Day 882 & Day 883

Day 882...Thursday

Well the day started very grey again and just before we stepped out the door it started to rain. But it didn't stop us and thankfully it didn't last too long but we still stuck to our new route following the pavements and managed another 2.2 miles in 39 minutes. We even bumped into a couple of old friends who were out walking their dog and had got caught in the rain. 

My morning job was to nip down to Lidl to stock up on a few bits and bobs, and in hindsight I was glad I decided to go down today as there was a water leak along the main road which now means the road is closed until early next week! 

The remainder of my Thursday was split between grabbing a coffee outside when the sunshine came out, starting my next jigsaw (sorting the edge pieces) and a lot of online stuff.

I managed to 'chat' online with a local jewellers to make an appointment with them to look at some of the jewellery we'd found at my dads house. I tried to book my car in for a service but couldn't quite manage it so have requested a call back (which I am still waiting for) and then it was time to book a hotel.

We are going to see Molly and Dan at the end of September and so needed to get a hotel booked for a few nights. I'd looked around to see if I could find somewhere different to our usual hotel but after much searching I realised that there are many good reasons why we go back to the same place each time; great location, breakfast included, always clean and tidy, lovely staff and free electric car charging! Having looked at various dates we'd settled on a longer stay than normal so that it would tie in with Molly's non-working days, plus we will get a longer break away from home too.

I also spent a considerable amount of time online acting as admin and technical support for my podcast co-host, and very good friend Michelle, who is out in Walt Disney World at the moment. Facebook had decided to lock her out of her account which meant she was unable to post to our podcast page and message friends who she was due to be meeting. Thankfully I was able to get in touch with her friends and provide them with alternate ways to get in touch and between us we managed to get her back online, although not as fully online as she could have been. Technology is great when it works but when it doesn't it is a pain in the bum!

After a forty five minute session down the gym where I focused on abs and legs it was time for a spot of dinner before settling down to watch the latest Marvel series; She Hulk! And I really enjoyed it, it was well acted, a little bit goofy and simply fun to watch. Fingers crossed the series carries on in that way.

Day 883...Friday

So having run out of time yesterday to write my blog we now have two days for the price of one.

This morning we were back to blue skies and sunshine, although it was not as warm as it has been of late. This meant we could get back to our usual walk over the fields and our hilly 1.9 mile walk completed in 35 minutes.

I was then off out to the jewellers to see what we could do with the jewellery we had found. As most of it didn't hold any sentimental value we have simply been able to cash it in along with confirming that some of the items we have are just costume pieces that I think we will ultimately sell via Ebay. I do have a couple of pieces of jewellery that belonged to my mum that are in need of repair and I was in two minds as to what to do with them. I don't want to part with them but they are not really my style but then Simon came up with a great suggestion; could they be made into a bespoke piece that could incorporate my love of Disney? Chatting to the jewellers and the answer is yes. I now need to think about what that would look like before making another appointment to sort a design. They were also able to confirm that one of my dads gold chains could be made into bracelets relatively easily and I simply need to work out the sizing.

When my dad had passed Molly had asked if she could have two gold bracelets that he used to wear as keepsakes but having looked far and wide we have not been able to find them. So instead Molly is going to have the gold chain that he always wore instead. She has measured up and we are going to have it made into a bracelet and an anklet for her instead.

The remainder of the day saw me catching up with a few jobs around the house; a little cleaning and even some gardening...well okay weeding! And in doing some cleaning around I found the missing piece from my last jigsaw it had somehow worked its way under the stairs!

I did also make a start on my latest jigsaw by getting the outside edge completed.

It was then time for the final workout of the week by paying a visit to our gym and 'throwing' some weights around.

And that was Friday, I need to stop typing now as we have Drag Race Canada to watch.

See you tomorrow.
xx

Day 881

Day 881...

Wednesday has rolled around and finally the forecasted rain was with us. But we didn't let a little drizzle stop us from taking our early morning walk we just stuck to the pavements rather than get wet feet going over the fields. We managed a pretty quick 2.2 miles in 38 minutes.

