We're now a two cat household. Worried about Tabitha being lonely we got a kitten Amelia from a breeder "Corcats". Tabitha is very timid, running from novel noises and strange devices like the fan heater. Let alone some of the toys Virginia gets like the "Thing in a bag". Which is a brown bag with something that vibrates inside. Very scary. So we thought a kitten might be kinder on Tabitha's nerves. We did feel guilty at taking Amelia away from her sister Enya and mother Evie. Perhaps one is assigning human-like emotions to cats? But from the cat magazines I read that cats have feelings of jealousy and dominance and even sympathy. Certainly cats and other pets can become part of one's family. We weren't sure what was going to happen when Amelia arrived. We tried to tell Tabitha beforehand but her English is limited. Kitten and cat are very wary of each other. There's been a bit of hissing. Tabitha has retreated upstairs, and Amelia is occupying the lounge. We're giving them time.

You don't always have to go far to see the rich and strange. A local resident Tony Hillier has created wonderful metal sculptures, and placed them in his garden. Free for all to see!

I went to Holy Isle in the UK for a birdwatching weekend run by Birdwatch North East. It's a long haul from Cambridge up past Newcastle on the A1 - took me over five hours each way. Especially dire was driving back in the pouring rain on Sunday - happily the weather had been good up to then, especially clear and bright on the Saturday. We had a clear night for a lunar eclipse on Saturday - with all the telescopes around you could see the moon being occluded very clearly. I'm still not sure why even with the eclipse you could still see the half of the moon in shadow. Holy Isle is linked by a tidal causeway to the mainland. The few shops on the island open and close according to the tides - when the visitors are in and the tides are out they open, otherwise not. I was glad my mobile worked on the island which I wasn't expecting, even if it reduced the feeling of having got away from it all. It was a peaceful place to be, a place where time had slowed down. Two birders led the weekend, and we saw perhaps fifty different species of winged life forms. Some perhaps I could recognise again like the eider ducks (the males are vivid black and white jobs.) But many of the birds remain small brown jobs to me. The best bird for me was a barn owl seen close to dusk against a white pyramid in the sand dunes. There was a mix of people on the weekend - age sex and experience wise. Some had very keen eyesight that's all I can say. The weekend had a Christian theme to it, with worship and teaching. The last session saw us all crammed into the top of a bird hide, I was worried if so many people had made it top-heavy. We stayed in a retreat house on the island which was basic but sufficient - eating all together was good. The place had a cellar converted into a soothing prayer den. There is quite a bit to see on Holy Isle besides birds and rocks. There's a ruined abbey, a castle, and other photogenic spots. You can walk to a small rocky islet where St Cuthbert stayed for peace and quiet if I got that right. If Virginia lets me out again I'll consider a similar trip to the Farne Islands where at the right time you can get up close and personal with puffins.

"Carnival of Monsters" is a classic Dr Who serial, starring Jon Pertwee as a righteous Doctor saving the day.

"Genesis of the Daleks" is for me the best Dr Who serial, with a profound moment as the Doctor decides or not to stop the Daleks existing.

"The Talons of Weng Chiang" is a clever Dr Who serial combining genres. Just wish they had Chinese actors portraying Chinese people.

"The Mind Robber" is one of my favourite Dr Who serials, starring Patrick Troughton's whimsical Doctor.

Our first cruise to Norway, the land of fjords and ice and snow.

Virginia and I spent a few nights at "Willersley Castle" in Derbyshire during September 2007, seeing history in the area. Our hotel had originally been built for Richard Arkwright we discovered. All I knew about Arkwright was that he invented the spinning jenny. I learnt he didn't invent the water frame, his big innovation and what made him rich was implementing a factory system for processing raw cotton into cotton thread. Very close to our hotel were two of Arkwright's factories or mills. We went round the machines at the working museum at Masson Mills (when we managed to find our way through the shops.) The noise of the machines would have done for me as a worker, let alone how dangerous some of the work was. Children as young as 7 were employed to clean fluff from the working machines while suspended over them. One of the machines was interesting to me as related to the computers which keep me employed. From the punched hole patterns which drove Jacquard looms evolved punched cards which were how I first programmed. Virginia particularly wanted to see Chatsworth House which we did the first day. It was in fact a disappointment, partly because of all the modern art scattered around which seemed out of place. The stately homes we were used to are frozen in time, no longer living places. Chatsworth House is still very much someone's house, and having pieces of modern art on show fulfills a purpose. Stately homes were or are much more than places to live in. They make statements - that their owners are rich, powerful, different to the "hoi polloi". So the modern art which is centred on making statements rather than being artistic is perfectly suited to the elite who want to make statements about their being the elite. We preferred Kedleston Hall to Chatsworth, though that had plenty of statements in it. Landscaping by Robert Adams (fashionable at the time.) A 3 span bridge (because Chatsworth was having a 3 span bridge and they didn't want to seem poorer.) The furnishings seemed less dingy than Chatsworth though Chatsworth allowed photography inside (very rare.) I have a soft spot for places like "Toys of Yesteryear" where memories of Fireball XL5 and Stingray and Man from Uncle are revived. We visited Haddon Hall another fascinating glimpse into the past, a hall which has grown organically over the centuries. The long gallery (for Elizabethan ladies to get exercise walking up and down in) has very uneven windows - deliberately to spread the light. King John restricted the height the wall that could be built around the earliest buildings (to prevent Englishmen's homes being their castles.) We also dropped in to see, and have a good time at, the Tramway Museum at Crich. I admired the volunteers who so freely gave their time to make the show run, it must be nice to be part of a team like that. Amusing to see that some old tram cars ended up as people's homes! On our final day we joined in a minibus tour which involved hours of bumpy uncomfortable travel. Saw well dressing at Hartington, what remains of an ancient tradition. Hartington had a nice little cheese shop and we bought some Wensleydale cheese. I was unable to resist the Wallace and Gromit connection. Wensleydale reminded me of Cheshire cheese, not a strong taste. I almost got a slipware large mug from "Rookes Pottery" - the pattern was beautiful but I couldn't justify to myself buying it. We had a cup of tea at a team room which was also the Post Office and an art gallery with nude paintings for sale. Biddulph Grange gardens were marvellous, and we could have spent more time there. A series of different styled gardens with connecting tunnels wondrous. The National Trust has had a lot of restoring to do there. Lastly Little Moreton Manor gave an impression of how bare (to us) Tudor times were. Virginia was alarmed by the ice cream eating ducks which aggressively clustered round when we had a couple of cones!

Adventure Convention held at Allesley Hotel in Coventry

Shaun's 18th birthday