Nothing much

I think I need to welcome new followers but I can't be sure as I've lost track of numbers.

 Another week with not a lot happening ........... mainly grey, misty or drizzle especially Wednesday when I popped to Felixstowe. The Orwell  Bridge on the A14 takes traffic quite high over the Orwell and it was foggy enough to  feel like being in the clouds, not a bit like this photo below.

There was just a touch of sun Thursday morning when I went to Leiston to look after Florence for a while. She was a real grizzle-guts, too tired to be happy yet too nosy to fall asleep and I forgot to get a photo on the few occasions that she smiled.. It was quite interesting seeing an 8 month old at the weekend and a not quite 4 month old  on Thursday, the difference is quite amazing.
 Leiston is about to lose it's only Building Society -The Norwich and Peterborough Society was taken over by The Yorkshire and they are closing loads of branches. This means that when they build Sizewell C and D Nuclear power stations and the town grows there will be just the Barclays Bank left to deal with the increase in population.We moved there in 1992 just as they were finishing Sizewell B and the town had 3 building societies and 2 banks, 2 supermarkets and a proper Post Office, now there is just the Co-op Solar and the Post Office is inside another shop.  Progress is backwards for some things it seems.

Great excitement........Needham Market (a town that  also lost it's only bank a few years ago) carboot sale starts tomorrow - weather permitting -  and we have someone coming to see the bungalow but as we have boxes piled up making the place look even smaller than it is, I'm not hopeful. I did tell our Estate Agent to warn the man that we are in a muddle but he said he would come anyway.

So all in all not much to write about and no photos.
 When I very first started reading blogs someone had a picture of their hoover cylinder which had come un-clipped and spilled all over the floor and their trousers and I remember thinking 'if ever I write a blog that's something I wouldn't bother to photograph!' and today Ilona has a picture of the  cat litter trays - not going there either!


Have a good weekend whatever you are doing
Back Shortly
Sue

Keep on keeping on

Odds and ends today as my blog seems to have turned into a book blog over the last few posts and I don't want to bore anyone who doesn't read. But thank you for the comments on Angela Thirkell yesterday. I'm cross that I'm late finding her as the books not re-printed by VMC are so expensive on Amazon, but there again maybe I needed to be "of a certain age" to enjoy her subtle wit, I can't imagine I would have enjoyed them so much while in my 20s.

So many of my favourite blogs have stopped recently. Everyone has so much happening in their lives that they have no time to blog. I'm beginning to feel that my life is lacking as I still have plenty of time to write as we are still B***** waiting for a solicitor to sort the paperwork! I guess it's all a matter of deciding which things you like doing best, in my case reading, writing and some crafting, and limiting to the minimum things that don't seem so important (obsessive cleaning, faffing and shopping)
 (Our solicitor phoned, there is still a delay, She's been sent paperwork but still no proper details of the bit of land that Mrs F bought about 10 years after buying the house. I'm so fed up with writing about this cock-up I'll NOT mention the house move again until it actually happens!).

Walked round the Portman Road carboot sale on Sunday morning. It's the only one that carries on all year round but what a load of tatty junk, where on earth does it all come from? Most looked as if it had been fished out of someone's rubbish bin. Felt like singing "What A Load Of  Rubbish" which is probably what the crowd at the football ground on the other side of the road have been singing all season................I.T.F.C are not doing well at the moment!
The only thing I saw of any interest was a huge collection of Home Farmer magazines but the woman was wanting £1 for 3 - silly money for a car boot sale. I'd probably had several of them in the past anyway so left them where they were. We came home for coffee and kept our money for another day.

  Over the weekend we saw two out of three children and just our grandson, now 8 months old - a very happy little chap, who will soon be crawling

 Our youngest was poorly so wasn't able to come out, but we will see Florence later this week as we are looking after her while youngest has an appointment. Actually it will just be me going over to Leiston as
 Colin has gone down with a horrible cold and clogged up sore throat. The chemo he had all last year knocked out his immune system and he now seems to pick up everything that goes round and gets it much worse than other people.I shall cart him off to the doctor I think, as he may need antibiotics.

Regarding the courgette and  lettuce shortage that made the news a week or so ago, I noticed that Morrisons had a sign on their Iceberg lettuces..... " limited to 2 per customer". My thought was who on earth would want to buy one let alone 3 of these nasty tasteless version of a lettuce!

We seem to have got through the grey days of January, I'd better find some weather sayings for February.

Back Soon
Sue

Yesterday was Sunday

I woke early and listened to the Australian Open tennis but it was soon obvious that both Andy Murray and Dan Evans would be heading home on the next plane out - a shame for both. They have Davis Cup versus Canada coming up in a couple of weeks.

We decided to go for a  chilly walk  around the Ipswich waterfront mid-morning, the sun was lovely but it was just so cold we didn't stay out long. (My little camera has developed a big blob on the lens - very annoying)

 Once the docks would have been full of warehouses and boats loading and unloading wood and barley, now the buildings are part of the University of Suffolk and the Marina is full of huge sea-going yachts - a lot of money 'tied up' there.

 I spent the rest of Sunday reading a bit of very light crime fiction, the 4th in a series by  Carola Dunn, set in 1970(?) Cornwall and  described here on the Fantastic Fiction website.
After many years working around the world for an international charity in the late 1960s, Eleanor Trewynn has retired to the relative quiet of a small town in Cornwall. But her quiet life is short-lived when, due to her experience, the Commonwealth Relations Office reaches out to her to assist in a secret conference that is to take place in a small hotel outside the historical village of Tintagel.

Meanwhile, her niece, Detective Sergeant Megan Pencarrow, is investigating the disappearance of a local solicitor when she is assigned to help provide security for the conference. Two African students, refugees from Ian Smith's Rhodesia, arrive for the conference, escorted by Megan's bete noire from Scotland Yard. They are followed by two mysterious and sinister Londoners, whose allegiances and connections to the conference and the missing solicitor are unclear. With a raging storm having trapped everyone in the hotel, the stage is set for murder, and it's up to Eleanor and Megan to uncover the truth before more lives are lost.

