It was the best of times .....

It was my birthday last weekend and I had a really great day. My presents included The Flaming Lips' version of "Dark Side of the Moon" and I have a question - why? Not "why did they buy me that?" but "why do it?". I mean, I love Dark Side, and I love the Lips (and seeing them at the Albert Hall in 2006 was one of the highlights of my concert going life) and I actually quite like some of it, but why just copy someone else's album when you're so good at producing your own stuff? Weird.

Anyway, back to the theme. Diane and the kids (Kids! They're 18 and 21 for goodness sake!) took me to see Toy Story 3. Well, really, we all wanted to see it and my birthday was just a convenient excuse. I hadn't been to the cinema for years (don't like the way it's all about food and drink and cranking up the volume now) but quite enjoyed the 3D experience, especially when Woody flew from the roof of the day care centre. However, I wasn't sure which bit I was supposed to cry at so didn't, but it was very moving and poignant all the same, particularly the scene in the furnace. For us it was made even more moving by the fact that Laura goes off to uni in September, so the plot being based on Andy doing the same had great resonance. Also, of course, Laura was four when the first Toy Story came out so the films have been part of the fabric of her life, and she'd waited a long time to see this.

Afterwards, we went to our local Zizzi's for dinner - beautiful grilled prawns as a starter followed by penne della casa and panacotta for me. Simple and basic but I love the atmosphere and the service is always good.

So, that's dealt with the best of times bit. Now, the worst of times. It's been a horrible week for work related things because I lost two contracts on succeeding days. One, which would have given me a few days' work a year for four years, was cancelled altogether and the second was deferred from October to February (I hope!). Actually, it's a bit worse than that, because I'm expected to shadow part of the second programme for several days without pay - it's a hard life being self employed at present. Additionally, I tried to apply for a consultancy post through Reed and, having spent a couple of hours honing my covering letter went to submit and found the post had been withdrawn as I was writing. Marvellous!

However, it's not all doom and gloom as I had an interview with a major player on Tuesday and, on the way there, bumped into a former colleague in Victoria who now works for a larger multi-national and he was happy to add my name to their database and pass on my details to a couple of his colleagues. Mind you, I'm on the books of lots of training companies - nine or 10 at the last count - but if they're not getting contracts then I'm not getting work. Still, all one can do is keep plugging away.

And, so as not to end on a glum note, the garden is progressing nicely and I've just spent a couple of days planting 30 or so shrubs and installing garden furniture and things are beginning to look pretty good. Oh yes, and a couple of frogs seem to have moved into the pond so, on balance, I guess I shouldn't complain. Onward and upward. Or should that be "to infinity and beyond"!?

An apology!

Foxes, I take some (a very tiny bit) of it back - it's not you nicking the plants from the pond, it's your mates the thieving magpies! Ironically, I've just "monetised" my blog by accepting adverts and the first one on here is for kids to have "Fun Learning About Foxes"! True, I swear. I give up.

A foxy post script....

Been searching the web trying to find the most efficacious advice for dealing with vulpes vulpes. Have ordered myself some natty little plastic spikes which are meant to deter them from climbing over fences and also, believe it or not, a catapult - the former someone else's idea, the latter mine! They might still wake me with their shrieking and continue to defile my garden but soon, very soon, I'll catch one of the b*st*rds napping and THWACK! If you're a bleeding heart don't worry too much - I only intend to fire earth pellets at them just to let them know who's boss and to get them to move on. I don't actually want to hurt them - but then again .... (nope, only joking!).

Anyway, as the fence where I intend to fix said spikes is technically my neighbour's, I called round to ask her permission to do so. And guess what? Yep, she's a fox feeder, and she fed me all the usual claptrap - they've been here longer than us, feeding them doesn't encourage them (I know, if I'd been sitting down I'd have fallen off my seat too!), they always use the same trails, they've become better behaved over the past couple of days, yadda, yadda, yadda. To her great credit, however, once I'd explained my full tale of woe she agreed to let me fix the spikes. Let's hope they arrive pronto and I can get them fixed before she changes her mind....