This morning I headed out to a local garden centre for coffee and a catch-up with a couple of old friends back from my banking days. I left the bank over 20 years ago but a small group of us still keep in touch and ordinarily we meet up for a coffee every few months or so but today was the first time in over three years! But it was like we'd only seen each other a few months ago and a couple of hours over a coffee soon whizzed by.

On my way home I'd timed it right to be able to stop by a local retail branch of Next to collect an online order that I'd placed yesterday afternoon. How great is it that I was able to place an order and in less than 24 hours I was picking it up.

After a spot of lunch I had a letter from the solicitors to deal with. I'd been waiting for the letter to arrive for over two weeks and it was only because my brother had chased them on Monday that a letter had miraculously appeared today - strange that! The whole process following my Dad's passing in March has been so slow, with the solicitors seemingly stuck in a rut of routines that is now about thirty years out of date. Everything has to be sent by post, payments made by cheque and documents hand delivered. All very frustrating as in this day and age with technology where it is everything should be so much more simpler and much, much quicker. But anyway I finally had the letter and it contained some details that I had to approve, sign to say I agreed and then pop back in the post. 

Unfortunately, it took me way longer than it should have done but I blame how the paperwork was worded, how it was presented and then my haste to get it dealt with and in the post today. I had a deadline of 4pm as that was the time of the last collection at the post box closest to me, but in my rush to get it done I think I caused myself more problems than I should have done. So although I did manage to sort everything I needed I missed the 4pm cut-off, this means that tomorrow I will be going out of my way to hand deliver it to the solicitors instead! 

Before I knew it the afternoon had disappeared and it was time to go down the gym. It was so nice to be working out in a much, much cooler environment than of late and tonight I was focused on my arms and shoulders.

Right I need a cup of tea so I will see you all tomorrow.
xx

Day 880

Day 880...

Well the weather forecast had led me to believe that we would be waking up to rain this morning but the weather had other ideas and we started bright, sunny and dry. Perfect for our early morning walk of 1.9 miles in 36 minutes; back to our usual weekday route as Simon was back at work proper today.

Although there was a little hiccup this morning when Simon went to check on his current 3D print and found that although the printer was still attempting to print there was no filament being extruded. This means that Simon now has two things to figure out; first why did the filament stop extruding and once we know why it can then be fixed and second how to break the print into smaller sections. He was hoping that it was going to be one, very big, single print that should have taken about three days but now he is going to look at breaking the model into smaller pieces that can then be assembled once they have all been printed. 

My day was a mixture of odd jobs around the house like the ironing and some cleaning interspersed with a couple of coffee breaks taken outside making the most of the sunshine as the forecast was predicting rain this afternoon.

Simon nipped out to the barbers just before lunch and as the grey clouds gathered I got caught up with some online bits and pieces. The rain finally arrived mid-afternoon although it was not quite the downpour that had been predicted and it still feels rather close, as if we need a good thunderstorm to clear the air. Well, the forecast is for rain and lots of it overnight and into the morning so we shall see what actually happens.

This evening while Simon jumped on the exercise bike I took myself down the gym with a focus today on legs and abs!

And with that I will see you tomorrow.
xx

Day 854

Day 854...

Well after the glorious weather that we've been experiencing these past few days today was grey and first thing it was a tad wet. But it didn't stop us getting out for our early morning walk of 1.9 miles, which was done in 36 minutes.

The rain was that very fine rain, that often gets referred to as wet rain because you end up being way wetter than you think you should be. But I still went out in my shorts and after the initial feeling of very damp legs I quickly got over it and didn't really notice it for the majority of the walk.

Over the last few days our view when we get to the highest point has looked like this...

...but today it looked like this...

Last night after writing my blog I was determined to get the remaining few pieces of my jigsaw completed, which I did...kind of...

...a lovely Dumbo inspired jigsaw but can you spot why it's not complete?

