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Great Plum

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Blog Entries posted by Great Plum

  1. Great Plum

    Winter 2011/12

    By Great Plum,

    Stats from last year's winter:

    Winter 2011/12
    October: 1 frost
    November: 2 frosts
    December: 3 frosts, 1 morning of very wet snow
    January: 7 frosts
    February: 11 frosts, 3 snowfalls, max depth: 14.5cm. 8 days of laying snow

    Very one sided winter but with an excellent two week spell at the end of January/ start of February.
  2. Great Plum
    October: 3 frosts
    November: 11 frosts, 1 day of lying snow
    December: 21 frosts, 18 days of lying snow - greatest depth 13 inches (!)
    January: 8 frosts, 2 snizzle showers
    February: 5 frosts

    This was what was in my signature for last year... i think most can spot the lopsided nature of the winter!
  3. Great Plum
    Winter 2007/8
    October: 4 frosts
    November: 5 frosts
    December: 11 frosts
    January: 3 frosts, 3 snow showers
    February: 6 frosts


    This was the winter from 2007/8 - it's been stuck on my sig on here for far too long... makes you realise just how good last winter was! 3 snow showers in the whole of the winter!!

    Anyway, I will update my signature now, and maybe not leave it quite so long between blog posts!
  4. Great Plum

    Winter 2006/7

    By Great Plum,

    I haven't been on here as much recently - something I want to remedy and I noticed that my signature hadn't been updated - time to take it off and leave it on here for posterity...
    As you can see, it wasn't much of a winter, but we all knew that already!
    November: Frosts - 4
    December: Frosts - 7
    January: Frosts - 5
    Snow showers - 2
    Max settled - 1 inch
    February: Frosts - 5
    Snow showers - numerous
    Max settled - 3 inches
    March: Frosts - 4
  5. Great Plum

    A New Car

    By Great Plum,

    We currently have an elderly K reg ford Fiesta with over 120,000 miles on the clock...
    It was getting a bit battered and weary for Mrs Plum's job - she has to drive all over Surrey (and increasingly Kent) as she goes and visits young children and teenagers in her care...
    So, we hav now got (or will have - next Monday) a spanking new (well new to us!) Ford Focus x reg 1.8 Zetec and it has power steering and air con and cup holders as well as a rev counter!
    I can't wait!
  6. Great Plum

    My Wedding (3!)

    By Great Plum,

    Hey all,
    as promised, here is my 3rd installment of my wedding. Sorry it's taken me a bit longer than I thought it would!
    Here is me doing my speech - I think I must have done OK as I made my sister cry, and my Mum, and Angie's Mum, and Angie... or maybe I just scared them!

    After the speeches, came the cutting of the cake. The cake was very yummy and we had a sponge, a chocolate and a fruit cake! As you can see, it was very well decorated by Amanda, a friend of my Mum's who did all the flowers. Actually, all the flowers and decorations she did were amazing and a lot of people commented on them.

    After that, it was time for the first dance... yikes! We had chosen a song by a little known folk/jazzy singer songwriter called annA rydeR - called There you'll be - she was very pleased to have it as a first dance when I saw her at a gig a couple of weeks later. Her stuff is worth checking out! The dance went surprisingly well actually and a few people spared our blushes by joining in quite quickly.
    A mention should be made of the music. My friend, Tom Ryder, does wedding music etc for a living and he did a great disco for me. He also had two singers, Jess and Gavin who were brilliant. Click here for more info on them both. (Interestingly, the band leader, Julian Jackson was at school on the year above me!) Jess was at school two years below me and is quite a good friend. She first sang live at my 18th birthday party and now she is an aspiring soul singer.
    The evening then went on really very quickly - thankfully one of the bridesmaids filmed the evening (some very amusing drunken moments). We got changed into our 'going away' outfit at about 10.30 and came back to have a final drink and for Angie to throw her bouquet - Dani, my cousin's girlfriend, caught it - about time they got married!
    Dad had got everyone outside in two long lines waving us off - I felt like royalty! We then went and stayed at a hotel in Rusper before flying off to Kenya and Tanzania.
    It really was the best day of my life so far! B)
  7. Great Plum

    My Wedding (2!)

    By Great Plum,

    Hi all,
    well, as promised, now it's time for the second instalment of my wedding!
    We all arrived at Christ's Hospital at about 4.45 - our car had gone slower than the Routemaster!! We had a fab car - as you can see below - it is an Austin Princess Limousine I believe! It had a ride like a bed and a glorious burbling V8!

