My Day

[ExSurveyor]

The calm before the storm.

[BroadAmbition]

Today we fly off to Rhodes, that is me, MrsG, Daughter, her new husband with three of our grandsons.  Just as well as yet again it is raining here at home, our local river is very high and has been for about four weeks now.

Our Hotel complex is on the North East of Rhodes island well away from the wildfires.  Our travel company have stated - Come on down.  If we decline then we lose the holiday with no refunds available - It was too expensive imho to start with but I got suckered into this one, it won't be occurring next year

Anyroadup the professional photo's are in from the wedding, there are hundreds and hundreds of em.  We still wait on the videos though.  So here's when I first saw her in her dress, when I addressed the congregation rather than just saying a boring 'I do' when asked who gives this woman away? lastly a posed for shot after she became a Mrs rather than a Miss, 

Griff

 

 

[FairTmiddlin]

E up lad, how much scrubbin and polishin to get you to that state.

[Andrewcook]

That is a lovely photo of the Newly we'd Couple and for Griff to put on the Mantelpiece to cherish the day of your Daughter's wedding act. 

[BroadAmbition]

Andrew, that’s me n the Bride (Daughter) Not the Groom

Griff

[BroadAmbition]

Made it, all seven of us with all luggage. Got to our hotel complex for midnight our time, 0200 local time. It’s 29c and DRY. We are staying at Atlantica Aegean Blue at Kolymbia

Griff

[Chelsea14Ian]

So today we went to Driftwood in Sutton. Have brought  lots of things there. Sorry to see the pottery  is no longer there.Then went to Potter for lunch and some very large pieces of homemade cake at Bridgestones.Now having a nice Italian  red wine.Only the second  red since mid May, due to my meds.Very nice to.

[TheQ]

My day.. no My week, Horning regatta week. It went well, Blue Moon went better than expected , she even one two races and a third place silver spoon... LizG won several races....

[Andrewcook]

Dear Griff, I do sincerely Apologize  of the Error  I've have made re to the Wedding Photos I think I ought to go to Spec Saves  to get my self a New Pair of Glasses 👓 

[grendel]

early start as the boot fair was on and i hadnt had a chance to get there for several weeks , ended up buying a cast iron drill vice (good solid thing) two weller soldering stations for £3 each (later found to be selling on ebay for £85 each) these are professional ones with temperature controlled tips, both worked.

Today was the first good cycling day in about a week, so off i toddled, I had decided to cycle sme of the pilgrims way (north downs way) big mistake, though its advertised as a cycle way after about a mile there was a 1/2 mile section of nettle hell, so bad i stopped and pushed the bike, (pushing it with the bike actually in the nettles to knock them down somewhat, I still got stung on both legs, even the pedestrians were proceeding gingerly. eventually I got through that found a dock leaf and administered temporary respite. then the path was muddy with the back wheel slipping every direction and making progress tricky.

up into the woods and I find a pedestrian gate (apparently cyclists were supposed to lift their bikes over this obstacle, as bike tracks carried on, I had a think and lifted the fence post that had wire fencing attached, unlooped a wire loop from the gatepost and moved it out of the way. then proceeded.

Just after this I was asked by a woman had I seen a teenage downs syndrome girl on my route apparently she had wandered off, I responded I hadnt, but would keep my eyes open, about a mile further on I encountered two more people looking for her.

AFter wending my way further through the muddy woodland path, I got to the road, here there was a locked gate and a stile, very cycle friendly when you have a 70kg bike- not.

I eventually fought my way through a holly bush and round the end of the fence and had a choice of routes- back toward canterbury I thought.

This was when I found the Girl, just walking along the road, asking if it was the correct way for chartham. I indicated it was and wondered how I would let those searching for her know. That was answered a mile later when I passed one group of the searchers I had passed earlier, I let them know she was about a mile ahead and turned back to stop her and reunite them.

once I caught up with her again I let her know the people who were looking for her were on their way and waited until they came into sight, good deed done for the day, after that it was a case of heading home and putting some cream on the nettle stings. Not a route I will be trying again soon, maybe next time I will start where I left off, certainly some of those footpaths need someone to head along them with a strimmer and  mow down the nettles.

[kpnut]

That was all about eventful. Glad the young lady got repatriated. 
Not a very cycle friendly route after all by the sound of it. A job for the county footpath officer to look into. 

[Smoggy]

Can't you make an electric strimmer to fix on the front of the bike and give it a trim on your way?

