Category: Pic of the week

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So that was the Easter Hols

Pic(s) of the week 23/4/17

So today sees the end of the Easter hols.

Its been a great few weeks, with fantastic weather – it may have rained one day in the first week (but I’m not sure) but other than that its been as dry as a bone and unseasonably warm and sunny – perfect for enjoying the garden.

And I have enjoyed the garden – building the new deck where the summer house was last year and doing some planting – a couple of hydrangeas in front of the deck, strawberries, raspberry canes (although most don’t seem to be showing any signs of life), courgettes, aubergines and squash (I think the cucumber fell victim to slugs last night) hostas  … all is starting to look good, although temperatures are set to plummet next week – hope everything survives.

The end of dots of spots, the end of an era.  Quite a bit of time was spent over at the unit, moving and clearing stuff and stock. Thursday was a bit of a manic day, but at last the shelves are empty. Still a few lose ends to tie up, but the business is now closed. Very proud of Becky and what she achieved over those 8+ years, and equally proud of the sensible and pragmatic way that she decided “enough was enough” and it was time to shut up shop.

The Mini! Swapped the big Nissan Almera Tino for a less practical convertible mini, but my, it looks good! who needs a big family car? Not us any more.

Exercise: Have kept myself fit – have done 5 games (4 middles, 1 line) including a cup semi final today, ran 39.5Km in 5 runs, spun 5 times (burning off 2,925 calories), but only swum once, a measly 30 lengths (1Km).

(Reasonably) looking forward to the start of term tomorrow – 5 weeks, then 4 weeks doesn’t seem too daunting, no football to organise week in, week out and nearly all of my classes working towards GCSE, AS or A Level exams – easy street ’till the long Summer holidays!

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Mini!

Pic of the week 16/4/17

The silver Nissan Almera Tino is on its last legs – back in early Feb (?) I noticed that the fuel filler neck had completely rusted away and was now no longer connected to the fuel cap.

A bit of googling and a look under the vehicle suggested that it would be a relatively easy diy fix: jack the car up, undo a couple of jubilee clips connecting the filler neck to the tank, remove the neck pipe and do the reverse to fit the new item. Easy.

But the problem has been trying to get a new part – thought I’d found one in Germany, but no, and a few scrap dealers said they’d get me one, but never did, and so its the death knell for the Tino. Other things have “been going” too: the stereo has failed, and their is excessive play in the hand brake – I think one or two wheels are not breaking properly (I wonder whether a brake pipe has ruptured?)

Anyway, with its MOT due in a couple of weeks, I’ve made the decision that it is not economically sensible to keep it going. So I’m scraping it, and looking forward to receiving the princely sum of £45 for its scrap value!

I had spotted a 2007 Renault Clio, with 12 months MOT, for £995, but Becky had set her mind on a Mini. I’d been looking around for a few days when I checked into eBay to see this little baby on sale down the road at Compton Dundon for £1,600.

Long story short, we looked at it, liked it, bought it. Has an MOT ’till September (will do it in August). Does look good, ride is a little on the firm side, but a fun vehicle – Becky likes it! If it does three years, it’ll have paid its way – must remember to check back in April 2020 and report back!

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Heatwave!

Pic of the week 9/4/17

And what a week it has been! The temperature has soared, enticing me back out into the garden, which has been a bit neglected since early Autumn.

With some of my birthday Amazon vouchers I bought myself some 4 in 1 lawn care treatment and applied that to the green mossy area that has been masquerading as a lawn. Its blackening up nicely – that’s what is supposed to happen – ready for me to rake out all the dead thatch in a week or so’s time, allowing all the lovely green grass to grow through, thick and lush. In the (nearly) two years that we have been here I have been (pleasantly) surprised as to how infrequently I have had to mow the lawn – I think that that, though, is a symptom that it is not as healthy as it should be. One of my goals for this summer is to try and coax it back it full health – you can’t beat the backdrop of a verdant, vibrant vigorous sward.

I also bought myself a weed lance and I’ve enjoyed this bit of kit – basically a flamethrower used to burn weeds in the gravel and paving. The front garden, in particular, was getting more than its fair share of unwanted growth and the prospect of hand weeding this did not fill me with joy. But using this gadget does – fire it up, listen to the roar and wave it over the weeds, which then,over a day or so, blacken and die.

