Billy Whizz

At last I have had time to take the bike out for a good blast – the first since we moved further South. I fear I will miss the small number of good roads around Milton Keynes and Northamptonshire as there are even fewer miles of fun to be had in the Home Counties – generally there is just too much traffic.
So I headed North up the A41 past Aylesbury and stopped at OnYerBike, where I bought the Tornado last August. Plenty of bikes around and Nelli got some attention – one guy asking the inevitable question about the cooling fans. Headed on towards Bicester and then back along a much nicer B-road. Briefly saw 120mph on the speedo (shhh… don’t tell anyone!)
Called in on Andy Randle whilst passing Great Missenden – good to catch up as always!

The Fence Post

This week has seen some changes at Campbell Cottage. Two sections of fencing have been replaced: the furthest part of the rear garden now sports some new panels and the front driveway has been smartened up with a new tailor-made fence. The outward-opening gate has gone, which makes it much easier to park on the drive. All very tidily done.

Cotswold Walk

On Sunday we met up with Lucy & Bo in the Cotswolds and went for a six-mile walk around Stow-on-the-Wold. We were very lucky with the weather as there was a lot of rain around but we had bright sunshine for much of the time and only got caught out in the last half hour or so. Saw a family of Swans in a stream and walked through the most amazing field of waist-high Buttercups -I’ve never seen such a display! Topped of with some good food at The Queen’s Head and local ale from the Donnington Brewery, which we had passed earlier on foot. A great day out 🙂

Big Mak and a Movie

Saturday night the Makwana clan gathered at Smeeta’s Uncle’s house in Goodmayes for the Premiere of the 2009 India Road-Trip movie. We crowded into the living room after being well fed and watered to watch the 5 hour highlights of the family trip to India back in Jan/Feb. There were some amazing scenes of palaces, crazy traffic, elephants and the Ganges, and much laughter at the obligatory Hotel Room shots: Big Mak‘s patient recording of each room’s facilities and Raks, Madhvi and Rupa’s MTV ‘Cribs’ style tours. Nice one 🙂

Appealing Poppies

We have some amaaazingly huge poppies in the garden – they don’t flower for long but they are a stunning colour. I’m not sure what the other specimen is in the pictures below: feel free to leave a comment and let us know!