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6:05 pm
7th October 10
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annmarie
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We have just got back from a mini-break, it was lovely. We left home at 11am to get to West Sussex for 3.30pm. I let my TomTom do the work. No map reading for me – I'm on holiday. We had to go down the M4 motorway and we passed Windsor and from the motorway I could see Windsor Castle. I took some photos but they did not come out. It was really nice. I have not been through Buckinghamshire since I lived there many years ago. Then we had to join the 'Road from Hell', the M25. We passed Heathrow and we saw airplanes fly over us. I took some photos. We then had to take the A21 towards Hastings and we stayed in a lovely village called Burwash Common. 
The second part continues tomorrow.
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7:45 pm
7th October 10
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Ciderman
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Look at all those Aussie jets!
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Civilisation is a veneer, easily soluble in alcohol.
http://cidermannz.blogspot.com/
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9:05 pm
7th October 10
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Me.
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Post edited 9:05 pm – 7th October 10 by Me.
Michael, look at the traffic and the grey overcast skies, it makes Me shiver just to look at it. I note even the Qantas jet was in a hurry to take off.
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9:38 pm
7th October 10
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doreen
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Waiting in anticipation for part2.
Lovely photos Annmarie but that poor kangaroo standing so uncomfortably on the back wing.
“A21 towards Hastings” The battle of Hastings—1066. That is the only date in history that I know!!!
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11:59 pm
7th October 10
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Me.
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Hang on a minute, Doreen, I live in Hastings and in 1066 it hadn't even been invented. 
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8:04 am
8th October 10
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doreen
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Annmarie, wake up and continue your true story.
That me/Me /Robin… nearly drove me scatty this morning.
I woke up happy and contented this morning and then read “I live in Hastings”
I thought my brain had left me until I remembered that he lives Upside down.
OFF WITH HIS HEAD.
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10:01 am
8th October 10
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Me.
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I can't have Doreen going scatty over Me, will a flower help you feel better?
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1:20 pm
8th October 10
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annmarie
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I forgot to say in my first part of this post that as we were on the M4 between Newbury and Reading I saw 9 Red Kites. In all my years I've never seen Red Kites in that area of the UK. Red Kites were reintroduced into the Chilterns over a six year period starting in 1989. They are one of the UK's largest birds of pray.
The owners of the cottage we rented live in the big house, and you reach the cottage via electronic gates. The cottage (http://www.blackdowncottage.co…../Home.html) has 5 acres of land and it is absolutely beautiful. We unpacked the car and I had a nap. The owners of the cottage invited us for dinner that evening. Sara made a lovely chicken casserole. It was delicious and I've asked for the recipe which I'll post at a later date. We had a lovely evening. We had walked from the cottage up the drive to the owner's house. No problem in daylight, but when it came to going back to the cottage it was dark. We had a little torch but you could only see 2-3 steps in front of you. We only had one glass of wine each but we felt like two drunks walking back in the pitch darkness. We were, as the saying goes, like the blind leading the blind. If anyone could have heard us they must have wondered what was going on. We kept wandering to the right of the track. I thought we were going to end up in one of their lakes. (They have 4 lakes in their 30 acres of grounds). Eventually, we turned a corner and the cottage lights came on so we were safe which was something of a relief. At one point I thought we might end up sleeping in the woods. There are no street lights, it's well off the road and the stars you could see were amazing.
The next day we had a quiet morning exploring some of the 5 acres of grounds. At dinner the evening before Sara said they were going to Rudyard Kipling's (no cake jokes) house which is called Bateman's, and would we like to go with them. We met at 11am. It was a short drive to Bateman's but by then it had started to rain.
Rudyard Kiplings house was left to the National Trust (http://www.nationaltrust.org.u…..w-batemans). We went around the house
which was very interesting. It was too wet to go around the grounds sadly, so we had some lunch before returning to the cottage. It was a lovely day and Sara and Patrick were wonderful company and brilliant hosts. When we got back to the cottage I was very tired so I decided to have a rest. Gerald decided to investigate the grounds. I put on a DVD and after a long while I was thinking he'd been gone a long time and by now the light was starting to fade. I was getting a bit worried and started to wonder if he'd fallen down a hole or something. I couldn't contact him as he had not taken the mobile phone. I was just about to phone Patrick to send him looking for Gerald when he came in the door. He had got lost in the woods and struggled to find his way back in the fading light.
More tomorrow.
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1:08 pm
9th October 10
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annmarie
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Monday we decided to have a quiet day. The weather was not nice so we decided to further investigate the five acres. The old chap who previously lived in the cottage had his own weather station in the garden. He would ring in his results every day.
We also found a huge array of glasshouses with their walls still intact. In their day they had heating and you would have been able to grow everything, now they are derelict and I think it would cost too much to restore them. In another part of the wood we found an old car, a very old Hillman. It was quite sad. The current owners felt the person who owned it never came back from the war, which gives an indication of how old the car was.
    When we were on our walk we bumped in to Sara who was walking their 3 dogs. They have two black Labradors and a boxer. Sara asked if we would like to see the lakes and feed the fish. Their garden is absolutely beautiful. We fed the fish and one of the Labradors went for a swim. Amazingly, the fish were swimming around his legs in search of the food. Later that day we had 2 deer in the garden, a mother and this year's fawn. It was lovely to see. When talking to Patrick and Sara they were saying that some of the wildlife they get in the garden can be a bit annoying. The rabbits and deer eat everything and the moles make a mess of the lawn. But I think the beauty of the animals outways the nuisance they cause.
We went out to dinner to a very quaint pub in Burwash. The pub was in Ham Lane – what a name. I have to say it's a lovely part of the country. The villages are so pretty and if it was not for the traffic you could imagine them as they were back in the 1800s. The pub had very low beams and even had a well in the entrance hall which had a light and safety glass and you could walk over it. I just looked down it. It went a long way down and it had water at the bottom.
Tuesday it rained nearly all day. We played some backgammon and other games. It did stop raining so we had a walk and fed the fish again. It is so nice to escape from the rat race, No phone (well we did have our mobile phone), no internet and no newspapers. It's like being in a different world. We had a takeaway for dinner which we shared with our hosts.
On the way home there was an accident on the M25. We saw the brake lights just ahead of us and we managed to avoid it. No one was hurt but 2 cars, a trailer and a lorry were involved. Then we took the A3 past Guilford along the Hogs Back and popped in to see my mum and sister. We had some lunch and dropped some of my tomatoes off and got home at 3.30 Wednesday.
The end |
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10:12 pm
9th October 10
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doreen
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You did so much in your Mini Break.
I read your story and travelled with you.
Despite the rain you were very active.
and then home to this!!
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11:53 am
10th October 10
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annmarie
Admin
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| posts 759 |
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Yes, home to all the lovely people on the forum.
I have to say the weather has been better since we got home – no rain at all. The weather forecast was for a sunny weekend. Well it's overcast again today, maybe we will get some sun next week.
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