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Mothers Day

Pic of the week 10/3/24

Today’s is Mother’s day – Becky’s first not working Mother’s Day for seven years!  At lunch time we had a family Insta chat which was nice , the bambinos had sent their cards, and had instructed me to get some flowers, which I did on Wednesday.

Today has been quite chilled – we’ve not done a lot, I think Becky is enjoying her new job in the gallery, but is also then enjoying doing not a lot on Sunday, having worked on Saturday.

The weather has been dryer this week, but I wouldn’t say its (yet) been a warm March, it has been chilly in the mornings and nights, and the days plagued by a brisk wind. But the extra light makes a huge difference; this week we have seen some sun and the fact that it is still light as we approach six o’clock just makes everything feel better. Daffodils are in bloom, bushes are greening up and this last week we do seem to have – at last-  emerged from the grey grimness that descended in late October. Whilst its not been a cold winter, it has been a wet one, and that means the skies have often been leaden grey and oppressive. But I think, at last, Spring is here, or coming soon at the very least and one’s mood has lightened like the sky this last week.

The Magnolia is in full bloom – in fact, it is already starting to shed some flower petals (I often think the Magnolia is overrated – fantastic for five minutes, but lacking in the staying power to really earn its keep.) Its been a busy week, but a good week. Another busy one to come, I think …

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Leaping into Spring

Pic of the week 3/3/24

Thursday was Feb 29th – making this a leap year – and Friday, 1st of March, was the first day of metrological spring …

Thursday night into Friday into poured with rain. It has been a wet February, one of the wettest on record, although (supposedly) warm. March began damp and grey, yesterday I did the line for the 1st XI and I’ve never known pitch one so wet. But by the time we kicked off it had, thankfully, stopped raining and one the couple of occasions the sun came out it actually felt quite pleasant.

This morning we woke to a frost, and it was cold as I went for my run (7K) but the sun was shining, the sky was blue and the air was still; it has been a beautiful day and I have spent quite a bit of it outside doing some garden jobs.  I cut the Miscanthus back – the swishy swashy brown stems and seed heads have been a boon in the barren winter landscape, but everything is now starting to green up, so it was time to cut it back and look forward to lush green growth in spring and summer.

The daffodils in the lawns and pots look magnificent, bursts of yellow that brighten the day and generate a sense of optimism whenever you see them. The magnolia tree out the front is in flower, the days are longer, it just makes everything so much better.

I have performed major surgery on the big box bush out front – in late August Maureen told us that she had lost a number of plants to box blight, and feared ours had succumbed too. It did look to have taken hold and I began cutting out some of the affected stems. But then it started raining, and whilst rain stopped play I did some research and Monty (Don – the BBC gardening guru) suggested that you might be better waiting until the new growing season to cut it back, so that’s what I did.  The other day, walking home, I noticed some new green tips on the plant, today I had a good look: a mixed bag – some areas pretty badly infected, but plenty of new green shoots. So today I took out quite a bit of the plant – hopefully the increased light and air will mean the good will win out over the bad … We’ll just have to wait and see.

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Plague House

Pic of the week 25/2/24

We’ve both (Becky & I) been a bit poorly this week, with a cough, cold, snuffly affliction.  Becky picked it up from our visit to Cornwall last week, and I succumbed this week. I don’t thin I have had it as bad as Becky, but I’ve coughed a bit, sneezed a few times and blown my nose a lot! I’ve been a bit headachey, and have felt quite tired and lethargic, coupled with developing an ulcer under my tongue. I think we are both over the worst, I would describe it as draining rather than debilitating. It hasn’t been helped by some poor weather – today is cold, wet and windy, thoroughly miserable, certainly not a day that makes you feel like doing anything.  I didn’t run today, and I hope the lazy day will help recharge my batteries for next week.

Becky started work at the gallery this week, and sees to be quite enjoying it, certainly less demanding and stressful than working in Sainsburys!

