Housesitting on a forested hill in the idyllic Symonds Yat

Along the River Wye in Symonds Yat

We got back to mum in Alvechurch from our housesit in Hall Green Birmingham, and it was warm, off to the hairdressers, it was warm, to bed and up the following day, STILL warm! Nothing for it, out to the garden. Pruning and digging before going out to buy plants, then more digging, planting, training of honeysuckle.... three days out in the garden, but a marked improvement.

We were allowed a treat, on Saturday the three of us met John in The Swan pub in the village for a pint before B and I took him across the road to The New Dilshad Indian restaurant for Kurzi lamb, a slow cooked leg of lamb you have to order at least 24 hours in advance. It really is a delightful meal, so tender that a spoon is all you need to carve it. It’s intended for 4, so with just 3 of us we ‘struggled’, but I was almost full after the popadom and starter... we ate, hugely and deliciously and talked and talked (and drank and drank!). We had a lovely evening, it was so nice to see him.

Pauline's (Jackie's mum) garden after our hard work. She likes it rural, but we have dug the border on the left and planted it, trimmed back a lot of the bushes, added an arch and planted climbers for it and lots of shrubs, bushes and flowers. We have blisters, splinters and aches to testify to the work!

At the viewpoint at Yat Rock

I hadn’t shopped for Sunday dinner, not knowing what we’d need, so with the rest of the lamb and an over-bought portion of stir fry vegetables which I turned into vegetable curry, and a packet of naan breads I already had, we had dinner for 3 and veggie curry in mum’s freezer for her!

Monday the three of us set off to Symonds Yat. Another Housesit, and something a bit different. Two ‘normal’ housecats cats, Tygra and Panthro living their best life having moved from London, then two slightly feral farm cats. Cheetara who started off in the tree house, but when let out did a runner so she new lives about 7 minutes walk away in an abandoned house, so gets food taken to her once a day.

More views from Yat Rock viewpoint

Her replacement in the treehouse was Wily who I don’t think sleeps there, but in the evening comes when called, and, from full arm stretch, wants lots of fuss and tickles. He’s had a hard week though, the tree surgeons have been cutting branches in his wood, and then his undergrowth has been mowed! He has been absent a couple of days so I’m really happy when I do see him. He’s a lovely cat though, so hopefully he’ll pluck up the courage to move indoors at some point. The tree house is in the orchard, which is also where the four rescue hens live. They are real characters running up for treats and fuss, they are used to 4year old Elle picking them up for a cuddle! Then there are the two rescue sheep, mother and daughter, Willow and Ivy..... there’s a theme here.... Willow loves to be stroked and fussed, most unusual for a sheep though she hasn’t passed this on to Ivy which is a shame.

Looking in another direction from Yat Rock. Peregrine Falcons usually nest in the right hand vertical rock you can see in the distance, but we don't think there's any there now

Hens following Jackie to Wily's treehouse

Our duties are a little more taxing than usual, but are surprisingly light, the sheep take no looking after as they rarely mess in their house and eat grass. They have a biscuit (digestive or ginger nut) early evening with some fuss to look for fly strike and apart from a little sunblock for Willow on a previous scar that is pretty much it! The hens are let out first thing before we go back to bed for coffee and Cheetara is fed when we’ve got 15 minutes.

Our housesit is somewhere in those trees over there

We’ve had some relaxed starts and then some great days out with mum, Symonds Yat to see the rock (but no peregrines) a trip on the river pottering past canoes in an absolute downpour. We were meant to be canoeing the following day, but with just as unpredictable weather forecast we decided against it. So we had a trip to Monmouth instead which we all decided was a lovely little town. We walked up the High Street with mum and B both buying shoes, stopped for lunch and walked up towards the castle and Monmouthshire regimental museum, only to find a barrier. No worries, just come round we were told, seemed to defeat the object a bit, but hey.

Panthro chilling out in her day bed in the lounge

On our boat trip on the Wye

Yesterday we went to Tintern, a quick look at the Abbey before heading to the much more interesting craft centre. A little walk along the river, a trip to the Old Station where B and I camped many years ago. Up the hill to the Parva Farm vineyard (in Wales? Who knew?) for a little tasting before buying a nice bottle of rose.

Today has been wet, so we’ve pottered, the jigsaw is out, and now the blog is written.

