Pick of the week 13/3/16
Spent a part of the day putting up our gate. Rather proud of the end result.
Blue skies, too! Perhaps Spring is bouncy its way along.
Mother’s Day
Pick of the week 6/3/16
Mother’s day – my two children with their Mum.
(Looking a bit like a GAP advert against the sheer white of our new kitchen!)
Alive and Kicking
Track of the week 6/3/16
Mother’s Day and it was apt that this popped up in my youTube stream.
Although, I believe, meant as a love song, I always think of my Mum when I hear this – who was going to make things right when they went wrong, who would lift you to the top so you could see, and, should it all fall through, who’d take you home? Mum.
What you gonna do when things go wrong?
What you gonna do when it all cracks up?
What you gonna do when the Love burns down?
What you gonna do when the flames go up?
Who is gonna come and turn the tide?
What’s it gonna take to make a dream survive?
Who’s got the touch to calm the storm inside?
Who’s gonna save you?
Alive and Kicking
One of my all time favourite songs, and all the more so now as it reminds of my Mum, what a great lady she was, and right that we (I) remember her with such a positive, powerful and uplifting song, as that is how I remember her.
Smithers-Jones
Track of the week 28/2/16
From “Setting Sons” by The Jam, the best album ever made.
Not the best track from it, but brilliant nontheless, it makes it onto here as track of the week as it is three years since I was told my “job is at risk of redundancy.”
I’ve some news to tell you, There’s no longer a position for you, Sorry Smithers-Jones.
And so I was Smithers-Jones. I put on the kettle and made some tea, pulled on my slippers and turned on the TV. But I also discovered that there are plenty more fish in the sea to fry and, three years on, I’m swimming in much bigger, much better ocean.
I have the power …
Pic of the week 28/2/16
… to fix the shower.
Perhaps not the most glossy of pics but we had our new shower installed on Monday and by Tuesday it was dripping like mad. And this annoyed me.
So I did my research and I drew the conclusion that the problem was centered around the shower cartridge. A replacement cartridge is circa £50, and I had resigned myself to buying a new one and replacing the one installed. But before I did, I thought I’d try a little experiment. I put the shower on full cold and turned it on and off a few times, adjusted the temp, back on full cold, on & off again: my theory being that the problem was probably caused by a bit of grit in the system, or the cartridge just not re-seating properly.
Anyway, it appears to have fixed the problem, so well worth a pic of the week!
I also adjusted the max temp (upwards), see pic below (turn anti-clockwise to increase temp: 90 deg. turn = approx 1 deg temp.)
(for future ref, here is the link to the PDF instructions for the Mira Pronta EV shower)
Monsters and Angels
Track of the week 21/2/16
Not sure why, but have found myself listening to the Voice of the Beehive quite a lot of late. They were always on the periphery of my radar back in the day. I’ve always liked “Don’t call me baby” – and I think it remains a better track than this. I wasn’t really aware of “Monsters and Angels” but have come to enjoy it, so it makes it as my track of the week.
Dormer
Pic of the week 21/2/16
I have resisted the temptation to post a hold load of pics of the build as pic of the week (would have been easy to do so) but felt that this one warranted inclusion. It shows the creation of the dormer window, with the view of the Tor in the distance. A significant moment in the project.
Relief!
Due to the extension build, we’ve had no plumbing for a week (well, limited plumbing: we’ve had a loo.) So I last shaved on Monday morning. Today is Saturday. I could bear it no longer.
The stubble was irritating, flecked with too much grey and made me look like a hobo. It had to go.
So today, after my morning swim and shower at Strode pool (I’ve rather enjoyed swimming at this time) I had a shave in the changing rooms. Bliss.
I’ve never had a beard or ‘tache in my life, and I now know that I shall never do so.
You are my world
Track of the week 14/2/16
“You are my world” A beautiful love song by The Communards. Appropriate for Valentines Day.
Have recently read: “Fathomless Riches” by Richard Coles. An interesting autobiography charting his times in the Communards through to his ordination as a vicar.
Ouch!
I’ve decided to hang up my running shoes for a while.
I went for a run last Saturday and Sunday and, whilst I enjoyed them and the post run buzz as the endorphins kicked in, my knee has been hurting ever since. So I think I need to give it a good length of time to rest and recover and have made the decision to not now run until at least the start of the Easter hols (beginning Friday 26th March). So even if it my knee feels 100%, I shan’t run before then, to give it plenty of time to recover. (And if its still not feeling 100% by then, I won’t run.)
I’ll still do some refereeing and I’ll still do plenty of swimming – probably do a bit more swimming to compensate – but the road running is put on hold. I think that it is the impact of foot on road that is causing the problems, so hopefully by not running on the road it will make a full recovery.