Earlier in the week, it was relatively warm, and we have had a couple of nice days (not stunners) and when it is vaguely bright and you walk home in daylight at circa 5pm it does give you a lift. The daffodils in the lawn are looking magnificent, and they are also flowering in the big wooden planter at the front of the house.  They really do make a difference and lift your mood. Now we just need a few more bright days to go with them to herald the end of winter and the beginning of Spring, but the forecast for next week looks damp, grey and cold. The magnolia has “budded up” and is very close to flowering – I just hope it doesn’t get too battered in the wind.

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A Cornish Adventure

Pic of the week 18/2/24

So half term has come and gone – its been a busy but enjoyable week which all began with a Cornish adventure …

On Sunday, we drove down to Cornwall and went to the Eden project en-route. I must say I loved the Tropical Rainforest Biome: the warmth, the humidity, the lush planting – the sense of being in another world. I am definitely going through a “plant phase” at the moment, enjoying my garden and getting into houseplants, and the rainforest biome really tapped into this. It was spectacular, particularly ascending the steps to the ceiling of the biome. We were some 30 metres up – with apparently, another 20 metres to the roof – looking down on all the planting.  It was hot – 32 degrees, with circa 82% humidity – we were lucky, they shut access to the stairs whilst we were on them: 5 mins later we wouldn’t have been able to go above the canopy. (We were up there at about 1.30pm , when asked, staff said access would reopen if the temperature fell a little, possibly around 3pm)

The Mediterranean biome was good, but not as good as the rain forest biome – it didn’t seem to contain so much, it didn’t have the same “wow” factor, but perhaps that’s because we’ve seen the real thing?

On Monday we went to the Lost Gardens of Heligan – impressive, peaceful (when we escaped the families and kids!) and inspirational.

I particularly liked the mass of tree ferns – it did feel like you would see a pterodactyl swooping through the value at one point .

And the formal gardens were beautifully presented as well

On Tuesday we came home, via IKEA, where, inspired by our visits, I bought some house plants. Our garden didn’t match those we’d seen but the daffodils in the lawn are giving a much needed burst of colour.

This photo doesn’t do it justice – it already looks better than that, but I include for future reference.

Wednesday I was at the dentist and they have recommended a filling (one of my current fillings – back right) is cracked and needs replacing. Have booked it in for May half term for the princely sum of £192! Shocking!

Thursday saw the Corsa – the red shed – taken away. I got £150 quid for it. On the Saturday I got it to start by taking off and refitting the battery, but that was the last time I was able to get it started. So the 205 is now my daily runner!  It had been a nice day on Thursday, but by late afternoon, when he arrived to take the Cosa away, a mizzle had set in, giving a somewhat melancholic feel to the sad farewell to a loyal servant who had led a tough life. Three and a half years we’d had the car – it was not the best I have ever bought and I did save it from extinction on s few occasions (exhaust, jumping teeth on the timing chain, water pump, rust in a sill) but this was its time.

On Friday we went to the cinema, at Strode, to see the Holdovers

A little sad, and not the greatest of movies, but I’m glad we went.

And now its Sunday, time to gear up for the return to school for six weeks until the Easter break.  The weather is improving, days are getting longer, I often think the first half of the Spring term is the toughest of the year – I hope it was the case this year and the next half of term is not so exhausting.

 

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Death of the red shed

Pic of the week

Wednesday afternoon – cold, tired and miserable, after refereeing a somewhat unnecessarily tetchy U15B team game, I go to the car and turn the key. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. The car wouldn’t start.

Now, I can’t say I hadn’t been warned: on Saturday, again at Kingweston, getting into the car after my match, I turn the key, it fires up and dies immediately.  I try again, nothing. And then again, and it bursts into life, I drive home and forget about it. Wednesady afternoon, going to Kingweston it did the same. I did pause, I did think “perhaps I shouldn’t take her” but she was running fine, and I figured worst came scenario the same thing would happen, so I drove to Kingweston – the airbag light coming on a couple of times on route.

But no, I was getting nothing.  Got a lift back to Street and I was annoyed (at myself more than anything, for ignoring the earlier gremlins). I figured it was either a sticking starter motor or, more likely, a failing ECU.  Anyway, we waited at home for about half an hour to allow the masses to disperse, I grabbed a few tools, and Becky took me back to Kingweston.

Suspecting an intermittent ecu/electrical problem I thought I’d try disconnecting the battery, reconnect it, and try and start the car.

