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Journal – Post three

The last few days haven’t been much to write home about but ill give it a go. Tabs the feral cat is most reluctant to go anywhere near her new house despite the weather still being awful. We have tried to coax her in by putting food in there but she will only go half in and half out preferring to hide away under the winter covered furniture down the garden. That’s her choice, we respect that and we will see what transpires.

I have managed to repair a couple of items that you will have seen separate posts about on this site. I’m really enjoying repairing the old retro stuff as well as taking a trip down memory lane at the same time. I have these now restored to such a good condition that i am keeping these displayed within the house and using them in equal measures.

I’m looking at an old 70s digital watch that needs repair, it’s unknown territory for me but it’s something id like to have a go at. It’s only a low outlay, so there is no real loss if things go awry.

We’ve been shopping for decorating items for the ground floor of the house that the wife decided she wanted decorating prior to the arrival of family on Christmas day, who have been invited to dinner. We’ve seen wallpaper for the conservatory, paint for the hall and front room, but we just need the attention of an electrician and a plumber prior to these works commencing. That should be fun as no contractor seems to take on small jobs around here!

The winter heating is on. The boss lady decided it was going on, on the 1st October at 16:30 and I’m pleased to announce that it seemed to work in places. What i mean and i think i have mentioned it before , is that this is an old house that seems to prefer to stay cold, especially the kitchen and bathroom that both have a Nth facing aspect. They are buggers to try and get any heat into. But we will persist. One of the valves in the main bedroom has a tiny leak, nothing major but it will need replacing, hence the requirement for a plumber.

Work has been all that was expected of it in the last few days with autumn hitting with a vengeance. Leaves are falling at a greater rate than last year already as this year isn’t as mild as last, we’ve already had a couple of frosts and the trees are now doing their thing and letting go of their leafs. We’ve had a suicide that was quite traumatic for all involved, first for a while but even for these events we are now entering the season where more are expected, a horrible season for us all and for all those related to those who decide they just can’t go on anymore.

We’re off out for lunch today, with my in laws who live opposite us. Off to Rutland water, an immensely beautiful spot in the county of Rutland (Leicestershire) at a place called Barnsdale. I’m the nominated driver for today’s activity and it should be a nice afternoon away. However rain is still persistent as it has been for almost two weeks now, so it will not be dry, that is a certainty.

Tomorrow we are heading off for a few days to celebrate a relations 60th birthday in Devon. No work now for 5 days before heading back to a run of nightshifts from Monday. I’m looking forward to some nice romantic sea side walks, whatever the weather, and just spending it with the one my life revolves around, my lovely wife. I just can’t wait.

Journal – Post two

Good morning all and i trust you are well. For the second instalment of this riveting read i will bring you up to date with what has occurred in the last few days.

We have advanced from Summer to Autumn, we still have ridiculous amounts of rain fall, and to top that this morning we have had a hardy spread of frost. I’m really surprised about the weather to be honest, as normally at this time of year we are holidaying in Cyprus and when we are there they always seem to have a heatwave back home. This year seems to be an exception to the rule.

The usual discussion of “Should the heating go on” is high on the agenda at the moment, with the wife staunchly stating that it’s not going on before mid October. We live in a 1930s house with the rear of it facing North, to say its sometimes cool is an understatement, it leaks heat like a bucket with a hole, but in the heat of summer (if it ever happens) its as cool as you like. Great Mediterranean architecture design’s shouldn’t have been a consideration of builders in the 1930s UK.

I’ve mentioned about the feral cat we inherited when we purchased our house all those years ago, we call her “Tabs”. Well a couple of days ago the wife decided as the weather was still turning that she was going to buy Tabs a house. During the winter months she lives either under the covered garden furniture on the decking or in the next door neighbours garden under a lean to. It’s been fun watching the wife trying to coax Tabs into here new home, she will go in if we put treats in there but she firmly leaves her rear end poking out of it….she still needs convincing. We have had disagreements regarding its siting, i say it should be down the garden but the wife insists it should be near the back door. Time will tell. I lay money on it that our resident Hedgehog community will visit and check it out before too long.

Work has been gearing up to probably the season we hate most and that is leaf fall. It’s fast approaching and we will no doubt have trains slipping and sliding all over the network before too long. It’s a real challenge to get sites treated before this happens and it’s a busy time for us on the ground. People may laugh and scoff, but just don’t understand the issues that we face. It’s real, and it’s a real problem.

We are both suffering the holiday blues after a wonderful small break away in Norfolk, hence we have now booked all our holidays for next year. We didn’t go abroad this year as we knew our dog Alfie was unwell and we had decided our priority was him and looking after his wellbeing, we had a beautiful holiday with him this year in Devon that we will forever cherish. We still have a couple of small breaks this year, one is for a 60th birthday in Devon and the other is down in the Twickenham area of London to meet with a friend of the wife’s for a few days who is struggling with her health.

