Expensive Weekend!!!

Spent all Saturday sorting stuff out in the house and having a clear up and attempting to get organised for Fair Isle!

Today (Sunday) I did something really bad - I drove to Warehouse Express in Norwich and bought a Canon teleconverter 2x and then went to the Apple Store, Chapelfield and purchased an Apple Macbook Pro 15" laptop!!!!! My excuses for buying this was: acts as a second back-up/hard drive, 2nd back up for my dodgy Apple G4 (although its running beautifully at the moment), can take it to Fair Isle and update my blog daily with pictures to save me writing 2 weeks up when I come back, other excuses... hmmmm.... ok none... I just wanted it and life is too short!!!!!

Phoned Hollie yesterday (as in Hollie Shaw, Deryk Shaw's wife, warden of Fair Isle) to make sure I can still arrive on the 29th May as the observatory was not ready in time for the 1st May!!! and will now open on Wednesday 26th May - sooooo glad I booked late May!!!! Still ok to go, but the Wi-fi access will not be up and running. The room I have been allocated looks over Bueness, with New Haven to the left along with the new wader pools - will I even have to leave the obs!!! After speaking to my computer friend Kris and also staff at the Applestore today, I discovered something brilliant - if I plug in my i-phone to my new laptop I can 'Tether' (Tethering its called in the Apple 'Settings' on the phone) my laptop - in other words wherever I get a mobile signal/internet for the iphone I can use that internet service through/on the laptop! Isn't technology amazing! Only drawback - you are charged for this and its added to monthly bill - have yet to find out how much exactly! Found this: http://forum.vodafone.co.uk/topic/46558-internet-tethering-on-iphone/page__st__20 AND http://forum.vodafone.co.uk/topic/47135-iphone-tethering-how-to/

After spending a colossal amount of money I needed some sea air to clear my head and took the A140/B1149 road to Holt and onto Cley. Beautiful sunny evening. Had a look round Walsey Hills: garden warbler, blackcap, cettis' warbler, chiffchaff all singing in bottom Willows and several chaffinches and long tailed tits darting about - not alot else though! Some sad person has broken a section of the hand rail at the top of the steps.

Drove to Cley Coastguards to get my Sea fix and sat on the shingle drinking the remainder of my flask of coffee. Pied Wags flitting about, a swallow building a nest and a reed bunting zipping along and sandwich terns going west. Said hello to Eddie M. who turned up just as I was leaving.

Cruised along the main coast road to deliver some shopping to my parents.

Father is now very excited as the Physio who has been coming out every week to assist with his walking has fitted all kinds of support rails (where they didn't have a stair bannister) and he is now venturing upstairs again! He is virtually walking without his sticks now which is brilliant but also scary!!!


Pete Snook sent me an email with a link to his brilliant video on youtube of the Oriental Pratincole at Frampton, which he took yesterday on 15th May. Copyright: Pete Snook.