I tried, I failed.

I was pretty much all out of ideas, and beginning to think about how I was going to get the red shed home, or arrange for it to be collected from Kingweston. I could see my half term being lost in admin and faff.

One last shot: I disconnected the battery again, but this time left it disconnected for longer, about 3 minutes.

I put the key in the car and turned. Still nothing.  This was the last throw of the dice.

But, but, I thought I’d heard a click of a servo I hadn’t heard before, so I gave the key one last turn, and old faithful burst into life! Overjoyed, I gingerly nursed her back home, the dashboard lights flashing like some poor-mans ’80s disco, but I got home. I was a happy man!

On Friday I tried firing her up again – nothing, but after disconnecting and reconnecting the battery I coaxed her into life. Same again today.

But the red shed is dead. I have arranged for her to be collected on Thursday afternoon, netting me the princely sum of £150 (at this stage, any money is a bonus, I just want her out of my life now)

And cometh the hour, cometh the 205 which will now be elevated to second car status and pressed into regular use.

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Films and thermostats

Pics of the week 4/2/24

Last night was cinema night.  Becky and I went to see the film “Next Goal Wins” at Strode studio we both really enjoyed the film. Based on a true story, it was about the American Samoa football team – the worst in the world – who were still licking there wounds after a record 31-0 defeat by Australia. They hired a new coach to try and turn around their fortunes, and it was a film about him, rather than football, all set against a back drop of green mountains, blue sea and even bluer sky (I think I could be happy living on that island!) The film was light hearted, funny at times and suitably uplifting to have made it worth dragging ones tired body out of the house on a Saturday evening, when a comfy sofa on which to snooze was the alternative!

Also this week, Becky came home on Tuesday saying that her car had made a “pffft” noise – not unlike me, asleep, she said – and then produced a lot of smoke.  My initial diagnosis that a coolant pipe had burst or come loose was correct, I found that one of the pipes from the thermostat had broken – the plastic insert that joins the body of the thermostat to the pipe had broken, necessitating removal and replacement of the thermostat.  As ever, the trickiest part was getting access – in the end I removed the battery and battery bay, I also removed the ecu, but probably didn’t need to, replaced the thermostat (£20) and the job was done.  Did rather enjoy the whole process.  This is the offending part (the black plastic insert had sheared at the joint with the body):

Sophie came home on Tuesday – fed up with the noise of the railway repair work going on outside her flat at night and it was nice to see her, although she was not feeling 100%  I think I’ve got over my cold, but am tired – I need half term to come in four and a half days ….

Not one that I planted, but the first daffodil is flowering – in the stone trugg outside my room, I don’t think it will be too long before a number of others are in flower as well. I hope so!

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A Greek Odyssey

Pic of the week 28/1/24

This week has been tough – I’ve not felt one hundred percent (a cough/cold has been bugging me since last weekend), work is in the difficult days when students and staff are tiring and starting to get things wrong, and I don’t seem to have had time to do much.

One thing we have been doing, though, is booking our accommodation for our Greek Odyssey in July. We’re now all booked up – we land in Santorini, then go to Milos, on to Sifnos, from there we go  Antiparos before our final island stop on Syros. Then its back to the mainland, landing at the Athenian port of Piraeus for a couple of nights then flying back to Bristol. (There is an error in the above pics – we were going to stay in Pollonia on Milos, but have changed our minds, and will now stay in the port town of Adamas. It seems (and it is) a long time away, but something to look forward to in these grey January days.

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The big chill


Pic of the week 21/1/24

The cold weather has persisted this week – in fact it got a whole lot colder towards the end of the week. For me, Thursday seemed particularly cold – walking home from school at circa 6.45pm (after detention) I was so cold I almost broke into a run just to get me home. I think the temperature did fall to about -4 degrees overnight.  I have decided that I definitely don’t like the cold . Did I say that last week? I think I did. It must be true!

But its all change today – its be grey and (relatively) warm (its still January, so not shorts and t-shirt weather, but could do a few outside jobs in fleece and body warmer) and a bit blowy.  As the afternoon has worn on, the wind has whipped up and it is now blowing fiercely and the rain has returned. Although I’ll probably be complaining about the wind and rain before long, I think I do prefer it, and I do quite like the energy and excitement of the wind when it blows.

