JEDI July: Day 9 - The one where it was Grandad's birthday

Gosh, today has been shattering, I've been running around like a headless chicken for most of it.

OK, so it's not like I have achieved anything of great magnitude but I honestly have barely paused for breath since I woke up this morning. And now I am obliged to see out the day with this ninth JEDI July entry before tidying my room, which has become, by my standards, very messy as a consequence of having no time in which to clear up.

This morning I had arranged a cricket session with Jonny and James, so after getting up late (even after setting the alarm - curse that snooze button!) and wolfing down a quick breakfast, I went to collect James in Jalopy. He had also invited Jamie along for the ride.

We practiced for nearly three hours, with everyone having a go at batting, bowling and keeping wicket. With church cricket lined up for the evening, I tried hard to smooth out some rather rough edges with both the bat and ball, though not always with great success. This was in general really good fun, though consequently towards the end I got a bit tired and frustrated at a lack of progress and was pleased when, after some cacthing practice, we decided to call it a day.

Having dropped the boys home I set about making Grandad's birthday card, which ended up taking a good couple of hours. This year I have been illustating my cards - drawing out the picture in pen, then scanning in to colour in paint. I feel the technique works well and gives the finished article a more 'glossy' appearance than if I coloured by hand - you can judge for yourself...!

Once I had finished I had to quickly wrap the presents I had bought in Lymington on Tuesday (several different bags of nuts), then it was straight down the Boilos with Lydia to celebrate with Grandad, who is 74 today. Unfortunately, due to the later cricket match, this would be the only chance I would have to see him, though we still had a good hour chatting about recent and upcoming events and taking some group photos in the garden. Grandad seemed delighted with his cards and gifts, while Grandma catered for us all marvelously, with juice and biccies in seemingly constant supply.

Sadly, I had to be round the church for 5.15, so we had to make a speedy exit, though the Boilos were due up at our house later in the evening for cake and more prezzies with Mum, Kaye and Eddie. Dad and I loaded up the car and, after meeting other team members at the church, we convoyed to Bramshaw, where our opponents, Burseldon, were already ready and raring to go.

Having been narrowly beaten at Burseldon earlier in the month the team were keen for revenge, though captain Gareth lost the toss and we were put into field first for the third time in as many games. I was slightly out of my comfort zone, having been directed to mid-off as opposed to my usual square-leg, but at least it meant I hardly had to move between overs!

The team made steady progress, taking a wicket from the first ball and a couple more soon after, however the wickets then dried up and Burseldon battled to 116 off their 18 overs. I was put in to bowl for two overs and, despite being a little disappointed with lack of pace (delivering to the batsmen what Dad would call 'pies'), I wasn't clobbered about the park which can only be interpreted as a success.

Next it was our turn to bat and I was allocated the no.8 slot, which I can't deny being a little disappointed about after all the practice put in earlier in the day. Nevertheless, the team were off to a flyer, with Dad reaching the maximum score of 25, as did his opening batting partner. However, after this the run rate slowed, one of our players got hit in the head with a ball off his own bat, and we struggled on to 97 off the 18 overs. As suspected, I remained unused. The good news, however, is that I am in the team for Wednesday, so more frustration no doubt beckons!

Drinks were then downed as both teams stayed on at the pavillion bar for some time. I helped to wash up and tidy the clubhouse and we finally headed for home at around 9.30, dropping Gareth back along the way. Unfortunately our late finish meant that we just missed out on seeing the Boilos and the Teddies, though Ernest was still around (of course!) and Mum was kind enough to offer up toast and birthday cake as neither me or Dad had earlier manged any tea.

SIGH! Gone midnight again, plus I still have the room to tidy AND an uncomfortable 'popped' ear. Not fair!

At least tomorrow looks quiet...twenty to twelve again, anyone?!

JEDI July: Day 8 - The one where I woke up in time for lunch

OK, so I woke up a bit late this morning.

In fact it was so late that I almost had to break out the word 'afternoon', which surely has to be taboo territory. I think I would had to have typed it through the journalistic equivalent of gritted teeth.

Thankfully, twenty to twelve is, and will hopefully remain, my record for laziness...though I do highly suspect that this blog may have had something to do with it, given my recent late-night authoring excursions.

