Welcome to everyday Lets Talk

Good morning everyone

See I knew it WS, you are a Strictly fan really  My mum and I really enjoyed the show and Pete came back and caught the last 10 minutes  

Toon army   that's a good one G       R

The march was something seriously out of my comfort zone, and Pete's too.  An estimated 50,000 people and probably a max. of 500 badgerists who included the anti hunt sabs and some Greenpeace.  The other 49,500 were made up of all sorts of groups and unions and some very extreme and scary people.  It was peaceful thankfully but Pete and I peeled off at 3pm outside Gmex where the conference is being held as we ended up with a really nasty bunch who were up for trouble and whose chanting is   we spotted a whole load of police coming in so said our farewells to the Wirral and Cheshire badger group and went to café Nero (well deserved we thought after grouping up at 11am).

As it was such a huge march I think the badgerists were just lost amongst it all but at least we were a presence.  We went on the the RSPB State of Nature debate at 6pm at which Owen Paterson spoke on a panel of 4.  They took questions, which you could write down and hand in.  It was made clear anything to do with the badger cull wouldn't be answered!  Our opinion of him is that he isn't the brightest button or an s  

Anyway, enough on that it was a long day and the trains back were delayed so we are both pooped today  

Have a good day everyone.

Lai

I think it's fair to say that we've taken the foxrobin out of his comfort zone :-)

Therefore what better than a onesie to get comfortable hehehe

Four hours is a good innings Lai; not many Aussie batsman could last that (beating WS to it)! Sounxs like a range of characters in attendance. Perhaps more of a carToon Army as it turned out lol. Glad you made it out of there safely *hugs*

GR aka hoola-hoop hip hopper :-)

Oh I forgot to mention GR that there was a woman in a onesie in our badgerist section, sadly not a badger one more like a black and white cow I would say but I did chuckle to myself and thought you would approve  

Loving your new sign off

GR aka hoola-hoop hip hopper :-)

Mrs Kipia et al  

    Well done Lai and Pete for attending the March and supporting the Badgers. 500 is still a pretty significant number and I am sure if more lived nearer Manchester the number would have been bigger. You may feel as though you got lost in the numbers but there were still 500 of you that werent with other groups and that gave everyone else 500 people to look at who were supporting the Badgers  
Marches arent always peaceful when there is a mixture of groups and sometimes I think people just hang on to try and cause trouble, there will always be some hell bent on causing notoriety for themselves.
What a shame there was a ban on questions on the cull, how very lucky for Patterson and although you said you and Pete got the impression he wasnt the brightest button, I think thats evident from the way he has allowed the cull to go ahead and ignore all the sound scientific evidence, the mans a  
I think you and Pete did well and I am sure lots of us were there with you in spirit   Thank you for going.

littlewid-x-

  Littlewid. It certainly was an experience and you should always try everything once  Having said that out of 50,000 people apparently there were only 2 arrests so not bad really!

Lai

Thats pretty good going Lai only two arrests out of that amount of people, im impressed. I think your right about trying everything at least once.......but then I suppose it depends on what your being asked to try............hold a spider   no thanks  


littlewid-x-

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeew   that's funny Littlewid,  I am a bit funny about  too!

Good morning everyone

It looks like autumn is really here now, torrential rain overnight and really dull and damp this morning  

I'm off to London today and then on to the Camargue tomorrow with Ali for a 3 day photography course.  We're doing the wild horses, birds and architecture I believe.  I've never done buildings so that will be a challenge,  also I believe there is a festival going on while we are there so plenty of opportunity for lots of photography.  Sadly the weather is raining there at the moment so I will have to rethink what to pack ...  A serious problem with weight and all my kit (+ a bad back and we are supposed to be riding on Sunday afternoon) I may end up with no clothes and just camera stuff  

Enjoy the rest of the week everyone and catch up next Tuesday.

Lai  

ps Littlewid enjoy Strictly, I am so looking forward to seeing more of Dave the hairy biker, he is absolutely FAB-U-LOUS fun

 I think if Mrs S had been there, there would have been 3 arrests she hates Spiders. She would have done something to get herself arrested, if she'd been asked to hold a Spider  even if it was riding a horse with no clothes on:spider2: Like some people I know  Have a great time Lai with Ali, just keep a watch out there are paparatzi about, dont want to see you on the front of the Sunday Sun at the weekend  
We've not had any rain here, and its still quite warm although its clouded over now. Well thats strictly one less comment this wekend about that boring dance thingy thats on  

WS

GR keep this quite do'nt tell the others, but I hope Sussana Reed wins she's a cracker

I think we need to stop all this talk about    they are going to give me nightmares    

Sounds like you are going to have a good few days Lai but watch your back with all your gear and the horse riding as well, take it easy but have a great time and look forward to any pics when you get back.

