Does my bum look big in this?

The good thing about seeing my sisters (Julia and Louise) is that they say it as it really is - and some more. Phil doesn’t always tell me the truth because a) it might cost him money and b) if he tells the truth he will inevitably get some grief. He can’t win really and I don’t blame him for lying. But the sisters never lie; when Louise looked deep into my eyes at the B-B-Q and told me she must get an upper eye lift very soon, I knew my eye-lids (being the older sister) must be really droopy. Actually I’m well aware that they are very saggy. I simply must get surgery. It’s not just a case of vanity; they are so saggy it affects my eye sight especially when I’m tired. I can live with all my other saggy bits but the eyes are important, they are, after all, the windows to the soul. Phil says he won’t allow me to have it done, but you know once he says I can’t do something it makes me even the more determined! But that said; I’m not good in the pain department so maybe I’ll wait for the sisters to do it first and check out the pain thing before I get it done. Either way (Phil) it’s definitely on the wish list).

The last 3 days have been fairly boring and I’m not sure I have enough to blog about today. We (mostly Phil) have been working solidly on the garage. It’s looking good but if I realised how much hard work it was gonna be, I may just have put up with the concrete floor. Phil got up all the plasterboards on the brick walls and then he had to cover up with special filler stuff for plaster.
After it had dried he then had to sand all of the joins down. This was a hard job and there was dust everywhere. He huffed and grumbled all day. Still he was happy when he'd finished and then it was my turn to get stuck in with the painting. Forever the optimist, I thought I would get away with just one coat but because it was paint straight to plaster, I had to do 2. In all honesty it could probably do with a third coat but it aint going to get one.

While I was painting Phil made up the base and wall units and fixed them to the back wall of the garage. We got the units at B&Q and thought we had got a real bargain when we got the doors for just a pound each. However when we got them out of the box we realised that we had brought 600wide doors for cooker hoods and not to fit the bog standard base units. It was a shame really because when we went back to B&Q all of the bargain doors had sold out. Never mind we ended up with white country style doors which I really like, just a shame they were £12 each instead of a pound. Some you win and some you lose.

In the middle of fitting the doors, a rep from an automated garage door company turned up to measure and quote Phil for a remote controlled garage door. Phil has always wanted remote controlled garage doors and has been talking about them for years. But the rep wanted £2,500 for his door system which is far more than Phil wants or can afford to pay. Personally I do think the existing doors do look shabby but whether a remote system will add value to the sale price, well I’m not sure.

Things go backward before they move on and we are in such a mess not just in the garage but in the conservatory and the garden too. Mess alarms me and I’m not good at it. Today the aim is to fit the skirting and then get all the boxes and everything out of the conservatory and up in to the storage area in the garage eaves. I will be happy if we can achieve this today and then I can give the house a good clean. Our overall aim is get the storage shed leading into the garage finished by next Wednesday which is the day before we got to France but I’m not sure if this target is realistic. But if anyone can do it Phil can; I’m sitting here blogging, its only 7.20am and already Phil is shopping in B&Q!

We are family

I have to say that we had a really great weekend. On Saturday morning we loaded up the car and drove down to Lowestoft to see Phil’s Aunty Daphne. She’s not really his aunt, she’s a second cousin but Phil has always called her Aunt Daphne since he was a little boy. It wasn’t a great journey because it was pouring with rain all of the way down but traffic wasn’t too heavy and we made it in just under 2 and a half hours. We went for lunch at the local Harvester just round the corner from Daphne’s house and a few hours later we were on the A12 heading for Louise & Mark’s house in Woodbridge.

Louise and Mark have a big house with a large garden and tend to host a family B-B-Q every year or so. Thankfully the drizzle had stopped and the sky was clear when we arrived late afternoon. As usual Mark and Louise had everything organised to perfection, these two certainly know how to entertain. Soon everyone had arrived and before too long the party was in full swing. The top picture is Louise & Mark at the back, with my dad, me and Julia in the front row.

When I get together with my family I understand where my addiction to wine comes from. They all like a drink (or 10) so its obviously strong in gene pool! I had to laugh at Doug who at 88 managed to get through half a bottle of brandy and a few beers inbetween topping up with his oxygen tent.

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This is Maureen with my nephew Daniel.

Doug (grandad with Uncle Brian)
Mark having a well rest at the end of the night

and below Louise and Ian happily posing for the camera!

Phil was on fine form and rocking and rolling before it even got dark. No change there!

