A stiff upper lip.

Yesterday we slaved over the decorating all morning, gardened for a couple of hours, G mowed the lawns, then I washed down the ceiling (yuk) & rubbed down the paintwork.
At this point I had a shower to wash off all of the dust, then noticed a strange noise from the airing cupboard.
On closer inspection I noticed a pipe pissing water all over the place, but mainly down through the hall ceiling.
The hall was flooded, the light fitting was full & water coming out of the light switches & down the scullery wall.
Best of all, the paper was ballooned off the walls for about two feet from the top of the wall.
We stripped the paper from the walls & ceiling & then I scrubbed the floors & brillo-ed off the paint, wearing a miners lamp. This took two hours.
G had a bonfire & we eventually collapsed on the settee & had a meal (quiche & salad) at 10.45pm.
I cannot believe it.
The hall was just finished & looked great.
We now have to do half of it again.
We have ordered another £90 worth of paper, which will arrive on Monday.
Hopefully it will have dried out by then.
Worse things happen at sea - they probably get a lot of flooding.

Anyway, today I had a few hours off for good behaviour & to take on provisions & take a load of paperbacks & oddments to the charity shop.
B, T & KP arrived at teatime, by which time I had baked two "not prize-winning" entries for the show, tomorrow.
The sponge was delicious & we had it for desert, with cream.
The shortbread was superb, B & G ate some with their coffee.
I may try another cake in the morning, if I can be bothered.
We shall take T & KP to the show. I hope it's fine.

Officially, the wettest July since 1888.
The second wettest year that Hollylands has ever witnessed & no leaks (apart from man-made!)

monsoon!

We woke up to rain.
It did almost stop during breakfast, but not for long.
It then rained for the rest of the day, much of the yard is under water & the lawns remain unmown.
No tennis, so I arranged the family photos in a measured, hall-wall size area on the lounge floor, in preparation for re-hanging then stripped the rest of the paper in the study before going to The Dog for lunch with the ladies from tennis.I've not been there for many years - it hasn't changed, apart from the curtains.
We had a nice meal (fish & chips, lemon tart. I left at least half of the chips) & a good gossip.
G had gone to see P so I took the opportunity to pop to Ventura Park to take on provisions ready to do some baking for the show & B, T & KP's visit at the weekend.
M&S did lure me in & I found the odd bargain in their sale, submerged in a vast array of shapeless crud.

The Met Office are back-tracking on their forecast of a hot summer, denying they ever said it.
They have said that we may have a dry spell tomorrow!

We are going to get up early & get on with the decorating tomorrow.
I shall not wear my new T-shirt!

Tuesday already,

Up before 7.00am & rearing to go - cleaning windows inside & out, following the brick dust coating from the pointing, I did the dining room, so now it only lacks radiators, then went to Sutton with G.
I had a potter around for half an hour while G was at the chiro, then we had a snack at O'Neills pub.
We shopped in Poundland & Aldi - you can't say that we're not doing the "credit crunch" bit.
Actually Poundland is brill for toiletries & you never need check the price.
They had Daktarin foot powder, which is £4 in Boots.
We got the hall clock face reglazed & took a couple of old framed photos & a painting into the Little Gallery in Coleshill to be done up.
We have to re-hang the photos in the hall - still lacking a W, K, J & DK photo to hang.

Came home & stripped most of the study, finished at 8.00pm.
This will be the third time I have decorated this, last time was for W, when he was a teenager,
The room was relatively empty then.
It's such a lovely light room, my favourite bedroom, with a great view across the field, it was my bedroom for the short time that we lived here before I was married,
Aunt Mollie (1902 - 1989) was the last person to decorate it before me, when she lived at home, in about 1020, I suppose.
She did the ceiling dark blue with gold & silver splodges for stars & planets.

Tennis tomorrow, then out to lunch.
I'll have to work extra hard in the afternoon & evening, to make up!
Effective, but very dark as the ceiling is so low.

P, A, J & T home safe & sound.

The rain is coming down every day so the grass is growing fast!

The mower is also broken having choked on long grass and flipped the v belt effectively knackering it. Parts on order but what to do meantime?

Gill is complaining of course, I'll probably have to give her some gears before long!

