I wrote the last blog nearly two weeks ago and talked about Jackie doing the most boring job of cleaning and washing slate chippings and I start this one with her still doing the same (although not continuously I hasten to add). She's nearly done and then we can start to construct the top part of the garden, which will be mainly weed control membrane, lots of slate chippings with a meandering path, trees, shrubs, rock ornaments and maybe a water feature and some lights. Coupled with the existing top flower border, raised patio under an ivy canopy shielded by existing lilac and hawthorn bushes with Geraldine's wild garden alongside (who is Geraldine? She's a four foot high giraffe statue that Jackie's mum bought a few years ago and still has pride of place, now with her own wild flower garden around her, while she nibbles her lilac bush).
A look up the garden on day 2 of patio building. There's Geraldine in her wild flower garden
At the front of the garden by the house is the site for our patio which I'm delighted to say has now been started after a months delay (see frustrations in last blog). Our man has finally shown up, dug out a big area ready for the slabs and converted the area into a huge muddy bog. Currently the footings he has partly dug for the retaining walls have filled with water from the current heavy showers regularly occurring in our 'summer' this year. Alvechurch used to have it's own brickworks and, to make bricks, you need clay, lots of it and we now know for sure there is lots of clay in Alvechurch. The trenches he has dug are good quality clay, the type that holds water very well, the type they lined canals with so they didn't leak and, I can confirm the clay in our trenches are of the same quality so very unlikely to have drained at all when he comes to fill them with cement! Glad I'm not doing the job! As long as there's no more distractions for him he might just make considerable progress this next week assuming rain and floods don't stop play!
As it is at the moment, water filled trenches. How is he going to fill those with concrete while full of water?
So our focus has been on the garden, but not exclusively thankfully, I did take a little time out to fit a security camera to cover the back garden. It's not that we're worried about burglary, our back garden is pretty secure, but rather I wanted it to observe any wildlife after our friend John has filmed hedgehogs wandering through his at night. Currently ours isn't suitable for any wildlife except the birds on the birdfeeder. It has, however been useful to observe next doors timid cat Luna who creeps around to check out what's happening in her garden. Here's a less than 1 minute video of the 'secret life of cats' and what they get up to when no-ones looking.
Outside of house things (don't we sound domesticated!) we're continuing with our Argentine Tango lessons in Barnt Green on Saturday mornings and they are coming along. Really looking forward to visiting some of those tango clubs in Buenos Aires late this year if we get there and trying out some of our steps. Just need to go to a few Milonga and tango dances to practice. It's really weird for me as I'm so used to knowing what I'm doing when it comes to dancing but this seems so different to me, much more casual with no rigid footwork as I'm used to in Ballroom and Latin American dancing, so I'm having to get used to being told what to do and having to pay attention, make mistakes and learn from it. I hope I'm not asking too many questions in front of everyone. We're still going to the Wednesday afternoon tea dance where I can lead Jackie confidently around the room on dances I know about. The advantages of being retired!
Out on our walk with John and Keith and this dredging barge has just passed us. It's bow is completely below the surface, why has it not sunk? The driver seemed unconcerned and gave us a wave as he motored by
We've been out with John and Keith on a 9 mile walk from Kings Sutton to Banbury this week partly along the canal (ooh, Life On Mars by David Bowie has just come on the radio - what a fabulous record that is! I'll be singing along in a minute). Keith is a retired canal trust man and had to negotiate disputes, fees, renovations etc on the canal network and he's a really interesting guy to talk to as he points out things on the way and is a very good laugh. A good walk and day out, only getting a couple of short, light showers that didn't even warrant getting the waterproof out. Nicely finished off with a few pints of real ale in Ye Olde Reine Deer Inn in Banbury and a train ride home. Have a look at our short Relive video of the route with photos: click here
That's Banbury Cross, our namesake. Never been there, always wanted to
One of several drinks in Ye Olde Rein Deer Inn with Keith and John
Jackie's been out without me this week, she drove down to Oxford to visit her niece, Caroline who's just finished her first year of four at Oxford University. Exams are done and she's heading home this week for summer holidays before returning in October. They had a nice time shopping and lunch at a Thai restaurant. She sent me this photo of the Bridge of Sighs. The only one I knew of previously was the one in Venice, but there's one in Oxford too.
The Bridge of Sighs in Oxford taken by Jackie. She never takes photos, but she had to take this one as I wasn't there!
