Apparently it's a charm

 I seem to be slowly grinding to a halt. 

I don't know whether it is a seasonally induced demotivation, but I am having problems getting my arse in to gear at the moment.

Today I managed to perform a little admin and I can report that Bubbles has made my bank balance look healthier by paying for the R nineT. This means that my motorcycle collection is now no larger than the amount of shoes my wardrobe. I challenge 30% to disagree with this fact ... the numbers cannot lie!

That was about it for the day, apart from keeping the log rack filled and a welcoming fire in the hearth. In fact, it was so welcoming that I spent a lot of time in front of it with a book.

I do have one other thing to report. For the past couple of months 30% has been feeding Niger seeds to the birds in the garden.  Previously we have rarely seen goldfinches, but they have become a regular sighting since she started to offer these little black seeds.

The goldfinches are a welcome visitor to the garden with their fabulous plumage. One might think that bullfinches and chaffinches are pretty birds, but then the goldfinch turns up and outshines them.

This morning I looked out to see ten of these little beauties on and around the Niger seed feeder. Apparently the collective noun for a group of goldfinches is a charm.

I didn't do much

 It was another bitterly cold day and, as a result, I was disinclined to do anything but sit in front of the fire.

However the ashes needed to be cleared from the log burner and the log rack needed filling before I could relight the fire. 

Sorting out the fire and various other pottering activities meant that it was lunchtime before I succumbed, and got a fire blazing.

As the afternoon ticked on I felt that I really ought to achieve something, so I headed out to the workshop.

My plan was to make a replacement sign for my little honey stall. The original sign was damaged a few weeks ago when some old duffer reversed their car in to my stall and drove over the sign.

The sign is made from a roofing slate, trimmed to size, with the lettering done with a paint pen. It is very simple, but "Local Honey, £4.00" is sufficient to bring in the customers.

Anyway, I got the slate cut to size before I made an executive decision; I had spent fifteen minutes in the workshop and my hands were frozen. I decreed that signwriting was a clean job and the best place to finish the sign was in the lounge, in front of the fire.

It was a matter of half an hour's work to knock up my new little sign.

Simple, but effective!

It is somewhat ironic that I ran out of honey last week and need another bucket of honey before the new sign has any value.

In other news, I also managed to find a reasonably priced tyre for the 5 Series. Bubbles has confirmed that he will fit it for me, so I'm confident of making a significant saving on the price quoted by the Dealership.

So, that's it for Monday ... I didn't do much, although I'm ploughing through Terry Pratchett's A Hat Full of Sky.

An annual event?

 Over the past few days Dog #4 aka The Rat has been undergoing a prolonged hair cut. 

On Friday I trimmed her face and on Saturday 30% gave her a long overdue bath. The Rat was reasonably well behaved during this annual event and came out of it looking like, well, a drowned rat!

Today I was left home alone and it was time for phase 3 of this grooming marathon. I grabbed my clippers and persuaded The Rat off today's bed of choice.  We took up residency in the Smug and the clippers were soon whirring.

She behaved reasonably well as the hair from her neck and body was shorn. However I knew that her behaviour would change as soon as I reached her legs and underbody. She hates having her leg clipped and it was a challenge to hold her still and manage to do her legs. 

I took a couple of breaks and used several biscuits as bribes to maintain her cooperation. 

Eventually the job was done and I'd say she looks good enough to take out in public ... just don't look too closely at her feet ... they can wait for another day. 

I hope I don't miss it too much

 Having spent more than I really wanted on the R 1250 R, I have been slowly liquidating assets to make up for the extravagance. 

The sale of the old Series 2 Land Rover and my Browning Liberty Light shotgun have improved my bank balance, and today, hopefully, it would be the turn of the BMW R nineT.

Bubbles has been very keen, but could/would not commit until he had passed his test and ridden it down the road. Today was the day for the test ride.

Having owned the bike since June 2019, I have found her to be almost faultless.  She looks fantastic and the performance from the Boxer twin motor is amazing. Huge amounts of torque make it effortless and handling is impressive too. She is no race rep, and I wouldn't want to tour* on her, but she would always be my first choice for an evening ride to the pub.

