Sunny.

Sunny and windy again today. At times it felt quite muggy as if thunderstorms were brewing but not a sign of thunder. Right now at 9.00 the sun is setting behind glowing pink and orange clouds. 

I feel I've had a productive day which always boosts my mood. This morning a chap and his wife came and loaded their car up with tools, workbenches and even several trays of handles & other door fittings carefully saved over the last 35 years (our house and my mother's). I was thrilled to have so much stuff continuing to be useful and extra happy that it would be benefitting a whole group of people through the men's shed that is being set up locally. With so much gone and more too, hopefully, I was able to have yet another sort out of the garage and now it is possible to walk down the whole length of it. That also means less to go in the moving van when the time comes.

My next job was to bring up the ladder from the garage and squidge more translucent sealant along one side of the conservatory roof. The last time it rained heavily water was still dripping in at one corner. With luck the rain will now stay out. As I had the ladder set up I washed the roof using soapy water to clean off the winter's growth of algae. I was able to reach most of the roof by using a broom to push the cloth almost to the furthest corners.

Then it was time to throw out the wallflowers from the front garden and replace them with some of the plants I want to take with us. So far I've planted some of the very tall crocosmia and the dicentra. I plan to take the knautia as well but it is just about to flower so I'll wait a while as it probably won't like being dug up.

We managed to get some time sitting outside in the sun and reading chatting. There are plenty of trees around and birdsong filled the air over the background of town traffic. Peter was taking a phone call when the air ambulance helicopter flew overhead making for the hospital then circled round for a second approach, a little on the noisy side!

When we met up with the family at Priddy, Romas and Laura gave Peter several packs of Staffordshire Oatcakes which he is very fond of. He's now using up the second pack which had been in the freezer and I treated myself to one with my usual salad supper. Traditionally they are filled with savoury breakfast or supper items and eaten warm but I just grated some strong Cheddar cheese on top and then microwaved it. Unconventional but very tasty.

Warm.

The wind changed direction at first bringing warm air and then lots of sun too. That fitted in with my plan to have a sort out of the garage. I moved the car so that I had plenty of room to put things out in front of the garage. A lot including many spare plant pots and gardening equipment was photographed and put up on the free FB page and after double checking with Peter a whole lot of stuff put aside for the chap from the men's woodworking project who is possibly coming tomorrow. I also swept out the centre of the garage and put some more damaged cardboard boxes in the recycling bag for tomorrow's collection. I kept so much d.i.y. stuff because I didn't know what we might need in our new home and because I still try and fool myself that I can still do most jobs albeit a bit slower. I now know that doing everything that I did in past years has consequences if I try the same now. Not that we aren't keeping a basic tool kit including drills and one workmate for small projects. Peter tried to persuade me that we might need the small electric chainsaw which I never used anyway. There isn't anything in the garden that even needs a bow saw, no trees just very overgrown bushes.

After all that work I rewarded myself by getting out the sun loungers  and settling down with a book to wait for Peter to finish his admin and join me. Unfortunately he didn't get too long outside as grey clouds soon filled the sky. I took in the washing, most of which was dry and hung a couple of items up in the conservatory to finish drying there.

Out in the front garden the yellow loosestrife has begun to flower creating yet more colour clashes. Bright yellow, lavender, deep red, pink, white and orange all contribute to the cacophony of colours. I'll just have to pretend to myself that it's all part of a cottage garden plan. Out in the back garden the colours are better positioned, the yellow and orange nasturtiums and orange shades cosmos are in the planter down by the house next to all the pots of different crocosmia with white, pinks and purples in the rest of the garden. That is until the Black eyed Susan grows up the trellis and produces its orange flowers. 

Wet.

A miserable cold, wet day today though it did mean I didn't have to water the garden. My jacket got soaked just going over to the garage with a lady who was picking up more tools, large wrenches this time.

I had to collect our prescriptions from town so waited until it got a bit drier in the afternoon. The best way to stave off the rain was to wear wellies and carry an umbrella according to popular myths and it worked for me. At least when I got to the chemist they had most of our medicines ready (Peter had rung them first to check), just missing one for me but I still have plenty of that left. I didn't have much shopping on my list but when I went into Wilko's for some shampoo I found these silver gift boxes at half price. I'd seen them at Christmas and thought they would be perfect for my home made truffles but never got round to buying any. 

