John Hawkins



Dr John Hawkins

Welcome to my bit of the Maison de Stuff, home to a huge load of pictures, and my daily blog.

My email address is as above - I've put it in an image in a vein attempt to reduce the amount of spam I get.

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Recent Entries:
Zurich to London
Thursday in Flumserberg
Wednesday in Flumserberg - Skiing Lesson
Tuesday in Flumserberg
Paris to Zurich
Paris
Saturday
Friday
Nando's
Hedge and Wolseley
Tuesday
Monday
Storm Ciara
The Ridgeway: Lewknor to Goring
Friday
East Meon Berrygarden 2010
Parchment
Garden
Setsubun
Sunday
The Ridgeway: Princes Risborough to Lewknor
East Meon Berrygarden 2013
Bingo and Ski Helmets
East Meon and the Moon and Venus Again
Daws Hill and the Moon and Venus
Garden Check
Lazy Sunday
Ridgeway: Wendover to Princes Risborough and Burns Night
Cash in the Pocket
Cider and Cakes
Indoor Picnic
Tuesday
Monday
The Ridgeway: Ivinghoe Beacon to Wendover
Blackfriars to Bermondsey
Garden and Fire
Garden Check
Office
This Isn't Bacon Etc
Harrow Inn Pictures
Fridge, Laksamania, Bulbs

Zurich to London
[Friday 21st February 2020]
Travelled back from Zurich to London via Paris today.
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Thursday in Flumserberg
[Thursday 20th February 2020]
Last day in Flumserberg. Played in the snow a bit in the morning, built a snowman and a snowduck (?). Later on did some more mountain walking, this time to Prodalp (read more here).

Later on in the afternoon we got the train back to Zurich, where we had one last fondue for dinner.
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Wednesday in Flumserberg - Skiing Lesson
[Wednesday 19th February 2020]
The main focus of today was a skiing lesson, starting at midday. I came to the conclusion skiing really wasn't for me, but Erika seemed to be pretty good at it.
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Tuesday in Flumserberg
[Tuesday 18th February 2020]
After some faff buying a ticket in Zurich which meant we had a later start than I hoped, we got a train to Unterterzern, at the foot of the mountains, then the cable car up to Flumserberg Tannenboden. Checked into our hotel, and then spent the remainder of the afternoon on various cable cars and chair lifts, with some mountain walking and taking full advantage of the many mountain refreshment stops along the way. Fondue for dinner (of course!), then back to our hotel.

Read more about today's walk on John Goes For a Walk.
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Paris to Zurich
[Monday 17th February 2020]
Took the TGV from Paris to Zurich in the morning. Arrive in Zurich at 2:30, had some macarons from Sprungli for afternoon tea, then a wander round the city. Dinner at Hiltl in the evening.
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Paris
[Sunday 16th February 2020]
Eurostar to Paris in the morning, late lunch at a creperie, then an afternoon wander round Paris, and spent the evening enjoying the night time views of the Eiffel tower from our hotel room.
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Saturday
[Saturday 15th February 2020]
Day before our half term trip to Switzerland. Wanted to do the next section of the Ridgeway but it was too stormy today, so instead I pottered about at home. In the evening I attempted to use up everything perishable from the fridge for dinner, and came up with a sort of hybrid moussaka / lasagne.
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Friday
[Friday 14th February 2020]
Couple of random pictures.
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Nando's
[Thursday 13th February 2020]
Went to Nando's after Erika's gymnastics class.
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Hedge and Wolseley
[Wednesday 12th February 2020]
Trimmed the hedge at the back of the house in the morning, then out for dinner at the Wolseley in the evening.
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Tuesday
[Tuesday 11th February 2020]
Padron pepers and Breaky Bottom Cuvee Oliver Minkley this evening.
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Monday
[Monday 10th February]
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Storm Ciara
[Sunday 9th February 2020]
Storm Ciara made it a bit of a wet and windy Sunday and we mostly stayed indoors. Just a couple of forays out into the garden between downpours to check on the state of things.
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The Ridgeway: Lewknor to Goring
[Saturday 8th February 2020]
Quite a long walk today - 15 miles - and made it all the way to Goring, although did end up deviating somewhat from the official route of the Ridgeway National Trail to make my own way, closer to the original route of the Icknield Way.

Read more on John Goes for a Walk.

