Turkey sailing holiday

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We went on a sailing holiday to Turkey with our friends Richard and Andrea.  They own a boat which is harboured in Marmaris.  They were already out there and we were to meet them at  Fethiye.  The flight was early on Sunday morning from Gatwick to Dalaman, so we spent the night in the Crown Plaza, still rising very early for the 6.30 flight.

Sunday

We arrived at Dalaman, and found the pre-booked taxi to take us to Fethiye.  The taxi had a wifi hot spot so I could check my emails etc on the drive to the Yacht Classic Hotel.  From the hotel there is a short walk down to the pontoon which mainly had charter boats waiting for punters to come.  Instructions given by Richard were excellent and we soon found the boat and stored our hand luggage aboard.

We were not sailing to day, so spent some time looking at the sights of Fethiye, and finally had a meal at the Yacht Classic Hotel.  The mooring fee is discounted when you have a meal at the hotel.

Monday

We set sail across the bay to Tomb Bay, which is about 19 miles.  A gorgeous, picturesque bay. Here Rosemary and I walked along the coast and up the hill to the tombs which overlook the bay.   The way up was a scramble, and only I did it in the end.  But Rosemary was happy cos found an orchid & several land snails while I scrambled up. After the walk we showered in the facilities at the moorings, this was icy cold though Rosemary, who was last, claims she had warm water. 

We ate at the Olive Restaurant.  There are two sets of moorings and two restaurants.  One was closed, but was being worked on.  The second (southern) where we moored was open.  The restaurant was heated with a great fire in the middle of the room.  The food was good traditional Turkish fare.

During the night we had a huge thunderstorm, hail and rain.  Rosemary woke with water pouring in from an open hatch.  Suspect she thought we must have been sinking.

Tuesday

Today we headed off to Kalkan.  This was a long trip of 46 miles in over 7 hours.  We saw Mount Babadag and spotted some paragliders coming down.  We also went past a very long beach with sand dunes, and tantalizinh half glimpses of ruins, before turning left into Kalkan.

There was a long time in deciding which restaurant to eat in, much wandering up and down.  Eventually we chose the Small House.  It seemed to be run by a husband and wife.  Wife cooking and the husband as front-of-house.  The restaurant was tiny and busy.  We had chosen well.  The walls were decorated with writings from visitors from the UK and other parts of the world.  Wifi was available which I used when the meal was over.

Wednesday

Today we took a sightseeing trip to Patara, an ancient, deserted port city with amphitheatres, some of which have been repaired.  It lies behind the long beach we past yesterday. We took a taxi, which then waited for us while we viewed the ruins.  Taxi back to the boat where some emergency work was undertaken on the gang plank (Rosemary having bust it….!) before we set sail for Kekova., another enchanting bay. Here we anchored in the bay and intended to call on the services of a restaurant to transport us to shore for dinner.  Alas the restaurant was closed because all the customers had decided to stay away.  At this early time of year the restaurant relied on Germans and Dutch walking the Lycian Way.  But the Germans and Dutch were staying away because of potential political problems in Turkey.  We were assured he would open for us the next night.   Today was our one and only main meal on board the boat.

Thursday

Today Rosemary and I were picked up for a visit to the ruins of Myra near Demre and also a visit to St Nicholas’s church in Demre itself.  St Nicholas was born in Patara. The visit was arranged through the restaurant, and a chap took us in his car to see the sites and for us to have lunch.

The trip to Myra was fascinating, we saw acres of polytunnels growing vegetables.  It seemed one whole valley was covered in plastic.  We arrived at the ruins of Myra, empty of tourists, the staff had to quickly person the ticket machines and the entrance for us.  The hill side had a number of tombs, and the floor under the cliff was a huge amphitheatre.  The vaulted roofs were in good conditions making the place look tremendously strong and well built.

We left, pausing at the gift shop for Rosemary to try and purchase a guide book and fridge magnet with the blue eye.  No luck.  We continued our journey into town to visit St Nicholas Church.  I think Rosemary was a little disappointed in finding the church under an artificial cover.  Here we came across our first tourists; coach loads of Russian Orthodox visitors.  The audio guide was good, the wall paintings were in several grades, ranging from unrecognisable to OK.

