In the UK May to June

Weekend at Brian's daughter Fiona, husband James and two of his grandchildren Becky and Jenny

And so life goes on.

The downstairs loo is virtually finished. We've gone from the washing machine, a wall cupboard, the boiler and loads of junk, to a wall with a door for the washing machine, a small cupboard and a toilet, the smallest toilet possible, the basin actually sits on the cistern and the water from hand washing forms part of the flush. Very eco friendly. Tariq and Mohammed built the wall, plastered and did the plumbing. Brian did the electrics and assisted with fitting the folding door. He's also polished all the copper pipes so they look lovely, just need to protect them now. He's fitted work surface and a cut down cupboard to optimise space and we've both then painted. Just need Mr. Singh to come and fit the floor. 

Jackies amazing Paella nearing completion at Fi and James'. I didn't get a photo of finished and on the table as we were too busy eating it!

The bed has come, an electric ottoman to give us more storage, so at some point we can empty the loft. (Probably when the weather is at its hottest knowing us). I know we are not going to be able to get everything from the loft in there but if we haven't used it in 13 years, we probably don't need it. The display cabinet for the kitchen is also in progress so that will be the glasses and table wear from the loft, but that's it. We have to be ruthless!

John's very cute kitten Emma. He's goes away quite often so we have the pleasure of going round to feed and play with her

We've been more regular at Argentine tango lessons and even went to a milonga run by our teachers last Saturday afternoon. It was all very scary, but I guess it's coming together, a bit. 

A day in Bury St Edmunds to visit Margaret at the same time as Jackies brother Jonathan and Lucy

The previous weekend we went across to Bury St Edmunds to meetup with my brother Jonathan and Lucy at Aunty Margaret's where we had a lovely time. Video call with Charles and Caroline made it all very family. We've been walking with John and with Denise and Paul. Curry and drinks with Helen and Ian and Monday club, and drinks with Sunday club. We've just been to the afternoon tea dance so back into ballroom hold which will probably have undone so many people's efforts of getting Brian into a Tango hold. Disappointed to find that those shoes are a lot less comfortable than my very high Tango shoes. That's a surprise.

Our downstairs loo has appeared from this rear lobby area off the kitchen with door leading to the garden 

This weekend was a BBQ at Manu and Crystal's, they'd worked very hard marinading and then cooking lots of chicken and pork. Yum. We were very lucky with the weather. Much rain had been forecast but we only got a few drops. This meant we stayed much later than expected. It was an hour and a half on the train due to to a change and 25 minute wait. We persuaded Helen and Ian to drop us off at Bourneville which bypassed this and got us home much quicker. What Brian wasn't so lucky with was his tooth. He's having some work done so has a temporary cap on a tooth that has been on its way out for years, he had mentioned something about maybe a referred pain, but no, while eating a samosa yesterday the corner of the tooth next to the one being worked on fell off! Hopefully the dentist can fit him in tomorrow and sort it out with it's neighbour 

To a separate room off. There's a bi-fold door into the loo and the small door is for access to the washing machine

It's just life, but it all takes time. The list of "must just do...." Keeps getting longer 

Inside, the washing machine has been closed off with a small cupboard down on the right (you can't see it in this photo and there's a worksurface for storage of stuff and I've polished the copper pipes to really show it as a feature, which we think looks really good

Looking the other way, there's the loo with washbasin over the cistern

There you can see the small corner cupboard. This is an older photo before I'd polished the pipes and taken the protective layer off the worksurface

Here's our new king size bed with our wall art. Its a photo I took in Kenya of the great migration and shows Wildebeest heading off into the distance over the great plains of the Maasai Mara. The cushion is a photo of a Jaguar I took while in the Pantanal, Brazil, who we identified as being named Constantina 

We got some more solar lights for the garden too and here they've just lit up at dusk (now about 10:15pm)

At Great Central Railway Station in Birmingham for our Tuesday walk. This week it was from Stratford on Avon to Wooton Wawen along the canal. Only John was available for this one, but we're here with Chris from our village drama group who was just on his way to work! Oh well, someone still has to!

A quick change of railway stations in Birmingham to to the historic Moor Street station to get to the Stratford line

At the start of the walk on the canal in Stratford

The historic and protected Edstone Aqueduct over the railway and a road. It was opened in 1816 and consists of huge cast iron tanks bolted together, forming the longest canal aqueduct in England at 143m. It took 19 years to build (1793 to 1812) at a time when no modern machinery and almost no roads were available to transport and lift the very heavy sections into place. Under one of the sections over the railway a metal valve protrudes that was used to provide water for steam trains passing underneath. The notice says that many people remember learning to swim in it, although swimming is not recommended today. It was saved from closure in 2003 by a £1.2million renovation

Further on, near Wooton Wawen is another, shorter one, opened in 1813

Our Tuesday walk ended as they all do, at a pub selling craft ales - lovely!

