janeoconnor.co.uk

FEBRUARY 2011.

~ One of my least favourite months of the year and a time to hibernate, eat and do very little else. Saw the King’s Speech which deserves its many accolades,  went to a press screening (I Am Number Four), had some lovely sushi on Valentine’s day, tried a new local Thai restaurant and ordered some new hedging plants for front garden. That was February, in a nutshell.  Roll on March.

JANUARY 2011

~ Press visit to Chewton Glen Luxury Hotel & Spa. We stayed in the Marryat Suite and it was an insight into extravagance. In the Spa I had the Ananda facial and a foot scrub with 150 million year old Himalayan salts. More to come in my review shortly.

DECEMBER 2010

~ Gullivers Travels press screening at Leicester Square. Got a caricature done and posed for a digital interpretation of me as Gulliver tied up by Lilliputians. My stomach isn’t that big….really. As for the film, it was just okay and anything starring Jack Black is okay by me.

 

 

~ My nephew Martin and his fiance Christina were over from the States and it was great to

see them. We took a trip to Cambridge and its many colleges, we ate in Wagamamas and finished off with a drink in The Eagle. The Eagle is the pub where Crick and Watson are said to have discussed their theories for DNA and the the ceiling is completely covered by the writings of RAF officers who used lighters to leave their mark.

 

 

 

 

 

 

~ In New York. The taxi driver who picked us up from JFK airport loaded our luggage in his boot then tried to close it. After a few slams the dodgy boot stayed shut. Apart from quoting us the fixed rate to Manhatten he said very little else and mumbled monosyllabic to our questions but didn’t stop talking to his friends via his mobile. Three times I had told him the address of our hotel in Manhatten.

As we hit downtown Manhatten I interupted his phone call to check for a fourth time he knew the hotel address in Upper West Manhatten. Furious, he spun around to bark the correct address incredously while accusing us of giving him the wrong address and the run around. Back on the phone I could hear him tutting, cussing and telling his friends – in his own language – that a passenger in his cab had given him the wrong address. At break neck speed he cut in and out of cars giving us whiplash into the bargain.

At last he angrily screeched to a halt outside our hotel. I gave him the amount which included a decent tip but which meant that I was still owed $5. He sat there without giving me my change. I asked for my $5 dollars while Tom was left to unload all of our luggage from the boot without assistance. He said “I will give you the $5″ but made no move to do

so then ”get out of the taxi madam”. I replied “if you are going to give me my $5 back why  are you asking me to get out of your taxi?”. It had ceased to be a matter of money but was now a matter of principle and a battle of wills. At last he cussed, rummaged about and threw the $5 note at me and I got out of the cab. He immediately screeched off causing passers-by to look over in surprise. He only got 100 yards before his boot flapped open comically and he was forced to pull over, get out and slam it shut. Poetic justice perhaps.

I didn’t let the taxi ride skew my opinion and found most of the New Yorkers to be interesting, friendly and accommodating. Youths in hoodies walk the streets with their chihauhaus and don’t seem to align their street-cred or masculinity to the type of dog they have. Has to be a good thing and fascinating to see. Being a Londoner by birth New York to me is a faster, brighter version with taller buildings and better breakfasts.

Amazing to be there but after our eight nights in the city that never sleeps I was ready to leave.

OCTOBER 2010

~ You gotta love Autumn.

SEPTEMBER 2010
~ Our trip to Ireland started with a detour to Youghal, Cork, a homage to my late father and the time he spent there in the 50s while filming ’Moby Dick.’ He spoke of the little

seaside town with affection and shared some funny stories with me about the mishaps and delays along the way.

I wrote in the visitors book and spent a good while studying the dozens of photographs that adorned the walls. He wasn’t visible in any of them but, as I wrote in the visitors book: I know he was in each one, working hard behind the scenes doing a job he absolutely loved.