Had a great catch up with friends Iain and Bev in Bristol last weekend, we went down and stayed at theirs. Bev is suffering from ME so has limited energy and relies some of the time on a mobility scooter so we knew it wasn't going to be an energetic weekend so we went prepared to relax, eat, drink and stroll round the historic and very lively harbourside at Bristol docks.
With Bev and Iain at the historic Underfall Yard in front of the Patent Slip
Every visit is a revelation and, on this visit we went to places we've never been to before. A restaurant under a road bridge that used to be a breakfast cafe. Doesn't sound very exciting, but it was fabulous. A high class fish and chip place, Noah's Fish and Chips Seafood Restaurant and the skate wing and chips - fabulous! We had a stroll round the historic boatyard Underfall Yard, sadly partly destroyed by an arsonist who was a disgruntled former employee. It's undergoing restoration as funds allow but the old 'Patent Slip', a 'heave up' slipway, invented by Thomas Morton in 1819 survived and is still on view along with a number of the old shipyard buildings that survived the fire.
The plaque telling us about the Patent Slip
Further on we stopped at The Cottage Inn for a drink, walked past Brunels SS Great Britain, another drink at Wapping Wharf and then an alcoholic frozen coctail bar, Brozen bar, where you ate the frozen drinks with a spoon. They tasted divine and the effect was noticeable! More drinks at a harbourside and then head back to the bus stop to catch the bus home.
Mixing the frozen cocktails. That's dry ice (liquid nitrogen)
Except that Bev was so enjoying herself she didn't want it to end, so we carried on to another bar for more drinks! Our heads the following morning were a bit muzzy but what a day - fabulous. BBQ cooked breakfast at Bev and Iains on Sunday in their garden and back home late Sunday afternoon to try to recover. A great weekend, lets do it again sometime!
One of several rounds of cocktails we had. They were fabulous, but lethal!
Well, its much later on Sunday now after Abi and her mum Mary visited to tell us about their weekend, so I'll stop now and post this and only remember something else I wanted to say after I'd posted it. Anyone still reading?
Cheers!
Harbourside for more drinks
Looking out over Bristol docks from our seats
Enjoying the evening sun
Hang on Bev, we can't keep up. Apparently, according to Iain, this is the largest bus stop in, I think he said, Europe
But no, we weren't going to get the bus from there, more drinks please, so off to another pub
The bus ride home was fun. Bev kept this young man talking all the way home. Nothing to do with alcohol!
A blurred Clifton Suspension bridge taken through the window of the bus as we sped along
A final picture. I wanted a coffee after my meal so asked for an Irish coffee (coffee with Irish whiskey) with the cream floating on the top as we used to have in the 1970's. The young waiter had never heard of one before but asked his older manager who created one specially. Here it is - it was delightful!
Forgot to mention that we had a Sunday Tea Club evening with Manu, Ming, Helen and Ian. This was on the way back to the pub. Helen thinks this could be an album cover
My turn to write, she's busy - in the garden, doing the most boring of jobs cleaning and washing slate chippings covering the upper part of the back garden! They've been down for 20 odd years and they've got lots of bits of soil in amongst them where weeds quite like to take root. How she's got the patience to do that I'll never know, I'd have shovelled them up, thrown them away, put new membrane down and bought new. We'll still have to buy some new and more membrane, but less so, she's being environmentally friendly. Meanwhile I'm sitting in comfort writing this.
However, it's not quite as good as it sounds, I'm starving! Why am I starving? Tomorrow is my biennial colonoscopy, the routine check up I have had every two years for the last 30 odd years and today is prep day. No food, only clear fluids until tomorrow after the procedure and the real trump card is the liquid dynamite I have to take at 6:00pm tonight and a second at 4:30am tomorrow, which has the effect of rapidly removing anything inside so their camera can have a nice view. Don't stray far from the toilet! All well and good except I have to leave the house at 6:45am tomorrow to catch a train there, will I be 'safe'? I hope so. Our friend Abi says so, she went through the same thing a couple of weeks ago, so good to get someone elses view. I'm sorry if you're reading this while eating, perhaps I shouldn't have gone into such detail! Just remember next time you're on a train, you never know what your fellow passengers are going through!
Here she is in the garden cleaning and washing slate chippings. She's done those in front and still has those behind. I just couldn't do it!
Anyway, I was talking about the garden and, unfortunately our patio man is still absent. So far we've had eight promises to start that go back to Tuesday 7th May with 'I'll definitely be there then' followed by nothing. His latest was to start today and guess what? The skips just arrived but no people to do the work and a mobile number that goes straight to voicemail. What should I do? I know, I can sense you shouting at the screen, but I've given him the money for the materials and anyone else would probably quote me a September date minimum to start. Looks like we'll have to put the GnT on the patio on hold for a bit! There are lessons to be learn't here.
