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

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