Anyway, I was pretty confident that Bubbles would love her, but he is new to biking and I needed to let him make his own decision. He only rode it a couple of hundred yards down the road before returning and letting me know that he wanted it.

He admitted that he was fairly certain that he was going to buy it and we laughed, as this is definitely a case of you never just go to look at a puppy, you are going to buy a puppy!**

Bubbs plans to pick her up next weekend, so he'll have a week of sorting out finances and insurance, whilst wishing the hours away. Next Saturday will come around soon enough.

As for me, I'm not sure how I feel about this. I haven't ridden the R 1250 because the weather is dreadful and the roads are filthy. That means that I have yet to form a proper bond with her. On the other hand, I loved the R nineT and I am certain that I will miss her.

I know that you can only ride one bike at a time and I know that I don't make the time for the bikes I have. But I am sure that I will miss her ... I just hope that it's not too much.

Let's end this Journal entry on a positive note. At least I don't have to clean her.

---

* Hence the purchase of the R 1250 R

** or kitten, or chickens, or cars etc, etc

Friday didn't turn out as expected

 I woke shortly after four this morning. I tried to get back to sleep, but after tossing and turning for about an hour, I gave up and got up.

The house was chilly, but there were a couple of logs in the hearth and there was a reasonable bed of embers in the log burner. Using these, I managed to coax the fire alight and soon the room started to warm. 

And so my day started. It was bitterly cold today. An icy wind was blowing in from the East and sleet was forecast for later. It was definitely a day for staying indoors. 

My only ventures outside were to let the chickens out and collect logs from the shed. I did also pick the last of the leeks.* These gave me the excuse to spend the morning in a warm kitchen making leek and potato soup.  

Unfortunately we were out of potatoes, so I needed to head out to the village shop for the aforementioned spuds. I decided to kill two birds with one stone and stopped off at Pete the Beekeepers house. I needed to drop off a honey bucket and, hopefully, order another, as supplies are running very low.

Concerningly, Pete shouted from a window that he was not able to come to the gate. I managed to ascertain that he was OK and that he did not need any help. He promised to call me later ... I really hope he is alright.

Back at home soup was made, the fire was fed logs on a regular basis and I curled up on the settee with a book.

Late in the afternoon 30% headed off for a physiotherapy appointment and returned with a worried look on her face about an hour later.  It seems that the Physio was concerned that she might have a condition where nerves at the base of her spine are compressed. He had referred her for immediate attention at the Accident and Emergency department in Worcester.

And, so we found ourselves sat in the waiting area of A&E. 30% was triaged quite promptly, but it was a long wait to see the Consultant. With her agreement, I returned home to feed the dogs and shut up the chickens. She eventually called at around half past nine to advise that she had been seen. It was the Consultant's view that all was well and there was no need for MRI scans or emergency surgery.

It is fair to say that she and I were both incredibly relieved.

Friday, most definitely, did not pan out as expected.

---

* Planted 13th August '24, var. Bleu de Solaise

Rate your experience on a scale of 1 to 10

Well! The BMW Dealership managed to further disappoint when I went to collect the car this morning.

There was a token discount applied to the invoice, but it was just that "token" and the actual adjustment was rapidly glossed over by the Service Manager. The manager could still provide no clarity on when the recall work will be done, so I paid up and headed out from the Service Reception to collect the car. 

I know it's a tiny thing, but it would have been nice to be pointed in the direction of the 5 Series, rather than having to wander around an underground car park until I found her.

I climbed in and immediately settled in to her rather fine cabin. I was soon heading towards the M5 when further disappointment occurred. 

When I checked the car in yesterday I distinctly recall asking that the rear tyre pressures be checked and adjusted. In fact the Service Concierge carefully typed this in to the Notes Section of the car's service sheet. I was therefore fucking furious to get an alert from the car advising that the rear tyre pressures were significantly lower than they should be.

Basically the lazy arse of a Service Technician hasn't done the job properly and that really doesn't inspire confidence or encourage me to use the Dealership again.

As I said yesterday, "I think I'll be using the Hereford Branch in future".

---

Post Script

I forgot to mention that I did something yesterday that I have never done before ... I picked a lock.

