Photo shoot

Well, that made a pleasant change from my normal day-job. I was invited to attend the Awards Ceremony of a key client and take the official photographs of the event.

Apart from a small techy-glitch towards the end, it all went very well. I now just have to get the photographs printed & framed and then dropped off to the client.

A great day � nice to see so many people really enjoying themselves in a work environment!

Short break: Portsmouth (Day 3)

I didn't get up until 8am!!

Looking out the window, the weather looks good at the moment although the forecast is cloudy. We plan to primarily use today to take photographs and try out our new camcorder.

9.00am. We got down to breakfast and found it a lot quieter than yesterday. The service was still sluggish, although the food was excellent.

10.00am. We took a short drive to the War Memorial. It looks like the original memorial was for WW1 and a a large extension had been added to accommodate WW2. The weather seemed to be getting better!

Whilst we were looking round, we saw what might be Ann's next car! (only joking).


10.30am. We then drove to the Historic Dockyard. We haven't been there for (we think) 15 years! It's been developed quite a bit and it was great looking around the improving good weather helped. HMS Victory looked stunning and so did the various modern warships.

11.00am. We then took a boat trip round the harbour. The Guide was really informative and pointed out lots of Frigates, Destroyers and a couple of aircraft carriers. We even saw some brand new warships awaiting commission. Ironically, some of the other warships were there awaiting a decision about their future. Part of the trip included stopping off at the now familiar Gunwharf Quays.

12.00. We had a final look round and then decided to take the Ferry to Gosport.

1.00pm. The ferry was busy � obviously a popular way to get to Gosport. The journey only took about 5 minutes and only cost �2.30 return.

The weather was now really hot. We took a short walk along the marina and stopped off at a small Bar/Bistro: Coburns on the Water and tucked into a burger with a cider each. We sat in the sun for about an hour before catching the ferry back.

2.45pm. We drove back to Gunwharf Quays and popped into the M and S Outlet and bought a few bits and pieces.

3.10pm. We went to see the film: Coco avant Chanel at the Vue cinema starring Audrey Tatou. The film was typically French and told the story of Coco Chanel's rise from obscure beginnings to the heights of the fashion world. It's not the sort of film that normally I go for, but it was well-filmed and quite a moving story.

5.30pm After the film, we headed back to the M and S Outlet to look round the men's department again. This time, I managed to get a new suit at around half-price � excellent!

6.15pm. We headed off to Caf� Rouge, just opposite The Spinnaker Tower. It was pretty quiet and after moving tables because the table-top was falling off! we were served pretty quickly. Ann chose the Beef Bourguignon and I had the Breton Chicken. The food tasted good, but Ann had to send hers back to heat it up! We finished the meal sharing Belgian Waffles with bananas smothered in chocolate.

7.30 We headed back to the hotel only to find that parking was a nightmare � absolutely no spaces anywhere. We eventually parked it in a parking area at the top of the road, but I'll need to fill the meter tomorrow before 8am � bang goes a lie-in!!

7.45 We're knackered!

Short break: Portsmouth (Day 2)

6.30am. I was up with the sound of birds and the faint sound of a hovercraft! A bright blue sky outside suggests today might be a fine day weather-wise.

8.30am. Breakfast calls, so it's a short walk across the road (!) and in through the back-door to the breakfast-room. It wasn't a very big room, and it was very busy when we first got there � but we were soon seated. Michael took our order � scrambled egg and salmon on granary bread for Ann; scrambled egg, sausage and beans for me.

9.30am. After breakfast, we took the short 5 minute walk into Southsea.

Once in the town, we headed for a unique John Lewis still called 'Knight and Lee'. Unique because it was very small and it had possibly the loudest escalators we'd ever seen heard. The staff seemed to have tune-out the noise, but we found it quite irritating. Back to the mission: I bought Ann some casual shoes and a belt. We then headed for Debenhams (sorely in need of some money being spent on it) where I stocked up on socks and added to my t-shirt collection. We then walked back to the hotel.

11.10am. We headed back into Southsea, to the Post Office to drop off a package. Whilst waiting for Ann, a Hummer turned up to pick up a load of girls on some sort of celebration. The Hummer was the centre of attention, with locals taking photographs and other motorists taking note of it blocking-up the high street! 

11.30am. We set off for Devizes to meet up with Johnny H and his wife Mel. On the way there, we stopped off in Wickham, a rather quaint town. We popped into Lilly's a small tea-shoppe. It was already busy but we spotted a table for two in the corner. Ann chose a baked jacket potato with ham and cheese whilst I went for the cranberry, brie and bacon sandwich � both delicious�and the service was excellent.

12,30pm. After picking-up some flowers for Mel in the shop next door, we resumed our journey, narrowly avoiding a short down-pour of rain.

2.15pm. We had a fairly good journey to J and M's, but because I'd set the sat-nav for shortest rather than quickest, we were directed away from the motorway which added to the journey time � it took about two-hours.

It was good to see them both again especially Mel, who's recovering from a very serious operation. The time flew and we were there until 6.30.

Ann drove back, and this time we stuck to the motorway, reducing the overall journey time by about thirty minutes.

8.00pm. We stopped off at Gunwharf Quays and decided to try out Chiquitos a Mexican Bar and Grill chain. We were quite hungry by now. The service was sluggish and the food OK rather than anything better � it could have been hotter too! We weren't offered a dessert and it took an age to get the bill�.but it filled a hole!!!

8.45pm We took a short walk along the top floor of the Quays towards the harbour. The view was spectacular, especially with the sun setting against The Spinnaker Tower (the phone on my mobile doesn't really do it justice).

9.45. We arrived back at the hotel. It's been a busy but enjoyable and rewarding day. Just time for a night-cap, a bit of TV and then � zzzzzzzz�

Our new Blu-Ray DVD Player/Great Shopping Trip

It's time to pension-off our trusty Sony DVP-S735D DVD player which is now more than 15 years old. Technically, there is nothing wrong with it - it still attracts good reviews on-line, but technology marches on!! After lots and lots (and lots) of research, step forward the snappily titled Panasonic DMPBD80, the most technologically advanced Blu-Ray DVD player currently available.

Probably the two most innovative features are the ethernet connection, allowing access to the Internet, (for sites like YouTube) and a USB port allowing digital images from cameras and PCs to be displayed through the player to an HD TV.

We bought ours from those very nice people at Richer Sounds. They were easily the cheapest and there was also an option to purchase a five-year warranty for just 10% of the purchase price. Total price: 340.90. Superb customer service from 'Ellis'!

In addition, I needed an HDMI lead. How much? 20? ... 30? ...40 pounds? Not even close! How about 79.95? - I think it's made of gold!!! Then when I came to connect it all up I discovered that it wasn't long enough. Kerr-ching!!!, that'll be 89.95 for a two-metre version. I'll have to drive over to Leicester tomorrow, to pick it up.

Because the DVD Player is very new and a bit hard to get hold-of, we couldn't order it on-line but had to visit one of Richer Sound's shops. We chose Leicester, having reserved it a few days beforehand.

Whilst we were in Leicester, we popped into the newish John Lewis there. What a fantastic store ...spacious ...not very busy ...and a great product range. Perfect! We had a productive time. I picked up a black leather jacket; we bought some more garden lights; a small carpet for the lobby; and we arranged for a visit by their kitchen planner to help us re-think the kitchen.

Dubai and Oman photographs 're-done'

I realised that the photographs I'd uploaded to my site whilst we were in Dubai were too small to be fully appreciated on some large-screen monitors so I re-coded all the html.

They're a lot larger now.

See them HERE