2012 London Olympic Games - Pt I

It's Sam & Dad at the Olympics 2012!

We were very lucky to obtain tickets for a day of athletics in the Olympic stadium, and duly made our way south one bright and sunny Thursday morning.  As advertised on the news, security was mostly in the hands of the military, was very tight (including a very intimate search), and extremely professional.  Well done boys and girls!

Once through the tented security we found ourselves looking straight at the Aquatics centre, and it was big.  Very impressive as a first impression.

We'd aimed to arrive at Stratford station, and the huge main gate into the park there was, of course, called the Stratford Gate.  Sam was first to spot the Olympic stadium and the Orbit, and we were both super-excited!

From this distance the stadium looked "fairly" large but looked great, and the entry roof of the Aquatics hall poked into view from the left.  Bienvenue indeed.

Seeing some more of the venues in the park made us wish we'd been able to see events in all of them.  Impossible of course, and a good reminder of the transient nature of the Games.  Remember all this little dude!

The final ticket check was smooth and easy, Sam was off through the gates quicker than you could say "Mo-bot", and we were in!

As at Wembley a few days earlier, Sam was glowing with excitement and nervous energy as he ascended the steps to see inside the stadium for the first time.

And WOW!  Outside it's a nice stadium, but inside the colour, crowd and noise all combined to give an unforgettable moment.  I don't know exactly what Sam was feeling but Dad had a major attack of goosebumps.

Just like on the TV, there, burning away, was the Olympic flame.  It was all there, what did I expect, huge score boards, hustle and bustle on the tack and infield, and the weather again smiled on us, and did its very best to make the view absolutely perfect.

We were keen to try and spot the BBC studio - and were surprised to see that they were always sitting outside in the open air, on a special BBC balcony, complete with astroturf walls.  See the two umbrellas roughly in the middle of the picture?  The yellow blob in between is, in fact, Denise Lewis!  We could see it much better with the binoculars, and she was accompanied by Colin Jackson, Michael Johnson and Johnathon Edwards.  It wasn't just BBC-spotting that the binoculars improved....

2012 Crabbing Pt 2 - Wells Next The Sea

We could not have chosen a more perfect day to visit Wells for our second crabbing expedition of the year.  The weather was gorgeous and Wells looked absolutely splendid in the hazy sunshine.

The plan was to do some crabbing in the morning, stuff ourselves with fish and chips for dinner, then have another session on the quayside in the afternoon.  First stop is the shoreline to fill your bucket with water...ooops, Sam looks like he's managed to catch himself in the net....

We've never seen so many people lining the harbour wall, there was hardly a vacant spot to be found.  Ha!  We have our own "secret" spot that nobody else ever thinks to use, so we took our place and soon began to reel in the swimmers.

Bowers the butchers had given us some offcuts of meat to use as bait (thanks chaps!) which we sliced up the night before then left in the sunlight as much as possible to enhance the "bouquet".

As usual we were using two methods of catching.  Above is the basket, and Dad attaching some random meaty tubes and stuff as bait.  It didn't half pong!  The other method we try is to use small net bags with bait inside.  This isn't quite as reliable usually, as the crafty crabs let go of the bags when they realise that they're out of the water and rapidly ascending skywards.  It's best to have a net to use in tandem with the bags, and position it beneath them as soon as you can when reeling them in.

We had a pretty successful morning, considering the huge numbers of crabbers all competing for the same prey.  Twelve (we think, although it's tricky counting them unless you keep a record as you go along) in the morning, but just three after dinner.  Speaking to fellow crabbers along the quay this was a common tale - we reckon the crabs must have been feeling absolutely stuffed after so much feeding, and just couldn't eat another thing....

These little chaps are always happy to be released back to nature, and man alive, you should see the speed that some of them scuttle off towards the sea!  Others quickly wiggle themselves into the mud to wait for time and tide to ensure their survival.

SPOT THE CRABS!

How many released crabs can you spot in this photo?  The answer is at the bottom of the page, but don't scroll down until you've tried to find them all.  No cheating!

Here's the meaty goodness that we used for bait, yum yum!

And the answer is - SIX!  Did you spot them all?

2012 Olympics Football - Mexico v Senegal

Saturday, 4 August, and Sam and Dad were up early and on board a train to that London.  We were heading for Wembley Stadium to watch a quarter-final in the men's Olympic football competition.  We had planned that the game would feature Team GB, but they only went and unexpectedly won their qualifying group, doh!  So we were treated to Mexico versus Senegal.

At King's Cross we found this enormous and impressive...."thing".  Thousands of revolving yellow and black balls, which, if aligned properly, played sounds.  We never did work out the secret to making the sounds, but it was certainly eye-catching.

Whether it's just in place for the Olympics we don't know, but if you get the chance, have a play with it before it disappears....

 On the tube we started to spot lots of very suspicious-looking "Mexicans".  Many looked as if they were wearing false 'taches, surely not?  And the range of bizarre sombreros was impressive.

We wish we'd thought of dressing like Mexicans....but Sam was again wearing his current favourite, his England goalie shirt - he never takes it off!

I'm always amazed that there are never any human avalanches at Wembley Park station, the staircases are steep and the crowds impatient.  But it works just fine.

