Autumn Equinox, time.

 The days feel different now, as the day length reduces.

It is a dissatisfied uneasy feeling as I wake before dawn. Changing the clocks will put everything upside down again! At least for a while..until the last Sunday in October...we will only be 12 hours behind New Zealand, which will make Pirate's phone calls to friends easier! No need to guess if he is too early or late!

The cultivated blackberries are giving us about half a kilo a day, we are eating and freezing plenty..plus the wild ones we forage too.  I need to pick some more elderberries as blackberry and elderberry jelly preserve is planned. Also apples for juice,

and keeping too if we can find the right ones.

Pirate has had a reassuring call from the head doctor in our local practice...but we still need that call from the specialist nurse next week.  He is still Mr Grumpy...but it will pass!!

We are watching the fuel situation carefully. It should calm down in 48 hours..after all you can't hoard fuel like loo rolls! It's worrying though, with some neccessary journeys coming up. 

We can't quite make South Wales without a fuel stop..or rather we possibly could, but that would leave us arriving with the tank lower in fuel than is comfortable, especially in an older vehicle.

Therefore one journey might have to be foregone.

Meh!!

I am feeling decidedly dissuaded.

The printer I'd been trying to acquire is apparently the USA version of a photo printer here in UK....but there, it will do card thick enough for greetings cards, as well as print photos.   At least the enquiries department dealt promptly with my email. 
The company is also linux friendly.

Back to the drawing board.  All I want is a printer that feeds through instead of through ,turn 180 degrees and back.  The latter process means it wont take over 190 gsm card, and you really need 300 to 350 for decent cards.

I've just upgraded to the latest linux ,Ubuntu 14.04 thanks to my brother who also found me another secondhand laptop, so I should get fewer computer problems.  A few things have changed...more stuff to learn when I just need to get on with it!!

The weather,thanks to Hurricane Bertha is definitely NOT what it should be mid-August.
Now on her tail she is pulling in cold wet weather from Scandinavia.
We were lawn mowing this morning, which took longer than usual. That meant that The Pirate got soaked as he tried to mow lawn#3...that will wait until dry weather!!

Now we are home with the woodburner nice and warm and the de-humidifier is dealing with yesterday's washing.

The Pirate's treatment progresses. The radiotherapy finished at the end of June and the effects of that will be with us for another month. The hormone therapy will carry on until October 2016.  The side effects are depressing and include depression...not surprisingly.    We're assured that he'll be "back to normal" gradually after then...meanwhile his girth is increasing and his muscle bulk is decreasing. He eats healthily and not excessively...
He is back on his bike, thankfully!

This was approved by the specialist nurse in the local hospital as he has a Bloke Specific Saddle!! He uses the crosstrainer as well, to help the rest of himself.

It is hard mentally and physically dealing with what he is going through,for both of us.   We're hanging on in there and at least he realizes that it is hard for both of us.

I'm torn between just training hard on the bike , which I know pleases The Pirate and keeps him happy to see me doing what he cannot do at present. And trying to produce something to bring in an income, be it cards or herb plants.   Still no hope of a workshop or studio.  And keeping our home tidy or at least vaguely sorted.   And then there is looking after His Nibs as well....

So much to do ... so we'll just muddle through.

At least I managed to win a Silver Medal in the Masters National Track Championships, which I doubt I'd have done without his backing.
Now to enter the Worlds in October in Manchester...

Rant over....hopefully back to normal service now!!