What are you all up to
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Been a couple of very expensive weeks with car service, car tax and insurance. Tomorrow we have our roof repaired one of the valleys has deteriorated.
Still on a happy note have booked 2 sites for half term, Barleywood for some birdwatching and one in Hampshire for brothers 80 th birthday celebration.2 -
We are now home from 'over there'. So lovely to spend time with the family. I have sent a strongly worded complaint to Ryanair about then being so late fetching us from the aircraft on our arrival and have received a 'standard' reply saying that as it is to do with Passenger Assistance it is nothing to do with them and that I need to contact Passenger Assistance 😡. Son in NI is now on the case as he was not impressed with the service when he took us into Belfast International Airport on the way home either. He has sent a very strongly worded complaint to the airport. So we shall see what their reply is. No complaints at all regarding the service at East Midlands Airport.
I shall hopefully post some photos of our trip when I have sorted them out.
I am pleased that you got your covid jab @Wherenext. I checked with eldest son when he picked us up from East Midlands airport whether he was offered the covid jab this time as he is diabetic and also on steroids but he said they told him he was no longer eligible. He could have one of he paid - £100!! He did get the flu jab though - small mercies.
Your grandson sounds a little treasure @Bakers2
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Glad to hear the return was slightly better @milliehull. I wonder if you'll get a "How did we do? Please leave a review" email? I never seem to get one when services are poor but I've been inundated this week with them. The delivery person does his job, that is finding our house and manages to locate the package and give it us and then they want a pat on the head for just doing their job. If somebody goes above and beyond what's expected then fine I'll leave a review thanking them but please give it a rest. Rant over.
Another grey, cold day here. Had to drop off my COVID jab details to the GP surgery so did that when I dropped ladies off at Tesco. £90 up here @milliehull. Scandalous but I felt it necessary. OH didn't bother.
Never mind the roof @Oneputt its our bank account that's been leaking. Enjoy Barleywood. I admit it, I'm envious.😪
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Funny you should mention the 'how did we do' email @Wherenext I received one from Ryanair a couple of hours ago. So I filled in their survey. I doubt I shall win the £100 prize.
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Some photos of our stay in N Ireland
Audley's Tower. 14th century
Derek the kitten
I am very envious of DIL's dahlias!
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Sorry to hear that you had more problems at Belfast airport @milliehull and hope that your son gets a satisfactory response from the authorities there, but I doubt that will happen unfortunately. Lovely photos, especially the grand display of Dahlias.
@richardandros hope you took care getting up to clean the upper regions of your caravan. I now feel a little unsteady on our steps when cleaning the van's roof, but needs must. Enjoy your stay at Sky Barn and say "Hi" to Nicola from me.
Hope both of your trips to well and you have a good time at the birthday celebration @Oneputt
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Yet another grey day, with no wind to speak of, although it was cooler than previously. We visited Belsay Hall, Castle and Gardens, our first visit for a long time. We did The Quarry walk from the Hall around to the Castle before lunch and then went round the Hall afterwards. There were some lovely Autumn colours on the trees and shrubs throughout the estate, but it is hard to give the full picture of their beauty. The Quarry Walk is especially interesting, particularly if one has not been along it, although I was a little disappointed and surprised that there were no decent fungi to photo.
Through to the Quarry Walk
The Castle, and old Manor.
The rather plain Palladium frontage to the Hall.
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Since my stroke I have not been very enthusiastic about reading. Anyway I have perservered and have just finished a Ben Coates book about the Rhine (I like Travel Books almost preferring them to fiction) Ben explores the Rhine from the Netherlands to Switzerland. Commenting along the way on the views,history and politics of the area which has changed a lot in the past 80 years. We know the River Rhine quite well having stayed on or near its banks several times both in Germany and Austria. Just started on the latest Richard Osman "Thursday Murder Club book, probably not everyones cup of tea but very readable without much effort!
David
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Still cloudy and dull but a bit brighter than yesterday. We drove over to the N/T's Wallington Estate this morning where we walked through the East Woods and the Walled Garden. After lunch we decided not to bother going through the House and instead had another walk this time through the West Woods.
A couple of views of Wallington House
The colours were superb in the Walled Garden, where this display caught my attention, and the East Woods
This large wood carving was entitled Elementree
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Hiya @DavidKlyne . It’s pleasing to hear how well Margarets op went, sounds like it was a lot more straightforward compared to last time, all that waiting/wondering. I imagine it must be tough to cope overall, given your stroke, so it’s good to hear you’re getting help from your offspring, it’s not always the case, sadly.
@nelliethehooker , great pics, as always. Regarding ‘Elementree’, it’s good to see craftwork/imagination/artistry at work 👍
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We are now in Kendal, on our way to Wales. Am I correct in thinking that this is a school holiday week in England? The site is very busy, as was the northbound side of the M6. Southbound was busy around Penrith, but fine otherwise. Grey and a little chilly here. No particular plans as yet, but no doubt a trip over to the Lakeland store will be happening, as usual.
