Life!

Slept badly and felt muggy all day. Waited in all day for delivery of Soulful Food Pots – they finally arrived at 4.15 pm – and I was due out at 5 pm!  Did washing and ironing, and did Lorraine’s ironing again because I felt like it. Suki was rather short-changed on the walks – I took her for a quick walk in Wendell in the morning, and then another quick one in Southfields at 4.30.  I texted Caroline and Pru that I would be late for supper – but actually arrived only a few minutes after they had sat down. Had nice meal at Café Rouge and I produced another £40 discount voucher from Tesco Clubcard Boost which went down well as we only had to pay £12 each.. Went to bed at 9.30 pm with a cup of tea and the last of a bottle of red I had lying around – then woke up again at midnight when Mike came in.  He had been to work all day then down to Tunbridge Wells to ring two QPs with Hugo.

After taking Suki out, went over to Peter B’s house to ring some Oxford TB with Duncan from the Channel Islands. Broken down train at Acton Central and was delayed so my efforts to get there earlier were a bit wasted, but I arrived about 11.45 and had coffee and cake. Then went home and took in a kebab from Forest for lunch. Added a few more notes to the handbell music score – and correct some notes Mike had spotted on the transposed version which I had sent him. Walked Suki again before going to Guy’s.  Rang my first peal of Rutland Major on an inside pair – 5-6 – although I didn’t get to ring the 3-4 course at all!  Was really pleased and as we had finished by 9 pm went for a quick drink with David and Peter before going home.  Was too full of kebab to eat any supper – although before going to bed I did eat a rather soggy caramel shortbread I had purchased at the hospital in case I was hungry.

Phoned vets and managed to get appointment brought forward to this afternoon – making tomorrow morning less of a rush to get over to Highbury for 11.30 am. When I got to vets found out he had expected Suki to have started taking the tablets – I didn’t know they were waiting for me at the front.  So he examined her and gave her the tablets and that was another £69. Showed Mike what I had done on the MuseScore software and then he told me there was a version for handbells by his bed which is the one he wanted transposed!  Still it had been a useful exercise in familiarising myself with the software.  Spent a couple of hours in the evening setting up a fresh score for the handbell version and entering the notes.  Sounds very pretty although a bit 4-square.  Did some more practice on Abel for tomorrow.  Mike went out to ring QPs at Magnus.  Had a glass of Lorraine's white wine and went to bed early with a hot drink.

Mike went off to the Chiswick Ringers Outing at 9 am and I had a lovely day in to myself.  It rained heavily and solidly all day so was not one for long walks.  I downloaded the software MuseScore and spent several hours playing with it and reading the help guide and copying in And The Glory from Messiah for the Cantanti handbells at Christmas.  Did some ironing, and lots of stuff on the computer and also cooked up the old vegetables into a Korma, and cooked the beetroot.  Practised Rutland a lot on 5-6. Mike texted that they were going to Lara at 7 pm  - but I decided not to go and finished up the Cheshire cheese and cucumber from Rovers which some freshly cooked beetroot.

Both went to 8 am and then to new Italian cafe which has opened in the place of Guilliano's.  Latte was tepid but toast was nice and just the same as before.  Was able to avoid ringing at Barnes, but had to ring at Chiswick, at least until Robert turned up.  Monica was away in Winchester.  Had the Mee Goreng for lunch.  I did lots of washing as it was a lovely day and I could hang it out.  Went church sitting in the afternoon and did more of the wolf.  Having finished the Tim Weaver book on Kobo - am now plodding on with the Inspector Lynley one, although it is a bit heavy to cart around. In the evening Mike went over to Kingston for a QP and I just chilled!