After this we ate lunch in a Turkish restaurant, where Rosemary made the rookie mistake of ordering a beer in a dry restaurant.

We then travelled back to Kekova, and were ferried back to the yacht.  Tonight we were again ferried back to land for supper in the restaurant that had been closed the previous day.  It was opening for us.  We had already ordered our meals, fish, meat or chicken.  I had gone for the fish.  Simply fried it was gorgeous. 

Early morning we had been disturbed by rowers, and today we were further asked to move because there was going to be a race in the morning.  Richard upped anchor and moved. The boats were skulls, pairs and fours

Friday

Well, the race never came near us.  We had been asked to move for no reason.  Typical.  We suspected he was checking out potential restaurant customers. Today we set sail for Kas, but first we took a look Simena Kalesi from the sea.  This was the fort we could see from where we had anchored.  We also motored near to the island of Kekova to see some of the sunken city.

We arrived at Kas Marina with some sailing.  It is a very large and modern Marina, with an over burdensome computer system which appeared to take almost an hour to complete the formalities.

After the formalities we had a shower in the excellent showers and then walked into the main town of Kas.  We wondered around searching for a sarcophagus, bread shop and a place to drink a beer (the first tow being targets set by Andrea). We were to meet up with Richard and Andrea for a meal in the evening.  The beer was an embarrassment,  we sat in a bar and ordered an Efes.  We were asked whether we wanted another beer, no we said, we wanted Efes like the others were drinking on another table.  So off the waiter went, we waited, and then saw him wander off to a shop ,come back with some bottles and then come out with some cold beers.  We looked at the menu, no Efes on the menu, and realised that the others drinking Efes were in the grounds of another bar.  We profusely thanked the waiter for his trouble. We whiled away some time watching various children playing. One had a pedal car and would he share it? No, he would not. Dread to think what he’ll be like when he’s older. 

That evening we ate at the Ora Kebap where we ate Pizzas from a large outdoor pizza oven.  There were some magnificent flowering blooms that overpowered the area with their scent, luckily the breeze was blowing the scent away from me. We somehow got tangled up with a Turkish birthday party on the next table.

As we went to bed, we checked the weather forecast, there were gales forecast for tomorrow evening and heavy weather for the next few days.  So it was decided to make a dash back to Fethiye in the morning and then decide what to do.

Saturday

We spent most of the day travelling back to Fethiye where we moored up at the Yacht Classic Hotel again.  On the way the breeze was very light so we motored most of the way.  We saw masses of paragliders flying off Mount Babadag.  In the Fethiye bay there were two large cargo ships offloading yachts and motor boats.

We moored and Rosemary and I went for a walk, to look at the shops and somehow we eventually ended up having a tour of a local Mosque.  That evening we ate again at the Hotel, and then went to bed.  During the night there was a short spell of very windy weather. We often played Triominos which were kept on board, but we sometimes took them to the restaurant.

We ate in the restaurant for breakfasts and evening meals.  The breakfasts were excellent, choice of a large Turkish breakfast or a more Western one. I loved the large honeycomb where you could break off chunks.  The dinners were presented very well, they looked very pretty on the plate.

The showers and toilets were good.  Plenty of hot water, and very clean.

There were two pools, I tried the larger.  It was fine, plenty of seating and bar to hand.

Sunday

It was deemed the wind was too much, so we stayed in port and did some more sightseeing.  We started off by visiting the Amynthas Rock Tomb.  There are several of these tombs overlooking Fethiye.  The view of Fethiye from there is excellent.  After a tea we headed back down and caught a local bus over to Kayaköy (Karmylassos) Antik Kenti.  The local buses were frequent, chep & very, very clean. Kayaköy is an old Greek village which was cleared in the 1920s when there were country boundary realignments. The Turkish people did not take over the village and it was left to go to ruin.  Now work is being done to preserve some of the old churches.  There are hundreds of houses in various states of disrepair.

Although the history of the city dates back to 3 thousand B.C, the limited number of sarcophagi and rock tombs still standing are dated to the 4th century BC.

