The Caldon Canal

15th April, Day 1: Festival Park Marina to Milton

After a final whizz around at home, clothes and groceries* were stuffed in to bags and piled up in the hall. The dogs were loaded in to the car and we headed over to Redditch and dropped them off with Kate; the dog sitter.

We then headed back home, reloaded the car with our holiday trappings and headed over to Worcester to collect B&H. We soon had their stuff loaded in to the boot,** and were heading up the M5 towards Stoke-on-Trent.

We arrived shortly after midday and lunched in a pub overlooking the Marina, before checking in and collecting the boat; Ellie. 

The boat demonstration was kept to a minimum as I have had a fair bit of experience handling narrow boats over the years.*** I asked out demonstrator; Steve about a suitable route for our four night trip and he suggested that we might try the Caldon Canal. He warned that it might be a little shallow in places and also suggested that we cruise as far as Bridge 18 before mooring for the night ... this would ensure we had left some of the less salubrious areas of Stoke behind.

Midway through the afternoon we set off from the Marina and within four hundred yards we left the Trent & Mersey Canal and joined the Caldon Canal.  

All seemed to be going well, although I noted that the canal did seem to be quite narrow and winding.  We assumed that things would be less meandering as we left the city behind.  Our first few hours of cruising included a pair of staircase locks and the excitement of operating a lift bridge that dropped barriers across the road and halted traffic while we passed by.  When Steve described this it sounded quite complicated and seemed like we would be halting traffic on a major A road.  It was, in fact, a quiet road on an industrial estate and quite simple to operate. We did enjoy the momentary power of stopping cars while we chugged past the lift bridge at two miles per hour.

The evening included a couple of drinks at The Foxley Hotel, where a couple of local lads**** suggested that we try the Milton Chippy for our evening meal.

B and I headed up to the chippy and were received like long lost family. After a very friendly reception we wandered back to the boat and stuffed ourselves with fish and chips.

Here endeth the first entry in the log of the vessel Ellie and her foolhardy crew.

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* There was a lot of booze!

** There was a lot more booze!

*** I used to be a boat handler/demonstrator for Cleaver Marine a their Evesham base when I was in my late teens. We also used to own a 58' narrow boat for a few years from 2004. This was moored on the River Soar and was used for mid-week access visits when TP still lived with his mum. Then there have also been the occasional holidays on boats over the years too.

**** Estate Agent Ollie deserves a special mention as, at the age of 22, he already has a signature car crash which seems to climax with an expensive high powered saloon car ending up on its roof ... we don't think he will make old bones!

16th April, Day 2: Milton to Lock 16, Oakmeadowford Lock

On Wednesday we left Stoke behind and started to pass through the Staffordshire countryside.  It was quite beautiful, although the weather wasn't playing ball.  The morning was very wet, with a cold wind, and there was one point where B & I moored up and came in to the cabin to thaw out.

The rain eventually slowed and we continued cruising under cold leaden skies.  

Yesterday we noted how the Stoke stretches of the Caldon Canal seemed quite narrow and twisty.  I can confirm that the navigation did not improve and there were many sections of the cut where two boats couldn't pass.* We also noted that many of the bridges and locks were on tight bends making for some challenging manoeuvring** to get the boat through with minimal scraping.

We also noted some rather poor etiquette from some of the private boats. This included mooring on tight turns and constricted sections, and also some very aggressive shouting from a chap who felt that we were passing his boat at too high a speed.  Ellie's engine was barely above tick over at the time. We did point this out and were rewarded with a threat of a hospital visit by Mr Angry.

Over the course of the day B & I created a whole back story for Mr Angry which involved a late night of internet porn and the fact that he was the last King of the Caldon Canal. He has a trident of power, wears a crown of duckweed and has two Canada Geese as guards ... Basically the man was a complete bell end.

We continued cruising through the fine countryside and moored just before the Oakmeadowford lock.

Our evening was spent attempting to reduce the amount of alcohol that we had brought with us ... we did quite well on this task.

Here endeth the second log entry of the vessel Ellie and her exploration of the wilds of Staffordshire. Note that some of the natives are hostile.

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* Remember a narrow boat is only 6' 10" wide

** A narrow boat can be reversed, but it goes where it bloody well likes ... they have no steering going backwards.

17th April, Day 3: Lock 16 on to the Froghall tunnel and back to Denford

Thursday was as fine as yesterday was horrible.  The morning was warm and sunny, and we were on our way shortly after eight this morning.  Within a couple of minutes we had rounded yet another bend and passed through lock 16 on to the River Churnet.

The plan was to cruise on and moor in the vicinity of the Froghall tunnel. We had been alerted to the presence of Hetty's Tea Shop and it was suggested as a splendid place to have breakfast.

It was a lovely run on to Froghall and we arrived a little after ten o'clock.  We were lucky to see another narrow boat turning on the only winding hole* large enough to accommodate Ellie.**  I say "lucky" as there was no signage to indicate that it was a winding hole. It was actually little more than a v shaped indentation of the canal in to the hillside and not very obvious.

At this point I have to say that the canal gods were on my side and I absolutely smashed getting Ellie turned around and facing back towards Stoke.  We then moved her clear of the winding hole and moored her alongside the tow path.

It was then a short walk in the sunshine to Hetty's Tea Room. There we chose a table in the morning sun and breakfasted on splendid breakfast baps. Further supplies*** were taken on board and we took a moment to appreciate that we had reached the furthest point on this monumental journey of exploration.

We had completed seventeen miles and passed through seventeen locks. We had endured wind chill of -2 ℃, passed more Canada Geese than they actually have in Canada and also managed to enrage the King of the Caldon Canal. 

I think it fair to say that there is the making of one hell of a sea shanty about this voyage ... or at least a half decent folk song!

Our return journey continued in the fine sunshine and we moored for the being just past the Hazlehurst Aqueduct in Denford.  This evening the crew revolted**** and refused to enter the galley. As a result we dined at a lovely little pub called the Hollybush Inn.

Here endeth the third log entry of the narrowboat Ellie. 

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* A point in the canal network where the navigation broadens to allow a boat to be turned around. You will be a familiar with a three point turn in a car.  It can easily be a seven or nine point turn in a narrow boat ... with no steering in reverse and very little spare room to manoeuvre!

** Ellie is sixty two feet in length

*** A slice of coffee and walnut cake and three blueberry and lemon scones, with jam and clotted cream. Note: It is important to keep an accurate record of the ship's inventory.

**** B&I had already established that the crew are revolting!

18th April, Day 4: Denford back to Stoke

Friday's weather forecast did not look good, so B&I donned oilskins and sou'westers and bravely endured a fine drizzle on the rear deck.

The plan for today was to return to Ellie's home mooring in Stoke by nightfall, so we were ready to leave bright and early on Saturday.

At this point I should mention that B&I decided that Ellie should be renamed the Lady Margaret Thatcher.* Over the past few days we had noticed that there were moments when she just refused to turn. After a process of elimination and checks we realised that it was when she encountered the shallower stretches of the canal. 

The shallow water was still sufficiently deep to allow her to cruise, but created enough drag that she would be very reluctant to respond to movements of the tiller.  There were a number of occasions when we needed to thrust her in to reverse to avoid bumping the bank and to have another attempt at a turn. 

There were also a couple of points when she did run aground and needed to be pushed in to the middle of the cut using the pole.

Back to our homeward leg. The trip from Denford back to Stoke was a little under ten miles and we eventually moored up a little after six in the evening.  We did feel the need to stop once more in the fine hamlet of Milton and sample the grog** at the Millrace Inn.

We gathered our thoughts on our journey of exploration and B commented that if he had attempted to navigate the Caldon canal with just support from H, as a first solo outing, he would never step aboard another narrowboat ever!***

I will say that it is definitely the most challenging section of canal I have ever travelled.

With that thought I will end the fourth log entry of the narrowboat The Lady Margaret Thatcher.

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* For any reader under the age of fifty, Thatcher was famous for her "This Lady's not for turning" quote.

** For medicinal purposes and to keep out the chill.

*** B loves messing around in boats and really fancies holidaying with H on a narrowboat. The past couple of trips have allowed him to get some experience and develop his boat handling skills. We now jokingly assess his skill level as Barely Adequate, or possible Remedial.

19th April, Day 5: Stoke back to Worcestershire

We were up early and soon had our kit packed and piled in the back of the car. An all you can eat breakfast was consumed at the nearby Toby Inn before returning to the hire company and completing the checking out procedures. As we chatted to the Reception staff we started to explore the canal holiday options available to us and the Llangollen canal seems to be a possibility.

We Also chatted to Steve about the challenges of navigating the Caldon Canal and he commented that "if you can do the Caldon Canal, you can do any of them!"  ... Cheers Steve! It would have been nice if you had told us that it was a little tricky before sending us off.

I am a reasonably experienced boat handler and, whilst I did really enjoy the trip, There were very few moments when one could relax and chill. You needed to be focused and concentrating for much of the trip.

The car journey back home was uneventful, and, after unloading, we headed over to Redditch to pick up the dogs.

We then had a very lazy afternoon which included a lengthy kip.

Here endeth the final log entry of the narrowboat Ellie.

Post Script

Next year's trip may well be to the Llangollen canal ... everyone seems very keen.

Preparing for our mini break

It is the day before we leave for our short Spring break with B&H.

There is plenty to achieve before we head off up to Stoke for yet another holiday in Britain's Industrial heartlands.* 

Buzzer and Dot came over to dinner yesterday evening. This was in part payment for, and to allow instruction in, the minimal care our chickens will need over the next five days. 

Today we need to work our way through all the other must do jobs,

The day started with a trip over to the BMW dealer in Worcester, as we had noticed that the X3 engine stop/start mechanism** doesn't seem to be operative.