We stayed in Glenbeigh a quiet little village in Kerry with a few restaurants and pubs, perfect for exploring the Ring of Kerry. We drove anti-clockwise round the ring – as per

tourist website advice – and it was absolutely stunning. The days were sunny, the sky and sea such a deep blue that we could have been forgiven for thinking we were in the Meditteranean at times.

 

 

 

 

From our little cottage we could see Dingle Bay and the huge garden was perfect for our two terriers. I enjoyed having a real fire, Tom had the knack of getting the best out of it so I left him to it.

 

 

Killarney National Park was another highlight. Vast and rugged, we had fun exploring the little nooks and crannies dotted around the place. Great place to walk dogs but overall the

parts of Ireland we visited didn’t have much opportunity for off-road walks. After a long drive it is handy to be able nip out for 10 minutes with poo bags in hand, but our dogs had to cross their legs for quite a long time before we found anywhere suitable. That’s one aspect of the trip that made me thankful for the many off road walkways and paths open to us all in England.

 

The beaches, on the other hand, were gorgeous and dog-friendly all year round. This is a photo of Rossbeigh, a blue flag beach just a stone’s throw from where we were staying. It was huge, empty and absolutely beautiful.

 

 

 

AUGUST 2010

~ Enjoying The Great British Bake Off on BBC2 and just love Mel and Sue – it’s been too long since they co-presented something on TV. I am pretty envious of these clever people creating such amazing cakes and pastries, particularly the guy who has a uniquely ornate sense of style. One of his designs was a cake that resembled a forest floor with leaves and acorns lovingly represented in minute detail – loved it!. I don’t have any aspirations in that direction; I know what I’m good at and it ain’t a’baking.

One of my last attempts was a fruit cake/loaf in school that was so rock hard my dad jokingly used it as a doorstop for the day. And I forgot the sugar in my lemon meringue tart so it turned into soup. Now I look back I can see why the Home Economics teacher was infuriated by me, but the feeling was mutual. Hated every last minute of it and it didn’t help with the teacher shouting over our whisking that we should all try to get it right to please our future husbands or they would leave us …

~ Had a fantastic weekend in Dorset and Hampshire this month on a press visit.  Found time for a walk round the New Forest.

 

 

 

 

 

The Grosvenor Hotel and Christchurch Harbour Hotel are both unique in their own way and set at almost opposite ends of Dorset whch made for a good overview of this beautiful county.  Reviews to follow.

~ Loving Malaysian food at the moment and we even tried our hand at a few dishes this month. Seeing as it was our first attempt they turned out pretty good! Assam Fish and coconut rice with a dessert of Kuih Dadar, a rice flour crepe filled with coconut and palm sugar … gorgeous. We were inspired by our visit to The Malaysian Restaurant in Stony Stratford which I reviewed for Malaysia Kitchen recently.

JULY 2010

~ Visited Wroxham in Norfolk this month for a press visit to Broad House Hotel. Gorgeous grounds and plenty of places to walk the dogs. Full of character and history plus the food is excellent too – review to follow.

With Scarlet on Broad House hotel’s private quay. Will she, won’t she? She did jump in the end.

 

 

 

 

 

~ After a considerable amount of time we have scanned and digitally stored all of our old and new photos. Here’s a few we did earlier:

My dad Martin O’Connor during WW2.

My mum Ada O’Connor. She didn’t like this photo of herself but I love it.

~ Visited Cafe Luc in Marylebone the other day for a review; great brasserie with fantastic food and comfortable seating. The latter tends to grow in importance once past the age of 30.

~ Yesterday we went off for a family picnic in a wildlife reserve complete with views of villages, rolling hills and munching cattle. Our dogs chased frisbees while my nephew and brother-in-law flew their kite nearby. As my little niece said: “what a lovely way to spend a Saturday, very relaxing”. I also discovered her word for someone who’s had too much to drink: she refers to them as ‘overwhelmed’; nice description of intoxication so I’ve added it to my lexicon and there it will stay.