Was expecting the letting trustee at 9.30 and had packed the car well before then, but she didn't turn up until 10 am.  I then left Suki in the car while I dashed in to the Co-op to buy lunch again - I had done it so well the day before I was detailed to do it again (well I volunteered when it was suggested that Penny should do the shopping).  I then went to Ashbury Hill where I had identified a car park and took Suki for a walk along the Ridgeway from there for about an hour and a quarter.  Then we drove to Bampton to meet up with Rovers for lunch.  My offerings went down very well, and then it was off to Witney for the final tower of tour.  Managed to get handbike, cycle, wheelchair, three people and their bags plus dog into the car and drove back to the Court Hill Centre to pick up Mike's bag and drop Penny and her stuff off.  Then it was straight home and we got in about 6 pm.  Made a start at unpacking - and Mike had a much needed shower! We had a...

Suki very reluctant to go up the bridleway for a walk so ended up walking round the village in the morning which she seemed to enjoy.  Then popped to Co-op and bought stuff for lunch for Mike's lunch group.  About 1 pm went and sat by the pond so that I could see them arrive - Neil and Simon were first and went off to the Blue Boar (they had a grid ref but not the name of the pub).  Everyone else arrived a little while later, and Suki spotted Mike before I did.  We sat in the courtyard of the Crown - and Neil and Simon finally came back to join us!  I joined Mike's food group for lunch and planned to have a couple of beers and a snooze in the afternoon - but during my first beer Mike announced that he would like me to take the chair back to the Court Hill Centre after ringing at Aldbourne because it would not go up the tower at Lambourn which was the next, and final tower of the afternoon.  I went back to the cottage and listened to the final part of the Ag...

Went back to Savernake Forest with map and compass plus guide book I had found in the cottage and had a wonderful two and a half hour walk without getting lost once!  Saw interesting monument which had once been in Hammersmith, and a folly in the form of a column.  Parked at the end of Grand Avenue. Finished the last of the books on Audible, so joined myself and purchased a Ruth Rendell one which I shall save for journey to Devon next month. Cross stitched all afternoon again - working on the Wolf with earnest now.  Kids outside playing pool all afternoon again.  Wi Fi working well again so listened to some programmes On Demand on the radio iPlayer and found some gems - such as a complete Agatha Christie dramatisation.  Finished off the pasta in the evening and had a lager and then half a bottle of wine - so didn't get to bed as early as I would have liked!

Maryanne dropped me and suki off where ridgeway crosses B4172 and I walked back to Aldbourne.  Fabulous walk which took hour and a half. Suki spooked by  frisky bullocks in a field who stampeded after her when she ran past,  so she ran back again and they duly stampeded back again.  Got back to cottage and put living room back the way it was, then had cheese sandwich crisps and coffee for elevenses. Spent the afternoon cross stitching - finished the poppies. Went off to Stratton St Margaret at 4 pm to pick up the wheelchair and take it back to the Court Hill Centre for Mike so that he didn't need to tow it the 17 miles back.  Had soup and pasta for evening meal and drank lager.  Early night with a hot drink.

Got up at 7.15 and had shower. We had porridge and tea for breakfast and took Suki for a short walk - she was reluctant to go up the bridleway again. Then went to Avebury. Had to pay £7 for all day parking - we were only there an hour.  However we managed to give our ticket to someone as we left so felt honour had been saved.  Would have cost another £5 to go in the museums so we walked around the stone circle and the church and then went back to the car. Drove to Marlborough and had lunch (soup) in a pub then went to Savernake forest where we ended up walking much longer than we had intended as we got a bit lost. Rained heavily on us too. But I enjoyed it and it was a good walk for suki although not so great for Maryanne who has a torn knee ligament and is in a lot of pain from it. We ended up walking along the main road for a while, which was not much fun and seemed highly dangerous, but eventually got back into the forest. Came back and had coffee in The Crown so as to do s...