On our return I headed out to the workshop, gathered tools, and, with minimal assistance from 30%, fitted the security bars to the rear of the store room.  I now have just one more set to fit, but need to replace a pane of glass first ... that can wait until we return.

The car was ready for collection shortly after lunch, so back to Worcester we went. It seems that everything is working properly, but the technician was a little evasive when 30% asked if he had actually experienced the stop/start mechanism working.  We think that the battery is no longer working at peak efficiency, hence the internal systems are minimising preventing the stop/start usage to maximise battery life.

Back at home I dragged the lawn mower from the shed and whizzed around the lawns at the front of the house. We then continued in a gardening vein and finally got some seeds planted. These are going in a little later than last year, but I am hopeful that the plants will catch up as the weather warms.

We now have French and Runner Beans out in the greenhouse, along with a couple of melons and some cucumbers. The Utility Room is now home to several seed trays with tomatoes (Alicante, Marinade and Sweet Aperitif), Savoy Cabbage, Cauliflowers, Celery and Celeriac.

The one thing I didn't get to do was to inspect my original colony of bees. They should be inspected every seven or eight days, but the weather wasn't particularly good, and I didn't want to risk chilling the young brood.  

I will now spend the next week hoping that the damned things aren't preparing to swam.

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* It may seem odd to many, but the industrial sections of the canals are as fascinating as the more popular rural stretches.  We had a fantastic time around the outskirts of Wolverhampton last year.

** The irritating thing that cuts out at each and every junction. I'm actually quite happy that it doesn't cut out, but the car is under warranty, so we may as well have someone look at it.

Catching up

 A couple of weeks ago I was pinged by Gary. Gary was the one and only person I managed to form any sort of friendship with during the eight months I worked at DXC. I've already covered my opinion of my final months of employment, so feel free to refer back if you want a brief summary of how not to manage a virtual team.

Anyway, back to Gary's ping. Gary is a very keen rifle shooter and his Gun Club was having a friends and family day today. He wondered if I fancied a trip up to Derbyshire to come and shoot his latest acquisitions.

"It would be nice to catch up with Gary," I thought, so I found myself heading North on the M42/A42 at about nine o'clock this morning.

It was lovely to meet up with Gary and everything he said made me realise that I had made the right decision and retire back at the end of March last year.  Gary feels much the same way, and plans to make his exit next year ... unless some fuckwit really annoys him somewhat earlier!

As for the shooting, that's an interesting question. Gary has a keen interest in historic rifles and I tried out a WW1 German rifle and a Mosin from the second world war.  These rifles have iron sights and it is a real challenge to get a decent grouping on the target at a range of fifty meters, especially with my crappy eyesight.

The final gun to be tested was a modern combat rifle with telescopic sights. These are incredibly accurate and even I could manage a very respectable grouping around the bull's eye.

The interesting this is that these rifles have been developed for just one thing, killing people and I'm really not sure how I feel about them. It is impressive how rifles have been developed over the years, But I am conscious that this is just another way of saying that it is now far easier to kill with them.

I know that I have shotguns and they can be deadly, but they were designed to put food on the table, not invade a neighbouring country.

What I can report is that shooting at a rifle range is not for me. With enough cash and time one can buy a modern rifle with sights and get it perfectly set up. One can then hit the centre of the target repeatedly with little chance of a miss.* 

I must confess that I would get bored quite quickly, and much prefer the challenge and variation provided by a moving clay target.

But it was still lovely to catch up with a mate from work.

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* I accept that over longer distances it becomes more challenging

Not that sort of hive

This morning started with a visit from our friendly neighbourhood heating engineer; Will.

We bumped in to Will at a Land Rover meet at the beginning of March, and happened to mention that we wanted to get rid of our dreadful Drayton Digistat and upgrade to the flexibility and control provided by a Hive thermostat. "I can do that for you" Will replied, and he turned up at eight o'clock sharp and spent the next couple of hours fitting the components and giving me a whistle stop tour of the Hive app and its capabilities.

It is fair to say that I am impressed by the functionality compared to the crappy thermostat it has replaced. It will take me a while to familiarise myself with the app, but I have a strong suspicion that it will reduce our oil consumption, and make the house warmer too ... watch this space.

I headed out around the Three Miler after Will's departure, and then whizzed  over to Bubbles place of work, as he had kindly agreed to fit a new tyre on the 5 Series.  Having fitted the tyre free gratis, Bubbs even gave me a hand to give the car a quick wash, courtesy of the car valeting facilities at our friendly local Volkswagen dealership.

On my return I mowed the lawns at the back of the house and re-puttied the window at the back of the store room.

It is fair to say that it had been quite a busy day and, after feeding dogs and shutting up chickens I slumped on the sofa with a rather good pizza.*

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* 30% was at the cinema this evening, so I was home alone ... and really couldn't be bothered to do anything other than cook a pre-prepared pizza.

That doesn't sound right.

This morning I was out for my constitutional earlier than normal. 

The reason for this is that my dear wife had volunteered my time without consulting me first. I don't really mind, as the job is for Mummy Sheila, and she is a dear friend. I just wish that she had asked me first so that I had got an accurate view of the actual task.

My current understanding ranged from, "she wants a stump cutting down to ground level in her garden" to "what she really wants is the entire stump removing".  When I asked about the size of the stump I was rewarded with vague gestures that indicated that it could be anything from a small twig to a two hundred year old oak.

Should I take a chainsaw, or a pair of secateurs ... fuck knows?

Before heading over to Sheila's I donned my bee suit and lit my smoker. Pete had commented that the new colony was huge and that I really should add another super before we headed off to Stoke.* I therefore whizzed up to the orchard and gave the new colony a little more space. I'll give them a proper inspection when we come back from our mini break.

Now, where was I? Oh yes, stump removal for Sheila.  I threw a few tools in the back of the car and headed down in to the village. Sheila was the perfect host and made me a coffee while I assessed the job. It was a Cherry Laurel stump about fourteen inches high and about four or five inches in diameter.  It was about fifteen minutes work with a spade and axe to loosen the stump and it was soon pulled free from the border.

The timing was perfect as my coffee was now at drinking temperature, so I sat in the sun and caught up on Sheila's news ... incidentally, I am now "Shiela's Hero"

This afternoon I headed out on my bike for a ride and did not enjoy it. The traffic was horrendous and I am not wholly convinced about the R1250R's gearbox.  The gear changes can range from slick, silent changes to horrendous graunching, grinding, clunking changes that make me wince. It has got to the point where I am constantly waiting for a horrible gear change and constantly assessing how I am riding the bike, rather than enjoying it. 

I have never had a bike with such an intermittently rough gear box. I really cannot work out what the problem is, although I do know it is better if I change gear at higher revs ... The problem is that the bike is still being run in and should not be over revved. 

I got home frustrated and got on the phone to Motorrad immediately. It is booked in for them to take a look on 28th April.

So that is a run through of Friday's events. I did also manage to fit my replacement intercom in to my helmet and get it paired to my phone. I can now try a test of the BMW Connected Ride Satellite Navigation app, provided I can put up with the god-awful gearbox!

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* I haven't got around to mentioning that we are off the Stoke on Trent next Tuesday for a few days on a narrow boat with B&H.  We originally planned to pick up the boat from a much closer Stoke ... Stoke Prior, but lock closures meant that we couldn't really go anywhere. 30% used her powers of persuasion to get the hire company to change our booking and we are now able to explore the canals around the other Stoke.

More Bees

I was out of the door quite early this morning as I had yet another appointment at the Ophthalmologist's.

For once I was seen promptly, and even more surprising was the candour of the delightful young lady that carried out the various tests. She was absolutely flabbergasted at the number of appointments I have had. I pointed out that their automated booking systems keeps notifying me that I need to make an appointment and here I am ... AGAIN!  

She reviewed my case history, cancelled my next appointment,* and told me to ignore any appointment requests until the late Summer, as I do not need to be seen for another six months. 

Back at home I managed to get a few minutes of 30%'s time and got another set of window bars secured to the second of the store room window frames. 30% was off to spend the day with the coven, but I only needed her assistance to get the first couple of screws in. She disappeared shortly afterwards and I fitted the remaining spacers and screws at my leisure.

I then headed out for my daily walk with the dogs.

I had planned to go out for a ride on my bike this afternoon, but really didn't feel up to a couple of hours in the saddle. I therefore decided that an afternoon of gentle pottering was a better idea.

My new honey box was stocked and returned to its place on my little roadside stall. I refitted the celotex panels in the garage roof and then cleaned out the putty from the window frame at the rear of the store room. I plan to get that re-puttied and the security bars installed at some point over the weekend.

So that should have been it for today.  30% and I were settled in front of the television when we heard a ring from the front door bell. It was Pete the Beekeeper. He had decided that this evening was the perfect time to deliver the colony of bees that he promised a couple of days ago.

We soon had them sited up in the orchard and spent the next half hour discussing how well the colonies seemed to be doing this Spring. He once again refused payment for the colony, or the two nucs that he gave me in the Autumn and instead advised that "I owe him a favour".

I'm more than happy to oblige, and I am sure that I will come away slightly better informed about bees and beekeeping.

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* A duplicate of today's appointment

Time for a haircut

This morning started with a run over to Stratford with Whiffler and Hobson.

We have reached that point in the month when they serve as models at the dog grooming school. For the princely sum of twenty quid they are bathed and groomed by one of the student groomers. We understand that grooming a Standard Poodle is the final exercise in the dog grooming curriculum. They are a large dog and the cut is complex, so it is the final, pre-graduation exercise.

They usually come back looking pretty good, although there have been a couple of occasions where I have had to grab scissors and clippers to finish off a half arsed job.

Anyway, I got the dogs dropped off and then headed out around the Three Miler with The Rat.  She seemed to enjoy being walked on her own, as Hobson does have a tendency to play rather roughly ... whether The Rat wants to, or not!