Next years agenda is like so: January back to Norfolk for a relaxing small break. February we are back to Iceland as we love it so. June we are back to Norfolk for a big family gathering and then to top it all we have treated ourselves to two weeks in Aruba in October. Never been there before, heard a lot about it so we are giving it a go. I should still have some days available after all of this that we will use for days out etc. We haven’t been this organised for years, and we both love having something to look forward to.

I’ve been back to fixing a few items but to be honest I’m not concentrating that well so my decision making whilst fault finding is a bit shot at the moment, I’ve stepped away for a few days to regain some composure then i will return.

Working late shifts at the moment 14-2200hrs and they are full on. I have a day off tomorrow and I’m looking forward to that as much as i would a holiday.

Look after yourselves and stay warm.

Journal – Post one

25th September 2024

Today has been a so so kind of day. Here in the East Midlands it has been wet yet again. We have had so much rain in the last few days that apparently we have had four times the average monthly rainfall in just three days. It’s very wet to say the least.

Hence at work this has caused me problems today. People just don’t understand the effect water can have on the passage of a 2000 ton train, the water can undermine the stability of the tracks so when we have flooding, thats when the speed restrictions come into place. And my day today has involved completing a number of these checks to ensure all is well. On top of that i have had to deal with failed point work in the Melton Mowbray area as well as attending to a broken down train. It’s been a busy day, work started just before 05:30 and by the time i got back to base it was about 14:00. No breakfast today, no lunch as I didn’t get the time. Not too worried with that as we do have quieter days where we can do all of that. It’s all swings and roundabouts, give and take it works both ways.

Back home the wife has been playing catch up with the washing, not happy that due to the wet weather she cannot get the washing out for a blow, hence the conservatory looks like a London wash house as she engages the dehumidifier to dry everything inside. Good things these dehumidifiers, especially in an old house like ours, no damp here as a result.

The sister in law popped over with some old black and white negatives that she has found. She’s planning an anniversary gift for her husband as they have been married 55 years – it’s their Emerald wedding anniversary. He’s been a scooter fan since he was a teenager and still has one to this day, she’s unearthed a negative from when they first went on holiday together and its one of him sitting on his first scooter. I have a scanner so i was able to scan the negative and send it electronically to be printed, and i will collect it tomorrow. Meanwhile she and the wife have ordered a nice emerald trimmed frame that will arrive tomorrow for me to put the picture in. Her husband will love it, it’s a lovely memory and you can’t beat that. I love gifts that have had a lot of thought go into them, they don’t have to be expensive, but they can mean the world to someone.

We took a massive kick in the pants today when a very dear and lovely family member called to tell us she was undergoing investigation for that bastard big C. It’s only early days so we are all hopeful that it’s been caught early. She is so hard working she has learning difficulties and I don’t think she fully understands the seriousness of what she has been told bless her. We are here for her, and she knows she has our combined love, prayers and anything else we can do to help her through this damned unfair stage of her life. We love her so much .

We’ve spoken about Alf a lot today, its been lovely and we’ve uncovered more photos of him today, isn’t it funny that you get these photo memories come up on your phone that you’d completely forgotten about? His ashes sit on a shelf in the living room, and we talk to him as if he is still here. Well to be honest he is here, he was a massive presence even though he weighed littlle more than 6 kilos at his peak, he will be with us forever, and when we pop our clogs we will all be blended together in a big pile of ash to be distributed over one of our favourite places as a family. We will always be together.

I was wandering about aimlessly earlier so the wife banished me to the conservatory to do some of my hobby stuff, i was able to fault find a unit I’m working on and tomorrow i will start to do some soldering and tidying up. I also had a work colleague come into work with a set of lights that need fixing, he’d heard that i do this stuff so I’ve managed to land another little job to keep me occupied, it all helps to maintain the sanity and keep the grey matter active.

Overall it’s been a good day, with a sprinkling of the downright unfair, there has been plenty going on and I’ve kept active, just as i like it. But tonight my thoughts are with my dear relative who has had awful news today. I said this journal would be a load of chat about everything and nothing really, but sitting here typing this has made me look back at the day and realise that i have achieved stuff, may be nothing major, but it is so easy to sit down and say you did nothing today.

Write it down and watch your day unfold in front of you and say – “Yes, i did plenty of stuff, and i achieved something today, and people need me.”

Pinch pottery

This last week I have been away at a lovely location in Norfolk enjoying a few days away with the family.

There was an activity taking place that was an introduction to pottery, and here they were going to teach a technique that has been around for millenniums – Pinch pottery. I did pottery at school and was ok with it but I never made anything to write home about.