Having even missed elevenses I opted to combine these with breakfast and lunch, feasting on banana, crackers and rolls whilst watching Top Gear on Dave to see me through til two in the afternoon. The height of activity after this point was re-instating our wii console which Holy Smoke had borrowed last week - exhausting, eh?

Dragging ourselves away from Ashes cricket updates, Dad treated me to a tonk round the nine hole at Dibden, which actually went quite well up until the end of the 7th, at which stage the dull one was only winning by one shot. Unfortunately, despite accompanying surely the slowest man on earth in one of the most tedious games ever invented, we were still held up by some bumbling novices in front, to whom I apportion all the blame for my consequential stuff up of the final two holes. Nice work chaps.

As a result of these golfing goons we were also late home for tea, which was enjoyed over an argument.

Ern rolled up and we were speedily conned into watching the second Bridget Jones film in my room whilst consuming vast quantities of microwave popcorn. Sadly, I cannot lie and say I didn't enjoy the evening - and not just beacuse of the presence of the popcorn.

Busy day tomorrow dudes, with Grandad's birthday and church cricket to look forward to. Can't wait! See you soon!

JEDI July: Day 7 - The one with the art exhibition

Evening folks. Apologies for the change in title style, but it was getting rather arduous trying to connect the events of the day using alliteration, even with the help of Word's synonym finder. I hope you're not too disappointed!

Temperatures continue to plummit to a lowly 20 degrees, which really isn't on now, is it?

With meanacing shower clouds looming overhead, Lydia and I this morning convoyed behind Mum, Grandma and Grandad (who in turn followed a tediously slow tractor) for our second trip to Lymington in the space of a week. I found two new tops in Peacocks in the company of Mum and Lydia for a bargain price of £9, then left them to it and went to buy Grandad's birthday present and some bumper blackener for Jalopy. Skillfully avoided getting drenched by making it back to the car just as the heavens opened, then sheltered cosily inside whilst waiting for the others to return.

As it turned out, no-one else seemed to have got done all they wanted to do, but as we were short of time we had to make for home. This time Mum and the Boilos managed to break away from our convoy, leaving Lydia and I to get stuck behind every conceivable obstacle on route.

Lunch was soup and sandwiches, after which I felt very tired so rested upstairs for a while. (Unheard of for me!) At 3 Mum drove Lydia and I to Brockenhurst to have a look round the annual art exhibition, at which Lydia's work was exhibited. It was plain to see that many hours of hard graft had been put in for every piece on display, though Mr traditionalist here may have failed to fully appreciate some of the more contemporary exhibits. As I was in Brock for what was likely to be the final time I also took the opportunity to take a few photos of the college campus for posterity (I'm a sucker for sentimentality).

On our way home we stopped for an ice cream in Beaulieu under increasingly threatening clouds, admiring once again the ducks and swans in the river whilst I snapped away for yet more pictures of our beautiful surroundings (Mum and Lydia included!). How could I resist these wonderful cloud formations?

Thankfully we escaped the downpour which inevitably followed.

Back home and after a delicious tea of roast potatoes I helped Lydia to make invitations for her 18th birthday celebrations before Ernest rolled up. We all congregated in my room to play an extremely manic game of pass the bomb, which ended up going on for quite a while and resulted in a win for L and a loss for yours truly (surprise surprise).

That's your lot for today. No plans as yet for tomorrow so I hope I can entertain myself sufficently or else JEDI day 8 may not be so great! Byeeee...

JEDI July: Day 6 - Town and Tonking

After the busyness of the weekend a return today to normal mediocrity was, in fact, very enjoyable. Even the weather seemed to comply, with a cloudy sky and frequent gusts, offset by intermittent showers, creating conditions more reminicent of early April.

After a really quite wonderful lie-in, Lydia and I bravely made the trip into town in Jalopy, where I unearthed some bargain golf clubs (a seven iron and a 'cheaty' chipper) to add to my set, as well as a golf glove, which I thought was well worth £3.99. Other than that it was nice simply to browse the shops with freedom, so it seems it really is only looking for clothes or being in the company of others that makes shopping a stressful experience.

