It’s been one of the hottest, driest and sunniest summers but all good things must come to an end.  As we post this entry normal service has been resumed as it’s grey, raining and storm Amy has just blown through.

Breaking up is hard to do

Relax, it’s not us! The old stone on the front terrace was starting to break up, something we all do with age, and it was becoming a danger.  So we had to have it taken up and replaced.  Alistair arrived at the beginning of August to tackle the very hard work involved.  It took him two weeks, and it wasn’t cheap, but it is now safe and a big improvement. 

Eagle eyed readers will spot the obvious but we don’t need this pointing out and have been told it will eventually fade in……….

Don’t you want me?

After having so many reasons why we ‘couldn’t’, they changed the rules so that we ‘could’ – give blood that is.   Neil is O negative, which is uncommon and is a valuable blood type as that makes him the universal donor as it can be given to anybody.  There’s been a national shortage but things such as our travelling to malarial countries and just getting old have stood in the way.  Well, as desperation set in, they finally relented on age and he’s now back in the fold to give his very precious blood.  Sadly, Cheryl was rejected after being assessed as low iron.  There is an upside, she’s now on a diet of dark chocolate, red wine and steak – she’s very pleased.

That’s what friends are for

Whilst Alistair was slaving away on the house, we went up to Shropshire to have a week with old friends Brenda and Tony.  When we cancelled our membership of The Canalboat Club we swopped our week on a boat for a week in an apartment in the marina at Ellesmere.  We had a great time, visiting a couple of local towns by bus plus taking in a trip to the legendary Pontcysyllte Aqueduct. We had taken a boat over it a few times, but B&T had never seen it before – they were not disappointed. 

Neil’s birthday coincided with Ellesmere Carnival, and we were treated to a lovely day, a perfectly located beer tent in the garden and Neil got on the stage with the local Burlesque Girls as they strutted their stuff.  We had a great day and a fabulous week with them – thanks guys, as always we really enjoyed your company.

Shortly after we got home Chris and Viv came to stay for a couple of nights.  It’s their annual visit from Sydney to Brecon to see Viv’s mum and visit friends.  It was great to see them; we always have a laugh and this time we included a visit to Beer Quarry Caves.  Of course, there was the inevitable buckets of wine and beer. 

Homeward bound 

In our last entry we mentioned that Alex and Freddy were considering a move out of London to Exeter, sometime in 2026 or 2027.  We both concluded that they had gone so far down the line with the idea of moving that it was imminent.  Sure enough, they went to see houses, we all went to see one house in particular, and before we knew it, the house was bought and their own house in London sold!  Wow, I thought that sometimes we made quick decisions but this was immense.  All things being equal, they should be in their new home by Christmas.

Hole in The Ground

Bank Holiday Monday and Neil noticed a very large damp area where our driveway meets the lane.  It was more than just damp as water started to ooze up in a couple of places.  The water to the house was quickly turned off and fingers crossed it wasn’t on our side of the water supply.  Phew! Not us.  It was reported, but got worse, day by day, by day, by day.  Water was bubbling up in new places, lifting the tarmac and running down the lane. 

South West Water eventually sent a man – who assessed, said we weren’t category 1 and left.  Weeks went by and eventually 2 men turned up and started digging leaving just enough room for us to access the drive.  They dug, they fixed – with what looked like a dirty rag, but it seemed to hold, then they left.  A week later another crew arrived to fill it in, but no attempt was made to patch the small pot holes in the lane.  It was quite farcical, the waste of water and time taken for South West Water to repair the leak and the state the lane is now in.   

Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho, Its off to work we go

We gave up the rat race in 2008 and lived the ‘life of Riley’ ever since.  However,  we both have found ourselves sucked back into the world of work.  We’re still working on a voluntary basis but the hours and intensity have shot up.   The Trustees of The Gateway Theatre agreed on a new vision, however the existing small team of staff decided it wasn’t for them and resigned.  There’s a new Theatre Director in place now, but additional help was required and we stepped up. 

We’re still doing the bar, cleaning the pipes and ordering the stock but we’ve gone a step further.  Cheryl is a Trustee with the ‘finance’ portfolio and is covering the day to day bookkeeping as well finding cost savings.  Neil is recruiting and training new volunteers behind the bar.  Of course, with Cheryl in what feels like full time employment Neil has become a househusband, a role which he finds immensely satisfying……not!!

Take a walk on the wild side

 We’ve had a great year for fruit, masses of apples, pears and figs.  Whilst choosing an apple, Neil heard a scraping noise and looked around to see what was going on.  Sure enough, in the corner of the garden he saw a young badger trying to scrape a way through the fence.  Neil eventually convinced him it was time to head off down the drive but before he got the end the badger slipped through a hole under the fence into next door.  Neil shared a photo with all the neighbours and then Karen from the other adjoining garden said the ‘young Billy’ was in her garden and getting harassed by her two dogs.  She manged to get the dogs back in the house, but she did say he looked very confused.  Poor little fella, he should have been asleep and instead he was having to fight off two large dogs.  Watch this space.

Nothing Compares 2U

Finally, some very sad family news which we won’t elaborate on.  Suffice it to say, niece Anna lost her battle with The Big ‘C’. She will be missed so much.