To be totally honest I had no idea as to what I was going to do, but everything I’m doing lately seems to be in memory of our little dog who passed away in August of this year. Still very raw, I think of him a lot, and I’ve made this little pot for him. Yep it’s crap but it’s my crap, it’s a reminder of good times for me, a cartoon representation of him and on the rear of it I’ve signed it and stated where I made it.

It’s my first attempt in about 45 yrs and everyone has to start somewhere. I doubt I will take it up as a hobby at home but I enjoyed it, and for a small period of time I was productive, something I have been lacking in of late. It was most therapeutic.

It’s now home, and in the next few weeks I will paint and seal it and hopefully have a nicely presented little keepsake. You can see the finished item here: Pinch Pottery Pt:2

I love trying new things, I loved doing this and who knows I may book a class and look at doing more in the future, just not at home. The missus would kill me 😂

Peaceful and fresh air

What does your ideal home look like?

We’re looking at making our final move within the next 18 months. We’ve purchased new in the past and though the house was lovely we weren’t really happy as it was so “perfect” and needed nothing doing to it. We wanted a project, and 8 years later we have a nice house, though it’s not ideal and has been a drain on us both physically and financially.

We’re now exploring the new route again, this time more thought is going into it, we’re looking to move probably only a few miles from where we are as we have family here and we like the general area and I happen to work nearby and don’t want to increase my commute too much if I can help it.

Tabs protecting the garden

Believe it or not, one major issue for not moving just yet is the feral cat we have in our garden, Tabs. When we purchased this house all those years ago, one feature in all the exterior pictures of the sale brochure was this cat posing in all the garden shots. That was “Tabs”. She wasn’t owned by anyone, and all the neighbours had a hand in feeding her, as the neighbours have moved on that has become our responsibility, and she is fed regularly by us in exchange for her living in and protecting our garden. And boy is she good at that. She is getting old now, dosen’t leave the garden much and is very much into her senior years. We don’t want to put her through getting a new set of “Carers” and leaving her to potentially getting neglected by new owners, so we have committed to care for her and see out her final days being looked after by us. Should she then pass away we will be here, we will attend to her and see she is looked after. Only then will we continue our search for an “ideal home”

Anyway, what is our ideal hone? To be totally honest we’re not looking for something outrageously expensive and inappropriate for just two people, we don’t want a ten bed mansion we simply want a nicely built and practical house. Three beds would be fine, one of those rooms to become a hobby / office type space. A small to medium garden that is currently a blank canvas for me to develop into a seasoned garden. The garden I have at the moment has taken six years to start reaching a maturity where it is kind of looking after itself and it is beautiful, I would like to do that again. We currently live on a main thoroughfare and the dust and pollution that creates would certainly not be missed. Yes a quieter area, more rural would be nice, and as this is a major route for emergency service vehicles, somewhere quieter without 24hr a day wailing sirens would be appreciated.

Quieter, peaceful, new, nothing more to be done apart from basic maintenance maybe with a garage would suit us down to the ground. The house we currently have I’m sure would be a good project for someone who has the time and money, but it’s not for us. We took the challenge on, and we learned a lesson. Been there, done it and got the tee shirt as they say.

The ideal home for us involves a simpler and more relaxed life. I think we deserve that and to be honest we are fortunate to be in a position to be able to do it. We’ve worked our collective butts off for it and we deserve nothing less.

But first off Tabs is our concern. There’s no rush.

It’s her house and garden as well as ours.

Alfie’s ready to come home…

That was the call we’ve just had from the vets. A lovely and quite melancholy call to be honest, just as if he’s had a minor procedure and he has awoken and is now ready to come home.

Reality is a little more stark. We are now heading down to collect our little fellah after he has been cremated.

We didn’t know what to expect to be honest, do we take a bag? Is he in a polythene bag? My wife was upset as she’d taken the call as I had been on nights and was in bed. I had this overwhelming feeling yesterday that he’d be coming home today, so in a way when I awoke I wasn’t surprised, strange isn’t it?

We needn’t have fretted, it was all so professional. He’s in a lovely woodland scene tube, we didn’t want a sealed casket as we wanted his ashes to go with ours in the end, please don’t judge us, it’s what we want and you will never understand just what this little character meant to us.

We also have a certificate of individual cremation, with lovely words, we have a lovely little picture frame memento with his paw print, we now have to pick a picture from the thousands we have of him, no easy task and I suspect we will have words about this. The vets have taken a cutting of his fur and put it in a small phial, lovely touch. We have two beautiful cards with his paw print on, and I will be using one of these to get a permanent tattoo on my arm with his pet name as he was known to many in the family- “Alfie Moon”.

The feeling in the house at the moment is nice, all the doubt we had has now gone, and we are so happy with the professional service we have experienced.

We can now move on to the healing stage, as he is now home. It’s so weird that the immense feeling of grief has lifted and a modicum of calmness and happiness has returned, it needed to as it had been missing for some time now.

