Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 15 July 2018

Good morning - cloudy but no rain today, "they" say!  OH apparently isn't ready to start cleaning the study, so I am here!

FB - sorry no rain, but you did already get some last week, I believe!  Sorry about hospital waiting too - seems to be similar for all of us!

LINDA - "Mud, mud" was one of Mum's favourites, often sung by the talented Iain Wallace, I believe.  Nice for you to see your Son, if only for a few hours and, presumably, a meal!

AQ - I hope you get that rain on Thursday.  We seem to be back to our more usual variable weather now, with extra heat added in from time to time.

No plans myself this morning - waiting to shower when wasp man has been; the wee beasties appear to be in the outlet of my extractor fan above the shower.  I hope they won't get blown inwards, but he'll probably need to look at it from both ends.  Accepted quote from shed roof man - he's hoping to fit it in before his wedding in three weeks time, so OH did tell him some rain got in the other night!  As for wall repair, still struggling to get anyone to even come and quote for that one!

Its hard to get anyone to do a small job like wall repair, OG.  We needed ours looking at:  only four bricks high! but only one builder would even come and look at it, and he never came up with a quote so presumably too small a job for him to be bothered with. In the end, my OH rebuilt it himself, by stacking them up in a different formation, but "dry" as before.  It looks OK, and will stand there for years unless someone stupid stands upon it!  Now its dwarfed by our new hedge at the front, a lovely beech which is growing well and has been a great success.  We're going to keep that very low, so its never a horrible chore to keep in order.  But someone up the road from us had a low front wall which was falling down.  We presume that they, too could not find anyone to do it so have rebuilt it themselves.  Its a dreadful mess as of course doing the mortar is a skilled job.

Edit:  No, no meal for our son!  He gulps something down at home right after he finishes work, then drives straight up here which takes until about 9.30 in the evening, we all talk for about an hour then go to bed!  We have been asking him when we can go and visit them again to see them all:  we have to stay a night or two there as its so far.

Now, you'll have to bear with me here....

Its now nearly August, and last year in August I had a birthday and promised to tell the tale with pictures, of my day out.  Since then, its been a case of I've forgotten it when I've not been busy, or I've been too busy to do it when I've remembered!  So here it is:

It was lovely summer weather.  We were in Wales, and my request for the day was to go across Anglesey to visit South Stack Lighthouse, see any birdlife there, have lunch, and wander back across the island.  The day began with my hosing myself down in the shower, with my favourite shower gel and thinking of the treats ahead.  Suddenly, I reeled and jumped in shock! - a gun had gone off!  I looked down to see if I was injured anywhere but I seemed to be intact.  It was only when I peered around the room (no glasses on, and the shower all steamy) that I could see that the plastic bathroom light fitting had detached itself from the ceiling and fallen on the floor with a loud bang.

After my useful OH had fixed it back up again (with the help of Blu Tak) we got ready and set off.  A good journey straight across the island, on the fast road which has been built to help the freight coming from Holyhead to the mainland.  We stopped once on the way to look at the views.  When we got to South Stack, it was heaving with visitors!  -  of course, it was still holiday season and everyone had come to see the area on a sunny day.  We parked with difficulty, then let the dog out and walked around.

There are plenty of dramatic views on this part of the island.

The lighthouse itself is approached by a narrow walk, across the rocks.  We decided it was too hot to leave the dog in the car for us to go.

After a bit of exercise, we left Bonnie in the car with lots of windows open, and went in search of lunch.  The cafe there is only small, and was swamped by people looking for food and drink.  Eventually we grabbed a table, and got some food ordered.  It took a while, but we were happy to sit and people watch. Such a variety of folks!  When our food came, it was the same for both of us even though we had ordered different dishes, but it was a nice piece of quiche and salad so we didn't bother complaining.

A quick look around the shop, then back to the car where my OH was already letting Bonnie out again.  We went to see the White Tower there which is RSPB and had several volunteers on duty, answering the visitors questions.  Of course, the famous choughs there were not visible on the rocks as it was long after the breeding season was over, so we didn't get to see any.

Better view of the famous South Stack Lighthouse.

More of the dramatic coastline.

ChrisyB - I may have mentioned this on here previously but when I was a student nurse the hospital put on Christmas concerts. My class sang the Weather Song - January brings the snow etc. When it came to choosing who would say the final line 'BLOODY JANUARY AGAIN' - I was chosen. I can't imagine why.....

Hello again, study is done.  Wasp man has just arrived – just as OH nearly finished making a chorizo hash for lunch – I did shout when I saw them come, but of course he didn’t hear!  I assume lunch is suspended, but at least I know I can shower without intruders this afternoon! … Correction – inner end is taped over so I shall have to use the other shower room with help!

“They” were wrong about rain – we had drizzle for about an hour just after I wrote it, but all dried off now and sun is coming through.

Linda - our wall is not a DIY job – except maybe if we had a plasterer in the family!  Our neighbour has the best side of Fifestone blocks and our side is rendered with harling.  About one quarter has come off, but we shall have to have the whole wall re-done because of her nextdoor!  It isn’t actually a small job for a builder, so should be worthwhile taking it on – it’s the whole length of the drive, which is at least three cars parking space!!  A dramatic start to your birthday last year – and some good photos from Anglesey.  Have you decided where you will go this year as consolation for the delayed cruise?

Heather – can’t imagine you swearing in the concert - or ever, for that matter!

I can imagine Heather singing the lines with relish! LOL!! It's a great song.

OG. We're now booked to go on a similar cruise, later on, on the same ship. I was loath to book with the same company who had let us down so badly but I searched for two weeks and couldn't find anyone doing the itinerary I wanted! So we re-booked.  Of course, that left my birthday date empty, so now we plan to go on a long weekend somewhere in the UK.

Sunny and dry here today, but not hot. Back later with the end of my tale, I hope.

LINDA - yes, I did know you were going on the later cruise - it was the long weekend I was asking about - I thought you may have it booked by now!  We too are sunny now, but breezy too - actually rather pleasant.  It has mostly been an older man doing the work across the road - probably the man's father as they look alike - with friends of his generation but also some professionals brought in at appropriate stages.  Much less happening today, and he drove off earlier with a trailer full of stuff - presumably for the tip.

The last line of the Weather song is to be sung with relish! as in 'Freezing cold December then.... B...dy January Again!' A big favouite. We also sang the Hippopotamus song, or Mud song.