Life!

18th to 25th August 2017 at Bognor Regis Photos I picked Lorraine up at 10 am and we set off for Bognor.  Apparently I had passed the intercom test with flying colours!  The intercom on the gate at the convent was broken and the sign said "press the button and state who you are and why you are visiting" which I had done.  Everyone else had pressed the button and then gone "hello...... hello.....".  We had a good journey down and arrived about 12.30.  We messaged the family WhatsApp group and discovered everyone else was on the same train!  Lorraine and I had a nice lunch in the new Fish and Chip restaurant where Lorraine was able to get tomato and basil soup and some chips.  I had a delicious fish cake.  I then allowed myself to be accosted by one of the awful dressed up people so that we could send a photo to the WAgroup showing we had started!! Lorraine and I checked in and had a little wander and then the others arrived at the gate. ...

When we got back from Devon I checked the garden and found the fence was now much more substantial, and attractive, but that they had run the electrics for the garden lights up our side of the fence and then drilled holes in the fence to feed them through!!  And still no sign of the trellis!!  I texted Nicki again, and they both came round the next day.  They agreed with us entirely, and in fact helped pull the wires back through.  They said that they had just spent half an hour digging out half the plants that had been planted as there were far too many and way over budget!  Its a shame about the holes but hopefully I will be able to cover them with the climbers. We also found that the bathroom door no longer closed - and there were large cracks in the door jamb.  We put it down to the house settling after all the work that had been going on either side of us! It was a weird week without Suki - very quiet and no need to go out for a walk twice a day...

Spot the trellis in the alleyway! I couldn't believe my eyes when I got back from Kent and let Suki out into the back garden.  Our fence had been removed, my climbing plants were hanging down on the ground, and there were large holes where our fence posts had been.  In its place was a huge panel fence.  I texted Nicki (next door neighbour) straight away to see what was going on - and discovered later that she had emailed me about it but with only one day's notice while I had been away.  She had also talked to Mike on the phone but of course he hadn't mentioned it to me.  Neighbours had thought we had agreed to replace both fences with just one and they were having a complete makeover of their garden.  In the morning it looked a lot better - and I spotted my missing trellis in the alleyway and went round to ask them to replace it.  They didn't speak much English but seemed to agree. I spent a quiet Saturday doing all my washing and putting all my...

25th July to 5th August - Tour organised by Mike Itinerary Photos I stayed at Bolton Barn in Lenham Heath. Roving Ringers were at Palace Farm in Doddington My accommodation ran from Friday to Friday, whereas tour was from Saturday to Saturday, so I packed Mike's bags and left him to it on the Friday.  Penny B was going to be turning up sometime in the evening and staying overnight and he was also giving a lift to Peter, so I was confident he would have someone there to pack the bike in the car etc.  Louise Palmer dropped out the day before with a stress-related illness and Peter stepped into the breach as Master. I left after lunch on Friday and found the traffic very heavy going, especially as I got further round the M25, but eventually Suki and I arrived at our destination.  It was absolutely delightful - a small barn conversion, and quite the most dog-friendly accommodation I have ever had.  They provided throws for the chairs and bed for when the...