Category: Uncategorized

Pic of the week 30/4/23

So its been back to school this week, the summer term, but not summer weather. Its been grey, damp (very wet at times) and chilly. The winter and spring of 2023 have not been good. The garden, though, is looking lovely – the pic above is tulips and bluebells along the “washing line path”  I’m pleased with the way the lawn is looking, still have tulips flowering in it alongside daisies, and the alliums (both in the lawn and in points) are close to flowering.  As I put out some washing this morning under a grey sky, I was struck by how peaceful the space was, it certainly was a calm oasis although I’ll be happy for it to turn into a scorching fiesta of flowers!

And to help create this, today I planted my first sunflower seeds of the season – two trays (20 seeds worth) of “Titan”, the same of “Giant Single” and 18 seeds of “Autumn Beauty”

This morning I ran 7K – my foot has been feeling fine so I thought I’d risk running again and I’m glad I did.  I was “aware” of my foot as I ran, and since returning, but I wouldn’t say its hurting, so that is a huge step (pun intended!) forward.  There were times when I thought I might never run again.  I was, inevitably, slow, but I was pleased that I was able to complete the 7K. Onwards and upwards from here!

I also think it worth recording that yoga isn’t taking place this term, so perhaps my days on the mat are done for good (did still do some stretching when I got back from my run) Perhaps I’ll do it again if it re-starts in September, but you never know, once something stops it can be quite hard to start again.

Pic of the week 14/2/21

The Micra has had a tough few months. At the start of December the brake master servo sprang a leak and the brakes stopped working (fixed that.) Then, just before Christmas, the exhaust tail box dropped off. I got National Tyres (at the bottom of the hill) to do that, but the couldn’t get the parts until the new year, so it was early January before that was fixed. Driving it the short way home, the car was making a hell of a noise, and both Becky and Sam commented on how the car didn’t sound right when they used it.

Some (pro-longed) fault diagnosis led me to conclude that it was the alternator – confirmed by removing the fan belt and firing up the car – no noise. Spinning the various pulleys, it quickly became clear it was the alternator (I think the bearings on the drive clutch had “gone”).

Anyway, was just taking it on the occasional short, round the block trip to keep things ticking over whilst I researched how to change the alternator, hoping to make it to half term, when I’d have a little more time. But about 10 days before half term, on one short such spin one lunch time, the alternator seized completely, belt disintegrated, and I made it home on what was left in the battery.

I’d already bought a “new” 2nd hand alternator and last weekend began the job of removing it.  In theory, simple: remove belt (already off as broke whilst driving), two electrical connections and two bolts.

But life is not that simple.

The alternator was buried behind heaps of “gubbins.”

Car up on sticks, remove driver side wheel & wheel arch, to access belt – easy enough. But then I realised I would have to remove a headlight, tensioner puller, much of the front bumper, a few air pipes just to get access.

And eventually I got access, and I eventually undid the two bolts.

But …

The lower bolt could be removed as there wasn’t clearance between it and the chassis. Now we came to the most nervous bit.  Jack under the engine (plank of wood on the sump) and tentively loosen the three engine mount bolts. Carefully, bit by bit, lower the jack. Eventually there is enough clearance and the bolt slides out.

Now just jack the engine back up … but (I think) my trolley jack had settled into the ground and I couldn’t get the engine back up.  Beginning to get a little concerned at this point. Then, have a brainwave. Get a concrete block and the tyre changing jack and use this to raise the engine back up. Still some fiddling and faddling to realign the engine mount, but loosening it “car side” gave me the necessary play. Phew!!

Now just whip out the alternator and put in the new one …

But no, the old alternator took some crow barring to get it out, and then some dexterous manhandling to get it out of the car, but eventually I emerged triumphant, dead alternator in hand.

Thought I’d pop the new alternator in and secure with top bolt and call it quits for the day, but I just couldn’t get it to fit.

Long story short, when you tighten the alternator in place, it draws through two bushings to provide a tight fit – so tight you can’t get an old one back on, YouTube & the internet told me to hammer the bushings back through, but they weren’t going to budge.

So I bough a new alternator (£120 compared to £20 for the 2nd hand one) and this weekend I fitted it. Went in like a glove, top bolt in securing it in place. Now for the difficult bit – lowering the engine to allow the bottom bolt to go in. I took my time, was cautious and no dramas, engine dropped (say 1cm?) bolt inserted, engine re-lifted, mounting bolts tightened.

Put everything back together – fitting the belt was difficult, v tight. Hopped in car ready to start her up to check all OK, turn the key: nothing.

Battery dead. Tried jumping her, but still nothing. Left the car on trickle charge and at 10pm, before going to bed, she turned over, but didn’t start, then battery died.

