London... without hesitation, repetition or deviation

Lately I've been thinking that it'd be a good idea to cut down on my intake of news. I admit that there are lots of good reasons to be aware of what's going on but several recent news stories have been the sort to continue on for days at a time, drip feeding details to the waiting media. So this past week I decided to cut down. Both at the home and the office I'm choosing not to tune in and its been a pleasant change. The one hiccup in the week was Tuesday...

We rearranged our week and took the opportunity to travel into London from Oxford. The bus was pleasant and and speedy and costs a lot less than the train off-peak day return cost of £44 each on Chilterns Trains (!). Our target was New Broadcasting House, home of the BBC in London where we had managed to secure tickets to see Just a Minute being recorded. After a queue of perhaps thirty minutes we reached the front of the queue and passed through security to the light airy corridor beyond. I don't know what I was expecting but I had not expected to be face to face with a mocked-up Dalek or Dr Who phone box. Neither had I expected there to be a very large and lovely cafe. To the left stood someone presenting the weather and spread out below was the BBC Newsroom. Behind the glass a camera occasionally rolled along its track waiting for the cue to begin the establishing shot for the headlines on the hour and half hour.

(c) Andy Hebden

Recording of Just a Minute was running behind schedule and so we spent perhaps an hour being bombarded by all the news taking place around the world - quite a contrast to what I had intended.

Eventually we were able to make our way through to the Radio Theatre where two programmes of Just a Minute were recorded. The rules are simple: speak on a subject for one minute without hesitation, repetition or deviation. It was really good fun and well worth an afternoon away from the office. As a day out it was up there with my school trip to see Blind Date being recorded back in the last millennium...

The Thame-ing of the Shoe

Today seems a good point to sit down and write a few lines - I know that we still need to write about our time on Mfangano island but that will require a longer stretch of time.

We arrived at Heathrow on the 17th July. The following day we drove our little Nissan Micra from London to South Devon. I (Andrew) had had some family holidays around there when growing up and having some familiarity helped us to find our way around.

Going straight on holiday is stressful - you have to repack your bags after all the earlier packing in Kenya and travelling on a night flight - but to me its the equivalent of two weeks on a boat sailing back to the UK - I've left where I was but I'm not yet where I am going - I'm in transit and that gives space for reflection.

Sunset over Hope Cove

Having been in Kenya I had different criteria than what might be expected for what constitutes a good holiday, and a good camping holiday at that. I wanted the long light evenings; the coolness of the air during the night, the dew and damp grass in the morning, the simplicity of cooking and washing up; and from a weather point of view I wanted a little rain, patchy cloud and some sun too. We were wonderfully pleased to have something of everything - even fog rolling up the valley.

After our holiday we have had some church holiday club, a jolly day out to Olympic rowing at Eton Dorney (in which we even got the opportunity to shout 'courage!' to a rower from Niger who was up against stiff opposition in his race).

Then last Friday we moved to a new town that will be home till mid-January - Thame. It's a small town close to Oxford. The house is right on the edge of the town and beyond the road behind the house is a nicely rounded field of wheat. On the first afternoon we went to the high street and popped into Clarks shoes. I tried a shoe on sale and liked the price and the fit. I asked to see the other shoe in the pair - if they could find it - ho ho. Several minutes passed and no shoe arrived. Another staff member went to have a look for their lost colleague. Eventually they appeared apologising that the other half of the pair was unmatching - the same sole but different stitching. They therefore offered the pair for £10 - a nice discount of 82% on the original selling price.

The town seems very interesting - it has a cattle market and a vibrant high street of bakeries, butchers, and boutiques and charity shops. The town is grounded in history with old buildings dotted around - wonky roofs and exposed beams, multicoloured bricks and tiles and rubble walls.

The following afternoon we set out to walk to a neighbouring village. The countryside was beautiful - rivers, greens, budding flowers and lush grasses, dragonflies, red kites, a buzzard and a water rat. Truly wonderful. We're really thankful for the provision of this home and town and we pray that it'll be a fruitful time.