I also planted a rhubarb and have ordered some raspberries – a summer fruiting variety and an autumn fruiting one – to be planted. Its so much easier to get motivated when the sun is shining and the weather warm.

And I’v started – and nearly finished – a new deck where the summer house was (that I took down last year.) The job has been made infinitely easier as I bought some adjustable plastic “feet” onto which to mount the joists. Probably ended up spending £100 on these when i could have spent £50 on blocks, sand & cement, but it has been so much easier. Nearly built the whole deck in a day.  The decking planks I bought from eBay (less2build) as 4.8m lengths, so no cutting needed, just lay them straight onto the joists. Its turning out to be the easiest deck I’ve ever built. (Would have finished it on Saturday, but for a late call up to referee a match as the original appointee had to go to hospital.)  Should get it finished in the next couple of days (although I’ve then got to build the planter that will border it). Here’s a pic of me in action:

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Not bad for a 48 year old

Pic of the week 2/4/17

So Tuesday was my (48th) birthday. I had a great day and I’ve been a busy boy since.

Over the last year it has dawned on me that my mid-life crisis is manifesting itself in the need to do as much exercise as possible.  Perhaps its some subconscious realisation that this body of mine has a finite life and I need to extract every last scrap of usage out of it? Who knows, but it’s got to be better than buying a motorbike, squeezing into some ill fitting leathers and roaring down the road is some forlorn hope to try and recapture ones youth.

I celebrated the day by sneaking off early at 3.15 (free lesson P5!) and heading down to the pool to swim 48 lengths for my 48th birthday – a mile to mark the milestone of another passing year. And then it was home for pressies & my birthday tea of curry, followed by lime jelly and ice cream – a menu not enjoyed or shared by any member of my family.

I was already tee-ed up to referee the girls football tournament on the next day (Wednesday 29th) when I got a phone call asking me to referee Wessex U14s in a game the same evening, 6.30 kick off. I agreed – come 8.30pm on Wednesday I gratefully hopped  (no, not hopped, stumbled perhaps) into the shower, realising I had just refereed for 3 hours!

On Thursday I played for the staff v the U6th leavers – was pleasantly surprised how my legs coped with another onslaught of physical activity. A great game, great fun, and great to come out 3-2 winners.

Friday was, of course, spinning night – with the added euphoria of the end of term. Saturday – a day of rest, before Sunday, more football, this time a Legends game v Castle Cary.

A beautiful Spring day, we took the lead and for a good ten minutes basked in the glory of being ahead as well as the April sunshine. But, alas, it was not to last. A very off-side goal and a missed penalty saw us ultimately lose 3-1, but a great game to end a great season veterans football (all of 4 games!)

And now the holidays begin in earnest, I need the rest, but I’m sure I’ll find the time for a little bit (more) exercise.

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Passed!


Pic of the week 26/3/17

She’s only gone and done it!

On Monday (20/3/17) Sophie passed her driving test at the first time of asking – an impressive achievement of which we are very proud.

My pocket has taken a hit – to add her to our insurance for next 7 months is costing an additional £620, plus we have to have a tracker fitted, much to Becky’s chagrin. (As a super safe driver already, it doesn’t bother me …!)

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Blast from the past

Pic of the week 19/3/17

A few weeks ago I rocked up to ref an U15 game between Wessex Youth and Wells City.  The Wells City manager was Mark Cornish, who I used to play with many years ago, as boy. Barry Dickens, who also played in the team, is the Wessex manager.

This week, Mark sent me the above photo. Not sure how old we were then, I’m going to guess U14 or U13.  A few I can name, but too many I can’t.

A great pic.

 

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First XI and the first buds of Spring


Pic of the week

The weather is turning, it is definitely starting to feel a little warmer and one gets the wonderful sense that Spring is just around the corner. The pic above is the Magnolia tree in our front garden taken today (12/3/17) – just about to flower and blossom can be seen on some other trees, the hydrangea plants leaf buds are turning into to leaves.

Yesterday I made my debut in the middle of a 1st XI game. Wasn’t meant to be – I was supposed to be running the line but Paul, who was to be the man in the middle, hurt his toe and by kick off time could barely walk, so it was my time to step up to the mark.