We enjoyed a lovely lunch from M&S, which for me included a small bottle advertised as 'lemonade' but tasting as if it contained 100% pure lemon juice - which was actually rather nice! Come to think of it, do you reckon that would sell well in cartons at Tesco? Worth a thought...!

I had an early opportunity to break out my new golf gear as Ernest and I had arranged an evening tonk around the nine hole. At first the glove appeared to be working well as I got two pars from the first three holes, however as is so often the case it all went rapidly downhill from thereon in. Dodging the showers, I made it round in 41 - an exceedingly average 12 over par. The two new clubs will take a bit of getting used to but the cheaty chipper was the target of much jovial conversation on the way round, so at least it's good for something. However, I can no longer mock Dad for having one too!

There - I think I've finally managed to get it right this time...short is the new long!

JEDI July: Day 5 - Canoe and Cuisine

Yesterday's blog did, I admit, get a bit out of control and was nearing novel proportions by the time I had finished blah-ing. Owing to the fact that I am also even more tired than I was 24 hours ago (for reasons which will become obvious), it's time to keep things brief... (Edit: Fat chance! Will I ever learn?!)

The dawning of the first Sunday of the month meant two things: 1 - I needed to get ready for church and 2 - there would be action songs to endure when I got there. Breakfast consisted of a banana and a few cream crackers, then I had to haul myself round the road half an hour early in order to rehearse a drama with Andy Williamson and Richard Merritt about Saul's conversion on the road to Damascus. Happily, I was Ananias, who only had to remember two lines and 'do what God has sent me to do' - lay hands on Saul's head. The service, being an all-age affair, was very hectic as, along with our drama, there were also baptisms, videos, prayers and the inevitable action songs to get through. Matt also gave an excellent testimony about both the conversion of a university friend and his own coming to faith. Afterwards, we both helped to tidy away chairs and tables from the hall as people were finishing coffee, passing less-than-subtle hints that it was time to make a move by removing chairs almost as soon as people had risen from their seat. Luckily no-one made the mistake of sitting down again! Just before I left Matt and David talked me round to having a go at kayaking at Calshot in the afternoon and we arranged for Matt to collect me at 2.

Returned home for lunch and saw Mum for the first time in over a day, our paths having never crossed in all the recent busyness. Matt arrived on time and we made for Calshot Sailing Club, where the Butler's surprisingly heavy kayak was removed from its perch and readied for the off. I squeezed into some gear loaned from Matt's dad, then we gingerly carried our vessel down the slipway and into the sea. Despite a bit of trouble actually getting into the boat, once we were off we made good progress away from the shore as I slowly mastered the rowing technique. I thought the boat was a bit unstable, though we managed to keep upright despite a strong wind and current pushing us back the way we had come. Following a toilet break (back on dry land I hasten to add) we swapped seats so that I was now in the front and this seemed to make our good ship even less stable than it had been before, eventually resulting in a capsise as we rounded a protruding sandbank. Fortunately due to the shallow water we were able to right the kayak and get moving again, though after a good hour or so I was getting quite worn out from all the rowing, as well as feeling ever so slightly seasick from all the bobbing about! We made for land, hosed down the boat (and eachother) then lugged it back to its stand, where I wacthed on as the supposed expert Matt failed to master tieing a rope around the vessel. For someone who has hardly even been near the sea I thought I did OK and, despite having a mouth full of seawater the excursion had certainly been an experience and a great way to spend the afternoon.

We showered and changed, then it was time to head for the forest to meet up with Ernest and Lydia for a 'healthy' picnic. We had originally planned this to be at Anderwood though as we were running late a quick phone call to Ern whilst calling in at Matt's house to drop off the sailing kit resulted in a change of venue to somewhere slightly closer to home. We convened at 5.30 following a slight confusion over our actual meeting point and unwisely made for a shady area which turned out to be on a slope. Nonetheless, a large supply of food (not all of it entierely healthy) and chat kept us busy for at least three quarters of as many a joke and inappropriate conversation topic was shared around with much mirth.

Both Lydia and Matt had to get back for seven so we tidied up the half-eaten picnic stuff and got back on the road. Matt dropped me home and Ern dropped Lydia at church for the evening service, then he popped round so we could swap photos of recent events then buy some popcorn for consumption during Top Gear. We had a quick drive round Hythe and upon return we found the parents had arrived home from tea with a homegroup friend. Lydia got back from church and she, Ernest, Dad and I settled down to watch Top Gear for an hour.

