Category: Pic of the week

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Grease

Its exeat weekend, which means I had a rare Saturday off yesterday (and, as bonus, I get tomorrow off, too) and what better way to spend it than by taking in some musical theatre at the Bristol Hippodrome. We (Becky, Sophie and I) went to see Grease – it was greats, a wonderful night out. The music and dancing got my toe-tapping, and before the show we had been for a slap-up Greek meal at the Hat Bistro.

On Thursday we had a fleeting visit from Sam, he’s been in London for the last couple of weeks. He got the bus to Bristol, then 376 home, had a quick bite to eat before hoping into his silver dream machine and driving back to Cardiff. Whilst he doesn’t start back for a week or so – the final year of his degree – it was evident whilst we were in Bristol last night that lots of students were there for the first night of their undergraduate adventure. Hope he does some work this year, graduates (I’m sure he will – but two, three years ago, this was not a given!) and starts thinking about a job/career.

The weather over the last week has been good – warm and sunny – but, inevitably, it turned on Friday and we have had a lot of rain over the last three days, typically in big bursts for up to, say, an hour, before clearing up.

I did referee this morning in Somerset County Cup, Vets competition (Pilton v Ashcott, Pilton won) I would say I get wet, not soaked, somehow we missed the massive downpours. Enjoyed the game, I’m thinking maybe referee one Sunday a month? Who knows, will see how things pan out. Everywhere is beginning to look distinctly autumnal as the leaves on the trees begin to change colour.

And after last weeks endeavours, the lawn is tamed and ready for winter. I had hoped to plant some bulbs into it this weekend, but its just been too wet. A job for another day … With the rain, and the (reasonable) warmth, everything is looking verdant and fresh, and growing well. Geraniums still in full flower, nasturtium leaves providing ground cover (and the odd flower) and we have a succession of sunflowers – with a fair number still to bloom – to provide colour and cheer and keep autumn and winter at bay for a little bit longer.

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Lawn

This week, I have been cutting back the lawn for the winter. During the week, I gave it a strim, then today I gave it another strim before running the mower over it. In the top section (nearest the house) there is now little coverage of anything, so I scattered another packet of wild flower mix in the hope that they come up, not roses, but wild flowers next spring and summer. Later, but not today – here’s hoping for some half decent weather next week, I will begin to plant some of last years bulbs into the lawn.

As is always the case when when I mow it flat, I think it looks better than it did, and doubt whether it is worth letting it go wild, but then I remember what it looks like in February and March, and then again in May and June, and it is worth – providing colour and interest when its needed, if it does then not look so good through July and August.

Still thinking of the garden, I’m pleased with my nasturtiums – even if they are not awash with flower, they are providing healthy green foliage to keep autumn at bay a little longer. These one were virtually dead – stripped of leaves by caterpillars – when returned from Greece, but a little nurturing has seen them burst back into life.

The side of the house still seems full of life, along with the front planter – the geraniums are still going strong, even if everything is beginning to look a little leggy. And we don’t have the same amount of sunflowers as last year, but there is a steady stream of flowering plants to give that little splash of clolour. Alas, there will be no pumpkins from the garden this year – a couple of healthy plants have thrown forth their wonderful big leaves, and plenty of male flowers, but we’ve only had a couple of female flowers, and neither has been successfully pollinated.

The weather this week has been chilly – particularly in the mornings and evenings – and I have succumbed and fired up the heating on a few nights. Wednesday was cold all day, yesterday, after a very chilly start, ended up as a lovely bright, warm, sunny day; sadly today never lived up to its promise, although dry the sun never really won out. I had hoped to sit out for an hour so in the afternoon, reading and soaking up sum late summer sun, but alas, it was not to be.

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Happy New Year!