Peter cooked a Chinese style stir fry this evening and I indulged in one prawn toast, so delicious but so full of calories and several spring rolls to go with my salad followed by fresh mango. A three course feast.

Sunny.

A lot of sun, wind and clouds today. We had a phone call first thing booking another viewing for later in the day. So the whole house got hoovered, cleaned and tidied. The lady was quite reserved and we think it's either a definite No or a definite Yes but more likely No.

The garden tools were collected in the morning and they took the mattock as well thank goodness. I can't bear the thought of throwing tools away. Another person was supposed to be picking up a tub of pliers in the afternoon but never showed up. 

Peter went out in the morning to take the camper back to the place that did the service and habitation check. We noticed that the tap which didn't leak before was dripping into the sink which is a nuisance especially if you want to store things in the sink when travelling. They claimed it was nothing to do with them and said maybe we need a new tap. Peter's going to ring around a few other places before we get it done. I'm quite fed up with that garage but campers are quite specialist and few places around here will do work on them. 

Windy.

A cold strong wind has been blowing from the north making the day quite cool even in the sunny morning. I went off to do some shopping and at one point the clouds darkened as if we were due a downpour but the most we got were a few spits of rain.

In the afternoon we sorted out more items in the garage to offer for free and despite Peter's misgivings I had people asking for them almost straight away. Going to new homes are assortments of pliers, wrenches and outdoor tools, a fork, spade, pickaxe and a well used (by me) log splitting axe. They're being collected tomorrow morning and maybe the person will also take an old mattock that didn't get any takers. These were the tools that symbolised my outdoor activities, gardening and clearing ground. Luckily I won't have to attempt these any more in my less able dotage.

Mostly Wet.

Lots of rain today. Not that serious at first but constant then heavy and soaking. I finally got around to sorting out the big cupboard in my study. I'm trying to get everything 'move ready' so that things are either in or ready to put in boxes when the big day comes. I was able to put a few more things on the free FB page. A box of computer cables was picked up today and the lad also took a second box of cables that I'd come across.

In the afternoon I curled up on the sofa and did more darning of the large crochet/mohair throw. To finish off and do a good job I still need to climb back up into the loft to find more matching wool in big box of wool. 

One of our new neighbours in Borth sent me this photo of the garden taken many years ago when the garden was at its best. It would be nice to restore it and make an improved cottage garden style garden but I'm not following that idea as I know my back would not hold out. At least I can see where all the hard landscaping is and I'm already getting ideas for recycling what is there. I thought the soil would be similar to that in Devon as the geology looks to be the same but the pink of the hydrangeas shows that it's not very acid. I'll have to save some old horseshoes and iron to put in the soil around the hydrangeas to turn them blue. The lawn would be too much to maintain and will be replaced with paving and raised planters. There'll still be a 'lawn' in the front, front garden ie. the cliff top which the council mows.

Sunny.

Lots of sun and wind again today. The Italian couple came along with their son for a second viewing this afternoon. They stayed for an hour and a quarter busily measuring rooms. We printed off the estate agent's floorplan with measurements for them but the measurements were up to 10 cms out so they did their own measuring. We got the impression they like the place but following their conversations with our minimal Italian they are concerned that their furniture might not fit. I know that when we were looking for a place in town we had to rule out many places because the main bedrooms weren't big enough for our superking (6ft) bed. The newer the property the smaller the rooms often with only room for a standard double (4ft 6ins) or if you're lucky a king (5ft) sized bed. 

My morning was spent hoovering, washing floors and generally tidying and once the people had left it wasn't long before it was time to prepare supper and do my exercises. I didn't even have time to practice my music once I'd watered the plants. I've decided that I'll spend the money I got for the round table on some varieties of agapanthus but it's the wrong time of year to get them from the specialist growers and I need to wait until next spring. I think the climate in Borth is going to be similar to the Isles of Scilly and agapanthus plants grew well in many gardens there.

To avoid Speedy disappearing out of the front door or into the back garden I put his harness and lead on him. Our viewers probably thought I was a mad cat lady.

