Grey.

Not so cold today with full cloud cover making it gloomy and grey.

When the garage roof, which was falling in when we moved in, was replaced the builder and Peter thought it would be a good idea to use up a sheet of insulation to fill in the gap between the walls and roof. However with the cold weather we're getting some condensation in the garage, mainly on the tins of paint and the tools which are hung up on the walls. So it's time to increase the ventilation. Today the plan was to prise out the blocks of 4" thick insulation but I found this was easier said than done. No chance of just pinging out the dense foam which was firmly wedged in place. I tried cutting away at it with an old kitchen knife but it was slow going and left me covered in tiny bits of foam. We'll try option 2 which is to drill large holes in the wooden doors. There are three wooden doors but two are currently covered with planks and other 'useful' bits of wood so it will take a bit of organising.

Instead I moved indoors and started with the small job of disguising the metal clips holding up the venetian blind in the sitting room. This was the first blind we put up and never having installed one before when it came with six fittings we used all of them (later discovering that we only needed three). Not only that but the silver colour made them stand out in a way that was catching my eyes in a bad way. (above) Painting the clips wasn't an option so I came up with the idea of using white Blutak which while still being visible is a lot less intrusive than the clips. (below)

My next small job was to drill into the wall, which was originally the outside of the place, to fit a screw to hang a lovely photo of the North Devon coast showing Lundy on the horizon. After that came the job I was not looking forward to, scraping the paint from the wall on one side of the French doors. The year that we waited for the render on the outside to be repaired had allowed the rain to come through in a couple of places and caused the paint to bubble and flake. I carefully scraped off the paint up to half-way up the wall and bleached some mould that had begun to grow. Once the plaster has fully dried out I can then paint the wall back to pristine white.

Finally, while Peter went off to row I went out to the back garden where first I measured the area I plan to pave over so that I can work out how to arrange the mix of slabs I've got saved. After that I did an emergency planting of about 300 bulbs I'd stored optimistically thinking I'd be able to plant them in the new raised beds in the front garden. Hah! Today I dug a couple of trenches in a bed in the back garden and planted the bulbs in those as they were already beginning to sprout. I think they're a mix of garden daffodils and Welsh daffodils with maybe a few other things mixed in but it would have been a shame to leave them after carefully rescuing them from planters and beds around the garden.

Then I had a break before coming to blog and I should have enough time to play the piano and do some Duo Lingo before supper. 

 

Chilly.

Not a cloud in the sky today making for a crisp, cold day.

Late afternoon sun.

Today, I went into town for an afternoon of shopping. For a change I went to Tesco's. It's a bit more expensive than Morrison's and more again than Lidl but they sometimes have some good special offers and reductions. I picked up a couple of packs of Christmas cards at give-away prices but the main prize was this dressing gown. Not a reduction but I'd seen it in store last year and been unable to buy it because Tesco's had closed off the clothing aisles to comply with the lockdown rules. I'd looked for it on my subsequent forays into Tesco's but today was the first time I found it. And ...... there was only one and it was in my size. I had no hesitation in treating myself even though I do have the same one in pink at home. I'm such a sucker for all things fluffy and it's a great way to keep warm in the evenings especially now that heating costs are about to increase by 50%. Another find in Tesco's was a replacement for one of the green and blue mugs I bought last year. It was reduced and the last one on the shelf. Peter's arthritic hands result in the occasional chip out of the china during washing up and while he doesn't mind chipped mugs I do. I did quite a lot of walking around town looking for various things. A search for some basic jogging trousers for Peter (he's lost so much weight by exercising that one of the pairs he wears around the house won't stay up,) had me going into Matalan twice. The first time I only found super skinny ones and some that looked like patchwork. Very trendy I'm sure but not not for Peter. Having decided M&S was too expensive I went back into Matalan and found the basic style joggers tucked away at the back of the men's section for half the price at M&S. I also paid a trip to the knitting shop where I bought a crochet hook and picked up some silvery brown wool in the bargain bin which I think will be perfect for Vytas' tea cosy.

By the time I got home my back was twinging so I gave myself a break with a coffee in front of the tv while I multi-tasked by emptying a couple of boxes of plasters and removing the outer wrappings. That saves me time on zoo days when I need to protect my toes from blisters and my fingers from splitting. Then there was just time to give the two shelves another coat of paint and blog before supper.

Dusk photos takes with the fancy setting on my camera.

 

Chilly.

Mostly crisp, bright and sunny today here on the coast though it looked to be cloudy further inland. 