Struggled to get mobile signal or connect to the wi if all day. Tried the Aldbourne circular route this morning but it involved going up the busy B4172 and I soon gave that up. Went round the public footpath at the back of the school and then started up the bridleway but suki not particularly interested in following me so sat down for a while in a field in the sunshine and then went back to the cottage and did cross stitch - the poppies this time. Rained heavily in the afternoon so only went out for a walk about 4. Drove up the 4172 to the start of the circular route to do a shortened version. Start was in a really bad state although ok once I was up in the ridge. Cut it short when I heard from Maryanne that she would be arriving over an hour earlier than originally intended. She arrived about 6 and we had a cup of tea and rearranged the cottage to open up the sofa bed and then went for a lovely meal at The Crown. Also able to use their free wi fi. Got in at 9.30 and watched tv for hal...

Slept until 7.50 - nearly 11 hours!  Lovely.  Took suki for quick walk round the block as no garden then had some porridge and caught up with blog - found wi if code in guest book. Went out for two and a half hour walk with Suki. Went up byway to do circular walk back by bridleway. Footpath near M4 had been sown with maize which was impenetratable so had to walk along busy brown road for a bit - had to put waterproofs on at this stage too as it started to pour with rain. Glad of waterproof trousers for rest of walk as lots of long wet grass. Next part of byway was closed under voluntary restriction but I managed to go alongside it along the edge of a field until it went into the wood. Lovely walk back along the bridleway though.  Left suki in the cottage and popped to co op and bought pasta, sauce, soup and lager for supper. Cooked a nice meal and had a glass of wine and had another early night.

Got up early as didn't seem much point staying in bed.  So very organised and had plenty of time for breakfast,  walking suki and packing the car.  Council finally turned up and collected old furniture from outside house. Set off for Wantage at 10.45 and arrived at court hill centre in good time.  Helped mike set up his bed and then we went to the pub meet.  Had lunch and sorted bike out and left him to it!  Went to Aldbourne and picked up key from post office about 3.40.  Cottage small but lovely.  Everything seems very new with modern kitchen and bathroom.  Unpacked and had cup of tea and chilled for a bit.  Enjoyed Scotch egg and crisps,  followed by baklava and Italian filled biscuit for supper -all from yesterday's festival.  Went for a walk at 6 for an hour up bridleway behind church.  Owner came for security deposit at 7.20.  Then had glass of wine and watched a couple of episodes of Big Bang Theory.  At ...

Went to the food festival with Lorraine and her friend Carrie.  Good weather luckily.  There were no crowds and it was a great day.  We tried a lot of different drinks - i was glad we had gone by taxi and I wasn't driving.  Lots of nice food too but most of it was for sale as a meal to eat there and then.  Got back too late to go ringing.  Went to tesco for supplies for week in cottage then went to bed.  Asleep at 9.30 but woke at 11.30 when mike came in and couldn't get back to sleep.  Made hot drink and read book at 2.30 then tried music through sleep headphones but didn't really sleep again all night.

Mike and Lorraine went to work so I had day to myself.  Caught up with admin and did packing for the weekend. No Cantanti so Mike came home in the evening but didn't want anything to eat so I went up to Forest and treated myself to large chips!  We had the last two bottles of Wild River.

Did all washing and ironing including Lorraine's - she had large pile of ironing because working such a lot and helping Carolyn move.  Watched last episode I had recorded of silent witness while I did it.  Went to Guy's with Mike to ring minor with Caroline in the evening.  Had a confident start but all came to grief in third extent  (Norfolk again! ). Went for early supper at Cafe rouge. I had  £40 voucher from clubcard boost so only cost £9 each.

Put all the seat and cushion covers through steam refresh cycle with Blue Grass perfume and hung them in the sunshine.  Smell of smoke seemed much diminished when I put them back on.  Found old duvet cover in similar colours to protect window seat from suki.  Tried refurbished Buffet Express in the evening.  Unsmiling waitress, much smaller range of food and it was cold and not very nice.  Charged us  £1 each for tea too.  So that's ticked that off!