We had intended to hire canoes, like these, and do a 9 mile river journey, but were put off by the showery weather this week. It had stopped raining in this photo but it had been torrential rain half hour before and most of these people had been sheltering under trees by the banks. It is still reasonably warm, just very changeable weather just now

Jackie and Pauline outside the remains of Monmouth castle, which is situated inside an active regimental barracks

Outside the barracks and museum

Monmouth is a really nice place. It's just over the border into Wales and occupies an historically important position at the border with England and Wales. Celebrated in the town is its place as the birthplace of Henry V, written about by Shakespeare and celebrated as an outstanding military war king. He led his men into battle at Agincourt against the French in 1415 and won a decisive battle against superior numbers in the Hundred Years War, making England one of the strongest military powers in Europe

Also outside Shire Hall is this statue of Charles Stewart Rolls (of Rolls Royce fame), commemorating not his work on the famous motor car, but his great achievements in aviation, for which he lost his life in an aeroplane crash in 1910

This bridge in Monmouth is the only surviving stone gated bridge in Britain. It spans the River Monnow and was of strategic importance, once having lookouts on top of the gate and slits for arrow firing

Here's Jackie fussing Willow sheep, with nervous Ivy behind. As soon as we walk into their field Willow comes running over and loves being stroked

We can't have much of the footstool in the lounge, it's Tigra's!

The only time we've seen Cheetara cat at the derelict house she chooses to live at nearby

Wily cat making an appearance near her tree house in the orchard

After quite a bit of coaxing Jackie finally managed to get some strokes, which he really enjoyed

Tygra joined us for dinner!

Jackie fussing Wily again at dusk. However he's seen me and is looking a bit wary

Jackie establishing the hens don't really like melon, unlike the hens in Scotland who loved it

Lunch at The Old Station, Tintern 

The rose wine Pauline bought for us from the Tintern Parva vineyard. It was made from grapes from their 1979 Pinot Noir grapevines, picked in 2018. Very pleasant it was too!

Birmingham - UK

Paul, Denise & Jackie enjoying an after walk pint

Tuesday was the second meal out, we met up with Helen and Ian to walk Monty dog and stop at The Village pub in Moseley, lovely to catch up and a pleasant meal. Wednesday was a short walk around a nature reserve in Solihull with Denise and Paul that they only found in lockdown despite having lived there all their lives, followed by a pub lunch.

Brian's hearing aid. Can you see it?

Thursday we still couldn’t go to the gym (we can only go to our local between 11.00-12.00 when we get in free for being Birmingham residents) as Brian had an appointment for a hearing test. About time you may say, and so it is. Unsurprisingly his hearing is not very good in the 2-8 kHz range, where most speech happens, so he now has a pair of hearing aids, free on the NHS, along with their batteries. There was only one sort, but they look really good, in that they are barely noticeable. We can have the TV at a sensible volume, and in theory he can hear everything said, whether he listens or responds is yet to be confirmed!

Friday night curry with Phil, Sue, Ian and Helen

Friday we could finally go to the gym again, just as well, we were out again, with Helen and Ian and Phil and Sue for a pint and curry. Brian’s hearing aids must be good, it was about 10 minutes before Ian who was sitting next to him noticed. And he notices everything!

Friday afternoon had been taken up with food prep for our annual paella with Fiona and James. It’s fab to cook this for them as they really enjoy it, as do we. We had a fab day, I’d put wine in the fridge for a glass on our return, only to find it was 23.00 when we got back. How did that happen? That was the first hot day, I had considered cooking the paella outside till I saw where the BBQ was in relation to the sun!

Jackie's fabulous paella

Sunday was hotter, but that’s ok, Sunday papers before heading in to town to meet Crystal and Manu in the Chinese quarter for a “Sunday tea club” where Crystal picks and orders and we eat! Fab as ever, and again, lovely to catch up.

This week has been ridiculously hot, so apart from the gym (sounds horrendous I know, but it is air conditioned) Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday we’ve done very little. Sooty has obviously been very happy with this, though the conservatory has been too hot even for her, she is happy to have as much fuss as we’ll give her upstairs on the bed.

Tomorrow Abi is back so we are back to mum’s and the garden....when is this weather meant to break?

This is actually a photo inside the bag of all the paella ingredients before we set off. Paella in kit form!

