January 28th, 2016
Last Saturday was the most gorgeous winter day so far this year so obviously I wasn’t going to spend it indoors. Instead I embarked on an epic quest to reach the far away city of Dunstable in the county of Bedfordshire. One of my most exotic destinations yet!
![morning_scale](https://www.doof.me.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/morning_scale-450x300.jpeg)
This was early morning leaving Chesham on the start of my adventure. From there I walked slightly in the wrong direction before joining up with the Ridgeway and doing the last little bit of that, so I can at last say I’ve walked the whole thing.
![beacon_scale](https://www.doof.me.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/beacon_scale-450x300.jpeg)
Ivinghoe Beacon in the mid afternoon was wonderful, if a little cold. North of here it’s all flat until… er… the Peak District perhaps? My geography gets a bit hazy around the middle of England. Although this could be a good excuse for further exploring.
I wanted to snoop around the edge of Whipsnade zoo and see some animals but as it was getting a bit late I decided to take a “short cut” down the side of busy road and managed to tear my down jacket while dodging some cars. Oops. Not my best idea. And by the time I got to Dunstable downs it was dark anyway.
Dunstable itself didn’t seem particularly interesting and I made a beeline for the bus station. The bus travelled along an exciting new innovation… the BUSWAY! To where does the busway lead? Luton. Which, I think, deserves its own adventure on another day.
January 21st, 2016
This is the most succinct summary of every Youtube discussion ever:
![youtube](https://www.doof.me.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/youtube-450x156.png)
January 17th, 2016
I booted up one of my old PCs over Christmas and found some photos taken on my old Sony Ericsson camera phone. They were all from around 2005 or 2006 when I was living in Winchester. Phone camera technology has moved on a lot in the last ten years: this one had VGA resolution and seemingly no EXIF (although I may have accidentally clobbered that later).
This is the legendary Horse Monument from the first time I visited it with Pete. (I went back there more recently.)
![Horse Monument](https://www.doof.me.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Horse-Monument-450x338.jpg)
Some of the photos have an unintended Instagram-esque quality due to the lameness of the phone. Like this one from when I was walking home along the river Itchen on a misty morning.
![Picture(6)](https://www.doof.me.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Picture6-450x338.jpg)
This is St Cross Hospital on the edge of Winchester.
![Picture(13)](https://www.doof.me.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Picture13-450x338.jpg)
And this one is a seagull on Eastbourne pier.
![Picture(9)](https://www.doof.me.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Picture9-450x338.jpg)
Finally, this one I rather like but I’m not sure where it was taken. It’s possibly Portsmouth or near Portchester castle.
![Picture(27)](https://www.doof.me.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Picture27-226x300.jpg)
January 10th, 2016
The first time I was in Hong Kong I bought some “flowering tea” which I just re-found in my tea cupboard. Here it is in its packet. You get two in a tin.
![IMG_20160110_163107.jpg_scale](https://www.doof.me.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/IMG_20160110_163107.jpg_scale-243x300.jpg)
The first time I made it in my friend’s glass teapot which works rather better than a mug, but I only have china pots so this will have to do.
![IMG_20160110_163254](https://www.doof.me.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/IMG_20160110_163254-300x273.jpg)
Here it is hidden inside its little tea-pod. Apply boiling water and something magical happens!
![IMG_20160110_163331](https://www.doof.me.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/IMG_20160110_163331-300x280.jpg)
Bubble bubble bubble. The flower is about to burst out!
![IMG_20160110_163345](https://www.doof.me.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/IMG_20160110_163345-225x300.jpg)
Tada! Wow! The flower is reborn.
![IMG_20160110_163539.jpg_scale](https://www.doof.me.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/IMG_20160110_163539.jpg_scale-276x300.jpg)
They’re made by wrapping tea leaves around a picked flower and letting the whole thing dry out. No idea why anyone thought to do this originally.