Brrrrrrrrrrr

It was freezing cold, when Lollypop woke us up at the crack of dawn it was -6.0c thats minus, that is FREEZING....lol....

Paulie is waiting for the next lot of snow to head our way, all that fell has now disapeared apart from a few bits in the garden and some on the road, it does look mighty slippy outside, as I was looking out of the window of our nice overheated house, I watched a man struggle to keep upright on the pavement outside...lol...I know I should not ...lol... but it was very funny.......

Yesterday, we did our usual trick of finding snow, we went everywhere and none was as good as where we had set off from, hence our home.....still we got some good piccies, which Paulie will put on after for me, cause now he has change from the programme we use to use "hello" to flick art, and I have not got a clue.....

Lucy and Lollypop have had an hair cut today, a much needed one and our Lucy looks soooooo cute its untrue, we have been busy at the bird feeding station in our garden to, filled up all the nuts and seed and also gave them half a loaf of bread, which Lollypop decided he liked too and did not want to share...lol...

Paulie has just rushed to the window to get a shot of a Robin having a munchy on some of the food there, lets hope he got a good shot.

Till later Aligators,

Debbie

Fame At Last!

Jubilation this morning as one of Debbie’s photos from our last post appeared on BBC Breakfast! It was a bit weird seeing our back garden on national telly lol.

Hoping to get more photos, we left scenes like this in our garden behind this morning for a shopping trip to Holmfirth.

We expected there to be more snow up in the Pennines than there was here but all there was on the top of Holme Moss was thick fog! After navigating the pea souper, we dropped down in to Holmfirth.

No snow here either, but all was not lost, Debbie got a new pair of gloves, some nice winter tops and I got a new fleece. But most importantly of all, we got the last bottle of Tomatin

single malt whisky, our number one tipple since visiting the distillery on our honeymoon last year.

On the way home we stopped off for lunch at Brewsters, now we’re both stuffed and ready for an afternoon kip.

Paul

It's Snowing

We woke up this morning, or should I say Lolly woke us up this morning to a light blanket of snow!

It’s been snowing on and off from about 5am, looking forward to going for a ride and getting loads more pictures when it gets light!

Paul

Merry Christmas!

It’s Christmas Day and we’re having a fabulous time here listening to Debbie’s new CD’s while taking in the aroma of the beef and pork roasting in the oven!

Santa called in overnight, bringing loads of goodies, I think he might have been a little bit peeved dragging that lot down the chimney only to find the fireplace closed off lmao!

We’ve got loads of fabulous presents, Debbie’s got a new coffee maker along with some extra strong coffee, we’ve had two mugs already, we’ll be bouncing off the walls soon lol! Debbie’s got me a Game Boy Micro which I knew nothing about, it’s already on charge ready for some action this afternoon.

I think it’s time for some Christmas spirit, where’s that bottle of champagne gone!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Paul & Debbie

Asda Wins Muppet Of The Year Award

Plans for Christmas were going awfully well until this morning when we decided to get the shopping done at Asda before work, given that they are open 24 hours a day. It's not very often we take advantage of this but at Christmas last year it was a blessing, although it was still mental in there at 5 in the morning lol.

However, for reasons only known by the Manager of Asda Barnsley, they decided that this week, the busiest week of the year, they would stop opening 24 hours. So this morning we arrived to be greeted by a crowd of seasonal shoppers standing outside in disbelief. The big white cricle in the photo is actually a big red "24 hours" sign but didn't come out, which is a shame lol.

The moment the doors opened at 6am, there was a stampede towards the fruit and veg isles with people pushing and shoving to get to the goodies and someone ended up in tears. To make matters worse, instead of re-stocking the shelves overnight, they had only just started so much of the stuff everyone was looking for was missing!

The place looked a disgrace, with rubbish all over the place from the chaos the day before, cleaners had only just started work, trying to sweep up without being bowled over by herds of disgruntled shoppers.

So, Manager of Asda Barnsley, you win Muppet Of The Year 2005 hands down, just what were you thinking off!

Paul.

Anniversary Weekend

We've had a great weekend, kicked off on Friday night at the office Christmas bash, both mine and Debbie's were on the same night and we chose to go to Debbie's, might have been something to do with the free bar! Anyway, we had a great night out, having our first turkey dinner of the season, washed down with a never ending supply of drink!

