A Few Ramblings...

October walk to Cookham Dean – 23rd October 2011

With the month racing by and another dry and sunny afternoon ahead of us, it was time for our October walk to Cookham Dean.

Given the relatively poor summer, we’ve been particularly fortunate with all of our walks this year being completed in dry and often sunny weather.

The cricket season has finished now, and the square was cordened off as we walked past.

Although we saw a few signs of the changing season, many of the leaves were still fairly green and we even found a few blackberries to eat! Below are a few photos from the walk:

Rebekah taking a shot

Looking up the hill

Looking across the fields

Young foal

Fallen apples

Rebekah

Rebekah in Cookham Dean churchyard

Holly berrys assuming their Christmassy hue

Apples and coloured leaves

Heading down across the field path

Mum came to meet us at the end

Tags: Cookham Dean, Monthly walks, Mum, Rebekah

A birthday surprise – 22nd October 2011

This afternoon we, along with around fifty others, were invited to Judith Hamm’s surprise 21st birthday celebrations which were hosted at Parkside Christian Fellowship.

Birthday balloons

We arrived just after 3.30pm, well in advance of the planned 4pm curfew by which time all of the guests were supposed to be in situ.

Presents and balloons

There were a mixture of ages of the guests attending, ranging from under a year to over 80! Some were relations of Judith and Brian and there were also a healthy contingent from those at Parkside.

It transpired that the guest of honour, with her parents and boyfriend Brian, were timed to arrive at around 4.15pm but were delayed due to traffic. Various text messages filtered through to advise of progress made and they finally arrived at around 4.35pm to be greeted by a bevy of well-wishers and a rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’.

Fortunately the element of surprise came off well and Judith entered the building completely unaware of the plans that had been put together for her benefit.

This was also the debut outing for my new Canon 5D Mk II. Although it performed well, once I’d mastered the flash settings, it experienced some kind of lens error as Judith arrived meaning that I missed the key moment! I think it’s more to do with my old 24-105mm lens misbehaving than the camera though, fortunately.

Judith looking a little overwhelmed

Judith’s Dad had appointed himself host of the celebrations and her parents had arranged various games for the afternoon which began with one to identify various countries and buildings displayed in pictures spread around the room.

Judith's Dad, Peter, explaining The Rubbish Game

For the second game, the guests were split into teams and issued with a bag containing various items deemed as ‘rubbish’. Their task was to join the items together to create the longest line of ‘rubbish’ possible.

The end of the rubbish lines

By this stage, stomachs were beginning to rumble and it was time to stop for some food. An extensive smorgasbord had been prepared in a room at the back of the hall.

A variety of sandwiches, cold meats, rolls, salads and cheese were laid out awaiting consumption.

Some of the food on offer

Emily

Jennifer and Alan

Kerry, Rachel and Paul

A second course, more suited to those with a sweet tooth, had also been arranged.

Some of the cakes available

Birthday flapjacks

Cupcake with a ring for decoration

Once the guests’ hunger had been sated, it was time for the birthday cake. This actually consisted of two separate cakes, one lemon and one chocolate. Atop one was a number ‘2’ candle, while the other was decorated with a flaming ‘1’.

Brian, Robert, Becky and Jon

David, Pam and Elaine

Alan entertaining the kids!

Arrival of the cakes

Judith with her cakes

Once Judith had successfully extinguished the candles, the cakes were cut and distributed and cups of tea appeared.

It was high time for the third game – Chinese Laundry. This was again played in teams and consisted of items as diverse as ‘thirty-seven pence’, ‘a black shoelace’ and ‘a Sat Nav’.

The fourth game was a little more relaxed. Various advertisements, cut from magazines, were passed around to the teams. Crucially, all mentions of the manufacturer of the item had been removed and it was this information that the teams had to supply.

The final game that we stayed for was a game of Pictionary centred on London Underground names – e.g. Bank, Paddington and Tower Hill.

It had been a fun afternoon but we, like one or two others, decided that it was time to head homewards at around 7.30 to put three tired children to bed.

Happy 21st Birthday Judith!

Tags: 21st birthday celebrations, Birthdays, Judith Hamm, Parkside Christian Fellowship

An afternoon at the fair – 16th October 2011

The advertising signs had been up for some days around the Maidenhead area and this afternoon we finally made it back to Carters Steam Fair who were here for their annual weekend in Holyport.

It was our first visit to the fair since they were in Maidenhead back in May and the girls were very excited to be going back.

Sarah had won a competition on Carters Facebook page to win ten free ride tickets and had prompted me to pose outside beside one of the signs:

Inspired by our success we hastened first to the Arcade to retrieve our hard-won prize before heading to our first ride – the Dodgems.

Unfortunately, following the demise of my 5D, I was without a camera for the afternoon although I was able to make some use of Rebekah’s Fuji Finepix J10.

This was Holly’s first time on the dodgems and she accompanied Sarah while Rebekah and I guarded the sleeping Emily.

Sarah and Holly on the Dodgems

Unexpected repairs mid-session

Surprisingly, Holly wasn’t the biggest fan, although her impressions may have been tarnished slightly by being hit head-on in the car. She’s not keen to go back on next time.

Rebekah and I occupied the same car as the others. Unfortunately it seemed somewhat beset with technical difficulties and needed impromptu repairs on both rides.