30% has a vintage, tambour fronted stationary cabinet in the bedroom. She finds the slim drawers just perfect for a ladies odds and ends.

About a week ago she mentioned that she had closed the tambour shutter and it had clicked shut. Heaven knows why she did this, but she did. Unfortunately the key was safely tucked in one of the drawers i.e. locked inside.

It now fell to yours truly to develop old school thieving skills rather than use the more modern just kick the front in approach.

I had a quick squizz at YouTube and fashioned a pick from the spring in a convenient clothes peg. I also grabbed a slim bladed pair of scissors and set to the task. It was surprisingly straightforward and I managed to spring the front open within a couple of minutes.

It was quite amusing that 30% was up in the bedroom for about half an hour and still hadn't noticed that I had now developed proper burglary skills ... I'm going to have a go at a safe next.

I think I'll go back to using the Hereford branch

 Today's main event was the delivery of the 5 Series to the dealership in Cheltenham for its MOT and Oil Service. 

The original plan was for the EGR cooler to be replaced too, as part of a vehicle recall programme. The Dealership called yesterday to advise that the component was on back order, and that it would need to be done at a later date.

So, we dropped off the car and attempted to find out when the recall work would be scheduled. It is fair to say that the Service Manager we spoke to was evasive, contradictory and waffly. I should add in "apologetic" for fairness, but evasive, contradictory and waffly were my main takeaways from the conversation.

It appears that they are working through the recalled cars in VIN number order. I will be contacted when it is my vehicle's turn and this could take a couple of months. 

If that is the case why does the official BMW communication advise me to contact the dealership and arrange the recall? Furthermore, if this is the case, why wasn't I told this when I booked the car in for the work in early January?

Also, if they're working on the in-scope vehicles in VIN No order, how do they do that? I could take my 5 Series in to any BMW Dealership for the work. They have no idea what vehicles will be taken to them for the work. They won't know the vehicle identity until the point that it is actually booked in and how do they identify which owners they need to contact?

If you ask me, it sounds like I have been fed a line here!

---

* To add attempted injury to insult; at five minutes to five this evening I received a vehicle inspection video showing a few items of work that need attention on the car. I accept that it will need a new front tyre, but I wasn't going to pay BMW rates for that work. I scanned down the list and noticed that they wanted to charge me over sixty quid to put in 8 litres of Adblue. Now I am aware that ten litres of Adblue will cost me £16 and I pour it in to the car via the cap next to the fuel filler. It is literally as simple as putting diesel in the car.

How the fuck do they justify a sixty quid charge for that?

The 3D Jigsaw

Having had to chop up two trees in the past couple of month, I am more than ready to do something different.

My plan for today was to get the logs stacked and finally see the job finished. The weather wasn't particularly pleasant this morning. It was dry, but there was a cold wind. 

As I've already said, my enthusiasm for chopping up and stacking firewood has significantly diminished, and I wasn't overly keen on doing the job in unpleasant weather.

Fortunately the completer/finisher side of my nature kicked in and I headed out to brave the cold. Luckily the log shed is fairly well sheltered and I settled to my task. 

Stacking the logs wasn't particularly straightforward as they have been hand hewn from knotty conifer wood. They are all shapes and sizes. My morning was therefore spent assembling a three dimensional jigsaw ... with no box and no picture on the lid.

The job took most of the morning and I was reasonably pleased with the result. It looks nowhere near as neat as my previous log pile, but it'll do. They just need to dry for about eighteen months and I'll be moving them again ... to the hearth in the lounge.

It seems that I was fortunate with the timing of this task, as the weather turned foul after lunch. A cold rain accompanied the wind and indoors was the only place to be.

I lit a fire and spent the afternoon finishing off Bob Mortimer's Hotel Avocado.  I enjoyed it, but it wasn't quite up to the originality of The Satsuma Complex. I'd give it a three out of five ... worth a look, but borrow it from a mate if you can.*

The only other thing worthy of mentioning is the call from the BMW dealership. Apparently they do not have the replacement part needed for the EGR cooler recall and will only be able to perform the service and MOT tomorrow. That is really bloody annoying as it was the main purpose for the visit and it now means that I will need to take the car back in again.  At this point in time they cannot advise when the part will be available ... it's not great customer service is it?**

---

* Don't ask me for it. I refuse to lend books, even to my best friends. I've had too many disappear that way. Racheal Harper Clemens, I am still waiting for you to return my copy of Dark Fire by CJ Sansom!