With daughter Fiona, James and youngest granddaughter Jenny eating paella on a hot Saturday afternoon

Followed by a relaxi
ng chat through the afternoon and evening

This is Oscar drinking water from their pond. Surprisingly neither the cat nor the goldfish were interested in each other

It's even too hot for pigeons. This one soaking in the cool water. Did you know.... pigeons drink water by submerging their beaks in water, suck it up and swallow. As they don't have lips or tongues they cannot lap liquids and have no cheeks in which to store it, so they suck and swallow. We've noticed that ducks and chickens (and many other birds) fill their beaks with water and tilt their heads back to allow the water to flow down their throats, but pigeons have evolved in a different way

Soots being an observer while Brian goes through his exercise programme. She looked as though she was wondering what on earth was going on. The 8 minute HIIT programme is on the mobile and goes through each of the 35 second exercises, calling out when you're halfway. At one point, during 'burpees' (jump up in the air, hands down and jump feet backwards, do a press up, jump feet forwards and jump up again), which is quite an energy sapping routine, she had shuffled herself forwards and put her head on the phone. Unbeknown to me she had paused the programme in the middle, so I was on endless burpees. I realised after a short time (longer than I'd have liked), moved her and restarted it, carrying on with 25 seconds to go. Thanks Sooty!

A very unladylike Sooty snoozing on the bed with her back legs stretched either side of Jackie's arm

And sweet little Sooty cat looking after Teddy. She really is a little sweeetheart!

Beer in Malvern, with a view!

A few days at mum’s before our next sit for Sooty, our longest standing charge. We chipped away at the garden, filling the recycling bin, well a good reason to stop anyway, apart from getting caught in two downpours. Haircut for me, ear syringing for Brian (no, it hasn’t made much difference) and Sunday lunch.

Arrived at Abi’s on Tuesday, seven years we’ve been coming here, amazing. Sooty is showing her age a little but still shows us lots of love, she really is the sweetest cat and has taken to spending the night on one or other of our pillows. We had a good catch up with Abi before going out to dinner and packing her off to her mum for an early start to Wales.

Just look at sweet little Sooty cat

Rose Bank Gardens, Malvern

It is like coming home, Sooty knows and loves us and we do take the opportunity to catch up with people and ‘life maintenance’. Brian has been for his annual clinical genetics study at the prostate clinic, and we’ve been to Malvern to see the friend of a friend osteopath to look at Brian’s knee. He reckoned it wasn’t a bad knee, try a brace, you might even be able to run again. Brian is obviously delighted, particularly having found the recommended brace on eBay for less than a third the retail price.

Catching up with old friends from Solihull Mountaineering Club. We've all got a bit older but still have stories to tell! Photo taken by friend and old member of SMC, Ash Price and used here with his permission 

Saturday we were round at Alex and Rob’s, I was painting the front bedroom with Al while Brian was playing in the loft with Rob. We then went to the Coach and Horses and caught up with lots of old members of the mountaineering club, many from before my time, still a pleasant evening though.

Here's another photo from our SMC reunion. Lots more people we haven't seen for a few years but we have done many adventures with all of them (interesting and different funny stories with everyone in this photo). John and Pauline, talking to us in this photo, were reminding us of an adventure we all did years ago on the narrow ridge of the Ben Nevis horseshoe in poor conditions, strong winds and late at night. 'We got away with it' he said, mmm, probably right, but what a day! This photo was taken by Richard Lloyd, friend and old member of SMC and used here with his permission 

Great Malvern Priory that dates from 1085

Sunday we chilled with the papers and Soots, before Monday taking blood tests to send off to UK Biobank. Biobank is a study of 500,000 participants, recruited in 2010 to provide a large-scale biomedical database and research resource that is enabling new scientific discoveries to be made that improve public health. We don’t know what studies we have been involved in but we provided lots of information as well as being mentally and physically assessed initially. We have since, amongst other things, answered random questions about “what you ate yesterday “ and worn bracelets to monitor activity for a week. We recently carried out blood tests at home to see if we had Coving 19 antibodies, we both did, not surprisingly as we’d both had our first jab. Yesterday we provided blood samples to be sent off so they can ascertain whether these antibodies were due to the jab, or due to having had the virus.

We then had our first meal out this week with the Monday Club boys at Diwan’s for a fab curry. I may be the size of a house as that is the first of six meals out this week! Off to the gym now then!

So although we’ve felt busy there isn’t much to write, or probably many photos. That’ll make a change then!