~ We tried a great Japanese Sushi restaurant by the Quayside when we were in Cambridge this month: Teri Aki. On the expensive side but the food was fresh and delicious. It was warm and we were seated half in and half outside. The atmosphere outside was fantastic; a holiday type vibe with crowds of relaxed people standing drinking and talking by the river as the nearby punting business enjoyed a brisk trade.

~ I’ve started buying ’Empire‘ magazine as recommended by my nephew Martin. One of the films it recommended was ‘Departures’; a brilliant Japanese story about a man who applies for a job after seeing it advertised as ’Departures.’ To him the name speaks of travel and far flung destinations but instead finds himself working in the funeral business. Darkly funny and very moving.

~ Just finished reading Great Expectations by Charles Dickens and it’s now up there as one of my top 5 favourite books. It joins good company like: To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee) and Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte). Having seen John Mills as Pip in the film I thought I knew the story pretty well, but the book is a whole different thing. Absorbing, detailed and surpringly witty.

JUNE 2010
~ Enjoying the glorious sunshine and balmy evenings and trying to fit in a few pub garden sessions while it is still warm. It’s gotta be done! The wasps, bless them, are a bit of a  nuisance but the mosquitos seem to be leaving me alone these days. I used to be their favourite meal of choice; a position I am happy to relinquish.

~ I organised a gathering at my house with family members meeting others they had not met before or seen for years. It was a very special day for me and hopefully the first of many similar events.

~ Watched all of England’s disappointing matches. What can I say? Everything’s been said already and then some. The linesman should have gone to Specsavers.

MAY 2010
~ I saw Ed Tudor Pole (of Crystal Maze and Tenpole Tudor fame) having breakfast in a hotel lounge.Not one person seemed to recognise him. I wanted to tell him that I thought he was great but didn’t want to appear sycophantic so I left him munching on his toast in peace.

~ Giving the house a lick of fresh paint and can’t believe the difference it makes.

~ My review of The Fox at Willian is now up online.

APRIL 2010
~ Met my new great nephew for the first time yesterday and what a little cutey he is.

~ First night of Ricky Gervais’s show ‘Science‘ at Wembley Arena and I was one of the lucky c***s who got a ticket (this is what the ‘living legend’ himself endearingly called us all and we didn’t mind a bit). The set looked great, a mad professor’s lab complete with bubbling green test tubes and gadgets aplenty. That’s where the reference to Science ended though, as the rest of the evening had little allusion to it. Brilliant though, very funny and well-observed. A bit near the knuckle once or twice, enough to make me think I’d accidentally wandered into a Roy Chubby Brown gig by mistake. Loved the stuff he did on Amanda Holden and Noah’s inadequate sized arc.

~ Not a bad way to usher in another birthday. Yo-sushi and the well-received play ‘Ghost Stories’ at the Lyric, Hammersmith. A few ghoulish and startling moments caused us to leap from our seats but maybe we’ve just seen too many horror films for it to do much more. As for Yo-sushi; always good. Must try Yoshi Sushi soon as I’ve heard great things about it.

MARCH 2010

~ We took part in a charity sponsored dog walk to raise money for The Queen Mother Animal Hospital. Not too strenous, but then again I’ve never been one of those whose idea of raising money for charity is doing a handstand across the Himalayas.

~ It’s beginning to feel a lot like Spring…at last! It felt like such a long, dark winter.

 

~ Took in the Real Van Gogh exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts. He wrote quite a few letters and one or two were in English. Saw some of his work I had not known existed, like ’The apparition’ which is one of my favourites. It was around the time of my birthday and Tom surprised me by booking The Fountain Restaurant at Fortnum & Mason. Very elegant and quintessentially English.

~ Reviewed The Fox at Willian for The Culinary Guide.

~ Started a new job as Regional Consultant for a Medical Recruitment agency and in order to do the job I have to keep my nursing registration. A bit of financial stability and of course I still have time for my Freelance work.

