What are you all up to
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That seems an unacceptably long wait Helen. I did suggest to OH that we should consider an EV, but she decided the price was too high at present.
My niece in Norway ordered an EV over a year ago, when there was no VAT on them, but now the gov there has moved the goalposts. They are still waiting, but the price will now be at least £10k more!
At least we do have a fixed price for the new car........however long it takes to arrive.
The possible trade in price for the Smart will however be decided at the time of the transaction.
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It was lovely to meet up with the WNs again, and we enjoyed our leisurely walk, and picnic overlooking the mere. Hope that it didn't tired them out too much, seeing it was further than originally planned, but it was such a pleasant day it seemed a shame not to make the most it as the invalids appeared to be managing fine.
Hope those that are suffering from colds etc are soon recovered.
Garden is looking good, B2, and both of you have certainly been busy in your respective gardens TG & tda!!
RandR, is that your regular CS in the Dales? Any recommendations for a CS would be welcome as we have just rejoined the C&CC after a few years absence.
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Good to hear you had a nice meet up again👍
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Well our decorating is well and truly underway dining room is finished and today we started on the living room paper coming off hopefully be finished by the weekend then we will choose a new carpet. SWMBO is also wanting a new sofa so this is going to be an expensive few weeks I think
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10 years for a bathroom is nothing! What have you done to it !!?
Our en suite we had done in 2021 was from 1988, as was the upstairs bathroom we had done in November 2022.
We wanted to have walk in showers rather than over bath showers, due to dodgy knees, plus our coloured bathrooms were certainly no longer fashionable!
They were however in perfect condition, which was satisfyingly surprising, as I had tiled them myself. We had thought there could have been some leaks round the bath in our en suite, which is on the ground floor, but not so. And the upstairs was totally fine too, which we knew as there were no leaks to downstairs.
I hope our 2 new bathrooms will last more than 10 years!
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"RandR, is that your regular CS in the Dales? Any recommendations for a CS would be welcome as we have just rejoined the C&CC after a few years absence."
Nellie - it's not in the Dales as such. Thornton Le Dale is just east of Pickering and on the edge of Dalby Forest, which in itself is a lovely area and close to both the coast and lovely little towns such as Helmsley. Castle Howard isn't far away and Eden Camp (Google it - WWII exhibits) is just up the road. This site is called Deerholme Farm at High Marishes and the main reason we use it is that it's open all year. Mainly grass but with a large hardstanding area and it's possible to improvise and turn the pitch into 'fully serviced'! It's in the Dale, surrounded by wonderful countryside and stunning views up towards the forest. Like most farm sites, the approach into the farmyard is a bit off-putting (untidy!), but once through there and onto the site at the back, it's stunning in terms of the views.
I think the site you're thinking of is Thornthorpe CS about two miles south of Malton - mainly because I keep mentioning it on here. It's our favourite bolt hole and we go there two or three times a year and Andrew and Tracey who run the farm / equestrian centre, have become very good friends over the years. It's two acres - half of which is in an old orchard with a stream running along the bottom of it and has a toilet/shower block which would put most hotels to shame! Most pitches have a water supply and with those that don't, improvisation (tap splitter!!) is possible. It really is the most peaceful site we have stayed on and I really look forward to going there.
If it's of interest, both these sites have beautiful holiday cottages as well.
I could mention others, but these are our favourites.
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KjellNN - nothing other than use it!! We have two en-suites and a main bathroom and our en-suite gets by far the most use. I think we made a mistake when we chose that particular shower - it was expensive - with 8mm glass (totally unnecessary with hindsight) and lots of dirt traps in in the door seals and fixings. It's virtually impossible to keep it clean - plus times and fashions have changed considerably in that time. We're going to replace it with something as minimalist as possible - no doors - walk in - and as few seals as is feasible. Plus tile fashions have also changed and now will be an opportunity to replace them with larger ones and have as little grouting as we can. However, the main improvement will be putting a window in there since the only ventilation at the moment is via a Ventaxia which is useless.
