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Help, we're already nearly at the end of June! This year is rapidly disappearing.
Harry PotterNick Murdoch and the Transit of Venus
On Wednesday 6th, Emily and I got up Very Early™ at around 4 am and walked to the top of a grassy hill leading down to the Dartford Crossing. We got there just after sunrise so we could watch the Transit of Venus, which I missed in 2004 and which won't occur again until 2117. It was cloudy when we got there but with ten minutes to go until the end of the transit an hour later, the sun made its way above the layer of clouds on the horizon, and we saw the last moments of the transit through some eclipse glasses that Emily's mum had lent us.
I'd been used to seeing Venus as the first "star" in the night for the last year or so, and it was odd seeing it not as a star but as a planet silhouetted in the sun. I'm really glad I got the chance to see it.
Afterwards we went back to sleep; I was working from home that day so I got a couple of extra hours before needing to switch on the computer in the morning.
Red House
The next weekend we went to The Red House, an estate in Bexleyheath. The trains were out that weekend so we decided to go somewhere we can get to by bus, and since mum volunteers at the Red House during the week, it sprang to mind.
We didn't go into the house itself, but the gardens and the rest of the estate was lovely, and not very busy, which was nice. We ate lunch on a bench in a meadow-like garden. Then Emily led me around blindfolded to see if I could smell the difference between different colours of roses.
Tower Bridge
Last Saturday, I'd found out that Tower Bridge was due to open, so Emily, her flatmate Tim, and I met up on the South bank to watch it. The bridge opens silently after an alarm has cleared everyone from the opening section, and shortly afterwards a French boat Cormoran passed through, after which the bridge closed again just as silently.
After the brige closed, we walked along Southbank towards Hungerford Bridge, where we planned to have dim sim. On the way, we discovered a giant sandpit which had been installed near Waterloo Bridge, which was filled with areas of differently coloured sand. Each colour had a different texture too, which was rather neat. Here's a picture of me jumping in it.
We also saw the end of an outside performance of acrobats doing some kind of interpretive dance about the sea.
After that we went to Ping Pong, a dim sum chain, at the Royal Festival Hall, and had some really tasty food there.
Sandown Karting
At work we had a team-building day at Sandown Racecourse, a 900m karting track. We did three time-trial qualifying "races" to determine grid position for the final race. I placed 11th, 11th, 8th (out of 13) during the qualifying, but after nearly an hour in the car, the heat and fumes got to me, and I had to pull out of the main race. It was still mighty good fun and I'd happily do it again!
Speaking of racing, the F1 qualifying is about to start on TV, so time for me to watch that!
On Wednesday 6th, Emily and I got up Very Early™ at around 4 am and walked to the top of a grassy hill leading down to the Dartford Crossing. We got there just after sunrise so we could watch the Transit of Venus, which I missed in 2004 and which won't occur again until 2117. It was cloudy when we got there but with ten minutes to go until the end of the transit an hour later, the sun made its way above the layer of clouds on the horizon, and we saw the last moments of the transit through some eclipse glasses that Emily's mum had lent us.I'd been used to seeing Venus as the first "star" in the night for the last year or so, and it was odd seeing it not as a star but as a planet silhouetted in the sun. I'm really glad I got the chance to see it.
Afterwards we went back to sleep; I was working from home that day so I got a couple of extra hours before needing to switch on the computer in the morning.
Red House
The next weekend we went to The Red House, an estate in Bexleyheath. The trains were out that weekend so we decided to go somewhere we can get to by bus, and since mum volunteers at the Red House during the week, it sprang to mind.We didn't go into the house itself, but the gardens and the rest of the estate was lovely, and not very busy, which was nice. We ate lunch on a bench in a meadow-like garden. Then Emily led me around blindfolded to see if I could smell the difference between different colours of roses.
Tower Bridge
Last Saturday, I'd found out that Tower Bridge was due to open, so Emily, her flatmate Tim, and I met up on the South bank to watch it. The bridge opens silently after an alarm has cleared everyone from the opening section, and shortly afterwards a French boat Cormoran passed through, after which the bridge closed again just as silently.
After the brige closed, we walked along Southbank towards Hungerford Bridge, where we planned to have dim sim. On the way, we discovered a giant sandpit which had been installed near Waterloo Bridge, which was filled with areas of differently coloured sand. Each colour had a different texture too, which was rather neat. Here's a picture of me jumping in it.We also saw the end of an outside performance of acrobats doing some kind of interpretive dance about the sea.
After that we went to Ping Pong, a dim sum chain, at the Royal Festival Hall, and had some really tasty food there.
Sandown Karting
At work we had a team-building day at Sandown Racecourse, a 900m karting track. We did three time-trial qualifying "races" to determine grid position for the final race. I placed 11th, 11th, 8th (out of 13) during the qualifying, but after nearly an hour in the car, the heat and fumes got to me, and I had to pull out of the main race. It was still mighty good fun and I'd happily do it again!
Speaking of racing, the F1 qualifying is about to start on TV, so time for me to watch that!
