Too dreary to walk!

Husband and I have slouched around these last couple of days due to the cold damp weather. Looks like hard frosts are returning tonight. Husband kindly drove me to my physio appointment. We had to tackle Dursley Hill in the whirling snow and I was too chicken to go by myself but equally determined to get some treatment for my "swimmers arm". Diagnosis - rigid spine due to hunched walking with crutches. I have now been issued with back stretching exercises which includes bending over the kitchen table with Husband pushing on spine to increase flexibility - the mind boggles!!!

Hopeless Britain - No Power!

Happy Christmas everyone! The power went off at 8am today - our house runs absolutely entirely on electricity and we have no fireplace! The temperature outside was just above freezing. We unwrapped our presents and look what I received from my step-daughter a really lovely scarf and gloves - how very timely!!

Meanwhile Husband looks entirely deranged!!!

Please Send Me The Wool!

Have just discovered that by cutting in half really thick long socks and placing these around my shoes I can walk without slipping on the ice! I shall have to buy some knitting needles and thick hairy wool to make a more elegant pair of "snow shoes". This morning the temperature dropped to minus 8.6C and it is still way below freezing and foggy at the time of typing. Husband is snuffling and snorting with a heavy cold - it is like living with a very disgruntled growling dog (just like the dog in Ardman's "Shaun The Sheep") !!

Frozen Fog!

Today the weather is different yet again. Not so cold overnight - only minus 3.5C compared with minus 6.6C the night before. We now have freezing fog - still good for photo opportunities.

I Spoke Too Soon!

Yup - we have snow! As you will see from my previous post I commented on the bright blue skies. Overnight we received a white blanket. This is the view from our garden to the field beyond and in the distance the local farm. Our village does not receive the gritter's attention too frequently so the lanes were very tricky to drive on - my physio appointment was cancelled so I am none the wiser as to how to treat my "swimmer's arm" !!

Ice and Water

In this part of Wiltshire we seem to have escaped the recent snowfall and instead we have lovely cold frosty days with clear blue sky.

There are still signs of the heavy rain we have been experiencing a week or two back.

Whew!

I have another swimming related injury at the moment so I am "off games". I find inactivity really frustrating so I have been helping out at a local cottage industry. Being left handed I found the sticky tape gun infuriating - the sticky side of the tape seemed to twist round backwards!! I got relegated to scrunching up newspaper!

We Won! We Won! We Won!

Would you believe it? Thousands wouldn't! We actually won the village christmas quiz! This event is held annually in the village hall and about 80 people attended. Our team was made up of Husband's golf friends and their wives - we are all old friends. I have to admit the man we have to thank for our win is sitting in the photo above with his back to you in the green/grey sweater - he knew just about everything there is to know about pop music! (How sad is that?)

Before the quiz we invited this mighty team to a "high tea" at our place. We fed them brain food and plenty of liquid refreshments - it seems to have done the trick.

The trusty quizmaster who puts up with some of us at our pub quiz, suitably dressed in a splendid waistcoat and matching hat, officiated for the occasion and suffered the same kind of barracking that he usually gets from us locals. Nothing changes!

Don't Laugh?

I am not known for my handicraft work - I swear it is because I am left-handed. To enter into the spirit of things Christmassy I enrolled in a christmas wreath making morning held at the local farm cosily (actually freezingly) in a stable. As you can see Husband has recovered fully from his bout of shingles - so no more sympathy comments please!

Wet, Wet, Wet!

Another wet and windy night - the rain deluged down leaving the fields sodden but this does

not stop Husband and I enjoying a walk. By the way, Husband is recovering fast from his bout of shingles!

Sod's Law!

I decided to send fewer christmas cards this year. Guess what . . . . . . . . . . . . . . the postman arrived today bearing the first christmas card of the year and yes, you are right, it was from one of the people I had chopped off the list!!!

They Are At It Again!