Left her on charge overnight.

In the morning, got expectantly in. Nothing, nada, zilch. Took the battery negative cable off, left for a minute, put it back on. Dashboard lights up -promising – turn key, turns over, sparks into life. Fantastic!

But then I noticed the wheels turning when not in gear. Odd. Feared I might have completely screwed something, but a quick internet search suggested that this is normal with both wheels of the ground.

Spent an hour or so rebuilding the front of the car (headlights, bumper, under tray, wheel arch) wheel back on, drop it off sticks, fire her up, voltage check – alternator kicking out a healthy 14Volts +, and take her for a test drive. All good, and I’m one happy hector. Frustration at times, but on the whole I’ve enjoyed myself, and a great deal of satisfaction derived from a job well done!

Pic of the week 10/1/21

Well, its been an eventful week.

We’re now in lockdown 3, and schools are closed so I’ve begun remote teaching again. Looking at the positives, I’m not as tired as I would have been as I can get up a little later, no duties, no Wednesday or Saturday games; I’ve got a bit more time to crack on with a few projects, and I’ve learnt lessons from lockdown 1 (mainly don’t be too rigid with a daily timetable. Teach when you have to teach, but other than that work at times that suit). But it (teaching remotely) is not as good as being in school. I reckon we could be in for the long haul, all the way to the summer term …

Its been cold, bitterly cold, this week. Indeed, that was a definite silver lining on Wednesday when I walked home at lunchtime (I taught from school for the first day, but at home from then on) – I figured we would have otherwise have been at Kingweston and it would have been perishing. Temperatures have been at or around freezing all week. Today, I thought the sun was going to burn through to give us a beautiful January day, but no, the freezing fog never lifted.

Perhaps because of the cold, the birds have been flocking to our feeding table in the back garden. On Saturday morning, whilst teaching, I was distracted by a long tail tit in the bush outside my window, so I have put a couple of feeders out there in the hope of attracted more feathered friends to break up the monotony of the teaching day.

Because of teaching from home, I felt that the time was right to furnish myself with a Windows 10 computer, in the main so that I can use OneNote for Windows 10 – much quicker than using the browser based version I relied on in lockdown 1. So I found and bought a refurbished ‘pooter on Amazon (£125, 256 SSD Hard Drive 8 GB RAM) which duly arrived, but wouldn’t start. I phoned the helpline for help, but they weren’t any good. In the end, after much intial frustration, scratching of heads by Sam and I, and swapping parts in and out, I figured the problem was one of the four 2GB Ram cards. Long story short, I now have it up and running, albeit with only 6 GB instead of 8.

Today I had another crack at the top mount on the Corsa. Using penetrating spray and a long extension pole, I manged to crack the nut holding it on. So now having loosened a number of bolts that probably haven’t been loosened fro over ten years, I reckon I’m in a position were I can remove the strut next week (Saturday?) and replace the top mount. I am enjoying tinkering with the cars.

Ran today – once again felt slow and difficult, averaging about 5 mins per K (ran 7K) but did the run in nearly 30 secs less than last week, so that is progress. Although annoyingly, I tweaked my right calf, I hope that’s not going to put me out of action for too long – with my weight spiraling upwards I really do need to establish an exercise regime to help control it.

Pic of the week 13/9/20

I came home on Saturday to find Sam mewling with pain and generally feeling sorry for himself.

The night before he had been staying with pals and they went on a night time (drunken) ramble and Sam fell over some logs and hurt his ankle. It was heavily swollen and he couldn’t weight bear.

Fearing it may be broken, this morning Sophie took him to Bridgwater A&E, where they diagnosied a sprain and sent him home. He can now walk gingerly on both feet, although he’s not going in to work until Friday. (He now needs to use his “time off” to focus on his physics  revision.)

The first week of term is over, and its been a tough start working in a socially distanced school. The pupils aren’t really socially distancing, teaching is harder (than normal) – its been a tiring start to the year. I hope we all begin to settle into some sort of normalcy soon, I don’t think the demands of last week are sustainable.  Normally, a day or two into term rhythms and routines are established, but that is yet to be the case.  An “interesting” term awaits, I think.

 

Pic of the week 7/6/20

The year began with me refereeing alot, and running not alot. In January, I didn’t run at all. February saw a few games (that I was due to referee) cancelled and I hit the streets on a few occasions, and this continued into mid-March.

And then lockdown happened.

We were told you could only go outside to exercise once a day, for upto an hour. I was grateful that we could go out – I had worried that lockdown may mean that – lockdown – and we wouldn’t be allowed out at all.  With my spinning and swimming cancelled, and now football being played, running was going to become my only exercise.

