Misfits Mid-Life Crisis Adventures in Suffolk, Northamptonshire, Surrey & East London.

Week 391, Saturday 11^th until Friday 17^th December 2021.

There are only Nine weeks left of this blog.

This year I have been extremely lucky to have gone away with a few family members on a number of breaks/trips/holidays.  The friend I live with has started calling me “Beagnie” because I have had more trips than certain young Royals known for enjoying a large number of holidays a year.

Last weekend a number of us returned for the second time this year to Tuddenham Mill in Suffolk.  I love the Green fields all around, Mole hills dotted everywhere, birds I don’t see at home.  But most importantly I really enjoy the hot tub we have for ourselves during the duration of our stay.  Thinking about a hot tub realistically actually makes me shudder, I wonder how well it is cleaned (if at all) between groups.

Last year I thought I was being useful when everyone (including myself) decided to have a well-deserved afternoon nap, by adding lot of extra wood to the firebox to keep the water warm for later.  The result was the water had a temperature hotter than the service of the sun, it was absolutely scorching.  To cool it down we had to open a tap and stir cold water with a huge paddle for a long time until anyone dared attempted to dip a limb into the liquid.  Last week this happened again, but I was totally innocent on this occasion, in the word of singer Shaggy “it wasn’t me”.

Sunday early evening after another dip in steaming 42c water, mum both my sisters and brother-in-law sat on the porch of one of the nooks that we were staying in enjoying food and drink while listening to music when we became distracted by a bright light which didn’t appear to move in the sky.

Before I continue let me take you back quickly to the mid-1970s.  I was with others at a camp site which had facilities as basic as seen in the classic comedy film Carry On Camping.  One night a friend and I stumbled around in the dark searching for the loo, this was when we both saw Two brightly glowing figures ahead of us, Aliens we whispered.  As an adult I realise these were just other Homosapien’s back lit by a very bright light.  But at the time we totally convinced that we had seen visitors from another planet, certainly for a number of years I really believed that I had experienced something special.

Back to a few days ago the 5 of us stopped what we were doing to watch the extremely bright white light sat stationary in the sky.  It’s very difficult to know how far away it was, it could have been in the next village or beyond.  The sky was cloudy so it wasn’t a star, the light just hung in sky not far above the horizon in line with trees nearby.  After a few minutes the light seemed to turn slightly and then just faded, snuffed out as if a dimmer switch had turned it off.  For quite a while this strange sight became our number one topic of conversation.  But about 20 minutes later the light (or another) reappeared, this time we could see it shining through trees in the distance.  Unlike last time this light moved very slowly until it was not obstructed by the trees, in fact it appeared to be in exactly the same position as previously.  Once again everything stopped as we stared at the mysterious light hanging in the sky doing nothing until it faded out of existence.  For full transparency RAF Lakenheath is nearby but not in the direction of the light, so they were not responsible.  The conversation about what we had seen continued excitedly for a short time, until my brother-in-law our DJ pressed play leading to some more bad singing from everyone.  But everyone continued to look just in case the light returned.

The next morning I was still very excited about what I dubbed The Tuddenham UFO.  I am sure there is a perfectly rational explanation for the light, but I am a believer.  I have definitely seen things over the years that I am unable to explain (of course I am not talking about the 70s camping incident). Looking up at the night sky is something I do a lot, wondering if something or someone is doing the same looking back.  The night sky is a truly wonderful site, there is a lot we know but still so much we don’t understand.  Hopefully the family will return in 2022, all of us are looking forward to another dip in the hot tub, but I will always have one eye looking a strange light.  If it is Aliens I am most definitely ready for First Contact.

My Mid Life Crisis Conts……

This week I have watched:

“A Cinderella Story: Crimbo Story”, (2019).  “Andre Rieu”, (S2, ep 10).  “Andre Rieu: Welcome To My World”, (S4, ep 1).  “Angry Birds 2”, (2019).  “Blake’s 7”, (SC, ep 9).  “Buffy The Vampire Slayer”, (S2, ep 15).  “Click”, (11/12/21).  “Dads Army: Brother And I”, (S8, ep 7, TX: 26/12/75).  “Elves”, (S1, ep 3).   “Hanna”, (S3, ep 5 & ep 6).  “Have I Got News For You”, (S62, ep 10, TX: 17/12/21).  “Lexx”, (S2, ep 11).  “Lost In Space”, (S3, ep 4 to ep 8).  “Mr. Bean’s Holiday”, (2007).  “Money Heist”, (S5, ep 5 to ep 7).  “Shatner In Space”, (TX: 15/12/21).  “Stargate Atlantis”, (S4, ep 2 & ep 3).  “Star Trek (Animated Series), (S1, ep 1)(S2, ep 5).  “Star Trek Enterprise”, (S1, ep 19).  “Star Trek The Next Generation”, (S6, ep 5).  “Superman And Lois”, (S1, ep 3).  “Superstore”, (S6, ep 1 to ep 3).  “Taskmaster”, (S12 (S3 on C4), ep 5 (The 100th ep), TX: 21/10/21)(ep 10, TX: 25/11/21).  “The Adam’s Family”, (2019).  “The Benny Hill Show”, (S3, ep 2).  “The Graham Norton Show”, (S29, ep 12, TX: 17/12/21).  “The Kenny Everett Video Cassette”, (S4, ep 1, TX: 16/04/81).  “The I- Land”, (S1, ep 5).  “The One Show”, (ep 3328, TX: 16/12/21).  “The Sky At Night – Review Of The Year 2021″, (TX: 12/12/21).  “The Walking Dead – Worlds End”, (S2, ep 4).  “Upstart Crow A Crimbum Crow”, (TX: 25/12/17).  “Venom”, (2018).  “Whose Line Is It Anyway?”, (S9, ep 1, TX: 10/07/97)(ep 2, TX: 17/07/97).

