website progress

I now have the same website,same address, but hosted differently...and I need to learn all the wordpress tools to update and post in it!

I've just got brave enough to start....now to carry on....

storm Ali

We're hunkered down now, 40mph plus winds and higher in a couple of hours.
The wind is whistling through the smallest of gaps and rumbling around the chimney.
Luckily we are at 400 foot above sea level, as with onshore storm winds , a flood warning has been issued for coastal areas in Ayrshire and Arran. Mind you, at 400 foot with a clear view to the Clyde we're facing the full force of the wind. Even things that we thought were well weighted down are moving.

Mango chutney made (surprising how small the yield compared to jam!) and wallpaper in the kitchen coming off...
Where I painted it in April, the paint is still sticky..even on bare plaster it has only just dried....moral....avoid cheap paint!    I have lining paper and wallpaper in house and Pirate will put up two more shelves  above the kitchen radiator after papering. A good use of the offcuts from the cupboard shelves!
To get the right length for the cupboard shelves we had to buy 2.1 metre lengths...which just fit diagonally in the back of our Berlingo car...with the larger set of rear seats out!
The cupboard shelves are nearly done..a little filler in the wall, moulding on the front of the shelf made of plywood and painting...

All for the aim of a tidy kitchen with a clear bench and produce and utensils in the cupboards.
I'll be glad when half the kitchen contents are back in the kitchen from the living room.
It will be a good chance to reduce them as well!

back into routine...sort of...

Easing..or rather rushing...from Summer to Autumn hasn't been easy.
We had a lovely warm two weeks away, but returning to the cold and wet has been hard going!!

I've been working through the bags of fruit..12 jars each of damson, and damson and apple jam. Four pounds of damsons in the freezer and another four pounds in the fridge.
Sorting through the pears, many are well bruised (after dropping from 20 to 30 feet...) have hard lumps in them and what looks like codling moth damage.
Two trays of pear slices in the dryer with two of apple rings,and a bowl of pear bits in water and lemon juice for a pudding tonight.
I'm hunting for a fresh fig and date chutney recipe....
Plenty more apples to be sliced for drying and juiced for freezing. I might try one batch of cider....

Pirate is fitting shelves in our kitchen cupboard...not the easiest of jobs as its 134 centimetres long.. and is at its widest 40 centimetres....and has an ordinary door to access it in the middle!
Much banging and a modicum of swearing...and stops for tea and toast with vegemite!!
It will mean the kitchen bench will be (fairly!) uncluttered and the preserves and cordials can be stored in the kitchen cupboards instead of the living room sideboard.

We've had one half-day garden job...paid in kind...overnight stay, supper, breakfast and lunch and a bottle of Rioja wine!  Four others are waiting for the grass to dry (some hope!) but that does mean things are getting done here.   I'm planning on moving the fruit bushes from their pots into the present deep beds, and starting on new beds for veges...so they need to be ready for the autumn planting of garlic,onion sets and broad beans.

I've had weird computer problems since updating the linux/ubuntu operating system...some have been solved by changing from firefox to chromium browser...but then have disappeared! I'll keep firefox as a backup in case of more problems.  However it sits on the "front page" for five minutes before flashing through a problems report page so fast that you can't read it...the general consensus is that something is interfering with plymouth, the front page programme...a plug-in or some such that didn't get deleted during the system upgrade... I have access to people with knowledge of linux, but not in person here!

Everything is eating into our Travelling to NZ cash..getting wed, keeping the car on the road, possibly getting a new laptop (or tablet).....all sorts...but we are determined..Pirate is 80 next year and reckons that this will, sadly, be his last trip to the other side of the globe.

So we are back into a sort of routine, ticking along, trying to keep warm and fit.

Whilst away I caught up with a potter friend...and now I know how to get the flue on the kiln!!...Now I need some breeze blocks to start the job....

and on...

I haven't taken many photos on this trip..and when I did I found that I hadn't brought the right lead to get them on here.

The tour has continued, to Yeovil for one short night...too short...but we'll return.
The road to Bristol led through Street. There we found a very interesting cider barn thanks to the potter I caught up with.
It was a worthwhile visit.
Much kiln advice, perry bought and his verdict on the Pirate ? "He's a good 'un"

On to Bristol for a couple of days of dog walking with more family, on to Warwickshire for yet more.
At least today we've had a gentle ride around the lanes between Henley in Arden and Alcester,before tomorrow's journey back to Scotland.

carrying on...

Saw friends in Epsom, staying with rellies in Kent...now for foraging damsons and a bike ride on flat roads...before we head off west....pictures will wait!

carry on...

garage says the "new" beam isn't good enough....scrappie says he checked it before taking it off the scrapped car....stalemate...£85 credit note...

and carry on. its safe enough and all legal.

I'll get the Oily One's view on it tomorrow.....

car t.l.c. and ideals

We took the car over to the garage that used to care for my old 405 estate...
They don't mind working on old cars, they listen...and they talk to me as well, not just the Pirate!! After all,it is my car.....

It's getting a secondhand rear axle ("beam") as it has rather sick bearings on one side. Apparently its a known fault of psa vehicles like mine..I'd hoped that The Oily One would have been able to do it, as he knows how to recondition and replace the offending bits, but time hasn't allowed that. The bearing worsened so also I wasn't going to drive it 400 miles to get it done, even though we will be heading south soon anyway.

As we delivered the car two days early...they're going to start work on it tomorrow!!

Back to bus travel, no complaints. I much prefer to use public transport whenever possible, if not bike or foot.  Luckily we can go by bus for free in Scotland, both of us being 60+ years old...however going to see family is a problem as the car works out cheapest financially.
Ideally one lives near enough to family...but which bit?!! and why would we ever leave Scotland????