The first view of Wembley and Wembley Way from the top of the steps is impressive, it's certainly a huge and beautiful stadium....

....but you get a better view if you cross the road and peer out from the the bridge - and it's less crowded.  Plus, you don't get loud-hailered by Underground staff!

Sam wanted to try some perspective photos, so we tried to snap him balancing The Shard on his finger.  You'll have to click on the pic to enlarge it....

....not sure we managed it really.  But it was fun trying.  You don't realise how for out from the middle of London that Wembley really is.  Must be eight or nine miles?

I was always impressed that Everton's Goodison Park contained escalators in one of the stands, it struck me as very modern and posh.....but at Wembley there are escalators in every part of the ground.  Two massive ones to get you into the top tier.

Security was touted as being incredibly tight for all Olympic events....but it wasn't really as bad as we were warned.  I was searched, Sam was very annoyed that he wasn't searched, and we had to hand over the lids of our water bottles....

There was a queue - and a security man watching - around the water fountain!

Sam has been to Wembley before, but four years ago and I think he'd pretty much forgotten what it was like.  Just before we walked up the last few steps to exit our vomitory he was almost shaking with excitement, which was fabulous to see.  Mind you, it really is a "wowzer!" moment when you first set eyes on the pitch and the interior of the stadium.  We had seats on the side of the ground where the national flags were hanging.

An enormous "Inspire a generation" banner did the rounds before kick off.

Eventually the teams emerged to deafening applause.  The crowd figure was 81, 855, and it was LOUD.  Sam really liked the Mexican waves (very appropriate).  We judged Mexico to have the best anthem, a jolly, bouncy number, while Senegal's was about as dull as the UK's.

The teams played a very entertaining match.  Mexico took a two goal lead, Senegal drew it back to 2-2, and then extra time loomed.

Sam was desperate for the extra time to end in stalemate, as he is really keen to see a live penalty shoot-out.  He didn't get his wish though as Mexico, aided by some eccentric Senegal goalkeeping, scored twice in the added time and won the match 4-2.

Overall the day was extremely exciting, the Olympic feeling was everywhere and felt almost euphoric, and Sam & Dad had another Most Excellent day out!

2012 Crabbing Pt 1 - Thornham

So it's off to Thornham for the first crabbing trip of the year.  Hot sunny weather, a pack of super-cheap bacon, and the crab-catching kit and we're set.

The weather meant that Thornham tide gate was full of people dangling their lines, so we had to make do with a new perch, the sloping part of the gate.  That's not ideal, and our bucket made a dash for freedom, ending up plonked on the oozing tidal mud where it was too difficult and/or dangerous to retrieve (see above).

Our new vantage point also proved to be less fruitful than our usual place and we only caught three or four crabs - we also think that they were maybe full up from a whole day's worth of bait and weren't interested in ours!  But we still had a whole lot of fun and will be heading off to Wells next week for a crabbing and pie day!


p.s. anyone know a decent crabbing spot near Great Yarmouth?  Sam wants to take his mum when they go there to stay later in the summer....

Sodden Summer

The water's rising at 2-Sox Towers!  But never fear, the rain is due to stop in three hours time, and the highest point is still one centimetre away from coming through the door.  Loving the drought this year....

Ironically, Sam was only asking last week what we'd do if we were flooded - he must have seen some proper, serious flooding on TV I expect.  The worst that's going to happen here, today, is that the carpet inside the back door is soaked (already happened actually).

Our flood defence consists of towels jammed under the bottom of the door.  Currently a Power Rangers towel is on duty, doing a grand job.  It's raining, man!

Scotty's Little Soldiers Fun Run

Last weekend was the first running of the Scotty's Fun Run, a superhero-themed, 635m run to raise funds for the Scotty's-Little-Soldiers charity.  Please click the link and send them some money!

Sam chose to run in his England goalie shirt, which is currently his pride and joy and is worn morning, noon and night.

His pre-race diet wasn't too healthy....

There was a lot to do before the run, with stalls and entertainment, and an impressive range of rather cool motorcycles.

I pegged it half-way around the course, climbed onto a decent vantage point, and waited in the sudden downpour for the runners to appear....I spotted Sam's shirt a mile off....

Sam thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon, and every finishing child received a great Scotty's goodie bag.  We'll be back next year!

How To Cause An International Incident Using Only A Frisbee Made Of Bread

A few weeks ago - quite a few weeks ago - we were larking around outside.  We'd fed the birds and left a couple of mouldy crusts intact for them.  For reasons unknown we started using one of the crusts as a "bread frisbee" - hilarious!


Until.  It.  Happened.


Sam took a throw but hooked it horribly.  The mouldy crust flew at a million miles an hour straight through the open door of our eastern European neighbours.  NOOOOO!  We were expecting an angry outpouring, but nothing happened.  Our neighbours must have been in the bathroom, or putting out the rubbish, or summat....next time we saw them we 'fessed up to our high spirits, and told them that "somewhere" in their flat was an aged slice of crusty bread.  They didn't bat an eyelid.

Now, many weeks later we spotted some broken pieces of very hard, very old bread crust scattered "almost" deliberately outside our own back door.  Seems that they found it in the end....