Anyone who reads this blog regularly will remember we had a burst water main just outside our house which flooded the road. The water pipes in this rural area are very ropey indeed! Today the Water Board are back to fit a fire hydrant which was omitted in the last outburst. We feel this is a good thing as these four new houses are timber framed! Despite traffic lights and cones in the road some people driving cars are whizzing by and every so often I hear shouts and curses from the men as they get sprayed by water - I ask myself why don't they turn the mains water off?

The fire hydrant is that blue object between the two men who are posing nicely for my camera shot!?

Shingles

Husband has succumbed to a bout of shingles - I think this is the first time he has been ill since I have known him which must be over 30 years. Anyone who has suffered from this kind of plague will know that it is very painful with nerve pains travelling down the legs etc. I have had to move a rug under his chair as he cannot keep his feet still - the carpet is getting a real beating up! Thank god he has taken himself off to bed for a rest - it is like living with a bag of ferrets!!

The Tale of the Tatty Teaspoon

When my brother came to stay last year he used to turn his nose up at our washing up arrangments! We seem to keep the same teaspoon in use all day fishing out teabags, stirring coffee etc - I have to admit a bit sloppy really!

Husband suggested we gave ourselves £70.00 and bought our own Christmas presents - the rules were one frivolous present for oneself, one useful and one for the household. We duly entered a shopping mall today (how I hate the places). I managed to buy a cheap puzzle game for the PC and a jersey from Marks to replace the one I got covered in wet paint last week leaning against a wall in the locker room at the swimming pool. As for the present for the household I am still thinking! Husband accomplished his mission within about ten minutes. He bought a 1/2 price book, a red sweater, some garish underpants and guess what - 8 shiny shiny shiny new teaspoons - my brother would be delighted if he ever came to stay again all the way from Oz!!

Green and Pleasant Land

This photo is for Rockwallaby who over there in Australia is suffering from dought!

They Know When I Am There!

I swim regularly at Calcot Spa and used to participate in the Aqua Classes where I made a lot of friends. Now I prefer to swim earlier in the mornings and chug out 30 lengths of crawl. One day last week I had left the swimming a bit late and the aqua class arrived and so I was restricted to the "fast lane". As I swum against the choppy tidal waters of 100 water hog, one of my friends shouted "We knew you were here because of your shoes" !!!! Well - you actually could not miss my shoes because they are so HUGE and I do not put them into my locker, I leave them tidily under the bench. I thought this remark needed a response so I likened the aqua class to the signature picture on BBC One of the hippos that swim round and round in a circle - oh yes, I can see their fat little legs under the water through my goggles. A good time was had by all!

A Blowy Walk

We took advantage of a sunny but very windy day today and took a walk near the village of Ashley. The above photo might be of interest to Hadriana, we park the car just off part of The Fosse Way and wind our way uphill (mostly) to the village of Ashley.

The above photo might be of interest to Gill because she has just taken a very good photo of some fungi! By the way I awarded 8 points out of 10 (see previous post) to Husband who clambered into a bramble strewn ditch to get this photo. His words whilst he was stumbling around were "What I do for you" !!

These next two photos might interest my brother Jamie who this time last year was visiting us from Australia. We used to walk this walk with him. He will recognise the Pigeon Loft (present day and this time last year). This building is now being converted - I do hope the poor pigeons are restored after the building is finished.

The Points System

Our new build house boasted a "double garage" - what rot! Perhaps you could park two minis side by side packed like sardines with no way of entering the cars except with a tin opener. Where to park my car? (Naturally Husband bagged the garage for his car ???). We had to pave an area of garden next to the garage to park my trusty Terios.

Well - the next problem was - how good was I at reversing into this space - actually to begin with I was awful. Thank goodness my car is fitted with a reversing beeper otherwise I would have flattened the picket fence behind many many times.

Husband started "awarding me" points out of ten as to how I parked the car. Sometimes he would emerge from our front door gesticulating with his fingers and hands as to how many points I had gained for my latest effort. One day our neighbour passed whilst this ritual was being carried out - blow me down if he hasn't entered into the sport as well! Needless to say neither man has ever ever awarded me 10 out of 10. I got my own back the other day when I asked Husband to hang out the washing for me - what a fearful mess - shirts were hung up by their shoulders and not spread out, pants were drooped over the line, trousers were hung up by one peg. Guess what - I awarded him nought out of ten!