Sunny at Times.

Today has been partly sunny, partly cloudy and windy throughout. We had two phones calls today giving us the good news that the chap from yesterday's viewing is coming for a second viewing tomorrow and the other from our builder in Borth letting us know that the insides of the external walls are in a poor state and will need to removed before the extra insulation goes on. Although the builder appears trustworthy and is sending photos this is where it helps having another person keeping an eye on things for us. We've been expecting to find more things that need fixing as the builders get to work so we're not in a panic.

I was going to walk into town today but then decided that as the only thing I needed to do was to take a bag of things to the charity shop I wouldn't bother. Peter was going in anyway so I got him to take the bag to the shop. There were a few mutterings of 'Are you sure they want this stuff?' but he eventually took it with him.

Apart from my usual routine, and I even got my music practice in which sometimes gets left out, I simply pottered about or searched for things on the internet. Quite a relaxing day.

Another Viewing.

We had a lovely sunny morning but then a cold haze blew in from the sea making it a lot colder. The estate agent rang in the morning booking a viewing later on today with the couple who were looking at the house last night. That gave me a whole day to hoover everywhere, give some floors a wash and finish off tidying up in the garden. It's all rather grey now but at least the rhododendron and the rose bush are looking good.

……. Well they've been, a very friendly Italian couple who both work locally. They spent a long time looking at everything but we didn't get the impression that they loved the place. They wanted a bigger dinning area and smaller sitting room which could easily be done by moving the partition wall between the two rooms. Hopefully we won't have to wait too long for a buyer. 

Tonight I said goodbye to the small pine table. I've always liked that table but sadly there isn't a place for it in our new home. I advertised it on Gumtree for a small amount and tonight a chap came for it. It was a bit of a struggle getting it out of the conservatory and through all the doorways. I really thought it wouldn't go through the front door but it had come in that way and eventually we squeezed it through. I have to say the conservatory looks enormous now. If we end up moving out before this place is sold at least all the empty rooms will appear much larger.

Sunny.

It was another lovely day so we headed out for a walk around Morte Point. As we found out later at home in the back garden anywhere that was sheltered from the wind was really hot but our walk was refreshed by the cold breeze.

On our drive out the hedgerows were filled with wild flowers and out on the Point the thrift was blooming prettily. On the other side of the hill were fields of foxgloves. 

Before catching more sun out in the back garden I took Speedy to the vet for a check of his feet, they are healing but need more time and steroids before they heal fully and the cone can come off. That little visit cost me £45. 

It's recycling day tomorrow so I tore up a couple of cardboard boxes in the garage that were too damaged to reuse and they're now out with the recycling box. I had a bit of a general sort out in the garage which is beginning to look a little emptier.

I went off on my own to choir tonight as Peter has finally decided it's not for him. He's found that he does like singing in a choir and when we move he'll look around for a male voice choir which stick to more traditional songs- folk songs/ sea shanties as he doesn't like many of the songs we sing in choir especially the pop songs. Coming home I was putting out the recycling boxes when I was approached by a couple who asked if this was the house that was for sale. We don't have a sign up but they were looking at an on-line photo. I told them it was, so maybe they'll book a viewing. I certainly wasn't going to ask them in for a look around so late in the evening.

Yet more sunshine today. It was so nice that I did my afternoon exercise session  outside on the decking before heading out for Pilates. We did more stretching and flexibility work rather than fast paced movements which suited me. 

Apart from getting some washing out on the line I baked a batch of the peanut butter and chocolate cookies. I was talking to Peter as I weighed out the ingredients so put rather more flour in than usual (my hand written recipe has the original and half measures) so I gave it an extra dollop of peanut butter. Also I forgot to get any more vanilla essence so had to leave it out but Peter says they're still delicious. 

Once the cookies were done I went down to the garage to sort out more stuff to give away or throw out. Giving away stuff works well apart from when people say they want something and then don't arrange to come and collect. It's also acceptable to leave things outside your front door in a bag to be collected which is what happened today with a fancy woodworking vice kit. I waited for 2 weeks for the first person to make arrangements, got fed up and offered it to the next person. The page rules make it quite clear that it is up to the donor to decide who gets an item and it doesn't need to be the first person to respond. The garage is beginning to look clearer as I work my way through the boxes.

