Testing The DIY Skills........

 
Lovely visit Sunday from Son, fiancé and their little dog. They brought Hubby his birthday present and cake plus two roses from their garden and planted them in our raised rose bed. Looking forward to seeing how many will survive and bloom.

Daughter invited us over for pancake brunch on Tuesday. O said he was dressed for the occasion with pancake coloured trousers, his shirt was the cream and hair like the raspberry sauce. 

The two glass jugs had been made by E when she was glass blowing. 

After we'd eaten O cast all the short films he'd made onto the TV. He has a great vision of what he wants to achieve and a great sense of humour. He is also incredibly critical of his own work. 

Another power saving hour Tuesday evening. Hubby was told the two we had taken part in last week had earned us £3.90, not a lot but no real inconvenience to us and hopefully takes some pressure off the grid. 

The new shower was delivered and swapped for the wrong one they delivered last week. Hubby took it apart and fiddled inside, looking like he knew exactly what he's doing. He needs to change this wired model to be a remote controlled model like the broken one. I'm always amazed at his DIY skills. 

First attempt gave him a very soggy loft. He can see where it's leaking from inside the box! He emailed the company again and a back and forth conversation and sending photos and a video resulted in them advising contacting the maker to hopefully send an engineer! They are coming next week. 

And now the bathroom light has a problem which needs more than a new light bulb! Always something eh? 

When the dog is here I fold an old quilt in four as a bed when she joins us in the dining room. It's a bit of a tight fit in the washing machine so I made a cover for it that can slip off and be washed and dried much easier. Reused fabric that once was a single duvet cover. 

She was here all day Friday with me while everyone else was out and she liked her covered bed. 

Till next week then, have a good weekend.

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Time For Rhyme........

 
Funny how the mind works eh, well my mind really? Often first thing in the morning a few lyrics from the middle of a song pop into my head and I'm forced to sing it through until I've remembered the title and maybe even the artist, then it inevitably becomes the earworm of the day. Sunday morning and I'm up first of the humans and let the dog out into the garden and while I'm watching her I've some words of the poems I learnt in primary school running round my head.

Two of my most memorable were

Night Mail by WH Auden and Cargoes by John Masefield

And this

Monday was quite eventful. I pre-warned the Coffee morning neighbours that we have the dog here. R had a work meeting on zoom so she took her laptop upstairs. The dog seems to bark the most when anyone is outside or near our front door, so I put her in the office and sat with her some of the time until everyone had arrived, then she joined us and was really well behaved. 

Hubby had signed up to take part in the National Grid Demand Flexibility Service. They are hoping that by getting a brief reduction in power used at peak times it will take the strain off the grid. Hubby got an email to say we needed to do this on Monday. 

I made sure of getting ready for our girls night out in plenty of time before our 5:30pm deadline. FriendHM was driving for a change (it's usually me) and she picked up both me and friendJB. At Miller&Carter we met friendM and friendT. As always we discussed everything, everyone noisily and laughed lots.   

The one hour reduced grid use happened again on Thursday evening. 

Valentine's day is also Hubby's birthday. 

Ended up the messiest cake but it tasted good, and for dinner I made Hubby's requested lasagne, salad and garlic bread which we all enjoyed too. 

The dog's favourite place is curled up beside me at the moment. Have to be extra careful with my tea holding arm because she often taps with a paw for strokes. 

Wednesday late morning Hubby drove R to work and she'll go home afterwards, and mid-afternoon Daughter came for a catchup cuppa or two and left with the dog and stuff. So we are back to just us. 

Hubby found that he couldn't get any parts to repair our shower as the manufacturer no longer supply that model. It's a special system using a flat control plate inside the shower connected by remote control to the master box in the loft, so changing to something different would mean breaking down the bathroom tiles. He's bought a different model that's the same make which he thinks he can convert. However we received the wrong one, so now we are waiting for another delivery/swap. 

Hope it's getting a little warmer for you like it is here. 

See you next weekend.

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Repair or Replace........

 
Not the best start to the week when the shower broke. Of course I was in it and fully lathered up when it went to freezing cold, I fiddled with the dial and it went hot again, then scalding hot, then freezing cold and this is how it went on! I managed to get myself rinsed off but didn't chance hair washing so came out wrapped in a towel and washed my hair over the bath. The working unit is up in the loft so another job on Hubby's list, as he thinks it must be the thermostat cutting out, he has emailed the maker to find costs of parts and hopefully save having to buy a whole new unit.  

My sewing machine hasn't been at its best for a while, sometimes catching fabric that needs to be cut out of it and so ruining what I was working on. Finally I decided to have it serviced and found a local chap that has glowing social media revues by previous customers. 

He came to my house, took the machine apart, cleaned, oiled, realigned some bits and filed some rough edges away.... the whole time explaining and teaching and answering questions. He's not cheap, in fact not much cheaper than buying a new economy range basic machine but hopefully it will have been worth it. 

Two magpies in the tree. Two for joy isn't it? 

And a woodpecker came to visit too 

Freezer defrosting is not a job I look forward to but it really needed it. I unloaded it all and just over an hour later reloaded it all..... Hubby did all the hard work in between, isn't he wonderful! 

I did congratulate myself on making a totally upcycled bag recently but seems I was premature. One of the main problems of reusing materials that have already seen active service, is sometimes they let you down. O has been using this bag and just as he was packing it to take on holiday the zipper came away from the zip. Daughter brought it round and I failed at fixing it, the zipper kept bending, so it needed a new zip. I couldn't remove the old one so stitched new to it and didn't have one long enough so now it has two zips and double layer teeth.... totally unique! 

Having just spent money on a full service for my sewing machine, I didn't treat it with much respect shoving this lot through it, but so pleased it did the job. 

Friday R and the dog have moved in for a week. R gets to use the new sofa bed. The dog does like snuggling up close. 

Next week is Hubby's birthday and he says he doesn't want or need anything, hmmmmmm I can't not give him a present but what? 

That's about it for another week, stay warm.

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Cobwebs are Blown.......

 
You've read here so many times about all that Hubby does, he's our DIY and techy hero and he's more than happy to share himself around to anyone that needs his talents or support. He now has this t-shirt gifted by friendsL&K. 

Beautiful sunny day on Tuesday and a message came from Daughter asking if we'd like to join the three of them for a walk. We all went to Walton-on-the-Naze, just under an hours drive from here.

Chilly when the sun went behind a cloud but mostly a warmish wind.

Warm enough to lunch outside too (no choice with the dog).

Our Wednesday gang met this week and for a change we went to the Felixstowe Sailing Club who were hosting a Greek night. Buffet style for just £12 each. Really lovely cooked food of five hot dishes plus Greek salad and pita bread. I had a little of everything. Some went up for seconds, not me I was really full. We all enjoyed it. Then onto the Grosvenor as usual and our men had the pool table to themselves all evening.

FriendM has just come back from a holiday and brought me back this lovely scarf. 

There was lots of talk about our group holiday to Spain in April, which seems a long way off but guess it will come around quite quickly. Glad we chatted as friendF has now realised he needs six months minimum on his passport since Brexit, so he's going to renew his immediately. Hubby has ordered new GHIC cards and now booked our Stanstead car park. Next on the list is bringing out all the sunny weather clothes to see what we have. 

Meanwhile I'm still wearing roll necks with my fleece and thick fluffy socks.

Nothing planned for this weekend so may just get to sit and read for a while. 

Enjoy your weekend and week ahead.

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