Our Welsh class started up again after a break for the Christmas holiday. I'm still not sure how I feel about the class. The actual class is fine but I struggle with the amount of time I feel I need to spend each day in order to make progress. In fact I'm struggling with my daily time management in general. I just don't seem to be able to fit in all the things I want to do. There are the daily tasks such as housework, laundry and shopping that have to be done plus the things I do to maintain my physical and mental  health such as piano, guitar, Welsh and building back up to my exercise routine. (And uploading my photos and blogging.) Then there is the ongoing work to sort this place out and most important for my mental health is spending as much time as possible outside either working in the garden or out on my gentle walks. All that has to be squeezed into the time between breakfast and supper (don't do lunch). Plus age and the various failing bits of me need proper rest breaks if I'm not to seize up. No wonder we haven't found time to explore the local area. We do allow ourselves to sleep as long as our bodies require, sleep is important for health and after a lifetime of waking early for work and/or family it's something we should be able to enjoy in our retirement. So I'm reluctant to set the alarm clock in order to find time at the start of the day and after our meal we watch tv for an hour or so before heading off to sleep, or not in my case. Maybe I could do some stuff then but I'm not sure how well I'd do in my usual tired state. I shall have to think of a solution or I shall end up getting crosser and crosser.

The Zoom class was a bit of a trial for me today because something happened to my microphone. Being a language class being able to speak is vital but for some reason the mike on my headset wouldn't work in the class. I'd used it for some Duo Lingo beforehand and then tested the sound on the Zoom page where it all worked perfectly. However as soon as the class began the headset stopped working. I had the picture and could hear our tutor through my monitor speakers but try as I could to set it to the headphones, even getting Peter out of his study, they wouldn't work and I had to content myself with listening and signing which isn't that helpful for pronunciation. Then during the tea break I fiddled some more and suddenly our tutor could hear me. Hooray I thought, it's back to normal but as soon as the class started up the same problem occurred. Very strange. It must be something to do with having the new pc though Peter connected the old one back this morning so that I could back up some photos and have a connection through to the Zoom class. Don't you just love technology?

After class I painted a second coat of white on Peter's shelf boards and while I was doing that Peter got a text to say both our prescriptions were ready to be collected from the pharmacy. Glad for the chance to stretch my legs and walk in the sun, once out of the chilly shade, I took myself off to the pharmacy. Fingers crossed our monthly prescriptions are back in sync which will halve the trips to the pharmacy to collect our free medicines. (They're free for everyone in Wales.) 

And was rewarded with a wonderful sunset.

Sunny.

The sun came out today.

I was awake early today (4.00) and got up at 6.00 which meant I had a good view of the very pretty sunrise. I took the photo above with the auto exposure setting and then thought I'd be clever and use the setting for sunset/sunrise but the result below, was very purple. Dramatic but not accurate. 

The whole time I was at the zoo there was not a cloud in the sky. It was cold at first with a heavy frost in all the places still in the shade and small drops of ice adorning the grass where I was digging out the last of the bramble roots by the wolf-dogs. Brambles cleared I was able to move to the woodchip around the big playhouse and it wasn't long before I got so warm I had to remove my coat and roll up the sleeves of my top as I dug out the grass that had encroached upon the corner of the woodchip. (I forgot to take a photo.) I had intended just to tidy up the very corner but then I came across the wood marking the end of the woodchip area so naturally I cleared right up to the wood. Digging grass out of the woodchip is easier on my back though I did manage to flick dirt into my eyes a couple of times so I carried on working for over three hours. A lot more to do if the wood edge carries on all the way round. If it doesn't I may simply cut a tidy line across the next corner.

When I got home although I just wanted to slump in an armchair but before I did that I painted both of the planks destined for Peter's study. They didn't dry in time for a second coat but I can do that tomorrow. Then I did some floor washing and finally I got my relaxation time. I had done an hour of Duolingo and some time on the exercise bike before breakfast.

Happy muddy pigs.

Rabbits enjoying the sun.

 

Mild.

It was grey again this morning with a damp sea mist in the air. Then the mist dispersed enough for me to head out for a breath of fresh air on the beach. By the time I'd finished my walk the clouds had almost all gone and we had a clear blue afternoon. It stayed very mild all day but now with the stars twinkling in a clear sky the temperature has plumeted.

This morning we saw an estate agent taking photos of the house next door. We'd heard from the electricians that the elderly chap there had passed away recently. We had exchanged waves through the window with him when we first bought this place but since we moved in he had sunk further into the twilight of dementia and we'd had no contact with him and little with his team of carers. Hopefully he is at peace now.

Down on the beach there were more birds than people; mostly gulls, a couple of sanderlings and out on the reef some oyster catchers and shags.

