What are you all up to
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We all got very excited on Saturday evening as it started raining - hooray at last! We had heavy rain for about an hour and then it stopped ….. nothing since. I watched the weather forecast yesterday evening and although the rest of the country is getting rain this week there is a little pocket of East Anglia that isn't, that is us 😒 However the rain we did have on Saturday evening gave the plants I had planted in my pots that afternoon a good watering.
It is our second eldest grand-daughter's 30th birthday today and on Saturday evening her partner had arranged a family meal and birthday cake at Pizza Express in town. It was a great evening and good to celebrate with her. Yesterday our son and DIL came over in the afternoon and DIL was a great help in the garden. She and I spent a very pleasant hour out there weeding and planting. No great plans for today it is just very cloudy and grey … but no rain.
Lovely photos from everyone, I do enjoy seeing them. You have a lovely garden @Takethedogalong. I am glad you are enjoying your stay in Shropshire @HelenandTrevor. I hope you get the leak in your caravan sorted out easily. Sorry to hear about the trouble with your foot @KjellNN I hope the gel and the shoe implants help. We went to Moffat as part of a tour some years ago and I remember it as being a very pleasant little town. It is a shame that some of the shops are shutting. It seems to be the way everywhere. I love the postcard from the children @Wherenext What a lovely thought.
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Edit: Change of plan. Son has just rung to ask of we wanted to go to Easton Walled Garden, so we are all off there.
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We had a rather cool, overcast but thankfully dry day for the Setter walk yesterday. Sadly the poor weather forecast and, I suspect, the cost of travel meant it was a smaller turn out than normal, but still great to catch up with everyone and the dogs. (And Mrs M won a bottle of Baileys in the raffle, so what's not to like!)
Off for a walk from Beeley (free parking) to Chatsworth later today, plus the inevitable visit to the farm shop (unless I "forget" to bring my wallet!)
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It is such a shame that the weather has not been great in many areas over the B/H, especially for the many charities and animal sanctuarys that hope for good weather to make some money over the summer. All of the dogs in the photos look well behaved and very chilled and so do their owners as well!
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@moulesy glad you had a nice day out
@milliehull yes as you say it’s a sad story all over the country with high streets being empty
We got home early afternoon from a. NIce bank holiday weekend at Moffat weather not great but not too bad. Car never moved all weekend we just relaxed at the van and spent some time in the town site was very busy each night which was nice to see but the price is getting ridiculous for the site now even with the age concession it was very expensive for 3 nights. Easy 1 hour 50 tow home today lots of vans on the road but traffic ok caravan now back on its space in the drive not away next weekend but we are due away near the end of the next week on a 10 night trip to County Durham area looking forward to that
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We had a great time at Easton Walled Gardens today with son and DIL. Weather cloudy and grey but no wind and no rain and the gardens were as lovely as ever. I also made a few purchases in the plant/gift shop 😳
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Grand photos @moulesy and @milliehull glad that you all had good days out at your respective locations and that there was no rain to spoil the day.
Your garden looks in great condition @Takethedogalong
We had sun and wind for much of the day, just perfect to dry the washing. Walks from the site today, so saving a bit of fuel. We now have a prolonged period of rain after a couple of short showers in the late afternoon.
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@milliehull beautiful photos of lovely Easton, it really is a lovely place. I always enjoy that little Auricula theatre they set up each year. We are hoping to get a short break down that area at some point, and it’s a must visit place for us. I think it has one of the very best plant and garden gift shop as well. It was you who first mentioned it to us, a few years ago now👍
My garden is doing ok, there’s a little fruit garden, and a pond garden lower down, not in the photos, I need to sort these out a bit, but the very wet early months, and the fact that we are getting away a bit more has put me behind. It’s not going anywhere though, and I just need to weed a bit faster!