This afternoon Peter and I went through the electricians summary of the electrical work marking things on a plan of the bungalow. (All the wiring is going to be replaced.) We did walk around the place with the electrician and he marked the walls but he wanted confirmation as he's about to start work. There were some things we really couldn't be precise about. The bathroom, in phase 2 or 3 will be completely stripped out and turned into a wet room and an outside window added so how on earth so we know where the lights will be? Peter spoke to the electrician and I think the plan is to install enough wiring to cover eventualities and make final decisions later on. At least it's good to know work is about to start.

The wallflowers are nearly over so I pulled out most of the ones under the kitchen window and replaced them with cosmos seedlings. That's just about all the seedlings planted out apart from a couple of pots of Black Eyed Susan which may or may not grow.

Sunny.

Another bright day cooled by a welcome breeze. Today, instead of doing up the  hoovering over two days I did the whole lot in one go just to get it done.

In the afternoon I carried on sorting out which plants to take to Wales. I moved some of the H. geraniums out of a planter and into pots which only leaves the knautia and dicentra from the front garden which will go into a big tub once the wallflowers are over. I also planted out the Black-eyed Susan seedlings at the back of a planter where hopefully they'll climb up the canes and over the trellis. After the destruction of the morning glory by slugs I made sure to sprinkle out slug pellets around the delicate seedlings.

Speedy had another chance to enjoy the sun in the back garden wearing his harness. This time I kept my eye on him the whole time. He mainly wanted to groom himself and when he started on his back legs I held his feet in my hands to stop him getting to the sore bits. That worked though eventually I took him back inside so that I could sit out and read in the sun.

Sunny.

It has been a bright sunny day with a good drying breeze. I wasn't going to do the washing but then I thought it would be better not to have the bed stripped down if we happen to have more viewings.

I've been putting stuff from the garage on the Free FB page and today the lady who had the old wheelbarrow came along with husband and kiddies for more gardening and building stuff. She'd even asked if I wanted anything for it but I told her I was happy to see it going on to be of use. Nevertheless I was touched when she gave me a box of chocolates anyway.

I tried Speedy again with his harness and took him out to enjoy some sun in the back garden. All was going well until I took my eye off him for a second to pull up some tiny weeds and there he was getting a sneaky lick of his foot. The sores are now smaller than cigarette burns and I certainly don't want to start the whole thing back up again so it was back inside and on with the cone for Speedy.

I spent a couple of sessions out at the front of the garden trimming the two 'blob' bushes and then trimming the lawn edges to keep everything looking neat. I then had anther try at removing the blade from the lawnmower. The current one is so blunt it's not doing a very good job. I found the perfect tool to fit over the nut and with the use of some silicone spray and remembering to turn the nut the 'wrong' way I got it to turn. I turned and turned the nut but although it was going round nothing else seemed to be happening. The manufacturers probably want you to buy a new mower rather than just a blade. There's no point in us buying another mower as I intend to get rid of the grass in the Borth garden eventually.

Overcast.

A quick post as we stayed up late (for us) watching the Eurovision Song Contest. At least I watched and Peter slept through most of it. It's a fun spectacle and even though the results don't matter I get caught up in watching the results come in. 

Though overcast today it wasn't too cold. I moved some plants around filling in gaps in the front garden with spare hardy geraniums. I even took a spreading H. geranium which I have renamed The Thug and planted it in a patch of waste ground by the steps that lead to the next road. There it can spread as much as it likes and there'll be pretty purple flowers to brighten up the neighbourhood. For my pains I got stung by stinging nettles all up my leg. Anti-histamine cream works for a bit but they're still tingling.

Early in the evening I went and sang with the choir at the start of the Nightwalk, a ladies only fundraising walk for our local hospice. There were a thousand walkers this year spread over a number of routes and we were positioned at the Barnstaple end. I began looking for familiar faces as the walkers went past then realised that most people who live in Barnstaple would be walking from Bideford to Barnstaple rather than in the other direction. At least it stayed dry though there was a little light rain as I drove back home again.