Day 851, Day 852 & Day 853

After an unusually hot few days I am back at my laptop and ready to bring you up to date.

Yes, it has been hot but a little common sense goes a long way to making life comfortable. The problem here in the UK is that we don't get these really high temperatures that often and as a result we are poorly equipped to cope with them. Homes do not have air-con as in other parts of the world and so we have no real means of escaping the heat, plus we tend to have a very dry and oppressive heat with very little air flow that can be quite stifling. And then factor in our 'British' fascination with the weather and you have the perfect 'storm' for a little drama!

But it did mean that as my laptop is situated in one of the hottest rooms in our house I decided that blogging could wait for a day or so.

Day 851...Monday

We were still up and about early Monday morning to take a steady 1.9 miles in 37 minutes; it was absolutely gorgeous to be out in the warmth and we were glad we got out when it wasn't at the peak temperature for the day. 

We did have one job to do and that was to fetch the grocery shopping from Asda and we were thankful that the car had air conditioning.

After that we stayed home and tried to keep as cool as we could. Simon spent the remainder of the day drawing and 3D printing various bits and pieces while I started a jigsaw. And because we did little else I made a good amount of progress in just one day...

Day 852...Tuesday

And despite today being even hotter than yesterday we still went out for our early morning walk and still managed 1.9 miles but in a slightly slower 39 minutes. And unusually we saw no-one else while we were out!

My day then consisted of very little which basically translated as making great progress with my jigsaw! By the middle of the day progress was looking good...

Simon was back at work and in his small 'office' area was recording temperatures of 34.5C!!

But early afternoon I had to venture out of the house as I'd agreed to volunteer at pre-school to help out with their 'end of year party'. Thankfully I keep my car in the garage so it was lovely and cool to get in and the air conditioning kept it cool while driving. Arriving at pre-school I was able to find a parking spot in the shade which meant that getting back into the car an hour and a half later wasn't as bad as what I was anticipating it to be. But the temperature on my car did say 41C!!!

And despite the heat Simon and I managed a weights workout down our gym; now our gym is the garage so it was cooler in there than the house. Simon was desperate to get back to his weight workouts following the removal of his cast for his broken wrist last week and so wasn't going to let a bit of heat stop him. I was pleasantly surprised by what I managed to get done and Simon behaved himself and stuck to the very lowest of weights but still managed a decent all round workout.

Oh and I did manage to get a little more jigsaw completed...

Day 853...Wednesday

Wow, last night was another hot night and although the temperature this morning was significantly lower than the last couple of days it still meant that the night had been rather hot and sticky. But with the temperature around 20C we got out and managed our 1.9 miles in a pretty quick 36 minutes.

And while Simon got on with work I grabbed Ethan for a trip to Lidl. Now Ethan is on holiday all this week (boy did he pick a good week to be off!) so I could make good use of him to lend me a hand plus as he is now getting into the habit of taking a packed lunch to work I wanted him to pick a few things out so that I know what to buy for him in the future.

The rest of my day has been a 'lap-top catch-up' kind of day. All the things that I wanted to do over the last few days that I'd put off because it'd been to warm to sit at my laptop but now needed to be done. Some boring stuff like sorting out house insurance and placing a butchers order but also cool things like ordering tickets to go see one of our favourite bands 'She Wants Revenge' when they play Birmingham in September. We last saw them in 2019 in London and were convinced that we wouldn't get chance to see them again as they are a band that go through periods of not performing or recording so when I saw on Instagram that they'd added some UK dates after playing in the US over the summer it was a no brainer to get tickets booked, and booked they are.

And my day was rounded out with a little podcast recording with my good friend, and co-host, Michelle. We recorded a Disney Dream Girls show for release this Sunday as well as a special bonus show for our Patreon supporters.

A much cooler evening is now upon us, with even a chance of rain...let's see what tomorrow shall bring!
xx

Day 850

Day 850...

A relaxed start to the day was followed by a rather sweaty 3.8 mile walk in 1 hour 16 minutes. A little slower than our normal pace but I think that may have been down to the cozy temperatures we are experiencing at the moment.

Although going by the reaction on main stream media you would think the apocalypse was happening. Yes it is rather warmer than what you would expect here in the UK, and yes we're really not set up for it as we don't have air conditioning like other countries do but the temperatures we are having are not completely unusual. We have had hot spells before, those of us of a certain age remember the summer of 1976 when we had weeks of hot weather with water shortages galore but we survived, and we will survive this blip. If we were on holiday in a foreign country we would be moaning if we didn't get these temperatures but with the scare mongering media as it is at the moment you would think we were heading into the pits of hell!!