OH was up early like a man possessed this morning, straight online to try and get tickets for first leg of Boro’s play off games. Thankfully he got two, but we have had to switch hotel this time, our usual is fully booked. But we shall enjoy a different walk to the Riverside, make another full long weekend of it. It’s a big ask for the team, they have got Southampton, who are in form at the moment. But…..🤞🤞🤞@moulesy lovely to see the setter photos, I hope you are both well.
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@Takethedogalong - you're not the only one who will be keeping an eye on the play-offs. Bit of a tense week to come😁.
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@richardandros Hull City? Boro did them a favour walloping Wrexham last home game.
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@Takethedogalong your OH did well getting tickets for the semi, hope The Boro get paid S'ton and meet Hull in the play-off final.
We've had quite mixed weather today as after overnight rain the day started off dry, but just as we were getting ready to hitch up we had a short and light fall of snow!😯 Thankfully the sun put in an appearance, although there has been a cold breeze all day, and we had a pleasant tow to our latest site, but could see a layer of new snow on the Cairngorms as we headed north west. Site is very quiet, with just 18 units on it tonight, the majority being small M/Hs.
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Yes that would be a good final play off @nelliethehooker (it was Watford Boro beat 5-1, they drew at Wrexham, much to Hull’s delight🤭)
Just climbed into bed and can hear our resident owl hooting and twittering away🦉
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The new stairlift was fitted yesterday after I rejected the first one under the Consumer Rights Act. Nevertheless, it still took three weeks, and numerous phone calls, to get my money back! The new one is from TKE (a German company) - the Which Recommended supplier and the difference in quality was noticeable straightaway - and - it was slightly cheaper than the first one😀.
The engineer was meticulous in his fitting and he went out of his way to ensure I was completely satisfied with his work. What a breath of fresh air compared with the last lot.
I would have gone to TKE from the outset but an error by someone in the sales office in not informing the surveyor/salesman that he had an appointment with us resulted in me - in a fit of pique - ringing them up and telling them they had lost a sale. A decision I came to regret🙄. All put right now and I no longer have to struggle getting upstairs.
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That’s a good result for you @richardandros 👍
I am on weather watch now, next ten days are not inspirational regarding a last minute booking for a cottage.
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Now at our friends Gite and just had a sharp rainstorm went for a short walk up the road whilst weather was dry even a bit of sunshine and a lot of sand small stones on the road further around from here as they had a terrible 2 nights of storms and had the front patio area which is under cover and it was flooded with rainwater on Monday night as the drains could not cope we had a thunderstorm Monday night and was supposed to have more yesterday when we came here but a dry start so car packed even got away earlier than we thought a lot of lorries on he auto route but thankfully very little rain as most roads were dry.
Our friends wife is in UK as when they were there over the festive season she had to see their old doctor in Worcestershire and she was sent straight away to local hospital turned out she had 1 skin cancer area on her forehead and a small cancerous lump next to her left eye so some surgery was done but not all removed hence she went back to UK from here just over a week ago and yesterday had more surgery and all cancer removed and now back at her daughters recovering so her OH will go over later this month with Nell the Labrador and have a couple of weeks over there catching up with family and bring her back here he cannot go after we have gone as they have another booking for the gite for 10 days a few days after us.
Off out for a meal tomorrow and a look around a local town some of it we have seen before but some interesting buildings about and it should be dry so will take camera.
OH still suffering from doing the VMC last Friday so asked for a lazy day today and earlier hes was having a nap on the sofa and we have some steep stairs here to the lounge area and no hand rail so fun going up and down the joys of getting older ha ha.
@richardandros glad you have got your stair lift sorted and all working well.
Great photos of gardens will put some on here of a few plants of mine when back home next week also a rose here in the garden it is beautiful and a great perfume as I have none at home have tried a couple but do not like my soil.
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Just been told that, in spite of the lower than normal turn out on Sunday, we still managed to raise just over £1000 for the charity so a very pleasing result. 2 more days in Derbyshire before heading home on Friday - The Packhorse booked for dinner tomorrow night of course!
