The bubble machine

The weather was forecast to be heavy rain from about eleven o'clock onwards. I planned my day accordingly, and whizzed around the last area of unmown lawn, before the heavens opened. It was a ten minute job, and I soon had the mower tucked away in the shed.

I then cracked on with the job I had been looking forward to ... assembling the new water feature in the ornamental greenhouse.

Conscious that my back has been giving warning twinges recently, I was very careful in the manoeuvring of the heavy stone trough. I soon had it sited in the greenhouse and the pump and grill installed.

Our morning was then interrupted by a visit from 30%'s brother and sister. They had come to collect a bicycle that was going spare, and an hour was spent catching up on each others' news.

By mid morning they had gone and I returned to the little water feature. I soon had it up and running, but a mildly frustrating aspect was that I had to remove the stones a couple of times to adjust the flow rate of the pump.

After a few attempts, I had it running to my satisfaction and I am rather pleased with the sight and sound of the little bubbling fountain.

I know the glass is filthy!

That was the point at which I made a beginner's mistake.  The inside of the trough had a slight film of algae and I decided that a glug of bleach would soon clean that up and keep the water sparkling. I added a little bleach and wandered off leaving the pump running.

About ten minutes later I went back to check on my latest creation and learnt that even an incredibly dilute solution of bleach will foam very easily when agitated ... The top of the water feature was now totally obscured by a mass of bubbles, easily 12" in height. 

We both had a good chuckle at my water feature cum bubble machine and I added drain water feature and replace water to tomorrow's to-do list.

The predicted downpour turned out to be little more than a few light showers, but I had already decided to spend the afternoon with my head in a book. An inaccurate forecast was no reason to change my mind.

This evening we headed over to Evesham to join Bubbles and Bobbyn for a meal at The Orchard Beefeater. Their company was fine, but the meal and service was really not very good. 

I ordered calamari for my starter and was startled to see small gristly looking lumps that were clearly overcooked. I tried one and was horrified to find that the chef had dredged a tablespoon of salt over the dish. It was inedible and had to be sent back.

That basically took the shine off the entire dining experience, and the best I can say is that the sea bass was mediocre, edible, but far from amazing.

So that was Saturday. My bubble machine is an absolute triumph, whilst the dining experience at the Orchard Beefeater is most definitely not!