Today, I replaced the sensor light on the back of the house. Not a difficult job – took the old one down last week as it kept tripping the circuit breaker, ordered a new one and wired it in today.  Also ran my second 10K of the year, am pleased I am now once again regularly running this distance.

Have been helping Sam, remotely, with re-arranging equations as he revises for an Economics exam tomorrow, It is pleasing to see that he does now take his studies seriously, and works independently; thought we’d never see the day!

This week I have a watched a Spanish language film, entirely in Spanish – albeit with Spanish subtitles. La Sociedad de la Nieve , a film about the Uruguayan plane crash in the Andes in 1972. It helped that I new the story – hace muchos anos, I had watched (with Becky) the film Alive, which was an English language version of the story, and I then read the book; plus it was a “slow paced” film so the dialogue was not too rapid (unlike in, say, and action movie) and I watched it over three nights, but I enjoyed the film, and whilst I didn’t understand every word spoken, I was able to follow along.  I am pleased with how my Spanish is progressing.

 

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Cold!

 

Pic of the week 14/1/24

This week it has been cold! Not the cleansing, invigorating blue sky, fresh cold, no, the grey overcast cold, with biting wind thrown in.

On Monday I refereed a school cup game. Two minutes to go we were 2-1 down (to the better side) Oh well, thinks I, a shame we shall go out, but I will soon be able to go in and start to defrost. But no, an innocuous free kick just beyond the  half way line, and somehow an equaliser is scored. Cue twenty minutes of extra time. A quick lead is claimed, and again, two minutes from extra time full time it looks like we’ll have a winner. But no, another last minute equaliser. Cue penalties. At least before I was running around, now I was stood managing the penalty shoot out, and feeling the last therm of warmth drain from my body. A the penalties just kept flying in. Sudden death – and I’m thinking if we don’t get a result soon, the sudden death will be me, from hypothermia.  At last, some poor soul has their penalty saved, and we can all go home. Rinse and repeat on Wednesday, but this time the sun was shining, and the game mercifully one-sided, no fear of penalties here. But after the brief appearance of the sun on Wednesday, the greyness has returned, along with falling temperatures.  I don’t like the cold, it has little, if anything, to commend it. Roll on warmer days!

On Thursday we (Year 10) went to Bristol en-masse and me and 100 students visited the SS Great Britain.  Of course, I took the opportunity to dress up and have my photo taken. A striking resemblance to Isambard Kingdom Brunel I think?!

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Happy New Year!

Pic of the week 7/1/24

So a new year – we already seem a long way into 2024, perhaps it was having to go into school for INSET on Tuesday 2 Jan and then starting on 3rd, and we are already a week into the new year, the holidays seem a long time ago!

Its been a wet week, by Thursday evening it felt it had been raining for months, and flooding was beginning to occur once again, but by Friday morning it had stopped, we saw some blue sky – the first since Malaga – and Becky snapped the above. But the temperature has now dropped, its got cold and although today did have some sunshine, there was a stiff wind and it has felt very cold, and promises to be this way for the next week.  I don’t like the cold. Even with crisp blue skies and sunshine (a rarity) the cold has little to commend it. Some people take great joy from hunkering down, donning another jumper and beating the chills – not me. I shall be happy when the warmth returns. My mood is lifted, though, by the sight of bulbs poking their heads bravely above ground level and there are many that are doing so, in my pots, the trough, and my lawn.

So with a new year I should have new aspirations, plans and resolutions.  To be honest, I don’t.  I will run – 500K in the year is a good target (I fell well short of that last year, largely because of my foot, but towards the end of the year I re-found my bounce and began running my 10Ks again) I want to continue with my Spanish, I feel in the latter half of last year I made real strides and I want to continue that, and I want to write more – on my maths blog, but also get myself a cheap laptop and blog whilst away.  On a practical note, I do need to re-roof my shed, and it would probably be sensible to have a sort through it. If there is anything I really ought to do this year (and I have made a start, albeit only baby steps thus far) is horde less and get rid of more stuff. Now there’s a challenge for 2024 …