Yep, we have a missing piece! Now this jigsaw was bought brand new and arrived in cellophane so there should be no reason for a missing piece and in fact I think it may have something to do with the wind! I had the jigsaw set up in our living room in front of some french doors that we had open because of the high temperatures. On Tuesday it had also been quite windy and when I returned home from volunteering at pre-school I noticed that some of the pieces that I'd sorted were strewn across the living room floor...the wind had been up to tricks. As I sorted them back to where they should be I remarked, rather flippantly, to Simon that 'if I end up missing pieces they'll be under the sofa'! Now I did actually find one piece under the sofa but this piece has eluded me and despite searching today I have still not found it!!

But back to today and this morning, without planning to, I found myself cleaning the oven. Not very exciting but one of those jobs that was a little overdue so having the time I decided it was due a thorough clean. Although I may have been a little over zealous in my efforts as I have inadvertently wiped away the decals that indicate what each knob does! Whoops! I obviously don't know my own strength!

The remainder of the day was spent catching up on some more laptop focused jobs. I had a couple of payments to make, a little pre-school committee work to do and then a little online shopping. Online shopping that turned into much more shopping than I'd anticipated. Not only did I purchase some clothing items that I needed but also some towels, a couple of kitchen storage tubs, a new chopping board, a vanity mirror and some new wall lights for our bedroom!!

Oh and I also managed to get Simon and I booked in for our next tattoos, although we will have to wait until early September.

And then as is the norm for a Thursday night it was time to head down our gym for a weights workout. Simon was able to push himself a little further tonight managing a slightly heavier weight and even a few sets of pull-ups.

And that was Thursday...I will see you tomorrow.
xx

Four Days for the Price of One - Day 830 - Day 833

I'm not sure where the time has gone this week but it has been difficult to find the time to write these blog posts so in the end I am writing up four days in one go...

Day 830...Monday

So the day started, as is our new normal, with an early morning walk; however we only managed 1.3 miles in 23 minutes as rain stopped play. We'd not got our waterproofs with us so we made the sensible decision to head for home when the precipitation started!

Our morning was then taken up with what we referred to as 'Kondoing the wardrobes'. When we revamped our bedroom the other year we adopted the Marie Kondo approach to tidying and we have adopted it ever since. It is a great way to ensure that you only hold onto those items that you genuinely need or love. Since it had been a while since our new wardrobes had been fitted it was time to re-evaluate the storage and assess whether it was working and whether we were actually making use of its contents. We did pretty well and only filled two bags with clothes for our local charity clothes bank.

So after a spot of lunch we hopped in the car and dropped off the clothes, stopped by my dads house to drop off a couple of bits and then had a quick tour around our local Lidl.

Back home and after a coffee and a quiet hour we decided that the weather was more conducive to walking and headed out completing 2.3 miles in 47 minutes.

Day 831...Tuesday

The weather played nice this morning and so our usual morning walk of 1.9 miles in 38 minutes was much enjoyed although at the top of the hill it did feeler a little cooler than of late with a strong wind that I described as bracing.

Then my day took on the theme for much of this week...gardening. Now I am not a gardener at all, my mum used to love gardening however I have not inherited that love, but my task this week was my dads garden. As we are about to sell the house both the front and back gardens were in need of a lot of taming if we wanted to make them look presentable. The morning was focused on the front garden and by lunchtime I'd done a pretty decent job and the whole plot looked a lot smarter.

I came home for some lunch with Simon before heading back to my dads to start on the back garden...a much bigger garden and a much bigger task ahead. It was heavily overgrown and full of weeds and other bits that shouldn't have been there.

By the end of the afternoon progress had been made, although I'd literally just scratched the surface.

I could just start to feel my muscles beginning to ache but that didn't stop me squeezing in a weights workout to round out the day!

Day 832...Wednesday

Thankfully the weather was much better this morning than had been forecast yesterday which meant we could take our usual 1.9 mile walk in a steady 38 minutes, despite my achy body. Why does gardening have such an impact on the body, no wonder it's not my favourite pastime!

So we had a repeat of yesterday today with a morning and afternoon spent at my dad's house gardening. It did rain a little mid way through the afternoon but I was able to occupy myself with other little jobs inside the house. The focus of this week is to get the house looking presentable for estate agent photos next week, so lots of moving things around and storing them out of site.