Really enjoyed the game, v Weston FC U18s, think I handled it well (am looking forward to getting my hands on the video so I can analyse fully my performance – I few possible fouls I may have missed at the start of the second half. Gave a pen in the first half, stonewall, good decision.  It probably helped that our 1st XI ran out 9 – 0 victors in a friendly game, making it easy to officiate. Am surprised how much physically harder it was than any other games I’ve done – I had the fitness, but knew about it at the end of the game.  A significant (and surprising) step up from the 2nd XI.

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Under Lights

Pic of the week 26/2/17

Wednesday evening, 7.30pm kick off, and I did my first game under lights, at the Abbey Moor Stadium, Glastonbury.

Wessex Youth U16 v Stallbridge in the Yeovil & District Youth League. Pitch was heavy, and the lights not brilliant – certainly some areas a little gloomy forcing you to get up close to have a good look, but I really enjoyed the experience.

For a while I thought it was going to turn into that elusive beast – a 0-0 drawer – but with 20 minutes to go I awarded the home side a penalty (stone wall) which they dispatched with vigour.  10 mins later, another penalty, this time to the away side, but blasted over the bar and the game finished 1 – 0 to Wessex.

A fast paced game, really enjoyed it. The lights made it a bit different and a bit special. As I trooped off the pitch at the end of the game I overheard a spectator saying to a coach: “A great game to watch” and I think it was. Glad to be a part of it.

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Half Term

Pic of the week 19/2/17

So half term has been and gone. A contradictory week full of exercise and rest, of freezing cold and warm sunshine. The need for sleep was satiated, with lovely lie ins until at least 8.00 am each day.  Not sure how I’ll cope again with the 6.40 rises that start tomorrow.

And I’ve been active, doing something everyday:

Friday spinning, Saturday refereeing, Sunday playing football & swimming, Monday: run & swim, Tuesday spinning, Wednesday, a long swim (72 lengths, 1.5 miles), Thursday swim, 28 lengths (1 mile), Friday refereed at Yeovil Town U16 trial games & spinning, Saturday refereeing (OA), Sunday refereeing (U15)

In amongst all of that, on Thursday I found the time to do some tree surgery, taking a couple of high branches down from the tree by our compost bins.  I was at the full reach of my ladders and used a pole to strap a hand saw to to get extra reach for the upper most branch. A bit brutal, but needed doing.  Will be interesting to see the difference once we start getting some long sunny days.

Six weeks and counting ’til the next hols …

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Minty Fresh!

Pic of the week 12/2/17

A successful couple of days! I’ve got my ‘puter back up and running.

A couple of weeks ago, my trusty desktop PC started taking ages to load, before grinding to a complete halt.  Long story short, I was going to whip the hard drive out and see if I could retrieve anything from it, but before I did that, I decided to fire it up again to see if I could get it running. It did, but all my old data was lost and it was slower than an asthmatic ant at an athletics meet.

Since the computer failed, I’ve given some thought to what I actually do with a PC these days and concluded that what I needed was email, the internet (most stuff I now do is online) and remote access to my school PC.  I wasn’t sure about the latter, but I knew I could get the rest from linux, so I figured it was worth seeing if I could get old faithful to run using that, rather than windows.

Rather than have the faff of downloaded and burning to disc or memory stick a copy of Linux, I bought a copy of Linux Mint from Amazon prime on Friday evening. It arrived before lunch on Saturday, and now, Sunday evening, I’m now up and running and happy as Larry. I’ve even just worked out how to Remote Desktop to my school PC, so I have all that I want, although it’ll be Open Office for me now rather than  the Microsoft suite – this may cause some issues, but I suspect they can be resolved.  The only snag I currently have is that I wasn’t able to upload and image to my blog from Linux ‘puter, I had to use the laptop to do so – strange?  One to ponder on.

Other news

‘Tis now half term (hooray!) Ref’d a game down at Strode yesterday and played for Millfield Legends v Oakhill today in a friendly veterans game. Really enjoyed it, despite losing 4-1. Had a (longish) spell in goal, in which we kept a clean sheet (Stu was absent – with him in goals I think it would have been a very different score). Was a cold day, but great fun.

Have just updated the blog to Twenty Seventeen Theme – I do rather like it, plus the big header photo has a stripey cactus just like mine!