Summer Holidays

Tomorrow is my last day at work before my Summer holidays. I go back on September 5th, so the extended break gives me plenty of time to catch up with all the things I have on my to-do list. This includes lots of work on the garden as well as increasing my cycling distances (currently 10 miles done in two halves with a cup of tea in between) and picking lots of fruit and vegetables for the freezer. There will be Guide work as well including budgets, getting further building quotes at Herons Wey for solar panels, a new dry shelter for Ramsdown and Richards Hill so they will be genuinely deluxe sites and thinking about Weyside's toilet refurbishment. The second and fourth week of my five weeks I will be away so I will have proper holidays.
If you are now on your holidays, I hope you get the month off and do no more than necessary so your batteries are recharged for September.

Herons Wey

At last the building work is coming to an end with the toilet block more or less finished apart from some tidying up and the finishing off that will happen in January. So we are looking at what we can do to raise some more funds to install PV panels for generating energy, putting up a dry shelter behind the new block and refurbishing Weyside's toilet/showers. So we have had some meetings and are hoping to run a series of events in 2012 which could include an event for Rainbows in January - and another in December, concerts (one booked on September 1st already), plays and suppers. If Herons Wey is to earn its keep including major refurbishments it needs to be used outside the camping season and this is our aim. In addition, we hope to establish a programme for schools so they can come and do activities during the week. Then there was a suggestion that it could be used for cross-country athletics events. So there are lots of ideas but it will need bodies to run them. Watch this space......

Pampering

A couple of weeks ago I sat down and tries to work out how much holiday I had left and when I would use it; our holiday year ends on Sept 30th. As I have worked so many extra days this year, nearly all of my holiday to date has been taken out of extra days worked and not holiday entitlement. The trouble is I haven't got enough empty days left to use them up so I am going to ask my boss if I can carry them forward (I bought extra a year ago so took a small salary cut). Having said that, a training course was cancelled on Thursday and Friday this week. The Thursday very quickly filled up but I got in quickly and filled Friday with fun things like a manicure, pedicure and facial. I am really looking forward to that and it will set me up nicely for my nephew's wedding on Saturday.

Scoutabout

This weekend I visited Scoutabout - I have never actually camped there but have visited the 2005, 2008 and now the 2011 events. What a fantastic event with so much to do and on such a scale. Of course it isn't like a real camp as it has a theme park feel but a bit of variety never hurt anyone. I hope everyone who went had a fabulous time - only one broken bone for Surrey West as far as I am aware which is quite amazing given the adventurous things the young people could have a go at. It was also extremely moving to see all the flags and standards at the end and realise what a strong and vibrant movement Guiding and Scouting is across Surrey.

Letters

Just before I went on holiday, I received a letter from our neighbour at Herons Wey. It was very friendly and courteous and just shows that the effort of communicating with them was worth it. Just two weeks later I received another one! Quite different - annoyed and angry and with reason. It seems there are some users of Herons Wey who think it acceptable to disturb them early on a Sunday morning; in this case by parking across our entrance road and talking loudly - before 8am. Ask yourself whether you would be happy if someone did it outside your house. Why do our neighbours deserve less consideration and courtesy than you would? Anyway I now have to deal with it. Whoever you are - a letter will be on its way to you asking you to make amends to our neighbour - yes, I know you are a volunteer and I have no right to ask you. However, you are a member of a movement that believes in being courteous and considerate and a good neighbour. No matter how temporarily you were a neighbour to this family - you were still a neighbour. Time to do the right thing!

Cycling and walking

Last week I bought a bike - with a certain amount of trepidation having not cycled for so long. However, it is an absolute joy and seems to take very little effort to ride. Yesterday we cycled from Oatlands in Weybridge to New Haw and back - probably 10 miles in total and I wasn't even that tired. My hands ached from the handlebars jumping up and down as the bike hit bumps on the towpath but I thought my legs would ache - which they don't.
Next week we have very little opportunity to cycle as my husband and I are walking from the source of the Thames up to Oxford (about 60 miles) although we are fair weather walkers so may not do it if it rains. Anything that is a break from work and the long hours I have been doing is to be welcomed. It is only the thought of 500 emails to be responded to when I return that is a bit of a downer. Perhaps I will just delete them all on the basis that any that are really important will be followed up by the sender later. Or am I that brave?

PS - next Friday's Guide meeting/District event is ...... a walk along the Thames from the Excel Centre between Walton on Thames and Molesey back to the Guide Hall in Weybridge. The irony!

Busy again

It seems to be recurring theme that I am busy again. Having had a 1930 finish on Tuesday, 1800 yesterday and 1830 today all in London it has been a busy week so far - and my day off tomorrow is also very full with a client visit plus several projects to work on.

Sadly not all of my colleagues are in the same position and I have started to hand work and opportunities to a lady who has been at Hay Group longer than me but who has a niche specialism which no-one seems to want this year. Sometimes our skills are not in demand but we should remember that doesn't make them without value and one day their time will come. In the meantime I will do what I can to help because I know she would do the same for me. That's what friends are for.