Top Brass

Last night we visited the Wyvern Theatre in Swindon and listened to the RAF Central Band - they were fabulous. There was a mixture of music played including film scores, traditonal military marches, a trumpet solo and a flute duet. They played the rousing "633 Squadron" and of course "The Dam Busters." For me, the best piece was by Vangelis "The Conquest of Paradise", it was this music that was played over the ship's tannoy system every time "Royal Clipper" raised her sails at sunset and silently left port. The effect of the haunting music combined beautifully with this majestic ship, mast lit by a thousand lights silently sailing away into the night. Royal Clipper is the largest sailing clipper in the world and we had the privilege of sailing in her in 2008 on a cruise from Rome to Venice.

We wondered why the band consisted of so many women and eventually came to the conclusion that the very very handsome Musical Director was the reason!!! By the way, I definitely fancied him too!!

We Smell Dreadful!

Yesterday Husband and I tackled the green algae that has conglomerated on our patio which is northfacing and never sees the sun. I started off with a cleaner called Armillatox - it was useless - I scrubbed, scrubbed and scrubbed some more. We left it over night - the patio still leered "green" at us. Husband scrubbed on dettol and we both smelt of old fashioned hospitals. Later in the day I was bent double like a giraffe (due to lack of knee bend) and scrubbed away with bleach - lovely job! Bleach and Dettol smells wafted through our clothes and hair - well my hair at least, Husband does not have too much!!!!

Inside Out!

Husband had been looking forward to a nice gentle game of golf with his mates yesterday. The rain - it raineth, the wind - it bloweth!

Digging Has Done Me In!

Last saturday Husband and I sauntered down to our local surgery for our seasonal flu jabs. At the ripe old age of 65 (not quite yet) we here in the UK are given, if so wished, a one-off pneumonia jab. I accepted this jab and thought nothing more about it. Later that day I energetically hoed some our of veg plot down the road from our house. My arm went mad with resentment and swelled up from shoulder to elbow in a large hot lump and it is no better today nearly a week later. With two wonky knees as well as a maddened arm I have only one useful limb left! I am getting quite frustrated at not being able to carry out my usual swimming or walking with my crutches - life is one long pain at the moment!

Cow Calamities

I chatted to Farmer over the garden fence whilst the electric fencing was being checked. He had me cracked up with laughter as he recalled a few narrow escapes with his cows.

To move the cows to their summer pasture apparently can be hazardous, to cause the least confusion they make the move early in the morning to pass through a village. As usual, everyone's garden gates were checked to see if they were shut and look-outs were posted along the route. The cows amble through the village . . . . . . . suddenly a woman in a deep pink nightie tears out of her house, through her garden into the road shouting obscenities complaining her sleep had been disturbed. Ahah thought the cows an open gate and even better an open door into a house! Farmer had to sort out 70 cows confined in a small garden with several inquisitive cows trampling their way through the house!

Another calamity occurred when again the cows were being herded down a narrow lane. A motorist in a Ford Fiesta came upon the herd but instead of calmly waiting for the cows to amble past, the driver surged his way forward eventually grinding to a halt. The motorist wound down his window to loudly and rudely complain when all of a sudden the bull (a placid fellow I am told) came upon a nice scratching post and stuck his head through the car window. There were screams from inside the car as it was rocked too and fro with the windscreen falling out - the bull was having a good time rubbing his itchy head against the window frame. Farmer had to wrench the passenger door open and dive over both passenger and driver to push the bull out!

I must not laugh too loudly in case the cows decide to burst through into our garden - I would not be too happy!