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Is there scope to fit a hand rail on the stairs Redkite? Don’t know the rules with you, but here all stairs going over a certain height, maybe 60cm, need a handrail these days. Judging by the number of houses we see on line that have nothing at all on the side you can fall off of, either people are not bothering or it is not retrospective.
As you say, getting older means stairs are often tricky, so it is a good idea to have a handrail even if not required by the regulations. Our son has a very old house and for years there was no handrail on the stairs, only had one fitted about 10 years back, now so much easier to get up and down. They also have 2 very high steps into the house, OH needs a helping hand these days to get in, but they are refusing to fit a handrail. Just wait till they are as doddery as us!!
DD also has 2 difficult steps at the front door, and 3 at the back, so will fit rails there to keep us safe as we are frequently there.
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@KjellNN the walls either side are not solid as the building was a garage before and converted to a gite everywhere else is fine flat floor from the only door into the kitchen/dining area then lounge, bathroom and two bedrooms upstairs and we can manage as we are off home on Sunday.
Just had another heavy rainstorm and looks like the sun is coming out but the next three days looks dryer and warmer as it is quite chilly at the moment for this time of year and it is raining at home.
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Took MiL down to the care home yesterday where she'll spend the next two weeks. We were a bit taken aback when she suggested it a few months back. Nevertheless things have gone smoothly even if we had to get Pickford's in to take her clothes there.😂 We decided not to go away straight away just in case so we visited this morning and were more than happy. The staff are lovely and already on the way to being trained by her.
We had an easy Motorway drive down to a CL near Kettering for the night. Onwards to the Fens tomorrow. Looking forward to a 12 night break, hopefully cycling, walking and meeting some friends along the way. Plenty of history and nature to keep us happy.
Good result @moulesy. Enjoy your meal at the Packhorse tomorrow.
Hope your new stairlift proves reliable @richardandros.
Finally, great photos @milliehull. We like Easton as well.
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@Wherenext hope MIL enjoys her stay at the home. Glad to hear you are able to get away for a longer break hope you get nice weather and can enjoy cycling etc give you a good chance to try out the new van over a longer period of time
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Spent the last 2 days moving the contents of 850kg Maxi-bag of Scottish pebbles from the front garden to the rear garden - large plastic rubble bucket filled with around 20kg of pebbles, lifted in/out of wheelbarrow and deposited into a spare Maxi-bag on the patio at the back of the garage - the furthest point from the front garden … some 42 trips later, all done; so began to dig out the +/-15cm deep soil and weeds that the previous garden handyperson had dumped instead of carting it to the Tip/Recycling Centre. 2 x 100kg loads taken before closing time, and a further 120kg of rubble buckets loaded ready for tomorrow. Think there's a further 200kg to dig out from a 55cm wide gap between our and next door's garages - barley wide enough for me who is built for comfort rather than speed 😁
Steve
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Arrived home yesterday after a lovely few days in Shropshire, just had time for a quick cuppa before heading off to work. After work we emptied the caravan and then set about finding out exactly where the water was getting in the caravan, which involved me using the hosepipe to spray water at the van and OH inside watching where it was coming in. Turns out it was a small hole at the top of the roof window at the front. OH fixed the hole today and when we sprayed water over it again it was dry so fingers crossed it's now fixed. We are not away now until the end of the month so will keep an eye on it when it rains.
This morning it was a trip into town to pick up prescription and then a supermarket shop before work this afternoon.
In answer to your question @nelliethehooker Attingham Park was fairly busy but have known it busier, however we went to Cardingmill on Monday which was very busy and the walk to the waterfall was more like a queue 😱. We didn't stay long and went back to the site and did a walk from there and only saw one person.
Enjoy your meal at the Packhorse @moulesy and well done with fundraising walk.
Hope you have a lovely break @Wherenext. Lovely photos @milliehull .
