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

Digital DAB Radio

Debbie bought a Philips MP3 player back in July, we managed to get some tunes loaded a few weeks back and it sounds great. Not wanting to be left out, I wanted one too but I do tend to get bored of listening to the same tracks over and over so opted for a radio instead. I shelled out just under a hundred quid for a digital dab radio. It's a bit on the steep side for just a radio, given that you can get a personal FM radio from the pound shop, but then it's not just an ordinary radio.

I'm really pleased with it, it's picks up all the stations I should be getting, only struggling in the living room because of the thick walls and we do have the same problem with the mobile phones, having to move to any other room in the house to make a phone call. The only down side I've found with this little radio is that while it comes with a pouch, there is no way to attach a clip or neck strap, both of which came with Debbie's Philips MP3 player. However, now it's colder and I'm wearing a coat all the time, it fits snugly into my pocket.

The best thing about dab radio isn't the sound quality, my untrained ears can't tell the difference, but the multitude of stations that are available, I love the ones that concentrate on a particular style of music, not that I'm a regular listener to Jazz FM! Nothing wrong with Jazz, it's just that my kind of music is rock, so The Arrow and Planet Rock are just up my street, playing classic rock anthems all day long.

I can still listen to local radio stations like Real Radio and Hallam FM if the mood takes me, then there is DNN, available 24 hours a day with the latest news updates or maybe One Word to listen to serials of classic books, not that I've got time to spend a whole half hour listening to the radio! There are nearly 40 stations available in our area and one I didn't expect to be listening to is BBC Radio 2, I've been tuning in every morning to that mad Irishman known as Terry Wogan, you just can't beat starting the day with a chuckle or two.

Paul

Snowbabies & The Curse of The Tumble Dryer

Last weekend, not the one just gone, but the one before it, our tumble dryer of seven years gave up the ghost. No amount of fiddling, slapping or kicking would bring the poor machine back to life so yesterday we went in search of a new one. Little did we know at the beginning of the expedition that it would turn out to be a four hour marathon round the electrical appliance shops of South Yorkshire. First stop was Curry's in Barnsley, a large store and was sure to have a little three kilo dryer in stock, but alas, no they didn't, apparently they'd had a run on tumble dryers and had nothing suitable.

Next we had a brief visit to Power House just down the road, brief because it had shutdown! No problem, there was a Comet next door so we popped in there, the salesman explained that they didn't do the White Knight model we were looking for but did do something similar. We considered this other model for a while and decided to go for it, only to be told they didn't have any in stock which was no good to us with three washer loads waiting to go in a nice warm dryer.

All is not lost we thought as we speeded down to Comet in Sheffield who had the same models but alas the same stock situation. By now, having had no lunch, we were tired, hungry and rapidly approaching the rather 'pissed off' stage. Debbie remembered that there was a large Co-Op shop in Hillsborough, but not being exactly sure where it was, we had half an hour negotiating Sheffield's one way system, where the white arrows always point in the opposite direction you want to go. After a couple of laps of Hillsborough, sliding all over the tram lines, we found the shop and even managed to get parked up close by, no mean feat in Sheffield. Again, they had just what we were looking and had stock, unfortunately all their stock was held at the warehouse which wasn't open on a Sunday. We were both ready to jump on the salesman and end up being arrested for assault but left with a few choice words from Debbie!

Now it was last chance saloon, we were starving by now and we reckoned we could make just one more shop before we passed out. So, off we went to Currys at Parkway in Rotherham. Unfortunately we heard the same story there, with the shocking weather and the onset of winter, everyone's been out buying all the tumble dryers. The salesman pointed out that they don't keep so much stock at the shop, it's held at the warehouse that services all the local shops. So we accepted defeat and ordered one to be delivered given that they didn't have one we could take away. Then he tells us there is a twenty quid delivery charge on top. I said he was surely taking the proverbial, they hold all the stock centrally so we can't take one home and then charge us extra for delivery!

Had we not been so tired, hungry and thoroughly narked, we would have walked out and tried Comet across the way but we went ahead any way, agreeing to have it delivered on Saturday. So now we've got the clothes horse bending under the strain in the dining room and a rotor dryer at the top of the garden laden with clothes which are soaking wet through in this mornings torrential rain. Bugger!

Paul

Poor Lollypop

Lollypop hasn't been so well this week, he's had a very upset tummy since the weekend, possibly caused by some iffy chicken. Despite looking a shade better on Wednesday morning, he was sick again on Wednesday night so we took him to the vets. He had an anti-inflammatory and pro-biotic jab, plus he's got a stick of guey paste stuff to take while he's not eating.