Went to Vets at 10 - Suki got lots of treats and three Kong balls which had been chewed by another dog so could not be sold.  Have to take a urine sample from her!  When I got back Svetla helped me move all the furniture around, and hoover in the corners, and put the old chair, plus the chair from the bedroom and the old sofa bed to be dumped outside the front door.  It all looked great but we realised the cushions were missing - Carolyn had kept them so that Lorraine had something to sleep on.  They came back later in the afternoon with Lorraine.  I arranged for Council to pick up chairs etc to be dumped, and arranged for futons to come up from Devon and sofa, chair and organ to be taken back to Devon at the end of the month. Went ringing in the evening at Chiswick and saw that the flowers in church were dedicated to Dad this week - a bit early but at least I got to see them.  They were beautiful too - this lovely vase next to the plaque, and then several ...

Slept badly again.  Remains of Hurricane Bertha hit during the night and still raining hard when I got up at 6.20 so decided to have breakfast first before taking Suki out.  Rain had stopped by 8 when I went out.  Went up to ringing in sunshine!  Stayed to communion then went back home.  We decided to go home later in the afternoon to try and avoid traffic and high winds so I changed the bedding and washed the sheets, and put the hoover on, and had a catnap!  Left at 3 and went for a lovely walk in Haldon Woods on the way home. Lovely sunshine although still quite breezy.  Had cup of tea and iced bun when we got back to the car.  Went via A303 because of delays on M5 which pleased Mike.  Got home about 8.30 and had veg tikka massala from freezer plus a bottle of Wild River which we had got from Sainsbury. Dad's sofas had arrived and were on their end in the living room - so still room for Mike to turn round.  Lorraine had sprayed them wi...

Got up very early to walk Suki and then go over to Tim's for 9.30 to have another go at the Carlisle 23 in hand.  Successful this time - at last.  Then had a go at the London ones.  Went to Sainsbury's on the way back for some beer and dressings.  Then after a quick lunch of re-heated kebab took Suki out for a walk in Bovey Valley Woods and then picked up Mary and brought her back to the house for a cup of tea. Suki discovered Futon was rather comfy! Ringers social in the evening.  Mike went to the ringing bit at Bob's but I stayed at the house so that I could see Jayne properly before going home tomorrow.  Met up with ringers at the Cromwell and had a nice dinner of olives and nachos (delicious) and cheesecake (not so good - more like marscaponi!).

Went over to Exeter to ring handbells with Tim. Despite several attempts we failed yet again to ring QP of Carlisle/Cambridge 23.  HP Deskjet Printer and a spare charger for Mike's phone arrived from Amazon. Printer much better than the Advent one. In the evening went to Wolborough practice.  Sharon opened up side door to church and put out ramp.  I carried Mike up.  Practice was really good and friendly - and Tim actually said it was better when the two of us were there!

Mary came to house for coffee in the morning.  Mike had completed the wooden jigsaw of the handbells, and then removed the whimsies - and Mary put one in when she arrived.  We had a nice morning with her.  In the evening Mike came to handbells at Moretonhampstead - we got there early and Jean came out to meet us so we had a look at the garden first.  She had set up the tables with lots of room at the bottom end so Mike could easily get in and he rang 11-12 with Fiona looking after him, while I rang 3-4 with Ann looking after me.  We had a lovely evening and Jean asked if he could join the group for the rally on 18th October, but he has a Cantanti concert.

Spent the day at Sidmouth Folk Festival with Jayne, Mike and Suki.  Lovely sunny day - we parked at the Cricket Club for £10 all day which was very convenient for the town centre.  Spent a lovely day watching dancing and listening to music.  Finally spent a couple of hours in The Anchor courtyard listening to guest artists although they weren't really playing folk.  Left just after 9!

Picked Mike up at Newton Abbot station at 6.40 and got fish and chips on the way in for us all.

