Films and feathers

Finally after much procrastination and explanation, Barney has got the camcorder film he took in Kenya onto the TV (he borrowed the camcorder from his partner). Even more impressively, he's got the TV to put it on a DVD. (He's the one who watches TV and I hate being left with 3 remotes and inadequate instructions on how to record programmes so I take the wimp's route on TV technology and say I don't know how to do it. It's true too, I don't)

The film is alternately great and ...um...puzzling. Contains moments of extreme embarrassment for me (eg, dancing round in a big circle with other tourists and a crowd of extremely beautiful and black ladies in the Samburu village. Me wearing silly hat, red, sweaty face and flapping shirt and them wearing gorgeous blue and red swathes of cool looking stuff and stunning jewellery) (Oh alright...there's me complete with silly hat).Also contains moments of extreme excitement and wow! animal stuff. As it should.
So last night we watched that and squeaked and muttered all over again. And tonight I watched 'The Fellowship of the Ring' and went Aaw and Ooh and clutched my cushion at the exciting bits all over again. Barney went to sleep, woke up to mutter "why aren't we watching Planet Earth" and went back to sleep again before I could say "you'd only sleep through it".

Last week Barney should have been working at Kew Gardens but when he and partner arrived on Monday morning the scaffolders hadn't finished scaffolding the building. Not deterred much, B and Partner started work on an accessible bit only to be stopped by the arrival of the Queen's Palaces official who said “Oh no you can't possibly work till the scaffolding has all been erected and checked and passed”. So rather crossly they came home and had to spend a week doing nothing (you can't really go from one thatch to another at a moment's notice...customers like to be warned when you're arriving and don't much like you going away again in the middle of a job).
Anyway it's been quite nice. We rarely spend time together at home and we pottered around like an old married couple doing our separate things and occasionally having a cup of tea or a meal together.
On the other hand, I'm now expecting to be alone for the next week or two with no mealtimes to be back for and few other commitments. Which quite honestly I'm really looking forward to.
I have a few plans...possible blog meet or two, a visit to Oxford, a trip to Reading and definitely lots of photo trips.
I may tidy the house.
I may even tidy some of the bits of garden that (like the dog) seem to prefer next door to here.
I may play my fiddle at unreasonable hours.
I may even try to achieve some dawn photography.
I may visit some friends.
Oh at some point I'm going to visit Kew and get in with the boys for free and wander round the gardens.
Ho ho!

Oh, feathers...well we went on a boat trip round Lake Naivasha to see birds. There were lots of birds and also some rather close encounters
Of the large wet kind

And seagulls

and African kingfishers

and Pelicans

and cormorants and herons

flowers in the hotel gardens

And people enjoying a day out by the lake

All quite idyllic.