Back home having to hunt through the boxes in his room had spurred Peter on to start putting some shelves up in his room. I'd saved him two very long planks which had been out in the garden for a long time which he aimed to use. While I was out he cut them to fit along his 9ft wall and had cleaned them ready for me to paint. However, possibly fuelled by his desire to get on with the job and the fact that the light in the garage isn't too good a quick wipe over with an old rag wasn't sufficient. Not being prepared to paint over dirt I got out a scrubbing brush and gave the planks a thorough scrub and they are now drying off for me to start painting tomorrow.

My indoor job today was to clean all the spice jars by the hob, over 50 of them. Incidentally I can't get the people to come and measure up for the splashback until the upstand is fitted. We heard from the kitchen fitter before Christmas and he did promise to get in touch soon. That's another person we're waiting for.

I'm still getting to grips with this new pc. I've set the search engine back to Google. It's not so much that I have a major preference for it over any other search engine but apart from my dislike of change having a new product foisted on me really annoys me so I will make the effort to remove it. Also because I don't like my information being harvested by cookies each time I go to a new page I spend a few moments going into the cookie options and do my best to 'reject all'. Still no joy with the spell check, I've tried clicking the enable button on and off a few times as suggested on one forum but nothing. Peter thinks it might reappear after one of the automatic updates but I'm not holding my breath on that.

 

Grey.

Mild, grey and often drizzling today.

Yesterday I must have used different muscles when I heaved the tree trunk around and as a consequence had worrying chest pains in the evening and night. Worrying in that of course at this stage of life chest pains lead to thoughts of heart attacks. But thinking logically and with my trusty pulse oximeter to hand I worked out the most probable cause of the soreness and simply got up to watch the latest episode of The Great Pottery Throwdown and took an extra painkiller which did the trick. However I thought it would be sensible to take it easy today and the only DIY job today was moving the pole in the window forward. That has given the plants a bit more room behind them.

The new internet connector thing arrived today so now we're both back on-line though I'm still having to navigate around the new pc. Everything has to be signed in to again so while I'm doing that I'm making sure my little book of passwords (hints only) is up to date. I'm trying to turn on the spell check and after getting excited when I found a second set of 'settings' where I was able to turn on an off button but hey ho it hasn't worked. So please excuse any wild spellings.

Peter and I had another look through a lot of boxes for the LOTR dvds with no luck yet. They were possibly put up in the loft by mistake so that's where we'll look next. The sooner we build the bookcase by the front door the better but first the messy job of pulling out the cupboard built into the chimney breast needs to be done.

With not much to talk about today I thought I'd put in this FB video of Cosmo and Zeus having a happy howling session.

 

Grey.

Dry and mostly grey today.

Training exercise for the lifeboat crew.

I had a bit of an IT crisis today. Last night my internet dropped out which happens every now and then so I didn't worry about it. However when I turned on my pc in the morning I still had no internet, left it and tried later in the day but no joy then either. That's when I called in Peter to help, something I'm reluctant to do because he grumbles and says I'm too difficult when there's a problem with IT. However after initially blaming FB (nope) and then me for jiggling cable (nope again) and a bit of a moan about the time it would take he settled down and eventually diagnosed a hardware problem. A replacement part, something to do with my internet connection which is different to Peter's will be arriving tomorrow and for the meantime we've taken turns to use the working internet plug thingy. Also my system is running off a new pc which of course meant logging into anything I wanted to use, looking up passwords, finding one didn't work then having to find my email password to get an extra code and finally here I am.

Straight after breakfast Peter went to town to do some shopping hoping that Morrisons would be less crowded, which was the case. As soon as I'd finished my housework I thought I'd have a go at the tree trunk in the back garden. My plan was to burrow under the trunk to cut off the roots I could reach which I did for a while. Then I thought I'd just give the trunk a little push, after removing the water filled saucer that was sitting on top. I pushed it one way, then the other and felt something, not my back, start to give. More pushing and the trunk went over. There was one large root left to saw through and that was it. The plan is to keep the bottom part of the trunk as some sort of garden feature in the front garden and maybe find a use for the top bit or give it away for burning.

That done I got on with a job that's been on my mind for a while, cleaning off the woolly aphids from the orchids in the utility room. Each orchid was tidied up and every leaf and stem thoroughly cleaned with insecticide soaked cotton buds and paper towels before a final spraying. Then the white tubs they sit in were cleaned out and finally the window sill and windows given a wipe over. I should spray them more regularly and keep an eye out for those nasty white aphids. I can but try.

Here's hoping my pc gets sorted out tomorrow.