Anyway...on with my day. After getting home rather sweaty we took a few minutes to cool down before making our first meal of the day, our brunch if you will.

We then decided to stay home for the rest of the day and keep as cool as we could. This involved several hours sat down with the telly...but for a very specific reason. Simon has been going through all our old home movies and converting them to a digital format that we can access easily. Once he has them edited and in the correct format it is then my job to watch them all to make sure there's no errors or glitches.

Well we haven't had chance to watch anything back for quite a while so this afternoon seemed like an ideal opportunity. I hadn't realised just how much we had to watch, there must have been close to three hours worth! We have vowed going forward to find the time to watch back once the video has been converted rather than let it all build up like today. The footage we were watching today was from 1999 and a big chunk of it was from our first visit to Disneyland Paris when Ethan was only 18 months old.

Having all this video footage is great as it reminds you of things that happened and experiences we have had as well as helping to keep the memories alive of people who are no longer with us. And watching the video today also highlighted just how much Ethan loved to ride It's A Small World back then, although I'm sure his opinion of it now may have changed somewhat! It will, however, always be one of my all time favourites as it encompasses so well what Walt Disney was all about; entertainment for the whole family to enjoy together, great innovation, storytelling and perhaps even a little education along the way.

With that I will see you tomorrow.

xx

 

Day 844 & Day 845

Day 844...Monday

It was another gorgeous morning and as it was Simon's non-working day of the week we took a slightly longer early morning walk of 3.6 miles in 1 hour and 13 minutes. It was surprisingly hot for an 8am walk!

And because it was still relatively cool compared to the forecasted high for the day we popped out to Lidl to pick up some fresh bits and pieces. We also got to meet our neighbours new Labrador puppy although it was from a distance as he hasn't had all his injections yet. He will eventually become a guide dog for the blind as our neighbours are part of a programme that trains the dogs ready for their prospective owners. But whilst they are puppies and are too young to be trained they still need to be looked after and that's where our neighbours step into the picture. They will have him for about a year before he leaves for his guide dog training, although I'm not sure I could do it as I would worry he'd be too cute to give up!

After lunch and in the need for an activity that would involve somewhere cool we decided to head off to the cinema. So into Derby we went to one of our favourite smaller cinemas, The Quad, to watch Thor Love and Thunder.  We had the cinema to ourselves, it was lovely and cool and we enjoyed a couple of hours of Marvel movie madness!

Day 845...Tuesday

Although it was still pretty warm first thing this morning it was rather cloudy which meant it was cooler than, and a nice relief from, the heat of yesterday.

We still started the day with an early morning walk but it was a much shorter and quicker 1.9 miles in 37 minutes and we were back home for 8.35am. This gave me just enough time to grab a few slurps of coffee and a change of shoes before I headed out the door.

I needed to be at my dads for 9am as I had an auctioneer visiting to advise about clearing the house and whether any of the items we have are worth putting to auction. I was there for 8.55am and realised I'd left my phone at home - doh! Thankfully it's less than a mile between home and my dads so I was able to dash home, get my phone and be back at my dads for 9.03am!!

It looks like all the contents of my dads house will be left for me to either sell on or dispose of myself. While there maybe some value to some of the items that we have, the auctioneer was very honest and advised against using their services as it really would not be worth our while by the time we've paid their costs and commission. So it looks like I will be getting familiar with Ebay and Facebook Marketplace once more! 

Whilst I was at my dads the estate agent stopped by to collect a set of keys so that he can start showing the house, in fact we have two viewings already booked in for tomorrow evening!

Mid-morning and I was back home and armed with a coffee it was time for some more internet research as I begin to prepare myself for selling stuff online. I also have a couple of places in mind for where I might be able to sell on some of the larger items and collections.

After lunch it was time to take Simon back to Derby hospital to see if the cast on his arm was ready to come off. Suffice to say we have two functioning arms once more, although he still needs to take it steady while his left arm heals - so no lifting heavy weights for a few weeks yet. He should hopefully hear from a physio so that he can make a quick and speedy recovery. 

The remainder of the afternoon was spent catching up on a few little tasks while I drank coffee outside; taking advantage of a lovely warm afternoon but with no real sunshine as it was still relatively cloudy...we even had a few spots of rain at times. One of my jobs was to get in touch with my tattooist, Saint Heywood, with the ideas that I have for my next lot of ink and send him over some reference material. Fingers crossed he can fit me in soon as it's almost a year since my last tattoo!