Inside the Priory. It's a beautiful old building, built not long after the battle of Hastings  and originally much smaller and built for 30 monks, but extended in the years between 1400 and 1500. It managed to survive the dissolution of monasteries during the reign of King Henry VIII as the parishioners of Malvern petitioned the King and succeeded in buying it for £20

Priory Park, Malvern with the hills behind. Although the Malvern hills are not particularly high, highest point 425m (1394ft), they dominate the surrounding lower lying area. The range of hills are about 8 miles (13km) running roughly north-south and have remains of Bronze Age settlements and Romans, but they also offer excellent walking opportunities (we have walked the entire ridge end to end), some rock climbing (we have done some of that also), paragliding (we haven't done that - yet!) and we can also claim to have ski toured over them and skied down off the highest point (they are not well known for snow, but we picked a freak day of high snow fall and went for it!). They are also known for the excellent Malvern mineral water that flows here from deep underground. You can buy it already bottled, or collect it yourself for free by walking up to St Ann's Well

I was intrigued to learn how the Malvern Hills formed and why they dominate the landscape. A noticeboard in Rose Bank Gardens gave me the answer, here's what it said:

'The rocks found in the main ridge of the hills were formed when molten rock inside a volcano cooled and became solid about 680 million years ago. This was during the Precambrian Era, when there were only a few forms of life in the oceans. Later earth movements cracked these rocks, allowing fresh molten rock to penetrate and then solidify into coarse-grained rocks such as granite.

More earth movements squashed and sheared these rocks, changing some of them into rocks called schists and gneisses. After this the rocks were uplifted and eroded, forming sediments laid down in a tropical sea on the west of the hills. Later still, the Hills were in desert conditions which produced sandstone to the east.'

Days out and cats to fuss in Welton, Northamptonshire

Excited Jackie at Watford Gap, Britain's first service area

Monday we had a thrilling trip out, just to stop Brian getting square eyed working on his expenses spread sheet. I discovered we were two miles from the Watford Gap, a thing of confusion for as long as I can remember, how can Watford be a big town south of where I grew up, close to London, while Watford Gap is a service area on the M1 in the Northamptonshire? Turns out the reference “north of the Watford Gap” probably referred to the one near London, as obviously that was London, and anything else was just ‘the North’

Rather than put separate photos of a canal, railway, the A5 trunk road and the M1 - with the village of Watford circled (we couldn't photograph them all in one), here's a map, courtesy of Google Maps showing how close they are. The 'Gap' conjours up images of a narrow pass between two big hills, but you can barely see the rise to the hills either side. It was obviously enough for generations of engineers to decide to build their constructions through it though 

The old Royal Ordnance factory on the canal at Weedon

Turns out there is another Watford, and the Gap, according to Wikipedia, is a low point through a range of hills providing an easy route between the South Eastern and Midland areas of England. In the era of Roman Britain , the Watling Street Roman road, now the A5 used the gap.

Later the road was joined by the Leicester line of the Grand Union Canal, which passes through the Watford Locks, just to the north of the gap.

Timid Mollie cat get fuss at her 'fuss station' in the kitchen

Pretty waterfall in the garden at our housesit

The historical geographic importance of the area led to many modern communication routes passing through this narrow gap: the coming of the railways brought the London and Birmingham railway now known as the West Coast mainline; the most recent addition, in 1959, was the M1, Britain's first inter-urban motorway, bringing with it Watford Gap services the first motorway service station. The A5 Road, the West Coast Mainline railway, the M1 motorway, and a branch of the Grand Union Canal, traverse in parallel a space about 400 metres (1,300 ft) wide. And this is what I wanted to see, but sadly there is nowhere to stand to look at all these things running next to each other. A bit of a washout, then really, but it did get us out! We didn’t go to the Blue Boar service area, the first service area in the U.K., as it’s not what it once was. During the 1960s, the services were a regular stopping venue for bands such as Pink Floyd and the Rolling Stones. The Beatles stopped at Watford Gap while travelling from Liverpool to gigs in the south in the early stage of their career. Jimi Hendrix heard so much about "Blue Boar", as the services were then popularly known, that he thought it was a London nightclub.