If I'd known then what I know now, it wouldn't be necessary just yet!
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Ah, yes, shower enclosures can be tricky. DD had ones with sliding doors in her previous house and said they were very difficult to clean, so we went with hinged doors and fairly minimalist design. Looked at the walk in ones, but did not think we had a big enough space for one that the water would not be able to escape from, and still have wall space for the towel warmer
We also went for larger tiles, ours are 400x250, for minimal grout. DD has the metro type, 300x100 I think, with a band of mosaics, and after only 2 years she is having to remove mouldy grout, which is a big job, then re-grout and reseal. She is looking at applying a grout sealant afterwards, not sure how that is done.
We do have windows in all our bathrooms, but rarely open them as we find our Xpelair extractors very effective. A 15-20 minute run after showering does the job, we actually get hardly any condensation, unlike DD. Their en-suite is very damp after her OH has showered! She has to run a dehumidifier as well as an extractor fan, she has an older house (early1920s) and a lot of condensation in the winter.
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I'm waiting for the piano tuner, will have to keep my distance with this cold and it won't be a peaceful end to the day!
Hope all the renovations are going well inside and out. We have to make a decision about the bathroom, should the bath come out or should we keep it with it's overhead shower...OH wants the bath to go because we never use it....but sometimes I've found it useful just for throwing a large item in for washing...a feeble excuse really.
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Last night a group of unpaid Carers went up to Dundee, meal at an Italian restaurant followed by a visit to an observatory to do some stargazing. It was better than expected as I had expected a limited viewing due to light pollution. We saw Mars even down to the poles, Jupiter both with their respective moons. The cluster known as the seven sisters. So don't always write off star gazing in towns. It also helps to have a local astronomer on hand!!
Wherenext If I have shredding to dispose of I take it to a local SSPCA (Scottish RSPCA) centre who use it as bedding for the animals as it goes Every Little Helps!
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Bakers2 Are you still having spacing problems? Just a thought..... I had a problem with spacing on emails a month or so ago. Someone from Aquamail (the email client I use on my phone) suggested I switch off predictive text. I did this and haven't had a problem since. It may be absolutely nothing to do with your problem, but I guess anything is worth a go!
David
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Thanks for that I will certainly search them out, and any other recommendations will too. As I said before it has been a while since we stayed on a CS as opposed to CLs which we use on a regular basis.
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Robsail I am very envious of your evening stargazing. Also like your idea of taking your shredded paper to the RSPCA - or your Scottish equivalent.
WN so pleased you and the Nellies had a good meet up. Three and a half miles is a good walk. Onwards and upwards.
Brue I hope your cold is getting better. I don't envy you with your piano tuning. Organ tuning days at the cathedral are far from my favourite times there!!
Another lovely sunny but bitterly cold day. Fortunately no fog here. We have had some lovely sunrises and sunsets.
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We made the decision to get rid of the bath and the piano... We replaced the bath with a really large shower - we weren't using the bath.....always used the shower attachment. We replaced the acoustic piano with a digital piano, which takes up less room in the study and I can connect the laptop to it and use midi - really useful for what I do.... The digital piano is very adequate for home use...
Hope the cold is getting better, Brue.
David
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Many thanks Brue👍 They are usually a lot hairier than those kept nowadays. I like the cross, likes a right character😁
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A typical conversation in the cornersteady household this morning.
'we might need those varifocal sunglasses today you had made last summer, what happened to them?'
Mrs C 'you ran over them with the car'
'oh yeah.,..'
(to be fair they had dropped out of the car door pocket)
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😂First I thought-‘Clumsy’, followed by-‘nope we’ve all been there’, mine was I was visiting my Sister she messaged me-‘could you bring some Tbags save me going out’. I put them on the passenger seat, drove to Sis’s as I neared her home I had a brain wave to put them on my knee to remind me, I still forgot as they fell & I stood on them, there were a few not crushed mind. So. . .Greetings twinny😂😂
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Sunglasses: And some never forget it. When I was heavily pregnant with our son, and huge, we went to Windsor, OH put his sunglasses down in the car on my seat and I got into the car and sat on them, shattering them. He still reminds me of this. A couple of months ago we were in Windsor and he said, ‘that’s where we were parked when you’.....’Yes, Yes I’ve heard it before!’ Our Son will be 51 this year!
