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Stripping

Pic of the week 7/7/19

Its been a busy week – no sitting with my feet up in the first week of the hols!

Fed up with the “Steptoe-esque” state of the top landing, I took it upon myself to strip and paint the top landing, stairs and ceiling. The initial stripping wasn’t too bad, but its all the fiddly bits that frustrate. Anyway, at time of writing, I have now applied 3 coats and its beginning to look like the finished article – another couple of coats tomorrow and I could be done (to then begin the downstairs hall and landing. And then there’s the tilly room to be done …)

The weather has been good, plenty of sunshine and blue skies to enjoy when I have ventured outside in between my stripping. The garden is looking good, first sweet pea flowers just blooming, daisies look magnificent, lawn holding up. I do like the swishy swashy grasses in the front, they help to break up the sea of brick that is the extension. Some pics:

Sam decided to update his computer – which was a little fraught when it didn’t go quite as planned, and wouldn’t boot up. But calmly revisiting the situation the next day, and some good troubleshooting and fault diagnosis on Sam’s part had it all working as planned the next day.

On Thursday I caught up with Marck Radford in Shepton, and then Becky, Sophie and I went to the cinema to see “Yesterday”, which was a good film.

And then on Friday we all went to Cardiff for the day, an open day to see if Sam was/is interested in going to Uni. He was inspired by the Chemistry labs and he definitely wants to continue with Chemistry post sixth form, its just where and how. Will be looking into Chemistry degree apprenticeships this holiday.

And in amongst all this busy-ness I’ve still run, spun and swum. No wonder I’ve had to multi-task whilst having my evening snooze …

 

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Project Scorched Earth

Project Scorched Earth

One of the many beauties of our new (still call it new, despite having been here nearly four years) is the ample parking we have. It may not look beautiful, but it is certainly practical and I reckon we could park up to six cars on our gravel driveways.

Last summer I graveled one side in new gravel and it looks much better, maybe I’ll do the other side this summer?

However, my one concern with gravel is the preponderance of weeds to pop up.

So I’m trying a new scorched earth policy. I’ve bought myself a 5 litre pump sprayer from Amazon (£9.99) and filled it with a mix of vinegar (39p for 1/2 a litre from Tescos), salt and a dash of washing up liquid and have sprayed the gravel. I focused on the weeds, but also sprayed the whole area, the idea being to create an area so hostile to growth that not even the hardiest of weed will survive.

We’ll see how it goes.

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Snowmaggedon

Pic of the week 3/2/19

So it wasn’t quite the snowmaggedon brought by the Beast from the East last year, but Thursday night into Friday morning saw a fairly hefty dumping of snow.

We had a bout a cm or two, was worse in Wells – the Blue School shut for the day – and was even worse towards Bath & Bristol. The road outside the house remained clear and it was work as normal for me.

By Saturday, all the low lying snow had gone, but all our fixtures had been cancelled so I went up the Tor with Sam on Saturday afternoon. Always a pleasure, particularly with the clear blue skies contrasting against what snow did stay lying on the ground.

After cold nights, Friday and Saturday, the temperature is set to rise to a balmy, but damp, 10 degrees for the week a head.

This morning, the boiler didn’t fire up, but a quick check showed the water pressure was low, so a quick 30 second job to refill the system and bring it up to pressure and the wonderful white box fired into life. Phew!

Other news – purchased two tickets to see New Order at the Bristol Harbourside in July. Looking forward to it already.

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2018 in pictures

Pic of the year 2018

On the whole 2018 has been a good year.

So, I had an abscess on my tooth that hurt like hell, I knackered my knee and began to doubt I would ever walk properly again, and the boiler gave up the ghost, necessitating an expensive replacement, but other than that its been a pretty good year, and, as ever, Becky has captured many moments on camera.

We endured the Beast from the East, and then basked in the best summer since ’76.

We saw the Imagine Dragons, Scouting for Girls, The Rifles, Squeeze and the excellent Deacon Blue.

Sophie & Sam both did well in their summer exams (A levels & GCSEs) and Sophie is now thriving reading Economics at Reading University.

A fantastic week in Majorca was, perhaps, the highlight of the year.

We suffered jellyfish stings, World Cup fever and the sad demise of our baby robins.

And every morning I throw open the shutters and am met by a magnificent view of the Tor, in all its hues and variations.

2018 – thank you.

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Farewell to Summer

Pic of the week 2/9/18

So farewell to summer – its been great.

Its been the best I can remember, so much done, so much to enjoy.

Its been hot, perhaps the hottest and driest since ’76. Whilst the lawn and plants may have suffered, the weather has been brilliant.

Parched lawn

The hols began on a high note with the World Cup …

… England making it to the semi-finals and making us believe again,

… and a day out with Sam to Yeovilton Air show (but coming back in the afternoon to watch England beat Sweeden 2-0 in the World Cup Quarter final)

Yeovilton Airshow

We had a few days in Cornwall, and the sun continued to shine …

Cornwall July ’18

… and then of to Majorca for the main event. A fantastic week in Pouerto Pollensa …

Majorca July ’18

Each and every day was brilliant, it would be hard to pick out a highlight. Me and Sam climbing Puig de Maria was great, Formentor was stunningly beautiful (although overcrowded), pool time, evening meals, catching up with “Tappers” (for 10 years we lived less than 10 miles from each other but never met up, but put us on an island in the med and we’ll make the effort!), but perhaps the highlight was …

Cala Boquer

We come home to rain, but only for a day or so, and then the sun came back out.