Monotonous Moles

We have had to call Mole Man twice within the last two months - the moles are playing games with us. Mole Man catches one mole and says he has finished and there are no more moles - well we know different! It is expensive = £126.50 each batch of visits. I am fed up with this! Mole Man is in the process of trying to catch the elusive mole(s). On his last visit I pretended to be very very interested in mole behaviour and whilst Mole Man was giving his mole monologue I was craftily looking how he set the traps! I have now visited a website and bought three traps for £12.50 and as soon as Mole Man finishes this current session I shall take over and lay traps myself! Husband is too scared.

If I suddenly stop posting on this blog you will know I have trapped not a mole but my fingers!

Never A Dull Moment

It has been a glorious autumn day here - in the afternoon I followed Husband around the golf course. A National Grid helicopter was hovering around the nearby pylons - it looked very tiring precision work. After Husband had whacked his way around the course, on the spur of the moment we decided to have the usual cup of tea and bun at AV8 cafe on Kemble Airfield. We arrived just in timeto see the same helicopter land, refuel and lock up for the night, but the real sight was a half inflated hot air balloon just about to take off for a joy ride - it had Triumph Underwear emblazoned along its bulbous sides. Husband guessed a modest 38C whilst I went for 44DD! We were very amused to see it's call sign was "G-KNIX" !!

"Ozmosis"

When my Brother, Jamie, visited us last November (he lives in Australia) he packed in his suitcase a couple of leafy twigs from his garden to start off our compost heap! Husband is seen here removing the top layer in preparation to dig out the heap onto the veg garden.

You can see the result - (oops, a lot of rose twigs, naughty me adding them to the heap over the summer).

If you like puppies please visit my brother's blog (see link above).

We Were Very Naughty!

The scene of the crime was at "The Local" during the monthly quiz night. All teams were handed out, as usual, the picture round and the theme for this was identifying films. The Street Walkers team are absolutely rubbish at films. To our amazement we were handed out the sheet of paper that included the answers which had been blanked out with tippex. Well, what would you have done? I had on my person a torch and we used our initiative (very admirable we thought) and shone the torch through the blanked out areas and we were then able to read the answers!

We thought the Quizmaster would be impressed for an instant and then he would realize something was amiss because to date we have usually come last being unable to answer many questions on films, pop music and TV. We were rumbled very quickly by the team marking our papers, but despite the marks being deducted we, unusally, tied for first place. The tension mounted as a decider question was asked, but blow me down - the subject was films!!! In the circumstances the right team won.

I think we may be banned or perhaps we had better settle for coming last - oh, no, no no, the boobie prizes are brilliant so that would not do at all. The Street Walkers will try their very best to come second last next month!

A Prized Possession

Husband remarked "I have never won anything in my life . . . . . . . . until now"!

Yesterday he and his 3 other partners in crime were invited to play in a company/charity golf day. Husband used to own this company (son, then about 10 years old thought we would be "rich"???? - I think not!) . The present owner invites the four old lags back every year for the golf - I expect never thinking the old boys could ever win anything! Husband and his partner came second and won a golf bag each. (Sigh) methinks yet more clutter in the garage!

Tomboy Talk

Part of the line-up for scrappage at Kemble Airfield. ClickAir (never heard of them) is the blue plane, India Air, an unidentifiable and the yellow one, we guess is DHL.

Near AV8 Cafe one can see the Jumbos lined up waiting their turn for demolition - rather a sad sight we think.

We decided to visit AV8 today because of the fine weather. We were not disappointed - we had turned up to find several of the larger hangars open being used for some kind of "jolly" (the local wine merchant, we noticed, had two vans parked in the vicinity)! The hangars are usually shut and look rather myserious but today they were buzzing with people looking at aircraft on display. As we sat down with our customary bun and mug of tea at the cafe, the Rolls Royce owned Spitfire ducked, dived and screamed over the airfield giving us a wonderful display.

A Lynx helicopter arrived to entertain. Husband and I thought we had done well for an afternoon's entertainment all for the cost of a mug of tea and a bun!

Misty Morning

This was the view from my bedroom window this morning - the promise of another glorious day!