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Good to read that your new starlift is fitted and working to your satisfaction @richardandros
Pleased that your MIL is settled in at her "holiday" location and that you have managed to get away in the M/H @Wherenext enjoy your trip.
Grest result from the charity walk @moulesy Enjoy your meal.
Hope the weather improves and you are able to book thar cottage for a short break @Takethedogalong
@HelenandTrevor the last time we tried to park at Cardingmill there were NT staff turning back cars as it was that busy. We will definitely avoid going there at a weekend or a bank holiday! Good to hear that you were able to identify the leak and hopefully fixed the problem.
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We drove over to Ballendalloch Castle this morning and did the river walk before lunch and then around the gardens in the afternoon. Didn't bother going into the house this time as we had been round in the relatively recent past. We were fortunate to see a Red Squirrel as we drove towards the house.
A few views of the garden's.
The Rock Garden
In the Wall Garden
A couple of views of the house.
Saw this on the car park, one for @Francis & @Takethedogalong
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Brilliant result @moulesy - and what lovely dogs - quite 'regal', aren't they? Pleased you got the van fixed @HelenandTrevor - it's so annoying when something goes wrong. We had a leak from one of our roof lights a few years ago - but fortunately, it was fixed by the dealer within a few days, under the 10 year warranty without the slightest quibble.
Sounds like seriously hard work @marchie - if that had been me - I would definitely have been paying someone to do it!!
As usual, wonderful photos @nelliethehooker - pleased you are having a good time away. We're looking forward to getting away to @Skybarn Farm CL, next week. Hope our favourite pitch is available😁
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@nelliethehooker great pics love the car looks like a little Morgan
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Agree re the Morgan my home area Malvern and friends treated us to a Factory tour a few years ago very interesting and my mum used to live about 3/4 of mile from the factory also one of my work friends her grandfather was one of the test drivers so her summer holidays used to be taken up and down the Guarlford Straight but than was over 60 years ago not allowed these days.
At last a dry day so off for a lunchtime meal out soon and a look around the local town and get some shopping as a holiday here again tomorrow, we even had a hailstone storm last night not big hail thankfully everywhere around here looking very wet.
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@richardandros. We bought the house, which needed pretty much gutting internally and externally in late November 2024. We're on the final leg now [roof replacement late this month or early June depending on the Scottissh weather and its impact on roofer's existing jobs]. We dug out 27 conifers [and found a spare in a pot behind the garage!], an ash tree with roots that ran under paving and rear lawn, requiring us to lift slabs and turf to remove the roots in sections, and an ivy infestation of quite epic proportions; we used 3 of the Maxi-bags each time, filled to about 25% with branches, roots et al, to cart the stuff to the Tip/Recycling Centre in more than 20 trips. This enabled us to make sure that we had removed everything, rather than the Contractors 'surface approach' that included dumping the detritus between the garages! The base earth is now almost cleared, and there was a thin layer of 'chuckies', red aggregate chippings, that had become buried, and have had to be excavated and dumped.
We will lay a 15cm bed of Scottish pebbles and weedkill a couple of times each year to stop any ivy reinfestation. It's been hard work, but we have been more thorough than commercial contractors, and have been able to change plans on the fly [e.g. changing the usual pebble depth from 5cm to 10cm and 15cm on the new path at the side of the Motorhome and the channel between the garages respectively], as we uncovered the earlier delights that lurked in the undergrowth!
Steve
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Looks like your hard work has paid off @marchie. I'm just not physically capable of that sort of work anymore - even weeding the borders now has to be left to our gardener! So frustrating.
We did a similar thing to our house when we moved in 14 years ago. Although it was only 17 years old at the time, it hadn't been touched and was desperately in need of a re-vamp. We had the builders in for 7 weeks - up to 12 of them at one time - different trades - and completely gutted the place and virtually started again. It was pretty dire living amongst it whilst it was done but the end result more than justified that bit of inconvenience.😀 (We needed a new kettle after they had left!🙄)
We bought it for the view at the back……..
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