The Bathtime Blog

Archive for April 2007

Friday, 27th April 2007

Battle for Marakesh

The other day I was at my nanny’s house with Daddy when he disappeared up into a hole in the ceiling to look for something.  When he came down again he held in his hand a dusty old box.  He said that it belonged to him when he was a little boy and that he had forgotten all about it.  When I took the lid off I discovered lots of soldiers and Daddy said that I could have them.

As you can see, I’m having great fun with my new soldiers and today I reinacted the famous Battle of Marakesh of 12th September 1943 (don’t bother to look it up, just trust me).  Take a closer look at the action.

The Moroccan Arabs came to the aid of the Germans but fortunately for the British, the Scots were on hand to terrify the Reich with their incessant bagpipe playing and tartan skirts.

As far as I know the battle is still raging on but I had to leave the action to have my tea.

Totally unrelated, I thought you might like to see a picture of me at Planet Zoom in Dereham, another of my favourite haunts. 

 

I know exactly what you’re thinking – it is an amazing coincidence isn’t it?

Adios mi amigos

 

 

Posted by Isaac @ 9:23 PM  

Monday, 23rd April 2007

Amsterdam

There might be 1 million bicycles in Beijing according to Katie Melua but there can’t be any less in Amsterdam.

On Friday Heidi and I flew from Norwich to Amsterdam with our good friends Ralf and Linda and within a couple of hours we were enjoying the beauty of Amsterdam as we strolled alongside the canals trying to find our apartment, which happened to be in the heart of the old city on Herengracht.

That evening we went to see the Anne Frank Museum (http://www.annefrank.org/) on Princengracht which was very thoughtfully presented by virtue of its minimalism. I was somewhat surprised that the house had not been reconstructed exactly as it had been left by the Frank family when the Nazi’s eventually discovered them. Yet the few carefully selected items displayed in the dim light of each room worked to create a sense of reverence.

On Saturday we went our separate ways; Ralf relaxed by the canal with a good book and watched the people go by while Heidi and Linda went to the Van Gogh Museum (www.vangoghmuseum.nl) whilst I went to the Rijksmuseum (http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/) to see the masterpieces of the Golden Age of Dutch painting. You may recall an earlier posting where I reviewed a book called I was Vermeer. Some of the paintings referred to in that book by Johanne Vermeer are housed in the Rijksmuseum as well as paintings by Rembrandt, Van Heyden, Pieter de Hooch etcetera. Heidi really enjoyed the Van Gogh paintings and purchased a couple of originals for the lounge.

In the afternoon we went on a canal boat trip (well you have to really don’t you) which just so happened to take us past our front door (see first photo). Fortunately, this was not our particular boat given that it appears to be heading directly for that concrete barrier.

On Sunday we headed out of Amsterdam for the wonderful gardens at Keukenhof (http://www.keukenhof.nl/). I really don’t need to say much about Keukenhof other than it is a must see if you ever have the opportunity to travel to Amsterdam, particularly during April and May.  The above website has a great slideshow to view if you go to  http://www.keukenhof.nl/nm/648/Park-Slideshow.html. Here are just a couple of pictures I took. To see more click on flickr and head for the group imaginatively entitled Amsterdam/Keukenhof.

Posted by Daddy @ 7:46 PM  

Sunday, 15th April 2007

No Stink!

No friends, this is not the third instalment of Isaac’s potty training saga but a posting to tell you all about our protest march in defiance of Banham Composts’ plans to build a rendering plant on the outskirts of our village. I don’t want to bore you with the details of the campaign but if you are interested please go to http://www.pweh.co.uk/ where you can read all about the impending threat to the Wensum Valley and the quality of life for all those who live in the surrounding area. You can also register your own objection from this website.

Here we are holding our protest banner prior to the march up to the factory gate. Initially, it was planned that as many people as possible would walk up to Clay Hall Farm to protest at the gates but Banham got wind (excuse the pun) of our plans and contacted the police. The police did little but sit and watch because our protest, although techically illegal, was good natured, and respected the instructions of the authorities.

As a result only 15 of us were allowed to go up to the gates to confront the Banham security guards. I asked one of the security guards if he wouldn’t mind just holding my banner for me whilst I did my shoelace up.  Unfortunately he wasn’t that gullible.  From this point at the top of the hill, the polluted air that is emitted from the plant could drift down into the valley and make it unbearable to go out into our gardens.

Everyone else stood on the bridge, a particularly good focal point because the River Wensum (which could be polluted should an accident occur at the factory) flows underneath it. We had a great turn out with at least 100 protesters mostly from Lenwade and Sparham, the two villages that would be affected the most by the pungent smell of rotting animal carcasses.

As the cars drove by many many people honked their horns to show their support for our cause. Only one person shouted out of their window “get a life” – clearly they didn’t know what we were protesting about.

Isaac had a simple message to tell Banham Compost Ltd. “We don’t think we should have your stink, yes, I’m talking to you”. BBC Look East covered the story as well as photo journalists from a number of newspapers. To top it off, at 5.20 on Saturday 14th April, Heidi, Isaac and myself all appeared on Look East doing our little bit for the environment and our community.

Yours truly, Rent a mob

Posted by Daddy @ 7:26 PM  

Monday, 9th April 2007

Delivery!

I took this photo a couple of years ago but everytime that I stumble across it on my computer I burst into laughter.  Alan had arranged for a delivery of wood for his open fire but I bet he never expected this.  I just wish that I could have been a fly on the wall when his wife Sharon got home.  I guess it could have been worse – at least it was delivered to the right address. 

I’ll leave it to you to add a suitable caption in the comments field.  I await your witticisms with anticipation.

Posted by Daddy @ 9:36 PM  

Sunday, 8th April 2007

Flying High

When my Grandad was 60 a little while ago he was presented with a framed certificate for the chance to fly in Uncle Peter’s microlight plane.  Today, was the day and I’m very pleased to announce that both Grandad and Uncle Peter are safely back on terra firma, though not without a scare or too.

   

It was a beautiful Sunday morning and we were due to meet at the airfield at 3pm.  However, by half past 2 it began to get very windy.  Nevertheless, the flight went ahead and as we drove towards the airfield we watched Uncle Peter circling above our heads.  It wasn’t long before Grandad was kitted up and preparing for take off.

  

The moment arrived and together with my fellow spectators held my breath in anticipation.

Uncle Peter took Grandad out to Bacton and then along the coast to Cromer before heading back inland over Blickling Hall and home.  It was a bit of a bumpy ride but they landed safely and lived to tell the tale.

Grandad and Gran were soon reunited

However, the excitement was not over for it wasn’t long before Uncle Lewis was also kitted up and ready to take off. 

 

Whilst Grandad’s landing looked fairly smooth, by the time Uncle Lewis was ready to land the wind had picked up a lot and Pilot Peter did well to get the microlight back onto the ground without going into the nearby field. 

Everybody had a great afternoon and we would all (particularly Gran and Lucy) like to thank Uncle Peter for taking Grandad and Lewis in his microlight and for bringing them both back safely to earth. 

Click on to flickr for more pictures of David’s microlight experience. 

 

Posted by Daddy @ 7:17 PM