More memory troubles.

I haven’t lost my mind, I’ve just put it down somewhere.

And I can’t remember where.

It was a few minutes ago and the short term memory isn’t so good these days.

The way I see it, I only have a certain number of memory cells and I have filled them all up with memories from years ago. Since a lot of these are pleasant memories I have no desire to delete them to make way for new ones.

Perhaps I will have to start using post it notes, as it is very frustrating to walk upstairs for something and having got there I have forgotten what I came up for. Sometimes retracing my steps helps but running up and down the stairs gets a bit boring after a while.

If anyone knows how a memory can be improved please advise me.

National Lottery - the eternal optimist

Regretfully I failed to win the National Lottery again on Wednesday night, but I do take heart from the fact no-one else won the jackpot either, meaning that if I win on Saturday it could be a larger amount.

My big worry is that the one set of numbers that I use every week are also being used every week by other people, which would mean if they ever do come up I will be getting less than expected.

The odd £10 win this year is better that I achieved on the football pools in the last ten years, so I have abandoned my pools Numbers after 40 years. I daren't even look at the pools results now.

August

August is being quite a busy month, we are halfway through but I've only had three games of bowls due to other activities.

My sister, her husband and son called in on their way home from Cornwall, we took them to the firework display on the sea front at Paignton which they enjoyed.

We then flew to Scotland to visit the Pittenweem Arts festival where my Cousin/Brother in law were exhibiting paintings and had a great time due to great weather. Another of my sisters was there with her son and daughter and partners and family, and my Cousin travelled down from Perth to see us there.

Back in England now we hope to have a barbeque tomorrow with friends and are them off to see Hi-De-Hi, the TOADS production in Torquay, this should be a good day all round. Two of our friends then stay for a few days, so that will be an excuse to go out and about behaving like tourists.

Next month we hope to visit my third sister in Alicante.

Trainspotting in Devon

One thing I've noticed since moving to Devon is that quite a few preserved steam locomotives are allowed on railtrack main lines in this area. Special trains run most weeks somewhere around the country and Devon is popular due to the scenic routes they use. A lot of people are aware of these trains so if one is due you can normally tell from the number of people standing by the railway with cameras and video recorders

Photographing them at speed is quite a challenge, so sometimes I let the camera take a video instead. The brand new Steam Loco "Tornado, 60163" has been here a few times this year on the 'Torbay Express' and so have one or two others. Attached video is Tornado's first visit to Torbay. It travels down to Kingswear, leaving Railtrack at Paignton and finishing its journey along the Paignton to Kingswear Steam railway, which conveniently has a turntable where the loco can be turned round for the return journey to Bristol.

Watching the rain

I had high hopes for this summer, May and June seemed to go very well weather wise, however as soon as July appeared the sun decided to become intermittent and lots of rain has followed.

This morning I should be playing bowls, but the captain rang up very early to advise he was calling it off due to the weather forecast. That's sometimes a mistake, but this morning it was spot on, the wind has been blowing the rain sideways for the last two hours.

I feel sorry for all the people on holiday this week, at least now we live here all year round we are guaranteed some good days. And even bad days can have dry spells, we just have to make the most of them.

Too much to do, too little time.

I can't work out where I use up so much time. I can only assume people who blog are very organised and are natural writers or they have very little else to do. I'm sure the second option isn't the case so I will credit them with being very organised.

Now that summer is here I am quite busy with the outdoor bowls season, I play whenever I can or whenever I'm asked and in the last couple of weeks I peaked with 6 games in one week, plus the last ten-pin game of the season. If I'm not playing its usually because we have other commitment's.

I also got engrossed in researching some family history for a friend, which was fascinating as they went to and from America earlier this century and there are lots of records associated with these journeys.

Just when I thought I was catching up, my web sites mysteriously went off line, so I have decided to move them to another hosting company. That is now my first priority, just in case anyone is looking for them (at www.tameclan.me.uk). As I move the pages I notice errors and updates that need doing so I am doing that as well.

Facebook also has a lot to answer for, I have got a bit addicted, to the point where I have to log on every day to see who's doing what. Its a useful site for keeping up with friends though, and I like to see other peoples photos as well as uploading my own from time to time.

Must go now, back to the web site rebuilding.

Bob

Blogging

I note that the whole of April passed without additions to this site, I think Facebook may be to blame!