Autumn glow

It was a grey day today, so boring when it is grey like this. I went on a long walk with Xena, we walked from one woods to another as I wanted to see the beech trees in the other woods to check their autumn leaves, but they are not at peaking yet. This was taken at Esher Common and I liked the colours that are starting to show there.

I made a roasted cauliflower soup for lunch, and then proceeded to clean the oven - I used the pyrolytic cleaning feature to get it sparkling clean again! I had a few chores to do today, I also managed to book my group golf lessons into next year as they have become so popular, it's getting harder to get my usual time slot.

I always like to research something about a country we visit, and of course in recent times (20th century) Vietnam and Cambodia have had a cruel and fascinating history. I never learnt any of it when I was at school, I suppose it was all too recent as the regime of the Khmer Rouge and the atrocities of the Killing Fields happened when I was still at school and it would not have got into the history books yet. We also had  controlled media under the apartheid regime when I was schooled in South Africa so all of this somehow passed me by. Now I have been trying to learn more about it, I have read a few books and am currently watching a movie written and directed by Angelina Jolie called First They Killed My Father which is a more authentic version of the Khmer Rouge during 1975-79 without the gloss of Hollywood - I was going to read the book but then saw the movie was on Netflix. It's worth watching if you are interested in that history. Then I should watch The Killing Fields, trying to work myself up to that, and rewatch Good Morning Vietnam. America really does not come out well in any of this period of history.