You won’t see me photographing this in summer
Sunrise!
Dove of Piece
… or should that be piece of dove?
What do you think it indicates? A dastardly deed by one of our neighbour's cats? No it wasn't. We have seen this before and it's fairly distinctive. We've had a visit from our friendly local sparrowhawk although the dove may not have thought it to be particularly friendly.
We have also seen it in action which is how we recognise the signs. We have seen the hawk come whizzing round a corner of the house and catch a dove mid-flight. It then lands on the ground, standing on its prey, with its talons around the dove's neck and strangles it. 
That's nature! One less dove but one sparrowhawk that doesn't starve.
I’m going to have to use the ‘F’ word!
FROST! Our first frost of the season this morning with temperatures overnight just under freezing point. Sunny with some cloud today so I thought I'd have to do my short exercise walk (1.5 miles). Just got back.
When we were in Sandwich I posted whilst we were having coffee in a teashop using my new Android telephone (computer). I'm hoping to do that at least on some future occasions together with photographs taken with the said telephone's camera. So on my walk today I have taken some pictures with the 'phone which I've posted below so that you can see what they'll be like.
Pink clouds??? Colours look a bit off. I'll have to see if I can tweak the camera/phone settings. Resolution is 640×480 which I hope to stick with as it saves having to resize on the 'phone before it's posted.
Whadda ya think?
For Sale: Pair of Olde English Legs – only one careful owner.
I think I need a new pair of legs! The ones I have are beginning to feel old. We haven't done as much walking this year as we normal do (blame the garage and the weather) and my legs are showing it so I need to do some more leg exercise over the winter to prepare for next year just in case we get a summer. 
I have just bought a new pair of walking shoes because putting on my normal walking boots (it can get very muddy around here in wet weather), with all the lacing up, tends to put me off. These new shoes are very rugged but, more importantly, they fasten using Velcro straps which takes but a few seconds.
I've just tried them out on my short walking circuit, 1.5 miles, and they are very comfortable. The acceleration is not as good as I'd hoped but then they are very fuel efficient although they do tend to understeer on the corners. 
I've checked the distance for this route quite accurately using my new Android 'phone gadget with Ordnance map loaded and GPS tracking on and it shows my track on the map giving the total distance as 1.5 miles. There is another route I did a day or so ago using 'The Gadget' and that route is 2.5 miles. That will be my medium walking circuit.
Some time in the not too distance future there is another route I can measure with the Gadget which should be longer than the previous two – that'll be my long walking circuit and I'll be interested to see what the actual distance is. This form of measurement is considerably more accurate than using a pedometer.
Can you afford to miss the next installment?
British Weather – What happened to Summer?
I often see requests from overseas visitors about the British weather. 'Which month is best for good weather?', 'If we come in such and such a month what should I wear?' and various similar questions.
They always get the same answer – 'nobody knows'.
We have done very little travelling this year for two reasons. One is that we spent a lot of time between April and July inclusive preparing to have a new garage built. The weather was quite good during those months although fairly changeable in that a few days of sun were always interspersed with a few days of cloud.
When we finally saw the garage completed and we went into August the weather took a turn for the worse and became quite unsettled with a lot of cloud and a little sun. That has lasted until now and looks set to continue.
Last year in September and again in October we went to Alfriston in Sussex and had lovely weather on both trips. I remember, in August this year, Amanda pointing out that we had nice weather last September and October and that the weather normally settles down during those months. Unfortunately it didn't work this year and it's not very warm.
During August and September I don't think we've had sun for more than two days in a row. We got fed up with waiting for a short spell of good weather and took a chance and went to York. We did have some sun but not very much.
I wonder what Winter will bring? 
Technology – Part Two
This is about mobile phones and, before your eyes start to glaze over ( ), may be of interest to travellers in particular. It is specifically about what are known as Android phones or 'Smart Phones'. Android is an operating system based on Linux and created by Google for mobile phones.
Smart Phones are really much more than telephones and more like mini computers. They often have an Internet connection, a camera, a GPS (positioning system) and a large screen.
There are a lot of applications which can be downloaded; mostly free with some requiring purchase although, even then, the purchase usually involves just a small amount around 1 – 5 pounds.
I have just aquired one of these and can see it being very useful indeed on our travels.
These are just a few of the thousands of applications available:
A tube map of London with route planning which, in conjuction with the phone's built in GPS, will tell you where your nearest Tube station is. (FREE)
An application which will display bus stops on a map and will give you the time of the next bus with destination. (£1.79)
An application which will display an Ordnance map (assuming that you can get a good enough signal to connect your phone to the Internet) with your position displayed on it. A boon to anyone walking on our footpaths. (FREE)
An application to give train times from your nearest, or any other, railway station together with the platform number. (£2.95)
Access to Google Maps or openstreetmap.org for street plans of London and other towns both FREE.
That is just a very small sample of what's available.
When your mobile phone is due for replacement think hard before you turn down the option of getting an Android based phone. 
Technology – Part One
Whenever technology is ranged against Mother Nature then Mother nature always wins.
Last Thursday a tree (not ours) fell across our lane but was stopped from falling to the ground by the telephone cable that supplies our lane. It was a very heavy tree and the telephone cable was obviously very strong because although the cable sagged considerably it didn't break.
However that cable ran to the wooden pole from which our telephone connection runs to the house. Although that pole is really quite substantial the cable with the tree resting on it pulled the top of the pole toward the tree which cause the pole to bow pulling it away from our house. PING! went our telephone cable as it snapped and we were then without telephone or broadband for four days until it was repaired.
Luckily everyone seems to have behaved themselves in my absence so lets try and keep it that way shall we? 