So term, and a new school year, has begun and, although only a week in, weather-wise it feels like November. It has been wet, wet, wet – Friday in particular seeing relentless rainfall. Last week, my pic of the week was the Tor shrouded in mist, this week it is the Tor hidden by huge, heavy rainclouds. Its not warm (today we put the winter tog duvet back on!), it certainly hasn’t been a glorious late summer – and the prospect of sunshine and warmth doesn’t feature in the forecast; here’s hoping we get a late burst in early October …

The term has started well, and I’ve quite enjoyed myself most of the time. Perhaps it was the weather, perhaps it was not having the Cathedral service and getting cracking with lessons sooner, or perhaps its just that Year 11 know what they are doing, but we seem to have got back into the swing of things, the rhythms and routines of school life, fairly quickly. (Although yesterday, Saturday, proved to be particularly busy as something came to light that needed resolving …)

I came home on Friday, looking forward to an evening of chilling, slumped in front of the telly with the windows shut and doors bolted against the worst of the rain, only to find Becky’s computer had crashed, and would not start up.

Try as I might (and my computer skills are quite limited) I couldn’t get it up and running, so I dusted off an old machine running Linux and she is currently using that, with limited options – not all “her sites” run on it – and so I ordered a “new” refurbished machine which, annoyingly although bought through Prime, won’t arrive until tomorrow. I am hopeful that it will just plug and play, at least all her Google Chrome tabs.#

Ran again this morning – after yesterday, I was looking forward to it. Curious how in term time running offers me something different than in the holidays: I think it provides a separation, something I do for me, not something I do for the school (plus a chance to see a little of the countryside/somewhere different from my daily “commute” from home to school and back) Again, wasn’t swift today, but also it wasn’t “as difficult” as it has been of late. (And I even stayed dry!)

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Farewell to summer

It could be the rain, or the cold, the grey skies or rumbles of thunder that mark the end of summer, but the real marker for the end of summer is a return to school and work tomorrow.

Its been a great summer, characterised by our month in Greece, but even since our return it has felt different, special. I don’t feel I’ve wasted much if any time and look back on a fulfilling and full August, including FA cup action, mucking around with cars, sorting out “my room”, a bit of gentle gardening (but not much!), seeing plenty of the children. Whilst I would happily not go back to work, I am similarly happy to go back to work as I know that it is that that allows me to have such a great summers like the one I have just had.

My goal for the next term is to look after myself, to try and find a balance that doesn’t leave me tired all the time, that allows me to do “other” things. (What those other things may be is a little woolly: I must re-engage with my Spanish, I’d like to continue my faltering steps in learning Greek; my running has suffered since before the end of last term – I ran today, a slow 7K: I’m running at over 5mins per km. Perhaps that is the new “me”, perhaps I need to run less/shorter distances. Perhaps I need lazy, leisurely Sunday mornings, or perhaps I do need to reconnect with hitting the streets. In the next couple of months, I do need to do some work in the garden – I’ll thank myself come spring; read, watch good TV and films …)

And so adio, adios, goodbye summer – its been great, already looking forward to next year!

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Car Boot

Sam, suffering from a lack of cash due to not having enough hours at work decided to do a car boot sale, primarily as a way to quickly and easily sell a lot of his Lego and Thomas the Tank engine toys, rather than eBay them. Having recently sorted my room, we had a number of items that were destined for the tip or charity shop, so we added them to the load, and today Sam and I got up early (5 am!) and were at the Cheddar car boot sale for just after 6am. It was a successful day, we came back with only a handful of items and £300.

My room is now done and it does look so much better, so much more spacious and looks like a “proper” space, rather than a dump. Its a been a painful experience, but definitely worth it!

Sophie’s car passed its MOT – needing brake pads and a new tyre, so I’m pleased that’s done and I’ve just fixed* the ABS light on Sam’s Civic – weeks ago I had diagnosed it as a front left speed sensor, today I replaced it. It was tricky to get the old one out, but with much levering with a screwdriver I got it out in one piece, replaced the sensor with a new one (£13.95 of eBay) fired up the engine and was delighted to see the light extinguished.

*I did this today, which is Monday. I’m having to blog today as yesterday it was running v slow and I couldn’t upload any images. Anyway, today I updated my install of WordPress for this blog and all is well.

Having been away for all of July, I do feel I have neglected the garden a bit, but the few sunflowers we have out the front look good – this multi-headed one is particularly pleasing – and my geraniums out the front (and elsewhere) look superb.

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Sorted!

Pic of the week 18/8/24

This week has mainly been about sorting, organising and remodelling my room, the sitting room, and the shed.