Out for another walk a few days later with Denise (Brian's sister) and Paul at Earlswood Lakes, followed by a meal at the nearby Red Lion afterwards 

We went into the historic Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham so Jackie could get some old rings of her mothers made into something she will wear. This is the Chamberlain clock in the centre, erected in 1903

A stroll back into Birmingham city centre. The lovely building on the left is the Birmingham museum and art gallery, the colonaded building is the Town Hall and and, in front is the statue in Chamberlain Square

We had time for tea and cake in the Edwardian Tea Rooms inside the Art Gallery

And a very quick stroll through some of the exhibits. What a fabulous building

And home in time for drinks and nibbles in the garden before dinner

Yesterday barbeque at Manu and Crystals and all the Sunday Tea Club gang

They've recently moved into their bungalow in Sutton Coldfield and done a huge amount of renovation, so it was good to see how they are doing and catch up with everyone at the same time. We're lucky in that their house is on the same train line as the one for our village in Alvechurch, so a pleasant train journey allowed us to sip a few drinks and let the train take the strain

Back in the UK with unfinished Galapagos business & a visit to the site of the second biggest non-nuclear explosion in WWII

Us with Brian's sister Denise on our day out with them

The train journey home was absolutely fine, but fortunately we didn't have to move to our allocated seats as moving about the train was almost impossible, it was so crowded. We arrived back in Alvechurch at the predicted time and trundled our suitcases back from the station. It's like we've never been away. Even after 6 months that house still hasn't built a front door step, oh, and neither has that one.

Little Luna cat from next door wanders into our house if the back door is open. Here she is at the top of the stairs after exploring

Back into the house and it was like we'd just popped out. Abi and Alex had been over and vacuumed, swept the patio, and bought food for supper and breakfast. What absolute stars. It felt wrong to get in the car and drive to Aldi, but neither of us wanted to sit down and we'd rather go Friday afternoon than over the weekend. Bags unpacked, first load of washing on and we can actually sit in the garden with a glass of wine. The UK isn't so bad after all

22nd year wedding anniversary photo!

The garden looks pretty good, but I have been vacuuming it. Seems the easiest way to pick up dead leaves to me! We've just cleaned the patio and have been taking full advantage of the warm weather while it lasted. We've even been joined by Luna cat, from next door who seems pleased to see us home. Our garden is her garden, as is the house. She's a cheeky little thing, marching past us sitting outside to go in and explore the house!

We were very pleased to meet John's kitten and when we went round to look after her one afternoon it was very difficult to get on with any work!

Saturday we got the train into Bournville for a curry and a few beers with Helen and Ian. Sunday I roasted a chicken with my usual plan of eating it for days, only to find I had to freeze it as we just haven't been in. Monday we had a day trip to Exmouth to see Dad and Elizabeth who were over, staying with Jane for her 80th birthday. It was a long way, though a good journey and lovely to see them. 

Monday visit to Exmouth to see Richard (Jackie's dad), Elizabeth and Jane

Tuesday we went to lunch with Terry and Sue, trying to wrap up the house that Brian and Terry bought between them. Wednesday we had a good catch up with Alex and Rob, looking at their house which hasn't progressed much as Rob has done something to his neck which is affecting his hands and what he can do. We followed this with a Monday club curry at Diwan's, our favourite. Now we know we are back.

Our littlee back garden is looking good. Its even better now Jackie has planted the pots, the fern has grown and the peonies and poppies are in bloom

I started this ages after we got back and more ages have since passed. I'm almost scared to do it though Brian keeps nagging, as that means he'll have to post and he's been busy. We've moved everything out of the study into the spare room (once we got rid of the bed there in preparation for our bed going in when our new one comes. Talk about one thing leading to another. The bed went to Manu, and the mattress to a charity) so he could have the carpet up to run electrics for the new downstairs loo. They are dangling in space currently as the stud wall has yet to be built. The loo fitting was meant to start on Monday, but our plumber, Tariq, is stuck in Pakistan after the trouble with India so when that will actually happen is anyone's guess. Fingers crossed all the electrics are ok as we have re-laid the carpet and replaced the furniture. He is currently painting the space in preparation....