The afternoon saw me standing on a step ladder applying putty to the window frame at the North ish end of the store room. I then made a start on fitting the security bars.  I got as far as fitting the top spacer batten and temporarily removing a downpipe , which will make the installation far more straightforward.

The early evening saw me head up to the Parish Education Centre for the final Tai Chi session before a two week Easter break.  I really am enjoying Tai Chi, but parts of it leave me totally wrong footed.

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Post Script

I suppose, for the sake of completeness, I should mention that 30% collected W&H and they looked absolutely splendid. Clearly groomed by someone graduating with Honours.

Billy Elliot the musical

No surprise that my morning got underway with a walk around the Three Mile with the dogs.

I returned to find that 30% had made a start on emptying a small log store that sits beneath one of the store room windows.  The log store needs to be moved so that I can get access to the window frame, replace the missing putty and install the next set of security bars.

I assisted with clearing the log store and spent the remainder of the morning stacking the logs on the log pile in the car port and the final few were carted up to Rose Cottage.

After lunch I carried out this week's inspection of my colony and was delighted with what I found. I lifted the crown board from the super and found the hive crammed with bees. On checking a few frames in the super, I could see that they were already being filling with nectar, and I would estimate that the bees had half filled it in the past week.

In the brood box I found the centre six frames filled with brood and I also caught sign of the queen wandering across the comb.  I couldn't have hoped for a colony in a better state and their temperament is unbelievably calm.* I gently reassembled the hive and added an extra super on top ... with all that brood they will certainly soon need the space.

After finishing my inspection, I returned to the old log store and decided that it wasn't worth saving. I then had an internal debate about whether it was worth careful deconstruction and saving of the timber. Fortunately good sense won and it was smashed apart and sacrificed to the fire gods up in the orchard.

The rest of the afternoon was spent clearing the cracked and crumbling putty from the store room window frame now it is accessible.

This evening saw a visit to No.8, Pershore to see a screening of the film of Billy Elliot the musical. I was interested to note that the female members of the audience outnumbered the men by a factor of 10:1. As for the screening, it was absolutely amazing. Obviously the story is the same as the film, but I found that the political and social turmoil of the miner's strike seemed to be given greater emphasis in the musical version.  The actor playing Billy; Elliott Hanna was very believable and showed incredible stamina for a performance that was close to three hours.

It was an amazing show and I would definitely recommend a viewing.

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* Colony temperament can vary wildly and I have had some evil tempered colonies in the past. Ones where the entire colony is out of the hive and stinging you as soon as the crown board has been lifted, despite copious quantities of smoke.

Getting on with stuff

At the moment I am tending to get the dogs walked early, so that the rest of the day is free to do what ever is needed, or for leisure pursuits.

However a text alerted us to the fact that a dozen bottles of 2020 Governo* would be arriving some time between ten and eleven o'clock, so dog walking was delayed. 

I whiled away the time by fitting another set of bars to the front window of the store room. I amazed myself by managing to complete this task without destroying the flower bed that sits beneath the window. I have now finished the front of the outbuildings and only have three more windows to go. Unfortunately there is reglazing and putty replacement to be completed, so it will not be plain sailing.

Next I got my bike booked in for a service on the 22nd of May and clarified that I need to have a minimum of 450 miles completed. That should be no problem as I am already close to three hundred and fine weather is forecast for the week ahead.

A walk around the Three Miler filled the remainder of the morning and a short nap followed lunch.

The strong breezes that have accompanied the recent fine weather finally abated today, so I seized the chance and got the veg patch sprayed with its annual treatment of Roundup.

We continued in the gardening vein with a trip to the local Nursery to pick up this year's vegetable seeds. Our purchases included Parsnips, Celeriac, Leeks, Runner Beans, French Beans, Celery and Cucumbers ... it'll be interesting to see how many of these are harvested.

On the way home we popped in to see Pete the Beekeeper for a chat. I also arranged to take another 30lb tub of honey from him and he advised that he has another colony for me. I think I'll be picking that up at some point early next week.

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* We first discovered this beautiful Italian red at the Blenheim Palace Game Fair last year. And now have a few cases tucked away.

beekeeper Pete

24 hour rolling news.

 It doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out that Sunday was going to be a quiet one.

I was up at a reasonable hour, as the chickens needed to be fed and let out.  I then drank several cups of coffee before making a tentative attempt at tidying up the house.

It is fair to say that the tidy up took most of the morning, but by the time we had finished the house looked presentable and my dinner suit* was back in the wardrobe along with its cummerbund and braces.

A kip was required after lunch before I headed out with Hobson for a constitutional around the Three Miler. 

It was during this walk that I regretted the fact that 30% had published a short account of the Honey Box Theft on Facebook. Her post had received a lot of reaction, and many comments in support of our little stall, basically decrying the morons who stole it.

Unfortunately every person I met offered their sympathies and requested the details of the event. I swear I had the same conversation three times in the space of thirty minutes!

It's a good job there's a lot going on in the World at the moment, or we'd have a BBC News Crew camped out on the village green getting Vox pops from the dog walkers.

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* It originally belonged to my father. He had it tailored by Hepworth's in Evesham back, I assume, in the late 50's or early 60's. It is a beautiful suit with a narrow satin collar. I believe it is referred to as a shawl collar. Anyway, by the early 1980's there was no way my father would ever fit in to the suit again, so I acquired it and it has served me well ever since. The joke is that I was, shall we say, successful with the ladies whenever I wore it ... I am now banned from wearing it unless I am in the company of my good lady.

The Murder Mystery

Today is 30%'s birthday.

TP has arranged a Murder Mystery party for this evening and much of the detail and invitees have been kept secret from 30%, so it is very much a semi-surprise party.

I was out of the house early this morning, as I was shooting with Bubbles and Ben at the Cotswold Shooting Ground at Childswickham.  The shoot started really well and my score card was looking quite reasonable until we shot the last couple of stands. They were incredibly challenging and my score suffered badly. I ended up with 46/80 ... at least I got over 50%.

Back at home I caught up with the Birthday Girl, who was hosting visitors ... Mummy Sheila and Mr & Mrs Tweedy.  Coffee was consumed and news was exchanged.  Mr T was an absolute star and, having given me some LED strip lights a couple of weeks ago, he handed over a set of connectors that he had specially ordered to make their installation straightforward ... he is wasted on his god-awful wife!

In the afternoon I walked the dogs before returning and helping with the preparations for the party.

The Murder Mystery was loosely themed on a 1920's house party and I played the part of Bebop Badoo; a jazz pianist with a gambling problem. 30% played his wife, Booboo Badoo; a Jazz singer and songwriter.

The whole evening was incredibly funny and everyone made a huge effort to get dressed up as required by their character. The star of the evening was TP's friend Matt M. He was playing the part of the Butler and went to collect the pizza order from the Deliveroo driver, staying in character the entire time ... The Deliveroo driver was not impressed!

It was a very late evening, but 30% absolutely loved it. She has claimed that it is one of her best birthdays ever. Hats off to TP for organising and hosting the event. He did a super job and we are both very proud of him ... he even baked a birthday cake.

A pleasant day and Morons

Friday's main event was to be a ride out with Bubbles.

We both had a couple of things to take care of in the morning, so the loose plan was to meet up mid morning at the cottage.  

As an aside, I really must find a better way of describing our home. The term the cottage just seems a little odd. Our last house down in the village was lovingly referred to as The Pile. This was because it was most definitely crumbling when we bought it, and much of my free time was spent restoring it. Things haven't changed much in our new place, so perhaps I need to refer to it as Pile #2, or the last post ... because I'm not bloody moving again!

Anyway, back to Friday. First mission was a trip in to Redditch to pick up a birthday card for 30% and a tub of putty from the hardware store.  

The sortie was successfully completed and I was back at home before eleven o'clock. 

Bubbles arrived shortly after and we soon headed out on our bikes. Our route was very similar to the loop I took with Buzzer a couple of weeks ago. The only difference was that we reversed the loop and headed out towards Stratford and on to Shipston-on-Stour before joining the original route at Moreton-in-Marsh.

It was a great ride out and I the R1250R is another eighty miles closer to its first service. This must be completed before the Germany trip in June, so I really do need to a) get some miles on the clock, and b) get the bike booked in to the workshop ... I don't want to be hearing "sorry mate, we can't fit you in for a month"

TP joined us in the afternoon and will be spending the weekend with us.

That would be it for Friday, apart from the fact that some arsehole stole my honey box from outside the house at about eight o'clock this evening. We heard a car pull up outside and thought it was TP coming back early from an evening with his friends. The car pulled away and we thought no more about it.

It was only when I took the dogs out for a late night pee that I noticed that the honey box and contents was nowhere to be seen.

It's fucking annoying because there was very little monetary value to four jars of honey and a couple of quid in change. It's probably kids who think it's an amusing prank. I think it's fucking moronic. What the hell are they going to do with a few jars of honey? They'll probably end up chucked out of the car window a few miles down the road.

Making a start ... again

 The day has finally arrived when I actually managed to continue installing the security bars on the outbuilding windows.

I first started this little job back in September 2024. Actually, scratch that. The windows bars were originally commissioned and delivered back in 2021. They then sat in the car port untouched until last year, when I installed the first set.

I was enthused by this initial installation and soon made a start on the next set of bars. It was at that point that I realised that I would need to install spacers and use much longer screws to enable the bars to be fitted. The reason being that the central decorative bar protrudes back a little, and interferes with the central glazing bar of the windows. The spacers set the security bars 25mm from the frame and give enough room for the decorative central bar.

I therefore needed suitable material for the spacers. I quickly settled on roofing laths. They are the perfect size and are pressure treated ... ideal for the timber clad outbuildings. Unfortunately they are four meters long and I estimated that I needed over seventy meters of laths.*

This meant that I would need to have them delivered and the onset of Winter meant that installing the bars got put on the back burner ... I really do not like working outside in the cold!

