Mostly Wet.

Rainy morning, dry later on.

The day began brightly as I watched the world from my window. The little boy across the grass headed off with his mum for the first day of school looking smart in his uniform. Work began early at the end house to removed the existing cladding. Plenty of banging and a very squeaky wheelbarrow. The news tells of increasing rates of covid infection though we don't know how much is due to increased testing picking up more cases with mild or even no symptoms. That said I'm hearing about many schools that opened last week already finding cases of covid.

This morning I headed out in the car. First stop was the High Street where I visited the library for more research on the Which web site. This time I was checking out induction hobs and built in ovens. Both are expensive items and with such a vast range available I prefer to check out the reports. I certainly wouldn't just choose from the limited range offered by the kitchen suppliers. Having written down the make and model numbers of the recommended hobs and ovens once I got home I checked out the current prices and suppliers as the prices in Which could be out of date. Prices for both range from £300 to £1,500. No prizes for guessing which end of the range I'll be going for.

Then I drove over to Homebase to buy the above carnivorous plant. I'll looked at them the other day and decided not to get one but as it's the first time I've seen them for sale I eventually gave in. It's a North American pitcher plant, Sarracenia purpurea. I looked up its care on-line and during the winter it needs to go in a cold place where the leaves will turn black and regrow in Spring.

My other pitcher plant, a Nepenthes variety though I haven't been able to identify which since I lost the label, is taking over in the bathroom. This is the first time it's produced pitchers on several stems. I'll try asking about winter care at the garden centre.

I carried on packing this afternoon. This time it was baking tins and saucepans. The packing was the easier part but once I'd emptied the cupboard it needed wiping out which then led to washing the floor. One picture from the dinning room was wrapped in bubble wrap but I held back from doing the same to a big picture in the sitting room because then the room will look so bare. It can wait until next week.

Wet Morning.

Lots of rain in the morning with a brighter afternoon. 

More packing today. This time I tackled the accumulation of boxes in the dinning room that I'd brought home from various shopping trips. Some already packed, others empty but now nearly all of them have been filled. The house is beginning to look so bare. I thought I'd gone for a fairly clean minimalist look but plants and other treasures had invaded all the window sills. I dislike clutter but who can resist a touch of beauty around the place?

I gave myself a little gardening time in the afternoon cutting down more of the buddleia. I also cut back the red Crocosmia Lucifer growing in a tub by the front door and heading to Wales with us as all the crocosmia do well by the sea. Yesterday I counted up the number of plants in pots that I need to pack and thinking that 70+ was an error counted them again today. But it was correct. It's going to be fun having a new garden to plan and make.

That single flower bud which I suspect to be a Japanese anemone still hasn't opened. Maybe because it's only growing in a tiny crack between the two garden walls. 

Cool.

A cool mostly bright day. Dark clouds are gathering and we've just had a few spots of rain which doesn't bode well for the barbecue party going on a couple of doors down. 

Packing today began with going up into the loft to bring down the boxes for my guitar and sword which are now safely packed. Up in the loft I was pleasantly surprised to see quite a few empty boxes including at least half a dozen of the clear plastic underbed boxes. For a break I went outside and cut back more of the buddleia. I will admit that this wasn't so much down to me wanting to leave things tidy for the new owners but more to enjoy the sun on my back and the sound of the birds in the air. That said I did make the effort to prise the plugs  out of the wall once I'd taken down the mount for my sword in the sitting room. I'll fill the holes and dab on a bit of paint later too. 

I finished off the afternoon with some sewing making a headband from some of the offcut from my dressing gown. The hardest part was covering the cut edges and clearing up the scattering of pink fluff from the carpet. 

Cool.

With moving day in sight I had to make myself a countdown chart. I feel justified in getting excited after such a looooooooong wait.

