Coffee chat

I'm a bit bored, so I'll chuck this one out there to give me something to do deleting silly comments. 😃😈😜😎😁😇

Have a nice weekend. Toodle pip.   ilona 

Sad

I took this photo a year ago. It's the Robin Hood tree next to Hadrians Wall in Northumberland. 

Someone has chopped it down with a chain saw. Act of vandalism they say. Very sad. 

Newspaper article here. 

The Woodland Trust has asked people to Tweet their photo's of this famous tree. Have a look through them, there are some fabulous pics from all the seasons. 

Catch ya tomorrow. Toodle pip.   ilona

Last car chat.

Oooops, I found another video. Let's wind up the holiday reports, and move on. I have built up quite a collection of photographs and videos of my travels over the years. Something to look at during my twilight years. Remembering all the adventures I have had. Lots of lovely memories. 

I see the media, all media, mainstream and social, are having a field day digging out and dishing the dirt on anybody who dares to mention the popular sport of shagging. It's a joke. Aren't there more important matters to discuss? I am ploughing through a two hour video about the dangers of AI. At what point will Artificial Intelligence become more intelligent than humans? That will be an interesting journey to follow. I don't want to be a robot, but it looks like we are not going to get away from the emotional stuff which is currently difficult to navigate. 

The diary of a CEO.   

What's your background & your first experience with AI? AI is alive and has more emotions than you What is artificial intelligence? No one's best interest is the same, doesn't this make AI dangerous? How smart really is AI? AI being creative The people that should be leading this What will happen to everyone's jobs? Synthesising voices AI sex robots Will AI fix loneliness? AI actually isn't the threat to humanity We can just turn it off...right? The security risks The possible outcomes of AI Humans are selfish and that's our problem This is beyond an emergency What should we be doing to solve this? What it means bringing children into this world Your overall prediction

Time for dinner. Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip. ilona.

Welcome to Osborne House

This was on my list of places to check out. Osborne House at East Cowes. Might just make it for a couple of hours on Saturday afternoon. The boat was due to take me back to the mainland on Sunday morning. The first sighting of it walking from reception. Oh WOW. It is surrounded by extensive parkland, all the way down to the sea. This is the front entrance. 

Then walk around the back. Look at the size of it. This has got to be the biggest and best stately home I have ever seen. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert spent as much time as possible at Osborne, with the royal children experiencing the joys of a family holiday by the sea. 

The flower beds were full of colour, and beautifully kept. 

Looking down to the sea from the terrace.

View from the upper floor inside the house.

Had to make a video of the flowers. 

Let's take a look inside. There were a few people wandering about, and we were herded around the one way system. I didn't have time to study things in great detail and had to squeeze past those who wanted to read the information boards. 

Looking down over the bannister. 

What do you think about that then. It's a shame I didn't have more time to explore the grounds. Have a look at some of the pictures on the English Heritage site. If you are going to the Isle of Wight, this is a must see. 

Time to park for the night. I went to Fort Victoria, where I parked on the first night. It is only ten minutes from the ferry at Yarmouth. What a fantastic holiday. I might have another visit in a year or two, but the long drive down there and back is a bit of a slog. Now I feel exhausted writing about it all. 

Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.   ilona

!?"£$%^&*()_+@#?

 I see that the Gardeeeean has it's begging bowl held high as it pleads for donations. Ha, you've got to be kidding mate, not in a million years will you get any of my money. 

They spew out all kinds of garbage, written by so called journalists and reporters, and I use those words very loosely. I read the headlines and spit feathers. I skim read a bit more and have to go and lie down in a darkened room to recover. 

Here is the latest load of old cobblers, cobbled together by Andrew Gregory, health editor. This is his  statement. . . . . 

The cost of living crisis will cause thousands of premature deaths, study says. 

Oh yeah. It may cause some, because people are struggling to buy decent food. The pressure is so great that some people will inevitably take their own life. But what about all the other premature deaths? The mortality rate is the highest it's ever been. 

Didn't something happen around 2019, 2020, and 2021?  Why were people told to stay in their homes? Why were people threatened with losing their jobs if they didn't take a certain treatment? Why were people arrested in parks and dragged away and bundled into a police van? Why were businesses forced to close? Why were people paid furlough to stay at home and do nothing? Why are kids being mutilated because they are led to believe they can change their gender? Why are millions of people being moved around the world? Why have we got a climate crisis? Why have we got a cost of living crisis? 

