h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

It is blowing a fierce gale tonight. The wind is whistling through my double glazing. I was glad to get the -flap locked because the wind was blowing it open.

I am off to Gunwharf Quay on Thursday. I've never been there before. I hope that I am not tempted by anything.

Posted: Thursday 11 January 2007 23:52:54

I had the wind blowing in underneath the window-sill today in my computer room, it's been v v blowy. Where's Gunwharf Quay btw?

Underneath the window-sill???!!! That's a bit worrying isn't it?!

Posted: Friday 12 January 2007 00:15:37

It just means there is a slight gap between the bottom of the window sill and the wall, a bit of sealant would cure it (if I could be bothered)

Imagined subsidence with the wall gradually parting commpany from the window-sill...as happended to a lovely old (well it is for these roads - apart from that Tudor place) Victorian house up the road - until bought by a young couple who are doing it up really lovingly - restoring all the origianl features which were collapsing. They've had a whole corner of the house taken apart and rebuilt - so the two rooms on the two floors have their outer walls straight now and the window-sills are joined onto the wall beneath them! They showed us round the brick building in the garden - it was for the servants - it has a big chimney one end with the original hearth, an ancient stone sink and various other extremely old things in it - nobody'd touched it since Victorian times by the look of it! The house had been occupied by an old lady who stayed there until her death a couple of years ago. I'm so pleased that young couple fell in love with it.

Hi. It's in Portsmouth. One of those "retail villages" . We had to shop for 5 hours!!! The car was being serviced in Portsmouth, so we wasted time at the shops. We were sick of the sight of them by 4.30pm!! Never again. Better to sit in a library than wander about for hours amongst clothes. The only good thing was that the place was empty because of the dreadful weather!!

I am still feeling very tired form the episode!!

Did you manage to shop for all that time but buy absolutely nothing at all? I'm quite good at that. I need new comfy black shoes to wear for school as I've gone right through the soles of my favourites which are as comfy as slippers. I get wet feet on playground duty!Perhaps I can have them re-heeled but that's actually quite pricey and they're pretty old now.

Love to Wookie

Jane

Hi. Emma bought a leather belt for £1, and pattered tights for 50p!! I bought a few birthday cards and postcards. And that is all we bought!!
I need shoes too but I saw none there that I liked.I want/need flat'ish black shoes that don't have those trainer-looking backs. And I need another pair of brown leather shoes. Maybe I am being too fussy but I can't find what I want anywhere.
I recently had my favourite suede shoes re-heeled and soled. It cost £18, but it's sort of worth it because the shoes were expensive, and I adore them. I have been wearing them for about 6 years now!

Emma and I decided that "Portsmouth man" is really quite nice!! We were given taxi's to and from the car workshop to the shops, and then coffee and kindness and maps from the very sweet chaps there. They certainly could not have been nicer to us.

The weather was so bad that we could hardly walk at times, at Gunwharf Quays, because of the strong winds. Just for something to do we had a look at the harbour. We had to hang on to each other otherwise we might have been blown away!!! But it made us laugh, and it was lovely being arm-in-arm with Emma. But NEVER again. I have now got a blister on my foot just from trudging around shops!!

These are M&S black suede shoes - footgloves I think which would explain why they're so comfortable - yes, I think they're worth repairing.

Oooh! Sweet chaps indeed! Pity it's too far away for my car repairs.

That description of the wind reminds me of stormy days in Aberystwyth when we literally couldn't walk along the road we lived on once we were approaching the sea-front when it was a Westerly gale.(I was renting a house on Terrace Road which runs at right angles from the Promenade.) Quite scary - boulders were hurled from the beach up and over the sea wall with the huge crashing waves. Ah! Wonderful place to live! I try to visit every year if I can.

If I had been on my own(and not sitting in a library{good stand-by}), I would have had a longer wind-blown walk beside the different quays. But Emma was beginning to wilt. There is something so very sweet about being close (arm-in-arm) with one's grown-up child. It is rather like having a sister.

We had had to leave at 7.30 am to get to Portsmouth for 9am. Emma was given a Tom-Tom from her husband so we relied on that to guide us! I was home by 7pm, so poor Emma didn't get home until 8pm. It was a very long day.

I think that I might spend some time(have to really) in the loft this weekend! I can only just get into it! There is so much up there that will have to be sorted out-just in case. I should know by next week about contracts being exchanged.

Posted: Friday 12 January 2007 23:36:36

I lived in Portsmouth for a year so I suppose I should have known where you were talking about - unless Gunwharf Quay is something new. There used to be a hideous shopping centre which I think was called the Tricorn but I seem to remember hearing that it's been demolished.

I think that Gunwharf Quays must be quite new. The bit by the water is lovely, and the water runs through part of the shopping precinct. But it is a horribly dull, and wearisome place to shop at. Everything is at cut prices, and there are some really great bargains to be had, but the stock in some shops also includes all the old tat that has hung about in their stockrooms for years! I never wish to see the place again. My foot is still swollen from the day spent there!!