I decided that I needed to make the most of my outdoor hour – no good just going for a 6K run for 30 mins, no every run would either be my 9.5 Km run or 10 Km run on a Sunday, taking between 45 and 50 minutes. (I only run the 10K run on a Sunday as the roads are quieter. But, although its shorter, the 9.5K run is possibly more brutal as it has a whacking great hill to climb in the middle. My 10K route is reasonably flat.)

As soon as the (Easter) holiday’s came I began running daily, even when term time restarted, I was able to fit in a run “before” school on either a Monday or Thursday.

April saw me rack up in excess of 200 Km, I did less in May, running 145 Km.   At the time of writing, I’ve run 481 Km, and we are not yet half way through the year. It did dawn on me the other day that I might, just might run 1,000 Km this year, quite some target as that equates to one million metres.

I don’t think I will make that total.  I hope I don’t, I hope we return to enough of a normal that I can go spinning again, swim and referee and not be so totally reliant on running for my exercise.

But I am enjoying my running, and 10 K is not quite a walk in the park, but certainly has become the norm.

Bonus photo:

Yesterday, all four of us went on a “Boris” walk together, somewhat of a rarity.

After a couple of weeks of beautiful weather, it turned on Wednesday and we’ve had some rain and yesterday was cold – with rain and a chill wind. However, I’m pleased to report that today was better that expected and I enjoyed some time in the garden, both reading and pottering.

Pic of the week 26/1/20

On Thursday I spotted that one of my cacti is flowering.

I must say, I’m rather proud. All three have thrived in the twenty one months they’ve been in my care, and this one is now sporting a small white flower.

In other news, I injured my already tweaked calf on Wednesday – whilst running the line (1st XI v Strode) there was a definite moment when I felt it go.  It continued to hurt on Thursday, so I cancelled my spinning. But silver linings and all that, I went swimming (instead of spinning) on Thursday and, as today was always a closed date anyway, I went for a swim this morning, notching up 60 lengths.

I saw this quote from Richard Feynman on Twitter, and I like it. A good philosophy for life:

Fall in love with some activity, and do it! Nobody ever figures out what life is all about, and it doesn’t matter. Explore the world. Nearly everything is really interesting if you go into it deeply enough!

 

Pic of the week 30/6/19

On Tuesday Becky & I went to see Paul Young, and he was great.

The voice wasn’t as powerful as it once was, and he struggled (i.e. couldn’t) hit high notes, but it was a great night as he belted out all the classics from his hey-day.

Still very much a showman, he interacted well with the audience (who, a little disappointingly, were rather passive – I don’t think we got out of our seats until the very end), a good an and a half set at the Octagon Theatre, Yeovil, and we were still home for five past eleven. (Although, being the last week of term, I was less worried about the dangers of burning the candle at both ends. I have since successfully navigated the last few days of term and am now luxuriating in the long summer holiday.)

My musical tour continues – I’m really enjoying “the live music scene”: the anticipation of the show giving me something to look forward to, the show itself and then a re-engagement with the music and musician long after the concert.

Here are a couple of videos of the 63 year old in action

And, from Instagram, Love Will Tear Us Apart:

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

Bit of @paulyoungparlez

A post shared by Becky Peabody (@beckydotsandspots) on Jun 25, 2019 at 1:36pm PDT

So how did I do?

At the start of the year, here, I listed my goals, aims and targets for the year. 2018 now draws to a close – time to review how I did …

• 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 … Challenge complete. Didn’t do it in an official race as my knee injury prevented me running the Glastonbury 10K, but ran numerous self-timed 10Ks in sub 49 mins.
• Run 400 Km. Nearly hit that total in 2017, should be able to do so on 2018, particularly given the goal above. Ran 424 Km in the year, all the more impressive given that there were some months when I didn’t run at all.  Did a lot of running in the summer hols.
• 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). Started the year in good form, swimming on Tuesday evenings to keep up the once a week swim, but this tailed off after Easter. Swam 63.8 Km, 1914 lengths in almost bang on 24 hours of swimming.
• 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. Reckon my weight averaged 12 stone 8 – was quite a bit of fluctuation throughout the year. More detail, and a fancy chart, can be seen here.
• 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) Enjoyed the garden, no sunflowers, but did grow sweet peas and runner beans. Lawn took a bit of a beating in the heatwave, but think its in a better state now than 12 months ago.  Graveled the area outside the sitting room, and built the adjacent mini-deck, pleased with the result.
• 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. I kept on blogging, writing 15 posts, but not consistently throughout the year (i.e. not one a month).
• 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. Still get tired at times, but know a little more about the science behind it, manage my sleep a little better – I do think I’ve made progress with this, but hard to measure.