Although there are many questions which need answers, no comments will be published on this post. 

One bit of good news has filtered through this morning. DAN ANDREWS HAS RESIGNED. 

Another holiday video coming up later. Toodle pip.   ilona

EDIT. 

The real problem is Mass Migration. Mark Moss explains. 

Watching more boats

I love anything to do with transport, whether it's got wheels, or floats on the water, or flies in the sky. The thought of going somewhere excites me. Staying in one place doesn't appeal to me at all. I might have been living in the same house for a while, but I like going somewhere else. 

I did look at crossing with Red Funnel, but decided to go with Wight Link. It seemed much more simpler to drive to Lymington, and take the shorter crossing to Yarmouth. 

Watching the ferry unloading and loading. It took ages because of the volume of traffic around the dock area. 

Looks pretty smart eh! This company is 160 years old. Check out their web site. 

Howzabout a quicker crossing in Red Jet. Bet that's exciting to go on that. Skimming across the water. 

That's Spinnaker Tower at Portsmouth in the background. 

That's all the boat pictures done, but that's not the end. Come back tomorrow for the Grand Finale to my superduper holiday. 

Toodle pip.   ilona

Watching the boats.

I thought I was almost at the end of these holiday pics, then I found three more videos. What a marathon this has been. A walk along the Pier at Ryde. I walk along the centre path. Trains and cars on the left and the right. It's three piers joined together. 

Time is running out on the last day, still more to see. The next pics are from Cowes and East Cowes. The two places are separated by the River Medina. 

The Spinnaker Tower over the other side, at Portsmouth. 

How do you fancy holidaying on one of these floating hotels? No thanks, not for me. 

This is the Floating Bridge. I photographed it from both sides of the river. It is a very short crossing. 

This is a very busy part of the river. Any smaller craft going up and down have to take note of the gaps at both ends when the bridge is in the middle, and wait for it move across. 

The bridge is pulled backwards and forwards on chains. It would be a disaster to get tangled up in those. 

Price list to go across, very cheap. Very handy for commuters. It would be a long way to drive round, and cross the river at Newport.

We had a good laugh this morning at Crafty Club. Two engineers were working on the internet connection. I think they appreciated the banter. 

Right, now I have to mow the lawn and fill the brown bin up with garden rubbish. Come back for more, I ain't finished yet. Toodle pip.   ilona

A castle and a hovercraft

The adventure continues. Friday morning, drive to Carisbrooke Castle. There was a road closed at Newport and the diversion signs sent me on a long trek for miles to avoid it. Eventually I found a layby and dumped the car there. I could see the castle and set off to walk the last bit. It was easy to find. 

There was still quite a lot of the castle still standing, not like some which are just ruins. The church is very nice. 

The gardens are neat and tidy.

There are stairs to climb up onto the top of the castle wall. Some lovely views from up there. Ooooh heck, don't look down. 

Here's me holding onto the handrail. 

The flag pole tower is the highest point. I was up there mother, did you see me waving. 😍😎😨

After a couple of hours I walked back to the car. My legs were aching from climbing all those steps. The plan was to go to Ryde and have a ride on a hovercraft. Once again I couldn't find anywhere to park near the sea. Everywhere was chocablock with cars. Eventually I found a quiet cul de sac a couple of miles out, at Pondwell. It meant I had to walk a long way to get into Ryde. Good job I have an OS map. 

I watched this hovercraft come in and the passengers disembark. 

Some maintenance work going on here. Blue star stickers being applied. 

They reloaded and went off again. 

There were three craft altogether. Two of them were going backwards and forwards, and one was stationary. 

I went into reception and bought a return ticket, and was able to get on the next one. I paid with cash, but all the regular travellers paid with their phones. The crossing is only five minutes. I had a quick look around Southsea and came back. It's very seasidey with slot machines and eating places. None of which I partake of. 

Not much to see through the seaspray. 

After I got back I watched the next one go out. It's like a bus service. 

It was good fun, now I can tick that one off my list. Next a long walk back to the car at Pondwell, and a quiet nights sleep. One more day left. come back tomorrow and find out what I did with it. 

Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.   ilona