After a shower and a coffee we decided to head out for another walk in lieu of our usual exercise session. Simon is a little restricted as to what he can do with his arm in cast so walking is proving to be a great alternative; we took a different route to normal in an attempt to find a less hilly route. It was a little less hilly but there's just no way to avoid an incline or two where we are; but another walk of just over 2 miles in 44 minutes was achieved.

I was very glad to finally stop, put my feet up and watch this weeks episode of Ms Marvel.

Day 833...Thursday

And despite my achy muscles we started the day with our usual 1.9 mile walk in 37 minutes.

I was then straight out the door to my dads house to carry on with the gardening although today I had a little company as I was joined by my brother and nephew and by the time I left at lunchtime the back garden was looking pretty good and a whole lot better than when I'd started on Tuesday!

So for the first time in a few days I was able to spend the afternoon at home, although there was no rest for me!

Lunch and a shower out the way it was time to get some research done ahead of podcast recording later in the afternoon. We were talking about the upcoming Epcot Food & Wine festival as all the details of the various food booths have just been released. And as my podcast co-host, Michelle, will be visiting during the festival I had the task of picking some tasty treats for her to try!

We had the most efficient podcast recording session ever as in under an hour we'd not only recorded a show to be released this weekend but also a show for our Patreon supporters. But we had good reason to be efficient as at 5pm UK time tickets for next years Star Wars Celebration in London went on sale and I needed to be poised and ready.

Just before 5pm I clicked on the buy tickets option and found myself on a queue holding page, as 5pm ticked over I was put into the queue and told I had over an hour to wait! Well I was convinced at that point that any chance of getting tickets was looking doubtful, but as I sat and watched the screen the wait time went down surprisingly quickly. Within 20 minutes I was choosing my tickets; the most expensive Jedi Master tickets were all sold out which was fine as we didn't want those as we were after the 4-day tickets and the four day tickets is what we got! A much more cost effective buy than the individual tickets and so by 5.29pm I had our confirmation that we are going to Celebration next April!!

But by 6pm I was starting to see a lot of disappointed fans who'd not been able to secure the 4-day ticket and could only buy the more expensive single day options. It certainly isn't a cheap hobby being a Star Wars fan and I feel exceptionally lucky that we've been able to secure (and been able to afford) the tickets and a hotel. London 2023 here we come!

Phew - the end of Thursday and hopefully a slightly quieter and less garden focused day ahead tomorrow.

See you all then...hopefully!
xx

Manic Monday

Day 425...

Well the day started off with no hot water. Our boiler had decided to stop working and was displaying an error code. It is a code that we have had numerous times before and last time we had it we said that the next time we would look at getting a replacement.

Thankfully we have a great heating engineer that we use and a few messages and phone calls later resulted in a new boiler to be installed on Wednesday, and by mid-afternoon all the parts had been delivered - wow, just amazing service.

With that sorted we headed out the door to collect this weeks grocery shop, we had a small detour via the local pharmacy to drop in a prescription for my dad but we were quickly home to unload and organise the groceries. Not only had we got our shopping but also a few bits for pre-school as well as some for my dad. He is still waiting for his car to be fixed and is relying on us at the moment to do the essentials for him.

So back out the door we stopped by my dad's to deliver the aforementioned groceries and then we headed off to Ikea. By the time we arrived at Ikea the heavens had opened and we were in torrential rain; suffice to say we parked up and sat in the car until it had passed over. But we had a successful trip bringing home two book shelf units, a new shelf for Ethan and numerous clear plastic storage boxes of different sizes.

Thankfully by the time we got home the weather had cleared up but we did notice piles of hailstones gathered around our front door! Suffice to say our afternoon was then spent assembling the two bookcases, locating them in Simon's workspace and then filling them with books and helmets...we have a Star Wars and art themed collection of books interspersed with a Stormtrooper helmet and a Mandalorian helmet.

