Stubborn Tree

We got all the branches off the tree on Sunday afternoon, what made it harder was the fact that the trunk has split into three quite low down and getting just one of those down was a task in itself. It must have been funny to watch us pulling the rope tied to the top, then me climbing up the other trunk and trying to kick the other one down. We got there in the end and we've just got the biggest trunk left to tackle another day.

Last week after we had the fruity cloud all day, Debbie took some more photos at dusk....

With all the commotion going on outside on Sunday, Eric retired to his favourite spot for forty winks.

Toddy was just too nosey to hide inside so watched on from the relative safety of the flower bed.

Lucy managed to avoid all the falling branches and even found time for a spot of posing.

Lollypop thought all his birthdays had come at once, a lifetime supply of sticks!

It's going to be a mission to get all the branches chopped and bagged ready for the tip in the next couple of weeks but we'll get there, we really want everything nice and tidy before the snow comes!

Paul

Week Goes By In A Flash

I can't believe it's Friday again, not that I'm complaining! With the move to our new offices this week and Debbie not feeling so well, we've not really had chance to post anything here for a while. Things went well over the weekend though, the new bed was delivered on Saturday and they lads had the stair banister off, bed assembled and banister back on again inside half an hour.

The new heating system we had ordered and cancelled due to the surveyor not turning up is now back on again, he came on Saturday to do the survey and we are green for go for the first week in October and it should only take two days.

The gazebo came down in the week, well crumpled and crashed into the wall more like, with the strong wind that cam during the night. At least it only cot a tenner so we'll just get a new one for next year.

Here's a picture of the sky taken outside work the other day, the cloud formations were weird all day long and Debbie got some cracking shots at dusk, we'll get some of those posted soon.

Paul

The Onset Of Autumn

I think we've had just about enough of all the hot sticky weather now, we're looking forward to some refreshingly cooler days ahead accompanied with the golden brown colours of Autumn.

Since posting a picture of the snow falling in Austria back on 15 August, it seemed to warm up again around Europe but the colder air is building again to the North and if proof were needed, the green hills of Alesund, Norway turned white yesterday and snow is falling again today.

Picture Source: www.nilu.no

Debbie remarked this morning how beautiful a spiders cobweb looked on our iron gate through the morning mist and rain, but it will look even better sparkling in early morning sunshine covered in frost.

Paul

On The Move Again

We're barely settled into our new home and I'm in the midst of another move, this time at work. We're moving to a new site over the weekend, bigger, better and best of all, only a stones throw from our new home.

The big question is, will I be getting on my bike, it's certainly close enough to pedal into work and I've no doubt the exercise would do me good. However, I'm a long time sufferer of the condition 'cantbearsed' and I'll probably put this off until next summer.

For now, we might as well take advantage of the fact that Debbie drives past the new place on her way to work and I'll be able to jump out when we get to the roundabout. This might be a problem if there's not much traffic and we don't have to stop, it will still be busy and it's one of those roundabouts where you just shut your eyes and go! I'll just have to make sure I wear extra thick trousers so I don't suffer friction burns as I'm ejected from the car half way round.

We've been issued with new toys to play with at work, IBM Think Centre, I've had mine up and running for a few days for setting up purposes (firefox, google talk etc) and it's proved to be pretty darn quick despite being ultra compact. The screens are great too, I've got the size set to 1280 x 1024 and it's still easily readable. We've had to hand them back today though for transportation to the new site and it doesn't half make these old Pentium 3 machines seem very slooooooow.

Paul

Underwater Hockey

I've been for a walk today to get yet more plants for the aquarium, I think it's about the sixth time I've been in three weeks and next time I'm going to ask about share options in the place!

The reason for the extra plants is that it looks like we'll be hearing the splash of tiny fins any day now and the little tykes will need somewhere to hide out.

We got a sunken ship last weekend, together with an albino pleco and since putting them in the aquarium the pleco has gone inside the ship and hasn't been seen since. The upside down catfish we also got, who resides in the top left window of the ship, did pop out yesterday but was swimming upside down, or is that the right way up mmmmm.

Anyway, our existing pleco and the catfish got stuck into pleco veggie tablets as did every other fish apart from the neons and it was quite funny watching these two green tablets being chased about in the sand.

So tonight I've got some aquatic planting to do followed by a partial water change then we can sit down and watch a game of twenty-five aside veggie tablet hockey.

Paul

Still Under The Weather!!

Work again on Friday but leaving early to go to the Doctors, he says its STRESS but will not confirm till he has received my records from me other Doctors, not sure what the hell it is but the symptoms are:-

Palpitations
Tiredness
Achey Limbs
Sore Skin
Shakes (sometimes very violent)
Not surprised it has knocked me for six!!

Lollypop went to the vets for his stitches out yesterday and was not impressed one little bit, all the other patients were 10 week old puppies and were are sat on their owners kness being very good and patient, were as Lollypop was having a right fruity, when the nurse called us, we more or less has to drag him into the examination room, within two mins the stitches were out and he was looking a lot happier.