Following this we decided there was still time for another brief trip out and, despite waning slightly due to the busy weekend, Ernest drove us all to Calshot, where we sat in the car on the seafront, stared at the gleaming full(ish) moon and informed someone of their flat passenger-side tyre, which I am sure made their day. Ern took a few moon photos with his camera (I know what you're thinking...behave!) and then it was definitely time for home. Further beep-and-wave 'victims' were targeted on route and we got back at around 10.15.

After all this I came to the realisation that I still hadn't done my blog for the day and thus this became the final task of an extremely hectic weekend. Notice the correlation between the amount of activity in a single day which requires documenting and the resulting lack of time in which to blog!

My best-of-intentions mission to condense the day and remove the tedium has, once again and, rather predictably, proved to be in vain, though I shall return tomorrow for a trip to town and my first round of golf for over two weeks. Exciting, eh? See you then people!

JEDI July: Day 4 - Puncture and Pub

I'm actually far too tired to be typing this but, hey, it's JEDI July day 4 and the very fact that I am feeling a bit drained at this point should be an indication that the last 24 hours have been pretty hectic...which they have! I shall therefore attempt to condense recent events into something that does not resemble a research paper. Here goes...!

The wedding do last night was, first and foremost, really good fun. I'm not usually a one for dressing formally but it was nice to see everyone all spruced up for the special occasion...

In order to facilitate flexibility in terms of both alcohol consumption and departure time, I drove dad in Mum's car, while Ernest followed behind with Lydia and mother. The event was held at the Mill Arms pub in Dunbridge near Romsey, where a large function room had been hired, along with a DJ who played incessant loud music throughout the evening. Most of the family were in attendance and it was lovely to be able to catch up and have a laugh with everyone in bouyant mood. Both bride and groom looked splendid, as did everyone who had made a special effort for the occasion. There was plenty of crisps, cake and coke around which kept me lively at the start, though in contrast to booze-filled relatives who gradually took to the dancefloor as the evening progressed, I felt pretty drained towards the end of the evening and was glad to make our way home at around 11.30. No doubting, however, that we had all enjoyed an excellent evening out as a family.

This morning, having dragged myself out of bed after only 6 hours' sleep, I popped round the church to help Holy Smoke with tidying out 'our' cupboard, which was essentially full of junk. This included used flipcharts, dried out pens and, worst of all, badly out of date food, all of which was hastily disposed of. Helen and James arrived to help, along with their children, whose biggest contribution turned out to be pelting me and others with plastic balls and car sponges whilst running in and out of the room, accompanied by a large amount of screaming. Despite the noise and the mess, we had a good time going through plenty of items which rekindled old memories and it was satisfying to finish up with a clean cupboard ready for the next phase in church youth work with Andy.

Next up, Matt and I had plotted an epic cycle ride around the New Forest so, praying that the weather would hold, we set out towards Lyndhurst via Beaulieu. Neither of us had before used or even been aware of the forest's many cycle paths, which turned out to be well signposted and maintained. Unfortunately, it was on one of the said paths that my back wheel developed a puncture, and with no pump and repair kit, our only option was divert to Brockenhurst and a cycle shop to get it repaired. This section of the ride was very unpleasant, as riding on a flat produced an almost unbearable amount of vibration and Matt very kindly offered to swap bikes as we neared Brock to spare me from the torturous transport. After handing over £10.50 to repair the puncture, we headed to Tesco to get some lunch and found a bench on which to eat and recover ready for the next stage of the ride.

We still wanted to head for Lyndhurst, so rejoined the cycle route and, despite some rather nasty uphill sections, reached our destination in less than an hour. By this point the day was very pleasant, with many other riders having the same idea and plenty of tourists roaming the countryside. We had both worked up quite a sweat, though a health-conscious Matt (who had previously devoured a 1000-calorie pasty in Brockenhurst) chose to skip the offer of an ice cream before we found another bench and took a 20-minute breather before embarking on the final stage of the ride.