As Simon worked a little later than normal, to make up for the time spent out at the hospital this afternoon, and the weather was rather oppressively warm we opted to forgo our Tuesday workout. Simon needs to still be careful with his wrist and isn't allowed to be lifting heavy things for the next few weeks so we are still going to have to find alternatives to our usual workout sessions. But not to worry we will still be able to get out for our early morning walks and at least the weather should be a little cooler then as the forecast for the next few days is looking rather hot!

See you tomorrow.
xx

Day 819 & Day 820

I thought I would join another couple of days together...

Day 819...Thursday

The day started with our early morning walk and we stuck to the same hilly route as has become the norm and we completed 2.3 miles in 46 mins.

With the day underway I spent the majority of the morning at my dads house as we had an estate agent visiting to value the property. We have one more agent valuing the property next week but I have to say I was very impressed with Ewemove, especially as their valuation was more to my liking! But I was more impressed with their approach and their customer service focus. Next weeks agent will have to do a lot to impress me!

I took the time while at my dads to go through some more stuff! We have lots still to go through and as I have said before it is a matter of deciding what we want to keep, what can be donated to charity and what needs to be sold on to find a home where they will be appreciated. Today I went through all my mum's Christmas decorations to see if there was anything that would work with my decorations or anything that I wanted to keep for sentimental reasons. I was hoping to find some old baubles from way back but I couldn't find any at all so I can only assume that over the years my mum had gradually thrown them away or, as most of them would have been glass, they had simply broken.

I did discover an interesting collection of very old records although I don't think Max Bygraves and Val Doonican are my 'cup of tea', in fact I think these probably belonged to my grandma and grandad!

I made sure I was back home by lunchtime as this is when Simon and I now have the first meal of our day and I have to say I am loving this way of starting the day and not eating till later. Plus I still get to have my favourite meal; 'breakfast' - sausage, bacon and mushrooms followed by what we call a sweet omelette (eggs, cream, cinnamon, cloves and a little dark (74%) chocolate!!) with a few raspberries on the side.

I then inadvertently hoovered the garage...I'd gone into the garage to get some weedkiller out and to put the car back but in doing so I'd had to move a ladder which meant I saw all the cobwebs gathering around our gym equipment. And that became my motivating factor to get everywhere hoovered...I lost count of the number of spiders I managed to suck up!

As the weather forecast for Friday was looking rather toasty I decided that I really ought to get the pile of ironing sorted in the slightly cooler weather of today. It was still a hot day today but not to the extreme that the weather was forecast for tomorrow.

With the ironing done I did manage a short while outside in the sunshine with a coffee although it didn't last long as I was beginning to melt. I then managed some online research as I am still trying to figure out what some of the bits and pieces are that we have at my dads; not necessarily the value of the items but more the history and description of them to discover what they actually are.

In lieu of our usual Thursday gym workout as this has been curtailed because of Simon's broken wrist we decided to go for a walk instead. We completed the same walk as this morning although it took us a couple of minutes longer which I think was due to the heat.

Day 820...Friday

Well the weather forecast was correct for a change and we have had another, very hot and sticky day today. In fact as we headed out for our morning walk I did remark to Simon it was like being on holiday as it's not very often here in the UK it's suitable to be out in short, shorts and a sleeveless top at 8.00am! 

It was a glorious morning and we were rather glad that the walk was rather hilly as it meant there was a lovely refreshing breeze the higher we got. Another 2.3 miles in 47 minutes done.

It was then time to head down to my local Lidl for some fresh items. I'd hoped that I could have avoided a shop until next week but the fridge had other ideas. Although I must remember not to shop on a Friday as it would appear that a lot of our older generation still stick to Friday as grocery shopping day!

My day has then been filled with trying to keep cool as we hit temperatures of 31C along with more internet research. It's a slow and painful job but I do feel like I'm making progress and I think that once we have a valuation for the house that we are happy with it will be a motivating factor to make decisions about what we 'do' with everything.

I had hoped to be recording a podcast later this afternoon with my co-host Michelle but we decided it was simply too hot and have decided to leave recording till next week.

Simon and I had hoped to go out for another evening walk today but it was simply too hot, instead we opted for dinner and feet up. 

And there we have the end of the week, let's see what tomorrow shall bring.
xx