Carola Dunn has also written a series of equally silly crime featuring the Hon. Daisy Dalrymple set in the 1920's.

I do hope we get house news this week, we have so much packed that there is really nothing else to do. I've resorted to knitting dishcloths to keep occupied! At least we will have a diversion at the end of the week with a visit of our eldest and grandson from Surrey. They are staying with our son and his wife as we thought we would be in a muddle having just moved or  in the middle of moving. Hmmmm fat chance!

Back Soon
Sue

Le weekend (or is it La weekend)

Le or La ? I failed French O level way back in 1971 and have since forgotten most of what I did learn.

On Friday we popped over to see our perfect granddaughter - 3 and a half weeks old now. She's always perfect when we see her but daughter A says she's being a right pain at night!
We went via the house that sells apples, we've been detouring that way because they've got bags of Cox's for 50p and they are just delicious, got a bag for A too. Did a small shop at Co-op in Leiston while we were there as I had a £2 off £10 voucher. Our local Co-op near Aldi has been turned into a McColls convenience store and a Subway and they have sent Co-op members in the area 2 x £2 off £10 vouchers to make up for the inconvenience. There are 3 other Co-ops on the edges of this estate so I'm not surprised that the one in competition with Aldi has been forced to close.
Friday afternoon was wet and nasty so I sorted out another box of books for Ziffit. Whoop whoop now raised just over £100 and cleared about 50 books!

Saturday morning by request of Col we went to the Needham Market carboot  (though I didn't take any persuading!) It was blinkin' freezing then it started to drizzle so we weren't there long. Me being on Low spend November I just bought some pears for £1 and this new bag, £1, plus a half started tapestry kit, 50p, for making a glasses case. I love rescuing half done craft kits and will finish this for a Christmas present. The bag will also be a present for a friend as they have a Sherlock Holmes game which they often play at Christmas. I'll put her other present inside it.

I was able to resist all books as I didn't see a single one I wanted! And Col just bought some washers.

Next job was Cranberry Chutney for the hampers............... should be simple but after searching  Morrisons and Aldi  for frozen cranberries with no luck I looked on My Supermarket and found Asda didn't have them either. Only Tesco, so called at Tesco in Saxmundham on the way to daughters but no, none there  which only left going to the big Tesco on the edge of Ipswich where you have to walk half a mile to find what you want and at last found them.
So, how to mix and match two recipes from different books.

On the left is a recipe from The Good Housekeeping Book of Preserves, on the right it's the WI book I used the other day. I had 400g of cranberries and decided the GH book didn't have a big enough proportion of  vinegar or sugar to fruit (and I didn't want to use sultanas or raisins) but I didn't like the idea of cooking the onions and apples in butter or using brown sugar as per the WI recipe.
So my recipe was (and apologies for mixing metric and imperial but that's how my mind works!)
 400g cranberries
Approx 12 oz prepared cooking apples ( peeled,cored,chopped)
Approx 10oz red onions peeled and chopped ( red was what I had but ordinary would do)
¾ lb white sugar
15fl oz distilled white vinegar
2 tsp mixed spice.

I put the apples and onions in the preserving pan covered with a bare minimum of water and cooked them for about 10 minutes until they were starting to soften. Then strained and put  them back in the pan.
Then I added the vinegar and sugar on a gentle heat stirring until the sugar had dissolved, added the frozen cranberries and left on gentle heat until they defrosted (Should have defrosted first I guess). Then I mashed up the cranberries, brought the pan to the boil stirring then reduced heat to a simmer for about half an hour stirring frequently. After that time the mix had thickened up nicely and was looking good. I gave it another 10 minutes just to be sure all excess liquid had been boiled away and then the wooden spoon dragged across the bottom of the pan allowed me to see the bottom for a second  and I potted up into hot sterilised jars and screwed up tight.

 This made 4 and a bit medium jars, I've taken the photo with one lid off so you can see the consistency. It tasted like a fruity sweet and sour mix of jam and chutney. Should be good with turkey or chicken.

Our son came over Saturday afternoon so his Dad could give him a hand with a car repair. Nice to see  Col back in overalls again. He just has to be very careful not to cut himself because the low platelets would mean blood might not clot.



I'd temporarily run out of library books so read this from my shelves. I'd previously read a book by her called "And then there were nuns; adventures in a cloistered life". Both were good.

Saturday evening, our first ever November 5th on a housing estate. Blimey it was like living in a war zone! (but without the fear). How many pounds worth of fireworks went up in smoke I wonder? I love fireworks, would happily stand and watch all of them anywhere but wouldn't dream of buying any! I noticed the £49.99 one from Aldi lasted  all of 115 seconds.........

Sunday
We walked to the library again and they had 4 British library Crime Classics in for me. I'd suggested them on the website and they bought them all. LOVE Suffolk Libraries. Also the new Ann Cleeves - "Cold Earth".
I've started the rescue of the tapestry glasses case. It's half cross stitch but someone had done bits one way and other bits the other diagonal.Then they had done some cross stitch which was all lumpy! I took out the cross stitch bit but there was too much to undo all the wrong tent stitch so I carried on the best I could. It looks OK as long as you don't look too closely. Not sure if it will be good enough to make a Christmas present.



Apples, milk, veg, eggs, frozen cranberries, Dreamies for the cat and a couple of other bits £11.63p.
Car boot sale pears £1 and Xmas gift bits £1.50

Total in the Low/No Spend November challenge £299ish

Back Soon
Sue

A New Month

From one of the books I picked up on Saturday  Celtic Book Of Days-- Samhain - The New Year

From sunset last night to sunset this evening Pagan and Celtic people would have celebrated Samhain. The beginning of the dark half of the year - Not my favourite thing to celebrate that's for sure and I'm still suffering from being awake too soon and hungry at the wrong time of day all due to clocks changing. You'd think I'd be used to it after 61 years but no, I still moan for about a week until my body clock settles.