[grendel]

6 minutes ago, Smoggy said:

Can't you make an electric strimmer to fix on the front of the bike and give it a trim on your way?

funny, i had considered that

[Mouldy]

Never mind my day, my weekend!  I’d ordered 2cu metres of seasoned hardwood logs to be delivered and told it’d be late morning when they arrived.  The supplier is clearly in a different time zone, as he rocked up at 09:40.  I hastily move the cars off the drive so he could reverse on and tip then nearer my sideway to barrow round to our newly acquired log store.  I shouldn’t complain, but I’m sure that there was more than I’d ordered.  It was almost inevitable that we should have a short, sharp shower just as he finished tipping them!  Grrrr!😡

Quickly, the wheelbarrow was put into service and within an hour or so, most had been transferred to the store and stacked.

 

Id also arranged to be at Horning to meet a couple of upholsterers to quote for new curtains on Moonlight Shadow.  Feeling slightly worse for shifting a load of logs, I set off, arriving ten minutes before my first appointment.

They measured up, we had a chat and I waited, but the second firm failed to arrive.  No matter, I have another to see next week, as well as show a new owner around the boat to familiarise him with relevant bits!  I also grabbed a quick photo of our newly installed cooker, which is a huge improvement over the old one, even allowing free access to the cutlery drawer!

To be continued.

[Mouldy]

That’ll track me to hit enter, before I’ve finished! 😬

I returned home and finished moving the rest of the logs and now have a heap in my garage!

Saturday, like for a good many of us I guess, was something of a washout.  It didn’t stop raining from the time I got up until I went to bed.  I did venture into Watton in the afternoon, to buy a small chopper.  I wasn’t going to buy kindling when I had plenty of logs to chop up!

Sunday dawned, bright and sunny, but I’d seen the forecast and knew it wouldn’t last.  The wife had a bright idea - I’d cut some shrubs down in our as yet, undeveloped ‘back’ back garden.  She suggested that with the ground soft, now would be a good time to dig the roots up!  Well, we grunted, strained, broke a saw, I broke into a sweat and eventually managed to get all four out.  Some of the thicker roots will have to stay, as they pass under the fence and I’m not sure that the neighbour would welcome us digging up his garden.  I also chopped a bit more off the overgrown laurel hedge at the back of our property.  I had a hack at it last year and it’s started to thicken up at the bottom now, so I thought I’d help it along a bit!  It’s about twelve feet tall, so definitely overdue for a trim!

Fortunately, it started raining, so our endeavours were bought to an early end before I got carried away with the loppers.  Our garden waste bin, that was emptied last Wednesday, is now full, so another visit to the tip beckons to get rid of the waste.

I thought that retirement might allow me a little time to relax.  🤨

[YnysMon]

2 hours ago, Mouldy said:

our newly installed cooker, which is a huge improvement over the old one, even allowing free access to the cutlery drawer!

Thanks for the photo of the new cooker Malcolm. That's a vast improvement on the old one!

[Smoggy]

Was the first pic 2m2 of logs? Can I ask what they cost? (PM is fine)

As far as my day went,someone got me horribly drunk and I have a sneaking suspicion it was me......(it was, there's no bloody doubt about it)

[YnysMon]

I saw a Bittern today! Well, sort of. It was actually a stuffed specimen in the Oxford Natural History Museum.

 

We had a family day out, as Harry had the weekend off work and Alec said he'd really like to visit the Pitt Rivers Museum that adjoins the Natural History Museum. He had visited Oxford recently and wanted to revisit that part of the Museum. The Natural History bit has lots of very interesting displays and the building itself it pretty special. 

The Pitt Rivers bit is an anthropological museum that has a fascinating collection of all sorts of things collected from all over the world. Anything you can think of: pottery, clothing, weapons, musical instruments. You name it, they have it. I didn't take a photo though, as the light it fairly low. 

We had the dogs with us and before travelling into Oxford stopped off for a good dog run. We went to Godstow car park, at the northern end of a very large area of open land on the north west side of Oxford, Port Meadow, which is bounded on its western side by the River Thames. As well as being popular with dog walkers, it seems to be somewhere that canoeists and paddle boarders are drawn to, no doubt because of the river. 

After that we drove into Oxford and parked in the Westgate multi-story (the shopping centre that has a John Lewis), so that the dogs wouldn't get too hot. We went to the Covered Market for lunch. As mentioned, Alec had visited Oxford a recently to say farewell to a friend who has gone off to Japan to teach English and the friend had taken him to a tiny Greek café in the covered market called Georgina's. I'm sure we would never have discovered it by ourselves. It was upstairs, so the entrance was just a small door between other cafe's/shops. It was very reasonably priced, most of the dishes being under £8, had huge helpings and was good for meat eaters, vegetarian and vegans. I had their hot mezze platter, Graham had spanakopita, Alec had moussaka and Harry a (huge) meatball wrap. All the dishes, apart from the wrap, had a good portion of salad included.