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I remember when I was about 10 (before the days of alcohol limits breathalysers, and drink driving laws)..... we pulled over to a pub one lunchtime had a drink and our own sandwiches in the car. After we had finished the drinks, and while we were finishing the sandwiches, my father put the tray with the empty glasses on the roof of the car. He did intend to take them back in after we had finished our sandwiches..... but unfortunately he forgot and drove off with the tray and glasses on the roof of the car. We tried to clear as much broken glass up as possible!!!! 🤣🤣
David
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DSB. Quite funny to get a bath and piano into one sentence...
I think our bath will probably go but not the piano. The piano is in a spot where the great, not so good and downright tone deaf visitors want to have a "go" on it but I would miss it. My sister and family have a digital version but it just doesn't feel the same although they need it in a flat playing with earphones etc. We do have a silent pedal on our piano but no-one seems interested in using it...TDA I think dog breeds have altered quite a bit over the years our family also had a bulldog which looked more like an old fashioned butcher's dog on the photos.
I would like to be doing things today but the sore throat etc has got a grip, OH feeling a lot better so I hope I follow suit soon.
On the subject of losing glasses my daughter leant over the old bridge at Stirling to admire the view and her glasses fell in the river..since then I try to remember to hang onto mine.
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And me🤣 I have a reminder never to put the picnic hamper down behind the car wheels. Can’t recommend squashed flat prawn sandwiches 😱 I have never been allowed to forget this little lapse🤭
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During COVID I damaged two pairs of expensive varifocal glasses because they fell onto the pavement whilst adjusting my mask after leaving a shop. I have gone back to wearing peeper keepers permanently despite there being no need to take my glasses on and off and now I rarely wear a mask!
David
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A nice sunny winters day as we drove to Shrewsbury to collect the "new" car for Mrs.WN. Everything went according to plan. She's a bit miffed about the car now falling into the minimum new tax band of £165 instead of the £30 on her previous car.
We stopped off again at The Boathouse in Ellesmere for a bite to eat. Anybody using Chirk site or Birch Hill CL in Ellesmere could do worse than stopping off here for brunch/lunch/afternoon tea.
Hope your cold/cough disappears soon Brue.
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David I had to google 'peeper keepers' never heard that phrase before.
We had a great day yesterday, took the day off and went out in the MH. Headed for North Queensferry then cut off to drive under the Forth Bridges, there is a small car park right underneath the rail bridge with good views across the Forth and the 2 road bridges. HMS Queen Elizabeth was in at Rosyth couldn't get near it to have a better look. We've been watching the programe on TV about her. Followed the Fife coastal route up round Burntisland then to Kirkcaldy (dropped into the caravan dealers there) but they didn't have any electric camping kettles either. Then onto Leven, St Andrews and over the Tay bridge to Dundee and home via Perth. Weather was a bit chilly but bright enough.
Today was housework for me this morning then shopping this afternoon. Had to take my laptop into be looked at it has given up and won't do anything. Now back using my old laptop which is working fine.
OH was at the Men's shed this morning they had a refresher First Aid course, all enjoyed it, its been a couple of years since they did the original course. We are fortunate that we have an NHS trainer living near us, he was happy to take the men through the refresher.
Glasses, when my eldest son went to hospital to collect his second born child, a boy. As he was putting him into the car seat, his sunglasses fell off his head and landed on the baby. They hadn't decided on a name at that point but our son said" how about we call him Oakley" yes he was wearing 'Oakley' sunglasses, so that's what they called him.
WN, glad Mrs WN has got her new car and everything was fine, I must admit one of the reasons I'm hanging onto mine just now is that its tax free. Good news also that you enjoyed your walk out with the Nellies even if it was a bit more than expected, nice that you can now do that length.
Brue hope your feel better soon.
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