In other news…

I hope bad things do indeed come in threes. We discovered this week that the young guy doing the bricklaying to adjust the old kitchen had managed to

1. put the frame for the new side door one course of bricks too high
2. make a portrait format hole for a landscape format window
3. build a new wall about a foot away from where it should have been (not measuring, and so not noticing that an archway was also being adjusted, and tying it to the old position, not the new.

*sigh*

4 weeks of bedsit life so far, and at least another couple I would expect before we can even have a pro tem kitchen. This is getting very old very fast.

[Now playing - Planet Rock]

Milestones

Two years, 12757 miles (6166 this year). And a first puncture. I thought I heard something odd as I parked last night — and in the morning, the right rear tyre was flat as a tack. Mainly because of a discarded nail from the building works. At least the home-start insurance covered the transport to the dealer to get a new tyre.

[Now playing - Planet Rock]

Where is the spring?

A year ago, I was saying that snowdrops were well past their best. Now they are just starting to decline. The later crocuses are now out, but so far no sign of life from the forsythia, and only one solitary frog seen in the pond.

It didn't actually snow over the weekend here, though it had been forecast, and did happen further north. And snow is being forecast for later this week.

Distributed living

While the building work goes on, and Karen is staying with friends, I'm racking up more mileage. Over 200 miles a week as opposed to around 100.

Milestones

12,500 in the car-park today

Hints of spring

A bright sunny weekend without quite such a strong wind as last. it was comfortable to walk around town in T-shirt and jeans yesterday, but still cold when out in the fields. Inch thick ice still on ponds around the recreation ground, though bubblewrap has done its job in the garden.

But with the crocuses long out, and the warm sun, spring is clearly waiting just around the corner.

Milestones

12021 miles, on the drive.

Senior Moments

Went to discuss details of the new kitchen with the specialist designer. And amongst all the discussion of features of accessible kitchens, a stray mention of a safety feature — I can't remember which — being good for when grand-children were running around.

Aaaauuuugh! I feel ancient!

With one mighty bound…

Actually Penny was doing things the hard way — I saw this morning leap onto the fence, then climb up the top of the side wall, then leap the last couple of feet up to the windowsill. Only then, with the window obstinately shut, did she leap onto the planks to sit and survey her domain.

[Now playing - Planet Rock]

Feline Ingenuity

The extension works are close to topping out now, with the two storey part up to the eaves.

I just spotted something moving by the spare-room window; and thought to myself “No — that can't be a cat.” — but it was. The Burmese had climbed up onto the platform under the window and then clambered up onto the sill; probably by taking the ladder, rather than doing a series of Tomb Raider style gymnastics.

So she has figured out how to get around the removal of the conservatory which used to allow her to do the same climb to demand entrance.

Walls

After a month in which we progressed only to footings, the walls (outer skin at least) are almost one storey high after a day's work. The disintegrating section of fence between the new wall and the boundary which I'd been intending to remove when waist-high is now inaccessible unless the whole fence comes down. Which it may have to.

Holiday round-up

24th — saw a neat grey Beetle with plates L33T VW.

25th — Karen took a tumble, sustained a messy scalp wound, and spent hours in casualty, instead of going to the in-laws for lunch. So I picked up the enhancement request for CTClib that had been sitting for 6 months and started coding.

26th — had enough of the pond heater tripping the circuit after a few minutes (leaking nastily to earth according to a meter check. Do they all assume a non-RCD supply?) and deployed bubble-wrap covering instead.

27th — snow, but the bubble wrap did the job.

Apart from that, lots of coding, and the first DVD of Planetes, which captures some of the spirit of the manga, but insists on adding office-work sit-com bits too; and the incredibly silly-but-fun Kung-fu Hustle…

Like, “Season's Greetings”, man

So what's been happening?

Well, we now have new foundations and footings instead of a conservatory and part of the garden. The weather was mild and dry yesterday, so I did cycle to work, denim jacket over T-shirt, and bare feet in sandals, discovering that cycling doesn't keep feet warm the way that walking does. And, homeward bound into the only bit of sunshine for the day, that the 10 rolling miles or so to work are a bit more wear and tear on the posterior than the six flat ones into town (again).

And it was still mild enough to be T-shirt weather when headed into town for a little bit of greengrocery (and brunch) today; too warm for the heavier jacket I'd put on to cycle in.

So, another years survived at work; and even a bit more enthusiasm for hobby coding.

Hedgehog's dilemma

Where the conservatory and patio were is now a set of trenches that were filled with concrete this afternoon, and the near half of the garden is full of bricks, rubble, paving-slabs, and bits of conservatory; and there is a skip and piles of bricks on the drive. Oh, and we can't actually get to the back yard except by climbing out the garage window and slipping between piles of stuff.

First thing this morning, Jemima, the tortie, insisted on going out in the just about getting light pre-dawn and was sniffing around in the trenches (about 4' deep), for quite a long while before heading off down the garden. Then I saw why — there was a hedgehog had fallen in and gotten trapped.

So I had to get out to the greenhouse for gloves and overalls, climb into the trench, and try and corner it. At least it turns spiky by curling up into a ball (unlike cats); so I could pick it up and lift it out, then carry it down to the end of the garden.

So now I have gloves that will attract the cats, being well doused in hedgehog piss.

Funny old weather

A fortnight ago, we were having hard frosts, and the ground was frozen, with parts of the garden staying white all day — and I was wrestling the unwanted holly-tree out of the ground, sliding in a thin film of mud on the icy ground.

Today, out in the garden, it was T-shirt weather. And the apple trees are barely beginning to acknowledge the changing of the seasons.

Bramley apple tree