I just searched for H&B on google and it gave me this result which appears to have the results in three groups, firstly results for H&B, then for B&H and then at the bottom some others. Is this new?

Once we take off, we'll be heading in a North Easterly direction .. No .. a North Westerly direction - I just got distracted by a plane taking off as you do.

We're now over France and should be coming in in about ... erm ... let me see ...

Both of which we heard on our way back from Kefalonia

We left Shepton Mallett early in the morning as we had to get up to Heathrow 2 hours before our flight at 10. We had quite a good drive up and there wasn't too much traffic. We dropped the car off at the airport parking and were taken by minibus to the airport. Check in was amazingly quick and easy with the e-tickets and we could do it all ourselves on the machine (apart from it failed to print the baggage label for some reason - but it was still quicker than queuing). As we were waiting we heard some other people talking about a Wedding, but didn't realise until we got to Stavanger just how many there were on the same flight going to the same wedding!

We checked into the hotel, which was a really nice balance between modern and traditional. It even had it's own bakery and coffee bean roaster. We had a fresh orange juice at the bar and were suddenly hit by how expensive things in Norway are as it cost us about £8 for the two drinks. We then went for a look round the town to see what food we could find for lunch and to see where the church was. Sandnes itself seemed very laid back and pleasant and it was easy to find the church, although for finding food we initially went the wrong way for find supermarkets but eventually we came across the shopping centre and supermarket.

This year we went to New Wine for the first time as we were invited to go and help man the SAMS stand in the marketplace there. We went up to Bath and West on the Friday before things started in order to get the tent up and meet up with Richard. It was surprising how many people there were there already especially as it was only exhibitors and people working there at that point.

We had a good week there despite the weather (lots of rain and towards the end of the week high winds, not the best when you're camping but we survived). My particular favourites were the morning series on Ezekiel (which have prompted me to read through the book fully) and the evening talks in 'Venue 2' by Matt Redman and David & Carrie Grant.

I also enjoyed the manning of the stand much more than I had anticipated, as it was interesting speaking to the different people who came to the stand and watching our neighbours stand grow as they added more balloons to it throughout the week. Although unfortunatley we missed their balloon stomp on the Friday as we had to leave for Norway.

Firstly we started to look at possible property to buy just to see what we could get and where - mainly on rightmove, but we also arranged a viewing. After the viewing, we both liked the house so decided we should start looking at things more seriously.

Then we spoke to a few of estate agents and a mortgage advisor - to see what the possibilities for the flat were. We looked at both selling the flat and letting it out again, but in the end we decided that we couldn't really afford to keep the flat to let out and buy a new house. Both of the estate agents we spoke to about selling the flat valued it at the same amount, but one of them charged more commision than the other (also conveniently the one that charged the lower commision seemed more trustworhty). So finally we decided to put the flat on the market with Cubitt and West. (If you're interested it's on rightmove)

In the mean time while we were looking at the options, the first house we'd seen was sold, so we continued to look around and see what else we could find. In all We've probably looked at about 10 different houses in various places around Eastleigh, Chandlers Ford and Southampton. With the first house, I had also contacted our existing mortgage lender to see what we could do for a mortgage with them, and they'd agreed to lend the amount we needed and sent me an application form - so we were in a good place as far as the finance was concerned too.

Last week the house we'd originally looked at came back on the market, but at the same time the tenants moved out of another house in the same road, which I'd tried to go and see before, but the estate agent hadn't managed to get in as the tenants were out. This time we got in no problem and the house was really nice. It was a very similar house to the first one, but in much better condition throughout. So we decided to go back together at the weekend to have another look. On Saturday, we went up there together and both really liked the house, so decided that we'd put an offer in on Monday. So over the weekend we got the mortgage application sent off, so that everything will be in place ready.

Yesterday we put in our first offer which was declined, but then tried with an in between price which was accepted, and the owner has agreed to take the house off the market for a couple of weeks to give us a chance to sell our flat!

Last week, the Solent became the destination for many boats from around the world for the International Fleet Review and the International Festival of the Sea (there was even one from Uruguay there!). This was part of the SeaBritain 2005 celebrations and particularly to celebrate 200 years since the battle of Trafalgar. It was expected that on Tuesday the city would be in deadlock with people travelling to the fleet review - so all the schools were closed and I decided to work from home to avoid the raffic. Also, Laura's mum and brother came down to watch and they all went down to the beach to watch from first thing in the morning - I managed to join them briefly at lunchtime and then again for the evenings events once I'd finished work.