Today has been grey and cool. With Peter busy on the phone making all sorts of arrangements I took myself off to Wickes. I had a quick look at the clearance items in their kitchen and bathroom displays but unfortunately you can't take them out of the store for 8 weeks. No good for us or I would have bought the white ceramic bowl shaped sink, with overflow, for the bathroom. Instead I moved to the electrical section to buy the kitchen light. There I found a fairly standard hemispherical light that takes light bulbs. Then came the choosing of the LED light bulbs. Looking on the display for the 40W E27 bulbs I needed was somewhat confusing. Having worked out that the E27 bulbs all had green packaging there were bayonet fittings, screw fittings and even small screw fittings though those turned out to be a different number. I was muttering away to myself as I wondered if clear bulbs would be brighter than opaque bulbs when another customer, an older gentleman, offered assistance. Even with his help it took a while for us to find a pack of 4 of the correct bulbs. We had a bit of a chat about the lights with integrated bulbs which he said to avoid at all costs due to manufacturing issues.

Once home it was back to packing. Having already had to open up two boxes to find things I needed I'm not going to stick down any more lids until nearer the time. The tool cupboard by the front door is almost empty and some other things packed too. Peter's dealing with things like council tax. Instead of paying second home owners' tax at double the normal rate we didn't have to pay any on Red Roofs as the property had been uninhabitable till now. I cancelled my next blood test at the doctors' and booked Speedy in for his annual immunisation which was due at the end of the month. For some reason I've been thinking Speedy is 15 but looking at his papers I see he is only 10. (It's Patch who would have been 15.) Even so since taking off the bucket he's become a bundle of energy. Come the afternoon he sits on my desk knocking any loose objects onto the floor or fishing for anything on the open keyboard shelf.  

Wet.

Lots of rain this morning filling the garden with sparkles as the light caught the raindrops on the garden plants. It got drier as the day went on with the sun breaking through at times increasing the temperature nicely.

Peter phoned the solicitors in the morning to answer a couple of queries. Naturally he only got to speak to the secretary who doesn't seem to be on the ball but eventually the legal person phoned back and guess what? Completion of contracts should be in 14-18 days. Peter hasn't been able to speak to our moving man yet so we haven't got a date. Now I'll be worrying until the moving man confirms a date. In Borth the builder has taken the roof off one of the two rooms being done and the forecast is set fine for the next few days which should be enough to put the new roof on. 

Even before the news from the solicitor I'd got on with a bit more packing. Or re-packing as I emptied some lighter items that had been packed into smaller boxes a while back and put them into a large box. That then freed up the smaller boxes for heavy stuff from the tool cupboard.  

As I've been awake since 3.30 I put my feet up for a while, watched Grand Designs and had a final look through my kitchen catalogues. Lots of fancy ideas but I think my kitchen layout is more or less sorted and any extras will be best planned once we're there. I love the idea of open shelves but I also like to hide away most of my clutter. I tore out a few pages for ideas and the rest of the catalogues are out for the recycling collection. As I put our recycling out I had to laugh at our large blue tub for glass in which is one coffee jar. As to the other little domestic puzzle, the lone wheelie bin is still here, now standing unwanted by the wall on the other side of the grass.

Update. Whoo Hoo, we have a date. The moving men will be here on the 17th to pack up most of our stuff and then again on the morning of the 18th so we can get away early. Because of working hours they'll not bring our stuff until the next day but we've got the basics in Borth already.

Warm.

A very warm day even though the morning sky was filled with grey clouds. I was out all afternoon shopping etc. and by the time I was at the garden centre I could hear rain pattering on the plastic roofing. Out in the car park it was raining heavily and I needed to put the windscreen wipers on to see where I was going. Half an hour later the rain had stopped and didn't return until just now (5.30).

I'd gone to the garden centre to use my last voucher to buy a second Tulbaghia which I've just found out has the common name Society Garlic. 

As I guessed it can be easily propagated by splitting into the individual cloves. It can be split at any time of the year but best in spring or autumn with 100% success rate. Lots of lovely plants for my seaside garden. I dropped into BJ's as well and bought the only two aeonium plants they had. 

