Celebrations!

Really looking forward to my birthday tomorrow - quite a lot of candles to blow out on the cake - 48 in fact! I am very excited though - and intrigued as to exactly what Mr has got locked in the outside loo. A huge sign saying 'keep out' has been on there all week. Mmmmmm - I will let you know! Really looking forward to seeing Min and India and Min's partner Zac for lunch on Sunday. India is going to love the family of ducks that visit for breakfast every morning and at dinnertime by waddling up to the back door. We have named them 'The Hooligans'!
Have a great weekend!
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Hardy Walk

We are going tomorrow to Dorchester to find out more about the great man who is Thomas Hardy - if like me your knowledge is limited to school learning it wilbe a great opportunity to see what influenced him and where he lived. It's part of the BBC Poetry Season, and also this week I interviewed Wendy Cope, who is a local poet and spent a lovely morning in her garden talking about what influences her and her writing.
Although the ducks are loving the rain, I am beginning to feel that I should invest in a Paddington type sowester and be done with it. There is the promise of fair weather tomorrow so I am keeping my fingers crossed. Mr M is regretting telling his Australian mates that 'we are having the best summer ever' as the rain lashes against the window!
I am hoping that the sun appears next weekend for my birthday and I am really looking forward to my daughter and grand daughter coming to have lunch - hopefully in the garden!
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What a weekend on the bus!

Great to see so many listeners on the Big Red Bus Tour over the weekend at the Mela! Thank you so much for coming to say hello, it meant a lot to me. I love now being able to put a face to a caller's name when you call or text! The Mela was great and we got a chance to listen to some incredible music and the smell of the gorgeous different foods was wafting our way and tempting me all afternoon.
Steven Mulhern dropped into the studio this afternoon to tell me all about his exciting panto role at the Mayflower Theatre this Christmas! he is Chief Elf and will I am sure be fabulous in it. I got terrible giggles and so did he when he was trying desperately to do a magic trick with me on air. I just couldn't think of a country beginning with D! In the end I went for Dalmation - I mean to say where on earth did THAT come from????!!! Needless to say I had to play a track very quickly whilst we composed ourselves! he was great fun and I am looking forward to having him on the show again later in the year when he starts rehearsals.
Mr M did do the lawnmowing over the weekend by the way, and did an excellent job with the new strimmer I got him! Although he has been driven nuts by the wire coming out all the time - any tips from you out there how to stop that happening?
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It's festival time!

Come and join us on the Big Red Bus Tour at Southampton Mela tomorrow at Hoglands Park in Southampton and join us on the bus - I am really looking forward to meeting listeners and will be there from 1.00. I understand there may the opportunity to try my hand at some Bollywood Dancing and Belly Dancing and a couple of samosas I am sure will find their way to me! If you haven't experienced a Mela before you should come and have a look.
I am very excited that I have exchanged contracts on the sale of my house in Sussex, particularly as the purchasers' first baby is due in a couple of weeks. I was worried that she would be carting boxes around whilst her husband was boiling kettles and getting towels (does anybody know why they always say that in films???!)
Pete from Christchurch made me laugh out loud when he told us of the the free day of activites at Two Riversmeet Leisure Centre in Christchurch on Sunday, and when I asked which two rivers he didn't know - I know he will have his leg pulled on that one over the weekend! I am sure if you know, you will leave me a note on this page!
I have promised Mr M that Sunday we will do nothing more energetic than watch the Romsey Carnival float by, although the grass does need cutting darling.......!
Have a great weekend
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I promise not to make him pack any more boxes!

At the weekend we collected the rest of my worldly goods from my house in Sussex as hopefully the buyers are exchanging next week. Now I have everything in one place it seems we may have to move just to accommodate my stuff! Of course we don't want to, so another mass clearout is called for. I started on my books - I love books as you know - and I find it so hard to get rid of them, but the thought that a charity will benefit from them spurred me on. However I simply cannot bear to get rid of my Magpie Annual 1973 or the Judy, Mandy or Blue Peter annuals from the same time even though a couple of them have what suspiciously looks like mouse teeth marks on them! As for the Ladybird book called The Postman (aged 6 that was what I told people I wanted to be apparently!), it has to stay and will I just have to find space. I also found my old school blouse (Brutus round collared) which everyone signed on the last day of school - was I really only that size?!
I promised Mr M that we won't move, or have to move anyone else for some time although he says he is getting quite proficient at driving white vans now. He has been so good helping me out and it was only when we collected last weekend's hire van with not a whiff of diesel in it and then found problems finding a petrol statin that he did show a little bit of stress (unlike me who at this time was definitely ranting!). Happy Days!
Join us on BBC Radio Solent 96.1/103.8FM weekdays 1-4pm or on the BBC iPlayer anytime at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p001d7rv

Rain rain and more rain

The papers are saying that we had more rain in three hours than we had had for 100 years yesterday and I know that as were driving in it last night! It's really quite scary when your windscreen wipers are going as fast as they can and you still can't see. I am now waiting for the news that we are in the middle of a drought. I need to check my rain gauge I have put in the garden to see how much fell in Romsey.
Interesting opinions on today's show about the Michael Jackson memorial and whether you felt it was appropriate for Paris to speak in front of the world's media. Many of you shared stories of how you wished you had had that chance at your parent's funeral and those of you who had felt it had been one of your most important memories. Mosaic who helps bereaved children said the most important thing is to include any children in any decision making regarding the funeral and then they ultimately have the choice.
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Feeling hot hot hot!

The heatwave continues whilst Mr M keeps saying things like'you think THIS is hot'! Australia went up to 47C earlier last year and people were fainting all around! I love the fact that this year the UK is looking like being one of the top holiday spots and we are looking to inject some much needed income into the country via hotels, b and b's and guest houses. Let me know some of the little know gems in the BBC Radio Solent area.
I loved talking about feminism today with Ellie and how things have changed over the years since the burning of bras in the 70's. I am so glad that I can call myself a feminist without having to do that!!!!


Join us on BBC Radio Solent 96.1/103.8FM weekdays 1-4pm or on the BBC iPlayer anytime at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p001d7rv