Unusual Fireplace

We stayed for our short break at The Priory Bay Hotel in IOW. If you look amongst the ivy clad wall you will be able to see two windows (up and down) - these are situated just over fireplaces. The smoke from the fires has to be diverted to either side in the chimney breast.

The hotel, as its name suggests, was an old priory and some of the buildings were really lovely including a dovecot (I forgot to upload that photo!!). There was a 6 hole golf course for Husband to enjoy and we could wander down to the private beach .

Within the grounds sat Churchill and Roosevelt, apparently they had many meetings there.

Distances!

Owning a pair of wonky knees I haveto be very careful about distances! When in familiar territory I am fine - I know how far it is to walk where I wish to go. Not so on holiday! We arrived at Yarmouth, Isle of Wight and Husband said we must make a diversion to see The Needles. We arrived at designated car park to find it was quite a long walk (in my opinion). Husband said "Oh no - not far, we will only be walking about ten minutes". I should have known better. Husband has no such wonky knees and has never wielded a pair of crutches only thinks in his terms. We slogged up the hill in glorious hot sunshine, but it took half an hour!! As you can see from the photo we made it to the top!

Throughout the 4 day holiday I also managed walking round a 6 hole golf course twice, a 9 hole golf course, two stretches of beaches and other small forays. Knees are now boiling hot, I shall not give up and now back home again I am off swimming this morning!!

Old Friends

I have had a lovely day today! My childhood playmates came to visit - I have not seen them for years and years - we had a lot of catching up to do. It is funny what one remembers and the other one does not! I remember a rather traumatic morning when Liz and I caught the usual morning train into Victoria to attend our various secretarial colleges. Just outside Wimbledon station the train ground to a halt. There was a deathly silence, the passengers did not talk to each other! After about half an hour a guard ordered us down on to the railway line and we had to walk to Wimbledon station. The news was that Clapham Junction bridge had fallen down. Liz and I could have caught the Tube into London but sensibly, we thought, it was better to find our way home to Leatherhead by various buses - we were worried we would have had a very difficult journey home in the evening if we had struggled on. We arrived home at about lunchtime. I rang up my secretarial college - they spat tin tacks at me, they were furious I had not carried on into London! Liz does not remember this incident at all!!! Richard, on the other hand, does not remember informing me, as we washed up the tea things in his house (his mother had gone out), that "crockery dries in the cupboard" !!!

Boobies Again!

Last night our team "The Street Walkers" sauntered down to the local pub for the quiz. As usual, the questions dealing with TV programmes, films and pop music flummox our fairly elderly brains - we could not even remember who sat in the basket with Andy Pandy!! Can you? We answered Looby Lou but apparently this poor creature was left in a corner - it was Teddy who had the favoured spot. I think my brother, now living in Oz, used to watch Andy Pandy but I thought that a sissy programme!! My idea of TV watching in those days was Hopalong Cassidy and Champion The Wonder Horse!!!

The outcome, as is now obvious, we came last. We did not despair as the kind Quizmaster always provides super booby prizes. This time we were the recipients of Scott's Porridge Oats, a tin of rice pudding, a bottle of sun tan cream, a tub of meringues and some fancy tea. The main thing is we all had a rumbustious time!

Fish Heads?

The steel bird scrappage business continues unabated at Kemble Airfield. Today I took this photo as we sped by in our car of some of the cockpits. I was not quick enough with the camera, but there are about five forlorn cockpits stacked up - they remind me of chopped off fish heads!
We also noticed another cargo type jumbo has arrived and has joined three others waiting for their final destination and disintegration.

We might be having a noisy weekend. A "bluegrass" music festival is being held on the airfield - I hope we sufficiently far enough away not to hear too much of this music at night. But, in fact, I would rather listen to "bluegrass" than "rock"!!

A Mrs Bouquet Moment!