** BMW always send out a customer service survey after a visit to their dealerships. On previous occasions it has been made VERY clear to me that any score less than a perfect 10 is not well received. Apparently things can get very uncomfortable for the Dealership, and they would prefer that you don't bother to leave unfavourable reviews.  At the moment I am erring towards a three, possibly a four.

I'm getting fed up with moving logs

 I woke this morning and felt somewhat jaded. 30% reminded me that Bubbles had been very generous with the Jammy Red yesterday evening.* It seems that I have a hangover.

Fortunately it wasn't too horrific a reminder of yesterday's get-together and a couple of ibuprofen soon took care of the headache.

The main event of the day was the arrival of the drainage contractors. They had finally arrived to finish the work started in December. The work had been aborted as the ground had been far too wet to cope with anything but foot traffic, but they now deemed it possible to complete the job.

Three tons of top soil arrived, mats were laid on the lawn to minimise damage, and they spent most of the morning repairing the berm.  The soil has been raked out and grass seed has been scattered. Let's see what it looks like when everything has settled. 

As for me, I finally got my act together late in the morning and headed out to the orchard with a wheelbarrow. My plan was to move the pile of logs from the site of the felled tree across the orchard to the log shed. I thought I'd get a couple of barrows-full moved before lunch, but I found my mojo and had most of the job finished before I ate.

It was only twenty minutes work, after lunch, to finally finish the job and now I just need to stack them. Mind you, the cynic in me did note that I had spent more than an hour moving logs and the heap had simply moved thirty yards ... not a lot of change really.

---

* This was surprising, not because Bubbs is tight, rather because he is not a drinker. It is very, very rare that we see him with alcohol in a glass.

Odds 'n Sods

Sunday was a day of odds and ends.

After a leisurely start to the day, I refuelled the chainsaw, wandered up to the orchard and finished off the last section of the felled tree. I now have a nice pile of split logs that need to be stacked in the log shed. That can wait for another day.

Next on the list was to attend to the 5 Series. It has sat under cover since the end of May last year, but its sojourn will end in a couple of months.* It needs to be MOT tested, have an oil service and have its EGR cooler replaced.** It is booked in for these jobs on Wednesday and I needed to ensure it would start.

It was little effort to remove the car cover and I was delighted that I had taken the effort to clean her before I put her away. She looks great both inside and out and there are no nasty damp smells. I unplugged the battery conditioner and attempted to start her. After a couple of attempts she fired up and was soon running nicely.

It was no surprise to see an array of warning messages, mostly related to an overdue oil service and the recall. The other messages disappeared as soon as I had pumped her tyres up a little.

So the car is ready for the workshop on Wednesday and I am really looking forward to having her on the road again.

This evening we headed over to see Bubbles and Bobbyn with a takeaway from China Twon.  We had a lovely evening catching up on each others' news and probably ate far too much. Bubbles pulled out a bottle of Jammy Red and I know I drank far more of that than I should have!

---

* The vehicle excise duty on the 5 Series drops significantly at the end of April 2025. The car will then be put back on the road. We have used the Defender while the BMW has been SORN'd as we really needed a workhorse that could tow the trailer and also handle rutted tracks to various fishing destinations.

** As part of a manufacturer's vehicle recall

Post Script

I forgot to mention that, while pottering in the orchard, I noticed that the bees were flying this morning. Today's fine weather had encouraged them out. It was lovely to see them around the hive entrance, especially after the disappointment of loosing one of the colonies back in January. Let's hope this is a good omen and the colony will flourish over the coming months.

I ran out of fuel

I was up and out of the house by eight o'clock this morning, as Bubbles had got us booked in for a round of sporting clays at nine o'clock sharp.