    Well, we all tucked into our Pimms drinks reception (isn't pimms great for a sunny day?) - some had more than others - one of the bridesmaids quickly became drunk! LOL (see pic below for birdesmaid already falling asleep!

    and then we had the photos - why do these always take so long? LOL but we were able to have these done fairly quickly before we moved over to the theatre for the reception proper. Below is a picture of my me, Mrs Plum and Mr and Mrs Plum (senior!)

    We had our (wonderful) barbequed main course all seated formally. Then it was the speeches - which I have to say went well! Angie's sister did the father of the bride speech (as her Dad wasn't at the wedding), I had to do a speech, which I dreaded but everyone seemed to laugh. My best man's speech was possibly one of the funniest I have ever heard... he even dragged me up at one point! ( I guess it comes from him being a lawyer!)
    There was a surprise for me in the speech - I am a frequent poster on the CH Forum website which is a board for Old Blues (Old pupils of Christ's Hospital!) I have the ame user name there and one of the posters wrote a poem for the wedding, which was read out (by great skill) by one of my old teachers during the speech. Perhaps I should just point out that I play the flute and piccolo Here it is:
    An Open letter to the Bride from members of the Unofficial Christ’s Hospital Forum concerning Matthew aka “Great Plum”
    Oh Angie, dear, what have you done?
    You’ve gone and married Mr Plum!
    Those of us who really knew
    This, Matthew, here, when he was Blue
    Could tell you many things, I fear,
    That might cause you to shed a tear
    Or blush for shame, did you but know
    How small, indeed, his piccolo!
    This tiny pipe (‘twas but a toy)
    He loved to play with as a boy
    He hoped that when at last he grew
    To man’s estate this would grow too
    Until perhaps the day would come
    To have a huge euphonium.
    So seize the moment very soon
    And ask him for a little tune!
    And now Angie, (you must be told)
    No bat he held nor ball he bowled
    But yet, his cricket father’s son,
    So soon his Housey colours won
    For cricket (which his father ran
    As well befits a cricket fan).
    ‘Tis written down in Housey lore
    Matt did record the highest score.
    Now plums, you know, are shiny bright
    And should be tasted fully ripe
    For, left too long, they shrivel soon
    And turn into a wrinkled prune.
    So bite him deep, plum juices suck ……
    Soon little damsons run amuck
    And in your orchard there will be
    Another Holdsworth family.


    Look out for the 3rd and final installment soon!
  8. Great Plum

    My Wedding! (1!)

    By Great Plum,

    Hi all,
    Long time no post - I'm sorry!
    As some of you know, I got married on the 3rd June. I just thought I'd share some of the day with you all!
    Please note, that there are some big(!) photos so I will split this down over a few days!
    Me and Angie (the new Mrs Plum!) got married on the 3rd June at St Matthew's Church, Redhill on a fantastic day. We have both been going to the church now for a hile and what was nice was that as well as our 100 guests, we also had around 60 of the congregation there as well.
    One of the aspects that made the day so enjoyable was the involvement of so many of our friends. We were married by Rev Nicky who until January was the vicar at St Matthew's. We also had Rev Dr Jeremy Law do the sermon - he was our chaplain at Exeter Uni where we first met. His sermon was hilarious, especially as it involved his bass guitar. We also had my old scout master playing the organ and our old university chapel band providing some other music!
    The first picture I'd like to show you is of me looking very nervous as I waited for Angie to arrive. (My cousin, who took these pictures, captured me in my one brief moment of nervousness!)

    Luckily, she did arrive and looked absolutely gorgeous!!

    After the service, here is a picture of us both (I'm looking a lot happier!)

    We had our wedding reception at Christ's Hospital which is where I went to school and my parents still teach there. The reception was in the school theatre which is a theatre based on the 'Globe' in London. We had all the seats cleared out for the tables etc - but more on that in the next entry!
    To get to Christ's Hospital from Redhill (about 20 miles), we hit on a novel plan - a Routemaster Bus which carried about half our guests to and from the wedding!

    The setting at Christ's Hospital was amazing and as the photo of Big School and the quarter mile shows, the weather was pretty good too!