Any of you who are familiar with the BBC TV programme "Keeping Up Appearances" will know what I mean about "A Mrs Bouquet Moment". Husband and I decided, since it was a lovely sunny afteroon, to visit the "AV8" cafe on Kemble Airfield for a cup of tea. We were passing through the car park when suddenly I saw a black growling snarling bullet of a dog reach out through a car window to grab me! I am not very good at fast movements due to my wonky knees and I did not have a hedge to back into as did Hyacinth Bouquet so I very nearly fell over as I tried to escape the snapping jaws. Husband just stood and laughed his little cotton socks off!

Electrifying?

The local farmer informed us, as she delivered the weekly eggs, that someone is tampering with the electric fence that borders our garden as well as others. The battery is connected to a solar panel and is discreetly hidden very near the back of our greenhouse. I was shown how the solar panelled battery system works and very definitely someone has bothered to come up and flick the switch off. The farmer says it is well known that dog walkers tamper with electric fences in fields where they think they have a right to roam. There is a footpath through this field so why on earth should someone bother to creep up in full view of our house and switch it off.

To prove a point, during that very next night the battery was switched off, the cows broke the electric fence in several places. The cows did no damage as all of us have post and rails boundaries. I have now volunteered to check the battery morning and evening. I am left wondering how people can be so petty to wander around in the night turning off electric fences. I might scare these people off if I were to sit in our greenhouse all night, jump out in my hideous nightie and say "boo". What do you think?

Ooh, I was so embarrassed!

Yesterday evening, as usual, accompanied Husband and his three friends around the local golf course. I stood on the first tee whilst the four men gathered their golfing kit together. Along came a young couple who had just finished their round, they stopped in front of me and said "How can you play golf with those crutches"? I replied, with a nod of my head towards Husband and his buddies, "Oh, I am just nominated the non-playing captain"! The couple then tiraded me about the state of the course, why was there not a womens' tee position on the fifth hole? Why had the wasps' nest not be attended to, etc etc. It suddenly occurred to me that the couple thought I was the ladies captain of the golf club. I did not enlighten them but the five of us had a good laugh afterwards! By the state of their play last night I think I could have beaten Husband and the other three players if I had used my crutches!!!

I Think I Could Be An IT Expert??

I have sorted out broadband connection myself. I used the wireless connection via my neighbour and accessed Virgin Media webpage. I got through to the email section and shoved in my password and received the emails. I then closed my computer down, disconnected the wireless connection, turned my usual router back on and whirred up the old computer and hey presto - all systems go! Think I might ask for a job at Virgin in their call centre - or perhaps not!!!!

Good Neighbours

My neighbour is an IT whizz kid and has kindly linked my PC to his internet connection wirelessly for the time being. I think it is 12 telephone calls I have made to Virgin now! There is a move underfoot in our village (fingers crossed if a suitable mast can be sited in a suitable place) to have a wireless broadband service. Rural communities are often forgotten when it comes to amenities - but never fear the peace of the countryside makes up for it in my opinion!

It Is Hell Being a Virgin (Customer)!!!

I have not been receiving broadband since Tuesday. After 8 telephone calls and 8 different advisors we at last established (which I knew all along) there is a fault on the local rural exchange that requires BT to correct it. However no green light appears on my router so we ring up again and again. I asked to speak to a supervisor but was refused!!! I have not been impolite to the Virgin call centre so Husband and I are now getting angry. BT are not providing a service to Virgin and Virgin is not providing a service to me so for the time being we are stuck. My neighbours kindly let me use their computer but I do not like to outstay my welcome!

Carrying A Heavy Load!

The cool and . . . . .

the not so cool!!!!!

Supatrike has been kept very busy ferrying our veg we are harvesting from the plot down the road. We have enough potatoes to feed an army. We dig up a box worth, sort them out, dry and clean, and then store. We have another five rows to go!

You Would Think My Brother Was . . . . . . . .

The proud father. I have just received a phone call from my brother who lives in Australia. He delivered the exciting news that their dog, Gemma, has produced 5 puppies. Gemma had been a naughty girl with a Kelpie (whatever that is - I presume a variety of dog!!!!!) and my brother and family had not even noticed Gemma's expanding waistline until a week ago. The Younger Daughter acted as midwife and with the help of Eldest Son they revived two of the puppies that needed midwife type attention. All you dog lovers, follow the link above and view these rather adorable looking puppies. Jamie has promised to post some photos regularly during their development.