“Doctor Who Watched This Week”……

“Marco Polo“, (S1, Prod Code D).  (Loose Cannon Recon for all eps).  Ep 6, “Mighty Kublai Khan”, (TX: 28/03/64).  Ep 7, “Assassin At Peking”, (TX: 04/04/64).

“The Keys Of Marinus”, (S1, Prod Code E).  Ep 1, “The Sea Of Death”, (TX: 11/04/64). Ep 2, “The Velvet Web”, (TX: 18/04/64).  Ep 3, “The Screaming Jungle”, (TX: 25/04/64).  Ep 4, “The Snows Of Terror”, (TX: 02/05/64).  Ep 5, “Sentence Of Death”, (TX: 09/05/64).  Ep 6, “The Keys Of Marinus”, (TX: 16/05/64).

This week I have listening to:

“30 Animals That Made Us Smarter”, (BBC World Service/Sounds)(S2, ep 25, 14/12/21).  “Coronavirus Global Update”, (BBC World Service/Sounds)(11/12/21) (12/12/21)(13/12/21)(14/12/21)(15/12/21)(16/12/21)(17/12/21).  “Anglophilia”, (S6, ep 2, 15/12/21).  “Doctor Who: Toby Hadoke’s Time Travels – Happy Times And Places”, (27.5, “The Time Monster”, 13/12/21)(27.6, 17/12/21).  “Griefcast”, (S8, ep 11 (ep 159) 15/12/21).   “Maximum Power  –  A Blake’s 7 Podcast”, (SA, ep 13, 12/12/21).  “Mystery Hour”, (16/12/21).  “NASA Curious Universe”, (15/12/21).  “NASA Houston We Have A Podcast”, (ep 225, 17/12/21).  “Nick Abbot Whole Show”, (11/12/21)(12/12/21) (17/12/21).  “Radio Astronomy (The Sky At Night Magazine)”, (21/07/17)(28/04/21). “Radio Times Doctor Who Podcast”, (12/12/21).   “Rob Beckett And Josh Widdecombe Parenting Hell”, (S3, ep 44, 10/12/21)(ep 45, 15/12/21)(ep 46, 17/12/21).   “Smersh Pod – Gremlins”, (16/12/21).  “Smersh Pod – Smersh Side Special  – On The Buses”, (13/09/17).  “Smersh Pod – Smersh Side Special – Robin Hood Prince Of Thieves”, (10/08/17).  “Space And Things”, (STP19, 07/01/21)(STP68, 16/12/21).  “Space Boffins”, (15/12/21).  “Space Soldiers Podcast – Flash Gordon Conquers The Universe”, (Chapter Twelve, “Doom Of The Dictator”, 11/12/21).  “Star Trek Universe”, (11/01/19). “The Audio Guide To Babylon 5”, (ep 57, 10/07/16).  “The Doctor Who Show”, (11/12/21).  “The Froth With Rhod Gilbert And Sian Harries”, (S4, ep 12(ep 48) 15/12/21).  “The Incomparable”, (The Incomparable Network)(ep 592, 12/12/21).  “The Skewer”, (BBC Radio 4/Sounds)(S5, ep 7, 15/11/21).  “Tripodscast”, (ep 5A, 11/12/21). “What’s Your Problem With Nick Abbot And Carol Mcgiffin”, (12/12/21).  “Wolf And Owl”, (ep 54, 15/12/21).

Songs I Enjoyed This Week, Were By:

“Morrissey”,  “Andy Williams”,  “Band Aid (1984)”,  “Climie Fisher”,  “East 17”,  “Elton John”,  “John Lennon And Yoko Ono The Plastic Ono Band With The Harlem Community Choir”,  “Johnny Mathis”,  “Jona Lewie”,  “Joy Crookes”,  “Keane”,  “Nat King Cole”,  “Peter Bjorn And John“Pulp”,  “Suede”,  “The Beautiful South”,  “The Pogues ft Kirsty MacColl”,  “The Waitresses”,  “The Zutons”.  “Wham”.