Anyway, the weather has improved. I got my shit together and ordered various items of timber, and today I finally had enough time to continue the job.

There was a fair bit of measuring and head scratching to ensure that the bars would be perfectly positioned around the window, and that the timber spacers fitted perfectly. It took about ninety minutes to get the first set of bars installed ... and I am bloody delighted.

They look brilliant AND provide a deterrent to any ne'er-do-well who thinks the outbuildings might yield easy pickings.

By the end of the day I had installed two sets of bars and was ready for a lazy night on the sofa. That wasn't to be, as we had tickets to see Henning Wehn at The Regal in Evesham. It was a very funny evening and Wehn made the ball-ache of parking in Evesham worthwhile.

---

* This may be a slight miscalculation as I seem to have a lot of laths. The alternative scenario is that I may have included enough laths to make a section of trellis ... and forgotten about that mini project.

I'll get to it eventually

 I really do have plans for this week, but life just keeps getting in the way.

What I'd like to be doing is installing the security bars on the windows of the outbuildings, but this project keeps getting put off.*

This morning we were out of the house early as I needed to pop in to the local surgery for a blood test. We then headed in to Worcester as 30% has another consultation with an NHS Neurologist. After another review of 30%'s medical history they are still uncertain what the problem might be, but tests and scans have been scheduled and medication prescribed too.

I suppose we need to be relatively reassured that none of the medics are hitting panic buttons, and to let matters run their course.

The remainder of the morning was taken up with a trip to Bromsgrove to pick up some Layers Pellets and a couple of slabs of shotgun cartridges ... I'm shooting at the weekend.

The afternoon saw nothing other than a wander around the lanes with the dogs. 

Then it was a quick rest before this evening's Tai Chi class. The lesson was the usual mix of concentration and misplaced feet. There are moments when I feel that I am making headway and then it all goes to pot.

---

* Actually I'm not sure that I would "like" to be installing the security bars. It is just that they have sat in the car port for about three years and they really need putting up. The more I think about this job the more I realise that it is quite complicated, especially if I am to get them installed to my satisfaction.

Another quiet day

 All Fools Day was far from busy.

I managed a brisk walk around the Three Mile with the idiots* in the morning and mowed the lawns at the front of the house in the afternoon.

That was about it. I did have a slight urge to start installing the security bars on the outbuildings, but there is a bloody cold wind, despite the clear skies and sunshine ...  that can wait until later in the week.

I also realised that I need some cartridges for clay shooting on Saturday.  It's been a good while since I last bought any and they are now very expensive. It looks like I'll be heading out to the gun shop tomorrow.

---

* A collective and affectionate term for the dogs. If you saw them leaping around with excitement as I put on my walking boots you would understand how they have earned this appellation.

Stuff

Did my day really start with a walk around the Three Miler with the dogs?

No, not really. My day started at about seven o'clock. I threw on some clothes, filled a watering can with water and headed up to the orchard with the chicken feeder. It is a matter of a few minutes work to ensure that they have food and water. Then I open up their pop hole to give them access to the run. The nest boxes are checked for eggs, and then I return to the house for the first coffee of the day.

That is how my day generally starts.

The coffee is accompanied by a perusal of a couple of news websites, and then perhaps a read before 30% rises and we take breakfast shortly afterwards.

I was back from my walk well before lunch. The day was warm, sunny and the air was still. I had time and perfect weather for a hive inspection.

I grabbed my smoker and a few essentials and headed up to the hive in the orchard.  There were a lot of bees milling around the entrance and I hoped that I hadn't left it too long since the first inspection three weeks ago.  

What I didn't want to find was a colony preparing to swarm. This would be indicated by the presence of Queen cells within the colony and would necessitate a split or shook swarm to manage the situation.

Fortunately the colony is doing really well, but there were no signs of swarming. They had plenty of stores, were bringing in both nectar and pollen and had five frames of brood and eggs at the centre of the hive.

I put a queen excluder on the top of the brood box and put a super above that. The bees now have plenty of space in the hive and will, hopefully start to store nectar up in the super.

The afternoon saw a trip to see a consultant with 30%. I found the visit relatively reassuring and really hope that 30% did too. The next step is for her to have some MRI scans, which will hopefully pinpoint the problem and lead to a treatment plan,

Once back at home, I pulled the lawn mower from the shed and mowed the lawns at the back of the house. I had my phone in my pocket and was amazed to see that I had completed four thousand steps just wandering around the lawns.

It seems that during the month of March I have managed to walk over eighty miles ... no wonder my feet hurt!

Somewhat jet lagged

After only five hours sleep, I was somewhat jaded when I woke and started the day. Fortunately I had been yesterday's designated driver, and had therefore avoided compounding tiredness with a hangover.

After an understandably gentle start to the day I headed out and deglazed the side of the greenhouse. By early afternoon I had managed to replace the damaged panels, assisted periodically by 30%.

I then needed to retire to the sofa for a short siesta.*

After about three quarters of an hour I hauled my sorry arse off the couch and headed out around the Three Miler with Hobson. I think we both felt better for a walk. He certainly seemed to enjoy it.

The day ended with another shared meal. This evening we were joined by Bubbles and Bobbyn for a Chinese meal, courtesy of China Twon.  It was lovely to catch up with them and they were the perfect guests, leaving at a very civilised half past nine.**

Considering how little sleep I had, I am bloody amazed how much I managed to get done today.

---

* Well earned, I thought.

** Any later and we would have probably fallen asleep in front of them.

A Late One

Saturday started with an early walk around the lanes with the dogs.

We would be out for a good few hours in the middle of the day, so it seemed only fair to get them exercised and emptied before we went out.

The midday event was a combined Mother's Day/Birthday party hosted by 30%'s brother. I've noted down my views on these get-togethers before, so I'll avoid repeating myself today. It went as well as any nine year old's birthday can go and the cloud did have a silver lining ... The ELF's obnoxious brother* was unable to attend, so that was an unpleasant encounter avoided.

We managed to escape around half past three and headed home. 

We had a few hours to potter before heading out again. This evening we had been invited for dinner with Gizzy and Jules in Tewkesbury. Rosie and Jim were invited too, and we picked them up on our way.

It was a splendid evening filled with laughter, fine food, much leg pulling and catching up with each others' news. 

We eventually got home at about one in the morning and realised that the clocks went forward tonight ... Oh bugger, we are going to be very tired tomorrow!

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* Thick, and I mean REALLY THICK, absolutely no sense of humour and constantly preening and posing ... an absolute fucking tool!

The greenhouse refurbishment continues

Friday was very similar to Thursday.

I started the day with some admin while I waited for the weather to warm a little.  My credit card bill got paid and it seems that I am due a small tax rebate, so that got claimed too.

By mid morning it was pleasant enough outside, windy, but sunny.

I continued with the greenhouse refurbishment and replaced the panels in the back corner. I did consider replacing the broken panels on the long side of the greenhouse today, but realised that I was going to have to remove the glazing from the whole side to accomplish that ... that can wait for another day.

The afternoon saw a snooze on the sofa, a walk with Hobson and a delivery from the Builder's Merchant. I now have roofing laths, a sheet of 18mm ply and four 2 x 4s ... that'll keep me busy for a few days.

I've also noticed that the lawns need mowing too.

I found the day satisfying, some might not

I wouldn't be surprised if the casual reader thought my day was incredibly tedious, but I was actually quite pleased with today's achievements.

It was a chilly start, so I spent the first half hour in the freezer room getting the new freezer levelled, before switching it on.  I then dragged its box up to the orchard and had a brief, but splendid, bonfire.

Next I manhandled a mattress down the stairs and on to the drive. This was in anticipation of a new one being delivered later in the day.

By this time the sun's rays had reached the greenhouse and I continued with my refurbishment. This basically involved removing most of the front of the greenhouse, a section at a time. The issue with replacing the bottom panes/panels is that the three panes above them need to be removed first!

Anyway, the job went reasonably smoothly and a stroke of genius, a spray bottle filled with soapy water, made refitting the panes a whole lot easier.

I finished the front of the greenhouse shortly after lunch and it looks much better. I still have a panel at the rear and the bottom panes of one entire side to do, but that can wait until later in the week.

The afternoon included a walk around the Three Miler with Hobson before I settled for a less strenuous afternoon.

The mattress eventually turned up, and it's box gave me an excuse for yet another brief bonfire in the orchard.

Repair & Restoration

One of yesterday's little jobs was to tidy the outhouse at the South East end of the cottage.  This is referred to, in these parts, as the freezer room for rather obvious reasons.

During the clear out/tidy up I retrieved a rather nice brass reading lamp that had stopped working many years ago. I took it in to the workshop and discovered that it was a simple blown fuse. We now have a rather nice working lamp that is covered with a decades worth of grime, at least!

Our new freezer was delivered this morning* and had to stand for twenty four hours before being switched on. This left me plenty of time this morning to grab the Brasso and clean up the filthy, tarnished lamp. It does look rather splendid now, and we just need a new shade and bulb to finish off the job.

There was a second delivery this morning. The polycarbonate, greenhouse glazing panels have arrived.** And, as the morning warmed up I headed out in to the workshop, grabbed a pair of sawhorses and a few tools and headed over to the greenhouse.

Stage one of my greenhouse restoration was to replace the panels at the bottom of the pair of sliding doors.  I soon had the first door slid out of its track and resting on the pair of sawhorses. Replacing the fibre board panel was actually quite straightforward and I had finished both doors shortly after lunch.

The afternoon saw a brisk walk around the Three Miler with the dogs and I was looking forward to a lazy evening when my phone beeped at me ... Shit! I'd forgotten that I had a Tai Chi class this evening.

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* I was delighted to see that the delivery van was decorated with the obligatory cock and balls scrawled in the grime on the rear door.

