Andy goes it alone...to Botley Hill

Andy's Kona Blast at Botley Hill this morning.

I had a broken night, waking virtually on the hour, so at around 0500hrs I texted Andy to abort. I must have fell asleep as I awoke at 0800hrs and the sun was shining through the curtains: it was a nice day, even if there was a frost on the grass. I sent Jon a simple text saying, 'cycle?' but he didn't respond and sent one to Andy to see if he went out – he did.

Jon never responded and because I had to check-in online for a flight to Qatar, I ended up not going out, although even now, at 1214hrs, I feel the need to get out there. We'll see.

Andy did go out and here's an image to prove it.

Tatsfield Village – and we get a soaking

The weathermen were warning of rain today, a bit like last week. Tomorrow will be clear, sunny...and cold, again like last week.

When I looked out around 6am there was no sign of any rain, although a dampness presented itself, thanks to the misty air. When I left the house at just gone 7am it was fine. There was a very mild rain, but nothing to prompt a return home. In fact, it was typical NoVisibleLycra weather: grey and overcast, mist here and there and a mild bite to the air, just as I like it.

Tatsfield Village Green in sunnier times.

Warlingham Green was looking wet when I arrived, but then, so did everything else – except Andy who, like me, was still relatively dry considering the mild drizzle. I bought some milk from the shop as we'd run out at home and then we headed off for Tatsfield Village. Neither of us fancied travelling too far and now that I'm home and dry, I'm glad we didn't.

I think the last time we visited Tatsfield Village was Christmas Eve 2011 – see the post entitled Let's Talk About Dogs in the side panel to the right of the page.

Today, there were a few dogs around. One was tethered to a post and kept barking at us. Another was wearing a coat and then we saw a woman with two dogs. Tatsfield must have a fair amount of dog owners.

It's mid-November so we didn't expect to see the Tatsfield Village Green Christmas Tree, although I'm assuming it will appear soon and perhaps this time there might be some decent lights on it. Last year it looked a bit miserable so we didn't take any photographs.

On the way home, Andy branched off and took the track through Woldingham and towards Wapses Roundabout. I carried on along the B269 and, as I circumnavigated Warlingham Green, it began to rain.

I got home, wet but not too cold, showered and had some Weetabix. I would have made porridge, but all of the saucepans had been used and I didn't fancy washing up somebody else's dried porridge or dried tomato soup from the day before, so I made do with a couple of cold Weetabix and a cup of tea, plus a few slices of bread and marmalade.

We're meeting at the normal time tomorrow on the Green for a run to somewhere. The weather will be cold but dry and sunny – and no rain, so hopefully all will be well.

In the news:-

• Dave Lee Travis, DLT, aka 'the hairy cornflake' was questioned by police last week as part of investigations surrounding the whole Jimmy Savile affair. He's denying any wrongdoing, quite vehemently and I don't think he has any case to answer.
• Israel's throwing it's weight around in Gaza and looks as if it's planning a ground offensive.
• Voting for Police Commissioners has been and gone and nobody knew much about it, hence a very low turn-out at the polling booths. Having police commissioners means that everything will be like a scene from Batman. "Okay, Commissioner Gordon...". It also means that the Government can distance itself from police cuts and refer people to their police commissioner. Clever! But we're not stupid.
• The BBC's Children in Need Appeal raised just under £27 million, although I found it all a bit hypocritical after the Savile scandal.
• A meningitis jab has been given the go-ahead in the UK.