All this wet weather and the usual crap on TV means that we have resorted to watching the last stages of the Tour de France. Spectacularly good results for the UK!

Thoght you might enjoy the retro aspects of the 1940 version.

PS. I played tennis this morning, the weather was perfect.

There was an almighty thunder storm shortly after I got home.

We have started emptying the study - what a mound of stuff.

Unfortunately it has to go into the tidy rooms.

Anyone want any cassettes or a Kipps apparatus or a map of London or .........?

Painting fini!

Well, the hall, stairs & landing anyway.
Tomorrow we can put the things back & then start on the study.
G has cleaned the insects out of the picture frames, ready for re-hanging, so we just have to agree on the layout. What on earth do insects find attractive inside a picture frame anyway?

This morning I took the services at Shustoke & O Whitacre, then we went to P&A's to tidy the garden.
It has rained a lot & is still raining. Saves watering the hanging baskets, I suppose.
Tennis tomorrow, if it stops.

Auntie Nora is in hospital with pneumonia & complications so I will visit tomorrow. I'll take some liqueurs as I don't think that they'll let whisky in.
Shustoke Show next Saturday, - it's a really big show nowadays with all sorts of stalls & shows. We're hoping to take T & KP.
Perhaps I'll do some baking!

Have a good week.

Where's the rain?

Today was dry & even sunny at times.
We are now programmed to expect rain at regular intervals during the day, never go out without a coat &/or umbrella, just like when we were kids.
Anyway, today it didn't.
I got two loads of washing dry & even the lawn was dry by lunchtime.
G was unable to mow the lawns as the fault with the mower turned out to be a broken belt, too late to get a replacement.
I went to Coleshill to post the invitations to the Rossington family & buy milk & a paper, wrote my sermon, on the feeding of the 5000, got ticked off for taking too long, had lunch & then got on with the painting, until 9.00pm.
It is now finished, apart from a bit of touching up here & there.
The thing with anaglypta is that you can always find a bit that got missed, however many times you check.
The missed bit is behind the bookcase on the landing, or would be.
Bother.

I've made the bed up, cooked a Spanish omelet & salad & chilled.
The TV is rubbish at the weekends so I'm off to bed.
Please let it stay dry long enough for G to mend the mower & mow the lawns.
I suppose that you can buy belts on Sundays.

Still painting!

We knocked off at 6.00pm last night as we had friends - Karen (from school) & Gordon, Di & Steve.
G put the porch back together & cleared the kitchen whilst I cooked lardons & croutons, for the salad, coq au vin & blackberry crumble.
We had an enjoyable evening, watched the end of Question Time & came to bed, knackered.
I shopped quickly in Coleshill yesterday morning & realised how limited it is now.
There is no longer a greengrocer (there were two) or a bakers or a butcher. There is no alternative to Somerfield, which is limited & poorly managed.
There are four Indian restaurants in the High Street, two hairdressers, a manicurist, two estate agents, a travel agent & a gift shop, amongst a few "proper " shops.
A sign of changing priorities, I suppose.

G is working today & then on to P & A's to sort out the plumbing leaks.
I shall be painting, on the whole & listening to Radio 4, including repeats.

Have a nice day!

Wet & windy....

This may be the reason that we have no wireless connection as a branch is fouling the telephone cable.

G will deal with it shortly & then contact BT if no solution.

We have been decorating from early morning until late in the evening for what seems like a lifetime now.

I have to admit that I have played tennis on Monday & Wednesday, to have a blow of fresh air & did take rather longer than I was allowed when sent to Solihull to buy more paint yesterday - there was no food left & I did need to take on supplies.

I did do 2 hours painting before I went to tennis on Monday, this morning I just slept!

The porch is all but finished so we are now on the long haul of painting the anaglypta in the hall & landing - hard work & great heights.

I have reached the woodwork on the landing, so only about a dozen turned balustrades along the landing & 5 doorframes to go.

G has gone to buy yet more paint & visit the gym - he is unshaven, with bags under his eyes due to a lack of fresh air & sunshine.
I hope that it does him good.

A gale was blowing this morning & we played tennis on "The Rock" - the most exposed court, as there are coaching sessions each morning this week for very small people.

W took part in these about 25 years ago - I took W & B's tennis racquets to the Charity shop this week - wooden framed Dunlop & Wilson models. They want £6 each for them!