Jackie with Denise & Paul on our hike near Solihull 

That's our DIY, we've also spent a day at Rob and Alex, and I've done a couple at Abi's stripping wallpaper. Brian went out for a run in the first week, despite a small amount of heel pain from wearing the wrong shoes over Christmas. This has given him no end of trouble since. We've both been to a new dentist in the village, much more convenient than Rednal for me and Leamington for Brian. New glasses for both of us too. Haircuts, hearing aids, and other regular body maintenance all takes time.

On the train with Keith J & John for our first Tuesday hike (which happened to be a Friday!)

We've done some short walks, with Denise and Paul, and a couple with John. Try as I might I can't get Brian to do nothing, though they have all been fun. It was lovely to catch up with D&P, the walk is incidental to the talking and dining. We did one walk with John and Keith with an extra bit of train journey so Keith could tick that bit of track off! The second walk was just with John also out from Derby, to Faulds crater. The largest, non nuclear, crater created by explosion. An old gypsum mine was being used to store bombs during the second world war, which exploded in 1944 killing 70. The whole area is still fenced off as it was deemed impossible to make it safe so there is almost certainly unexploded ordinance there still. A very interesting walk which we realised was very close to Tim and Jill near Derby. We were very pleased when he and Ruby dog joined us at the pub for lunch.

The cafe at Wheatcroft Wharf, the start of the Cromford canal

The weekend just gone we spent near Bristol with Bev and Iain, Tinsel cat and their new addition Freyja dog. A very cute, very soft, young, rescue whippet. We'll be house-sitting as usual in September though it will be very different with Freyja to care for too. A really lovely weekend, a gentle BBQ on Friday after dog walking in the local park. Saturday we went into Bristol for our usual long, lazy lunch. I have to say I was a little nervous about taking Freyja in but she was as good as gold. We followed this with a trip to Brozen where cocktails are made and mixed with liquid nitrogen so turning them into alcoholic slush puppies. Yum.

Jackie feeding the ducklings with her duck food

Sunday we had lunch at the pub at the end of the road before heading to Gloucester. As Tariq is delayed with the toilet and as Monday was my birthday we decided to have another couple of nights away. Gloucester was en route, and nearby to where we had a postcard to deliver. When we were in the Galapagos in January we dropped two postcards in the post barrel and took the nearest one for us to deliver. You have to promise you will deliver it by hand rather than putting a stamp on it, so off we went. We rang the doorbell to a completely non plussed young lady, called Rhos, as we delivered the postcard her father had sent her. Her reaction was fab, it made it completely worthwhile. We stayed in the Premier Inn at Gloucester Docks and had a great time. A super Thai meal on Sunday, a guided walk on Monday which took a lot longer than usual. We kept asking questions, and there was only us, and a trainee guide. We had a hot chocolate in the cathedral coffee shop to try and warm up, we had not dressed right, before going into the cathedral. It's famous for being used as bits of Hogwarts in Harry Potter, but is also the burial place of Edward II. We walked around the Tribune gallery before finding ourselves at the whispering gallery which was ably demonstrated by a boy and his mum. 

High Peak Junction, a disused railway at its junction with the canal. Behind is the Hopton Incline a very steep section on the old railway requiring a hoist mechanism and engine house to haul the trains up the hill. Remains of it can still be seen on what is now the High Peak Trail hiking route of 17 miles to Buxton

The Anatolian Palace was our dinner destination, number 2 restaurant in Gloucester and very close to the hotel. A  meze starter and a mixed grill took the sweat out of ordering which gave us far too much food but was absolutely delicious. I even coped with the dancing and happy birthday singing!

We didn't walk the trail but carried on along the canal through Whatstandwell to Ambergate and caught the train back to Derby for some refreshments

A slow journey back on Tuesday, as I say, one thing leads to another, so the new kitchen last year deserved new saucepans. The new bed is a king size not a double so we need completely new bedding. All that sort of thing takes time and research, even to the new kettle that we've been promising ourselves since last year. Brian wants one that has variable temperature settings for perfect coffee and I wanted colour. The two just don't exist, so variable temperature it is. That is it's purpose after all!

Written down it doesn't seem like that much, but living it has felt very busy!

Followed by more refreshments in our local in the village and some silliness on the walk home at dusk

Another week and another walk, this time only with John, but it was a Tuesday! This is near the start of our hike to the Fauld Crater walking past the very lovely Priory Church of St Mary in Tutbury

And past Tutbury Castle

Climbing the hill to the Fauld Crater. It was here at 11:11am on 27th November 1944 that an underground munitions storage depot exploded, setting off an estimated 3500 to 4000 tonnes of TNT, killing 70 people, of which18 were never found. The explosion created a crater of 100 feet (30m) deep and 1000 feet (300m) in diameter damaging all property within a 1.3km radius

I got this photo from Wikipedia, taken 1 week after the explosion. The crater is still visible, now shrouded in trees and some of the smaller outlying craters are still visible. Access to the site is restricted as there is a large amount of unexploded bombs there which cannot safely be removed

The site today as seem on Google satellite view

Walking round the rim is allowed but they don't want anyone venturing into the crater. The crater is in the background in sunlight but its not easy to photograph. When walking you can make it out but a still photo just doesn't do it. Its a very big hole!