I will be watching Strictly, never fear and after last week Dave the Hairy Biker has become one of my favs, he seems so lovely and very funny, I hope he does well.

For a man who doesnt watch it WS you seem to know and have taken a shine to Ms Reed.......me thinks you love it more than you let on, you secret strictly fan you  

We had rain over night but then a fairly sunny day but then my neighbour Mark told me that we were goi g to have heavy rain tomorrow with thunder storms  

My hoover is giving up the ghost so this evening I went and brought a Henry Hoover, I have never had one before but lots of people have recommended them to me, so this evening I am a proud owner of a lovely Red Henry with his lovely smillie face, lets hope he is good at hooving all the pet hair!

Nearly Friday my friends so very nearly the weekend, have a greatrest of the week.

littlewid-x-

Lai, I will certainly always give the  to any onesie!

"I may end up with no clothes and just camera stuff"

No need to comment to that  

Well at least by me....I did laugh at WS' Sunday Sun remark  

LW, I do not think that spiders are all that bad, but then again being from Australia I am probably more used to them  

Keep enjoying all that Strictly guys  

GR  

P.S. It's been quite a big week from my end. Some very exciting news, tempered by the announcement that a close co-worker is leaving our company. He has been the biggest help of anyone to me since I started at Canterbury almost three years ago, so it will be sad to see him go, though I am wishing him all the best. Tomorrow I have my brothers and cousins combination birthday party lunch and then mini golf, so that should be fun. Then out that night with friends for dinner and bowling!

It's probably been the busiest week of the year for me and most definitely the best!

Work has not been quite so good though, as I am ridiculously far behind with stuff. I think we all have these times sometimes when we think, "how am I going to get through all this?" but it somehow all works out, so I will just pray for not a single phone call or email in the next two days  

My dogs have been in fine fettle and last night we went for a really long walk; well over an hour. We hardly ever walk for that long, but I felt good and it was a spur of the moment thing. That said, Leo and I were struggling a little by the end of it. Can't say the same for our elite athlete Bella or was just beginning to break into her stride as we returned home  

The rest of the night was spent watching romantic movies...I just know that WS is going to love this  I have a couple of new favourites now; Before Sunrise & Before Sunset, just wonderful films with mind boggling and heart filling dialogue. They are not action flicks, but films of talking/rambling. A film for deep thinking rabbits!!  

The stars are Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke.

Saturday was the big day with my brothers and cousins birthday lunches and a good time was had by all, including most importantly my cousin, who has been a bit down in the dumps at times, but Saturday was the best I've seen him: really coming out of his shell.

I said to my mum later something like, " some skinny guys just take a little longer to bloom," and she replied with "Yes Petal!"  

The food was filling and mini golf was fun, even if I am no good at it! My dad beat me by about a shot a hole. And then later my cousin gave me a good hiding on the air hockey  

That night it was dinner and bowling with friends; the later saw an amazing coincidence of three of us finishing as equal winners (all with 127)! I must confess that I choked a little on my last frame though under all the pressure  

Friday was a great start to the weekend. After work I and a co-worker went to a circus that just happened to be around the corner and had a blast! I even got picked out of the crowd to be one of the 'stars'. A little nerve wracking yes, but heaps of fun. Lots of  and  

Sunday was a terrific writing day for me: Story and otherwise. On the surface I largely did nothing, but it was a day filled with joy  

In a short while I have another Skype session to engross myself in. Last week was my first session with the editor from the publishing group that I hope to one day release a fiction story with. My initial submission was rejected in March, but after somewhat of a break from it I feel totally re-energised to once again explore all of the wonderous possibilities that exist with The Seriousness Police. The editor believes in its potential too, and that is why we are now having these weekly talks. Alright then, time for a super dooper quick shower and then the 8pm session. Loving Life  

Sorry I've been a bit quiet the last couple of days. We had a bit of a scare in the early hours of Tuesday morning, dony worry when you read the healines we are both OK, and we have no damage. I will catch up as soon as poss

http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/three-lucky-alive-after-fire-6157885

WS

Good morning everyone

WS I hope you and Mrs S are okay, was that fire near you? It looked pretty scary and horrific, so fingers crossed you are all ok, safe and well no damage to your property.