We had a pleasant morning and my score was just over 50% for the first time in many months. I won't say that I was pleased with my score, but at least it was the right side of 50%. Let's hope that things continue in this vein,

After lunch I returned to the felled Spruce in the orchard. With chainsaw and splitting maul in hand I made a significant impact on the remaining trunk sections. I would have finished the job if the chainsaw hadn't run out of fuel ... I checked my blood sugar on returning to the house and noticed that I had run out of fuel too. That put paid to chainsaw based fun and I took it easy for the remainder of the afternoon.

I should get the last of the tree split in to logs tomorrow morning. Then I just need to barrow them over to Rose Cottage and get them stacked.

Progress?

Friday started with a checkup with the CHEC Ophthalmologist.

The CHEC service again managed to demonstrate a complete inability to schedule appointments, with my 9.45 appointment taking place at half past ten.   How the hell they can be running three quarters of an hour late so early in the day amazes me.  I wonder what the delay will be by the time the last appointment of the day takes place?

As for the consultation, that was surprisingly productive. 

For many years I have suffered from recurring corneal abrasions on the surface of my left eye. These date back to a gardening injury and they are not pleasant. Luckily I am just recovering from one of these incidents and luckier still my appointment happened to be with a Corneal Consultant.

He took my eye pressure readings and these were satisfactory and then took a careful look at my left eye. He advised that I need to be referred to an NHS Cornea Clinic to have a corneal bandage applied. Apparently this is a contact lens that is worn for up to three months. It protects the cornea and allows it to heal properly. The reason for the recurring abrasions is that the eye can become dry at night and the simple action of blinking can cause an abrasion at the site of the original injury ... let's see how long before I hear from the NHS.

After the fun that is the CHEC service, we headed over to see Helen and spent a very pleasant couple of hours drinking coffee, and eating cake. The main outcome from the morning was that we have finally agreed the dates for our next Narrowboating holiday.* I also drew a quite fantastic giraffe for Helen's granddaughter Olivia.

That's pretty much all that took place on Friday. I had great intentions, but had a massive kip instead.

---

* Easter 2025

Catching up

TP turned up on Monday evening. He advised that he was here for a few days and that his plan was to make some progress on his sound cart project. 

This is positive news, in that I might soon be able to reclaim my garage, workshop and any other space he deems worthy of monopolising. Also, My tools might also be returned to their natural resting places, rather than being casually abandoned here and there.*

The minor downside of his visits is that my computer is in the spare his room. I feel that accessing my Mac during his stays is an invasion of his privacy, so I tend not to make entries in the Journal during his visits.

Anyway, he has headed back to Cardiff this evening, as he starts a new contract next week. His car was packed with his sound cart detritus and my garage, workshop and carport are now somewhat tidier.

I am now also able to access my computer once more, so here's what I've been up to ...

Tuesday, 28 January, 2025

My plan for Tuesday was to make a start on turning the felled tree in to firewood. Unfortunatley the weather wasn't particularly cooperative and indoors seemed a far more attractive option.

We have recently changed our Broadband provider, so this morning was spent setting up the new router and ensuring that our devices could connect to the wifi network. 

I was aware that I should simply be able to replicate the old SSID and password on the new router allowing our devices to maintain connectivity without interruption. Unfortunately the internet was filled with contradictory accounts of how easy or impossible this task was. I therefore decided that it was far simpler to go around the various devices and simply logon on to the new network.

This did involve a bit of ladder climbing as our security cameras needed to be taken down and reconnected to the controlling app to achieve this ... I still think that was easier than piddling around with router settings.

Wednesday, 29 January, 2025

Today I grabbed my splitting maul from the shed and spent the morning working my way through the sections of tree trunk left up in the orchard. The tree fellers left some odd sized sections of trunk and branches and I realised that I would need a few sessions with the chainsaw to turn it into a decent pile of firewood.

I have made a decent start on the job, but, if I'm honest, I had problems getting motivated to deal with yet another fallen tree. After a strenuous morning chopping I decided a lazy afternoon kip was a much better idea. 

Thursday, 30 January, 2025

This morning I extracted the chainsaw from its lair. Although it was initially recalcitrant, I soon had it singing and headed up to assault the fragmented Spruce. I spent a merry morning alternating between sawing and splitting and can report that my pile of logs is significantly bigger.