I hope that the sun is shining on the holiday-makers.

At least our weather is good for decorating indoors.

Has J escaped on his bike yet?

Back to the s

Lazy Sunday.

I have missed church, not waking up until 9.37am.
This is due to a disturbed night, brought on by a number of factors:
We stood up all day yesterday.
We were decorating until about 7.00pm. I did the cutting & pasting whilst G "hung". We had a snack lunch, which we ate standing in the kitchen.
I think that this may have been because we were sticky &/or we didn't want to sit down & get comfortable.
I have to admit to having taken an hour out mid-afternoon to go to the hairdressers (sitting).
I now have a "classic bob", which looked great at the time & feels good.
Anyway I had cramp in the front of my shins regularly & spent a good part of the night walking around.

We spruced up & went for a meal when the hall papering was finished.
We started at The Bear at Berkswell, sat in the nearly empty bar for bar service, as the restaurant was full. The drinks were fine, the menus were covered with food,nuts were mostly dust from the bottom of the bag, the roasted field mushroom starters, stuffed with Camembert with a crispy herb topping were tepid. I doubt that they had time to become familiar with the inside of an oven.
I couldn't eat mine, so sat with it for 20 minutes or so awaiting the main course, then gave up, took it back, explained it's shortcomings & that we were losing the will to live & would like to go home, which we did, money refunded & apologies made.
We ordered a takeaway from The Polash, sauntered around the byways of Coventry whilst it cooked, & ate a prawn puri & chicken dhansak at some very late hour.
G is filling (I am surprised we have any doorways let alone air vents left.
He is an enthusiastic filler!)
G will the paint ceilings.
I am about to start painting the woodwork - only 13 door frames & skirtings, two coats of eggshell on each.
Finished by tea-time then.

TGIF

Well, not really.
All life's a weekend when you retire!
Best alternative for tgif will win a prize - go for it, aj.

Having had no comments for ages, there were 5 in all on the last blog as charity shop donations were considered.
How do you decide , when sorting out,
1) what goes back?
2)what goes in the bin?
3)what goes to the charity shop?
4)what will be worth taking to a car boot sale?
5) Things worth a significant amount that "I'll sell on e-bay" , one day.

I think that too much falls into 1, too little into 2. The garage loft & part of the factory is full of boxes awaiting a fine weekend when we are free to do a car boot, hoping aj can come & help.
I have yet to get up the nerve to get involved with e-bay.
I'm sure that W will say "bin the lot".

Today was a Thomas day. We lunched at M&S following a gentle stroll around the shops during which T was meant to fall asleep. he didn't.
We finally shopped in JS, T holding my hand & the basket on the top of the buggy.
Sadly, the second bottle of wine was the straw that broke the camel's back; the basket fell over the top leaving all of the shopping swimming in a rather nice Australian rose.
The biggest supermarket disaster since Ben stood on a packet of lard in the trolley in 1981 or possibly the dropped strawberry jam at the checkout some years later.
Does W remember the day he ran the full length of JS in Coventry with my trolley, to hide it.
I remember the surprised look on the face of the woman whose trolley he had actually run off with as she selected her cereals.
He was only about 15 at the time, in school uniform.

Well prepared...

Cracks filled, paintwork rubbed down & walls washed.
Not too long before we can start with the painting & papering.
It's not too painful really as all of the rooms that we use are normal except for a distinct shortage of radiators.
We have done some sorting out & filled the car boot ready for a trip to the charity shop, parting with lots of books, oddments, antique squash & tennis racquets, etc..
There's a lot more to sort out yet, when we move on to the next rooms.

I had a good game of tennis this morning, whilst G laboured, then we prepared the porch after lunch.
I have spoken to lots of people on the phone & feel well abreast of life in general.
I have to go to school tomorrow to collect my work . I've made a scrummy coffee cake for break in the science department - penultimate day!
Happy holidays.

IS THERE ANYONE OUT THERE?
HOW ABOUT A COMMENT!

Rain, rain, go away........

