Life!

31st Jan - I had a good trip back from Devon - I was lucky because I planned to call in at Haldon Woods just outside Exeter to give Suki a walk on the way home and it was heaving with people, in fact it was difficult to find a car parking space.  When I got to the pay and display machine there was a small notice indicating that the forest was going to be closed at midday because of the weather.  It was by then 1 pm and it was heaving with people enjoying themselves and they were piling in and paying their £3 to park.  So I paid and went for my walk, but when I got back to the car an hour later they had indeed shut the entry gate (exit was still possible) and there was bedlam outside with cars which had turned up and couldn't get in - many with bikes on top.  I don't know where I would have gone if I hadn't been able to get in there because it is 15 miles from Bovey and Suki needed a walk and I like it to be somewhere with toilets so that I can not worry about that ...

Fri 22nd.   I shouldn't have had that kebab last night! It laid heavily on my stomach all night.Got up at 6.30 and had shower then took dog out.  Made breakfast and cleared away, dressed Mike's back and packed the new car.  Ready to go at 8.55-to avoid parking charges.  Couldn't get audible to play through bluetooth so listened on headphones.   Satnav said no maps found.  Screamed in frustration!  Then enjoyed three and a half hours drive to Bovey.  New car absolutely lovely.  Sat at 70 on cruise control most of the way.   Someone rang me while I was driving and I was able to answer the phone through the bluetooth which was great.  I also have something called Emergency Assist when my phone is connected – if I have a crash my phone will automatically contact the emergency services!  Wet and dirty weather so car a mess when we arrived!  By the time I got to Bovey sun was shining and it was quite warm - 14 degrees....

The car outside our house Fri 15th Jan    I bought a new car today! !  Rang handbells in Twickenham in the morning.  Lots of Cambridge Royal practice.  Joan Hooton died.  Judy sparling dropped in for cup of tea. Amanda and Sam arrived back in the afternoon after lunch with Lorraine and suggested going with me to Ford to look at cars.  So took suki for a walk and then we went off.  Two hours later I was the proud owner of a 5 door fiesta titanium  1 year old with 3000 on the clock.  It is classified as a used car, but is an ex-demo model and only has 3000 miles on the clock.  It is a black, 5-door Fiesta Titanium with all the bells and whistles that bigger cars have, plus the DAB radio with bluetooth and voice recognition. It is also turbo-charged and eco-friendly - to the extent that it is exempt from road tax!  Amanda and Sam sat in the back for the test drive and they thought it was great too.  The three of us went...

I had a back up for this month from the diary - it ended on 27th January so catch-ups will be a lot shorter with a lot less detail after this!  Hooray do I hear you say?? New Year's Day Stepped on scales this morning with fear and trepidation and found I hadn't put on any weight over the Christmas break.  Overjoyed.   Made a great start to  the year.  Several resolutions made - one of which is to have lost weight by the time Jayne comes home in April. (Some of which never got off the ground and all of which except that one didn't last very long!)   Went walking with Maryanne,  Mary and Steve on a walk from their (very old) walk book which started at St Peter's Wootton.  Very very muddy especially in gateways.  Two dogs latched on to us for miles and we didn't know how to get rid of them - I kept swearing at them and shouting but that didn't seem to work!  Then just before we got to the pub, one of them got stuck in a field and sta...

Went to Devon as usual for Christmas.  We drove down on Monday 21st after doing Messiah at Albert Hall on Friday 18th, Cantanti  Christmas Concert on Saturday 19th (where the handbells were particularly good this year - see video below) and St Nicholas Carol Service and handbells at the Convent on Sunday 20th.  Phew!  I have some diary entries for this month as follows: Table set and ready Christmas Eve: Pouring with rain when I got up at 6.30 having given up trying to get comfortable enough to sleep.  Updated the Chiswick Choir website before breakfast!  Took suki to Parke and as we got out of the car it started to brighten up and before long there was sunshine and blue skies.  Walked for just over an hour.  Stayed bright all day.  I laid the table and did the veg prep and stuffing. Had last of humus with bread for lunch.  Mike came out for a walk in the afternoon and we went to Stover. Watched carols from King's on TV and forgot...

And so the pressure builds - cards to write, newsletter to finish off and print out, presents to buy and wrap!  At the end of November I felt quietly confident I had it all under control, but ever since the beginning of December I have just felt a rising sense of panic! When I got back from Butlins the place was in upheaval - after 28 years we have had to say goodbye to our wonderful, reliable Potterton boiler and have a new one.  We are also being obliged to have a thermostat and new heating controls!  The plumber had already removed the old boiler and installed the new one - which had entailed destroying the cupboard and surround that the people building the extension had put in.  They hadn't really envisaged a time when the boiler would be changed so had made the cupboard an integral part of the wall!  So now we will need a plasterer and possibly a carpenter to make good the damage.  Sounds like a Flanders and Swann song! The whole process took 3 day...

This was held at Butlin's Skegness 4th-6th December.  Lorraine and I were booked in for the 3 nights but as Lorraine was working on Friday until 8.30 pm we decided to drive down to Skegness on the Saturday morning and just have 2 nights there.  The big draw for me was Steeleye Span, but it was also on my bucket list to go to a music festival, and this seemed more civilised than the tents and wellies in rain and mud version. We set off at 8.30 hoping to arrive about midday - but unfortunately we had a slight navigational error with the Google Map instructions when we came off the M1 and were nearly at Oxford before  realised we were going in the wrong direction.  So we had to retrace our steps some 20 miles back again.  Otherwise it was a hassle-free journey and we arrived about 1.30.  We checked in and found we had been upgraded from a Silver room to a Silver apartment - it was lovely, with a small kitchenette and living room, two bedrooms and a bathroom....