Next it was time for Simon to go through the cupboard that used to live in his workspace but, because of its size, it will no longer fit. One bin bag later and lots of clear plastic boxes filled, progress has been made. There is still some sorting to do and then we will need to disassemble and get rid of the cupboard but that will be for another day. 

And in among all of that we have been given a date for our new windows to be installed, Simon helped Ethan install his new shelf and I got caught up on all the ironing! It's been all go!

So today marked another stage in the easing of restrictions; we can now dine indoors, stay in a hotel, hug others and indoor entertainments can open. But as we see these things open up the carrot of the 21st June when all legal limits on social contact will be removed is becoming more and more unlikely. The reporting today suggests that this date may not now happen because of the Indian variant of the disease...despite millions of us being vaccinated, despite the vaccine working against this variant, despite cases being low, deaths being low...do the government ever want us to go back to our old normal? 

The fear has gripped hold of the nation and the powers that be seem to like holding us all in this state of fear. They seem to enjoy the control and the power that they have developed over us. But is this how we really want to live? I don't! I want to see who I want, when I want, hug who I want, when I want, to go where I want, to travel, to go to concerts, to shop without restriction, to live rather than cower away afraid of my own reflection. But when, or if, this will happen who knows?!

Take care.
xx

Soggy Saturday

Day 416...

Well today has been rather busy and rather wet!

We started the day with rebuilding our bed...we had assembled it last night but had realised that one side was lower than the other. Well, it was good enough to sleep on last night but it did mean that this morning we had to take it all apart again and re-assemble it!

It was then a wet car drive to take Molly to her Saturday morning guitar lesson. While she strummed out we hit the coffee drive thru', the very slow coffee drive thru'...it must have taken half an hour just to get a couple of coffees. Although to be fair we had nowhere else to go and it wasn't like we could have sat inside the coffee shop as we are still not allowed to 'dine' inside!!

And then the rest of the day has been taken up with trying to get our living room and Simon's work space back to normal, and as I type we still have work to do. The biggest challenge was getting Simon's work desk back into his work space which is actually on a mezzanine type floor with a very narrow staircase. The desk was a self-assembly piece of furniture that was assembled in place many years ago. We had managed to get it down in one piece by lowering it down but we were not sure that we would be able to manage the same in reverse. But with the combined strength of me, Simon and Molly and a little ingenuity from Simon we managed what I had thought was a lost cause. I'd even suggested to Simon earlier in the week that we might have to buy a new self-assembly desk because I thought there was no way we would manage to get it back into the space. But I am so glad I was proven wrong.

Once Simon's desk was were it was needed we then focused on getting everything else back into the house from the garage where it had been stored these last few days and then deciding whether we actually wanted them back in the living room and if so where. We have also had the job of placing soft pads under all the furniture so that it doesn't mark the new wood flooring.

We are taking the opportunity of having an empty room to refill it with a fresh pair of eyes. When we revamped our bedroom last year we took the chance to 'Kondo' the room and our clothes and so we are taking the same approach with our living room; do we need it? Do we still like it? Is it serving a purpose? It is quite fulfilling to re-examine what you have always had and make those decisions that perhaps ordinarily you would not make or would put off making.

So it is almost nine o'clock on a Saturday night as I write this and Simon is busy sorting the speakers for the audio system so I better go and help!

Take care out there, see you tomorrow.
xx

Day 95

Day 95...

Another Sunday and today it was Fathers Day.

A steady start to the day and then all of us took a walk to see my Dad and spend some time with him, with a little gift of some posh chocolates. The nice thing was that as Dad is part of our 'support bubble' now we could all go inside and sit down together and have a catch-up.

We joked on the walk home about how the sky kept coming over a bit grey and that 'it better not rain'...well less then a few minutes walk away from home the heavens opened. The boys were a bit ahead of me and Molly so we made a quick dash and sheltered under some trees and hoped that the boys had made it to a bus shelter a little ahead of us. As we stood there the rain started to come through the cover of the trees and so as it eased a little I suggested we make a break for it. We ran to the next bit of cover and could see that the bus stop ahead had a couple of cyclists sheltering but not the boys so we decided that as we were now pretty wet that we would just make a run for home. The positive out of this was that I discovered I can still run if need be and was quite pleased with how long I could keep going for! As we approached the small lane to our house Simon appeared in the car as he'd grabbed the keys and came out to pick us up! But suffice to say we were all absolutely soaked through to the bone!