After getting back from the book sale last Saturday we walked round to the jumble sale at the Scout Hall and apart from 20p to get in only spent 20p on a new notebook/diary in a case that will be a Christmas present.

 Decided I'd better not go to the car boot sale on Sunday (due to spending  too much money at the book sale)  so spent the morning in the kitchen. We were given some windfall cooking apples so I made a pie and used some in the mincemeat mix. Then I rustled up some tomato soup (carrots, onions, tinned tomatoes,tom puree, stock, flour to thicken) cooked some chicken joints for Cols lunchtime sandwiches and finally shoved a tray of scones in the oven as the cake tin was empty. That's the most cooking I've done at once since we moved here as cooking and baking all seemed a bit pointless when I was spending so much time on my own.

Looked on my recipe page to see if the mincemeat recipe was listed there and it is but then I found a couple of comments that I didn't know were there - whoops, sorry folks. Is Upcyclerbypaint still reading?.

 Colin's fitness is coming along in leaps and bounds (hope it's not just the steroid tablets!) and yesterday he decided he was well enough to walk to the library and back........his first time, I've done it a couple of times but really prefer to bike, even if it means pushing the bike up the hills. 0.83 of a mile according to Mapometer, 15 minutes sit down to look at the newspaper and 0.83 home again. It was blinkin' warm walking yesterday, it's up hill nearly all the way home but he was less worn out than I was!


 And about as far away from Pagan customs as it's possible to get, here is part of a poem written for children

Dull November brings the blast,

Then the leaves are falling fast.

(from 'Months' by Sara Coleridge)

Back Tomorrow
Sue

And Another Week Bites The Dust

Before I start I must say hello to lots of new followers, once it was possible to click on names and find if people had a blog or not but that's one of the things Blogger have changed - very annoying, so if you have a blog please leave a comment with the name of the blog.
And must say thank you for all the comments on the last post. It's certainly true about "Bungalow Legs" as after just 7 months here I now find stairs quite hard work. We haven't completely dismissed the hospital gym as it will certainly be a good idea for later although fitness in the past has always been maintained by working - gardening, wood cutting etc. Back at the smallholding I did half a mile of walking round the field everyday just to let the chickens out and collect the eggs!

Anyway, what have we been up to......................................

Monday - Off to hospital with Colin  for his regular blood test and then an appointment with the Doctor. Platelets have gone up again  *Happy Dance* and the doctor said he could drop several of the tablets he's been taking  since he came out of hospital.

Tuesday - a.m. I went to see a physio to get some more exercises to help hips and back. Very nice young fella wiggled my legs about and said my hips were not too bad and my back fairly flexible, then showed me 3 more exercises to try to improve even more.
I reckon the test is - can you put your knickers on while standing up? 

We had a viewing of the bungalow in the afternoon and our For Sale sign has gone up. We told our lovely neighbour Ann that we were moving so it didn't come as a shock to her but I bet it's surprised some of the other neighbours. It takes about 5 minutes to show people round this small bungalow whereas last year it took at least an hour to show folk around the smallholding.
 Then we took library books back and went for a walk in Broomhill Park behind the library ( From the web : Broomhill Park is a semi-natural woodland park between Sherrington Road and Valley Road in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. In older times it was called Broom Hill. The park contains many fine historic oaks and an abundance of Scots Pines).  If it wasn't for the traffic noise it would feel like a wood in the country.

Wednesday - Out to Leiston to visit our beautiful granddaughter, (and our daughter of course!) now two weeks and one day old.

 We got to see her awake this time and while Col went to visit one of old neighbours, me and A took Florence and the dog for a walk around the park. 

 Feedback from yesterdays viewing " it didn't have a wow factor"! Colin asked me what on earth they meant so I said it would mean completely gutting the kitchen and replacing with glossy doored cupboards and granite worktops and ceramic tiled floor. Replacing the new carpets we had laid for warmth with wood flooring and all the light fittings with new ones. My settee covered with a patchwork throw would have to go and the comfy armchair - it's always leather sofas in modern homes.The pine dresser that isn't really a dresser and the pine chest that the TV stands on would also be changed to something modern and metal and as for the little round table by my chair which is really a homemade sewing box table from the 1930s, that definitely wouldn't be seen in a Wow Factor home! All the doors throughout the place would need new ones as they are old hollow sapele ones. The double glazing is out dated and would have to be replaced, then a conservatory added out the back with big bi-fold doors. The garden would be decked and grass banished and as for the old fashioned flower border - that would have to go.I showed him  THIS which has come on the market in Ipswich (but not in such a Good area as ours she says sniffily!)- just the sort of place I would hate! And certainly not what we could afford to do here before selling. So we shall just have to wait and hope.


Thursday morning and back to the cottage to meet the lady selling it and have another look round. We're just hoping she doesn't suddenly change her mind as she doesn't really want to move but has been widowed now for 6 years and is probably in her late 70s and finding the driving to the village and back for everything is starting to be too much. The cottage is exactly what we want and we would happily move in as soon as the solicitors can sort it but the lady has a lot of things to shift so we don't want to rush her and it will be January before she'll be ready so we will have to be patient.
One problem is that there will be no cooker/oven there as the lady is taking hers with her. There is a perfect place to put a range and I would like to go back to LPG (heating is oil boiler - no natural gas)but we may have to manage with microwave and caravan cooker until we can sort something out. Although somewhere stored in one of the trailers is a double burner camping stove.

Thursday afternoon and another bungalow viewing - the third - third time lucky?

Friday 
No, not third time lucky " too small" ( yes we know that!)