** We have a rather nice Robinson Greenhouse in the garden, but after many years it needs a little attention to keep it at its best.  The ground level "panes" are not glass, but panels of a cement fibre board. These have deteriorated over the years and are now brittle and crumbling. What used to be a weather and rodent proof greenhouse now has gaping holes where the fibre board has fallen apart.  I have purchased some 4mm polycarbonate glazing panels and these will be used to fabricate the replacement panels.

Supplies

It seems that Spring has arrived. 

It's amazing how a little warmth, blue skies and longer days encourage one to get busy after a Winter of inactivity.

I am already looking at starting, and in some cases continuing, projects now I can get outside without fear of hypothermia.

This morning we headed in to Redditch for supplies to get a couple of projects moving. 

The first stop was Lidl for groceries and then we headed over to the Builders Merchant just down the road. I needed some roofing laths to continue the installation of the security bars that I started back in September last year. I also ordered a sheet of 18mm ply and a few lengths of 2" x 4". The ply and two by fours will be used to make a potting bench ... this is part of a much bigger plan to tidy up one of the greenhouses and organise the shed ... watch this space.

On the way back home we popped in to an electrical appliance retailer and ordered a new upright freezer. 30% has been keen on a new one for a while. I'm not sure why, but it may be due to the fact that I will be attending a butchery course in the near future. The course covers the butchery of half a pig and we get to keep the course work.

The afternoon saw me take a walk around the Three Miler and get some Torx head screws ordered for the aforementioned security bars.

I also received notification that the polycarbonate glazing sheets for the greenhouse will be arriving tomorrow.

It looks like I am going to be busy.

A quiet day

 The plan for Monday was to do as little as possible.

I felt that I had deserved this after a busy few days selling cars and hosting friends for the weekend.

Apparently this is what a quiet day looks like ... The morning's task was to shift the proceeds from the Defender sale in to various investment and savings accounts.  It took longer than expected, as I do like to check each account to ensure that each transfer has actually been received. They were.

The afternoon saw a brisk walk around the Three Miler with the dogs, and then I wandered up the orchard.

I did think about inspecting my bees, but graciously took on the job of cleaning out the chicken coop. This is normally 30%'s job, as she steadfastly refuses to get up and let them out each morning.

If I've got to get out of bed earlier and earlier as the day length increases, there is no bloody way I am going to clean out the little sods as well!

Here endeth a "quiet day"

It's been a busy few days ...

My aim is to make a Journal entry every day. Some months I achieve this, but I'm not doing very well in March, am I?

My excuse for a lack of input can be discerned from the following paragraphs.  I wouldn't be surprised if you thought these were mediocre, at best, when presented as an excuse for not keeping The Journal up-to-date.

Thursday, 20 March 2025

First job of the day was to sort through the Defender's documentation and provide the interested party with details of its service history. 

An email was sent out into the ether and I headed out around the Three Miler with the dogs.  About half way around my phone rang. It was the interested party. A short conversation followed where I discerned that a) he hadn't checked his spam folder, b) he lived down in Hampshire and c) he seemed very interested.

He said he'd like to see whether he could get up to see the Defender on Friday and committed to calling me later in the day to confirm when he could come and view the car.

The day trundled on and the afternoon saw me meet up with Buzzer for a ride out on our bikes. Our route took had us skirting the outskirts of Evesham and Pershore, before heading out towards Upton-upon-Severn. From Upton we took the A38 towards Tewkesbury, before heading back towards Evesham on the A46.

We peeled off the A46 and headed down the B4077, stopping at Toddington for a coffee. After a break and a chat, we headed up to Stow-on-the-Wold. From Stow we headed out to Morton-in-Marsh. I have to report that the North Cotswolds looked absolutely glorious in the warm Spring sunshine. Rolling hills, honey coloured stone villages, sheep filled pastures. It really is a fine part of the world.

From Moreton we headed back towards Evesham via Bourton-on-the-Hill and Broadway. It was then a short run towards Dunnington, where we parted company and headed towards our respective homes.

30% and I were having an early evening meal, as we were out tonight attending the Comedy Club at Redditch's Palace Theatre.

As I sat down and attempted to take the first forkful, my phone rang. It was the interested party, who advised that he would like to come over tomorrow afternoon to view the Land Rover ... Bloody Hell, I might actually have a buyer!

Friday, 21 March 2025

Friday was slightly less frenetic, but there was a certain sense of anticipation following yesterday's conversations about the Defender.

I walked the dogs in the morning and the chap arrived to see the car shortly after lunch.

After a very brief viewing and a short run around the lanes he decided that he'd like to make an offer. 

His offer was great, but I'm old enough to know that the first offer is just that ... an opening move. I therefore upped his offer by two hundred and fifty quid and stuck out my hand. He paused and then shook my hand. The deal was done.

He advised that he'd like to collect the car on Saturday and I offered to collect him from Evesham station ... after all he had just paid top money for a sixteen year old Land Rover!

We were out again this evening. This time it was to see the Pissed Up Panto, again at The Palace in Redditch.

I saw an adult panto a couple of years ago in Monmouth and thoroughly enjoyed it, but unfortunately I can't say the same about this one. The were a couple of scenes that were reasonably funny, but a lot of it went on far too long, and substituted expletives and on-stage drinking for a well crafted comedy script ... 4/10.

What I should mention was that Thursday's comedy club event was great and we are already thinking about attending the next one in May. 

I should also mention that TP welcomed us back from the Theatre. He will be spending the weekend with us

Saturday, 22 March 2025

Obviously my first mission was to head over to Evesham and pick up the interested party buyer. 

We chatted as we headed towards home and I ascertained that he was a lovely chap with a very well paid job in Finance and Carbon offsets. He definitely fell in to the more money than sense category of car buyer.  

After checking that my bank balance looked far more healthy, I waved the new owner off and wandered back to the house.

There was, however, no opportunity for resting upon laurels of any sort.

We collectively spent the next few hours tidying the house in preparation for what could be loosely described as a college reunion.

30% and I attended that fine educational establishment known in the 1980's as Wolverhampton Polytechnic.  Our circle of poly friends included C & M, and we are incredibly lucky to have maintained the friendship and now also include their long suffering wives. 

C&S rolled up in the early afternoon and, after a cuppa and a chat, I headed out with Hobson, C and S for a wander around the Three Miler.

As we arrived back home it was apparent that M&M had arrived and we all settled for tea and cake and a lot of chat and laughter.

The day continued in that vein with champagne, wine and dinner making an appearance in the evening. We all eventually retired at some point after midnight, having revelled in an evening of 80's vinyl and a very funny game of Cards Against Humanity.

Sunday, 23 March 2025

It will be no surprise that Sunday was definitely a day of rest.

The gang departed after many cups of tea and brunch featuring scrambled eggs, toast, croissants and yet more tea.

The afternoon included a snooze on the sofa and I can report that the drive does look not quite right now the Defender has gone.

A possible buyer?

The day started with a short walk down the lane with the dogs. 

It would have been longer, but I bumped in to John; a rugby player, turned school teacher, turned watercolour artist. He's a fascinating chap and an entertaining conversationalist, so I did an about turn and wandered back to wards home chatting with John.

I then headed in to Alcester to pick up some silicon sealant remover. This relates to one of those little jobs that I have been successfully avoiding for months ... I need to re-seal the shower screen.

30% disappeared out for an extended lunch with Jules, so home alone, I pulled the lawn mower form the shed and mowed the verges at the front and the small area of lawn by the garage.

This effort resulted in a massive hypo, and lunch, followed by a long snooze, was required as a restorative measure.

In the afternoon I completed a circuit of the Three Miler with Hobson before a period of pottering.*

As the afternoon turned to evening I headed down to the lane for Wednesday's Tai Chi session. 30% bailed due to her painful knee, so I was alone attempting the complexities of the Infinite, Stage 4 ... the footwork had me literally tripping over myself at certain points.

So that would be it for Thursday, apart from the fact that we have finally had some interest in the Defender. A message has been received asking for MOT and Service History details.

It looks like I'll have a bit of auto admin to perform tomorrow morning.

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* Any activity that makes me look far busier than I actually am. I can look incredibly busy with a book in my hand!

Catching up ... again!

I've been a bit busier than normal and have got a little behind with The Journal.  This is an attempt to get back up-to-date.

Thursday, 13 March 2025 

The main achievement for Thursday was to finally get the Defender advertised on the Autotrader website. Since I am documenting this nearly a week later, I think it fair to say that I have been deafened by the silence from my phone. I'll give it another week before I consider dropping the price a little ... I was being rather ambitious.

My exercise regimen continues and I managed to complete  a couple of walks today; a short one with all three dogs and then a circuit of the Three Miler with Hobson

The day was rounded off with a trip in to Birmingham to see Now that's what I call a musical at the Alexandra Theatre.

The show was based around pop classics from the early eighties and used a piss poor High School Reunion narrative in an attempt to link them together. It was well performed, but the plot was clumsily constructed.  We had a pleasant enough evening, but I wouldn't recommend it ... watch the original song videos on YouTube instead.

Friday, 14 March 2025

The day started with a trip to B&Q, where I picked up a few essentials for some upcoming electrical work.

Later in the morning I accompanied 30% down to the local surgery.  She has been experiencing some hip and knee pain, which are not improving and it was definitely time to get some professional attention.

The GP was amazingly candid in his approach and freely admitted that he hadn't got a clue. He did however agree that further investigations were needed. He made the necessary referrals and even suggested that a private consultation  would be worthwhile to move things along at pace.

The afternoon saw a further circuit of the Three Miler and then I spent some time in the workshop gathering tools, cables and fittings that will be needed tomorrow.

Saturday, 15 March 2025

I do like a little bit of electrical work and Saturday morning saw me scrabbling around in the roof space of the cottage.