We have an intermittent fault on the Touareg, cruise control frequently drops out, and it claims both cornering lights and ABS come and go, but now the car is engaging the parking brake when first starting off. That stops once we get going, but now wondering if we will actually make it to Wales! Being intermittent it is very difficult for the garage to diagnose unless it happens when they have it. Most likely a faulty sensor or loose wire somewhere, but there are no error codes to be found when they hook it up. Adding in the failed “infotainment system” , it is very disappointing in a 9 year old low mileage car.
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@DavidKlyne I have read all Richard Osman's Thursday Murder Club books and love them. As you say they are very readable. I have the new one but haven't started it yet. I hope you and Margaret are progressing well.
Lovely photos again @nelliethehooker Such beautiful autumn colours. I look forward to your photos every day.
@KjellNN It isn't a school holiday weekend in our area. Half term starts next weekend here but different areas have different holidays so it might well be where you are.
Another dull, grey day here.
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@KjellNN its half term from next weekend here in Yorkshire too.
@DavidKlyne, @milliehullI think we will have to try reading the Richard Osman books again, we did try the first one but neither of us could get into the style of the writing so gave up. We did enjoy the film though!
@DavidKlyne I had my second Physio class yesterday, there are 7 of us who have had either a hip or knee replacements. I have mentioned at the first class about problems with my wound and being allergic to the glue used. Another hip lady had the glue on her first hip and thought it was brilliant, the second hip (like me 6 weeks in!) she had SteriStrips!!!! I can only think Yorkshire must be veering away from stitches or clips. I was amazed by SteriStrips though.
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@KjellNN - when you say 'low mileage' - I was wondering what it was - my Treg is coming up to 11 years old and has done 75k - which I regard as fairly low for its age. Apart from a failed Nox sensor a few years ago, I've not had any problems with it other than in respect of routine maintenance. From time to time I do get spurious error messages on start-up - things like "stop/start not working", "hill hold fault" etc etc. I just switch off and turn it back on again and it's fine.
Had fun and games over the last couple of days. Northern Powergrid are putting in a new electricity cable on the main road into Hornsea so it's all single lane carriageway and traffic lights. They got to the bottom of our road where it meets the main road, yesterday and because of the barriers limiting it to single track, there was no way I could have turned right at the junction with the van on the back. Bearing in mind we are off to Lincoln in the morning, it was looking as if I might have to cancel. Rang NP yesterday and explained the situation and they said they would sort it and the Foreman would come round to let me know what they'd done. He didn't! However, when I went to look this morning, I saw that for a short length of the road, they had shifted the barriers to the far side, creating two lanes again, giving me a wide arc in which to make the turn. Much relief and I have to say I was impressed - just wish they'd stuck to what they's said and let me know, though!
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@nelliethehooker Good to see so much colour still around in the gardens you visit.
@Freddy55 Thanks for the comments.I think the first time round we were messed around a bit by the NHS, although to be fair to them this time round it worked out very well, even given the circumstances when it might have been considered a bit quick- people are never satisfied!!!!
@heddlo,Margaret has been following an online program on her phone. It's monitored at the other end. She has to complete each session before moving on to the next. They show a short video of what you have to do so fairly straight forward. What we have not done yet is go for a walk outside the house which is next on our list.
Re the Richard Osman books. As I mention I am not really into fiction (Margaret loves a good detective story) and I find them easy to read. Not sure if its an age thing but somehow I can relate to them. Anyone seen the film? I haven't yet. Not sure I thought the casting was right but perhaps I should reserve judgement?( Just reread @heddlo comment again and I see you have seen the film){
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Touareg was first registered in September 2016, we bought it in January 2017 in a pre-reg sale, it had just over 40 miles on the clock when we got it, having been driven to Glasgow from a dealership branch in Stirling. Today it has just under 48k on the clock. We also had the Nox sensor failure 3 years back, the infotainment system failed 2 years back, and the present various messages and faults started early this year. OH …..we also have the failed stop/start and hill hold problem , forgot about those! I need to start a list.
Now back at the van after a trip over to Lakeland in Windermere. OH was very restrained in her spending, but we did splash out on lunch. Was not as busy as we expected for a Saturday.Seems there is no school holiday yet here either, must just have been heavy traffic going north……it was Friday……unless we missed the problem. There was at least 3 miles of very slow moving vehicles.
We will be travelling north again on the 26th, planning to do the run of about 250 miles in one go, so hopefully the holiday makers will already have reached their destinations.
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@DavidKlyne I have also watched the Thursday Murder Club film and really enjoyed it, although I felt it was a bit rushed. It would have been better as a series in my opinion but I suppose money and the availability of the cast came into it. I thought the casting was excellent. I was a bit uncertain about Pierce Brosnan as Ron but he grew on me.
None of the promised 'bright spells' here today but I spent quite a bit of time in the garden tidying it up for winter and planted some bulbs in my pots. I haven't cleared the geranium pots yet as they still have quite a few buds on them. However frost is forecast in about a week so we shall see. I thought I had better get some gardening done before the forecast rain and wind.