And now it's nearly 5pm and we are just back from the other side of Ipswich after attending my uncle's funeral (my mum's eldest sister's husband) he was 94 and my Auntie is still a fairly fit 92. They celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary 2 years ago. That's a long time together. We caught up with two of my cousins "we're running out of Aunts and Uncles" I said "but gaining grandchildren".

We have another viewing tomorrow and there's a Jumble sale round the corner at the Scout Hut. Might pop to a Book sale too and perhaps a car boot - Sound's like the perfect weekend! 

Back after the weekend
Sue

October - Season of mists and mellow whats'its............ but not in town

The seasons really do disappear in town. Due to roadworks we came home from hospital last Thursday via a back road that took us out to the edge of Ipswich ( and even further out because there was a diversion and more road works!). It's only when we saw the fields ploughed  and the trees changing colour that we realised it was Autumn already.
So  I made a start clearing the dead stuff from the back garden, we've no colour out there now except for the orange berries on the Pyracantha. I'm cutting down lots of Golden Rod and if we were staying I'd dig it out because it's horrible, in fact the only thing nastier than live Golden rod is dead Golden rod -  all dusty and full of mildew!
 Picked up the newest Aldi leaflet......... full of stuff for Halloween, we haven't lived in town on October the 31st since the American tradition was imported by the shops, will we get trick or treaters in our quiet road? It seems strange now that back in 1975 when I worked on a mobile library van we used to go to a USAF housing complex in a village in West Suffolk and I had to ask the ladies who came to the van why on earth they had pumpkins and witches all over their houses.
So from no All Hallows-eve traditions to shops full of junky rubbish in 40 years. If we do get any ghosts/witches knocking on the door we will be out! Bah Humbug to Halloween!
( Although we did do well selling pumpkins at Fareacre, remember this from 2014)

Back Soon
Sue

Not Preparing For Winter and Other News

Several years ago when we lived on the smallholding and I wrote for the Suffolk Smallholders Newsletter, I did a couple of pieces about preparing for winter, mainly written for people new to the countryside. There was a check list to prepare................
 Animal feed, lag outside taps, wood for woodburners, cylinder gas for cooker, coal for the Rayburn, examine welly boots for cracks or holes, warm weather and wet weather gear for outdoor work, emergency stuff in case of power cuts, spare diesel for the car and tractor etc etc.

Oh how much simpler life is in town .............not that I really want a simple town life but Hey Ho! All we have to do is to get the gas central heating boiler checked. That's now been done and Thank Heavens all was well despite the boiler being quite old (but apparently a very reliable make) so bill paid - sorted.  I was a bit concerned that the man would slap a red Do Not Use label on it which is what happened many years ago when we got someone out to repair the grill on a Calor (cylinder gas) cooker. He said the whole cooker was too old, didn't comply to regulations and stuck the label across the door. I'm afraid I just carried on using the hob and oven for several more months until we could afford a new cooker.


Very much enjoyed the above book which I finished while at the beach hut on Tuesday. Certainly doesn't glamourise what Londoners went through during the Blitz or soldiers caught on Malta during the siege. Here's the details from the library website..........
"When war is declared, Mary North leaves finishing school unfinished, goes straight to the War Office, and signs up. Tom Shaw decides to give it a miss - until his flatmate Alistair unexpectedly enlists, and the conflict can no longer be avoided. Young, bright and brave, Mary is certain she'd be a marvelous spy. When she is - bewilderingly - made a teacher, she instead finds herself defying prejudice to protect the children her country would rather forget. Tom, meanwhile, finds that he will do anything for Mary. And when Mary and Alistair meet, it is love, as well as war, that will test them in ways they could not have imagined, entangling three lives in violence and passion, friendship and deception, and inexorably shaping their hopes and dreams."

The book finishes with a few pages about the authors grandparents who formed the basis of this fictional story. There is a mention in one newspaper review that he is working on a sequel set in the first years of peace. 


 Then I went to the beach hut again on Wednesday and read some of this

 
The fourth book written by Jill Paton Walsh using the characters created by Dorothy L Sayers. Another well written story. When I worked in libraries all those years ago Jill Paton Walsh was a children's author so I've enjoyed discovering these books for adults and she also wrote four other crime novels set in Cambridge. I've now requested the first of these from the library.

I know parts of the country haven't been enjoying the mini heatwave that we in the east have had this last week. By golly it's been HOT. The grass in the back garden is brown apart from one small bit that's always in shade. Windows have been wide open and blinds closed, in hospital where they don't have windows that open wide, Col has had 2 fans running to keep cool. He does seem to be feeling better again although last time I said that he plunged down and had more problems so I won't say anymore.

Only a couple more days of Paralympics, it has been SO good and I shall be disappointed to go  back to regular TV. I think only in this country would we have a programme like The Last Leg!  BTW am I the only person who isn't getting agitated by Great British Bake Off moving to Channel 4? I've never seen a single episode, although if it was Strictly Come Dancing or Wimbledon tennis disappearing from terrestrial TV to Sky then I would be out there shouting!

Thank you for comments on the last post

Back in a jiffy
Sue

Half of August gone and links to old posts

August days are creeping by and Col has now been in hospital for 2 weeks. We hope by the end of this week  a lot of the nasty chemicals will have worked their way out of his system and he will start to feel much better. As well as not sleeping, stomach ache, sickness and diarrhoea, he now has sore mouth and throat and not even enough energy to write on his Facebook page. So  it's one thing after another just as the cancer nurses told us - they've seen it all before.
He's been trying to avoid infection by keeping all visitors, except me, away, but a text from him this morning say's he has a temperature so it will be antibiotics and all their nasty side effects added into the mix now. No wonder this is the worst part of the treatment.
 I've been plodding along at home trying not to worry and watching lots of Olympics .

On Friday the beach hut tempted me away from the TV and I spent over 4 hours down there including a swim in the flat calm sea. I read most of this while I was there.