Iron Horses and . . . . . . . . . .

Their riders !!!

We love the atmosphere, smell, heat and smoke of the steam engines - they were showing off at their annual visit to Kemble.

We watched the static displays - sawing wood for this engine and their team.

More to come (for those of you not bored by now?)

The Trouble With Under Floor Heating Is . . . . . . .

We cannot store any of our glut of veg on the kitchen floor!!! Apart from that problem the under floor heating is marvellous!

Our garage, (being new-build) does not have a second skin so it becomes damp with the rain seeping though the walls. Husband and I have spent many a merry hot dry day (in the dim distant past) painting on "Aquaseal" to the outside of the walls. We cannot store our veg in the garage. We have no utility room either! We have no garden shed either!

The freezer is full with french and broad beans. Yesterday we dug half a row of potatoes from the plot down the road and these are now being stored in a box on top of a kitche cupboard. We have six more rows of potatoes to dig!!!!! The neighbours are going to be pleased with regular offerings of beetroot (now the size of a bowl, as in bowling green!!!!), french beans and probably potatoes. Bother - I have just looked out of window and it is raining again - meant to go and pick some more beans before they grow enormous and hard. Sorry - that does not sound very nice!

The Airing Cupboard

We are experiencing a glut of vegetables in our own garden as well as the plot down the road which we are helping to cultivate. Husband decided to pull up the "Red Baron" onions because the wet weather will encourage mould. The greenhouse has now become an airing cupboard and the onions are drying out nicely. We have an army of beetroot which are alarmingly developing from tennis ball size to football size - we cannot eat them fast enough so the neighbours are called in to help devour the crop. The same can be said for french and broad beans - we now have half a freezer full. It gives us a lovely feeling when we sail past the veg section in the supermarket - what a price they charge!

Incidentally, this new-build house does not have the luxury of an airing cupboard - perhaps when the onions are shifted I can use the greenhouse?

Mad Dog Is An Englishman Who . . . . . . . . .

goes out in the evening chill. We have friends who play in an orchestra who were performing last night at Lynham RAF base. We arrived complete with picnic paraphernalia. Lynham was no different from any other air base - in other words windy! The poor orchestra discovered that their stage with inflatable roof had a hole in it!!!! We settled down to the picnic. I had suggested, earlier in the day, that we took a thermos of hot coffee/tea. "Oh no - wine will be plenty" was the general consensus. I really wish we had had a hot drink to warm us up! I ended up looking like an indian squaw bundled up in the blanket we usually keep in the car for emergencies - this was an emergency!

The Steel Ghost

One of our friends is a retired Cathay Pacific Captain and he informed us that the first jumbo acquired by Cathay was arriving at Kemble to be scrapped. Our friend, I gather, was the first in the company to fly it. There was excitement as a party at "AV8" near the control tower at Kemble was going to be held in honour of this jumbo. Well - we looked out for this monster to arrive. Nothing appeared to lumber out of the skies within our vision. Our friends said it was rumoured to have arrived. There is no hangar big enough for a jumbo. The party came and went - they did not see the jumbo.

Husband and I think have this theory - our friend probably never flew a jumbo, it was a figment of his imagination and he was flying around the world in never never land ???

Famous Last Words!

I have been putting my feet up (see last post) and have been watching the TV enjoying the destruction of the Aussie cricket team (this will annoy my brother who lives in Oz)!!! Let us hope we can maintain our dominance of this match and produce a win!

I Am Typing This Standing Up!

I endured a scary scary angiogram yesterday - medical procedures and me do not seem to mix very well! I did not respond to the local anaesthetic used to numb the area around the femoral artery so the angiogram had to be carried out regardless. It was extremely painful and one feels disorientated as the x-ray cameras swoop around taking pictures whilst one is holding one's breath. I ended up uncontrollably shaking - the staff were excellent and soon put me to rights. The good news is that a change of pills will probably sort me out.