    More pics tomorrow!
  9. Great Plum

    Winter 2005/6

    By Great Plum,

    Well, it was interesting....
    The time has come to add my signature to the blog...
    Wintry weather this winter...
    Frosts: 11 in November. 11 in December. 7 in January. 7 in February, 7 in March; 4 in April
    Days of wintry weather:
    25/11/05: - 1 brief shower of snow grains
    27/12/05: - 3 moderate snow showers and some flurries. Left a dusting.
    30/12/05: - Moderate wet snow in morning
    05/01/06: - 1 light flurry of snow grains (in Marlyebone)
    07/01/06: - 1 light/moderate sleet/ wet snow shower
    27/01/06: - 1 moderate snow shower - very slight dusting
    03/02/06: - some snow grains
    23/02/06: - Day of rain, sleet and wet snow(in Marlyebone)
    26/02/06: - 1 moderate snow shower
    01 - 03/03/06: - 1 light snow shower per day (in Marlyebone)
    16/03/06: - light snow flurries (in Marlyebone)
    10/04/06: - lying snow on Reigate Hill
    By the way, can anyone tell me what a 'trackback' is?
  10. Great Plum

    Grannification

    By Great Plum,

    Don't you just hate 'grannifaction'?
    This was a term coined by my old Scoutmaster of how little adventure there is in today's society... instead of finding out things for yourself, the way is made clear and easy for you - without ever learnig anything.
    He lives in the Lake District and bemoans the 'grannifying' of paths that makes it more and more easy to reach the top - the term is because a granny could climb the mountain with no trouble. Now, whilst this great for those with limited mobility etc, it becomes les fun for others.
    Another example is that of Pooh Stick's Bridge in East Sussex. 10 years ago, there was only an overgorwn path to it, and no signs which heightened the sense of adventure... now it has all gone.
    Otis Ferry, illustrates this point well in today's Torygraph in an article about Shropshire. Whilst I don't necessarially agree with his views on hunting, I found that that I agreed on what he had to say here:
    "Most of Shropshire may be advertised as 'a place of outstanding natural beauty' but it is rapidly turning into an Early Learning Centre.
    "Old sheep tracks have been converted into footpaths, all heavily signposted with laminated captions. The natural stone paths are as good as paved. You might as well have put streetlights down the side of them.
    "All the mystery is being taken away."
    Please, let us have a sense o adventure and mystery.
  12. Great Plum
    Well I hope everyone had a great time over the New Year period!
    i went down with the future Mrs Plum to a friend's house in Chideock in Dorset.
    I drove a very dapp friend of mine down and my friend Hanna was late because she went the wrong way down the M3 - please don't ask!
    Well Jon's parents treated us to a good supper which meant that we were fortified for the stroll down to the Anchor Inn in a little hamlet called Seatown.
    What a place to spend New Year's eve - right on the Dorset Coast in a little pub filled with very pleasant people - well I think they were - I porbably got far too drunk!
    I got to bed about 3am I think...
    Anna, the dappy one, found a guy she liked and spent 5 hours before finally succeeding in a New Year's Kiss... I think having a low cut top and hiccups helped!
  13. Great Plum

    Maypoles To Mistletoe

    By Great Plum,

    Well I feel Christmassy now...
    Maypoles to Mistletoe is an evening of folk cmusic, stories and dancing that tells of the seasons of the year...
    It's great stuf and I've been since I was a nipper - my mum's a morris dancer you see!
    There are alays some great moments, such as the Maypole (they always get tangled!) or the tories about winter snow!
    At the end they finish with a Mummers' Play and some carols!
  14. Great Plum

    My New Job

    By Great Plum,

    Well, today is my second day of my new job...
    I'm still working for the tour operator but I am now in London and an assistant team leader for a new sales team!
    It's fun (well, it is only my second day!) and it's keeping me busy!
    Great office - we are on a large square near Marlyebone Station which is pretty funky...
    Shame about the commuting...
  15. Great Plum

    Last Year's Winter

    By Great Plum,

    Well, it's out with the old sig and in with the new, but for posterity, I will leave it in here so i can see what Winter 2004/5 is like...
    Snow this winter:
    Sleet: 4
    Snow flurries: 26
    Snow showers: 8
    Heavy Snow Showers: 5
    A day with rain turning into snow into snizzle into snow
    A day with snizzle constantly: 1
    Covering/ Dusting: 3
    Days with snow lying: 3
    Largest depth: 1.4 inches
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