Sorry I've been AWOL, I got back late Monday evening after a delayed flight which meant I missed my train, anyway Ali and I had a fun time with trying to photograph the wild horses, they are simply stunning. We also enjoyed a 2 hour ride through the marshes and spectacular scenery which was really good fun. Being western style my back was fine which was great. I have 2409 photos     so it will take me ages to go through them and keep a max of 500. I may be sometime!

Really busy at work and my PA is leaving next Friday so I may be quiet for a bit but will catch up soonest.

Take care everyone, and wrap up warm, the weather was a shock to come back to  

Lai

WS that was dreadful, its on the place you live isnt it. It must have been so scary but thank god no one was hurt. Poor Sue, she must now have a lot to sort out. I am so pleased everyone is ok, especially you, Mrs S and Poppy. Dont worry about being on here, knowing you, you will be helping Sue and thats more important. From the picture it looked a dreadful fire, thank god no lives were lost, buildings can be replaced but people cant. I am thinking of you all  

Glad you had a good time away with Ali Lai, apart from your return journey. What a lot of photos, it certainly is going to take you ages to go through them all but when you do it will be lovely to see them, especially if its one of your amazing slide shows.
Strictly was good at the weekend and looking forward to this weeks, its definitely going to be a cracking series  

Wow GR, you certainly have been a busy bee but it sounds as if you have been having a ball, Petal   and how brilliant that you are now having regular Skype sessions with the publishing firm, im really keeping my fingers crossed that you get your book published, how fantastic will that be for you  
I really understand you not wanting another email or phone call at work, when you are so busy and trying to keep up you dont need anymore, I am hoping I am going to have peace at work tomorrow as well..........fingers crossed.

Ive been a bit slack on here too, bit of a tummy upset and had a friend over last night. On Monday I am changimg over my BB I am with BT and im switching to infinity in the hope it will be much quicker as my BB is so slow most of the time. We all seem to have issues with connections etc at times, especially you Lai, so fingers crossed I will now be zippy and it wont take me half an hour to reply to 2 posts  

Sounds like work is going to be busy for you Lai with your PA leaving, hopefully you will find a replacement soon.

Glad your pooches are both ok GR, thats always good to know and how are Tamu, Rosie and Kip Lai?

All good here and looking forward to the weekend, catching with with friends for lunch at the airport, just got tomorrow to go till its Saturday  

littlewid-x-

That's rather shocking news WS. So it was neighbours of yours who's homes were effected? I read in the article that nobody was hurt which is at least something.

I must say though, that if my place burned down I would be an absolute wreck. And that's even if I and the pooches got out alive; there is just so much stuff that is meaningful to me that would be lost (and I don't even care about televisions, furniture and supposedly this sort of stuff that's worth something) and impossible to recover, so that is still heart-breaking that those acquantances of yours have had to go through this ordeal.

Broadband connections appear very poor all around for WAA members  My Skype session on Wednesday was effected with the cancellation of voice call as it just kept crackling and we couldn't understand a thing the other was saying, or at least I couldn't. But the session with the new mentor was still good for me as instead we just text typed about the possible book on Skype, and that was a lot of meaningful fun.

Hope you are feeling more fighting fit now LW, and Doogs, that is absolutely annoying when you lose a long post in progress! Yep, MEGA Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr  

Great to have you back Lai, and glad that you enjoyed the horse riding and happy snaps.

We know that you took 2409 photos, but the important question is, how many of you were taken riding bareback?  

Yep, if you can get around to it, another spectacular slide show please of those beautiful horses  

My ten minutes of fame Doogs at the circus: What did that entail? Well I got handcuffed to a board - alas it was by male clowns and not female ones  - and had three knifes thrown at me; one to the side of each ear (yeah I know, I thought I was going to become Van Gough without the painting ability  ) and one just below...you know where! Well they were supposedly thrown. I was the joke really as it was only made to feel like the clown was throwing them, but apparently as he would do so (I was blindfolded) another clown would simply hammer a knife into the board (as revealed by my work mate there who was laughing herself silly) right on cue. I swear, it really felt like it was thrown, such was the force. But it was really good fun to be out there. Yep, I'm kind of a   

That's a good reminder about the night out with my work mentor leaving  We are going to a pub on the 25th, so more  We rarely go out with work so it will be good for a catch up outside of the office for a change.

I went into work for almost three hours yesterday for a bit of a catch up after getting my serviced. Still way behind, but it felt good to go in and at least do something. After that it was a very long walk in the nice  with my pooches, and then some more writing, so it still felt like I sort of got a 'Saturday' out of it. Maybe it is all catching up with me though as today I slept for a few hours in the afternoon   

Partly to blame for that is my decision to go out Thursday night. I took two friends bowling (and we had dinner prior to that) and didn't get home until 1am. Somehow I got through Friday  

127 is far from my normal score! In fact I got a 61 in a game this week! Funnily enough I don't even really care what I get though. It's all just a bit of a laugh with friends.