Jan Struther is more well known for her book Mrs Miniver, but this is a collection of very clever and witty essays and sketches. Although written in the 1940's by a "upper middle class, lower middle age woman" the humour in the stories hasn't dated at all. You just have to love the writing of someone who says ".....and there are people to whom making lists is an end in itself, a pure, abstract and never failing delight". Oh yes!

Saturday saw me biking to the library, but going the long way round so I could call in at the  Emmaus Charity shop where I  found a pack of 3 Pairs of M&S pants - Col's Size - for £2 - handy. ( Question - in the States what we call trousers you call pants so what do you call the items of underwear that we call pants? )
Then I spotted this for £4,

  I'm a sucker for baskets,( I wrote about baskets when we were still at the smallholding) as long as they are cheap, I have no idea why I'm so tempted and the problem is .....................now I've got it what the heck do I do with it? I already have a smaller one with dividers for 4 bottles that I used to use standing in the upstairs bathroom for cleaning stuff etc........here it's in the kitchen holding shoe cleaning bits. Then I have a small hamper that I begged from Col's brother after he won it in a draw last Christmas. That's standing on the TV unit holding all the chargers and other bits and bobs. 2 big storage baskets are up on top of the wardrobes holding shoes and winter wear. My favourite from that old blog post is in the kitchen holding potatoes (on newspaper and covered over with black fabric to keep out the light).
I'm really an idiot for buying it as we are so short of space here and a bargain is only a bargain if you actually need it! I'm thinking it would be more useful if I took a pair of secateurs to the 6 canes holding the dividers in place and made a nice big oblong basket.

Sunday I did a bit of tidying in the garden, re-potted the thyme, shopped at Asda, visited Colin and watched more Olympics........ even the finalé of the golf was exciting!, then in the evening things got more and more enthralling with medals being won all round. Andy Murray's tennis medal was real fight.

Yesterday apart from a visit to Colin, I took a few more bits to the charity shop and started on unpacking and sorting another box from the shed. I didn't find anything we needed indoors but chucked a couple of bits in the dustbin and others into the charity shop bag and re-packed most into a sturdier box.

Thank you you for all the interesting comments about housed deeds and house prices. We've always been so lucky with buying and selling houses. I wrote about all our house moves HERE.
So many house moves in our married life, I can't imagine staying in one house for life like many people did in the past and a few do now I guess - Col's Dad is 85 and has only ever lived in 2 houses!

Back Soon
Sue






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Deeds

Finally - after 4 and a half months - we've received all the deeds and land registry stuff back from our solicitors. The hold up due to the Land Registry Office being really busy because of so many people buying and selling during March before stamp duty changed. It's fascinating to see old house deeds and just like Fareacre we have deeds going back to the nineteen-thirties. The odd thing is it seems that this bungalow was built in 1955 exactly the same at Fareacre, but using better quality building materials.
 We've got maps with all the field sizes before this huge estate was built bit by bit over 80 years and I guess still on going, as a house and bungalow down the road both sold off part of their garden to make room for a new bungalow just last year.

There is even an old Building Society Book to show where a mortgage was paid off in the 1970's.
 What did surprise me is we seem to be only the 3rd people to have owned the bungalow. The original owners had it built and then the lady lived on here after she was widowed until she died aged over 90 in 2011.

Now how things have changed - no more deeds with beautiful copperplate writing, tied with ribbon and sealed.............. just a piece of paper telling you your property purchase has been registered with the Land Registry.

  Looking through everything I came across the survey done for the people who were here before us and it mentions all the ceilings were covered by polystyrene tiles - Thank Heavens they were removed before we got here!

Back soon
Sue


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Sorting boxes and cheering up the living room.

There were about 15 boxes of possessions out in the shed with no room for them in the house and many of the boxes were third-hand, rather tatty and  more tape than cardboard.  After a sort out indoors I managed to make an empty drawer in the dresser and then found a sturdy box in the garage so I've begun to empty some of the flimsier old boxes, re-packing what we want to keep, bringing one or two things indoors and putting some things in a bag ready for the charity shops. Three tatty boxes have been so far been squashed into the recycling bin, several more still to sort.
In one box I found my Poundland fairy lights and they've gone around the hatch between kitchen and living room which was the only place  near enough to a plug.

I've avoided charity shops and car boot sales all week but treated myself to a bunch of Freesias from Aldi.
  They are lovely, but not many in the bunch. So I bulked them out with a few bits from the garden (I'm a shove them in a jug flower arranger!)

So with the bunting, fairy lights and flowers the living room looks much cheered.

 By the way if you are looking for some cheap fruit bushes Aldi had all sorts for around £3, that's one heck of a lot less than the seed company catalogues so probably worth a try if you have room.

The nasty affects of the chemo have caught up with Col, he felt really rough yesterday. Just wanting to lay resting with eyes shut.  This is not unexpected and his 'obs' are all OK so nothing to worry about. Just a matter of time.

Looks like we are in for a sunnier and warmer day than yesterday - the beach hut beckons - if I can tear myself away from the Olympics, where they seem to be doing pretty well - loved the track cycling last night.


Back in a day or 3
Sue

Back Soon

It turns out that all I needed was ...............................

...............a couple of weeks off to catch up on a few things.



And Blogging Mojo returned. Phew! - I do miss writing.

While I was absent................

The inner pockets to hold the lavender in the cross stitch sachets have been finished.

I read several books, which have been added to my 2016 books read page

We visited friends in Essex (where I tried to give away 3 books but my friend already had them!)

We both went to a car boot sale ( first time Colin has felt well enough this year) where I found these

 I love the dressing teddies puzzles and always wanted to get one from The Early Learning Centre for our youngest years ago, but could never afford it, so thank goodness for carboot sales as this was £2. 'Little Grey Rabbit at Christmas' was 50p and 'The Brontes went to Woolworths' by Rachel Ferguson - A Virago Modern Classic was just 20p

We had a couple of lazy days at the beach hut.