Dot 'n Dave called round in the afternoon and we had a couple of hours drinking tea, eating cake and catching up on each other's news. Dave seemed very keen on hearing about our planned trip to the Black Forest and is very tempted to come along with us. He is about to PX a couple of his bikes for a BMW F900, complete with hard luggage and I think he quite fancies a European road trip ... It'll be fun to have him along.

I also heard that Bubbles has passed his Mod 2 motorcycle test, so hopefully he'll finally commit to buying the R nineT.

---

* TP was educated in the rules of the workshop a long time ago. I find it useful to remind him of them on a regular basis.

1. Put everything back in its proper place
2. Leave the worship tidier than you found it.  
3. If you don't know what it is, or how to use it, leave it alone 

Another bloody tree to sort out!

 Today was the day that the National Grid contractors finally arrived to clear the trees that are too close to our electricity supply.

We had been pre-warned that our supply would be interrupted, so 30% filled a flask with boiling water and I brought our camping stove in from the shed. 

A cheerful chap from National Grid turned up around nine o'clock and was very flexible about the time he turned the power off, especially after 30% offered to put the kettle on an make him a cup of tea. The tree felling contractors arrived a while later and we were plunged into the dark ages at around half past nine.

There were three trees that needed attention. A hawthorn up in the orchard needed to be trimmed to hedge height and a Norway Spruce, also growing in the orchard,  was to be felled. The final task was to trim a conifer in the corner of the lawn at the rear of the cottage. Our power supply runs through the crown of this tree and it needed to be pruned to provide one meter clearance from the cable.

The work took about four hours and the Arboriculturist left in the early afternoon. The National Grid chaps returned around half pst three to restore our power and we now have modern conveniences restored.

It is fair to say that we did very little today, other than stay in the lounge and keep the log burner going. I did start one of my Christmas books,* but have little else to report.

I did get some very good advice from the Arboriculturist. He took a look at the stump from the conifer that came down in Storm Darragh and suggested that we hire a stump grinder to deal with the stump. He even brought out his large chainsaw to further trim the stump, so that grinding it down would be feasible.

At the end of today I have yet another tree to convert to firewood. I'm not really looking forward to that, but at least it is only half the size of the last one.

As for stump grinding ... I can't wait, it looks brilliant!

---

* Bob Mortimer's Hotel Avocado

Leek & Potato Soup

 Yesterday's soup making was aborted due to hypoglycaemia. Actually I'm wondering whether aborted is a bit of an exaggeration? All I had managed to do yesterday was pull a few leeks and fetch a carton of double cream from the village shop. Gathering ingredients might be closer to the truth.

Today I got back on track and actually made the soup. The BBC Food website was my recipe source, and my mildly modified version is outlined below.

Ingredients

• 8 oz of peeled and cubed potatoes
• 2 medium leeks, sliced finely
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
• 2 pints of chicken stock
• 5 fluid ounces of double cream
• Salt and Black Pepper to season

Method

• Pour the oil in to a saucepan
• Add the leeks, onion and diced potato
• Soften the vegetables over a medium heat for five or ten minutes. Don't let the vegetables brown and add a splash more oil if they start to stick.
• Pour in the chicken stock and bring to the boil
• Simmer for ten to fifteen minutes until the vegetables are tender
• Blitz to a creamy consistency with a hand blender
• Pour in the double cream and blitz once more
• Season to taste

The result was a lovely creamy soup with a velvety texture. 30% declared it a great success. This is praise indeed, as she is not a fan of leek and potato soup.

That's a good job really, as I have enough ingredients for another batch ... and the leeks really need using up.

Peaked too early

 After Friday's slothfulness, I thought I had better get my arse in to gear this morning.

I took the dogs out for a short walk and then headed out to the vegetable garden. 

I appreciate that it is not really the time of year for gardening, but the raspberries really needed pruning. Yesterday's storm had blown through and today's cold, but sunny weather was sufficient encouragement to get out in the garden. I grabbed my secateurs and spent an hour or so pruning back the canes and tying them in to the supports. I can now report that a small section of the veg patch now looks almost cared for.