The buildings on the slopes were constructed during the second part of the 19th century and the first quarter of the 20th century.  Shortly after the proclamation of the Turkish republic, the Greeks living in the region were exchanged with the Turks resident in Greece, which resulted in the houses being left vacant.  Subsequently the wooden constructions were ruined due to natural causes.  As a result of which the city assumed its present ghost like appearance.

There are about 350 – 400 houses in the city, 50 square meters each, built in such a way as to allow for the panorama and avoid over-shadowing one another.  There were two large churches, one school and a customs house.

We returned to Fethiye by bus, and in the evening ate at the hotel.

Monday

The wind had dropped, so we set sail to Gocek, which was nearer for us to catch a taxi to the airport.  We sailed across the bay in a quite light wind (where were all these gales).  The boat was refuelled, no facility in Marmaris.  Rosemary and I looked around the town, Rosemary finally finding an eye fridge magnet. We ate an early supper in a restaurant, where Richard joined us a for a beer.  I chose a lovely piece of fish.

Taxi picked us up from the Marina, and we were soon waving goodbyes & thank yous and thenn back at the airport for our flight home.  Security was strict at Dalaman, two sets of inspections while checking in, and then a hand search at the boarding gate.  Flight back and then car pickup.  Turned sat nav on, good thing, as it routed us a different way back avoiding all the closed junctions on to the M25.

 

 

Waddesdon Manor

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Another lovely day after our Oxford day out.  Today we visited Waddesdon Manor.  It was heaving with people.  We ate lunch in the Stables. There was a wait to be seated, difficultly in finding a table for the six of us.

The flower displays at the Aviary and  Parterre were gorgeous.  Such vivid colours.

Degas to Picasso: Creating Modernism in France

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We met up with Norman, Valerie, Viv and Bill to see the Degas to Picasso: Creating Modernism in France  exhibition at the Ashmolean.  Lovely sunny day with lunch at the cafe in the crypt of the University Church of St Mary the Virgin.  Fabulous walk around the University Botanic garden where there was a brilliant display of tulips.  While we were sitting admiring the pond we met Robot Wars judge Lucy, whom Rosemary knows from her exercise class and daughter knows from Toastmasters.

Updated the default character set on mysql server to utf8mb4 💩

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I had to update the default character set  to utf8mb4 on my mysql server.  I was getting quite a few submissions on my tomcat hosted systems with emojies like the ? symbol being inserted.  These always failed with a database error.  Reading up about this it appears the utf8 support of mysql was for up to a 3 byte utf character.  Full support requires 4 bytes, and this was a late addition to mysql.

I dutifully converted the database, and tables to utf8mb4, running into issues with the referential integrity I use.  Database, tables and columns all converted, set the default client and mysql to utf8mb4 and problem solved.  I could now add the ? into the application.

Along came the boss, who now complained about all the capital As, with a hat on top, in this the blasdale.com blog.  Arrgh.  Yes in the blasdale database there were some latin1 tables from a really old install of wordpress.  So a conversion of this database and tables to utf8mb4 but still the capital A with a hat appeared.  More googling, yes I had UTF data stored into a latin1 column, so had to run some sql to convert the data. 

update wp_posts SET post_content=convert(cast(convert(post_content using  latin1) as binary) using utf8mb4);

In total I ran the following SQL statements on the server:

ALTER DATABASE blasdale_blog CHARACTER SET = utf8mb4 COLLATE = utf8mb4_unicode_ci;
ALTER TABLE wp_blc_filters CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci; 
ALTER TABLE wp_blc_links CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci; 
ALTER TABLE wp_blc_synch CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci; 
ALTER TABLE wp_commentmeta CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;
ALTER TABLE wp_comments CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci; 
ALTER TABLE wp_email_list CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci; 
ALTER TABLE wp_email_list_config CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci; 
ALTER TABLE wp_email_list_future CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci; 
ALTER TABLE wp_hl_twitter_replies CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci; 
ALTER TABLE wp_hl_twitter_tweets CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci; 
ALTER TABLE wp_hl_twitter_users CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci; 
ALTER TABLE wp_links CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci; 
ALTER TABLE wp_ngg_album CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;
ALTER TABLE wp_ngg_gallery CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci; 
ALTER TABLE wp_ngg_pictures CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;
ALTER TABLE wp_options CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci; 
ALTER TABLE wp_postmeta CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci; 
ALTER TABLE wp_posts CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;
ALTER TABLE wp_subscribe2 CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci; 
ALTER TABLE wp_term_relationships CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci; 
ALTER TABLE wp_term_taxonomy CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci; 
ALTER TABLE wp_termmeta CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci; 
ALTER TABLE wp_terms CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci; 
ALTER TABLE wp_usermeta CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci; 
ALTER TABLE wp_users CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci; 
ALTER TABLE wp_wfBadLeechers CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci; 
ALTER TABLE wp_wfBlockedIPLog CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci; 
ALTER TABLE wp_wfBlocks CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci; 
ALTER TABLE wp_wfBlocksAdv CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci; 
ALTER TABLE wp_wfConfig CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci; 
ALTER TABLE wp_wfCrawlers CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci; 
ALTER TABLE wp_wfFileMods CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci; 
ALTER TABLE wp_wfHits CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci; 
ALTER TABLE wp_wfHoover CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci; 
ALTER TABLE wp_wfIssues CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci; 
ALTER TABLE wp_wfKnownFileList CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci; 
ALTER TABLE wp_wfLeechers CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci; 
ALTER TABLE wp_wfLockedOut CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci; 
ALTER TABLE wp_wfLocs CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci; 
ALTER TABLE wp_wfLogins CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci; 
ALTER TABLE wp_wfNet404s CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci; 
ALTER TABLE wp_wfNotifications CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci; 
ALTER TABLE wp_wfReverseCache CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci; 
ALTER TABLE wp_wfSNIPCache CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci; 
ALTER TABLE wp_wfScanners CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci; 
ALTER TABLE wp_wfStatus CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci; 
ALTER TABLE wp_wfThrottleLog CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci; 
ALTER TABLE wp_wfVulnScanners CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;

SELECT column_name,character_set_name FROM information_schema.`COLUMNS` 
WHERE table_schema = "blasdale_blog"
 AND table_name = "wp_hl_twitter_tweets";
 
create table wp_posts_bkp LIKE wp_posts; 
insert wp_posts_bkp select * from wp_posts;
 
update wp_posts SET post_content=convert(cast(convert(post_content using latin1) as binary) using utf8mb4);
update wp_posts SET post_title=convert(cast(convert(post_title using latin1) as binary) using utf8mb4);
update wp_posts SET post_content_filtered=convert(cast(convert(post_content_filtered using latin1) as binary) using utf8mb4);

I also updated the WordPress configuration to include utf8mb4 instead of utf8:

/** Database Charset to use in creating database tables. */
define('DB_CHARSET', 'utf8mb4');

 

The problem was not caused by the initial conversion, but by the statements I had placed in the my,cnf configuration file which caused WordPress to assume all connections are utf8mb4.

[mysqld]
local-infile=0
datadir=/var/lib/mysql
socket=/var/lib/mysql/mysql.sock
character-set-client-handshake = FALSE
character-set-server = utf8mb4
collation-server = utf8mb4_unicode_ci


[client]
default-character-set = utf8mb4

[mysql]
default-character-set = utf8mb4

I think it is all working now, tomcat is happy and so is my WordPress install.   I do though have many tables in other databases which are only utf8.  I expect they will function unless someone tries to insert the 💩 into a page or post.  I expect I will get around to converting those databases,  should be straightforward…..

 

Fforest Fields Campsite, Hundred House

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Our second campervan trip was to Fforest Fields in Hundred House.  This was the campsite where I had stayed when I learnt to paraglide at least seventeen years ago.  The same family own the site, though they no longer teach paragliding.  The site has improved immensely since I was last there.  Large ponds have been dug which you can swim in.  The shower block is magnificent with under floor heating all run from a log burner and a huge store of hot water.   We arrived and were met by owner George.  We set up camp for the night.

