IT Heaven

It appears our laptop is getting close to departing for IT heaven.  First one of the three USB ports failed and then another port became so loose that I had to use duct tape to secure the mouse wireless transmitter/receiver.  The last usb port is now only working intermittently.  Next it was the grinding fan and then the DC plug on the end of the power pack failed.  I replaced the plug some months ago but the actual power socket on the laptop is failing.  Finally the card reader has started to fail.  I need the latter to transfer the photos from the large camera.  The battery, hard drive, screen and keyboard are still working so the critical component is the power socket.  Without a working socket the battery can’t be recharged.  The new ultrabook has been ordered, but because I selected the cheapest internet supplier it is being sent from the far side of the world by a very slow mode of transport.  The laptop doesn’t appear to be old (5 years) but then I’ve started to notice two things.  The first is that modern appliances don’t appear to have much longevity. The second is how I don’t notice how quickly time passes.  We’ve now been in the UK 2½ years but it seems like we only arrived a few months ago!

Jan asked me if I’d like a hot chocolate for morning tea which I thought was rather nice.  I thought she was making me one, however she took me down to the marina cafe and bought one which had a whipped cream and marsh mallow topping! 

Back on Waiouru she beavered away in the galley before producing a rather large Victoria Sponge.

The cake has been cut in half horizontally and a thick layer of home made “Padworth Lane” plum jam spread on the lower half.  It’s delicious and I had two large slices as part of my lunch.  A third slice would have been even nicer but I couldn’t find room for it!  Jan has been naming all her home preserves using the location where the produce was sourced.  The jam came from some plum trees we stumbled upon in Padworth Lane, Aldermaston.