~ Loving the Chris Evans breakfast show, in particular Head to Headlines and Top Tenuous. The sporting challenges are a good laugh too.

FEBRUARY 2010
~ Now writing for www.itchycity.co.uk with a Malaysian restaurant review in the pipeline. Also may be writing for http://internationallife.tv.

~ Booked to see Ricky Gervais at Wembley Arena and the play ‘Ghost Stories’ at the Lyric, both in April. Guaranteed to be laughing at one and screaming at the other, but which way round?

JANUARY 2010
~ Just updated my dad’s page on IMDB;

I have put a few photos and a little information about the films he worked on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

~ This is an emotive subject for me. I am pleased and relieved to read that come April 2010, dog meat - ‘fragrant meat’ – will be banned in China. About time. Apparently this is largely thanks to the increasing population of ‘middle-class’ pet owners in China. Horizon, The Secret Life of the Dog was on recently and revealed some interesting facts about our canine friends, some more surprising than others. Apparently the hormone that is released when bonding with dogs is the same one that is released by a mother bonding with her baby. On a similar note, I heard a sweet story last week on the Chris Evans show on Radio Two. Tinkerbell, a Chiwawa dog was given three kittens to look after by her guardians. She took to the job right away, cleaning and caring for them as if they were her own. Even more surprising is that she had just had a litter of her own, but she welcomed the kittens in right alongside her six puppies.

~ In December Tom and I visited a lovely restaurant in Woburn Park called Paris House. The grounds are magnificent and it is worth the drive through the grounds alone.

~ I can only refer to the UK, but have you ever noticed that when couples shop in supermarkets it’s usually the man who pushes the trolly while the women does the list reading and choosing of goods? While out for a meal the other night I also noticed that women often choose a seat facing out while men face the wall. I suppose these things are somehow related to our ingrained impulses to sustain the continuation of our dna. Fascinating though, human behaviour.

~ How true it is that when one door closes, another opens. More and more I have found that what seems to be an adverse event turns out to be the catalyst for better things to happen.

DECEMBER 2009
~ Had family round yesterday for our yearly Christmas get together. It was good fun, lots of games were played and prizes won, everyone seemed to have a great time. Miss not having my US based relatives here though.

~ Glad Paul McCartney has given the X-Factor the thumbs up. We all know the down side to it and the arguments against it, but it’s a great piece of entertainment and there are some seriously good singers coming out of it. It’s not something to be taken seriously, just like Opportunity Knocks back in the day.

~ Had a nice little break in the Northern Scottish Highlands where I went with Tom and the dogs to write a travel review for www.theculinaryguide.co.uk. Not a bad way to spend a

few days; the weather was crisp but sunny and we went on long walks by waterfalls

surrounded on all sides by snow-capped mountains and forests. Afterwards we would head back to our warm hotel – Coul House - complete with its festive decorations and roaring log fires before getting ready for dinner and the great food on offer.

 

 

NOVEMBER 2009
~ Pleased to say I have plenty of writing work; now also writing for www.viamichelin.co.uk and my article will be translated into several European languages which should mean extended coverage.

~ I surprised Tom with a horseriding lesson for his birthday. Just before we were due to leave, I told Tom to wear his cowboy boots and he thought I was taking him country dancing. Molly the horse was calm and patient. Tom had a blast and
and even managed to get lots of praise from the trainer.

~ Guy Fawkes night is here again and the smell of cordite brings back the great memories of standing frozen waving a sparkler in gloved hand to the inevitable firework induced oohs and ahhs. Some memories aren’t so great but refuse to budge.

Flash back to 5th November some years back and I am 13 years old standing by the new locum teacher’s desk. She is red in the face and very, very angry. I make her sick she said and that I shouldn’t say another word but return to my desk with my head down as I disgust her. The reason? As requested I had shown her my Guy Fawkes poem that she had asked each of the class to do. She read it and point-blank refused to believe that I had written it, even wrongly accused me of copying it somehow. Funny how the memory of an injustice stays with us, even if it only crops up once a year …

OCTOBER 2009
~ Looking forward to seeing Paranormal Activity and Avatar at the cinemas. Watched some great films recently and some right rubbish.