Sign at the entrance to Welton, the village in Northamptonshire in which we are housesitting this week. We were amused that it is twinned with Cape Town, South Africa and felt that perhaps they are trying to 'punch above their weight'. Welton has a population of 608 and is 0.8 sq km in area, Cape Town has a population of 4,700,000 and is 400 sq km. We wonder if Cape Town has a similar sign promoting it's twinning with Welton

Rugby School, founded in 1567, birthplace of Rugby the game

Tuesday we went to have a look at Daventry, that didn’t take long! Wednesday we went to take Caroline climbing again, we’d all enjoyed it so much a couple of weeks ago. She did really well, belaying me on every climb so we could all climb one, rest one, belay one. Sadly till she’s 18 she can’t belay unsupervised, which is a shame as we were hoping she could go with Jonathan. We dropped her off and came home to fuss and feed pussycats before going to the pub for dinner, such a temptation when it’s so close!

Statue of Sir William Webb Ellis (1806 - 1872), the man who picked up the ball and ran with it during a school football match in 1823, creating the 'rugby' style of play

Lovely day for cricket at Rugby school!

Thursday we went to Rugby, to see the school, though tours are cancelled till September, to learn about Rugby, the game, ‘invented’ by William Webb Ellis, though this may be all a fallacy, but the museum was closed. To see where Frank Whittle designed and built the first jet engine. It’s now a hotel, so we didn’t go in. As for Brian’s favourite, the centre of cement production.... he would really have liked a cement museum, but even the tourist information centre laughed at him! We drove to the cement works for a photo!

The bronze sculpture commemorating Sir Frank Whittles pioneering work on the jet engine

Again a bit of a washout day, though pleasant enough, Brian thought I’d lost the plot when I made him stop in the village with all the knitting! This turns out to be Kilsby where the WI have been ‘yarn bombing’ the village to celebrate their 100 anniversary. Telegraph poles, road signs, street signs, trees, the phone box, anything that stayed still has been covered in knitting! Along with 7 installations highlighting various issues important to the WI from Keep Britain Tidy, to Maternal Health and Save the Honeybees. It was fab, we weren’t the only people wandering the village taking many photos stunned by the efforts that have gone in.

This is Brownsover Hall, now a hotel in the north of Rugby. Sir Frank Whittle had his offices here and designed the worlds first jet engine, testing it in 1937 at the nearby British-Thomson-Houston factory, now GE Energy

Friday we went to look at the canal and marina at Braunston and have lunch, all very civilised and British. Today has been the usual clean and tidy before we have a late departure. Our homeowners land in Gatwick at 21.30 so usually we’d stay and see them in the morning, but as they are meant to be isolating on their return it seems only right that we should leave before they get back. Once they have landed and are on their way we’ll head off.

The Rugby Cement works (Cemex UK). They have been producing cement here since 1862. Why is there no museum? You can't even get on site!

We shall be sad, the cats are just getting used to us, Oberon spending the night with us, Figaro spending a lot of his time upstairs (he obviously likes the underfloor heating in the bathroom, but who can blame him). The three of us were still in bed the other morning until we were all disturbed by a strange noise.... the window cleaner with his extendable brush spraying water on the window .... we were ok, Figaro went to see it off! Pandora made us laugh the other night, she wasn’t in when we went to bed, so didn’t get her ‘Dreamies’. She came upstairs and told us she was back, so if we’d like to come and give her her biscuits she’d be very grateful! I’ve also managed strokes and fuss with little Mollie, at her ‘fuss station’ by her windowsill. She’ll still run away if approached too quickly while eating, but to have some fuss has been fab.

There's one more thing that Rugby is famous for, Rupert Chawner Brooke (1887 - 1915), a poet born in Rugby and famous for his First World War sonnets, especially The Soldier. He died in Greece at 28 years old from sepsis which he got from an infected mosquito bite. He was on his way to fight at the Gallipoli landings 

A montage of the many knitting installations in Kilsby village for the Womens Institute 100th anniversary

Braunston marina through a footbridge over the canal

One of the many locks on the Oxford canal in Braunston

A shop on the towpath. Makes it easy to get your supplies in whilst enjoying a narrowboat holiday

A bit of history, the old Stop House on the towpath where users paid their toll

Lunch at The Boat House in Braunston whilst watching the boats go by on the canal

These guys know how to chill out. Figaro in the foreground, Oberon behind. They seemed to like our bed - or should I say, their day bed!

Pandora cat with her amazing fur

A last photo, this is Figaro asleep in Jackies cargo bag. She now has very furry clothes!