What are you all up to

Happy World Bicycle Day to all fellow Velocepedists.🚴🏻‍♂️🚴🏻‍♂️ I include myself as an interloper.

It was mizzling first thing this morning when I went out. As an aside it just goes to show the difference 1 letter can make to a word. Predictive text wanted to change the "M" in mizzling to an "S". Not quite accurate. So after finishing the food shopping we all sat down to a 62 question questionnaire on MiLs current state. Some of the questions are so ambiguous that they really should have been audited before being included. Taken the best part of 3 hours to reach a consensus. Good job we left it to a miserable day.

Stopped raining now so the ladies have gone out for a stroll.

I thought it was there that you had stopped, Francis. There are grand views all round that area, and some very impressive properties too.

Another fine sunny warm day, around 22C, but with a stiff wind. We delayed leaving the THS until after noon as we only had a tow of 27 mls, and couldn't get on site until after 13:00. All set up, a round of washing done and out on the clothes airer, & Flyte walked before 15:00. Everything nice and dry before we had our evening meal. The site is much busier than when we were here earlier in the year with a roughly even mix of caravans and M/Hs.

I never trust any forecast longer than 24 hours to be honest. We were talking about it just this morning and reckoning that they just have too much information from too many different weather organisations, be it computer models from America or Europe plus our own, that they end up cobbling a mish-mash together. You would have thought that with all of the technology at their disposal that forecasting would be a tad more accurate than it is.

Chasing our tails this morning, library, prescriptions, food for MiL plus supplements. Showers on a regular frequency. Wondering what else needs doing before we leave MiL tomorrow to fend for herself for 1 night and 2 half days.

Newcastle is a nice place to wander around Ttda, whether it is down by the river or the compact city centre. Good cycling as well, as I'm sure Cornersteady would attest to.

Glad some of you seem to be having more favourable weather, they say sun shines on the righteous, we must be very good in Stubbers.

Our D day celebrations started today with many services of remembrance in SouthSea with the King & Queen present, we also had a display by the Red Arrows, and of course lots of filming of the vetrans leaving Portsmouth for France onboard one of the Brittany ferries, dont particularly want to live to 99 years of age unless i am super fit, but some of those guys at 99 are just amazing.

Celebrations continuing this evening, a light show over Southsea made possible by using 100 drones, and then lots of celebrations Saturday and Sunday on what was the Daedalus airfield now know as Solent airport and business park, i think the Red Arrows are back again on Saturday.

Finalised our plans for a tour into Yorkshire starting 15th July thru 29th July, cant do much before then as Spanish daughter is home 28th June for a couple of weeks, so you lot up there best be good so the sun shines, many tks to Richardandross for providing lots of info re our choosen site, must admit it looks amazing, not been up north for perhaps 3 years or more so really looking forward to it.

Still keeping busy on DD’s flat, she keeps adding extra tasks!    

She has had me remove the rather ugly and bulky stair bannisters and box in the small gap that left on that side between the stairs and the wall, it is a U-shaped staircase.    Quite fiddly so took some time, but looks much better and will make it easier to get furniture in/out.    Once all the other work is finished I will fit a nice handrail all the way along the  opposite side.

I have been there most days and today was joined  by the painter.  Due to poor parking availability, he will be leaving his van at DD’s house and one of us will drive him along and retrieve him later.  He has made a good start, the job will take 4-5 days, but I still have some details to finish so will go tomorrow morning too, OH will drop us off.

Today the flooring for the whole upstairs (35 sq m) was delivered.  DD is  keeping it at her house meantime as I doubt any of it will be put down before our Norway trip.   It all has to be checked for any damage then stored somewhere out of harm’s way till needed.

The final repairs will be to the non-functioning toilet flush in the cloakroom and the plinth in the kitchen, then move in the new fridge freezer and dishwasher.    I think I can be 100% certain it will be August before she can market it!

This evening we have been looking on line at luggage for our upcoming trip, all our cases are about 45/55 years old and have no wheels, so we need to get something better, something we can manage to handle……..2 large cases, 2 small cabin cases,  and 2 under seat bags in the allowed sizes.  I think we have found some suitable ones.

Tomorrow we have a bit of “time off” as Callum has invited us to the grandparents tea party at his school, 1.30 - 2.30, sandwiches, cakes, and tea/coffee are apparently on the menu.  All sounds good!

I always think of my uncle when these anniversaries come around. It feels like him and his "mates" are largely ignored. He landed not in Normandy but in Scilily and fought his way to the north of Italy, losing many of his colleagues and friends along the way.

Like many of his generation he never volunteered information about it but i fondly remember a few conversations I had with him near the end of his life. We both had a common interest as he was on Dialysis and quite willingly answered my questions when I visited him whilst having treatment on all sorts of matters. My aunt, who knew him before they married, said he never used to talk with a stutter until he came home and would never open up about what happened. Just like so many of those brave young people.

The plaques explain their significance.

And as they say, the rest is history

On the subject of people in WW2 not being willing to talk about their experiences, my Father was the same. It does seem as if the older they got the more willing they were to unburden themselves of their experience. I also suspect when their children were younger they were perhaps not so interested and it was only later in life us "baby boomers" started to think about asking questions and by then for many it was too late? I do know that during the blitz he was in the Army Fire Service. That in itself is not really a correct description as basically you had an NCO in charge of the fire tender and the rest of the crew were civilians. We have quite a few photos from that period of his time doing that. However as far as D Day was concerned, apart from it being his birthday, no information what so ever. I suppose it would be possible to find his war record but he didn't talk about it. 

David