13th June
Spent today getting some of my “overmake” plants ready for sale at the Carnival showground on Saturday. As usual, I will be manning the Village Show tent and hoping to raise some funds for the Village Show with the sale of prize specimens from the Manor Gardens, as well as the fabulous tombola. Of course, the Village Show schedule will also be on sale for the bargain price of 50p, and people will no doubt be queuing up to purchase their copy to get an early insight into what the classes are for this year. If you would like to discuss any aspect about how to enter the Village Show, what you need to do etc, then do please speak to one of the people in the tent at the Carnival, and they will be able to help you.
14th June
Took a trip into Basingstoke on the No. 4 bus today. Although I have recovered well from my operation, I am still not able to drive until I have seen the doctor later in the week. It was all a bit of a novelty, I must say. I was disappointed to find that there is only one bus an hour within easy reach of the Manor gates, compared with five an hour serving Chineham. My friend Sheila, whom I have often spoken about, uses the buses on a daily basis from Chineham, but she does get a good service compared with Lychpit. I was also surprised to see that although there is only one bus an hour Monday –Friday, there are two an hour on a Saturday and Sunday. I am still pondering over the logic of this. Anyway, back to my bus ride. I decided to get a Megarider ticket for £3.40 (after 9am), and I first ventured into the bus station. I had a quick Latte in M&S using my free Premier Club voucher to get over all the excitement, and then got on a Jazz 2 bus and went all the way to ASDA. By now it was nearly lunchtime so I had a pasty in their café before getting back on the Jazz 2. I had thought that it was returning to town, but no matter, we ended up at Sainsburys. Of course they have a café too, so I had a cup of tea and a scone before catching the Jazz 2 back into town. I would have had almost an hour to wait for the No. 4 to Lychpit, so I jumped on the Jazz 1 to Chineham. Just time for a drink at Costa Coffee before I was homeward bound on the No.4. What an adventure! I might even try to catch a bus to the hospital tomorrow.