Sam turned 16 …

Sam’s 16th

… and they both got the grades they needed and deserved in GCSE and A level …

I did plenty of exercise, regularly running 10K (as well as spinning, swimming and refereeing) …

See front run, Puerto Pollensa, July ’18

… and amongst all that, I also found time to tidy up the front drive, and add a bit of gravel …

And so tomorrow, its back to school and work. It really has been a great summer holiday. Thanks for the memories!

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Little white box of happiness

Pic of the week 6/5/18

Perhaps not the most artistic of photos but the little white box pictured above has bought unbridled joy this week. I have even caught myself giving it a loving caress on the odd occasion this week.

We had a new boiler fitted on Tuesday. A Logic + 30W, cost £16000 installed, and once again we have hot water on tap. Bliss.

Our wonderful plumber/heating engineer (Kes Tidball) will come back in a month or so and fit zone valves so that the kitchen underfloor heating and the rest of the house are in desperate zones, and can be controlled separately – that will be worth the extra cost to have that done, too.

A couple of bonus pics this week.

The week started cold and wet, but has ended hot and sunny. Wonderful.

Other news: the knee continues to improve, I can walk normally, am tempted to run, but a tentative plod left me in doubt, so no running yet, still just spinning and swimming.

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Where did that go?

Pic of the week 29/4/18

Well, where did that week go?

It seems like only moments that I was sat here writing last week’s blog post.

So this week, I have gone back to school, the weather has gone from hot, hot, hot to chuffing cold, my knee has made a slow improvement – still not full working order yet, but now walking with a “just” a limp and not the full Herr Flick (as I was described by a colleague on Monday.)  Went spinning on Friday and today – great to do some exercise and also felt good for the knee , “loosening” it up. It also felt a lot better after yoga on Wednesday. Have a physio appointment on Tuesday.

Boiler gave up the ghost on Friday evening, now producing no hot water, no matter what you do. Have a man coming on Tuesday to install and fit a new boiler.

In fact, now I think of it, Tuesday should be an important day, the start of a new era: new boiler, new mortgage (Yorkshire bank offset) and new me (I hope!) after the physio sorts out my knee.

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January Blues

Pic of the week 14/1/18

So its mid-January (already!) and the time that we should be wallowing in the mid-January blues. Tomorrow has been nicknamed “Blue Monday”, supposedly the most depressing day of the year.

Well, not for this boyo.

Term has begum well – although hard to believe I’ve only been back a week – busy but fulfilling, getting back into the groove of regular routine. The skies have been largely leaden and white, but this afternoon the sun begun to peek through the clouds, revealing a smudge of blue sky and the light was definitely different from a month ago – just a hint that the back of winter has been broken and that, one day, Spring will come.

Ran this morning – split times a bit suspect (1st 3 k’s called too soon) but on the whole I think I was quite quick. Did a little bit of marking, and then spent a relaxing afternoon just reading, snoozing and listening to music. Quite pleasant to fritter away a Sunday afternoon, even if it does leave little to report in my weekly blog post.

(The pic this week is the kitchen looking bright, airy & welcoming. Perhaps a visual metaphor for the months ahead?)

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Hols End

Pic of the week 7/1/18

And so the Christmas hols draw to a conclusion.

It seems a long time since we broke up in December (that’s a good thing!) and I’ve enjoyed four weeks of family time. Nothing major to write about – no trips up the Nile, no major milestones, but also no calamities or catastrophes, just plenty of time at home with the three most important people in my life.

A week ago – new year’s eve – we settled down for a game of monopoly, great fun and no (major) fallings out!

Back to school tomorrow and I’m quite looking forward to it.  Would quite happily have another week or seven of holiday, but knowing that I’ve got to go back to work holds no dread or fear for me – I shall embrace it and enjoy it, after all, in five weeks time it’ll be February half term …

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Goals, aims and targets – 2018

2018 has arrived, so now it’s time set my goals, aims and targets for the next twelve months.

  • Run 10 Km in fewer minutes than my age in years. This one is my “biggie” for the year. Its doable, but by no means a given. Am targeting the Glastonbury 10K – conveniently after my birthday – but there are other events if I fail first time round. Will need to average 4 min 53 sec per Km – achievable on the flat, but on in an incline …
  • Run 400 Km. Nearly hit that total in 2017, should be able to do so on 2018, particularly given the goal above.
  • Swim 100 Km (3,000 lengths). An achievable, but not a given. If I swim regularly should be no problem. Swim at least once a week.
  • Spinning. Spin for a total of 2 days (48 hours)
  • Weight. I finished 2017 with a long term established weight of 12 stone 9, and I have allowed it to creep up over the Christmas period into the 13 stone bracket. Need to get that down. 12 stone 6 as my long term established weight is the goal.
  • Garden. Enjoy it! Less construction and landscaping required this year (but some still needed) Grow sunflowers and sweat peas (in addition to some basic veg)
  • My maths blog – keep blogging. Write a new post at least once per month, and write a minimum of 15 posts over the course of the year.
  • Sleep. A somewhat nebulous aim, but when I think about it, sleep – or perhaps I should say tiredness – is the thing I’d like to change most about my life this year. No target, but I shall aim to think about my sleep, my patterns and routines and what I can do to improve it/get more of it/reduce/manage my tiredness.