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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

Adventure Convention held at Allesley Hotel in Coventry

Shaun's 18th birthday