Isle of Thanet Yomp 2007: Last Post

Once again thanks to our sponsors - we raised just over £400 which is great and really unexpected. For anyone wishing to watch the film click the play button on the left part of the screen or click upon this link; http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=2899988892526974526&q=yomp

Parkes and I visited the David Copperfield Harvester restaurant on Sunday night. It was the first time I have been to a Harvester in decades and Parkes' first time ever. The food is pretty standard stuff but quite tasty and fairly reasonable. Both of us started with the salad bowl (which is free if you order a main course). I decided to pile my salad as high as possible. Although it looks as if a cat has vomitted over it the salad was actually delicious.

Mixed grill ready for take-off Captain. Grrrrrrrr.

Mixed grill gone. Hiccccc....

Parkes realises somebody has pinched her ice cream.

Parkes and I popped down to the Monty on Saturday night for a rapid couple prior to a Thai meal. We bumped into Chris and Damien for a chat and consumed lots of lovely Storm Warning. This picture is a little out of focus but that is normally how things look after five pints of the stuff.

Rampant Rabbits

A long time ago now I visited a craft fair in Essex. It was there I discovered that my earliest recorded ancestor was a French aristocrat named Roger Le Stringere. (He came to England in the mid-fourteenth century). I always knew I had a continental swagger.

Today I decided to Google "Roger Le Stringere" and I was disappointed to find that my search brought no results. However I have stumbled across an online genealogy forum dedicated to the Stringer family. http://genforum.genealogy.com/stringer/ . I have always thought that the Stringers were a rare breed but after looking at this website it appears we breed like rampant rabbits. There are Stringers all over the globe and a real hot-bed of Stringers in the southern states of the US. I have some crazy brothers and sisters;

1) There was a Thomas Stringer born in 1550 in Stockton, Shropshire, England

2) Clayton Stringer from Smith County, Mississippi born around 1861 and died around 1930

3) Jefferson Stringer (1811-1891) from Upshur County in Texas

4) Holdcraft Stringer from Chester County, Pennsylvania. He was killed in battle by American Indians in 1756

5) Gertrude Stringer born in the late nineteenth century in Greene County, Tennessee

6) Lamar Stringer again born in the late nineteenth century near Troy, Alabama.

7) William Tell Stringer and his family lived in Greenville, Texas in around 1900. His brother was Illie Stringer who also lived in Greenville.

8) Jesse James Stringer born Sussex England Oct 10th 1887

9) Leroy Stringer from Lowndes County, Alabama 1850

10) Bishop Isaac O. Stringer from Ontario, Canada 1866-1934. He is famously known as "The Bishop who ate his Boots". Why?

Baby Ahoy!

Parkes is hurtling towards her due date of the 23rd July. It is now week 31 and her bump is nicely rounded and getting bigger by the week. We are going to an 'active birth workshop' on Saturday 2nd June which hopefully will tell us about the things you wanted to know about birth but were too afraid to ask! Like how much of a kicking is Parkes going to give me during her labour?!

Yomptastic!

Steve, Keith and I completed the Yomp on Saturday in the respectable time on 10 hours and 25 minutes. It was a lovely day and coupled with the smashing scenary and good conversation made it a day to remember. Keith picked up a couple of horrendous blisters on the soles of his feet but still managed to motor on and complete the course. SAS Steve cruised along like an exocet.

Thanks go to our support team of Parkes, Tan, Mikey and Nancy who helped us along in the closing stages.

Thanks also go to all of the people who sponsored our efforts.

The event was filmed and I am currently trying to get it looking as good as possible before publishing it. It should be online later this week.

Isle of Thanet Yomp 2007: Yomp Eve

Well the waiting is all over. We are about to embark on a journey unrivaled in modern times. Thanks again to everyone who has sponsored us - you are very kind people. The weather forecast for Saturday is for sunshine and wind (especially after a couple of pints of grog tonight). Should anyone else fancy sponsoring us please click upon the link below.

http://www.justgiving.com/yomp07

Cow-Pow!!