Looking slightly bedraggled!

The afternoon saw us packaging up some more of our Ebay sales and then getting very confused as their system is refusing to let us create a postage label...we can sort the postage using another courier just annoying that the one they advise you to use just doesn't want to work and for no sensible reason why!

And then we had what is now our usual Sunday evening Disney quiz via Zoom hosted by the podcast I co-host; the Disney Dream Girls. This week I hadn't set any questions and although we had a bit of a rocky start with the first round of questions me and Molly ended up doing quite well...in fact we won! And my prize...is to set the questions for next week!

Take care and see you tomorrow,

xx

WDW Summer 2013 - Day 7

Well I thought I would crack on and get another blog post written all about our vacation last August, so here we are Day 7...

Today was to be a day of two halves....golf...and ice-cream...

Now for some of us the day started very early..Simon was up and out at 7.00am for a run!  He did really well over the vacation and got up and out quite a few times as he was determined to get some miles in as he was training for his first half marathon which was only a few weeks after we got home.  Being at Wilderness Lodge was great because Simon was able to run from the Lodge to Fort Wilderness, around the camp-ground and back to the Lodge, completing just under 5 miles.

Once Simon had returned we headed off for a hearty breakfast...this was strategic eating as will become apparent later on!  We took things relatively easy and headed over to the Contemporary Resort by way of boat, for a leisurely stroll around, before boarding a monorail to the TTC (Transportation & Ticket Centre) and then onto Epcot.

Boat from Wilderness Lodge to Contemporary Resort - wonder what I was pointing out?!

Walking from the dock towards the impressive Contemporary Resort

Can't resist a photo opportunity, especially if it involves a Mickey!

Once we were at Epcot we had a mission...to leave Epcot...OK I'll explain we were actually heading for Fantasia Gardens Miniature Golf and had to walk through Epcot to get there.  So we strolled through Epcot, taking in all the sights and sounds.  We made a quick stop at 'Club Cool' for a refreshing drink before heading out through the International Gateway and walking towards the Yacht & Beach Club Resort.  We then walked between the Swan & Dolphin Resorts as we made our way to Fantasia Gardens Miniature Golf.

Taking a stroll towards the Yacht & Beach Club Resort

Note what a lovely day it is!!!!

Now, we have a bit of a track record when it comes to playing miniature gold at WDW in that it always seems to rain, but today was a beautiful day and we thought we had finally broken the pattern.  We were all confident that this would be a round of golf uninterrupted by rain...

One pleasant surprise was that the golf was free!  The tickets that we had bought for our vacation, and ones that were exclusive for UK guests, included free rounds of golf every day!  Anyway off we set on our round of golf and as is the norm for us me and the kids played whilst Simon carried the bags and became official sports photographer.

This is serious stuff!!

We were about half way round when it started to come over rather dark, and then we felt a few spots of rain but being British we weren't going to let a little rain stop us!

Is that rain I feel??

We British are always prepared, out came the rain coats

So out came the raincoats and we got on with the golf but just as we reached hole 11 rain, or rather thunder, stopped play :(  A cast member came round and told us that because of the storm we had to stop play. I suppose a game involving metal sticks in a lightening storm isn't perhaps the best idea.  We took shelter and hoped that the storm would pass over...we waited and waited but the storm should no sign of easing and besides we had an appointment to keep!

I think it's raining!!!!

Trying to stay dry!!

As the rain eased we made a break for it and headed over to the Boardwalk where we were to meet our friend Michelle.  Now the rain had eased and the clouds had started to clear but within 15 minutes it all changed again and by the time we set foot on the Boardwalk it was raining again.

So what did we do next?  I think all shall be revealed in my next post...