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Millie
That was my view as well, from the books I always thought of Ron as a bit of a rough and thumble type character not someone who had played James Bond😊
David
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We didn't do very much today after all the walking we have done over the last 2 days, just a couple of short walks along by the Vallum. It has been a rather dull day with some wind and rather chilly so sorry but there are no photos of the autumn colours, just a couple in the What have you seen section of more fungi.
Thanks for the comments each of you, @DavidKlyne @Freddy55 @milliehull
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@KjellNN I think that the site is busy just because it is the last weekend before the schools start their holidays next weekend and so the retirees are getting away before then! Is it Spital Farm you are staying on again? Hope the problem with your car doesn't prevent you getting about, down to Wales and then home again.
@DavidKlyne I listened to an audio version of The Thursday Murder Club and enjoyed it, but for the life of me I can't remember where I found it, as it doesn't appear to be on BBC Sounds, my usual audio platform.
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Yes Nellie, Spital again, very convenient for the area and plenty of shops nearby. We decided to shop when we got here so packed minimal food to take with us, just some stuff from our home fridge, and a couple of frozen items for dinners. We are only away for 9 nights, so not many clothes to take along either.
This must be the year when we will have spent the least time away in the caravan, it will only be 38 nights away in total. I doubt we will venture out again this year, too much stuff to get on with at home.
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@nelliethehooker I found a few of the Thursday Murder Club audio books on YouTube and I think Amazon might also have them. We used to listen to audio books when we were towing down through France but haven't listened to any for some years now. Margaret now uses hearing aids and the noise of the vehical doesn't make for the best hearing environment for audio books.
David
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Thanks Freddy, I think that could certainly be one of the problems, I have looked on a Touareg owners forum and that is also discussed there. Possibly I can try myself to see if anything there is loose or poorly connected when we get home. Cars these days are so complex, with all the different systems and computer stuff, there is not that much one can do oneself!
New caravans are also much more complicated, which is one reason why we have hung on to our 17 year old Sterling………no complicated electronics! Still things needing fixed of course, today I have been trying to adjust hinges , and re-securing the microwave surround.
Need to go for some shopping soon, we are not used to the limited Sunday opening hours in England, so keep forgetting that shops close much earlier.
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OH ordered some artist materials the other day from one of her favourite suppliers. Well they arrived yesterday and the packaging contained the exciting message that there was a Free Gift inside. You can imagine the scene which was reminiscent of our old dog being given a parcel to rip open such was the fervour given to the opening. The "Free Gift?" A catalogue so she could order more stuff!🤣
Tipping down at present. We've been moving stuff around, furniture wise these last couple of days and are now walking around very, very carefully.
Dental appointment in Chester tomorrow then dash home hopefully in time to take MiL to the local Physio unit.
Love the Tree sculpture @nelliethehooker. We were hoping to get to the National Arboretum this week but it looks like being the worst day of the week weather wise. We're only away for a short while so we may miss out this time.
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@KjellNN Spital is certainly handy for food shopping, with Sainsbury's, Morrisons and Aldi within walking distance if you don't have too much to carry.
Thanks @DavidKlyne I will have a look at those to see if I can find the next ones in the series, light easy listening with a touch of humour.
Had to smile at the "free' gift, @Wherenext a bit of a cheek that! Hope you get away if the weather improves, BTW did you get your free night following your stay at Wirral CP?
Although we had rain in the night it was dry when we got up so we had no problems lacking up and getting away. Easy drive down to N Yorkshire along the A68, not a road we have used before, and got set up before the rain which arrived as forecast around 2:00 pm. It hasn't stopped since then so it will be a short damp walk in 1/2hr or so.
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@nelliethehooker - Free night not booked yet. Will probably do it next week, more than likely Chester. We have a dental appointment tomorrow and I'm going to need some work on a Molar so want to keep calendar open until after tomorrow. Where are you?
Will be getting away as we're meeting up with friends but we have a free afternoon on Wednesday and was hoping to get to the Aboretum. We may still do but it depends on which weather forecast is right.
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Arrived at Skybarn Farm near Lincoln about 1300, yesterday after a drive in very bright sunshine. However, about 5 minutes before we got here, it clouded over completely and as soon as we stepped out of the car, the heavens opened - bang on time according to the BBC weather forecast! Got a bit damp, setting up!!
It stopped during the night so I'll get the awning up this morning before it's forecast to start again. Managing with the little (220cm) one since we're only here until Friday. The it's a 'do nothing' day for the rest of the day.
Off to Woodhall Spa tomorrow, to visit Ros's elderly friend and sometime this week, I'd like to go and see the new Lancaster bomber sculpture which is just down the road. Won't be able to get into the actual site though, since it's only open on a few occasions at the moment and the next planned one is on Sunday, after we've left.
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Just had a phone call saying Carol's hip operation has been scheduled for 5th November... at last!! Just cancelled Hawes for that week.... been wanting to go to Hawes for ages - thought we'd get there this time, but a new hip is more important. 🙂
David
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