Ask any farmer if they think that rain is coming and they will walk out to their cow field to see if the cows are sitting down. I challenge this meteorological theory as there maybe other reasons the cows are sitting down;

1) They might be protesting about something

2) Their udders may be overlaiden with delicious creamy milk

3) They might have seen a low-flying aircraft approaching

4) They may be playing a special cow-version of 'pass-the-parcel'

Isle of Thanet Yomp 2007: Midweek Extra

Firstly thanks to all of the smashing people who have sponsored us so far.

The weather forecast for Saturday (taken from the BBC website 13:00 GMT Wednesday) says Ramsgate will occasionally sunny with light showers. I'll take that - as long as it doesn't pee down all day I'll be happy.

Stevie K will be arriving at mine on Friday evening and we will have a couple of pre-Yomp beverages in The Monty before dinner then hitting the sack. However better not have too many ales as I don't really want to spend the whole of Saturday boffing.

Finally the Yomp will be filmed and (by popular demand) presented by Keith Silk. Keith's career in front of the camera has taken off since his very popular Planet Thanet Beer Festival film. It will be edit this Sunday and should hit your computers on Monday.

King Keith

...has got his own Blog!! Take a look at http://keiths-corner.blogspot.com/ or click upon the link in the left pane.

Isle of Thanet Yomp 2007: Update

Five days to go now. With the recent wet weather in mind I have been nervously checking the long range forecast hoping that it will stay dry but I guess that's what umbrellas were invented for. I have given some thought to what I should pack in my yompers bag - it is as follows;

Bottle of water
Hat
Change of footwear and socks
Plasters
Figgy rolls (you can't beat figgy rolls!)
Lube
Warm item of clothing
Mobile telephone

For anyone wanting to sponsor the Yomp (with all proceeds being very gratefully received by Cancer Research UK) please click upon this link;

http://www.justgiving.com/yomp07

Many thanks to those who have already sponsored us. We will not fail you!!

Last night in Ayamonte looking over the river to Portugal. A nice way to end the holiday.

Parkes Forsyth deals a mean hand. And she's rather good at Battleships too.

You are feeling very sleeeeeeepy.....

The pool in Spain was freezing but it didn't stop us swimming. Occasionally whilst swimming a Swallow would fly across the pool and grab an insect from the surface of the water. There's nothing like being at one with nature. We stayed at our mate Steve's villa and it is available for hire at very reasonable rates. If you are interested email SKempton@hccint.com

Cracking Chorizo Gromit!

Parkes and I spent a thoroughly quiet and relaxing week near Ayamonte in southern Spain. The sun shone every day and the heat reached 32°C. We ate too much and generally did very little. The flights from and to Kent International Airport were a success and we would look to use the airport again. Pictures will be posted to give you an insight into our holibobs.

Foxy Parkes zooming around the supermarket with a basketful of bog rolls. What a girl!

Strings meets his match in the streets of Ayamonte. Very tasteful yellow open-toed hooves.

The Plaza in Ayamonte. Like most Plazas it is a hive of activity at 7pm in the evening as children run around and adults talk dirty.

Strings walks on water. What a guy!

Parkes standing next to Ayamonte marina looking at the boats and lapping up the rays.

The check-in desks in Kent International Airport. We arrived in plenty of time and it still took us over an hour to get through to the metal detecting machine. Still we had nothing else to do so nay bother. Can you spot Parkes?

The beast waits purring on the tarmac as we board at Kent International Airport. This DC9 must be twenty plus years old but still did the business. The overall service was okay but any minuses were compensated by the airports convenient location to Ramsgate.

The Führer is back! King Keith breaking the rules with this classic haircut.

We spent a lovely evening with Steve and Tan last Saturday. A Thai meal, a game of Buzz and plenty of booze was consumed. So much so that I had forgotten I'd taken this picture. Foolish boy.

Strings and Parkes snogging in a restaurant. Whatever next?!

I sampled this on St George's Day. A nice pint with a bitter finish. More top grog from the Gaddster.

Antenatal Class 1

Parkes and I attended our first antenatal class in Ramsgate last night. It was rather dull but the Q&A session was very informative and allowed us to ask questions such as 'What is chollic?' and 'How do you change a nappy?'. Parkes was alarmed at my string of breast-related questions but I was merely trying to gain useful information.