September 2023 - Part One - HMS Victory & my first attempt at Onigiri!

 September brought warm autumn vibes, and with it a return to more peaceful days out as the children were all back at school. Thank god, I'm so glad I don't have kids, and I won't ever have them! I love the kids of my family & friends, but I value peace & quiet too! But something that I did love as a kid, that I think all kids should visit, is HMS Victory.

She is situated at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, and we went there many a time when we were kids, and always thought it was fascinating. And I thought as I'm not working, why not return for a look around? I went with my friends Phil & Dan, and we had an excellent time there. The ship is currently undergoing a major conservation effort, which is likely to continue until 2032. This meant that when I arrived, much the deck was covered over a frame and the planks were being restored or replaced.

Nothing like having personalised buckets for the king!

HMS Victory is most well known for her role in the Battle of Trafalgar, one of Britain's greatest military victories over Napoleon's navy, although the battle cost almost 5,000 lives (most of them French & Spanish) as well as the famous Lord Horatio Nelson.

But Victory's history started before then, when she was launched in 1765. She was constructed mostly of oak, and first saw action in the Battle of Ushant, part of the American War of Independence, against the French, who the Victory was clash with multiple times in her long career.

Here you can see some of the supplies in the doctor's room. Some of which may have caused you more harm than good! The ship has been faithfully restored throughout, all in keeping with her heyday at Trafalgar as the flagship. 

I don't think I could have been in the Royal Navy. For a start I kept banging my head on everything, an I am far too tall and ungainly to be getting into a hammock each night! Plus the ships rations wouldn't be enough for me, I need my midnight ramen!  

The floors only get smaller the deeper inside the ship you go! Here there's very little space, You've got to weave about through the cannons. It's a proverbial minefield, I was frightened I would stub a toe on a cannon!

Right in the hull of the ship, there's even less space to move around in, as well as having very little light. Here would have been where they stored provisions, ballast and other items for the long sea voyages. You can also see inside the magazine, which is fully lined with copper to prevent sparks blowing up the the gunpowder, and the ship as well!

What I think I love most about the Victory is just how much of it is original. Even most of the hull is original, save for a patch on one side that was hit by a German bomb in the Second World War. Incredibly she is still the flagship of the Royal Navy, and one of the world's oldest flagships. Since 1921 she has been berthed in #2 dry dock (which coincidentally is now the world's oldest dry dock still in use). A metal frame was created to support the ship, and a massive conservation project was set in motion. For years she had suffered from rot & beetles, as well as millions of visitors, all of which have taken their toll on her. But this new period of restoration hopes to fully restore her and ensure she is with us for generations to come.

If you'd like to know more about her, or plan a visit, check out the website here historicdockyard.co.uk. Tickets start at £51 for a year pass, in which you can visit HMS Victory and all the other exhibits at the dockyard as many times as you like. It's well worth investing in if you're local or plan to come back!

September also means preparing for Halloween, my favourite time of the year. Every year I decorate the conservatory & hallway, and we have everyone over for dinner. Halloween has this fun, no pressure vibe to it, unlike christmas which is just a stressful time and you're so knackered by the end of it that it's no longer enjoyable. I saw this vampire duck in TKMaxx, the urge to purchase was unreal, until James put it back and quicky shepherded me out the shop! 

I was also on my mission to cook new things, here was my first attempt at cooking Onigiri. I love having them whenever we go out for dinner, and they were semi easy to make. I brought these little plastic moulds off amazon, and while they were a bit overcooked, they tasted really quite nice. Next time I will just have to remember to put the filling in before I cook them!

I also went round a friends house to check in on their parrot while they were on holiday. I topped up the food & water, had a chat & shared a bag of peanuts between us. I've gotten quite good at de-shelling them now!

And we had a famous visitor to Southampton, this is Big Sara, a 110 foot Allosaurus, estimated to be 150 million years old! She is currently housed in West Quay Shopping Centre opposite Five Guys, which I thought was a bit cruel. Hopefully they will throw her a cheeseburger now and again so she doesn't snack on the shoppers!

My brother Connor and I were out for a drink one night at our local Brewdog pub. I really like it there, you've got a small but tasty selection of food, a good choice of drinks (I don't drink beer, but Connor tells me it's a good choice, I'm a wine & cider person) and it's got a really nice vibe there. Not too busy, not too loud, and you can either sit and talk or play some of the games they've got there. We couldn't resist a little cards against humanity.  I immediately sent it to my Welsh friend Mel, you can imagine what her response was! 

Getting ready for Halloween, the treat jars are filling up!