While almost all shoppers are wearing face coverings, maybe due to there usually being a member of staff at the door to remind you, in Tesco's I saw a two young women and an older child without face coverings. I decided to overcome my natural British reserve and asked where their face masks were. I may have been stereotyping but with their cheap fashion clothes and heavy make-up I thought they may have simply decided not to bother. As it was one thanked me for asking and said they didn't need to wear a mask. Hmm! However I couldn't really challenge them further and simply said okay. That was fine but as I walked away I heard one of then say loudly "Some people are so rude." Which was sad. If they really had a valid reason they should be thankful that the rest of us are trying to keep them safe. 

I called in at B&Q hoping to buy the kitchen light we've chosen. But...... when I picked it up from the shelf I saw that it has an integrated light so you have to throw the whole thing away once the bulb goes. No Way. Up on the display wall there was a glass version with a replaceable bulb but no boxes on the shelf. I found a member of staff nearby, which was lucky, but when she checked she told me that they weren't going to be selling that model any more. I asked if I could buy the display model but that wouldn't be possible as it had been plugged in ?? Then there was nobody around in the kitchen/ bathroom area to help me find a cupboard to fit under the small hand basin I rescued. My trip was saved from being a complete waste of time by finding a thin metal rod to use as the centre of the drift wood Christmas tree I plan to make.

Sunny.

Once again it's been a sunny day. 

This morning the relative quiet of our close was shattered by the sound of a workman doing something? with this whirly machine. At first he seemed to be brushing the centre of the paths but then his confidence increased and he brushed away the weeds growing by the garden fences. 

Then he really went to town and began 'tidying' the edges of the central grass. And what a mess he made. The path was covered with soil and plants. When he'd gone round the grass he disappeared and for a while I wondered if that was it. Was I going to have to phone the council to complain? But no, a while later the chap reappeared with a blower thingy and whooshed the debris back on to the grass. Later on I saw evidence of more 'tidying' along the road, areas of dirt and leaves between some much cleaner sections of road and pavement. Who knows how much training this chap had or how little time he was given to do the job?

With the weather due to change soon ie tomorrow I thought it would be sensible to walk into town today to do a few jobs. First stop was Wilko's to get a refund on a couple of packets of toothpicks. Peter likes a particular brand so I'd got him some from Wilko's on my last High St. trip. However when I checked my receipt I was surprised to see they were £2.80 a packet yet when I walked across the street to a chemists the same ones were £1. I was rushing to get back to the car before my hour was up so didn't go back at the time but that's a ridiculous difference. Next stop was to M&S, again for a refund for a bra top (which came in dress sizes) but although they didn't have the next size I ordered one which I can pick up next Monday. (It'll be there sooner but I can't be asked to go in again this week.) I also tried on yet another fluffy dressing gown, I know I've just bought two fluffy dressing gowns from Tesco's but it was the most beautiful shade of grey. However the grey one was not as fluffy and at £28 didn't feel like good value. My final job was to go to the library to use the on-line subscription to Which magazine and read the report on fitted kitchens. They do lab tests on the units etc. as well as getting customer feedback on service and value for money. And you can be certain the views are genuine and not paid for ones. While the results for Wickes and B&Q weren't dreadful I think we'll go with one of the recommended Best Buys, probably Magnet. I had yet another chat with a friend who works at the library but our conversation was closed down by a gentleman giving his views on moving house. With the schools not quite back yet the park and the High St. were very busy. I treated myself to a spin around the charity shops most of which are now open. I had to wait outside some of them as they are restricting the number of people inside at any one time. Didn't find anything today though I did try on a flipper as I hope to learn to snorkel more confidently in the lagoon-like sea off Borth beach. Unfortunately the flippers were too small.

Just before arriving back home I stopped for a long chat with a friend who also lives in the Close but on the longer T bit. A little later I had a chat with my next-door neighbour who told me our buyers were out on a walk yesterday and eager to check out their new home. And the postman brought some paperwork from the solicitors so things are moving on.