¡InvictaMoto!

Couldn't get onto iFollow to watch the game so had to follow on the Skysports App. Amazed to see we had scored and then a nerve wracking second half not wanting to look in case the " Class of 92s " toy had scored. But they didn't.

Today we decided to have the last day of my holiday and go to Sissinghurst Castle Garden with my Aunt Yvonne.  It meant we had to be up early and off from about 9.45am. The traffic wasn't too bad and we were there about 10.30am.  The drive to Sissinghurst was maybe another 40 minutes. As we had Reggie with us he wasn't allowed in the garden and so after a coffee and a cake they set off for the gardens and I set off to walk around the outside of the moat and down to the lakes walk.  Altogether its about a mile and half or so. I forgot to set the app on my phone so haven't got the actual distance. Who could live here? Delos Garden https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/sissinghurst-castle-garden/features/recreating-delos-at-sissinghurst- We walked around the lower lake and of course, met some other dogs. Reggie on his best behaviour.  By the time we got back to the restaurant and shop area Claire and Yvonne were in the shop. We decided to call it a day and on ...

I ordered this from AliExpress and it arrived in less than a week. Fits on to the foot of the stand in less than five minutes. Looks good and hopefully will do the job when parking on loose ground.

A second 2.5kg pack of Bonio dog biscuits dropped off locally. This time for Kent Greyhound Rescue. We went around to a house and left them in the porch as the lady was out at the kennel. https://www.kentgreyhoundrescue.com/ That's just over 5kgs given away. Reggie will have to eat the rest.

Not the intended or traditional Sunday, but a few of us went out for breakfast at the Blue & White Café. I took Vera instead of the Kettle. Not a bad ride up there and back across country. More miles in the clock!!!

I had charged the Bluetooth kit in the LS2 helmet and had made sure the TomTom would connect.  What I didn't check was that the TomTom hadn't been set to avoid motorways. So the estimated time of arrival at Sutton was 2.36pm. For a 73 mile trip and leaving at 12.25pm seemed odd. In the end I knew I had to get to the A217 junction in the M25 and go right. Which I did. I actually arrived at 1.35pm. I then bluffed my way into the parking. I wasn't on the list but they told me to park by the bike shed. Phew. Once the bike was locked up I had to walk around three sides of the ground to the "away" turnstiles. I picked up my ticket from the Oldham team by the gate and went in. I had booked a seat at £18 for a senior. Seating was the "sit anywhere" stylee. The tea bar was just inside the gate and I had a bacon roll and a coffee. Found my seat. What a terrible game. To be honest both sides were not very good. Unsurprisingly as Latics were bottom of 24...

What was supposedly a quick ride out to fill Vera's tank before the ride up to Sutton tomorrow seemed  to take forever  Once on the road I decided to pop into Robinson's and collect the spare keys that the previous owner had dropped off. That went okay. Then I went in search of the Go Outdoors shop. Except it wasn't where it was the last time we went there. Instead there was a branch of The Range. Mission aborted. On the way out of Canterbury I encountered a lad on an illegal e-scooter. On the corner is the local headquarters of Kent's finest men and women in Blue. One at Six Mile Garage I filled the tank. £7.35 at 1.319 for 95 Unleaded. I went into pay. The bloke in front wanted to pay some cash and some card.... By the time I got to the front the lad behind the counter wanted to charge me £40. No way José. It seems someone in front had paid my pump. In checking pump 8 still had my sale in it. I agreed to pay £7.35 and it's up to them to sort out what happened! I t...

It's the first time Arsenal have been in the second round of the League Cup since 1995. Back then it was two legs and Hartlepool were the opponents and it was an 8-0 win for Bruce Rioch's Arsenal. This time drawn away at perennial Premier League parachute club West Bromwich, currently in another spell in the Championship. Both sides made changes. WBA a more youthful look as their goal is promotion to the Premier League and the riches that brings, plus another chance at the £40m parachute when they drop down again! With no European Competition this year Arteta picked a strong side. Risking injury to the top players before the lunchtime trip to Champions Manchester City on Saturday was a risk. In the end the injury and Covid hit Arsenal came out 6-0 winners. A first start for new signings Ramsdale, Tavares and returning Ødegaard to make an impact. All played well. Some small dramas at the back but came through unscathed.

Bonio is a dog biscuit in the UK, they may sell them elsewhere!  They are bone shaped biscuits and I usually buy a small box and that will last Reggie a while. Imagine my delight when I saw an offer to buy a 2.5kg box.  Per Bonio a saving over the small boxes. So I ordered one. Imagine my surprise when I saw that the box was actually 12.5kg...... Without my reading glasses I hadn't noticed that all important 1! So to get rid of some of them I emailed a few local dog rescue homes to see if anyone wanted a load of free Bonios. Incredibly, only one has bothered to reply. I managed to squeeze just over 2.5kgs into a tub that formerly housed wild bird fat balls. Claire and I drove round to Last Chance Animal Rescue in nearby New Romney and delivered the tub. As they are still not open to drop-ins we were unable to visit the dogs they have on site. maybe next month, with another few bags of Bonio!!! We already know this group as the last couple of Pet Food Runs I organis...

Another game that there were few that thought Latics had a chance. But after a 0-0 score after 90mins it went to penalties. And just like the 1st Round against Tranmere Latics won.

Always a photo opportunity. Doesn't everyone love to share pix of their mutt? Pre-washing Been digging on the beach Hiding!!!