We’ve had two new chairs and a sofa arrive for the sitting room,

meaning the sofa in my room had to go, to be replaced with the sofa from the sitting room, necessitating a major re-organisation of my room.

Anyway, the job is nearly done – I still have to build my shoe rack, put my shoes away and do the final bit of organising, but I’m nearly there and the results so far are looking good.

Also this week, the Micra passed its MOT; not so good car news – I was woken at circa 1215 Friday night/Saturday morning as Sophie had broken down on the way home from Taylor Swift (driving from London to Basingstoke.) Her dashboard had lit up like Blackpool illuminations, and the car was losing power, so she pulled over. Her scanner said P0302 cylinder 2 misfire. Long story short, I got her to clear the code, the car then started and ran normally and she drove on to her friends house. The next day she drove home without incident, so I suspect some transient problem had put the car into limp mode. I will, though, change the plugs and coil pack.

Yesterday saw a return to FA cup action, with me on the line between Wincanton Town and Fleet Town. A feisty game that ended 2-2, I really enjoyed it. Meanwhile Shepton Mallet lost to Baffins Milton Rovers FC in their cup fixture, so a new team to follow in the next round.

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Birthday boy

Pic of the week 11/8/24

On Wednesday it was Sam’s birthday (22!) and we went to Cardiff for the day. We got to see his new house – a big imporvement on the squalor that was Richards Street – and his girlfriend, Poppy. We had a lovely meal in Honest Burgers , Becky and I in separate cars as I was driving his Civic back to do some repairs …

Which I duly did, fitting a new centre section exhaust. The previous owner had clearly been a boy racer, I had already replaced the tail box, quietening the car down considerably, but the centre section of the exhaust was hanging low, and had a couple of big dents in it from when Sam had “bottomed” out the car. It clearly wasn’t the original, and didn’t fit properly, so I ordered up the correct part and fitted it on Friday afternoon.

I’ve also been trying to resolve the triangle warning light on Sophie’s Fiat 500 – she’s been home since Thursday, and has just left to go home.  On Friday, I discovered one of her daylight running lights wasn’t working, so figured this would be the problem. Alas, it wasn’t as simple as a blown bulb, a wire was out of the bulb holder. I ordered a new one from Amazon and, with much fiddling (it is in a tight space!) got it fitted. Initially the light went out, but then came back. Saturday evening, and I was frustrated, unhappy and confused.

Anyway, I reverted to my initial plan A – buy and scan the car with MultiECUscan.  I had already downloaded and experimented with the free version, but this would not read DTC codes, let alone clear them. Saturday night I bought a copy and Sunday morning plugged in. Three codes popped up:

P0520-67 Oil pressure switch

B1022-12 Left or front side lights

B1033 – 19 Daylights current to high/above threshold

Anyway, I cleared the codes and the light went off and has (so far) stayed off.  I suspect the oil pressure switch was the original cause, and my tinkering had led to the others (since rectified). Anyway, I hope this proves to be a lasting solution, or for at least 10 days to get it through its MOT.

On Monday I ran – it felt slow and tough. To be fair, I haven’t ran for weeks, and even then I was slow, so I put it down to this. But on Monday night I began to develop a “bit of a throat” and all week I have been not well – on Wednesday and Thursday I was losing my voice.  Think I’m getting over it, but still suddenly have a bit of a coughing fit.  Will give myself a few more days before I run again (by which time it’ll be really tough & slow!)  Its not covid – have done two test. Just an annoying summer cold (probably picked up from sitting next to Mr Sneezy on the plane back from Athens)

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Back to life, back to reality

Pic of the week 4/9/24

So I didn’t blog (on here) for all of July as we we spent the month in Greece, and what a fantastic month it was, starting in Santorini, and the island hopping our way through Milos, Sifnos, Antiparos and Syros before reaching the mainland in Piraeus, the port suburb of Athens. I did, though, blog everyday on the holiday and my record of our Greek Odyssey begins here.

And since returning life has been busy.

Coming home, the garden was not quite overgrown, but in need of some serious pruning and cutting back. Although the front bed – the geraniums in full flower and several sunflowers blooming – was a wonderful site in the first daylight hours of August as we arrived home after our two and half hour delayed flight.

and whilst pottering in the garden, I heard some rustling from the end of the bottom deck. Fearing another rat, but hoping it was just a bird, I took and tentative look and was delighted to see a hedgehog (and quite a big one!) – more than happy to have them living in our garden.