I think most of the family had gone home by eleven but Louise & Mark and Julia me and Phil stayed up after midnight. It was at this stage Phil twigged that Louise & Julia were now his sister-in-laws and likewise Mark was his brother-in-law and kept calling everyone brother and sister. He is so funny sometimes when he's not grumpy. Shortly after this, he dropped his camera on the decking. It was at this point that I decided it would be a good idea to go to bed.

We were all feeling a little worse for wear the next morning but with endless cups of orange juice, tea and coffee, we all perked up a bit. It was a lovely morning and we sat outside eating bacon and sausage rolls which Mark cooked on his gas B-B-Q. After we had breakfast Grace, Louise & Mark's cat which into the house with a baby rabbit in his mouth. Mark rushed in and managed to prise the rabbit from Grace but it was a bit of a struggle. Phil was fascinated and captured the moment on camera.

Phil drove like a madman and we were back home just in time to watch the build up of the French grand-prix, with a beer of course. After this we watched Big Brother which Phil had recorded. After that I got out the sunbed and fell asleep outside in the garden leaving Phil to watch the qualifying of the grandprix which he'd recorded on Saturday. The wind woke me just before 7 and I went into the lounge to find Phil fast asleep on the sofa. Two hours later and we were tucked up in bed. Just goes to show how old we are getting. Can't keep up the pace these days.

Friday Fun!

Just out of curiosity I typed in the words ‘naked blogger’ into the Google search engine yesterday to see what sites came up. The search brought up mostly naughty sites and made me think twice about out choice of blog title, which you may or may not know, stems from our adventures in India. Perhaps we should have chosen a more conservative title but what’s done is done and to late to change now.

I pinched this picture from the site which was at the top of the search engine list, and no, in case you’re wondering, Phil doesn't blog in the nud; in several states of undress maybe but never starkers! Still on the subject of blogs, Steve Buckton has started a new blog, sharing firsthand his experiences in Japan where he will be working for the next year or so. Steve has invited me and Phil to go over and visit him so I shall be following his blog with interest. Check it out for yourself http://steveisinjapan.blogspot.com/

Phil has been working solidly in the garage all week. Just as we sat down for lunch yesterday the truck pulled up outside with the delivery of plasterboards from B&Q. It was exciting to watch the truck drive hitch up the crane and watch the plasterboards fly over the cards and land outside the garage door. So exciting in fact, that I just had to get out my camera; much to the amusement of Phil and the truck driver. Phil was keen to get started on the boards after lunch and asked me to help put up the plasterboards for the garage ceiling. They were really heavy and it took all my strength to hold them while he got in enough screws to hold them up. I think sometimes he forgets I’m a girlie and being half the size as him, just don’t have the body strength that he has. The erection of the plasterboards seemed to intrigue the neighbours in the cul-de-sac and we had a stream of visitors throughout the afternoon.

First to pop over to see what was going on was Kevin, Sandy’s son. It wasn’t far into the conversation that Kevin let slip that Phil had woken him up with all his banging and sawing. Unfortunately Kevin’s bedroom window backs onto our driveway. Next over to take a look, was Kevin’s mum, Sandy. I haven’t seen Sandy for ages so it was nice to catch up with all her news. She said if Phil was driving me crazy, I could pop over for a coffee anytime I wanted. Before the afternoon was out, Emma popped in for a progress inspection on her way to the park with the kids. Last to take a peek was Jason after he returned home from work. Jason is going one step further than Phil and in the next couple of weeks will be converting his garage into an office-cum-utility-cum storage room. It will be interesting to compare the garage conversions when they are both finished.

Phil thinks that I have been lazy all week and to be honest I suppose I have had a relatively easy ride this week, whichI have to say makes a pleasant change. Although I’ve not done any physical grafting like Phil, I’ve still had to do the washing, ironing, admin, shopping, cooking, blogging and housework which all takes time. Although we both wake up early I have to have a cup of tea in bed and this week I've made it to the health club every morning bar yesterday for a workout and a swim. Phil knows in his heart of hearts that I’m not lazy really and when there’s work to be done I will be straight on the job. Like next week when he finishes his plasterboards, I will be in the garage painting the false ceiling and the walls. We’re hoping to save money by painting the plaster boards instead of getting a plasterer in. The next job will be to fit kitchen units and all being well we should have it all finished by the end of next week and then we can start on the next project. Sometimes I wish I had a proper job!

