Capture the storm

Despite sitting in the dark in my back garden until 12.45 am last night/this morning trying to capture the spectacular electrical storm with my camera (and generally failing to get any lightening at all), I was up early this morning getting on with the domestic chores whilst dodging the showers putting bird seed out and feeding the fish in the ponds. I noticed this morning that the honeysuckle is just about ready to flower and it gives a gorgeous scent after dusk. It goes well with the delightfully blue ceanothus which is just about finishing its flowering for this spring.

It did dawn on me whilst typing this that I was actually sat under a tree whilst trying to take storm pictures which is not the most intelligent thing to do.

Saturday was a day and evening out in the beautiful countryside in Derbyshire around Buxton at a niece's wedding. Lucy and Alan were married at a lovely Victorian hall in the middle of nowhere, accessible by way of a two mile single track road, up hill and down dale. There was nowhere to stop and take a photograph I'm afraid, but the scenery was just gorgeous. The wedding itself was just marvellous, a simple civil ceremony readings from family and some Buddhist friends (the groom is a practising Buddhist) followed by a wedding breakfast in a marquee and fun speeches and many surprises for the startled guests.

Indeed, the head waiter and one of the waitresses, who were present throughout the whole reception bit doing their serving etc., were not what they seemed.

After about an hour, the head waiter, in a thick Italian accent, announced that the waitress Michelle was going back to France and it was her last day and the bride and groom had allowed her to sing a song of farewell to the assembled guests. Indeed the waitress sang the most beautiful operatic aria to bring tears to the eyes and then the head waiter rendered a stunningly sung operatic song and four or five songs later including duets, it became clear they were professional operatic singers who feature regularly in the West End. In fact the deception was rumbled when the Italian waiter announced at the end he was from Australia and the waitress was from Birmingham. Perfect.

Sat Navs are great aren't they? I usually have 'fastest route' programmed into the machine, but our way home last night in the dusk took us through leafy lanes and eventually through Sheffield city centre in order to get us back onto the motorway. I think the woman in the sat nav must have had too much of the pink champagne at the wedding.

Thanks to Julie's Notebook blog for the sat nav one-liner puns, suitable for your five year olds.

How did the little fish find its way across the big, wide ocean?
He used his sprat-nav!
How did Dracula find his way about in the dark, dark nights of Transylvania?
With his Bat-nav of course!
And those irritating, small winged insects use?
Gnat-nav!
And how does the custard-pie always get its man straight in the face?
Splat-nav!
And what did Aladdin have on his magic carpet?
Mat-nav!
How do marsupials find their way in the Australian outback?
Wombat-nav!

Which leads us on to…
Soldiers?
Combat-nav!
Civil Servants?
Bureaucrat-nav!
The Ambassador?
Diplomat-nav!
Spoiled child?
Brat-nav!
A fool?
Prat-nav!
Electric guitar player?
Strat-nav!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Chat soon

ta-ra