On my way back to the house my eyes fell upon the raised beds. These still sported a few leeks. I have been wittering on about making some leek and potato soup for a couple of weeks, but haven't got beyond the talking about it stage.

I pulled about half a dozen leeks and then braved the icy water from one of our butts to wash off the worst of the soil. The leeks were then ceremoniously dumped in the kitchen, ready for soup making. I consulted a recipe from the BBC Food website and realised that I needed a pot of double cream. A quick search of the refrigerator was unsuccessful, so a trip to the village shop was going to be needed,

30% and I lunched and I then decided to walk down to the shop. For the past few weeks my knee has been twinging and I wanted to see whether some exercise might help.* I set out at a brisk pace and, although the knee was slightly achy, it didn't impede progress. I was soon back home and all ready to start cooking. 

Unfortunately my blood sugar had plummeted and refreshments and a snooze became a priority. On waking I was absolutely shattered and couldn't summon any enthusiasm for soup making. I spent the rest of the day in front of the fire.

---

* I really haven't been doing much walking over the Winter months

Nothing to see here

 Nothing of any great significance took place today.

I fitted the new panniers to my bike and they seem OK. The problem is that I have no experience of motorcycle hard luggage and, for all I know, they are a pile of crap and I have made a half-arsed job of fitting them!

I don't think that is the case,* but I really need a good long ride out** with some luggage to ensure that they don't spill my valuables down the hard shoulder of a German autobahn.

I did also manage a monumental snooze on the sofa this afternoon and crossed an item off my to do list, by proxy ... 30% collected my prescription for me.

---

* Did you see what I did there?

** That is not going to happen today as Storm Eowyn is currently crossing the country.

Have you read the manual?

 My shiny new BMW panniers were delivered today.

I carefully unwrapped them and ensured that the relevant fixings and locks were also present. The thing that wasn't in the box was a set of instructions ... Bugger!  

There are two stages to fitting the panniers to the bike; the panniers needed a bracket to be attached and this looked pretty straightforward; a couple of captive nuts were inserted into slots in the bracket and it was then fixed to the pannier using a pair of Torx head screws ... literally a five minute job.

The second stage was more complex. The pannier lock needed to be coded to the bike's ignition key and then fitted to the pannier.  There were a set of instructions for coding the key, but these were flagged with a bright orange label. It stated "Important! This product is not intended to be installed by a customer. Installation must be performed exclusively by a specialist workshop"

Well, that does tend to make one think. After all if I mess up the lock coding or the lock installation I will be left with a shiny new pannier that cannot be opened or attached to the bike. It is fair to say that I was somewhat unnerved, especially as there was no guidance at all about fitting the coded lock to the pannier.

I had already searched the internet and watched a couple of videos on coding the locks. It seemed fiddly, but relatively straightforward, but there was nothing about fitting the locks. Interestingly there were no lock fixings, just the lock and a lock sized aperture in the top of the pannier. I assumed that it must be a push fit?

After an extended period of worriting, I bit the bullet and laid out the lock components. It went relatively smoothly and it seemed that the Youtube videos were correct. The time came to insert the lock in to the pannier. I'd like to say that it went straight in, but I actually needed to re-check that I had inserted the locking plate's spring before I pushed it home ... Success! Clearly me and my dining room table qualifies as a specialist workshop. 

The second lock and pannier were a re-run of the process just completed, and I soon had two panniers ready to fit to the bike. 

The fitting would have to wait until tomorrow as this evening we were attending the Redditch College Burns Night Supper.* I am aware that Burns Night is celebrated on 25th January, but these college events are always held on a Thursday. 30%, Jules, Mummy Sheila and I had a super evening and the food was fantastic.

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* Redditch College catering course holds regular set menu dining evenings to give the students experience of cooking and serving meals to the general public.  The food is always attractively priced and of very good quality, and tonight was no exception. 

Gossip

It was a quiet day today. 

TP's chum; Charlie paid a visit this morning to come and ogle* my new bike. He's a lovely chap and we spent a good chunk of the morning chatting, drinking coffee and loitering in the garage.

In the afternoon I did nothing more productive than cut up an old pair of pyjamas ... I have a couple of bikes to clean and am short of polishing rags. 

