Cold.

After a wet night it looked as if we were in for more rain. (The camera has only just caught the tail of a rainbow diving down behind the field.) However no more rain fell though I was nearly caught out by the weather conditions. I was walking to the hospital for an early, at least for me, appointment when I was stopped by a flood in the road. I hadn't even thought about that despite the way being nearly flooded across at my last visit. A car had passed me and had gone through safely so I looked around hoping that somebody else would come by and I could cadge a lift from them. After waiting for a while I was about to cross to the far pavement where I planned to remove my sheepskin boots, roll up my leggings and wade the 30-40 ft. to the other side of the flood when a chap came out of the new estate and told me there was a proper footpath in the estate running parallel to the road. Thanking him I was able to bypass the flood and get to the hospital in time for my appointment. 

At the hospital I was wired up with three electrodes and this gadget which I shall wear for the next week, except when in the shower. Every time there is a symptom or event as they call it I have to press the green button and fill in the form. Such fun. Hopefully then the cardiologist will be able to diagnose the problem and come up with a remedy.

From the hospital I strode down the hill to town where for once I was successful in collecting our prescriptions. I then bumped into a friend I hadn't seen for a long time and we had a good chat standing there in the High Street.

I had my usual trawl through the charity shops and bought this chunky card organiser in the Oxfam shop. It has a pocket for each month with space to write down birthdays etc. There's also an address book at the back. I had been thinking about doing something similar using a box and index cards as I often buy cards for people when I come across something particularly apt. The folder is filled with cute B&W cat cards which can go in my general store.

For the rest of the cold and windy day I sat and worked on the chair cover. The second arm cushion bit is nearly done, just needs a few tweaks and then comes the tricky bit of fitting the excess fabric smoothly around the front of the arms. My work was not helped by Speedy jumping on the chair and trying to catch the elastic and the ribbons.

Cold.

It has turned very cold with frequent wintry showers, including hail. I had a morning appointment at the dentist's to build up the lower edge of one of my top central incisors. The edge had been feeling quite sharp and I could feel a groove behind it so I thought I should protect the tooth before anything breaks off. It was a painless visit apart from the odd thump in the back as either the dentist or her assistants bumped into the back of the chair. I called in at the nearby Lidl's to pick up more fresh veg; red peppers, celery and red onions plus a mango for a treat. It was oh so hard to walk past the Christmas goodies but I did it. Walking out of the shop I saw that I had missed a heavy shower and though the car got hit by hail on the way home I had a safe run from the garage to the house before the next lot of rain fell.

After that it was time to carry on sewing and I finished adding fabric and elastic to fit the cover over one arm cushion.

In between showers I went out into the back garden and picked the quinces from the Japonica. I'm not intending to cook them myself but somebody on the Just-don't-bin-it site was looking for quinces and is coming to collect them tomorrow.

Sunny.

Lovely blue skies today. A respite for all the areas of the country that have either been flooded or are under flood warnings. It seems that extreme weather is just one more sigh of the damage we have done to this planet. However today was a good time to carry on with working on the conservatory. 

With brute strength and the aid of a small crowbar I was able to prise off the two internal fascia boards above the doors. It's quite unnerving to be forcing off something made of plastic (PVC) and wondering if it's going to snap but so far I've been lucky. After doing that I could see a definite gap between the sliding door frame and the metal structure. Surely that's where water is getting in? I carefully dried both sides and sealed it from the outside. I didn't put any sealant on the inside because the fascia board has a ledge that pushes into there. I've left the fascia boards off until the next heavy rain as no doubt the rain may be getting in somewhere else as well.

Look, daylight.

I also found that my latest method of closing off the tube of sealant actually worked. I had unscrewed the nozzle, cleared all the unset sealant out of it with kitchen roll and placed a piece of heavy plastic packaging onto the tube before screwing the nozzle back on. Peter tells me that you can buy little caps to screw on to keep the tube airtight but I haven't known about them and if this method works I'll go with it.

After my exertions in the conservatory there was still some time to sit and do more hand sewing of the chair cover. Not a bad day's work. 

Wet.

Back to torrential rain during the night and for a large part of the day. Sadly this has shown that the latest round of sealing in the conservatory had little to no effect. I'll have to do my best to prise off two cover strips above the sliding doors on the inside to see where the rain is getting in.