Back on the cycle paths, we muddled our way along using both the increasingly sweat-drenched map and a certain amount of guesswork before finding ourselves on the main road leading home. A few more shallow hill climbs coupled with some rapid descents and it wasn't too long before our invigorating 5-hour, 29-mile ride was at an end. Feeling shattered but satisfied, I made for home, where I felt I was long overdue some chill time. With everyone else out, speaker volumes were raised and the net was surfed for a good couple of hours.

Just time for a quick shower then it was off out again to pick Matt up in Jalopy for a trip to the pub. The 'two Mikes' were supposed to be joining us but had to pull out, so instead Ernest joined us, having spent the whole day at a garden railway show. We enjoyed the first round in the 'beer garden' (children's play area), then Ern went to collect Lydia and we had a good couple of hours and several more rounds indoors, where topics discussed with much mirth included maths, annoying parents and - inevitably - breasts. Ern took Lydia home at 11 and I dropped Matt off, with plans for further outings tomorrow.

And - having said that, it is now tomorrow! Oops! Well, at least I started before midnight!

It has been a great and very memorable 4th JEDI day. More of the same on day 5 please! See you tomorrow folks!

JEDI July: Day 3 - Weddings and Waving

OK, so I promised you a wedding today. Regretfully this will no longer be the case. I'm sorry. However, fret not, as contrary to the situations suggested by plot lines of various so-called 'reality' soaps, the groom has not run away with another woman or the bride with another man. Big sigh of relief... The simple reason is: it hasn't happened yet! Well, actually that's a lie, the ceremony itself has...it's just I wasn't there to see it, having been relegated to the lowly status of bunfight attendee.

Instead, the get-together this evening is yet to come, leaving the simple dilemma of blog now minus wedding news or forfeit JEDI July on only the third day, as the function will almost certainly cross into Saturday morning. Only one winner!

Therefore, I find myself sat out on the shady patio along with Ernest and Lydia, all of us staring blankly into laptop screens and making an asserted attempt to get today's blog entires complete. Luckily, my tempremental speakers appear to have righted themselves and are succeeding in blaring out various popular choons to help us along.

I woke up fairly early this morning - 7am, which for me based on recent form is equal to rising at half four for most (working) people! Mum spent most of the morning arranging flowers for the wedding car - a BMW belonging to Auntie Janet's partner, Derek. Janet, who is playing chauffer for the day, arrived at around 9.30 and she, Mum and Dad decked out the car with ribbons, with me choosing to wisely limit responsibility to capturing the struggles on film.

They all hastily spruced themselves up and left, leaving Lydia and I the task of preparing lunch - a problem easily solved by a visit to the chippy! Ernest then arrived and we set out to Lyndhurst for an ice cream, with Ern and myself both plumping for double portions and Lydia remaining slightly more reserved. Ernest oggled at a shiny Ferrari, then we made for Bolton's Bench, took a few photos and threw 'food' at seagulls. After a while me and Ern got bored so had a race down the hill and back, from which I won money for sweets - result!

Time was ticking on so we made for home, waving to many folk along the way with much jollity. The conclusions we made from this are that people fall into one of two categories: super enthusiastic or super dim. The majority made up the latter.

So now it's now, I'm still sat on the patio and Ernest is proposing a game of croquet so I guess that's a signal that it's time to wrap up, especially as the other two finished their posts eons ago. Farewell, faithful follower friends!

JEDI July: Day 2 - Laziness and Lymington

Having spent the vast majority of the afternoon wallowing in a comfy seat in the shade of the garden, I thought I had better break sweat and get this second JEDI blog post done before it's too late. Although there are still a good five hours remaining of this rather hot and humid summer day, most of these will be taken up with other jollities as Lydia, Ernest, Beth and myself take a trip to the cinema to watch Ice Age 3. According to Ernest, this particular viewing will be 'packed' as it is apparently only in its second day of showing, giving reason to the fact that we are leaving at 7.30, a good hour and a half before the ads begin to roll.

As is implied by the title, today has so far been exceptionally relaxed and, despite a pretty much unavoidable sense of guilt following a day spent mainly sitting in a chair, I look back at the rising temperatures and skin-frazzling UV levels of the past twleve hours and ask: what else could I have done?