The cross stitch picture of a standard fuchsia is  finished. Threading the beading needle to sew on the seed beads was the most difficult part! It has been mounted in a dark green aperture card and will be a birthday card for Col's Dad who lives in " Fuchsia Cottage"

 I wrote a few letters

We spent a Sunday afternoon in a very civilized fashion ......listening to The Suffolk Concert Band in Christchurch Park. Here they are settling into their seats and warming up.

 And IF this video works, you might be able to hear them.We both love Brass band music. Its always a happy sound.

Now I shall have a quieter than usual 4 weeks as Colin has gone into hospital for the final part of the treatment for Non Hodgkins Lymphoma. He has taken the small camera and his laptop to keep a diary for his Facebook page.

Horrible grey drizzley weather here today, I'd better do the ironing.

Back in a day or 2 providing my lap top keeps going, its got rather slow and temperamental recently.
Sue

A Bad Influence

I've been meaning to bike to Morrisons ever since we moved here. It's downhill almost all the way which, sadly, means it's uphill almost all the way home!

But when you cycle or walk you find footpaths that give you a short cut, like this one above that I discovered. The path cuts off a corner taking me straight into the Morrisons car park.

Then I spotted these and because Sadie at Life in the English Rain had them on her blog the other day I was "forced" to purchase! She's such a bad influence! :-)

and who knew I was so easily tempted into buying doughnuts?
(£1 wasn't wasted as they are very delicious.)

Doughnut buying wasn't really my reason for cycling to Morrisons! I went mainly because they had Polly's cat food on special offer - Not so exciting.

I've loved the two weeks of Wimbledon and brilliant to have so many people from Scotland/Great Britain winning. Well done Andy M, Gordon Reid and Alfie Hewett for wheelchair doubles then Gordon Reid went out and won the first ever wheelchair singles too.  Jordanne Whiley was one half of the ladies wheelchair doubles winners and Heather Watson was half of the Mixed Doubles winners duo, even though they had never played together before this championship. A very good two weeks all round.

Welcome to Gisela from NZ, who has a brand new blog called Life at Barkalot Farm.

Back Soon-ish
Sue

Things 'discovered' this week

• I discovered that if  I'd have paid £14.99 for this,

I'd have felt aggrieved. (so thank heavens for libraries). It's largish type and  double spaced so 452 pages could have been 226. Then each chapter heading has a page to itself, so make that under 200 pages, and just two evenings reading.
The story itself is fine, sort-of chick lit I suppose - not as good as some of her earlier books though, seems to skim the surface of the characters.
After writing this I looked to see what people had written in the Amazon reviews - they were very mixed. So you pay your money ( but don't!) and make up your own mind.

• I discovered that all pieces were present and correct for the jigsaw puzzle. I shall pass it on to Col's sister for her neighbour.

• I discovered that if you bike to B & Q to buy a new shower (ours packed up Monday morning when the water suddenly stopped and the on/off button got stuck) you have to walk back balancing the rather large box in the bike basket,

and because our nearest B&Q is closing I got a bargain. But then Col Discovered sometimes you just need to turn off water and electric, take the shower to bits, fiddle with the bit inside where the on/off button is and it will work again. I won't be taking the one I bought back to B&Q because it will happily sit in the cupboard ready for when the old shower really does go wrong.

• I discovered that I don't know what this is. Before the flowers appeared I thought it was a clematis

now I'm not sure.

• And finally, if I didn't know before, I discovered that I am a hopeless case when it comes to car-boot sale books. I blame  Scott at Furrowed Middlebrow blog  for a couple of these, because of reading it I've caught his addiction to old books! But not at any price, as this pile of books, another toy for the grandchildren's cupboard,Christmas doilies and the canning set were £4.50 in total.

Thanks for comments and welcome to new follower Serenata ( I like your book lists!)

Back Soon
Sue

Walking to the library

 Down our road round the corner then another corner and you find

an old postbox - not very exciting you might say but it's within a short walk from home and if you've been reading the blog for years you'll remember that where we lived before the postbox got stolen and wasn't replaced leaving us a mile and a bit to go to post a letter.

Past more houses and across  2 roads then along this footpath under the railway. The house on the right has an aviary in the back garden - the noise is dreadful, glad I don't live next to them.
Along another road and between houses and down onto this playing field. It's just a grassy area with a fenced in playground and was soggy wet this morning.

 Spotted blackberries starting to grow on the edge of the field, wonder if there will be any to pick later or will other people get there first.

 Out the other side of the playing field and here we are at our local library.

Quoting from a slightly out of date page on t'internet...........
 " Westbourne (It's now called Broomhill) Library was designed as a decontamination centre to protect the Ipswich public from Nazi chemical warfare - with a post-war transfer of usage to a public library in 1948. It is an extremely popular and well used public library and community hub. With 77,000 visits p.a, it is the 11th busiest of Suffolk’s 44 libraries; and is the only library in north Ipswich.

I'm guessing the figures quoted are way out of date and the library is much quieter now than when this was written.
 I came home avoiding the soggy playing field and passed  perhaps the saddest thing in Ipswich 

 It's the old entrance of Broomhill outdoor swimming pool, too expensive for the council to run it closed several years ago. Every now and again they talk about re-opening it. There are very few public outdoor pools or lidos left anywhere in the country now, very sad, as we spent many happy days at the one in Stowmarket when I was in my mid teens.

And then up and down roads and around corners until I got home again, luckily avoiding the rain showers.

Back Soon
Sue

Hurrying towards the end of June

Moving on swiftly from yesterdays slightly maudlin post.

This is all the other stuff that's been going on here......................