Yesterday (3rd of August) was our 28th wedding anniversary – we don’t do gifts, and after a month travelling Greece, eating out every day, we didn’t feel the need to go out, but as ever we exchanged cards and sunflowers will always feature on this day.

Friday evening, I took up the whistle for the first time this season – Ashcott v Banwell – and I enjoyed the game. The, on Saturday, I was Assistant Referee in the FA Cup! Shepton Mallet v Horndean in the 1st extra preliminary round. Shepton won 1-0 and I do feel a little proud that I have been involved in this prestigious cup competition. I will now follow this thread of fixtures through to the final in May, and crow about how I was there at the start!

And today I had a go at replacing the a ball joint rubber boot on the Micra in preparation for its MOT in 10 days time. After some initial challenges, I made some progress, but then realised I would need to remove the control arm. Shouldn’t be two difficult – three bolts, one of which I’d already removed. The second came out fairly easily, but the third is stubbornly stuck. Have ordered a 16mm socket for my impact driver – will try that tomorrow, but if that fails, I will have to admit defeat – a grubby face for nothing!

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The end is nigh …

Pic of the week 23/6/24

One week to go …

One more week of school, one week to get organised before we vanish to Greece for the month of July. And after a busy week at school, that’s what I feel like doing: just vanishing for a month, away from cares, concerns and questions. Of course, living in the digital age as we do, we’ll keep in touch with the children, and up to date with the news (filled in my postal vote today – looking forward to learning of the destruction of the worst government of my lifetime whilst we are away) but I’m really looking forward to escaping for a month.

The weather hasn’t been stella this week, but it has been largely dry and with the long days I have enjoyed the evening light, like the pic of the week taken, I think, on the summer solstice.

Becky is away at the moment for a uni reunion in Ambleside; on Friday night into Saturday, at circa 4pm ish I was awoken by some noise in the back garden.  going downstairs to investigate, I saw the rear light was on, but nothing obvious. Then, looking out of the side kitchen door, on the wall I saw what I first thought was a cat, but then recognised it as a fox. I watched it for a bit – I think it was also watching me – as it calmly trotted along the wall, over the gate into the front and then across the road and away.  In the morning I discovered one of my bait boxes in the middle of the gravel, and found a dead mouse in it – I suspect this is what the fox was after, and the cause of the noise.

Went for a run today – my first for a few weeks – I was slow, but that’s not a bad thing. Other than the first k, they were all over 5 mins. In part I think this id use to not having run, and in part due to being “end of term tired” but I do think I need to be running a bit slower – better to run and enjoy it, than ran at speed be end up whacked.  Will be interesting to see how my speed changes over the summer.

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Fathers Day

Pic of the week

Today is Father’s Day. Sophie has been home (she came home on Wednesday evening, then she and Becky went to Cornwall on Thursday, returning late last night) and it has been nice to see her. I popped over to Wells in the morning to see my Dad – looking sprightly for an 85 year old – and of course I saw Sam last week. Sophie gave me the latest Thursday Murder Club book (book 4) and Sam gave me a choc/nut/pop corn snack mix, which I will tuck in to this evening as I watch England’s Euro ’24 opener v Serbia.

Still on a football theme, yesterday I refereed at the Ashcott FC charity festival – four hours of officiating (that is actual time either on the line or in the middle, not including breaks), it was a long afternoon, I did over 26K steps and my legs ached by the end, although not so bad today.

The weather continues to be poor – very wet and cold (although apparently it has been a very warm – possibly record breaking – Spring, but I think that is because the nights have been relatively warm.) Friday the heavens opened at lunchtime, fortunately only the occasional bit of drizzle yesterday afternoon, and today has turned out better than expected.

Things still seem really busy, hard to think that in two weeks time we’ll be heading off to Greece – whilst I feel a little unprepared, I also think that doesn’t really matter: it will be nice to vanish into the Aegean sea and let everyone else sort themselves out for a month whilst we just chill in obscurity!