Saturday was our turn to put on the show, hosting our own family Christmas party, despite the late night on Friday we made it to the supermarket for 7.30am, just in time for a whizz round before trolley rage started setting in and got done just in time for the cafe opening.

There was a bit of a set back in that the weight for the pressure cooker had gone awol so the hunt was on for a steamer to cook all the veg. Despite seeing one everywhere we went over the last few weeks, we couldn't find one anywhere now we wanted one, then on the way back from picking up Dad, we found one in Asda Living while looking for a gravy boat. Getting back home, with the light fading and all our Christmas lights on, our house was really looking festive.

Debbie sorted the dinner out, the pork roast was done to a turn and despite Debbie not being all that keen on using the new steamer, the vegetables were perfect! The table was set in the dining room and looked fantastic, ready and waiting for dinner to be served which went down a storm with everyone. We all head a great evening, drinking merrily while flicking between Strictly Come Dancing and X Factor.

For Sunday, our Wedding Anniversary, we had made plans to go out for a meal, then changed them to have a meal at home with friends which then changed to having a meal with friends at their home. On the day itself, our friends called to say they were still stuck doing the packing with them moving house at short notice in the next few days. So we ended up doing what we like doing best and have been yearning to do for weeks....... bugger all!

Before making a start on doing nothing, I presented Debbie with her eternity ring, "Princess, with this eternity ring I declare, you're going to have to put up with this muppet for life!". The ring is beautiful and fits snugly next to her engagement and wedding rings.

The PJ's stayed on all day as we lounged about watching Santa Who, Santa Clause 1, Santa Clause 2 and Christmas Vacation. We had a fantastic chilled Christmasy day topped off by a lovely anniversary meal......pie chips and peas.......well, we need the space in the freezer!

We're a whole year on, we've been to Scotland and back, adopted the daftest dog in the world, spent six emotional months moving house followed by three months turning our new house into a palace. It's not been plain sailing by any means, we're hoping for a smoother ride through 2006 and some snow would be nice!

Paul.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

To my Darling Paulie, Thank you for a wonderful 12 months and I hope we have many more to come!!

Love u loads

Debbie .x.x.x.

Posing Till Closing

While we were in Leeds last week, Debbie bought a lovely white reindeer which had a fluffy white collar.

The next morning, the fluffy white collar had mysteriously disappeared.

We think we might just have an idea who the culprit was!

We went over to my Brother’s at the weekend for an early Christmas party, here’s Grandma and Debbie posing away.

Here’s Debbie and me, can you tell who was knocking back the amber nectar?

Dressing up time at the weekend and Lolly wasn’t too impressed with it while Lucy just posed away all night.

While Lolly bounded around the living room trying to escape from his outfit, Lucy soaked up all the attention.

Lucy has Rudolph off to a tee here, while Lolly continued with his Zebedee impression behind the scene.

Not too much longer now until Christmas is here, we took time out from the preparations on Sunday and just did a bit more shopping, built a glass display cabinet, a television corner unit and a chunky new pine coffee table. It’s transformed the living room, all we want now is a couple of minutes to sit in it!

Paul

Christmas Preparations

The Christmas preparations are still going on relentlessly, we had a day off work on Tuesday which we crammed full with shopping in town in the morning followed by a train journey to Leeds in the afternoon and finally more local shopping in the evening!

We're still in the middle of putting the Christmas decorations up, all the lights on our white tree are on now and they look fantastic, I'll have to get a picture of that when we've got the baubles on and we replace the fairy that Lucy has eaten! There are lanterns to go round the out-house and trimmings to go up in the living room. We've got boxes absolutely everywhere, it's like one big assault course at the moment!

We're hoping to get everything sorted out by the end of next week so that the following week, we can start winding down for the festive period and look forward to lots of eating, plenty of drinking and copious amounts of being merry!

Paul.

It's A Lockout

The weekend started off as normal with us nipping off from work for the weeks shopping, arriving back home, everything seemed in order. That is until we tried to open the door, it wouldn't move an inch, the yale lock was free but the catch on the mortice lock was having none of it. We took it in turns to curse while trying to kick the door in, some tools would have been handy, just a shame they were locked safely in the house.