My Wednesday post had a list of things to finish and I'm pleased to say the owl cross stitch and the watering can have both been turned into cards. The puzzle is gradually being pieced together but the book pile is only going down slowly and the lavender bags are still waiting

  A small silver 9 year old Fiesta has entered our life.
 We've been a one car family for several years, ever since the County Council stopped paying a car allowance and forced Col to use a hired works van for bridge inspections - (How hiring a van was cheaper than paying a mileage allowance I have no idea).
Several times in our married life we've  had long periods of only owning one car, simply because we couldn't afford to run two cars. While Col used the car for work I would use my bike, local bus or we would only go shopping at weekends. We've had spells with two cars - usually two very old cars, especially after we moved to Knodishall when we were miles from everything. Now the Hyundai we bought in February 2015 as a replacement for the gas-guzzling Jeep Cherokee, needs a new clutch - the 9 roundabouts, 3 sets of traffic lights and a dozen other stop-starts between here and hospital have worn it out! It really ought to be swapped for something smaller and more economical for town life except that when Col is better and we get around to towing the caravan to all the places on my long list we will need it again.
Hence the Fiesta, I would have liked bright red or blue but Hey Ho! Just got to get used to all the differences between the Tuscan and the Fiesta now and I'd only just got the hang of the Tuscon after the Jeep.

I've  finished another Angela Thirkell book - Northbridge Rectory - it's my favourite so far. This is the new reprint by Virago Modern Classics of the 1941 book, the 10th in her Barsetshire series which were written between 1933 and 1962. I probably wouldn't have enjoyed them before the age I am now - are younger people reading them? So many of the people she created I can recognise from the village I went to school in during the 1950s. I remember elderly spinsters living with even more elderly fathers, sisters eeking out a living by sharing a house, cooks and cleaners and huge families and slightly strange, scholarly, old men. They all appear in the world she created. Each book is a story in it's own right but often mentioning people in previous books.
 Northbridge Rectory mainly revolves around Mrs Villars, the rectors wife and how she and the rest of the village deal with the 8 members of the Barsetshire regiment who have been billeted at the rectory. There is parachute spotting from the roof of the church, bird-watching ( Thirkell invents wonderful names for birds to save her having to research details of real ones -I think!), genteel tea parties. Nieces partying with the soldiers and the awful wife of the Major.All great fun.
VMC are reprinting 3 more  in November but Why oh why have they only done  the 9th -"Cheerfulness Breaks in" - in an e book edition? They've "forced" me to buy an old copy - damn that one-click Amazon ordering thing!

Yesterday I went here

 to listen to this

And very good it was too. Col said he would come too and go down to the beach hut while I was at the talk to check everything was OK, then after picking me up we collected fish and chips and went back to the beach hut for an hour of sea air. We were very excited to spot a seal, at least we supposed that was what it was - one minute what looked like a seals nose popped up and then after a couple of minutes vanished.

We have met our probable-soon-to-be new neighbours. Our previous neighbour has gone into a sheltered housing flat not far away. He is 85 and a nice old boy but had been on his own since his sister died a few years ago. The new people are a couple a bit older than us moving here from the other side of Ipswich to be nearer their daughter and because this is a nice quiet road.  So hopefully  no noisy parties!

We voted - 'nough said on that!

And I actually watched a bit of women's tennis from Eastbourne, it's got more interesting now we have a British lady doing well otherwise I can't seem to work out who's who - except for the Williams sisters who always look so fed -up when playing.

Later today- weather permitting - I'm walking to the library - with camera. I promised photos of Ipswich and so far you've only had the view over the town from the top of the next road!

Tomorrow is the start of two weeks of tennis - Yay! and I believe there is a football match too. Come on England! England!

Many thanks for all the words of support and prayers, I think positive thoughts from so many people is sure to help.

Back Soon
Sue

Getting accustomed to a different sort of summer

Moving from the smallholding and campsite to a bungalow in town is taking some getting used to now that summer is here.

 From May to October every year for 23 years I was busy with gardening, growing for sale, young livestock, poultry keeping and selling eggs and looking after the visitors. Suddenly that's all gone and I find that after hospital visiting and normal housework I don't want to spend all the rest of my time reading or cross stitching. I need to have a bit more variety of things to do.
So a  jigsaw puzzle came home from the charity shop with me yesterday

It says it's complete and was only £1 and looks nice and summery. Although it does have some weird shaped pieces and bits with straight edges that aren't really the outside edge. Hmmm maybe a tad annoying.

I've actually been considering if I should volunteer in a charity shop, but I keep getting put off. For instance yesterday there were six of them helping in the Hospice shop but I had to wait for quite a while listening to 3 of the ladies having a debate about what type of hangers men's trousers should now be hung on! Had it been 'officially' changed or was it just their shop manager, how long had it been different and why had nobody told them?
 Aaaaaaagh couldn't be doing with all that.

 Anyway I really need to be at home to take care of Col  at the moment and he is home again - Hooray. Col's brother was taking their dad to hospital for an appointment yesterday afternoon and then up to visit Col but in the meantime they said Col could come home before teatime so Andrew brought him home and delivered me 4lb of strawberries - very handy. I shall be jam making today.

Welcome to  new followers -  Phil in Australia, (who had a blog called house of simple but now has a new blog  called Mr Homemaker), Hippymamax6, Joolz and Christine. Thank you for reading.

Back in a day or two
Sue

(Take Three) It's only a small garden but......

............the list of what we have growing is even longer

Thanks to everyone for comments about all the mystery things in the garden.

 Now I can add Centuarea, Mock Orange and Lychnis to my definite list and a possible Jasmine.
Pat said one was a polemonium, so I looked that up but I don't think the leaves are right for that , they are too grey, although I hope it is.
Also not sure about Lysimanchia that Sheila said for one picture either although again I hope it is - very colourful
My sister looked at the things I said were like garlic chives and said Aliums. My only experience of Aliums is big showy globes but I've searched through google pictures and found they are Allium Roseum or ornamental rosy garlic, so she was right.

And here are more that I've found or forgot to list the other day.