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Friday
[Friday 7th February 2020]
Couple of random photos.
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East Meon Berrygarden 2010
[Thursday 6th February 2020]
Tried the 2010 this evening - much more successful than the previous two bottles (the 2013 and 2014) I'd tried previously!
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Parchment
[Wednesday 5th February 2020]
Made some pretend old paper with Erika using the lemon juice trick. Was quite pleased with the results.
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Garden
[Tuesday 4th February 2020]
Further checks on the state of flowering in the garden, then more futile attempts to take pictures of the night sky later on.
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Setsubun
[Monday 3rd February 2020]
The day in the Japanese calendar marking the end of winter (or is it the start of spring?) where somebody has to dress up as an "oni" (devil?) and be pelted with dried soy beans.
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Sunday
[Sunday 2nd February 2020]
Stayed in for the morning. For lunch we went to try the Lady Hamilton (sister pub of the Pineapple) followed by gelato at the new gelateria in Kentish Town.
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The Ridgeway: Princes Risborough to Lewknor
[Saturday 1st February 2020]
Completed the section I was planning to complete last weekend (but wasn't quite in the mood before) with much nicer weather today. Albeit still a bit odd to culminate a walk at Junction 6 of the M40!

Read more on John Goes for a Walk.

Later on, back in London, I went to catch the sunset from the Angel in Bermondsey.
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East Meon Berrygarden 2013
[Friday 31st January 2020]
Tried one of the East Meon Berrygarden wines this evening. A bit of a false start I think.
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Bingo and Ski Helmets
[Thursday 30th January 2020]
A couple of pictures of Erika's school bingo night, and later on Chie trying on her new ski helmet.
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East Meon and the Moon and Venus Again
[Wednesday 29th January 2020]
A case of East Meon Berrygarden English sparkling arrived today. In the evening more unsuccessful attempts to take photos of the night sky as the moon and Venus were visible, including in my desperation to get away from the light pollution and obstacles a night time stroll across Hampstead Heath, which was a bit scary if I'm honest.
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Daws Hill and the Moon and Venus
[Tuesday 28th January 2020]
Tried the Daws Hill English sparkling wine which I'd picked up in Princes Risborough. Also attempted unsuccessfully to take pictures of the moon while Venus was quite visible nearby.
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Garden Check
[Monday 27th January 2020]
Another check on the state of the garden.
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Lazy Sunday
[Sunday 26th January 2020]
I think we stayed in most of the day. Erika and I built her a little house from cushions in the lounge.
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Ridgeway: Wendover to Princes Risborough and Burns Night
[Saturday 25th January 2020]
I had originally planned to try and complete a longer section of the Ridgeway today, from Wendover to Watlington (or at least Lewknor, where there are some public transport options) but wasn't really feeling it with the slightly glum weather and cut short at Princes Risborough.

Read more on John Goes For a Walk.

Back at home in the evening we had a mini Burns Night, just the three of us.
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Cash in the Pocket
[Friday 24th January 2020]
Put on a jacket I hadn't worn for a while, found some cash stuffed in the pocket.
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Cider and Cakes
[Thursday 23rd January 2020]
Was in the mood for cider so I went to the Southampton Arms to buy a flagon of cider to take home. Erika decorated some cakes for the school cake sale.
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Indoor Picnic
[Wednesday 22nd January 2020]
Ordred Indian food for dinner (and Chie made Japanese food for Erika) which we ate sitting on the picnic blanket on the floor of the lounge.
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Tuesday
[Tuesday 21st January 2020]
Couple of random pictures.
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Monday
[Monday 20th January]
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The Ridgeway: Ivinghoe Beacon to Wendover
[Sunday 19th January 2020]
Embarked on a new walking project today - The Ridgeway - starting at Ivinghoe Beacon and hoping to walk all 87 miles over the coming few weeks to arrive at Avebury in time for the Spring Equinox.

Read more on John Goes For a Walk.
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Blackfriars to Bermondsey
[Saturday 18th January 2020]
Being a bit too time constrained to do a proper countryside walk today, I instead decided to go for an urban stroll in the morning, along the Thames from Blackfriars to Bermondsey. In the afternoon went to visit my old boss to see his new house.
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Garden and Fire
[Friday 17th January 2020]
Clocked off work a bit early as it was a Friday and spent some time in the garden. Tried out the Biolite stove again.
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Garden Check
[Thursday 16th January 2020]
Another check on the garden at lunchtime.
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Office
[Wednesday 15th January 2020]
Went to the office today. In the evening attempted some astrophotography.
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This Isn't Bacon Etc
[Tuesday 14th January 2020]
Tried some new mock meats today.
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Harrow Inn Pictures
[Monday 13th January 2020]
Rediscovered my Harrow Inn pictures today, and thought about putting them up on the wall, but didn't.
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Fridge, Laksamania, Bulbs
[Sunday 12th January 2020]
Yet another unsuccessful attempt to buy a fridge, took Chie and Erika to try Laksamania (not so successful second time round) and went to the garden centre to buy more bulbs.
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