After almost an hour trying to figure out what to with the frozen shopping melting around us, Debbie popped round to a neighbour who brought some tools to see if we could break in, alas, without smashing a window it would be difficult and with the dogs in there, we didn't want glass flying everywhere. Our nice neighbour suggested I popped round to his house and flick through the yellow pages for a locksmith. I rang a few different companies and they all wanted about sixty quid plus to the cost of a new lock. With Debbie back at our house, I made an executive decision and told them to get knotted.

Our neighbour managed to get hold of some more tools and after a bit of mucking about, we managed to gain entry without causing too much damage. We still had a problem with the door though, it wouldn't budge at all, the handle wasn't having any effect on the catch. Just in time, Dad arrived and had a look at the situation then after some thought, I suggested we chisel out the wood behind the plate then knock seven bells out of it until it was bent out of the way. That we did and the door finally flew open!

We had got home at 5.30pm and now it was 8.30pm, Dad left about an hour later and by the time we had some tea and a couple of drinks it was gone midnight.

Saturday morning, we rolled out of bed at 6am and were at B & Q in time for them opening at 7am to get a new lock and door handle. The lock itself was the same as the old one but the door plate was completely different and it ended up taking me two hours to get it fitted.

With the house secure again, out came the Christmas lights for the side of the house. We borrowed some ladders for next door as ours weren't long enough to get me ten foot off the ground. We gave up on the side of the house, with no guttering there, I was trying to hammer nails into sandstone without falling off the ladder, one hand on the nail, the other on the hammer and nothing stopping me from swaying backwards proved too much. I'm not scared of heights, just not to keen on falling off!

We did the front of the house though, clipping the lights easily to the guttering before getting to work on the tree in the front garden. When darkness fell and the lights came on, they looked fantastic!

I managed to get the boards down in the bathroom during the afternoon before we went out with friends for a meal at a local pub, we thoroughly enjoyed having a break from the house while necking a few alcoholic beverages.

Christmas shopping was back on the agenda on Sunday, but not before getting the lino down in the bathroom and the curtains in the window, it's all finished now and looks miles better than it did. No rest for the wicked though, off we went trudging the payments of Barnsley town centre in search of those perfect gifts. We did quite well, although we've still got some things to get so another expedition is on the cards soon.

Finally we spent late afternoon and early evening wrapping presents while listening to a selection of festive tunes before settling down with a drink or three, flicking through the Christmas edition of TV Times. It's starting to feel very festive! Roll on Christmas! We need to sit down for a bit!

Paul.

The Day After Tomorrow

I remember watching the disaster movie, The Day After Tomorrow last year and thinking, maybe it's possible but it must be quite a way off yet.

However, we've already had a record hurricane season this year and today I caught this headline - Ocean changes 'will cool Europe'.

It's a fascinating read, suggesting that in 10 or 20 years time, the day after tomorrow might actually be today.

I'm off to buy a sledge while they're still cheap as chips!

Paul.

The Snow Arrives!

It snowed here on and off nearly all day on Monday, giving a total depth at one point of........

.....about one and a half flakes!

Higher on the hills the snow stayed around until Tuesday morning but that soon melted away too. At least we've had a taste of the winter to come and we've not done bad having such a long run of cold weather, it won't do our chances of snow any harm as we move into winter tomorrow.

Last night we had a ride over to Ikea to get some curtains for the newly decorated bathroom and we also got a display cabinet which was an unexpected find at a very reasonable price, even if we did almost break our backs try to carry the thing up a frosty path.

It was freezing cold, getting down to -3.2c at midnight and this morning, the forecasters are warning of freezing rain, sleet and snow, although for here at least, I think it will have warmed up enough for plain old rain by the time it gets here.

Paul.

Stuck In The Middle

It’s been a week since our last update, Debbie’s been working her little socks off while I’ve enjoyed a week off work. I’ve been a busy bunny too though, painting the living room and bathroom which has proven to be much more hard work than I thought, whoever invented skirting boards needs shooting!

Since last time we’ve taken the dogs for a stroll round the local park in the bitterly cold wind. We could only get a picture of Lucy, Lollypop wouldn’t stand still long enough.

