A Long Weekend

All the staff at my college were given this Friday off; a thank-you from the Principal and the Board of Governors for our "Outstanding" OFSTED inspection of a few weeks ago.Given an unexpected day off, a Phantom will often head for the challenges of The Great Outdoors.

I've been trying to lose a bit of weight and get a little fitter over the last few months. In only four weeks my wife and I will be going on a walking holiday in the Lake District, so any energy spent now can only be in a good cause...

Friday morning found me pitching up in the wilds of



This is yours truly trying to find the new Wembley Stadium.... It's around somewhere..



I managed to cover about 14 miles on Friday, overcoming guideposts knocked down



Bridges so narrow they had pedestrian-controlled traffic lights



And sometimes I just had to ignore all the warning signs and just keep ahead anyway...



I walked along some beautiful winding paths...



And scenes that had an almost Japanese-style beauty...



Today, my wife and I took another stroll, following the New River around Finsbury Park and round to Clissold Park. We finished by wandering through Gillespie Park Nature Reserve. Monet would have been happy gazing at the water lillies...



Just when I thought it was safe to relax and hang up the old Phantom Cape and Undies, our neighbour's kitten got stuck 15 foot up a tree at the end of our garden...



With a little help from some children in the adjacent garden we rescued the little bundle of fluff. Angela took it back to it's grateful owners.

A happy ending to a great weekend. What more could a Phantom want?

And The Rain....

It Raineth!!
I was hoping to entertain and amuse my loyal readers with many a digital snap of Hampton Court Flower Show. As the legal Eagle and her Beau can attest (and affirm too probably), HCFS can be the most relaxed, sprawling and enjoyable excuse for an Horticultural Picnic one can imagine.

It can also resemble the last push for the Somme.

When my wife and I arrived it had been raining all night.The arrival of daylight did nothing to change this. It didn't rain constantly, it poured constantly.

Sadly, after a while it became more of an endurance test than an enjoyable day.

We brought back a Dahlia, a beautiful Fuchsia hanging basket, and half a ton of mud. Thank heavens we were wearing our new waterproof walking boots...

I only took one photograph....


This is the garden designed by Richard, the chap behind the Guerrilla Gardening website. We met and had a chat, and I got him to sign a copy of his book. There is a fascinating account of how this garden came about here. All the plants in this garden are reclaimed or unwanted, and at the end of the show they will all be going to good homes.

I'm off to clean the mud off our boots!!

Just Desserts

You've heard of death by chocolate....
now prepare for Mortality by Meringue! But what a way to go....

Last Saturday found us both in the nest of the Legal Eagle and her Beau.
A delicious sherried chicken took care of the protein intake, but the Eagle is famous for her puds.This meal had one which approached perfection in its simplicity...

First take a Snowdon-sized mountain of fresh summer fruits



Then produce a veritable home made Mount Fuji of meringues, light, crunchy and irresistibly chewy in the middle...



Serve in good sized bowls, with cream or ice-cream (or Both!)



After dinner and its badinage, there was nothing else to do but indulge in a little light bondage bandage. Mrs P had an exam coming up and needed some willing victims for First Aid practice.

Cometh the hour, cometh the man. Sadly this is the only photo I managed to take that wasn't too blurred by the laughter-shake.

We leave you with



"Beau Brummel, or Pudsey's Revenge"...