The garage goes upmarket

I forgot to mention that Phil put on a whole half a stone whilst we were on holiday. Not surprising really given all the chips, cake and sweeties he ate. Phil’s mum just loves to feed her boy and when I spend time with his parents I understand where his relationship with food comes from. My husband is definitely someone that lives to eat and not eat to live. When I was living on my own I survived on wine and hot beef baguettes but living with Phil soon put paid to that and these days I am nearly as bad as him. The good news is that the diet police have been back on duty and only 5 days home and Phil has lost 5 pounds! Mind you -he has been slogging his guts out working in the garage and all that sweating, panting and drilling will have definitely help burn up calories.

As the sun was shining on Monday afternoon and Phil was tired after his 5am start, after lunch, Phil suggested a bike ride. I wasn’t really keen because I’d already had a good workout at the gym but I fancied a break from my jobs. I thought we’d have a leisurely pedal along the lake, but oh no, Phil’s destination was the Three Locks at Stoke Hammond. The ride along the canal took us past Peartree Bridge, Simpson, Bletchley, Fenny Stratford and after the last leg biking though stinging nettles, we finally arrived at the Three Locks pub.

Naturally we had to stop for a drink even though it was meant to be a non-drinking day. Phil suggested carrying on a further 4k to Leighton Buzzard but I said "no way ho-zay" and after our drink we headed back for home. Somehow we got a little lost and ended up biking through the OU before finding the path along the V10. By this time, Phil was huffing and puffing and his bum was hurting like crazy and he was glad that we hadn’t gone on further to Leighton Buzzard. My backside was aching too (and still is) but there was no way I wasn’t going to admit it!

My muscles were killing me yesterday but Phil was up and back in the garage at 5am, no doubt annoying the neighbours with his sawing and banging. I went to the health club for a rather pathetic workout and spent the rest of the day doing domestics. Emma from next door, curious to see what the banging was all about, poked her head around the garage door and Phil explained his plans to her. These include fitted kitchen units, complicated electrics and a suspended ceiling. Phil thinks it will add to the value of the house. I’m sure he is right but I just want a ceramic floor so it doesn’t matter if I drop the washing when empting the machine. It's all a bit of a mess at the moment and I'm not sure Emma could picture Phil's vision, not even I can at the moment. But it’s all or nothing with Phil; I tell you, by the time he is finished, we’ll have the fanciest garage in the cul-de-sac!

Home Sweet Home & Harriet

As nice as it is to go away on holiday, it’s just as good to get home and sleep in your own bed. It was a long old drive from Germany and we got back to MK around mid afternoon. First up was a ‘how clean is your house’ inspection. Harriet had done a good job and everything looked in working order. She is definitely getting better in the cleaning department. Actually bless her - she has really been suffering while we’ve been away. Following her wisdom tooth removal, her wound got infected and she had to go back to the dentist for antibiotics, anti-inflammatory tablets and pain killers. Her face was swollen and red but over last weekend it swelled up even more to elephant man proportions. I was expecting her to be fully recovered by the time we got home but her face is still slightly swollen and, 10 days down the line, she still can barely eat and is kept awake at night with the pain.

Phil did a good job blogging about our adventures in Germany so not much for me to add, except to say, it wasn’t a bad week and better than I expected. As I have known Phil for nearly 25 years, I have heard lots about his eccentric Uncle Willie and his other relatives so it was interesting to meet them in person. They were all very pleasant and made me feel very welcome. It was a good day and I especially enjoyed the tour of the castle which was only slightly ruined by a call from a tenant complaining that their washing machine had stopped working.

I don’t see Phil’s mum and dad very often but each time I do, I can see that they’ve slowed down a little bit more. It’s sad to see but I suppose they don’t do too badly considering their age. Phil always reverts to a little boy when he is around his mum which irritates me enormously. That said, it is nice to be mothered and I was quite happy for her to fuss and wait on me, but not all the time I might add. Phil’s dad was more chatty than normal and insisted on paying for absolutely everything, even the wine we brought home with us. Phil was happy with this and put up little resistance. It’s always difficult with different generations and not always easy to judge how much time they wanted on their own without making them feel abandoned or lonely. But hopefully we got the balance right and they enjoyed their last trip to Germany (their words not mine)

We were so knackered on Saturday afternoon that we just slung our cases upstairs, popped to The Giffard for a late lunch and then settled in front of the TV and caught up with Big Brother which Phil had recorded. They are a weird bunch this year but I am liking Luke & Cat. I had thought that a week away would relax Phil and make him more chilled out, but oh no. On Sunday morning he was up with the lark and sawing wood in the garage at 6.30am. God only knows what the neighbours think of us? I left him to it and got on with the usual post holiday domestics - washing, ironing, cleaning, shopping and cooking. I got all these done and even managed to mow the lawn. However I was knackered by the end of the day and asleep in bed before 9 o’clock. Phil came to bed sometime later and I took off his glasses and switched off the TV in the middle of the night.