You might be able to get an idea of it from this photo

At the memorial on the rim to the dead

All that walking deserves some refreshment! It was here that Tim and doglet Ruby joined us, but I forget to take a photo in the excitement!

Another week goes by and now we're up to last weekend and our trip to Bristol to see Bev and Iain and their new dog Freyja. 

But not forgetting old Tinsel cat who has to put up with new energetic doglet who just wants to play with her. Unsurprisingly Tinsel just keeps out of the way, but she did enjoy joining us in the morning while we drank our coffee and frisky doglet was elsewhere

Out exercising Freyja with Iain. Having thrown her frisbee we thought we'd seen how fast she could run, which is fast. However, the next day on another walk I saw how fast she really could run when interacting with other dogs. She is amazingly fast, I just couldn't believe it, she left every other dog absolutely standing, it was incredible to watch. Apparently at 9 months she hasn't yet reached her fastest yet! A whippet is a slightly smaller greyhound and only they can outpace her, although others tried, including the long legged Dalmation who assumed he'd be able to easily catch her and was not happy when he couldn't, in the end pretending he'd got other things to do and walked off! She is an absolute delight and we can't wait to look after her in September

A big feature of our weekends away with Bev and Iain is our relaxed meals and drinks. Here we are in the very nice Cargo restaurant area of Bristol at Lapin, a Michelin starred restaurant for lunch. Fabulous it was too!

Alcohol consumption continued into the afternoon culminating in a visit to Brozen for iced cocktails (very dangerous as they taste innocuous and very nice, but are quite alcoholic)

Look at that girl! Just don't challenge her to a race!

Relaxing in their back garden on Sunday afternoon

We left Bristol for a couple of nights in Gloucester for Jackie's birthday and, on the way this was our unfinished Galapagos business. This is Rhos on her doorstep in Cheltenham. We don't know her, but we collected that postcard in her hand from the post box at Post Office Bay on Isla Floreana in the Galapagos in January. It was written to her by her father on his visit there who dropped it into the box for anyone to collect and hand deliver whenever they can. We decided Cheltenham was close enough to hand deliver so took it and carried it with us through Antarctica, The Falklands, Argentina, Easter Island, Chile and Brazil. Rhos was delighted to receive it

Here it is in Jackies hand when we collected it in the Galapagos

Here's the box on the island, You just pull up on the beach, leave your post and take any that you think you can deliver. It has been in existence for several hundred years and used to serve a real purpose of allowing people to get word home when in this remote part of the world. Now its just a nice thing to do and we were asked to only take postcards we are prepared to hand deliver. Putting a stamp on it and posting it goes against the spirit of it

Here's a Google map of the islands with Post Office Bay shown at the bottom

We had a lovely couple of days in Gloucester, its a very historic and beautiful place to visit. There's history here from Roman times to date with evidence in the buildings for all to see. This is the old dock area now beautifully restored and full of character

I've too many photos to cover all the things to see, but here's a few, this is Gloucester Cathedral

The great east window. Apparently some Harry Potter scenes were filmed here, but having never seen the films we couldn't identify them

The final resting place of Edward II. 

The antique centre is a Georgian Facade over one of the best Tudor buildings in the country. If you look at the top you can just see the roof of its Tudor origins. A walk through the shop reveals the original building in all its glory and the outside can just be seen by walking through that passageway in the building next door and looking up 

Its an amazing building but difficult to get a good photo. The outside has just been restored at a cost of £400,000 and reopened to the public just a week ago

Baker jewellers. The figures above represent the four countries of the UK with the central figure being Old Father Time who chimes the bell on the hour

The New Inn, built in 1450 is steeped in history. See the hooks on the balcony on the right? People hung game they'd hunted on the way when staying here and cooked them over a fire in the centre

Last photo. The building is all that remains of the old Bell Inn an historic hotel with a lot of history. It is believed to have used some of the timbers from the Mayflower ship which carried the Pilgrim Fathers to the USA. Gloucester is a really interesting city, but don't take it from us, go and visit, its well worth a couple of days to visit. Take an historical tour that's offered by Gloucester Civic Trust - fascinating!