~Just joined Twitter – couldn’t put it off much longer. Simon Pegg and Nick Frost have some cracking tweets. Yoko Ono talks about counting the puddles when the sun is out…glad to see nothing has changed there.

~ I travelled to Franche-Comte where I spent three nights on my first press trip. On the

border with Switzerland and the home of Comte cheese, this lesser known part of France is very picturesque; the town

of Arbois was particularly memorable and well worth a visit.

 

 

A full itineray included a visit to the home of Absinthe; the Green Fairy.

We got a kick out of this ‘Absinthe is Death’ poster which was up in the distillery.

My fellow journalists on the Franche-Comte press trip were great company and we had a laugh. I am writing up the travel review now and it should be up online soon.

~ My good friend Veronica has just moved and I am really pleased for her, the new house is lovely. Now she is rural we can take the dogs on some fantastic walks. She’s a fantastic friend and I am lucky to know her.

SEPTEMBER 2009
~ We travelled to Mawgan Porth, Cornwall to review two hotels and their restaurants.

Bedruthan Steps Hotel is family friendly hotel while up the road The Scarlet is a luxury eco-friendly hotel and very grown-up. I went on a spa journey there which included an Ayurvedic Consultation and found out that my dosha (body type) is ‘Pitta.’ Based on the descriptions of a Pitta dosha it seemed pretty accurate. I do prefer coolness to heat, I am organised, I often express my opinion and my bowel habits are … perhaps that is best left for me and the therapist to know.

~ My Freelance work is heating up – over the next few months I have a few hotel & restaurant reviews in Cornwall, a press trip to France and a travel review to do in Scotland. I am also going to attend my first film screening for www.sound-screen.co.uk next week.

AUGUST 2009
~  Had a discectomy operation. Aware of the old adage that nurses and doctors make the worse patients, I tried to be objective and not give the staff too much hassle. Most of them were great, but there was the odd nurse who took on the patronising nursy tone that sounds like an adult talking loudly to a child. Why do they do this? Most people aren’t stupid and there’s no need to talk to them as if they are.

At one point I was woken by a nurse who pointed to my food tray and said ‘aren’t you hungry then?’. It had been brought over half an hour before while I was asleep and I didn’t even know it was there. I certainly wasn’t hungry then as I stared at the lukewarm mash and beans.

Don’t get me wrong; I think most nurses do a brilliant job for very little reward. I should know, I’m one myself. But because of this I know when things are not right.

Hospital can be an intriguing place and you get to meet different people with different problems. I got to know Mandy in the bed opposite, who was in for a perforated appendix and came close to dying. Her dad visited the day before but before that she hadn’t seen him for 10 years.

On my second day I was told that there were not enough patients on the ward so for financial reasons we would all have to be dispersed around the hospital. Where’s the continuity of care in that? Just when I was getting to know Mandy and adapting to the strangeness of waking up in a bed that wasn’t mine. This type of money-oriented decision cannot be in the patient’s best interests. Many of the nurses confided their dismay at this but then shrugged it off as something that happens all the time.

The second ward I was shifted to made the first seem like paradise on earth, albeit one where people are attached to drips. Perhaps the thing I will take away with me is just how different one ward can be to the next in the very same hospital. The change in atmosphere was evident the moment the edge of my bed hit the wall. Gloomy, oppressive, indifferent. No-one came over to say hello or welcome me to the ward, if I made eye contact they swiftly looked away. At that point they weren’t even run off their feet, congregating instead in the nurses station as if it offered a protective barrier from the patients. A nurse visible on the open ward was as rare as camel’s teeth. A woman next to me kept shouting ‘ Nurse. Nurse’ but no-one came. Okay, she kept imagining she had a bedpan when she didn’t, but some care and reassurance wouldn’t have gone amiss. My husband Tom took on this role instead and she immediately calmed down.