Our lad is home, where he deserves to be. And he will be with us forever more.

Welcome home son ❤️

Southern Cyprus…every time

If you won two free plane tickets, where would you go?

Back to the sunny welcoming arms of the good people of Southern Cyprus.

There is simply no where else I’d rather go.

Peace.

Where in the world…..

What countries do you want to visit?

To be honest I’m a creature of habit, i will continue to go to that little quiet part of Cyprus that we love as the people are lovely souls and the life is good. If we had the chance I’d up roots and move there lock stock and barrel. Iceland is another one I will continue to frequent as I absolutely love everything about the place. Two crazy totally different environments.

There is only one other country that I’d love to visit, and that’s Canada. I’d love to do one of those Rocky Mountain explorer train trips, the sheer wilderness and beauty would really appeal to me.

Other than that there is no other country I wish to travel to. To be honest there are still too many places in my home country I still yet have to see.

Have a blessed day

The long plod up to retirement

How do you want to retire?

Now this is a prompt I like. I’m in My late 50s and I’m looking into this seriously. My boss knows i plan to retire 2 years from my next birthday and the planning has already started to be looked into.

I want to retire comfortable, not looking at massive amounts but something that will keep us as we are currently. The mortgage is already paid so we are fortunate there, and outstanding debts will all be realised within the next 18 months so in theory by the time I do retire we will owe no one anything, so the need for a higher Income will not be necessary.

I am paying extra into my pension and we obviously have a small amount put aside for incidentals, to be honest the future looks ok. Touch wood (That’s my superstitious side shining through

I may take a little no responsibility, part time job to keep my hand in, but to be honest we want to travel, and just take it easy. Oh and my hobbies and garden can then get the attention they all deserve.

That’s of course as long as fate doesn’t throw a spanner in the works.

Peace all

The simple joys of a garden

To many it probably looks a mess. To me it’s a place of happiness, it’s an art work being constantly touched up, it’s a labour of love. Six years after I started this garden it’s now finally starting to take shape and today I even had the wife’s seal of approval. And that crowns it for me.

People watch these shows on tv and instantly expect a beautiful renovated instant garden. This simply doesn’t happen.

My garden has been a massive experiment over the years. I’ve lost count of the amount of different plants I’ve placed only for each of them to fail after one season, then you have to ask the reasons why.

Our front garden is Sth facing so I have sun on that most of the day and plants like Lavender and lilac always display spectacularly, baskets and salvias love the front garden, but the front is not as advanced as my back garden, and I’m going to give it attention towards the end of this summer. I’m currently adding plants one at a time. The aim here is a typical country garden in the middle of a city. It’s a challenge.

However my back garden naturally is North facing, with only a glimmer of sunshine, so I have to plant here accordingly. Because of my neighbours, all who love concrete, and who have no green space, my garden naturally suffers from excess water run off from their properties.

I have introduced Hornbeam hedging only a few months ago that again will take time to mature, I have planted a number of ornamental trees to assist with drainage and things are looking positive. The plants I have in place are all bee friendly. We have loads of them as well as butterflies, lady birds and other insect life. I also have a small section near a small rockery area that I have left wilded, the flowers here blend in beautifully. I have a lot of wildlife in this garden, I have some small birds such as wrens going through the bushes that we have never seen here before, we have blackbirds, Robins, blue tits, finches and the pigeons and the magpies who are the antisocial members of the bird family. We also have the occasional Red Kite soar overhead, it’s amazing how the Pigeons and Magpies disappear when they are around. And naturally being the county of the Fox, they are also regular visitors.

And my garden is small, it’s only about 50ft square, and about a mile or so from the city centre.

I have a feral cat who has been a resident here long before we were, and she even chases the foxes who also enter the garden. Just take a look of her protecting the garden from a fox in this small video below:

Cat chasing Fox

The crowning glory is that we have regular hedgehog visitors. We leave nibbles and water out for them at night, we have introduced a highway through the garden with access from our property to others. We have ramps in place alongside the steps to help them about the property. Seeing we are right in the city we are probably one of only a few places of peace and serenity for them in this mad crazy town.

One of our regular visitors

I really feel for those that don’t have access to a garden, it really is a place where you can lose yourself. It’s your own constantly developing work of art. I love having visitors to the garden, I love showing them what we have done and what we have planned, and I love helping people transform and achieve their little works of art. My garden has been a life saver for me, and allowed me to maintain my sanity when it all starts getting a bit too much.

Gardens should be compulsory, but unfortunately in this super high speed world, people just want everything low maintenance and that’s a shame.

Don’t even mention imitation grass to me – it should be banned.

The wife said, “You were right, you said it would take time, it looks lovely.” And that meant the world to me.

Thanks for passing by.

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