Last weekend we went over to Manchester to see Debbie’s Sister and took her daughter out for a birthday treat, a new riding hat and KFC dinner. On the way there Debbie took some pictures out of the car window while we were stood at traffic lights lol.

It sure has been cold this week, we’ve had a frost every day apart from yesterday and on Wednesday morning it was so white it looked like it had snowed. Our iron gate looks cool with a little bit of frost around the edges.

Here’s a log from the tree we cut down in the summer, we keep asking around for a chain saw but we’ve had no offers yet, maybe they think we’d be more dangerous than usual armed with one of those lol.

Our fuschia plants have finally admitted defeat now the frost has arrived, they did well though hanging on until the middle of November.

I’ve pinched this from the weather news group but it describes our current weather situation, clear skies, perfectly, feel free to read it in tune …..

I’ve got snow to the left of me,
snow to the right of me,
here I am,
stuck in the middle with blue.

I’ve got the day off painting today, time to check those pesky charts and see if there is any glimmer of hope for a snowflake round these parts over the weekend.

Paul

Autumn Colours

With the onset of the cold weather the autumn colours are really starting to come through. This was the scene just before the cold weather arrived, trees stubbornly hanging on to their summer look.

Just a few days later and what a difference, all the trees around are suddenly golden brown.

We only had our first frost of the season yesterday and this morning it really has taken hold, turning everything white.

All we need now is some ssssnnnnoooowwww!

Paul.

Winter Has Arrived!

Finally after all the unseasonable mild weather we've being having of late, this morning it's chuffing freezing, well almost, down to 3c which is close enough. Parts of the country have seen their first snowfall overnight, the usual suspects in a Northerly outbreak, North East coast and the North Yorkshire Moors. Areas of Scotland such as Aberdeen have also seen a bit of the white stuff this morning, hopefully it won't be too long before we get some down here, it's certainly going to be cold enough for the next few days but it looks like glorious sunshine is on the cards.

We had a mad spend over the weekend, early Christmas presents for us both, a new Freeview receiver with Top Up TV and a DVD Recorder. We've just about got to grips with the Freeview box and last night I managed to get a picture through the DVD recorder. Obviously that's put a curse on everything, there is bugger all worth watching on any of the extra channels and all those great films that are always on too late have disappeared lol.

We're looking forward to Friday though, the 2005 Children In Need extravaganza, always a treat to watch as is anything hosted by Terry Wogan. We've been watching The Great Big Bid all week, I did cough up a pound for a chance of going birding with Bill Oddie but alas, it's not to be. Hey ho, at least it's all in a good cause :-)

Paul.

Wednesday SNIFFS!!

Well what a week it has been, Monday was fine going to work got there super early and left quite late as per usual, as I was on the roundabout to the motorway I glanced over and hells bells it was propper queued, hence a quick deceision to go the other way and nearly banging 3 cars out of me way I was on route to pick me Paulie up (good job this car has TURBO)...lol...

Tuesday morning, usual rush hour, but this time took us ten mins to get up the road instead of the usual 0.50 seconds, radio on we are armed with the latest travel news, holey mosses there is yet another accident on the M1, this time a 13 car pile up!!

Another journey at flying speed through the country side back into town to find more queues just getting to work in the nick of time, by time to get off home its is pouring down with rain and we all ended up doing 50mph on the motorway, I would not mind but I had to pick Paulie up and race off to the doctors for that all inportant blood pressure check!

This morning we sets off to work to find that they had shut the main road off to work as there was a body found in the early hours and the police had to do their investigations......hence another morning stuck in traffice queues for over an hour, I would not mind but it normally take us all of 20 mins to drop of Paulie and me to get to work, lets hope tomorrow morning is better!

And to top it all Ive come home with a sore throat and a bit of a sniffle, but mind you being a woman, it will be one of those things, not like having the dreaded MAN FLU!

Now its time for our evening meal which Paulie is doing a grand job of banging about in the kitchen, he says he is going to make the evening meals for the next two months, I ask you girls, do you think this will last or will the novelty wear off?

Debbie

Crash, Bang, Wallop!

