Engagement Present - BBQ Bucket!

Thank you to Vodqueen and Al! Can't wait to try it out!


Already used it to carry all the spare beer home from the show...very useful... ;)


Off to the hospital soon, so wish me luck!

Stunning Surrey Sunset

With a quote, courtesy of GeorgieR -

"Fling wide the curtains! - that's a Surrey sunset low down the line sings the Addiscombe train."

John Betjeman Love in a Valley (published 1937)

Laughton Cuckoo Spring Fayre 2007 in pictures

So just a few of the higher resolution pics from the weekend... ;)






























More here if you like this kind of thing... ;)

Laughton - rain, rain, rain...

Laughton - rain, rain, rain...
Originally uploaded by finkangel.

It's not stopped now since mid-afternoon yesterday, the site is starting to get really muddy and we haven't seen any members of the paying public at all this morning and it's really very unusual for absolutely nobody to come...still it's early...we may yet see a few brave souls in all weather gear and thermal pants...



This could well be the last time we come to this particular show, to camp, anyway...mud and rain...again...Bah!

Just spent...

Just spent...
Originally uploaded by finkangel.

...a fraught half hour trying to work out, from a position of zero experience, how to set up a satellite tv system in a camper van so we can watch the F1...suffice it to say, we couldn't find more than eleven percent of a sniff of Astra...a miserable failure...thanks Vodqueen for coming to the rescue with a terrestrial aerial...Phew! ;)

Weather today not as bad as was forecast either...things are looking up! ;)

Laughton - rain

Laughton - rain
Originally uploaded by finkangel.

Oh well, the rain is coming down now and if you turn ninety degrees from this lovely setting sun, unfortunately it looks like the riders of the apocalypse are just making sure that they have remembered to turn the oven off and pick up their door keys...we could be in for a rough ride... :(

Charity Tombola

Charity Tombola
Originally uploaded by finkangel.

Best ever haul on the Tombola! Twenty odd DVDs, a bottle of stella, and a hand knitted pair of old ladies bed socks! Rain holding off, so far... ;)

Laughton update

Laughton update
Originally uploaded by finkangel.

We have awoken to scattered showers, weather report was for sunny intervals for later though, followed by heavy rain on sunday and monday...so if you want to come perhaps today is probably the best day... ;)

Alan and Scammell...

Alan and Scammel...
Originally uploaded by finkangel.

...have arrived safe and sound, we are all set up, weather has been absolutely wonderful, I even have a sun burnt neck to keep me glowing at night...Spent most of the day helping the others to get set up, making simple camp food and playing 'Innocent Life' on the PSP, which is a gripping farming sim, believe it or not... ;)

Laughton - George

Laughton - George
Originally uploaded by finkangel.

...well we've now spent the usual twenty five minutes of gentle 'discussion' with George, the collections and display marshall, he is the chap on the right...who loves to get deeply involved with even the smallest positioning issue when quite honestly everyone is perfectly capable of lining up in rows without a huge amount of help...anyway, that's the stressful bit over with now...time to get set up... ;)

Laughton - made it...

Laughton - made it...
Originally uploaded by finkangel.

...but the rest of the convoy is half an hour behind us, so we've decided to wait at the entrance to maximize the chances of pitching our various campers and caravans together...weather is really picking up now, so looking good for today at least... ;)

Off to Laughton

Camper is packed, so off we go! Weather not looking fantastic, but no way as bad as last time (we drove down in the rain, I seem to remember!)...

More later... ;)

Butterfly - Fuji S9600 super macro

Better click it to see the detail, pretty impressive lens on this thing, this shot was taken at a distance of just under half an inch (I must admit I was quite amazed it didn't fly off)... ;)

A scorcher in Islington?

Well, it looks the part anyway (highs of 22 degrees today for this area are to be expected), I checked the weather report for the rest of the week and it's looking good (highs of 27(!) degrees on Friday) for Eastbourne (which is near Laughton) where we are planning to spend the weekend (camping out in Colin the camper, among all the steam engines and vintage vehicles)...it wasn't very nice weather last time, so please, rain, don't come this time - we can both do with a bit of a break (been so hectic just lately)...

It was all going so well!

It sounded a bit like one of the radiators was coming up to the boil (same noise a kettle makes), but in fact (now the hot water is under the same level of pressure as the cold water) it had sprung a leak! So he's coming back to replace it...also the taps in the bathroom won't stop dripping, so I'm not sure they are quite up to taking the pressure either (however, I am told that they might well settle down after a couple of days, so I'll just keep half an eye on them for the time being)...

Anyway, little problems aside, it's all in, job done...hot water on demand, no more flicking a switch and waiting, no more timers - just boiling hot water at the twist of a tap...I had a lovely long soak to celebrate... ;)

Now if I could only find my mobile phone and my PSP, both of them seem to have gone missing in the chaos...

Update - found them both tucked safely in my camera bag...phew! ;)

1000th Post!

Another little landmark - and it just so happens - post **1000** on Finkblog turns out to be about plumbing (hrm)! ;)

Anyway, a brief break for an 18th birthday celebration last night (congratulations Anna!), work resumed at about 9am this morning -

- the boiler came back out for a while for the elaborate pipework to be installed -

- the hot water tank lost it's jacket -

- and got kicked out into the road -

- where someone down a few doors spotted it and promptly negotiated it's removal for scrap value (saves us a dump run) -

- the naughty old boiler came out and joined it (but no-one came begging to take it away, tellingly) -

- and then the floor started coming up...

I'm trying to ignore the other noises coming from upstairs (which are ranging all the way from creaky, saw-like, hammer-murder and clanky to chainsaw, hammer drill and Jason Donovan on the radio)...best off sticking to being "coffee bitch" and keeping out the way, I think...that combination could be dangerous! ;)