Stormy weather - you can bank on it

High winds are bending the trees and rain is coming down like stair rods. Yes, it's bank holiday Monday. Not a problem for me. I'm tucked up in my office, working on my FT column (or would be had I not strayed on to the blog).

We rarely go away during bank holidays, preferring instead to take time out when the roads are less likely to be clogged with traffic and the high streets packed with people. It was a weekend for gardening, a short trip to the river and an evening in London for George's 16th birthday treat - a visit to the IMAX cinema to see the dire Speed Racer. Well, George enjoyed it.

The cinema trip and a restaurant meal for five left a big hole in my wallet. I can't afford to have a family anymore.

So it was back to the garden which was looking in excellent fettle before the stormy weather. In fact it was looking so good and the weather seemed so perfect for fishing that I ducked out of the gardening for a little while to visit the River Wey.

There were a few Mayflies around settling undisturbed on the river surface but nothing eating them. Not a rise anywhere. I had probably arrived too early but didn't bother to hang around. I had just too many gardening jobs.

We made a short trip to Wisley, only to find that they had pulled down the old glasshouse to make way for a maize maze. I really don't like the way that RHS Wisley is heading. It's a plant collection, not a theme park.

The old glasshouse would have usefully taken some of the visitor pressure from the new one. I preferred its scale and much preferred the way it showed its orchids. The shop has become a little overbearing too although the plant centre retains an impressive choice of healthy specimens that are probably worth paying slightly over the odds.

So yes, we ventured out just a little way on the bank holiday, but only for short journeys. Now it's back to work and I don't mind one bit.

A love of films

One thing shared with all of my family is a love of good films. Even my wife's parents, now in their 80s, still like to get along to the cinema, sitting among the pop-corn eating hoards, eyes glued to the screen, feet glued to the carpet. Our eldest son, John, is seeking to establish a career in films and for most of the past year has been studying for an MSc in management and the film industry at CASS Business School.

In the meantime he still gets along to the cinema and has just started a new blog on the cinema industry that will include news, views and reviews with this note on 300, seen at the IMAX. The lad's got talent. But don't take my word for it. Take a look. I'm told this is a stylish but very gory film. So why is it rated 15? What does it take to push the "gruesometer" past 18?