I haven't been to the bike night for quite a while and decided to give Vera a short run out this evening.  I was meeting a couple of the Meldrews there. In the end I tried to go the "long way round" via Lympne but it was still not that far from home. On the way back I extended the journey a little. An hour of chatting and then I was done. Home for dinner! I had the My Ride app running. .

Given the current start to the season, four defeats from four starts, I still wanted to get to this game. It will be the first time that Latics have played at the Sutton. It is Sutton's first year in the EFL. I have been there before in the 1970's when we used to follow Walton & Hersham, in the days of the Athenian and Isthmian Leagues. The ground at Gander Green Lane is not that far from where my Gran and Grandad used to live in Lower Morden. Tickets went on sale yesterday to season ticket holders and I emailed the club to ask about collecting a ticket on the day at Sutton. Thanks to Mike Beech at the club I booked a seat this morning. As a senior citizen it cost £18. I am expecting to make the trip on Vera. The weather forecast looks good. Okay no rain! Fingers crossed it won't be five from five losses.

I decided to go ahead with the installation and using the RAM-B-367U kit that arrived at the weekend.   This is the least obtrusive once everything is removed off the bike. Just the ball on the handlebar mounting. That was all very easy to do. From the angle it was taken it looks as though it obscures the clocks but from the seat it seems okay. Need to check it with the tank bag on as well. I wired up the plug to use the accessory output socket. The socket is protected by a 3-amp fuse.  The TomTom should draw way less than that. It worked perfectly well from the Rocket's output socket. Nada. Dead. Tried the car kit for the the 410 that powers from a car lighter plug. Still nothing. Added a post to the V-Strom Owners FB page.  Plenty of replies. In the end I checked the fuses and with my untrained eye and reading glasses it looked like the fuse was blown.  I have ordered a load more on eBay but they won't arrive until late...

How glad I am that I was out and too late to have connected to the internet and signed away ten good pounds on iFollow. I did follow the game on my phone on the Sky Sports App and even the written commentary didn't make me feel any different. Colchester avoided relegation to the National League by the skin of their teeth last season end. In the first three games they had managed two draws and one loss.  So coming to Oldham should have proved a tight game and another loss. Instead they were 2-0 up after thirteen minutes. By all accounts Latics were poor. Not that we could expect much from a side that has one win all season in the Carabao Cup (on penalties) and three league defeats. It's not even the end of August and already things are looking like the drop is on the cards. Latics the only club in League Two with no points at all from four games.  That zero points.  None. Not one. Next week Latics are away at newcomers and first ever members of the Football League, Sutton ...

Undecided where to put the TomTom, I ordered this kit as it fits to one of the handlebar mounting bolts.   Whether to install on the right or to the left is yet to be decided.  It arrived whilst I was away and I have just had a look. On the FB forums there do seem to be some gripes about whether some of the mounts are genuine RAM and RAM quality.  The packaging and the enclosed leaflet look genuine and the ball does have RAM embossed into it.

Homeward bound I wish I was Homeward bound Home where my thought's escapin' Home where my music's playin' Home where my love lies waitin' Silently for me (Thanks to Simon & Garfunkel) We had to be out of the cottage at 9am, and after a restless night we were up and the car packed with  5 minutes to spare. The plan was to go to Monks Eleigh to visit Claire's cousins before  heading to the A12. Ready for the Off! Whilst  in Monks  Eleigh I took Reggie  for a turn around the churchyard.  I saw a sign to say that there were some Commonwealth War Graves in there, St Peters Church.  There were two well tended graves with  the traditional white Portland Stone headstones. Reggie had a snuffle around the long grass and hedges .  We had tea and biscuits and then all too soon we had to leave. Expecting traffic to be awful we left before 1pm. An aborted stop at the overflowing car park opposite Colchester United's football ground later, we eventuall...

Today's target was Felbrigg Estate. It's a little way off the A140 towards Cromer. We set off late as contrary to the forecast it had rained and was drizzling. Car loaded and we were off. Despite Nissan Connect showing a looping route via Dereham we actually went almost the same way as yesterday. The newish A1237 was again coned down to one lane and a ludicrous 10mph limit showing. Not much evidence of any work though. Quelle surprise! Once we arrived it was a case of waterproofs on and a walk to check out the walks. We decided on the blue waymarked "Church & Lake" walk. At 1.7 miles far enough in drizzle. We had a coffee and Claire took a walk to the Walled Garden. Reggie not allowed so we hung about outside. The rain stopped. Waterproof off. Rain started. Waterproof on. Claire took a few photos in there. We got part way into the blue walk when we found the field we were crossing was full of sheep. Reggie isn't the sort of dog ...

Drizzling earlier on and we had to decide where to go. We decided on a tour of the Broads. Satnav set firstly for Wroxham. There are supposed to be walks from around the bridge over the River Bure. Problem one was finding somewhere to park. Hardly any parking signposted. The town was rammed with tourists. In the end we found a free parking space at the end of Church Road. A relatively short walk to the centre. As we had no idea where to go, we ended up wandering around the boatyard where the rental boats go from, before finding our way to the bridge.  A coffee and scone later at the Wherryman's Café before we gave up on the hunt for the elusive walks. We decided to try Horning. Again nowhere to park and so we opted for Potter Heigham. Somewhere to park and have a walk, and Reggie to get out. Potter Heigham has a massive car park essentially belonging to Latham's shop for their customers. Or so the signs inform everyone. We were customers as we wanted to get some gifts to take b...