Week 7 back in The Midlands

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?