The following day we went for a brief walk on the hills above the campsite.  The Welsh weather brought a drizzle, but not enough to destroy the walk.  In the afternoon we drove over to Llandrindod Wells to visit Tesco to buy some food.  The route we took was over the hills along some very narrow roads and cattle grates.  That night it rained heavily.

Sunday the weather had eased off, so we walked over to the pub at Hundred House.  This was a lovely walk along a stream, through woods.  The walk back was by a different route which took us over higher ground.  The pub was good, lovely big roast lunch with proper meat that had been carved off a joint, and good value.

Monday came, pouring with rain, forecast more rain, so we called it a day and drove home. 

VW T5 Campervan Conversion by CJ Van Designs

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Our VW T5 campervan conversion  was completed earlier this year.  Rosemary and I decided we wanted to travel more, and not be tied to hotels or tents.  We decided on a small campervan which is as easy to drive as a car, and can be parked in most normal parking spaces.  We went with the VW  campervan dream, well OK a modern VW T5 Campervan  dream.  We bought a two year old VW T5 kombi van coloured blackberry.  It is the normal wheel base, highline model with tailgate, 2.0 litre 140PS engine.  Blackberry is a metallic paint which the DVLA calls purple.  In some lights it looks almost black, whereas in the sunshine it looks a sparkling dark purple colour, to sometimes a brown.  It’s a fabulous chameleon taking on the colours of its surroundings. 

Once we had the van, we needed it converted. Problem here was there was an unbelievable waiting list amongst all the workshops we contacted.  We chose CJ Van Designs in Wiltshire.  Colin the owner was thorough and took us through the many options we could have.  His designs for cupboards seemed to be what we wanted.  We booked the van in for conversion.  In between booking the van in for conversion, and conversion day, we took the van (& tent) for a long drive through France in September. Eventually the day for conversion arrived in January, we said goodbye to the T5, and a few weeks later we had our campervan.  It was glisteningly clean, complete with a bottle of Champagne in the fridge.

The work we had done on the van included:

  • Reimo popup roof, colour coded to the van, which contains a bed
  • Riba rear seat which converts to a bed
  • Cupboards, under sink, under bed, over sink, over the bed & inside the tailgate
  • 12 volt power and lighting
  • 240 volt hookup
  • An extra power socket near the side door, for laptop & outdoor cooking with an electric frying pan
  • Refrigerator (240/12 volt)
  • Twin ring gas hob
  • Sink
  • Diesel space heater
  • Lighting, including lights for the popup roof
  • Insulation in van walls
  • Flooring & carpeting on the sides
  • Rail for connecting an awning
  • Rotating passenger seat
  • Safe 

We did not have to install extra windows as the Kombi van has windows on both sides to part way down the van.  The extra rear seats and original flooring in the van were sold off during the conversion.  New bench-seat/bed from Riba was then installed.

Much of this work is mandatory for the vehicle to be licensed by DVLA as a campervan aka “Motor Caravan”.  Without this complete work the van would not be able to be taken to music festivals like Reading festival where their requirements for a campervan mirror the DVLA requirements.

We took pictures  for the re-registration of the Volkswagen T5 Combi van to a Motor Caravan.  The photographs had to show the registration plate of the van, the fixtures, gas, water, sink, cupboards, table and bed.  These were sent to DVLA and a couple of weeks later we had the new registration certificate.

There are some of the extra items we want for the campervan: a bike rack and an awning.  Choosing the awning is difficult. Do we want a side-less awning to keep the sun off, where we can eat and cook in warm countries, or do we want a drive-away awning with sides where we can leave the tables and chairs under cover, and change our shoes and coats in cold and wet Britain?

 

Home Computer Problems

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Last weekend the laptop, a many year old Dell E6520, decided it should update Windows 10 to the anniversary version (1607).  There was much churning of wheels.  The machine restarted and displayed a blue screen, with the wonderful words that an error had occurred.  There was an error message DPC WATCHDOG VIOLATION.  It  restarted again, then went into recovery mode. There was a successful recovery to the old windows.  Phew! I still had an operable machine.  Of course in a few hours the whole process repeated.  The update was downloaded again, and then applied, and the DPC WATCHDOG VIOLATION message appeared.  This went on time after time.  What was I to do?