Next came the order for worming tablets and also frontline flea spray, although they have not got any fleas and with the cats now going out we just like to keep on top of it.

Lucy, Lollypop, Misty and Todd were fine all taken their tablets between two peices of ham, but when it came to Eric he was not having any of it and the tablet rolled away and now we can not find it, mind you 4 out of 5 aint that bad!!

We went to Paul's brothers for a BBQ last nite and it was lovely, its nice to have a gossip and relax, Paul as usual decided to drive, think its cause he loves the new car.

Today is wardrode day and as Im typing this Paul is busy scratching his head and looking at the plans for building the buggers....lol...

If anyone knows what the hell is wrong with me, please leave a message!!

Cheers
Debbie

Bang!

Debbie has gone back to work today, we think it might have been flu but we're not sure, whatever it was, it knocked her for six over the last week or so and she's still far from one hundred percent.

Lolly's doing well since being neutered and has for the most part left the stitches alone so hopefully they'll be able to come out this weekend. Also this weekend, I've got to get those pesky wardrobes built because our new pine bed is coming the week after, thankfully that will be built for us!

We had someone round last night to give us quote for new central heating, the current system is a very old back boiler system and is about as controllable as Lollypop! We've gone ahead and ordered a new system which should be fitted in October. We'll have a new open gas fire, some lovely new radiators, a smart little combi and best of all, a thermostat that looks more like a hand held computer, works from anywhere in the house and in the future we'll be able to call it on the mobile to get the house toasty warm before we arrive back home on cold winters day!

While the chap was measuring up last night, the heavens opened and we had the brightest strike of lightning I've ever seen followed by an almighty clap of thunder which made us all jump out of our skins, especially Misty who shot upstairs faster than the speed of light!

Paul

Breakfast Time

Breakfast like you've never seen it before, Danish Bacon, courtesy of Alpha from Brit Pulse

Paul

Extra Long Weekend

Debbie's not been feeling well over the last few days but she's struggled on through the long weekend and Lollypop had 'the' operation on Friday morning, we were amazed that after dropping him off at 8.30am, we were able to pick him up again at 2pm. He was very pleased to see us but still heavily sedated and he hardly moved at all until late evening when he managed to wander around a little.

While Lolly was at the vets, we went out and bought some fish for the new aquarium, first half a dozen as planned, tiny little high fin platys, then we went on to another place for a look round and ended up with a couple more to keep them company.

On Saturday, Lolly was back to normal, bounding about like an idiot at 7am wanting to go outside lol. We stayed in all morning to make sure he was OK and Yorkshire Water were supposed to be coming out to sort out our pressure problem. They never turned up and a quick phone call revealed that they had mistakenly put us down for tomorrow. Not very chuffed and in need of a lift so we headed over to a bigger aquatic centre about 15 miles away. They had a huge selection of all the favourites and a few more we'd never heard off, including bumble bee gobies which we think look fantastic. We came back from there with a few more fish to add to our growing aquarium population.

On Sunday, the guy turned up to sort out the water as promised and just turning the mains stop tap on and off flushed out the problem, what ever it was. We now have running rather than trickling water once again.

We took Dad out for dinner on later on at a new place that's just been built along side the 'yet to be built' by-pass near Dodworth, Barnsley. It was lovely and the carvary was great, as was the minty ice-cream for afters! We just chilled for the rest of the afternoon and evening with Debbie really not feeling too good.

Yesterday we went garden tool shopping and purchased, more tree trimming tools, a stretchy hosepipe, a rake and a spade with a view to getting to work on the garden again during the afternoon. But before that, we called in at a local aquarium centre that Dad has mentioned, it was only advertised on yell.com as a koi carp dealer so we hadn't considered this place but it turns out they've got a decent selection of tropical fish and the couple running the place appeared to be committed to the welfare of the fish. Obviously we couldn't leave without buying anything and supporting our local dealer so more fish headed some with us.

The number off fish in the aquarium now is shall we say, more than there should be at this stage according to the textbooks but we are monitoring everything closely and changing a little water frequently to make sure they all get through the next few weeks.

Still not feeling very well, Debbie slept for most of the afternoon while I got to working on cutting down the branches in to smaller pieces for taking to the tip. After tea, Debbie, determined not to be left out, joined me outside to rip out more of the ivy from the flower beds, just spending half an hour on it before calling it a day. Unfortunately, Debbie felt even worse later and was up all night being sick, it must be some king of stomach bug. Anyway I've insisted she stays at home today, curled up on the sofa trying to count how many fish there are now in the aquarium!

Paul

Brit Pulse

There's a brand new forum on the block called Brit Pulse. A warm welcome is guaranteed by the friendly bunch that have already joined this week old forum, so why not put the kettle on, sign up and settle down for a good old fashioned chin wag.