Jayne went to work so as to have tomorrow and Wed off.  I went to the tower at 10 to meet up with Chris and stand at the bottom of the ladder while he put the muffles on.  When I came out, covered in dust, the heavens opened and I was in danger of turning into concrete!  Popped down to the shops for a few bits and pieces and went home - luckily had umbrella in bag.  It rained for most of the day. At lunchtime went to Trago and had a mini supermarket sweep with Jayne to make the most of staff discount - got a nice throw for the futons and various other bits and pieces plus some toiletries.  In the evening had muffled practice and then went to short service in the churchyard to commemorate start of World War I.  Tenor was tolled for each person on the war memorial and their names were read out.  Went home and had a glass of wine with Jayne before bed.

Set alarm for 6.15 and got up at 6.40.  Had shower and took Suki for a walk round the block then went to 8 am communion.  Only 5 of us at ringing - but we made a merry noise and quite a good effort at ringing up.  Finished slightly early.  I got back and Jayne had put the towels on to wash so they were ready for me to hang out.  I did all the rest of the ironing watching QI on the ipad.  Then did some stuff on the computer for a while.  Put one of the futons together to make sure all the pieces were there.

Slept very heavily - must have been the Nytol.  Excellent sleep and could have stayed in longer, but got up at 7.30 so as not to waste the day.  Had a leisurely start, and put on some washing, including sheets etc.  Took Suki for a walk to Yarner Wood.  Walked around the perimeter and then back along what appeared to be the main path.  Didn't meet up with Templar way so presumably there is more to explore, and the wood is much bigger than I had at first thought.  It took over an hour.  Came home and hung out rest of washing - day getting brighter and sunnier all the time.  Then put first coat of paint on the laundry basket.  Very pleased.  Spent an hour doing blog, then put second coat of paint on. Even more pleased.  And managed to do it without getting paint everywhere or on me - although it got a bit windy and I had to take shelter in the porch. The newly painted basket drying in the sun Took Suki out for a walk from the hou...

Went up to the Woodland Trust car park at Bovey Valley woods and explored the path off to the right which went along by the river and was very pleasant.  I then followed a little path through the woods at the end, over a stile, and came out on the track a little way down.  Did the Hisley bridge circuit to get back to the car park.  Went to handbells in the evening - Lisa came too.  She rang 11-12 and I rang 9-10 and had to turn the pages and generally help her!  I have moved up to P and she now has the L plates!

Went up to the moor and did the circuit from small car park up to Black Hill then down to the main tramway and back along that to the car park without taking in the quarry.  Quite warm (I was ok in just a T-shirt) but grey and overcast.  Then went to see Mary and had a coffee with her.  The exercise lady turned up and everyone started throwing balls in the air in the lounge which made Suki bark, so Mary and I went and sat outside with Iris.  Came home just after 12 and immediately went off to the shops to get some stuff for veg pasta sauce, and we popped in to the pet shop for a new collar - where Suki got lots of treats.  Then we went to the post office for a new home card for Carolyn, and Suki got more treats!  Once home again I prepared the veg and had a couple of lettuce sandwiches for lunch with the nice lettuce Ann gave me yesterday.  Then went up to the church at 2.30 to ring for a 3 pm wedding.  It was raining heavily by then so I got out ...

Went to the plantation and took down some telephone numbers of dog walkers.  Then walked the Templar Way to Stover Park, then a circuit up by the lake and back through the woods and then walked back a different way through the plantation back to the car.  Don't think I will do it again as the road and the roundabout bit are not very nice and the walk was not worth it - better to stay in the plantation.  Came home and did a couple of hours of ironing - finishing mine and then doing all the bedding that had been waiting for some time and some of Jayne's clothes as well - I had got the iron working well and was watching programmes I had downloaded on the iPad so I thought I would just keep going until I ran out of time.  Then took Suki to town to post a couple of returns for Jayne and to pick up some sausages for dinner.  My butcher has closed so I had to go to the one in the High Street.  He was very nice and served me at the door as I had Suki with me, and a...