The woman diagonally opposite was telling her visitor that she would be writing a ‘strong’ letter of complaint when she got out of here. About what I don’t know, but I could hazard a guess. We got chatting, and this woman worked away at sea, coming on to land every three months only.  She wanted to escape the ‘rat race’ and because of a freak accident is for now reluctantly back in it. She understood why I wanted to go home. We were interupted by John, a man in a severe confusional state who was under 24 hour close observation. He kept running into female wards chased by a nurse shouting ’John, don’t go in there, come this way, that is a ladies ward,’ every five minutes.

I couldn’t see how anyone could sleep in this place. At 2.30pm on my second day, dehydrated and with a headache that would not go, I eventually found a nurse and asked her to bleep the doctor as I wanted to go home. Six o’clock in the evening and still no doctor. When a nurse came to take my obs I grabbed my chance and asked what was happening about the doctor. ’He’s been bleeped by sister but he’s not responded’ was her reply. ‘Do you think she could try to bleep him again?’ I ventured. ‘Suppose so’ was her answer before she flung the curtains back open and left. Six thirty and a doctor arrives. She tells me that I can’t go home as I am not ready and it is only my second day. Plus one of the meds I am on is only available via pharmacy and this is now closed. ‘But it was open when I originally bleeped you at 2.30pm’ I said. Another doctor joined her and said he had no problem with me going home …

Tom wheeled me out and I couldn’t get away quick enough. So perhaps the old saying is true. Or maybe you don’t have to be a nurse or doctor to realise that some NHS care is compromised and just plain unnacceptable.

~  I am now in contact with Kelvin Pike, who worked on a few of the same films as my dad (Billy Budd and Moby Dick).

Kelvin was the camera operator for some great films, including The Shining, Empire Strikes Back and The Exorcist. We will be meeting up in the next few months and I am looking forward to swapping stories with him. (The photo shows my dad, Martin O’Connor – on the right – and another colleague during the filming of Billy Budd).

~  Great news; I am going to be tried by www.Screenjabber.com as a voluntary film critic.

JULY 2009
~  Enjoying the sun and sounds at an outdoor concert.

~  I have been awarded £500 by King’s College London Nurses League to undertake higher education in Journalism and Health.

JUNE 2009
~ I got two audience tickets for this year’s X-factor auditions and although I don’t usually go in for these type of events I enjoy the X-factor so I decided to go for it. Plus the novelty appealed to me; this year is the first time the auditions will be watched by an audience. The ticket stated that the door opened at 5.15pm or so and we (me and Tom) got there 45 minutes before, happy that this would be okay. We arrived at the Excel, London after a long drive and paid £10 to park before tackling the confusing directions. Then we saw it. On one of the hottest days in June, the outdoor queue stretched to a distance that could challenge Paula Radcliffe.

I asked a steward whether I had a realistic chance of getting in. He looked at the queue and shaking his head told us no, he doubted it, adding that some people had arrived midday to claim their place in the queue. Tom and I were in agreement on this one: if they are prepared to stand in the baking heat for five hours then they are welcome to it. We headed home, £10 lighter and much wiser for it.

~ Trying to get about despite my slipped disc, which promoted itself from a minor irritation to a major problem when I was in Spain; probably not helped by the long car drive.

MAY 2009
~ Two week hoiday in Tamariu, Catalunya. The last time we were here was six years ago and we said we would one day return. The beautiful pine wooded coves of as yet unspoilt

Tamariu and nearby Lafranc are a sight to see. Last time we could go out for a meal on the seafront and come home with change from £30. This time eating out in Spain at an averaged price restaurant was more expensive than London with two starters, two main courses and a bottle of wine costing €66 (£66) The Euro and pound were practically even when we left for our holiday). We were left reeling from a total of £210 on tolls to drive through France and back and petrol was €1.35 per litre (£1.35 practically). So without extravagance coming into it we realised we had spent half our spending money before we even reached Spain.