When we got home, I held Lolly while Debbie aimed the big plastic syringe into his mouth. There appeared to be a blockage which Debbie duly investigated, during this investigation, the syringe strangely started to move in my direction and then suddenly came to life. Shirt, face, glasses, hair, all covered in the stuff!

Despite the chaos, I'm happy to report that while he's not one hundred percent, he's getting back to his old self, running around like an idiot!

Paul

Cat Sauna

Since we got our tropical fish, Misty has shown no interest, Eric likes to sit on the edge of the sofa watching and ........

.......here's Toddy relaxing on top of the fish tank, his new favourite spot. I'm sure he thinks this is some kind of cat sauna lol.


Paul

Snow Arrives In Lapland

I've been keeping my watchful eye on Lapland over the last couple of months, looking for the first snowfall of the season and yesterday, it came! It seems the winter season has started for real when Lapland has snow, I'm not sure why that should be, probably because it's the home of Farther Christmas.

As we now store pictures on Flickr, it's not really cricket to be uploading pictures of someone else's webcam, so here for your enjoyment, or amazement that someone watches these things, is a link to the Finnish Road Administration where there are loads of cameras to keep nutters like me occupied during the winter months.

Paul

Only 68 Days To Christmas!

All we seem to be doing lately is going shopping and doing jobs around the house, it's like being stuck on Groundhog Day! We've not been to Knowsley since April and we want to go off exploring at Robin Hoods Bay soon before it gets too cold to be staggering about across slippery rocks in the search of the perfect picture.

The jobs are finally dwindling though, the rubbish in the garden still needs sorting out but now it's all been chopped up, it's not so pressing. One thing that does need to be done this weekend is the building of a new fire surround to compliment the box Dad helped us build the other week.

Halloween is just around the corner now and the clocks will be going back soon, it's frightening just how quickly Christmas is approaching this year! At least the shops aren't full off Christmas merchandise so early these days with all the space taken up with Halloween and Trick or Treat gear. We've daren't think about buying Christmas presents yet, not while we're still unpacking stuff from the move! We have been to a local wholesaler and got our Christmas lights though, earlier than we would have liked but if we'd have left it until November, let alone December, we wouldn't have been able to get what we wanted. We're so looking forward to our first Wedding Anniversary and Christmas together in our new home and want the festive period for 2005 to be really special!

Paul

Blue John

Here are a few pictures we’ve taken during our impromptu hiatus…..

The flowers are still going strong in the garden.

Here’s Toddy walking home after a hard day’s adventuring.

Starlings taking advantage of the goodies we’ve been putting out now the nights are drawing in.

Not the pace for anyone who gets claustrophobic, Speedwell Cavern in Castleton.

Deep inside one very big hill!

We love this stone, Blue John and Castleton is the only place it’s ever been found.

Quite a bit here for a bracelet or too. This is inside Treak Cliff Cavern.

It’s just a shame we left the pick axe in the boot!

Stalactites everywhere, looks like a scene out of Alien!

Close up of these weird looking things. We can’t wait to go back and see one of the other four caverns, Blue John Cavern but we need to give the legs a rest first!

Paul

A Long Time!!

Hello everyone!

Now lets see whats been happening in our ickle world......

Since the tree, which is still bloody standing...lol...Paulie has been off work just for a week while we had new gas central heating fitted, it all went pete tong as per usual and where we would have a nice new gas fire all sparkling and waiting for winter we have a nice box ready for me to put some flowers or logs or something that looks attrative!!!

It happens that when you rip an old fire out you have to have a new flue put in its place and this one would cost us close to £300 something that we aint got going spare as we had just folked out £300 for a new fire, hence a trip back to B & Q for a full refund.....

Paul was busy keeping Lucy and Lollypop entertained while the workmen were here and also did some work in the garden as well as assemble the new wardrobes and draws that have been sitting under the stairs for the last six weeks.

Weekend we went to Castleton for the day its been the only day we have had out since moving to our new home, it was fantastic and we would recomend it to all, we first went down Speedwell Cavern it was 105 steps down and boy they were tricky, very steep and full of water, hence slipping on your arse jobby...lol... we got into the boat and off we went, the ceiling was inches off the top of your head!! Coming back was a nitemare 105 steep steep steps, bloody hell im knackered thinking of it...lol...

Next was lunch time, with a nice coffee, boy we needed this.....

Next came the Teak Cliffe Cavern and this was even worse, 200 steps up to the bloody thing and then another 50 inside, but it was worth it just to see the Blue John in the rock before it had been made into jewerly etc....

After an exhausting day it was time for home and of course a few well deserved drinks....ie....VODKKKKA...lol...

Sunday was the usual get up breakfast nip to Paulies dads and just chill with a nice sunday roast beef dinner.....yummy yummy in me tummy...lol...

Now its back to work with a bang and looking forward to the next fun packed weekend

Debbie