Today I am very sore and cannot sit down - lying down and standing are fine! No driving or excessive exercise for a week so I have the perfect excuse to goggle watch The Open and The Ashes for the next couple of days - the trouble is I am spoilt for choice - which one should I watch?

We Love Our Blackbird - but . . . . . . . . .

he is having a running battle with Husband over the redcurrants, strawberries and raspberries at the moment. Blackbird sings very sweetly most of the day high in an Ash tree near our garden and we admire his singing but also wonder why he is not helping his wife feed the babies. (typical man ??). In the evening it is a different story. Blackbird swoops down to feast on our soft fruit - we let him because we love his singing!

Best Foot Forward

Today was the dreaded ECG on treadmill test at Gloucester Royal. Husband had to drive me as I am hopeless with directions. We left very early to avoid the usual bottleneck at The Air Balloon Roundabout and arrived in good time. Treadmill was fine even with wonky knees but unfortunately the ECG still shows irregularities so next week Husband is having to drive me to Cheltenham for an angiogram. I think I probably have my mother's "bad" genes and so I am not expecting good news. I feel pretty frustrated - I do not smoke or drink and I swim to keep myself in good shape despite the knees. Oh well - best to tackle these problems head on and get oneself fixed!

Things That Go Clank In the Night

In this hot weather we have been having I have my bedroom window open wide at night. The thing is, the friendly farmer has plonked this aluminium calf feeder in the field just outside. The calves find their way inside to eat their supplement but of course the mother cows cannot which is the object of the exercise. The cows feel they are being short changed and bash and bang away trying to find a way in. At night the clang clang of the feeder keeps me awake! I wish the powers that be had designed this contraption to at least make the sound of Trinidadian kettle drums - the cows would be dancing and swaying to the music and so would I!

Boom Boooom Boom

I woke up in the middle of Thursday night with my heart racing like Formula One. Husband and I contemplated dialling 999 but thought the dee daa dee daa would wake up the village! We drove via Cirencester Hospital to Swindon Great Western and I entered the nightmare of the ping ping ping of heart monitors in the Acute Care Unit -the noisiest place on earth as the medics rush round carrying out their expert care. I must say all tests were carried out at speed - good for the NHS. Back to the peace of the countryside today but more ECG's etc etc soon!

Meet Blue And His Lady Friends

This is "Blue" and he is residing in the field behind our garden along with his lady friends.

I find the constant movement of this herd very restful - I am sure they pretend they are on the high plains in wide open country instead of five interlinked fields. I love the twitching ears, flicking of tails and gentle moos. The calves are quite grown up now and cannot dodge under the electric fence - I think our veg plot looks very enticing to them!

Kemble Kontortions

These are the views we saw from our garden during the Kemble Air Day. The Vulcan Bomber . . . . . . . .

The Red Arrows . . . . . . . . . . .

Even our resident blackbird was silenced for the day!

Tumultuous Terrifying Typhoons

Today we had a terrific afternoon at the friendly "AV8" cafe situated next to the Control Tower at Kemble Airfield. The reason why we were there - Kemble Airday takes place (over two days) this weekend. Lots of the planes were arriving, rehearsing and then landing - it was very busy - both in the air and at the cafe. We decided we had a better show than the paying spectators will experience. The aircraft (I gather from Husband) are not allowed within 50 feet either side of the spectator area, but we, the day before, were not considered spectators and the aircraft flew right overhead of us. The highlight was the arrival and display of two Euro-Fighter Typhoons - the noise was shattering, the ground shook, car alarms were set off - but what fun!

Somewhere in the cafe area was Husband with our neighbours.

Kemble control tower keeping everything in order!

We shall have a good weekend because our house back garden looks over the valley towards the airfield - we shall sit outside with a BBQ and a good bottle of wine and watch, amongst others a display by The Red Arrows and a Vulcan Bomber.

I am very amused - whenever I post about aircraft I receive no comments - surely I am not the only tomboy around?