though it's May, 2 hrs was more than enough to turn exposed skin a pretty shade of lobster. Luckily it wasn't too bad, but it was close to being painful I think!

Driving Freelanders with Sunburn

Now, that doesn't sound like fun. Imagine what all the bumps and ruts would do, even with the Freelander's state of the art technology I imagine it'd be a tad uncomfortable. I'm glad I've got another couple of weeks for mine to fade.

No doubt the weather will be back to normal by then anyway, but that'll make the LandRover experience all the more fun!

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Paignton Bike Festival

Source: hazel eyes
Wednesday 7th May 2008, 2:03pm

More biking activities this weekend...

It was Paignton Bike festival this weekend, another excuse for a rideout with a few friends and take in the views.

The sun was out too, great! We did the obligitory wander up and down and look at other peoples' bikes before perusing the stands. Nothing really exciting to behold - a few dealerships, a 'freak out' ride and 'The Wall of Death' - then there was also a ring for stunt shows, as well as an enclosed bar area with a live band playing.

A most pleasant few hours was spent taking in the sights and sounds, and a loan application to cover the cost of lunch and drinks we watched some crazy fools doing handstands and things on their bikes at about 50ft in the air.

Land Rover Day

It looks like this might be going ahead at the end of the month, Woo! I'm really looking forward to doing a bit of off-roading in a Freelander or something of that ilk.

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Biking and Shooting

Source: hazel eyes
Friday 2nd May 2008, 4:39pm

How do you combine clay pigeon shooting and motorbike riding? Easy, get a group together and turn up at the shooting venue on your bikes.

What a busy weekend! The bike club I am involved with had organised a day out doing shooting and archery on Saturday. The venue was at Ashcombe, near Exeter and members from Cornwall, Devon and Somerset all converged on the centre - about 8 bikes and 10 people, so a nice number.

It was an excellent day out, the centre was brilliant all round from the facilities to the food and great staff. We went shooting in the morning, 25 clays each with 1 instructor for each group of 5 people. A range of scores were achieved from 16 down to 3 (the 3 wasn't me). At least noone scored a duck, I was half expecting to as I'd never shot a gun before, but I actually managed 8. Don't think I'll be taking it up professionally though.

After a very nice lunch it was time for the archery. 6 of us took part, and two teams of three competed in 3 events after a few warm-up shots and instruction on how to use the bows. I preferred the archery, but most others preferred the shooting.

We had a fantastic day out though and there will be a rematch!

On Sunday we went out to Dartmouth. It wasn't that great in the morning weather-wise, mist and rain so we took it easy, but by the time we were riding over Dartmoor on the way back the sun was out and it was a lot more pleasant.

Offroading in a Land Rover Soon

To make a change from 2 wheels, I might be going to a Land Rover Experience Centre in a couple of weeks. Really looking forward to it, wonder if I'll be driving through dirty great lakes, doubt it somehow, but it will be good fun.

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