Late on Monday night, Sam came home and on Tuesday he and Becky went for a short walk on the Poldens. He came home again late last night and has spent the morning and early afternoon here, pottering around.
On Wednesday evening I went to the cinema on my own to watch Pressure. Really enjoyed it, a good, not brilliant but certainly worth watching, film. I’m so glad I bought the ticket a while ago as otherwise I probably wouldn’t have bothered (particularly as I had parent teacher meetings on Tuesday, and was in school for a transition to sixth form event on Thursday.) Sat in “my” seat – W9 – at the top of the theatre, in front of the stairs so plenty of leg room and an unimpeded view.
Other than that, not much to report other than being busy. The weather has now turned and on some days there is a distinct chill. But at times, when the sun shines, it is still very pleasant.
The front trug is awash with flowers, this is a great comparison pic from when we came back from Greece, to now …
Hard to believe its half term at the end of the week, it has whizzed by. This time next week we’ll be in Italy – non posso aspettare!
Today, we (Sophie, Becky & I – Sam was working) whizzed down the M5 to Devon to meet with Becky’s mum & dad (& Jo & Ella) to celebrate Becky’s mum’s 80th birthday (on Tuesday)
Its been a lovely day (a shame to have spent 4 hours in the car whilst the sun was shining)
and it continues to be unseasonably warm. It does get a little chilly come the evening, but the afternoons, particularly when there has been some sun, have been pleasantly warm, into the low twenties. We’ve had a the odd patch of rain, but not much, and I did remark to myself as I took to pitch 5 on Saturday that the I think the green is turning brown again.
Our fig tree is certainly enjoying the warmth, putting on a second flush of fruit
I was off last Monday (extended exeat) and did a bit of tidying up in the garden, and planted the bulbs from last years trug. With the trug still looking magnificent at the moment, I haven’t even begun to think of pulling up the geraniums and planting the new bulbs – probably a job for half term.
Becky’s been working hard in the gallery – she enjoys the job, but not the six day a-week commitment that comes with it!
(and just for info/the record, on Monday I change he oil in the Ka, at circa 58,000 miles)
On Tuesday Sam came home with my Micra – it was last here in August with a brand new MOT and it returned with a chip in the windscreen and a howl when you reach 30mph – (possibly the rear right wheel bearing? A half term project, I think)
And on Friday he cam home again to show off his new wheels – a 1.4 Skoda Octavia TSI He’s happy with it, casting my eye over it, it looks a solid car, but it is very long! An executive car to suit the executive!
This week was both equinox and equilux which means, sadly, the nights are now longer than the days. The weather has been good this week, and we have been treated to some atmospheric evening skies
and Becky was delighted to find a few figs rippening up
It’s been exeat weekend for me, which has been nice and restful, but sadly Becky has had to work in the gallery Saturday, Sunday (and tomorrow, which I also have off)
The pic above is taken outside the Maths block at school. My garden is looking just as good with my geraniums in full bloom, grasses producing pretty seed heads at the back, and my sunflowers standing tall and bright, eeking out the September sun.
So we’ve been back at school for two weeks, and the summer holidays seem a long time ago. We’ve been good and continued with our after tea walks on most days – on Monday, Becky had left some flowers at school so our post tea perambulation took us back up to school, but normally its just a quick whizz round the block, returning to spend a few minutes admiring the self seeded sunflowers that continue to bloom – and grow tall – in the front trugg.
This week we got Deacon Blue tickets for October ’27 – always good to have something to look forward to …
… and I’ve book to go and see two films at Strode cinema, on Wednesday 7 Oct …
and Friday 6th November …
I shall go on my own, Becky didn’t want to come, not a problem it feels like a personal indulgence to go the cinema on your own. And booking the tickets well in advance means I’ll go, rather than wait until nearer the time and then not get round to going.
Other news, today I gave the Ka some love, applying Neutrarust 661 to the rear axle and subframe (having wire brushed the flaky rust off first) and then applied a coat of Lanoguard to further protect it over the winter. It did have a MOT advisory for Rear Sub-frame corroded but not seriously weakened so this should prevent this worsening. Was quite an easy job to do.
Term, and the new school year, began on Monday and its been swiftly back into the old routine. To be fair, thus far its not been a bad start to the year, although its back to being tired in the evening, and by Thursday my feet were killing me! Becky has also been working all this week (and will continue to do so until half-term) working in the Atkinson Gallery – a job she enjoys, but like me laments the lack of free time that results from full time work!