Yesterday I took the plant pots out of the trough and emptied the water out. By this morning there was an inch of water back in the trough. 

Once the day's morning routine was done I was back working on the chair cover. To give myself room to tip the chair on its side and move around it I pushed back the coffee table and footstool which also gave Speedy more room to play his favourite game of 'chase the tape measure'. For the best effect I stand up on the coffee table giving Speedy plenty of room to race back and forth after the tantalising clicking of the metal end of the tape measure. I don't think he's moved so much since being confined indoors with the dreaded cone on his head. 

The builders have sent some more progress photos showing the window openings ready for the new double glazing which is due to be installed soon. We opted for pine sills either to paint or keep natural and no doubt my collection of beach pebbles and glass spheres will be gracing one eventually. I think I must be taking after my mother whose final years were spent creating installations including some with white marble egg shaped stones from the Greek island of Paros.

Sunny.

Contrary to expectations today has been bright and sunny. Perfect for getting some washing out on the line. I also gave the garden a through tidy, clearing the dead and mushy leaves from the decking and cutting back everything that could be cut. Usually I like to leave old foliage to look structural through the winter but I'm thinking more in terms of transporting my pots to Borth.

Having finally sorted the leaks on the sides of the conservatory (I hope) today I turned my attention to the front. I hadn't noticed it much before but in the recent very wet weather we could see some wetness creeping in above the sliding doors. After drying off the frame I sealed two seams along the inside and three more along the outside. I pity anyone trying to take the conservatory apart now that I've stuck it all together. Now I wait for more  wet weather to see where else needs doing.

Very Wet.

 A good motto for our new home.

It's been a day of many heavy downpours with some thunder rumbles in the morning. I was out and about in the car with the wipers going at full speed. My first stop this morning was at the tattoo place in Braunton to chat about the design I'm having done. I've given the chap my folder of ideas that I've been mulling over for the last few years and I'll see what he comes up with. I had thought about having it done in brown to look like a henna pattern but he says that it will fade much quicker than black. 

Many of the shops were shut as Braunton is very much a holiday/surf village but I found a charity shop open. There I found a metal 'distressed' sign and a small blue glass ball to add to my collection. I've been keeping my eyes open for any tasteful beach themed items, not plastic seagulls on lighthouses and these are the first I've found. Also it is good to support the local Hospice.

On the drive back I stopped briefly at Heanton Court, a pub, to take some photos of the estuary.

The tide was out and the rain moving in quickly.

I couldn't decide which of these two photos to post so went with both. The B&W effect is due to the low light conditions.

As I was already out and the forecast for the rest of the week is colder and wetter I decided to drive over the bridge and do some shopping at Lidl's and Tesco's. I must say the Christmas marketing is done very well and had me tempted to 'stock up for Christmas' with German gingerbread and marzipan goodies in anticipation of family visits but I resisted. We should be in Borth by then in a state of general chaos and although it's a remote part of the world Aberystwyth does have Lidl's and Tesco's as well as other supermarkets.

Back home I did some more work on the chair cover. This time I began pinning and tacking where the elastic will go for the fixed arm cushions and then I got to the scary bit. Cutting the fabric across the seat. It looks alright so far and I'm not rushing with this job.

Wet.

It's been a grey day turning wetter through the day. I needed to go to the bank to pay some builders' bills and I planned to walk until I saw that it was already raining. It wasn't raining heavily but even so I chickened out and took the car. I parked in a street not far from the High Street where you can stay free for an hour. I like the challenge of finding free parking rather than pay out to the council. Bills paid I called in at a few shops, bought a mango and some more elastic for the chair cover. My afternoon was spent peacefully hand sewing the fabric which I had tacked onto the cover yesterday. 

I was in the kitchen doing some washing up when I heard an intermittent buzzing sound. I listened more carefully and ruled out a neighbour using some sort of equipment. I looked around to see if a fly or bumble bee was trapped in the conservatory or by a window and then I saw the source of the noise. Peter had turned the heating on as his knee isn't too good and Speedy was nodding off in his bed under the dinning room radiator. He was falling asleep sitting up with his cone propped against the radiator and snoring!