Google suggested incompatible drivers and pointed to the screen drivers.  I removed the drivers and the update started. The drivers came back and the whole error appeared again.  Another suggestion  was the disk was failing, and I should run a CHKDSK /R /F.  CHKDSK was started. The progress steadily increased until it reached 14%.  At 14% it hung for several hours.  Again there was  someone on the interwebs who said if it hung there for a long time, it was because it was trying to recover bad disk segments and therefore you had a problem.

The Solution

Gambling time had come.  Buy a new disk drive, and while we were at it, buy a solid disk, a Samsung SSD 850 EVO.   Amazon delivered next day. I replaced the disk drive in minutes. I then downloaded Windows 10 onto a stick and booted the laptop from the stick.  Yes it recognised the new drive, and yes it also recognised the laptop so I had a licensed machine.   I also no longer had all the Dell crap bloatware anymore.

The installation media was pre 1607 version, so fingers crossed while Windows updated itself.  This time no problems and now we are all up to date, and a FAST running machine.

The machine now is rejuvenated.  The solid state disk, boots in seconds and is operable immediately after I login.  Previously the machine took 10 minutes to become usable, because there was so much disk I/O from Dropbox indexing the files to find out what was had changed. Startup time was unacceptable.

Now its back to reinstalling applications, and recovering the data from the cloud.  Thankfully, with my FTTP connection this was quite fast.

A Buzzard in our Garden

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A Buzzard visited our garden, sitting on the fence between the paddock and the garden.  As I approached, the bird flew off and sat on the fence further into the paddock.  It then flew into the next door field.  In the process the Buzzard was mobbed by the Red Kites.  A bit of a change, the Red Kites themselves are normally mobbed by the Jackdaws and Rooks.

 

 

Weekend In Leicester

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We had a lovely weekend in Leicester staying with Valerie and Norman, along with Bill and Viv.   The visit started off with a chainsaw massacre  in the garden with a little bit of pruning.  After this hard work, our thirsts were quenched with a couple of pints at The Classroom Real Ale pub.  This is a real ale micro pub, twenty minutes walk away, serving some great ales straight from the cask.  I was very impressed with the quality of the beer and service.  Looking forward to a return visit.

Next day Bill, Norman and I went for a walk along the Grand Union Canal from the Navigation pub to Wistow Rural centre.  Lovely day, the canal had a thin layer of ice, and the outward walk was over frozen mud.  At Wistow Rural Centre we ate lunch and had a walk around the garden centre.  The pictures I have taken are of a model village, notice the campervan. The walk back was a little muddy as the mud had thawed.  On the way home we stopped off at a real ale pub called The Cow and Plough for a quick pint.

In the evening we took a taxi into Leicester centre for supper at the Ask Italian restaurant.

On Monday we had a walk at Bradgate Park. A large open deer park with a ruined house, some lovely oak trees.  We walked to the top of the hill where the Old John Tower is situated.  This 18th Century folly sits on the highest point of the Park and is one of Leicestershire’s most famous landmarks.   Lunch nearby in the Jade Tea Rooms.  Very reasonable and sizable portions.

 

 

 

 

 

David Bowie at the Proud Gallery

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On Thursday I traveled to London to visit the Proud Gallery on King’s Road to see an exhibition of photographs of David Bowie.  The gallery is a small gallery and had a selection of photographs of Bowie priced from a couple of thousand to over sixty thousand pounds.  Needless to say I was not buying.

I also visited the V&A gallery to see their small free exhibition of Glastonbury.  The exhibition was not about the music, but the performing arts side of Glastonbury.  I took a look at other sections of the V&A and have promised myself another visit.

Ate a late breakfast at an Italian restaurant on King’s Road, seemingly used by builders, which serves a good English breakfast.  I ate poached eggs on toast, Eggs Benedict no less, and drank a good coffee.