My goal was to replace the tatty spotlights in the bathroom, with something a little more current. The old spots were rusty and their cabling had suffered from rodent damage, so were definitely overdue for replacement.

It wasn't a huge job, but it took a good chunk of the morning to create a simple wiring loom, locate an earth wire and get the light fittings connected and tested.

The afternoon saw me complete another three mile circuit with Hobson and then clean the bathroom ceiling in preparation for painting.

Sunday, 16 March 2025

Sunday's sole achievement was to get two coats of emulsion on the bathroom ceiling.

I don't mind painting but this job was not fun. The room is barely big enough to swing the proverbial cat and is cluttered with immovable sanitary ware.

I therefore spent most of the day wriggling around and climbing over shower screens, lavatory pedestals and basins whilst trying to avoid stray splashes of paint.

We have both agreed that the next room to be decorated will be free of furniture and I might actually be able to get an unobstructed run with the paint roller!

Monday, 17 March 2025

Monday saw me snap the new bathroom lights back in to their cut outs and I was finally able to see the full effect of my efforts.

I'm pleased with the job and it has, sort of, encouraged me consider further decorating ... note that I said "consider" rather than "commit to"!

I also managed a couple of walks with the dogs and we also popped in for afternoon tea with Mummy Sheila.

Tuesday, 18 March 2025

I've been looking at the state of the lawns for a few weeks and have noticed that many of the villagers have already completed their first and, even, second cuts of the year.

Well, today I finally pulled the mower from the shed and completed the first cut of 2025.

They look much tidier and make the place look a little more presentable ... just in time for our upcoming weekend guests.

Crouching tiger eats a biscuit

On yesterday's dog walk I bumped in to Kung Po Fran.* 

We passed the time of day and I enquired about whether she had any vacancies in the exercise classes that she runs in the local Parish Education Centre. She confirmed that she did and, after a later chat with 30%, we had booked ourselves in to attend Fran's Wednesday Tai Chi class.**

Now, back to today. 

First activity was to get the Defender dropped off at the garage in Astwood Bank for its MOT test.

That took very little time and I was soon back at home in the kitchen. We have friends coming to stay on the 22nd and 30% thought it would be nice for me to make them a cake. 

After my success at Christmas I decide to knock up another carrot cake.  The cake took most of the morning and I can report that, short of actually tasting it, it seems to have been a successful bake.***

As the cake was cooling the garage called to confirm that the Defender had passed its MOT and could be collected at any time. This is a relief and the final step before advertising it on Autotrader.

I then headed out with Hobson around the Three Miler. 

On my return there was time for a quick coffee before heading over to collect the car. The garage were amazed by the condition of the vehicle and confirmed that my asking price was spot on ... let's hope potential buyers agree!

There was then time for a quick kip before we headed down the lane for our Tai Chi lesson.

I must admit that I was somewhat apprehensive, as some of the routines and sequences are quite complex and I am, most definitely, not a dancer!

However we both enjoyed ourselves and even remembered certain moves and positions. The one I recall with absolute certainty is the crouching tiger eats a biscuit. ****

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* This is clearly a nickname, developed from my proclivity to confuse and bastardise facts in an attempt to amuse myself

** We are not absolute beginners, as we used to go to Fran's class about five years ago. Our attendance was curtailed for reasons I can't recall, but I do remember how much we enjoyed the physical and mental challenges of this incredibly complex exercise/choreography/martial art class.

*** One might think that it will be stale by 22nd March, but the cake freezes incredibly well. It will be thawed and iced the day before our guests arrive.

**** This is absolutely true. If I remember correctly it is a chocolate hobnob.

Insulation trial

A good part of today was spent faffing around with offcuts of PIR insulation sheet, generally referred to as Celotex or Kingspan in these parts.

My ultimate aim is insulate our timber framed garage by filling the apertures between the studs and noggins with Celotex/Kingspan. The roof will also need to be insulated and then thin OSB sheet will be used to line the interior.

Once it is suitably insulated and lined, I plan to install a small oil filled radiator to raise the temperature and, hopefully, minimise condensation issues.

All of that is a long way down the road, and today's efforts were to familiarise myself with the product.

Overall it went fairly well and I can confirm that a multitool is perfect for cutting the sheets. A permanent marker and straight edge are a must for marking out, and you need to cut a millimetre, or so, oversize so that the panels can be wedged tightly in to the apertures.

What I can report is that working with offcuts is a pain in the backside.  Two, or even three, pieces of Celotex are needed to fill each aperture, and that means twice or thrice the amount of measuring and cuts needed. It also means that more aluminium foil tape is required to seal the joints.

I appreciate that there will always be offcuts to deal with, but having complete sheets would allow me to work out the most economical way to carry out the job.

This little trial took a few hours and it likely to have virtually no impact on the thermal efficiency of the building. What it did achieve is that I now have a better idea of what I am doing and the likely amount of materials needed.

The only other news for today is that I also managed another circuit of the Three Mile with Hobson. As this is now a near daily event, I'm not sure how much longer I can refer to it as news?

Pottering

The weather is markedly cooler after the weekend's fine weather, and a hat was a definite must for this morning's walk around the Three Miler with Hobson. 

I'd like to say that we are both looking a little more streamlined* after the recent introduction of our new regimen, but I think we will need a few more weeks months before I can make that observation.

This afternoon involved a trip over to Worcester to pick up some paint for the bathroom ... It seems that I have some decorating to do.

We also had a visit from an acquaintance who had a few offcuts of PIR insulation sheet going spare. These are now piled in our trailer, and it looks like I will also be attempting to cut them and fit them in the walls of our timber framed garage. This will be a trial ... I have a half developed plan to insulate and line the garage. This will, hopefully make it possible to work in there during the colder months.

---

* Hobson, like his owner, has put on a little timber over the Winter months.

First ride out

Today's main event was to be a ride out with Buzzer.

I arranged this yesterday after I got, in my opinion, a rather abrupt and thoughtless rejection from Bubbles, when I asked him if he fancied a ride out.

It seems that he wanted to have his first ride on his own rather than in company,* and he did that on Saturday afternoon. He then asked if I wanted a ride on Sunday and I replied that I'd already arranged to go out with Buzzer and he could tag along if he liked.**

So the day unfolded as follows. I took Hobson out around the Three Miler this morning, and we then had an early lunch. 

Bubbles arrived around noon and we headed over to Alcester to meet up with Buzzer.  The weather this afternoon was glorious and we had a quite splendid ride out ... sedate, but splendid

Our route took us out through Wixford, and on in to Stratford, before heading through Ettington towards Banbury. From Banbury we headed back via Kineton,*** Compton Verney and Wellesbourne. We skirted around the southern edge of Stratford and returned via Bidford on Avon. This allowed us a final blast up the bypass back to Alcester.

It was a great run out and my first real ride on the R 1250 R after the horrendous foggy run up the motorway when I collected her in January. 

I felt a little more at home with her and my gearshifts were far, far less graunchy. If I'm honest I would have preferred it to be just me and Buzzer as Bubbles is very slow at the moment. Even though I am still running in the bike, I could ride a little more briskly than the newbie.

Whilst on the subject of running in, I really need to get my act together and get out on whenever the weather allows.

I need to complete another five hundred miles and get the bike serviced before I head off to Germany in June ... I also need to get a lot fitter!

---

* I would have thought he would have welcomed a bit of company in case he had a problem with the bike or he ended up in a hedge? Shit can happen on a bike! ... especially if you're new to it.

** Cos a) I do have plenty of mates with bikes and b) they don't need baby minding because they've been riding for thirty or forty years, rather than thirty or forty minutes.

*** Where we stopped at Gilks Cafe for a coffee

The hive is doing well

 Without going in to too much detail, it is fair to ay that last night's curry did not sit well with me.

I don't know whether it was rich food, a couple of beers, or a combination of the two, but I didn't stray far from the conveniences this morning. There was no headache or other hangover like symptoms. I just felt a little off.

I had perked up a little by lunchtime and threw together and sandwich. However eating it was another matter and I only managed half, before giving up and returning to the sofa.

I eventually got my act together and headed out to carry out the first inspection of the year on my colony of bees.

The recent warm, sunny weather had resulted in a significant amount of activity in the hive,  and the bees have been bringing in a reasonable quantity of pollen. This suggests that the queen is now laying, as the pollen is a vital protein source for the brood.

Right, back to the inspection. I grabbed a couple of spare frames of stores just in case and headed up to the hive.

After giving them a couple of puffs of smoke, I removed the hive lid and noted that the bees had cleaned out the last scraps of candy from the packs on the crown board.  They were obviously feed ing well and I hoped that they hadn't run short of food.

I gently prised the crown board away from the brood box and rewarded with the colony covering the six or seven central frames. I then started to work my way through the frames checking each one.

The outer frames had stored honey, but not huge amounts. As I got nearer the centre of the colony I could see that there was a reasonable amount of stores and the middle three frames had brood in various stages of development.

I also caught sight of the queen as I selected and swapped out a couple of depleted frames with the stores I brought from my store room.

With the hive reassembled I returned to the house and tried having a kip as a restorative measure ... an hour or so later I felt somewhat more normal and headed out around the Three Miler with Hobson,  The Rat and Whiffler.

As usual, they enjoyed the walk, exploring the scents and the scattering of sheep shit along the road! High point of the walk was the fallow deer skeleton that The Rat found tangled in the base of a hedgerow.

So that was Saturday. I felt better as the day progressed and I have just about avoided mentioning a rather thoughtless exchange when I attempted to arrange a ride out with Bubbles.

A visit to The Palace

 There was nothing of great importance to report for today.

I got my steps in by walking down to the local surgery to collect a prescription and by taking Hobson around the Three Miler in the afternoon.

We did make it out for a curry at the Shahi Palace with B&H this evening. It was great fun, involved a reasonable amount of booze,* and an enormous quantity of food.