We had originally planned to travel to Oxford yesterday. I'm so glad we put it off, as the weather today was so much better. Mind you, when we came out of the museum we could see that we had missed a heavy shower. that was lucky. We had brought brollies but left them in the car. Typical!

[kpnut]

4 hours ago, Mouldy said:

I wasn’t going to buy kindling when I had plenty of logs to chop up!

There’s something bizarrely satisfying about chopping up kindling. Maybe the sight of the pile getting bigger.

Digging out old shrubs is a back breaking activity. Well done, but be careful with your back, speaks the voice of experience!

[BroadAmbition]

Due to commence travelling home later today. 
This holiday is fully paid up in advance or so we thought until we found this in our room this morning. An unwanted surprise and no mention of it or heads up when we booked the holiday
 

Griff

[floydraser]

Today we are recovering after sadly, our duties of care came to an end at around 01.30 yesterday morning.

My kids will be getting orders that should my end become unpleasant, they shouldn't hesitate to put me into care and remember me in my element: acting like an idiot at the bottom of a pile of grandchildren.

[YnysMon]

1 hour ago, floydraser said:

Today we are recovering after sadly, our duties of care came to an end at around 01.30 yesterday morning.

My kids will be getting orders that should my end become unpleasant, they shouldn't hesitate to put me into care and remember me in my element: acting like an idiot at the bottom of a pile of grandchildren.

My condolences. It’s never easy, even when the passing is a gentle release after suffering.

[Mouldy]

Another couple of busy days!  Yesterday saw me back to Horning to see a couple more upholstery firms to get quotes for new curtains and other upholstery items (headboards etc.) for Moonlight Shadow.  I also met with new shareholders in the syndicate, who recently bought their share, to show them over the boat and go through a familiarisation.  We also took the opportunity to have a short run up the river to see how our newly fitted propeller had impacted the boat’s performance.

Today, after a trip to the shops with the wife, I had a go at fencing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . no, not that waving a sharp thing around trying to kill your opponent, but erecting a fence.  The two sections of our rather odd garden had been separated by a fence made from round posts knocked into the ground, supporting chicken wire, however it had been trampled down by visiting deer.  Having tamed at least part of the garden, we want to try to keep them out and our dog in, so the wife instructed me to sort something out.

It’s a work in progress at the moment, but coming along.  Digging the holes about 60cms deep for the posts, is giving me some kind of workout!

[YnysMon]

Oh the joys of changing your phone. I've been struggling to post reactions here on NBN today. Even my WhatsApp went wrong. 

Bad tech day! I think I'm sorted now though.

In the long term should be worthwhile. My compact camera stopped reading its memory card shortly before the end of our last Broads trip. I had thought to replace it with a newer version. I consulted Malcolm (Mouldy) as he's into photography. He commented that those compact cameras aren't that sought after nowadays, given phone cameras have got so good. So, after a lot of dithering, I've bought the same phone that my son has, as his photos have always been good quality. I got mine second hand from Handtec though, and so far am very impressed. The phone I got is like new.

I got a Google Pixel 6 Pro, which doesn't seem to be available new now. Replaced by the next generation, which is way over my budget. 

I also bought a second hand zoom lens for my SLR, which had been sadly underused to date.

It was my birthday last week!

[YnysMon]

6 hours ago, Mouldy said:

Another couple of busy days!  Yesterday saw me back to Horning to see a couple more upholstery firms to get quotes for new curtains and other upholstery items (headboards etc.) for Moonlight Shadow.  I also met with new shareholders in the syndicate, who recently bought their share, to show them over the boat and go through a familiarisation.  We also took the opportunity to have a short run up the river to see how our newly fitted propeller had impacted the boat’s performance.

Today, after a trip to the shops with the wife, I had a go at fencing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . no, not that waving a sharp thing around trying to kill your opponent, but erecting a fence.  The two sections of our rather odd garden had been separated by a fence made from round posts knocked into the ground, supporting chicken wire, however it had been trampled down by visiting deer.  Having tamed at least part of the garden, we want to try to keep them out and our dog in, so the wife instructed me to sort something out.

It’s a work in progress at the moment, but coming along.  Digging the holes about 60cms deep for the posts, is giving me some kind of workout!

A good workout Malcolm!

Thanks for taking time out to give our new shareholders a handover.