On Tuesday, Sam went to Luton (!) to buy himself a new car – a Skoda Octavia (£3,350) with which he is understandably pleased, I am now looking forward to the return of the Micra – I do feel worried for it, abandoned and unloved on some Bristol street!
The weather has been mixed – typical for early to mid September: sometime grey, damp, mizzlely and a little chilly, at other times bright and sunny and warm. But summer is definitely over. However, my front trugg continues to flourish, with several bright sunny sunflowers smiling back at me as I return home each day, the geraniums in full bloom,
Our mystery pumpkin/squash is slowly swelling
and pretty pink cyclamen are fringing the undergrowth both front and back
After a wonderful, long, hot, dry summer, this week has been preparing for the return to work – after all the time off, not having to think about routine or time, it does feel like the ship is getting ready to set sail.
I was in school from Wednesday afternoon – I left school with the sun shinning brilliantly against a clear blue sky, sat in my classroom again the sky turned grey and the rain began to fall – a metaphor I think!
But earlier in the week the weather had been warm and sunny on Bank Holiday Monday and after tea Becky & I went for a lovely walk from the YHA to the Windmill in the evening sunshine.
And the cooler, and sometimes wetter, weather we have had has led the self seeded sunflowers and the geraniums in the front bed to flourish, giving a cheery burst of colour to wave me off in the morning, and more importantly, welcome me home in the evening.
Term starts properly tomorrow, I fear that, sadly, the wonderful summer is officially over!
Although it will soon draw to a close, the long summer holiday has continued with a mix of business and variety, and chilling doing little.
On Monday we went to Rockaway park near Temple Cloud – a fantastic alternative space full of sculptures from scrap. An inspirational and interesting place.
For the first half of the week, the weather held good; not as stiflingly hot as earlier in the summer, but warm, dry and sunny and on our Monday evening stroll we did a bit of blackberrying, yielding an impressive haul.
The forecast earlier in the week had threatened some rain by Wednesday, but in never materialised, and the sun continued to shine.
Late on Wednesday evening the news broke that Dolly Parton had died, the global outpouring of love for her was quite immense – she was one of the good ones.
In February this year I became concerned about a rat menace in my compost bin, and the trail camera I bought confirmed these unwanted visitors were snacking (feasting) on the contents of my compost bin. Consequently I have bought myself a new compost bin that is enclosed and sits above the ground, my goal being to keep these critters at bay. It arrived on Thursday and I spent a happy hour or so putting it together.
The weather did change on Thursday, and whilst still warm, we have had rain pretty much every day since Thursday, and sometimes quite a bit. Currently grey and windy (but warm) – whilst the water is welcome (we went on a hosepipe ban at Midnight Wednesday to Thursday) I’m already missing the consistency of knowing its going to be dry all day.
On Friday we had a fleeting visit from Sam – he came home after work to go to a 21st party for someone he used to work with in the kitchens at Millfield. Although brief, it was nice to see him.
On Saturday we travelled to Cardiff, had lunch and tea with Sophie
Before Becky and I went to see Johns’ boys choir in the New Theatre.
It was a great show, and then we hopped in the car and headed home – whilst it is nice to have the option of staying at Sophie’s, on this occasion it was good to be home before midnight to sleep in my own bed!
And today we went to Wells to see my Dad – next Sunday is his 88th birthday, but I’ll be working then, so we popped over to see him this morning. He was looking well!
And this afternoon, I set too trimming the hedge out front, taking a good foot off the height, and tidying it up.
And the few sunflowers at the front that self-seeded and survived the heat are now looking green and healthy, and beginning to flower.
The wall attached to the house for the back has not been in a good way for a while, and it always gets worse in the summer, dropping away and making the gate unusable. The foundations are good, but the wall has been dropping forwards and away from the house, probably through constant battering of the gate door, and the mortar failing.
and so I resolved to do something about. Last weekend I thought about it, on Monday I ordered the parts, they arrived on Friday and today I began in earnest, first knocking down the wall …
Which took about an hour and a half, including time to clean the mortar of the bricks ready for re-use (not sure what yet, though)
Then I started to replace it with a fence. First, fence post supports fixed to the solid foundation, fence posts up, and lateral supports fixed.
That took a while, making sure everything was solid and straight, after which it was a breeze to put up the fence panels
I’m pleased with the result – it looks good, just need to finish off the garden side, which I am also facing with painted fence panels to improve the overall asthetic.
It’s been a busy week – I also fixed Sam’s bike – fitted new front callipers and adjusted the rear …
and I cut back quite a bit of ivy from the backwall (although you need the before picture, else you might not think I’d done anything!)