Late in the afternoon TP turned up as he has some location work in Birmingham tomorrow. We are a convenient base for that job, and he'll stay for a few days ... hopefully making progress on his sound cart project.**

And now on to the title of today's Journal entry; Gossip.

A couple of days ago I was walking the dogs and bumped in to an acquaintance. As we passed the time of day, she happened to mention that someone in the village had commented about the tree that had blown over in our garden during Storm Darragh. According to this anonymous village pundit, the tree had fallen on the house and damaged the end gable.

The acquaintance questioned the veracity of this gossip and I confirmed that the tree had fallen away from the house and done little more that create a crater in the lawn, crush a hedge and provide a lot of work for me in sawing it up. The house had not been touched by the tree.

As dissected this item of gossip I pointed out that the house and the tree stump were clearly visible from the lane and, consequently, any idiot could see that the house was unharmed. I was amazed that a nugget of information could be perverted in to complete nonsense, when a simple walk past the house could provide the true picture. 

This reinforced my view of those that peddle gossip. They are stupid people that spout unfounded nonsense as fact, generally because they like to revel in the misfortune of others. If one thinks about it, this gossip has ruined their credibility, by talking such nonsense.

I don't mind being talked about behind my back, so long as the gossip is accurate. Generally I find it isn't.

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* his term, not mine

** TP has yet to learn that out of sight is out of mind and that he will really need to make a conscious effort to come over and complete the work on this trolley. He lives and works in Cardiff and it is very easy to forget about a pile of quite expensive components when you don't see them. He needs to make this project a priority, identify the time to do the work and get his arse down here to complete it.

Glass half full?

 Optimist or pessimist? Now there's a question.

I'd like to think that I am generally optimistic, although 30% might offer a different opinion.  

I know that there are occasions when events will weigh heavily on my mind, and then I am pleasantly surprised when they don't turn out as badly as expected ... I guess I can be prone to a touch of pessimism from time to time.

On the whole I like to think that I am a realist, drawing on lifetime experience to predict how events are likely to unfold, without undue cynicism.

Now, where am I going with this? 

It is the time of year when my bees need to be treated for varroa, a parasitic mite that can devastate a colony. This morning I gathered up the necessary equipment and headed up in to the orchard. Within a few minutes I had prepared the hive* for the treatment. I removed the hive entrance and noticed a few dead bees on the hive floor. What I didn't notice was any noise or guard bees coming to investigate my assault on their home. I investigated further and was incredibly disappointed to note that the colony had failed.

At this time of year the most likely cause of colony failure is starvation, but the hive had plenty of capped stores and there was a pack of candy available to them if they were running short. The candy had been refreshed when I last checked the hives in mid December, and the colony had appeared to be doing well at that time.

I could see nothing that might give a clue to their demise, as I dismantled the hive . One possibility might be that the queen had failed at some point in the Autumn. I know that I never actually saw her during my inspections, but the hive was showing signs that she was present and laying. It could be that she may have failed and the colony has collapsed. There were no signs of brood disease, so a poor quality queen, leading to a colony that hasn't thrived, is my best guess.

Somewhat dismayed, I moved on to my second hive and repeated my preparations. This time I was welcomed by a handful of bees as I removed the entrance block. This was a huge relief. The second colony was alive.  I completed the oxalic acid vapour treatment and started to tidy up my equipment and stow the hive components from the failed colony. 

It is fair to say that this was not the outcome I would have hope for. I was hoping to see two vigorous colonies all ready for the arrival of the Spring flowers. However, I do recognise that both could have collapsed and died. 

It is good beekeeping practice to have at least two colonies. The reason for this approach is that, if one dies over Winter, you will hopefully have one that will survive. As the surviving colony starts to grow in the Spring queen cells are likely to appear. One should then be able to create another colony using the shook swarm method. 

So the optimist in me had hoped to see two colonies doing well, the pessimist in me acknowledged that both could have succumbed to the ravages of Winter. 

As for the realist, there are a few months of poor weather yet to come ... we are not out of the woods yet.

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* A hive is a container that houses a colony of bees. Colony is the collective term for the bees themselves, comprising the queen, her workers, brood and drones.