As soon as I got there after work, however, it poured down with rain but fortunatley I was prepared with raincoats as Laura had warned me when they saw the clouds heading towards them. The rain didn't last too long however - it slowed down just as we were considering heading back home - so we stayed down there and were able to watch the Red Arrows before getting something to eat. Once we'd got our food - it rained again, but thankfully we were able to shelter in the programme sellers marquee. Once the rain stopped, we then headed back to the seafront to watch the helicopter display team, which was quite different as I'd never seen helicopters go upside down before! After the helicopters, the evening re-enactment started - quite slowly at first, but it was great to watch the tall ships sailing past as the sun was going down. After the first half of the re-enactment, there was a break to let the ferrys through, and we decided to move to see if we could find anywhere we could sit down and watch the rest, as our legs were getting tired. Everywhere was packed however, so we ended up watching the second half on the big screens instead - which probably meant we got more of a close up anyway!

Had a really nice relaxing weekend last weekend camping over on the Isle of Wight. It was nice weather most of the time, but we had a lot of rain on the Friday afternoon, which was unfortunatly when we were at the far point of our walk (down to Alum Bay). We stayed at Stoats Farm Campsite in Totland, which was really convenient for walking, but a bit too far from the bus stop when it's raining! We managed to do both of the geocaches that we'd planned to do (Vectis W and The Lord Palmerston) which was brilliant. The walks were really nice and the views were incredible - particularly from up on top of the Tennyson Downs. It was good to be able to check out our camping gear ready for the Summer, but unfortunatly our camping stove couldn't cope with the wind. Although it did have a good side too - in that we went to the pub nextdoor to the campsite -

The Highdown Inn - where the food was excellent.

5 out of 5 stars - Ricky Moorhouse June 4, 2005

The Highdown Inn is a nice friendly inn on the edge of Tennyson Down. They have a nice selection on the standard menu, and a few blackboards of specials which included the Haloumi which I had. I was a little reluctant to go for the Haloumi, as I was concerned it might be bland or small - far from it! The portions were a good size and it was very tasty!!

Visit date: June 2005

Food eaten: Haloumi with Tomato and Onion, followed by Raspberry and White Chocolate Cheesecake

Here are some of the pictures:

It was my birthday back on 5th May, I know this is a bit late – but I’ve been quite busy but still wanted to blog about my birthday! I had a great day - thanks to my lovely wife Laura. First of all she got me breakfast in bed – Egg Muffin :D then I opened my presents (well apart from the ones from my parents which I’d opened the night before). I think my favourite present has to be my smoothie maker that Laura bought me, which was totally unexpected- but has provided no end of tasty drinks!

After this we got up and went to vote, then came back for smoothies and birthday cake before heading off geocaching to Old Winchester Hill, which is a really nice country park with great views all round. We could even just about make out the Isle of Wight in the distance. After a nice walk and picnic we found the cache and then headed back to meet up with my parents at Queen Elizabeth Country Park, where we had another walk. Then in the evening we went for dinner:

The Red Lion, Chalton - birthday dinner.

4 out of 5 stars - Ricky Moorhouse

May 5, 2005

The Red Lion is a really old country pub with a conservatory restaurant on the back. They have a blackboard of specials, from which I had the swordfish cooked in Thai spices and coconut milk which was quite different and tasty. We got there just before the restaurant opened and by the time we'd worked out what we were having, the restaurant area was almost full!

Visit date: May 2005

Food eaten: Swordfish with Thai Spices

*[May 5, 2005]: 20050505T1900+0100

Today we had an interesting experience with Google's SafeSearch, in that when you searched Google for "church southsea" you got a quite different set of results with SafeSearch on and SafeSearch off, notably for us - that our church website was 2nd on the list with SafeSearch switched off, however didn't appear until the second page with SafeSearch turned on. It would be interesting to know how SafeSearch works, as from looking at the results it seemed like it was using quite a different index.

I contacted Google using their contact form, and it seems like they've made a change, as now the website has moved back into the first page of results.

Other posts mentioning safesearch

Over the past few months I've been involved in the process of finding a new minister for my church, [St. Luke's Church] - which has involved going to meetings with lots of different people from within the diocese. It's been quite an interesting process (and at times frustrating) and I'll probably write a bit more about some of my experiences along the way later. Throughout the past year and a quarter that we've been without a minister God has been providing for St Luke's in lots of different ways and has been preparing us to receive a new minister. In the past month particularly it has been really amazing to see how God has been working to lead us to the point we're at now. On Wednesday, the PCC unanimously approved the Archdeacon's proposal to appoint Andy Bridgen as our new minister, and on Sunday I had the priviledge to introduce him to the congregation.

It's been really great to have a part in this and it's really exciting to look forward to what God is going to do through Andy's ministry at St Luke's!

Read more at the St Luke's website