Why I don't like foxes

This year has been my worst ever for foxes and their damage. I don't know if it's the progeny of the fox shown above enjoying himself (or herself, and do foxes experience enjoyment anyway?) on my daughter's trampoline a few years ago now, but they're giving me real trouble. I know there's progeny, because the trouble really began with there being three cubs this spring. These little so-and-so's have taken regular delight in wrecking my vegetable beds. I use cloche hoops and net to keep the cats and birds off but these proved no barrier to the foxes who take great delight in leaping on the net, ripping it off the hoops and damaging whatever they can by a variety of means - digging, rolling about and/or cr*pping! And the latter has the most disgusting smell. They've even bent some of the hoops, which I thought were quite sturdy things. It's actually been quite soul destroying going up the garden each morning to see what I've lost or what repairs I need to make.

Anyway, as my veggies have got bigger there's been less scope for the vermin to do harm - theyr'e not interested in taking on a 2ft sprout plant, only seedlings - but they've now moved on to my new pond and its surrounding area which includes a number of recently planted shrubs. Yesterday morning I found that they'd cr*pped both beside the pond (on a stone slab!) and under my outdoor table on my wrought iron parasol holder - it was almost as though the latter was deliberately targeted. In addition, they'd dragged out the solar panel and the pump switch for the fountain, lifted all the floating hyacinths out of the pond and totally dug up a new potentilla which I'd planted two days before - if I didn't know better, I'd almost believe that they've decided to do as much damage as they can to spite me for fencing off one of their runs. And what really irritates me is that if I were to tell one of my cretinous neighbours who feeds these vermin they'd just giggle because foxes are cute, aren't they, and they've got more right to be here than I have etc, etc.

OK, OK I'm going on, but other reasons why I hate vulpes vulpes include their nocturnal noises of screaming and yipping, the fact that they eat the eggs that some prat feeds them in my garden and that they bring all kinds of rubbish in with them - gardening gloves (they've stolen mine before now), football boots, children's toys, yogurt pots and so on. B*st*rds. If I could invite the Quorn into my garden I'd be on the phone immediately.......

Here and There Again

Been on my travels to the North West again, this time to Warrington, a place I've never visisted before. Spent World Cup final evening (yawn) at the Daresbury Park Hotel which was really rather good and then had a meeting there all day on Monday. Can't say I enjoyed the "football" too much with those Dutch thugs setting out to kick lumps out of the Spanish, but it was interesting to spend the evening with future colleagues (seen in the picture, and bless you, H!) - the reason for my trip was to attend a get-together of trainers and support staff for a company which runs accredited training courses and for whom I'm due to begin delivering in November. This is a bit of a new experience for me as I've only delivered single courses before, and working with a cohort of students for several months will be a new challenge. It's all learning, though, and something I'm looking forward to immensely.

Aftert the horrible train trip to Preston reported previously, I was delighted to discover that one can upgrade to 1st class for £15 at the weekend and rarely, if ever, can I have invested £15 so well! Even though I had to go and fetch my own tea because the trolley was broken, it was bliss! The rest of the train was packed and hot, but 1st was calm and cool - I only wish I'd been going all the way to Glasgow rather than getting off at the first stop in Warrington. I travelled back on Monday evening in standard class and was dreading it, but it wasn't too bad. I've given up on quiet carriages now, though, because people can be so horrible - it's better to expect and accept noise in the non-quiet zone than not to expect it and have to accept it in it, if you see what I mean.

Anyway, although I passed very close to home on the way back I wasn't bound there - I was en route to sunny Sussex by the sea because I was working in Brighton the following day. Had a marvellous haddock and chips supper in a great little restaurant called The Regency which was adjacent to the Holiday Inn where I was staying. The latter really wasn't much cop at all - nice staff but tired and a bit worn round the edges and not really worth £120 when the Tickled Trout in Preston was half the price. I guess that I shouldn't really be bothered when someone else is paying my bill, but I am. The work went Ok and I repeated it on the Thursday, although I drove there and back on that occasion - a nice 40 minutes down the M23/A23. On Friday I was up at 0500 to join the 0600 shift at the local office of the postal services company for whom I'm working - a really worthwhile and fascinating morning, although it was weird looking at the clock at 0900 thinking I'd been at work for three hours .....

Spent the weekend in West Sussex at the caravan (although I believe I'm meant to call it a mobile home) and was joined for Saturday by our friends Tim and Jo who had a great time - they used to own a towed caravan and we met them years ago when we were both holidaying with Canvas Holidays at Lake Garda. They only live a few miles from us but, of course, we'd never have met except for the Garda trip. Managed to get a few more bits done in the van - hanging curtains and so on, and am looking forward to spending a bit more time there in a couple of weeks.