After returning home we all sat around with an uncomfortably stuffed feeling. The one thing we learnt is that we, most definitely, should not have ordered starters.

---

* no surprises there!

A missed opportunity and a stupid mistake

 The plan for today was very much like the one for yesterday; get up, let out chickens, breakfast, walk dogs etc.

However the air was warm, the skies were blue and the bees were flying. It might be time for the first colony inspection of 2025. 

I checked the air temperature and it was just over 15 ℃. Warm enough, provided I was quick and didn't let any uncapped brood chill.

I started to gather my equipment and made a mental list of things I might need; a pack of candy, a couple of frames of stores, fuel for my smoker and so on. 

As I prepared my smoke fuel* I felt somewhat peckish and headed in for a spot of lunch. 

After eating I prepared to go up to the hive when I noticed that the sky had clouded over and the air had chilled ... Bugger! It now looks like it will be Saturday before I get a chance to see how the colony are doing.

With an inspection being out of the question, I decided to take Hobson for a walk around the Three Miler. I checked my blood sugar** and thought "that'll be alright" and headed out of the door.

As I reached the furthest point from home I started to feel a little odd and checked my blood glucose again ... Fuck! It was very low and I had stupidly not brought any emergency snacks along with me.

It was a long, slow trudge back home, which was fortunately uneventful.

It is fair to say that I did little else for the remainder of the afternoon, other than recover.

---

* a short cylinder of rolled corrugated cardboard

** Welcome to the world of diabetes

Hoping for a quick sale

 The weather over the past few days has been beautiful. Frosty nights followed by fine days with clear blue skies.

Walking has been a pleasure, as the lanes are dry, meaning that the dogs don't need washing after an outing.

I have managed to meet my step and heart point targets for a second day, but this increase in activity is playing merry hell with my blood sugar levels. I think some adjustment to my insulin doses will be required if I keep this up.

The main achievement for today was that I finally drafted an advertisement for the Defender to accompany the photos taken on Saturday. It is almost exactly ten years since we bought it, and the time has finally come for someone else to enjoy the idiosyncrasies of Land Rover ownership.*

I may be being ambitious with the asking price, but I'd rather have to reduce the price than sell it too cheaply. 

So I thought I would add a few photos of the car in memoriam. I wrote a similar Journal entry for my previous Defender, and it seems right that I should do the same for the 110.

It certainly has "presence" on the road

snug, but reasonably comfortable

Its turning circle makes most car parks a pain

The rarely used 3rd row seats

A space usually filled with dogs or fishing tackle

Considering its size, it's amazing how may people
don't see it and pull out in front of you!

---

* They are certainly an acquired taste and owners gloss over many aspects of Defender ownership. These include the fact that virtually all of them leak, anyone over 5' 8" will struggle to fit in the driver's seat, and the fact that you need to be able to actually drive rather than just sit in the vehicle and push buttons and pedals!

Can I keep it up?

Sunday's outing to Forhill demonstrated one thing.

A Winter spent sat on my backside had done nothing for my level of fitness. 

I had found myself panting as I made my way up the hill of the shooting ground. I could try to fool myself that wearing a big coat and wellingtons and struggling with a shotgun and a couple of kilos of cartridges were all contributing factors to my wheezing.

But I know that, in truth, a lazy Winter spent reading and cooking has made me terribly unfit.

With an upcoming motorcycle tour, a lot of gardening and aiming to live as long as possible, I really need to put some effort in to improving my level of fitness.

I made a start today by getting out nice and early with the dogs. We had a short walk of a little over a mile down towards one of Beekeeper Pete's apiaries.

I then returned home and got on with various domestic duties.

After lunch I took advantage of the beautiful weather and walked the Three Miler* with Hobson. It seems that I have met my step and heart point targets according to my Google fitness tracker!

That sums up my Tuesday. I did remove the mouse guard from the hive up in the orchard, as the bees are now very active. I also got the Defender booked in for its MOT test ... a prerequisite for getting it sold.

---

* Easier to say than the more accurate two and a half miler

I'm back

I can't say that I haven't had time to jot down a Journal entry. There is always time. I am retired for God's sake. Surely I could have found a few minutes to jot down a few words?

I'm not sure what the reason is. I've been a bit busier than I have over the preceding Winter months, but I have had time. Clearly there have been distractions, and a fair helping of laziness.

Well, I'm here now, so this is what I've been up to.

Thursday, 27 February, 2025

I was out of the house early this morning for a check up at the Ophthalmology clinic. They seemed happy enough with my IOP levels, but totally ignored my report of worsening dry eye and inflamed eyelid symptoms. 

Fortunately I have been referred to an NHS Corneal Clinic, so my potentially misplaced optimism gives me hope of a treatment regime that actually works.

In the afternoon I headed over to the other side of Evesham to meet up with Bubbles at his place of work. He had kindly offered to give the Defender a clean using his employer's car wash facilities.

We had an enjoyable hour getting the car clean and ready to be marketed. The recent dry weather meant that I actually managed to get it back home without it getting splattered with road filth.

Friday, 28 February, 2025

The day had finally come to say goodbye to 30%'s little Seat Arona.

It was another trip up to Nottingham to drop off the Seat and pick up the X3. 

There is little else to report. The new car is lovely and a pleasure to drive. 

The interesting thing is how 30% reacted to it. She took to it like the proverbial duck to water when she test drove it tend days previously. However I could see that she was incredibly apprehensive now she actually owns it.

30% comes across as an incredibly confident and can do type of person. She wears a mantle of self assurance that totally conceals her inner insecurities. It is most surprising to see that a new car is the one thing that will cause this mantle to fall.

I guess that after twenty five years we know each other incredibly well and I can sense her change in disposition ... I do say that I can read her like a pamphlet!

Saturday, 1 March, 2025

30% had been alerted to a local Land Rover club meet down at the Handcart and Fortified Structure this afternoon.

This seemed an ideal opportunity to get the Defender down there to get some feedback on its condition, and perhaps some purchaser interest.

I therefore spent the morning cleaning the inside of the Defender and polishing any bits that had been missed by Bubbles and me on Thursday.

By the time I had finished it looked quite splendid, considering that it is sixteen years old.

The Land Rover meet was great fun. We didn't get a sale, but we got lots of very positive feedback and the general consensus is that it should sell quickly ... fingers crossed

Sunday, 2 March, 2025

This morning found me heading over towards Alvechurch with Bubbles and Ben.

The Forhill shoot has finally reopened after closing down back in 2021 and we were off to shoot at its inaugural event. 

It was a beautiful clear morning and the ground has stunning views across the Lickey Hills and away towards Kidderminster.

It was a challenging shoot and I was rather pleased with my score of 59/100. Bubbles is of the opinion that the course is of a similar standard to CPSA registered shoots, so I did reasonably well.

We'll definitely be back there, although the ground is notoriously wet and wellingtons are going to be a must based on how quickly the ground around the stands got churned up.

Monday, 3 March, 2025

By early afternoon I was home alone.

30% and Jules have headed up to Ashby-de-la-Zouch for a Spa break.

As for me, I just pottered. I headed out for poultry food and petrol and rearranged the appointment for the recall work on the 5 Series.

I also finally got the last of the honey bottled and cleaned up the sticky mess that I had created in the utility room.

Let's hope I can be slightly more productive tomorrow.

Longing for warmer weather

The past couple of days have been inconsequential.

Stuff has been done, but not a lot of it. I suppose this may be symptomatic of my Winter frame of mind. I seem to be thinking and planning rather than actually doing and achieving.

I am enjoying my time reading and making loose plans, but I'm really longing for warmer days. I see lots of things that need to be done, but it is just too wet or too cold to get out there and get things done.

The garden is starting to demand attention and, as the weather warms, I have a motorcycle to become familiar with.

For the moment I am doing my best to gain some sense of achievement by bottling the honey Pete dropped off a couple of days ago. Twenty pounds of it now sit in little hexagonal jars and my roadside stall is now re-stocked.

I did spend some time in  the garage with my recently acquired phone cradle for the R 1250 R.  I now understand how it is fitted to the bike and my phone and the BMW app have been successfully paired with the BMW too. Once back in the warm, I have started to familiarise myself with the satellite navigation functions.

I now need some warm weather and dry roads to see how well the sat nav performs and how secure the cradle really is ... I don't want to be retrieving fragments of my Samsung from the roadside.

A busier day

 After a short walk with the dogs, 30% decided that we should head over to the auction house and pick up the wood turning lathe.

The trailer was hitched up to the Defender and we were soon off down the road towards Littleton.  Cash was exchanged and we then discovered that the lathe was a lot heavier than expected. 

I was confident that we could load and unload it, but my main concern was that it had a cast iron bed and was very top heavy. It is fair to say that I took a lot of care roping it to the trailer and we didn't exceed thirty five miles an hour on our return journey. 

Every bump, manhole and pot hole was approached with care, but the lathe wobbled alarmingly at each one encountered.  It was fair to say that we were both relieved to arrive home with our cargo intact.

I have decided that having a Land Rover and Trailer encourage me to collect items that should really be delivered by professionals!

So that was the morning covered and by lunchtime our stress levels had returned to somewhere near normal. 

Pete the Beekeeper called in shortly after lunch with a tub of honey. He stopped for a chat and were pleased to hear he is feeling much improved after a recent heath issue. Like all of us, the years are taking their toll. He is in his eighth decade and is starting to consider slowing down.

He has about fifty colonies and I am truly amazed that he manages to look after them all. I found that half a dozen colonies took up a good amount of time and extracting honey was a four day event. 

Christ knows how he manages fifty colonies in his mid seventies! I'm not surprised that he is ready to cut back.

Pete was aware that I had lost a colony over the Winter, and advised that he had another colony that I could have to take its place. He is an incredibly generous fellow and I do feel incredibly lucky to count him as a friend.

