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