Apart from Banyoles lake, all of the beaches we visited were no-go areas for dogs. We had visualised beach walks with our dogs complete with frizbees flying through the air, but this

was not to be. There was lots of unpicked up dog poo in France and Spain and perhaps this is the reason for the ban, but it also punishes those dog owners who clean up after their animals.

~ Darzi press conference at the Science Museum; I went along with two journalists from the Nursing Times. I was impressed with the presentation and the idea of NHS Innovations; a pot of money to support the creative ideas and inventions of healthcare workers to improve the NHS. (lthough a better innovation would be to stop the crazy waste in the NHS). I can imagine that many nurses won’t get to hear about this. I have already spoken to several colleagues across a range of Trusts and none of them had heard about it. I would imagine that some Trusts will benefit more from this than others.

APRIL 2009
~ My birthday, and Tom surprised me with tickets to ‘Carousel’ at the Savoy theatre and a meal at The Ivy. Lesley Garrett was amazing as Nettie Fowler, belting out songs like ’June is busting out all over’ and ‘You’ll never walk alone’ that at times I feared for my eardrums. There is no getting away from the questionnable moral and ethical problems with the domestic violence component of Carousel, but I am still drawn by the story; the idea of having one opportunity to correct mistakes made when alive and despite my best efforts I am always moved by the power of the songs. Perhaps this is because I grew up with it and it has woven itself into my psyche.

~ On the way to the Ivy we went past another theatre showing the musical ‘Priscilla, Queen of the desert’ which Tom, who had never heard of it and who loves his food, inevitably read as ‘Priscilla Queen of the Dessert’.

~ Having lunch in Zizzi and looking through the menu I came across ‘Sardinian salad’. I asked what it was and the waitress replied ”I think it is a salad made of sardines”. I just love it.

~ I’ve gone off Terry Wogan. By chance I caught a snippet of Top Gear, and Jeremy put this question to Terence: “When you are driving, do you swerve for rabbits?”. Whether it was bravado or the truth, Terry snorted and replied ‘No’. And that was all it took, just that. No more Radio Two in the morning for me. And I hope Clarkson comes back as a rabbit. I hate myself for liking Top Gear so much.

MARCH 2009
~ Had a week off to do some day trips with Tom.

One day we drove to Aldeburgh with the dogs as there is a mile of dog-friendly beach there. Never been to this small Suffolk coastal town before, but it seems pretty untouched by major tourism. We will be checking it out again. I had a great fish and seafood pie in the White Lion pub/restaurant and braving the March chill we sat outside.

~ The London Dungeons was on our list. It felt like I had only been there a few years ago, but when I added it up it turns out to be 22 years ago. No wonder things had changed so much. As with most London attractions you need to remortgage your house to get in, but the attractions weren’t too bad, such as Jack the Ripper pub, scary boat ride and the chop ride at the end. I looked at the photo taken of me in the last ride and it was pretty typical. Everyone else looks scared in a laughing and joking kind of way, whereas my expression is one of abject terror. Needless to say I never buy them.

~ Hinchingbrooke Country Park was fabulous, apart from Cumbria and
parts of the states, I’ve never seen so many lakes.

~ A few years ago I contacted IMDB to register my dad’s name on the crew credits for films he had worked on (Martin O’Connor). I heard nothing back but happened to be looking through it in March and found my dad’s name under crew members for ‘The Key’; a 1958 film starring Sophia Loren. He had a small part in this film too, walking up and down the ship and also taking part in a sea burial. It is wonderful that he should be recognised for the work he did, even if it is posthumously. I will be putting a bio and some photos on IMDB soon for all the films he worked on, which include: One million years BC, The guns of Navarone, Moby Dick, Billy Budd.

FEBRUARY 2009

~ Let it snow, let it snow let it snow!