On the subject of friendship I managed, in a small way, to to return one of the many favours Bubbles has done me over the years ... Late this afternoon I received a text message to advise that he was having major problems drilling in to the concrete floor of his garage.

He was attempting to install a ground anchor for his new motorcycle, but his hammer drill was nowhere near powerful enough to drill in to concrete.  Like some peculiar emergency builder, I threw my SDS drill and bits in the back of the Defender and headed over to Evesham. 

Fortunately my SDS drill was easily up to the job and we soon had the holes drilled. Completing the install was not that straightforward as the expanding bolts weren't of the best quality. There was a fair bit of faffing to get them in place and get the anchor bolted down, but we got there in the end.

This little bit of DIY support reduced Bubbles stress level significantly and, apparently, for this assistance, I have been granted the epithet; Legend.

Nina Conti at the Alex

 It was another soggy day and the weather worsened with each passing hour.

By lunchtime the skies were releasing a steady cold rain and the wind was gusting. It really was the sort of day to stay indoors and enjoy the warmth of the fire.

However that was not to be the case for us. 

Back before Christmas 30% had booked four tickets for Nina Conti's Whose Face Is It Anyway? show at the Alexandra Theatre in Birmingham. The other two tickets were a Christmas gift for Bubbles & Bobbyn.

So, as the skies darkened further and the rain continued to pour, we bundled ourselves in to the car and headed in to the big city ... and we were all so pleased that we did.

Nina was absolutely hysterical. Her ability to channel some quite dark thoughts and her quick wits made the show laugh out loud funny from start to end.

It was most definitely worth braving the horrible weather to see the show.

Acquiring new skills

 It was another quiet day.

However, it seems that I will be spending a fair amount of time acquiring knowledge, as 30% has purchased a wood turning lathe from a local auction.

My father used to do a bit of turning in his retirement and we have a collection of rather chunky wooden coasters that are evidence of his skill level ... or lack thereof. 

As for me, I was going today that I have never used a lathe, but that isn't strictly true. 

When I was a teenager I used to have a weekend job working in a boatyard off Common Road in Evesham. My job was to assist with the servicing of a narrowboat fleet and to train hirers in their handling and operation. This was before they were allowed out to cruise on the River Avon.

Now you might ask, "what is this to do with woodturning?" 

Well, I'm getting to that. In the workshop was a huge engineers lathe. In our lunch breaks we would mount sections of broken broom handle in the lathe. With the aid of whichever chisel could be found, we used to turn amateurish chess pieces for our own entertainment.

So, you see, I really haven't got a clue about woodturning, but it seems that I need to develop a new skill. Check out future Journal entries for pictures of crappy candlesticks and broken bowls.

In other news, Bubbles turned up this afternoon and collected the R nineT.  There was a bit of a wobble as he headed off down the road and I reminded myself that he too needs to acquire new skills. 

Relaxation

 The past couple of days have been milder, but wet and grey.

The weather may be warmer, but the damp and gloom discourages me from anything more than ensuring the fire is lit and the house stays warm.

Part of me feels that I should be doing something, but another part says, "relax and take it easy". I am retired after all, and the garden can wait until it dries out and the weather is fair.

I haven't simply sat in front of the television this Winter, although 30% and I have decided to rewatch Game of Thrones. 

We tend to consume a couple of episodes each day and are just as enthralled with the intrigue, performances and visual splendour as we were when we watched it the first time. We are currently making our way through Series 5, and have yet to decide whether to watch the disappointing eighth series. 

I have also been doing a fair amount of reading. 

Back in December I took out a digital subscription to The New Scientist and I am absolutely loving having access to its articles and back issues. I always used to take a daily peek at the website and read the free articles, but now, with full access, I can become absorbed for probably longer than I should.

For fiction I am re-reading Terry Pratchett's Witches novels and A Hat Full of Sky and The Wintersmith have been consumed in the past few days. They are not hard work, but they are great fun to read, beautifully observed and beautifully written.

My days have not solely been filled with leisure activities. 

Today 30% and I nipped over to Littleton Auctions to view the lots. She had noticed that there was a wood turning lathe for sale and it is something I always fancied trying. Auction day is tomorrow, so we will see whether a bargain can be had.

I have also noticed that I am having a condensation issue in the garage. As a result I now need to look at acquiring a bike drier and looking at options for insulation the space.

Hobson goes out for lunch

 Wednesday was wet and gloomy.

The perfect day for keeping out of the weather, socialising and staying warm. And that is exactly what we did.

Dot & Dave are currently dog sitting for their son and had invited us over for lunch. The invitation included all three of our mutts as their son's dog is an only dog and is fond of having our three over for a play date.

Django is a Lagotta Romagnola and is a lovely boy. He has a few issues ... separation anxiety, a strong dislike of the car and he does like to bark, but he is a lovely dog. He is great with other dogs and absolutely loves to meet up and play with Hobson, our youngest.

As the weather was unpleasant 30% decided that we should only take Hobson over for our lunch date. Four large dogs bouncing around inside would not have been a good idea, so we bundled Hobson in to the back of the Defender and headed over for a spot of lunch.

We had a lovely few hours catching up on each others' news and sharing a lovely lunch. 

There is nothing else of great import to report. 30% has dealt with car registration matters and her little Seat now bears its original registration once more. Monies have been moved around and I think there is little else to do with regard to the purchase of the new car.

Now we need to focus on getting the Defender scrubbed up and sold.

A Journey to Nottingham

 Today's Journal entry could be about a trip to Nottingham to see a car.

I suppose, in some ways, it is, but it is also about me and Nottingham. A little of my back story, if you like.

30% and I hit the road after a leisurely breakfast and were soon heading up the M42. As we neared the city we both commented about how we used to drive this route regularly over twenty five years ago.

30% used to have a fling with a chap who lived in West Bridgford, and me, I lived and worked up there from the early 1990's through to early in the 2000's.

Back to the car. We saw it. We loved it. We struck a deal and we bought it! ... I'll be driving this route again at the end of next week when we go to collect it.

Now back to me and Nottingham. 

After graduating from Wolverhampton Polytechnic, I had a series of laboratory assistant roles. These ranged from animal feed quality testing through bee disease diagnosis to road construction materials testing. 

One day my father bought home a newspaper clipping that had been clipped and proffered by one of his colleagues. It seemed that the Administration Group of the Inland Revenue were recruiting and he thought I might be interested.

To cut a long story* short, I applied, was accepted, and started work with the Inland Revenue Superannuation Funds Office in Hinchley Wood, Surrey in October 1987.**

In the late 80's the Inland Revenue made a strategic decision to move their Administrative Group out of London. As a result I found myself relocated to Nottinghamshire in 1991.

At that time I was in a long term relationship with TP's mother.*** We initially rented a little cottage in Sutton Bonnington before we settled in a fixer upper in Chapel Lane, Granby. 

Over the next few years we made the house liveable, got married and had a child, before TP's mother decided that she could find a far better life companion than me. 

We separated, and later divorced, and I found myself living a few miles down the road in Lime Grove, Bottesford.  This would be 1998/99.

And there I lived, swapping between bachelorhood and parenting, depending on whether TP was in residence, or not.

The separation and move to Bottesford coincided with me leaving the Inland Revenue and joining a local cable TV company called Diamond Cable. Over the next couple of years that company was part of a number of mergers and acquisitions and became a company called ntl: It later became the core of Virgin Media.

I worked in ntl's IT Department and our roles were outsourced to IBM in 2001. I was eventually redeployed to work on an IBM Account based at their offices in Worcester.

It was during this time that 30% and I became reacquainted and a couple. As our relationship developed we started to live together and eventually sold our respective houses and settled in another fixer upper ... The Pile in September 2004.

So that's a potted career history and a tale of a return journey to Nottingham.

---

* Eleven years

** The Monday after the 1987 Hurricane struck the South of England.

*** Biological. It was 30% that did the nurturing stuff!

Oh, it's red

We have been considering slimming down our collection of vehicles for the past few weeks.

The Defender is absolutely extortionate to tax* and it does little more than the occasional trip to the Tip and a weekly fishing outing during the lighter months. It may be a cool vehicle, but it is costing one thousand pounds a year to tax and insure. Then I need to take account of diesel costs, if I am to actually drive it.

We have decided that it is time for it to go. Our plan is to sell the Defender and part-exchange 30%'s little Seat Arona. As for our proposed new vehicle, we plan to buy a larger, petrol engined SUV and have a tow bar fitted. This will enable us to still be able to pull a trailer to the Tip and to navigate the rutted tracks down to the River Avon.

30% has found a very nice BMW X3 up in Nottingham and has scheduled a viewing and test drive for tomorrow.

No problem I hear you say, apart from the fact that I have seen pig sties cleaner than her Seat and hovels that are tidier.

Needless to say, the car needed to be cleaned today.** So 30% did what any responsible car owner would do and buggered off to Ikea with the coven.

Muggins here was left to brave the cold and spend a most of the day cleaning the exterior. It took a good few hours with the pressure washer and then a bucket of hot, soapy water to get it clean, but the end result was worth it.

I point blank refused to touch the interior of the car ... that was 30%'s job when she returned from her shopping jolly.

---

* £735.00 per annum

** to maximise its px value

Day of rest

 Last night was a late one!

Large quantities of rich food and red wine were consumed, and, as a result, I was less than enthusiastic this morning. I didn't feel sick and there was no headache. I just did not feel like doing much at all.

The day started with the chickens being fed and watered and the log rack was refilled.  I did take the dogs out for a short walk whilst 30% tidied the kitchen. But, other than that, Sunday was definitely a day of rest.

My one accomplishment was to book my LeShuttle tickets for the Black Forest tour in June. 

That's it ... I've committed.

I now need to get some miles under my belt on the new bike and ensure I am comfortable with her.