Doogs, thanks for the best wishes about my book project. I am confident that it will all work out in the end, but it's going to take a lot of time to finish. I keep getting new ideas!  

Oh, we must have a WAA Skype party at some stage (suggested by LW)! Come on, who's in?!  

Certainly hope that Kenya is still able to be a safe and viable trip for you Doogs. Was it in December? That soccer game should be a cracker for you too; a nice four day early    

I am considering travelling overseas next year, and was half set on South America, though I'm leaning towards Iceland now. I just think that it would be a magical place to explore, plus my book is based mostly in that nation. Yes, a little weird, I know  

If I take that plunge then it would be around May, June time of the year, given that it is essential to travel there during or close to their Summer time.

 G  R  

Good morning everyone

I'm definitely on for a big catch up on Tuesday so apologies for missing all the posts and thread.

Have a great rest of the weekend everyone.

Lai

Hi Guys
I'm back  thanks for all the concern's but we are fine. The biggest problem was the telephone wires for us as they were damaged just came back on this morning, so like Lai a big catch up needed

WS

HI guys

Sorry I have been absent over the weekend. Not a good one, 4 paramedics and a Dr here on Saturday but thankfully I am feeling better today.

I have BT coming out soon to switch over to infinity so will be off for a short bit but will try and get back on later to have a mega catch up if not it will be tomorrow.

Have a good rest of the day everyone.

littlewid-x-

Oh dear LW that does'nt sound very good, glad you are feeling a bit better. I hope you continue to improve, and get your meds, and everything sorted out soon. I take it you've been off work today from the time of your posts, at least I hope so. Hope your change over goes OK, but dont wotty if you cant get on

WS

  Littlewid, hoping you are okay now, take it easy please and don't rush yourself with WAA.

Sorry I can't get to post at the moment, too much going on at work, and to-ing and fro-ing far too much at the moment.

The exciting news is we're off to London today to hear David Attenborough speak at the Royal Geographical Society on behalf of Fauna and Flora. I am sooooooooooooooo excited as DA really is my all time hero. We're meeting up with friends so will make a night of it      

Hoping to catch up this week with all WAA news.

Lai

Promise to catch up on this thread properly tomorrow but its getting late now.

I hope you have had a fantastic time in London Lai, listening to DA must be amazing and I am a tad  and cant wait to hear all about it when you have time. I know you said your PA had left so you must be mega busy without her, so you just catch up when you can, I know its hard when work is busy.

My mission for tomorrow.......after an exciting Emmerdale...... is to catch up with this thread.

Have a great day tomorrow guys.

littlewid-x-

Good morning everyone

At last it is Friday, what a huge relief, sadly it is a grey and coldish day but hey it's autumn now  

I hope everyone is okay and keeping well,  Littlewid are you taking it easy now?  I don't watch Emmerdale but gather it was to be an epic two episodes last night  

Doogs I can't remember exactly when you are off to the Mara, but you must be getting so excited now   I know the situation has been awful in Nairobi but I was there once a few weeks after those horrendous riots during the elections and security was top priority for them.  What are you doing?  A night in Nairobi or straight to the Mara?  I bet you are just itching to get there and enjoy the wonders of the vast expanse of Africa.

DA was superb.  He was interviewed by Libby Purves for just under an hour.  He is 87 and so sharp, witty, caring and inspiring.  He told some funny stories, answered some serious questions from Libby and was appreciated by all 700 of us.  He was asked if there were any animals he didn't like and he said rats.  Libby was surprised until he explained why.  He was filming somewhere abroad and had a bad stomach and was obviously spending time sitting on the   when up between his legs popped a rat!     Can you imagine?    He has written a new series and will be off to Borneo filming early next year .......... can't wait for that.  He did say he writes these things and then the poor cameramen have to work out how to film it and how brilliant they all are.

Strictly Saturday and Sunday      really looking forward to it.

Lai

Working again on a Saturday  

But others have been having it much worse  

Hope that you are on the mend LW. All of that sounds rather scary.

Big  from GR, Leo & Bella.

Well actually kisses instead from Bella. She's a very licky dog  

Thanks for the info on your experience with DA Lai. Sounds like it was rather wonderful  

Mr  is most definitely out and about today! Four hours until I can get out of here