Here and There

Just back from Preston, where I went to do a bit of delivery for my postal services company. Stayed at the Tickled Trout (honest!) which was fine, but I do wish that they hadn't begun stocking up the meeting rooms adjacent to my bedroom at one o'clock in the morning. I have to say, though, that when I challenged the night porter about this (dressing gown clad - me, not him!) he gave one of the best and most disarming (in its real sense) bits of customer service I've ever had - he charmingly agreed that I had a good point and that in my place he'd complain too, that he'd mentioned the noise his trolley made to the management several times but nothing had been done and that if I could just bear with him for 10 more minutes he'd be done. Try arguing with that approach.

The trip up tp Preston was interesting - a packed train, reservations indicators not working (in fact, before we left Euston the driver had to do a "total shutdown" otherwise we might not have left at all) and bedlam in the supposed quiet coach where I'd originally had a reservation. Well, it wasn't exactly bedlam, but sitting in front of me were two female teachers who were escorting a small school party. They had a loud and intrusive conversation from the moment they sat down, making loud mobile phone calls and watching videos on one of their phones with the sound turned up. Eventually, several quiet coach habitues remonstrated with them, only to be told that the teachers hadn't wanted to sit in the quiet coach, ergo it was fine for them to behave however they wished. There's a logic there somewhere. Fortunately, their pupils were much better behaved. Coming back was much better in a non-quiet coach which was much quieter than the quiet coach. Life's a funny old thing.

The landscape gardners have finished in the back garden and have done a fantastic job - new fence, new paving, new large brick planters and ...... a pond! It's slightly ornamental but is designed for wildlife and the local sparrows are already enjoying it. The solar fountain is due to arrive today (my postie called this morning to say it was in his box and he'd be delivering it later - bless you Amazon and bless you Royal Mail) and I'm off shopping for plants for it tomorrow. Once they're in I'll stick a picture on. I have to say it looks very good and the plants should make it look excellent. Wish I could say the same for the lawn, which is in a dreadful state because of both the drought and the fact that the gardners have been walking over it for several days.

I've harvested, dried and bagged my onions and have a few bits of planting to do - several basil plants and a butternut squash (which appeared long after I'd given up on it - its two siblings which I grew from seed saved from last year have been planted out for over three weeks) to plant out, and several varieties of summer seeds to plant (I do love an Oxford comma). However, it's just too hot at present for doing planty things, so it'll need to wait.

Oh, and I almost forgot - last week was my beautiful daughter Emily's 21st family party. 21 of us sat down for dinner (how apt) including a couple of Aussie cousins and a grand time was had by all. We went up to the Midlands, where lots of the family live, and had the event at the Marston Farm Hotel, who did us proud. Highly recommended.

Culture Change

Funny old day today. Had a really nice group of nine on the change programme - included two women for the first time, it's a very male dominated organization. All was going well until the feedback element of an exercise when one table (all male) decided that it was appropriate to say that a difficulty they faced was the behaviour of women at a certain time of the month - although they described it in less elegant terms. Everyone was taken by surprise (including the lead facilitator, who was too stunned to take immediate action) and I was particularly shocked that my colleague on that table hadn't prevented what was said from being said, if you see what I mean.

One of the women on my table was especially upset by the comment and, when we went into the next exercise, left me in no doubt as to her feelings. She was particularly concerned that an external facilitator had been on that other table and hadn't, seemingly, done anything to prevent a sexist discussion from taking place. I decided that I ought to discuss the issue with said colleague and discovered that they had been aware of the discussion but, because it reflected, in their view, the current culture of the organization they let it go. They also said that their job as a facilitator is not to prevent conversations taking place nor to prevent groups feeding back what they want to feedback. I have a fundamental philosophical problem with this approach because I agree with Esther Cameron in "Facilitation Made Easy" that a facilitator's job is to remain in control without being overpowering.

Learning point from all this? (Oh, and by the way, the lead did deal with the issue later by pointing out that we are focusing on changing behaviours to help the organization move forward,
and that managers in the organization need to model appropriate behaviours at all times). Well, you never know people as well as you think you do and, even when you've been around a long time and think you've encountered most situations in a facilitated environment, something can still come along and bite you. Essentially, as the heading picture (taken at the Airport Hotel, Freetown, Sierra Leone) shows, it's still a jungle out there and there's a long, long way to go.