We've never heard or seen so many fireworks exploding in to the night sky as we did over the last two days. Bonfire Night itself was the worst, stepping outside to let the dogs out was like entering a war zone with bangs and flashes coming from all directions. We were thankful that Lucy, Lollypop, Misty, Toddy and even little Eric just carried on regardless, ignoring all the commotion outside.

While the rest of the country were out buying up all the explosives they could lay their hands on, we decided to do something about the fish tank. The plants were going fury and turning black, the sand was turning a dark shade of disgusting as it was a nightmare to clean and we were loosing fish. First went the plants, straight into the bin, quickly followed by all that murky sand and replaced by lovely new black gravel.

We can't believe the difference, we've managed a 25% water change without losing any fish and they're all much more active in the crystal clear water. Even the plec has been out cleaning the rocks who previously appeared to be on strike, probably due to poor working conditions. We'll see how things go this week and if all is still well, we'll see about replacing some of the fish we've lost.

With the aquarium looking the part, Debbie finished off the new fireplace with a wonderful arrangement full of autumn colour.

All we need now, is for it to actually feel like autumn instead of late summer, however, it looks like we're stuck with the mild, wet and windy weather for at least another week. Hey ho, at least the snow has returned to Lapland after having some mild weather of their own.

Paul

Witches, Goblins & Fires

Since we had the new central heating fitted, we've been left with a mucky old hole in the chimney breast where the old fire used to be. A few weeks ago Dad came over and built a box for us to put inside the cavity. Then the other weekend I finally got round to finishing it off by adding a surround. Debbie then painted it a lovely old gold colour and then added a coat of gold glitter paint.

We're really pleased with the result, all we need to do now is paint the chimney breast a different colour, something other than off white or beige!

Last night we managed to off load our uneaten sweetie/toffee/spice collection on to an array of witches and goblins daring to walk down the path to the gate where Lucy and Lollypop were their best impression of the hounds of hell, ready to jump on any intruder and lick them to death lol. Thankfully we just had a couple of supernatural visits to contend with before relaxing with a bottle or two of wine, taking in the Halloween night offerings on the TV, double edition of Coronation Street with Eastenders in the interval.

After being dry all day, the rain was back again just before we went to bed but wasn't amounting to much, then at half past three this morning we were woken by torrential rain hammering against the window.

By day break the rain had gone, replaced by a lovely blue sky and warm sunshine, although it looks like it will be time to batten down the hatches tonight as the weather turns wet and windy once again. No sign of it getting any colder yet though.....sheesh!

Paul

Things That Go Bump In The Night

After the nightmare trying to find a tumble dryer the other week, we were pleased to see our new one delivered early on Saturday morning and there was no delay in getting the appliance into action, shifting a giant pile of washing.

The rest of the day was spent preparing for our first ever Halloween party. I did start off quite well behaved but the bitter was making me sleepy so I switched to Whisky and Coke for a while before the Isle Of Jura came out to play, followed by a sample or three of bourbon whisky. Debbie just stayed on whisky and coke, which by Sunday morning, I wish I'd done!

A good time was had by all though, the three foot illuminated pumpkin outside looking through the window was great, the buffet went down a storm, then we all gathered in the living room for traditional Halloween activities ......... watching X Factor! In fact the only thing that went bump in the night was me bouncing along the landing wall trying to get to bed!

We'll have to be careful tonight with any kids calling round trick or treating, over the weekend we found out that Lollypop doesn't any kind of mask, he just goes bonkers, barking and growling and won't stop until the mask is hidden away! We'll keep him in the living room with Lucy and the cats, they'll be content watching the fireworks through the window which luckily is one thing none of them are frightened of.

Have great Halloween, whatever you are!

Paul

Indian Summer

Here I am trying to do an honest bit of snow watching, I mean it's not unheard of at this time of year, we had snow earlier than this last year, what we didn't have was temperatures forecast to go into the twenties!

We're supposed to be looking forward to huddling round a big fire next week, scoffing piping hot baked potatoes and chestnuts, not watching a firework display in t-shirt and shorts! The Met-Office is apparently predicting a very cold winter, yet we've not even had a frost here yet this autumn.

The headline in one of the newspapers today is "Big Freeze Will Cripple Britain, Coldest since 1963, Gas could run out". At this rate, the only thing that's going to run out is sun cream!


Paul