An amazing storm has just passed over, at high speed, blocking out the TV sound for some minutes. This was poor timing as we are watching "What's really in our food", which is good stuff.
I am very disappointed that M&S lochmuir salmon does not come from Lochmuir.
There is no such place.
It does come from a Scottish Loch, where it is farmed.
Final message, don't eat pies (unless you or your mum made them)

I went to KS this morning to talk through the work for September. I'll have to go back on Thursday to collect the paperwork & textbooks, as they weren't ready.
I met G at the radiator place to check the colours, then home to lunch & sanding paintwork, whilst G went to the chiro.
The decorating is coming on well & the rest of the house is still live- able.

There was a fascinating programme on radio 4 about Masquerade, Kit Williams' book leading to the golden hare. aj spent some time trying to crack that one back in the 70's.

I have lost another lb & am having a Benedictine, to celebrate.
Tennis tomorrow whilst G does something dusty.

The government is considering compulsory insurance to pay for care in old age.
Can they charge pensioners, or have we escaped?
Another bl..... tax.

Man on roof.

No blog as the Internet has been unco-operative.

The builder is now on the flat roof, repointing & repairing bits. Apparently the roof is in good nick otherwise. The lounge gable & chimney looks good & the scaffolding is coming down today, hence the car is parked outside.
We are stripping paper in the hall & have selected the paper for the study (the hardest bit).
I've been to play tennis, had some toast & am about to get going at something useful.

Last week I went to KS on Wednesday evening to a quiz to celebrate J Sedgwick's retirement.
I was in a team with Chris, Barrie & Mick - great fun was had & we were only beaten by "une point"
Strangely, JS (& 2/5 other assistant heads) was not there either)

We went to see JR on Thursday & took him to to Frinton on Thursday, before coming home to go to Nesta's retirement do at The Greek Restaurant in Tamworth..
A good evening if somewhat noisy - the venue, not the party.

We sorted out the decorating materials on Saturday - more to do yet, paint never looks the same on the walls as on the chart.
Sunday, P< A & family came for lunch & to blow out the candles on P's cake.
School tomorrow to sort out the work for next term.

Advanced facial day.

W&MK gave me a voucher for a Clarins "advanced facial! at John Lewis, last December.
I feel that I have advanced sufficiently to take advantage of this, so will hopefully be glowing by this afternoon.
I had hoped to have my hair done as well, but "Brian only works on Thursday & Saturday in Coleshill". Bother!
G wants me to go to a "posh" hairdresser but I'm not sure about that.
The good news is that I have lost over 4lb & feel better for it, mainly because my jeans are not so tight!
I played some tennis yesterday, before we were rained off, so I went to the gym.
Solihull had monsoon rain so I arrived home at tea-time steaming. It has only just stopped raining here, so gardening is off the agenda this morning again today.
The man is actually coming to collect the radiators this lunchtime, the lounge chimney & gable is re-pointed, so the repairs are underway.
We will not be able to resist the decorating for much longer.

I'm not convinced about these "Anthony Gormley" bods on the plinth in Trafalgar Square.
Are they nuts?
Who would want to look at them anyway, apart, perhaps, from their loved ones?

Raining again.
I shall take an umbrella!

Happy First Birthday DK.

What a week.
I could say that I had been at Wimbledon all week - just wishful thinking - but I have been very busy.
I have watched the odd few matches, which have all been brilliant; the big TV really came into its own.
Mon - no tennis as the ladies decided that it was too hot - home to skivvying.
Tues - gardening followed by shopping, especially M&S to buy plants with the half-price voucher - an enormous begonia, lavender & a pepper for the pots.
Wed & Thurs - to J & G's to help restore the "garden". Two six hour sessions at 30 degrees +, but we were very pleased with the final result & had the chance to spend a little time with the grandchildren. M provided 5* accommodation.
Fri - to P&A's for a Thomas day, with G, who did some jobs. We spent the afternoon in the garden, tidying up.
We are now available to the highest bidder - garden work, & general labouring undertaken, own tools provided!
Sat - we went to the Belgrade to see "The Tiger Who came to Tea", with T & J, then out to lunch, home to relax for a while & make cakes together for tea then back to P&A's.
We had a lovely day, T&J were a delight. Their conversation in the back of the car was highly entertaining.
Sun - church then gardening, interspersed with Wimbledon watching - we came in at 4.00 to see the final set, which went on for 2 hours!.
I'll finish the digging tomorrow!!.