Sunday's post finished a little abruptly - even a beef casserole can be overdone. A couple of glassed of cheap but nice French white wine went into the pot; it was worth the 'sacrifice'. We had baked parsnip with the casserole mainly because we both really like parsnips done this way but as the main dish was not too liquid they went quite well together.

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What I forgot to say about scouts on the North West frontier was that their work consisted of repeated brief expeditions, sometimes just to scout and sometimes to restore order by force of arms. These expedtions were conducted on foot at great speed with the officers (from the Indian Army) running with the men and no uniforms; everyone in local costume.

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Today, I had intended to crown my switch to Halifax online sharedealing by buying some shares but I came unstuck when I unwisely attempted to use the back button after printing off the terms and conditions. The Halifax website chucked me right back to the logging in stage but I wasn't clear if I was supposed to be using my temporary login or the new one that I had just made up. In the end it locked me out because I'd entered it wrongly three times in a row. Now I've to wait for a new temporary password to arrive in the post.

So I still haven't been able to follow through on my investment plans. I felt a little stupid but it really hadn't been very clear.

I've also left a message for the person I did my last batch of contract work to ask if she could chase up my payments, one of which I invoiced them for 10 weeks ago.

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Today I've been for another walk. This time to Northchapel. Not quite so scenic this time but there was one fine view southwards on the last stretch with the village in the foreground and the South Downs in the distance.

On my way there was one superb lake, called 'The Lake'. The Lake is artificial but it looked as if it had been there a long time. I think there was a mill below it at one time. Close by a saw half a dozen birds of prey hovering in the sky. I thought they might be sparrow hawks but having checked in the bird book this evening sparrow hawks don't seem large enough. So maybe they were hen harriers. According to the bird book these become communal in the winter which is when they can be seen in the south of England.

In addition to the hen harriers I saw one really interesting building. The map called a/the Deer Tower and I expected it to be a place that the sportsmen of hundreds of years ago could use to shoot deer from. This may have been it's orginal purpose but at some point in the last 200 years it has been turned into a very des residence. It had a stucco keep with four little turrets (with Georgian windows). It looked as if it belonged or once belonged to Shillinglee Hall which could be seen at the top of the next rise but Shillinglee Hall but from a distance this house looks like a pastiche of a regency mansion and I'd guess it was only built shortly before World War II.

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I wrote to Charles Kennedy a few days ago to say that I hope he becomes leader of the Liberal Democrats at some point in the future. He didn't reply but he seems at pains at present to make it clear that he's happy to be a loyal supporter of Sir Menzies Campbell at the moment.

Right now I'm thinking about contacting my own MP about the situation in Darfur.

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And finally, I've been glossing the front door. Now there's only fiddly painting to be done.