New kitchen is on order now, start date 5th August and we have prep to do on the walls beforehand so they can skim plaster before fitting the units. We want to strip the paint from the old oven fireplace in the dining room part next to the kitchen units. It's a proper old feature in the house and will form a great centre point when properly restored. It will be complimented by the handmade, very expensive oak display cabinet to fit the alcove next to it from the local carpenter in the village that we're considering. An oak dining table that we haven't even thought about yet will add the finishing touch. Oh and Tariq (the friend of Abi's who did our bathroom) is coming round next week to look at fitting a downstairs toilet in the little room leading from the kitchen to the back garden. A complete set of double glazed windows and doors that we're waiting for a quote for will improve security too. We know how to spend money!
Prep work in the garden. I quite like the rustic fence I built and the honeysuckle covered arch is doing particularly well as is the climbing rose coming up the other side
Well, that's house stuff out the way, time to think about trips away and our next is just over 5 weeks away, the Italian Dolomites for two weeks with friends Si and Di and we're excited! It'll be a full action trip out in the mountains every day climbing via ferratas. If you don't know what they are they are like rock climbs but with metal staples drilled into vertical rock with huge drops below that you hang onto while clipped into a metal wire via a harness round your waist. There are narrow ledges, tunnels and ladders all there to allow you to get from one place to another in the vertical, severely exposed mountains of northern Italy. It's not for everyone, a head for heights is the most important, along with a knowledge of roped work in the mountains. We've done a few of these in the past, but not for quite a few years, so it'll be fun!
We got all our gear out the other day, our climbing harnesses and our lanyards (the devices that attach to your harness and allow you to clip into the metal wire on routes). They are quite old now although still seemingly OK, however a quick search on the internet reveals that all climbing equipment has a definite life of between 5 and 10 years, 5 if used regularly, 10 even if never or seldom used. Our 2002 vintage versions are probably not up to it then. This was confirmed when I sent a photo of them via WhatsApp to an Italian friend of mine who is a native to the Dolomites asking his opinion. He forwarded to a mountain guide friend of his who both came back with the predictable reply 'replace them'. More expense, but new kit is on order, my new harness arrived today, we got a new one for Jackie last week and new lanyards are on their way. We'll be able to get back down to the indoor climbing wall now before we go for some climbing practise! I've also ordered an action camera that attaches to our helmets so I can hopefully get some good photos while hanging above 1000m of space on a route. New approach shoes completes the new gear purchase. As I say, we know how to spend money - good job we sold Big Ted!
We're also finalising our plans for our September trip to Kenya with my daughter Fiona and husband James for lots of safaris and hopefully to see the Great Migration. They've never done a trip like this before so are very excited, as we are. We're going to add in a dawn hot air balloon flight over the Maasai Mara while we're there which will be especially exciting for James as he's scared of heights, but feels he can't miss a once in a lifetime experience.
Further on from that we're looking at an autumn/winter trip to South America where, of course, it'll be Spring/Summer in the southern hemisphere. Nothing like a bit of winter warmth. A destination we particularly want to include is Buenos Aires and to visit some of those Argentine Tango clubs there. In preparation we're going to Argentine Tango lessons on a Saturday morning in Barnt Green where we're being taught by someone who learnt from top people in Buenos Aires so we feel we're going to get the proper native style of the dance rather than the showy version with lots of tricky moves. It's so different from the modern Tango I know and have taught for years, so much more relaxed and smooth, it's so different that I've been struggling a bit. We swap partners and, on dancing with people who've been dancing much longer I'm having my hand pulled down, told to take smaller steps and 'feel' the dance. Technique is not formalised and hold is quite relaxed. It's soooo different, but I'm loving it. Can't wait to get to some of those BA clubs!
I've got no more photos to show you, so this is a robin. They are lovely little birds and we love seeing them hop through our garden
Anyway, I've talked a lot about what we're going to do and, apart from what I've mentioned about house stuff above, we've not done much else. I've done a few 5km runs mainly on my own along the canal, having got a bit fed up with Parkruns as they are so popular and busy these day, I prefer to run on my own. Having said that I did go for a run with Mark last week, which was fun. No walks with John and Brian last week as they were away, and none tomorrow either, hospital instead.
So that's about it, thanks for reading, we're excited about things but guess it doesn't make such exciting reading.
Better go out and see how Jackie's getting on cleaning the slate chippings... Did I mention I'm hungry?