For reference, here is a pic of the garden taken earlier in the week , on Tuesday 18th August (before I set to work with the hedge trimmers)
We did have some rain on Wednesday, and whilst its not been scorchio hot, it has been another warm sunny week. On Friday evening Becky and I went for one of our regular after tea walks, it wasn’t supposed to be long, but we ambled for quite a while in the warm evening sun. this is Tor, taken from the field beyond the park run field.
Its been a busy holiday week, with lots happening, but still a relaxed chilled week, with much time just sat outside reading (and occasionally snoozing)
On Monday (Fiat 500) and Tuesday (Micra) had their MOTs. Sophie’s Fiat 500 passed first time, the Micra needed near side front track rod – excessive play (which is a bit annoying as I replaced them both last year) and a bulb. In addition, the handbrake only just – on limit of adjustment, so I had that done, too. Anyway, by the end of the day that had a full MOT again.
Wednesday was eclipse day. Starting at around 6.14pm, we had a near total eclipse (circa 95%) of the sun. We watched, periodically, from our front garden, it was pretty impressive.
Although slightly frustratingly, just at peak coverage, and after a summer of heatwave and sunshine, a few clouds rolled in to dim the final spectacle.
It has been another hot, hot, hot week with mid-week temperatures in the 30s. Everything is bone dry and on Friday we had a national alert on our phones warning of wildfires, and to not have BBQs or outside fires.
Thursday I went to see the Odyssey at Strode cinema – I enjoyed the film, and rather enjoyed going to the cinema on my own.
On Friday Becky & I went to Bristol to watch the Bodyguard at the Bristol Hippodrome. I enjoyed it (as did Becky) but the acting was a little wooden and the performance a little stilted. Might have been better to just go and watch a Whitney tribute act, but that is a little churlish. It was a nice night out, good to see Bristol bathed in the beautiful evening sun, even if our peace was shattered shortly after 7pm by the emergency alarm, and you couldn’t cross the pedestrian bridge as earlier in the week it had broken when being lowered back into position.
When putting the washing out on Friday I thought I could smell something – when out in the garden again on Saturday morning my nostrils were assaulted again so I lifted a deck plank, poked my head in and discovered a large dead rat (at the front of the “washing line” deck.) It was pleasant removing it, but something that needed to be done.
Today, taking advantage of the continued dry spell, I stimmed the lawn, removing the dry, dead seed heads and stalks. The ground below is brown, barren and parched. There is a suggestion of rain next week (hence I did it today – much easier to do when dry) but I think it will be some time before it greens up again.
Friday was Sam’s birthday (24!) and we all met up in Bristol and went got lunch at PizzaRova on the Gloucester Road in Bristol. It was lovely to spend some time together as a family, the food was good and the sun shone. Sam seems to be thriving in his flat and enjoying his job with Enterprise Car rental.
(just for info to remind me in the future, it then took a looong time to drive home, Google maps sending me via the Downs, under the suspension bridge and out to Chew Valley lake before finally getting home. A problem in Farrington Guerney apparantly)
I haven’t blogged for the whole of July as from 1st July to 5th August we’ve been away on an Ionian adventure, flying out to Zakynthos, the Kefalonia, Ithaca, back to Kefalonia, Lefkada, Meganisi, Parga, Paxos and finally Corfu before flying home. It was wonderful. I haven’t (yet) blogged on our travel blog, but do still need to do that.
One of the reasons for our trip was because it was our 30th Wedding Anniversary on Monday; our very first holiday together in 1993 was to Corfu (Roda) and (part of) the rationale of our trip was to visit the islands and places we had been to before we had children. It was a wonderful pilgrimage to the past, and I loved every minute of it,
This was us 30 years on, enjoy each others company in a taverna on the beach in Kalami, Corfu, 3rd August 2026.
And this was us on 3rd August 1996, at Farrington Gurney Church.
We haven’t aged a bit!!!
As we flew back over England, it was clear from the brown fields below us that whilst we’d been away, the UK had enjoyed/endured a very dry summer and we were now in a drought. Sophie kindly collected us from the airport, taking us home to a very dry garden.
The front trugg looked very sorry for itself – after extensive dead heading and watering, it is showing some signs of life. (Sophie had been home, off an on, whilst we had been away, but was absent for about 10, dry, days, and this is when the damage was done.)
But a few sunflowers out the back …
… and the fig tree …
had survived due to my automatic watering system in that part of the garden. The tree has been yielding a hefty crop – much of it gone to rot in our absence, but some surviving to the plate.
It is good to be back, and we are well acclimatised the the hot and dry weather that persists, but if I could go back to Greece tomorrow, I’d do so in a heartbeat!