Aquilegia
1 small sad Hosta

A rhododendron ( restrained in an old wooden tub - luckily)

Bluebells 

A small conifer that isn't a leylandii

Perennial wallflowers - I think
2 very small Hydrangeas
A label for a Penstemon beside something half dead under some borage!
Another Fushcia
A Huge Broom right at the back - mostly dead
A Spirea? possibly, although perhaps too tall.

Have attempted a small video here, no idea if it will work or not.

And I've not even mentioned the shrubs that are out the front of the bungalow!

Many Thanks for comments. More poetry, photos and probably book reviews coming later. We are hoping that Col will finally get in for the 6th chemo session one day this week and I need to sort a dentist for us. Seems we have a choice of 3 withing walking distance - how easy life is in town!

Back Soon
Sue

Thursday to Sunday ( my titles are getting boring!)

Many thanks for all the comments on the last post, all the info about ultrasounds was very interesting. I've been searching my memory and maybe I did have a scan for our youngest in '87. Certainly didn't know the sex of any of them until they arrived although I somehow guessed right each time.

The cat flap has been fitted, Polly wasn't impressed because after two weeks without one  she now prefers to have someone open the door for her! I shoved  her in and out several times and she eventually realised she was now free to come and go just like at the smallholding.

Colin came home from hospital on Thursday evening, and with more antibiotic tablets to take for a week his 5th chemo cycle will be postponed for a few days. They gave him some different high calorie/ protein supplements to try but, just like the previous types, they are revolting. He says he'll stick to peanut biscuits and fish butties! He is going in almost everyday for blood tests -they need his platelet levels to increase  so that he can start having the clexane injections again ( they are for a blood clot on his lung - not sure I've even mentioned that but it was something they eventually found whilst trying to sort out the breathlessness) Apologies for all the health details, sometimes this blog seems to be turning into a medical encyclopedia and it's still hard to believe he was never ill until he was 56.

The larder fridge has been delivered, very prompt service and the extra shelf is very welcome. I emailed The Ipswich Furniture project and Age Concern who both collect but neither could come for the old fridge for several weeks so on Friday Col, who has more patience than me for sorting out stuff, decided to put it on ebay after all. No idea if anyone will want it.

Saturday afternoon we went back to Knodishall to fetch the trailer full of our garden and workshop stuff  from our friends barn.
It was quite a load

 On Sunday our son and future daughter in law came over to help us unload and get as much as possible stowed in the garage. This means I have 4 large pots, three bags of compost, a water butt,the lawnmower and my garden tools here and I'll be able to start weeding and growing veg - on a very small scale - at last.
Then we treated them to lunch and went somewhere we've never been before............PizzaHut! Blimey, it's not cheap is it? but it is just up the road, was decent enough but we probably won't bother again.

There were a few things Col decided we didn't need here ( thank heavens!) and they've stayed on the trailer to take back as soon as we can.


I've read the book that my friend Mary-in-Bath suggested after I did the review of  "The trouble with goats and sheep".   "Spies" by Michael Frayn is also a world seen through the eyes of a child growing up. This is the blurb from Fantastic Fiction.....

In the quiet cul-de-sac where Keith and Stephen live there is very little evidence of the Second World War. But the two friends suspect that the inhabitants of the Close are not what they seem. As Keith authoritatively informs the trusting Stephen, the whole district is riddled with secret passages and underground laboratories. Then one day Keith announces an even more disconcerting discovery: the Germans have infiltrated his own family, and the children find themselves engulfed in mysteries far deeper and more painful than they had bargained for.

It was very short and easy to read.

Visitors have just arrived
So Back Soon
Sue

Easter has come and gone..................

...........................without us noticing!

Colin had hospital appointments on Saturday and Easter Monday as they needed him to have blood tests to check platelet levels. Both times he had platelet infusions in the ward day-room because the clinics were shut for Easter, of course there are no extra staff for the extra cancer patients going to the ward for checks over Bank Holidays so the poor nurses were all rushed of their feet.

I ventured out on my bike on Saturday morning to take a few things to the charity shop and go to the post office and found a pathway through from one road to the next which means Aldi, 2 charity shops, the post office,newsagent,Co-op and chemist (and dubious take-aways!) can be got to by bike in 10 minutes.Yay! but because I still hadn't shaken off the cold/croaky throat - the first I've had several years - I didn't feel like dallying.

On Sunday Col's brother came over to lend a bit of muscle power for shifting boxes and now 16 boxes of books are under a bed and 6 more piled in the corner of the room. There still seems an awful lot of  other boxes in the summer house/shed and garage but at least the books are safe from damp. Andrew also brought a pair of secateurs (ours are on the trailer still in a shed on a friends farm along with other garden bits) to cut down some bamboo so we could haul out a compost bin I spotted in the corner of the garden and get it in use as our compost bin is also on the trailer.

Then of course we had Weather with a capital W as storm Katie blew in early Monday morning and by golly she was cold, wet and windy! I went out to the garage to investigate another box but it was just too cold for working. Instead we swapped some of the curtains left here for ones we had brought with us and Col (who is feeling not too bad) fixed up my little shelves to hold the herbs and spices - no room in a cupboard anywhere.

Herbs and spices sorted

Below the shelves we have a hatch - they were big in the sixties............ saves all of 10 steps from kitchen to table in the living room, I doubt it will be used.


Polly has settled in nicely, we went outside with her a couple of times during the week, then on Sunday she didn't want to be caught to come in again, climbed a Buddliea, jumped on the fence and onto the shed roof of the house behind and vanished  - Ooops we thought, but 15 minutes later there she was appearing from between our garage and the garage next door. Phew! At least we know she can find her way home again, now we just need to sort a cat flap.

That was the weekend gone - no trips out, no car-boot sales, no visits to stately homes or the sea-side but never mind, we are getting settled and that's the main thing.

Many Thanks for all your comments, sorry I'm not getting around to replying or leaving comments on any other blogs at the moment and welcome to gingerliz and L Efting.

Back in a day or 3
Sue