In order that we actually had something of note to write about in our blogs this evening (as well as some nonsense about withdrawing money and purchasing hair clips), Lydia and I did venture out to Lymington this morning in my 'jalopy vert' (an old green corsa for those who have given way to blank stares), where as well as the aformentioned activities, ice creams were devoured for a second day running at the startlingly low cost of 80p a cone!

Lydia enjoys her 80p strawberry cone on Lymington Marina

We sat on the marina to eat and were probably hampered slightly by the extra weight on the way back up the hill, prompting a dash into the happily chilled Tesco Metro for two drinks. This turned into a very tedious queueing session as we were shepherded into an extremely slow customer service line, headed up by the obligitory difficult customer who took what seemed like hours to sort out something of minimal significance with the greatest aggravation possible, whilst ruining the lunch breaks of many in our company. A speedy dash to the traditional sweet shop with again obligitary moody teenage counter girl signalled the end of the trip, though a row of almost purposefully slow cars leading us home ensured that lunch was postponed for the maximum possible time.

(That was all written before going out. We now launch forward in time to post cinema trip...hold on tight everyone!)

The film was excellent, very funny and action packed and we all had a great time, despite overdoing it slightly on the food front (as always). Would definitely recommend to anyone in search of a good laugh, though I would have to admit, it is slightly wearying! Plenty of waving, racing off the lights and even samba dancing to keep us entertained on the way home, so thanks to Ern for taking us. (Though I'm not sure 40-50 people in a 300 seat cinema counts as packed?)

So...what does tomorrow have in store?
Answer: a wedding!

Who's wedding?
Answer: My cousin, Joanne, is marrying her partner Graham at Mottisfont Abbey.

So you're cracking out the confetti?
Answer: Not quite...Mum and Dad are attending the actual ceremony and reception, but me, Lydia and Ernest are tagging along for the bunfight in the evening.

I look forward to it.
Me too. See you all tomorrow!

JEDI July: Day 1 - Is this wise?

Grrrreetings, faithful followers.

Against my better judgement, Lydia has pursuaded me to take part in her JEDI July venture. Apparently, this has nothing to do with Star Wars but instead stands for Journal Every Day In July - an exciting (and, for me, fairly challenging) project to fill these long summer days which we (some of us) now find ourselves blessed with.

The idea is very simple; every day throughout the next month I will be writing a blog post, which you will be able to read both on Blogger and on my Facebook page. As yet I have no idea what these ramblings will behold, though I am sure it will be an enjoyable project to get stuck into. At the very least, I hope it will be a means by which I can let you know what *cough cough* highly productive activites I have been up to in a month which is traditionally one of the busiest and most enjoyable times of the year.

As well as myself and Lydia, our good friends Ernest and Beth are also aiming to take part - you can find their blogs at iamernest.blogspot.com and foronemonthandonemonthonly.blogspot.com.

One of my great failures as a blogger in the past has been a tendency to ramble on and on for ages and ages about insignificant events and succeeding only in boring every reader to the point where they fall asleep on the keyboard and their laptop battery runs out. I therefore aim this time around to keep every post short enough that you will be able to read it before the next day's entry appears!

So, as my waffle allowance is all but used up for this first day, I shall sign off with a quick summary of the first (very humid) day's events:

Morning: Up at 10, brekkie in the garden then pressure-washed the patio (hard work!)

Afternoon: Went out to Beaulieu for an ice cream with Mum and Lydia, took lots of photos (which I will upload and link to tomorrow)

Evening: Peace and quiet as everyone went out, Ernest and Lydia returned and we chatted/ate food/surfed internet, then I blogged!

That will have to do dudes, as in less than half an hour it will be 2nd July already! See you tomorrow!

Tedious.

Something that irritates me...

I always feel to tired/lazy/disinterested to do anything like blogging/twittering (and even, shock horror, vaguely constructive tasks) during daylight hours.

However...

When it gets to the time where I really should be going to bed I seem to have a rush of adrenaline and positive attitude, feel like the world is at my feet, want to do anything and everything, complete every task and accomplish every goal set in front of me?

Why must this be?

Reluctantly, I shall have to adhere to my better judgement and return to this sometime tomorrow. If I can be bothered.

Nighty night...