However like a man possessed, he was up with the birdies and sending me emails at 5am this morning and working in the garage before 6. I have already had to go out twice and tell him off for making too much noise and suggested he do some paperwork until the neighbours go to work, but he is ignoring me. I have decided to leave him to it. I have eaten my boiled eggs on toast washed down with 3 cups of tea. I’ve sipped my hot water with lemon, gulped down my organic apple cider and fresh organic orange juice with a dash of omega-3 oil and in a minute I’m going to take myself to the gym. I am, after all, RE T I R E D!

Last day at Boppard

Today was another dull day until the sun came out briefly when Claire and I left for a walk to the ferry tour favorite place Boppard. As it was an unsettled day Claire was ladened with Mums coat and Dads huge umbrella and I was wearing Steve’s coat that he left when he visited us. We had already spent the rainy morning driving along the Rhine to fill up with diesel and to get last minute supplies of wine, chocolate and sausage.

I had read that Boppard was ruled by the Romans and that they built a wall around the town consisting of 28 10 meter towers with walls between. There are only the remains of 11 towers left now but in fact Boppard has the best preserved town wall remains in the whole of Germania. What happened in the football last night?

Next stop the chair lift that overlooks the largest bend in the Rhine. I guess that in another few million years, people will be coming here to witness the forming of an ox-bow lake on the Rhine (assuming we manage to survive). It is a while since we have been on one of these lifts and I must say, I was a little anxious when we set of on the steep bit. There were spectacular views on the way up until you go over the top then its just trees so have your cameras ready early. It is even better views on the way down and I tried to take a movie so as to get the whole view in one go but my batteries soon ran out. Luckily I had another set in my pocket but it wasn’t that easy to change on a chair lift while you are carrying so much. I hope that you can see the movie as it is the first time we have tried to upload one. Sorry, I screwed up the movie.

All the towns and villages around here have these lovely little narrow streets that seem to have disappeared in England during my lifetime to make room for the car revolution. In this picture, Claire is at the bottom and the church at the top. On the right hand side of the church is the main square of Boppard ( I have other pictures of this square on other days). The main square was there in Roman times and they built Roman baths in the square so the soldiers could bathe there. In the 5th Century ad these were converted into a church. I think that the church in the photo is several generations down the line but it is supposed to be in the same position as the original baths.

The house in the last picture is my personal favorite that we have seen on this holiday and it’s not just that we have had a drink there on a couple of occasions. I have had the chance to study it (while Claire had been in the toilet) and I like it on several levels, especially an engineering one.

On the toll fifth of the bell at 5 o clock we were opening the door of our favorite restaurant. Claire was adamant that we ate there again for the “last supper” at the Steverus Stusse. If you visit this area you must eat here, it is the only modern menu in the area with very good quality food at reasonable prices. It is positioned between the main square and the Rhine but it doesn’t open until 5pm. We had already had our best meal of the holiday at lunch time in the Garten Hotel in Kamp where we met the pilgrims. Try a walk up to the angry brothers castles, have a drink or strawberries at the top and come back down to the Garten Hotel for lunch and a drink if you are any where near Kamp Barnhoff.

If you are coming from England to see the Rhine and Mosel, I would recommend staying in Boppard as you do not have to cross any river by bridge or ferry, it is interesting, and it has plenty of interesting places nearby and there is even a petrol station here in Boppard. You wouldn’t believe the trauma we have had looking for fuel. Compared to England this area is devoid of shops, fuel stations, good restaurants, and sometimes personality. On the up side there are spectacular views, everywhere is clean, most people look after their gardens and clean around their own properties, but for me, somehow, it seems a bit “old fashioned” compared to England, especially when it comes to restaurant menus and the food available. England’s restaurants have moved on in leaps and bounds in the last few years and have modern menus and good healthy food in most places these days, especially along the main rivers such as the Thames. As a couple of wine users, Claire and I are quite surprised at the quality of the wine over here, not just the white the is known, but the red also. The red wine in Germany now is excellent, I have been surprised in a nice way and they are on the way to competing with the French in my opinion. Maybe Steve will prove us wrong when we visit them soon at their mill. I promise to book our ferry crossing as soon as we gat back Steve, I know you would like to know our plans so you can make yours to accommodate our’s.

We will be getting up tomorrow at around 4.30am and it is now 10.30pm so I wont upload this until we get home. Thank you for following us on this holiday; we have so little time to write anything, especially my lovely wife Claire; but I know she will be back with vengeance once we are home and busy again!

Dull day

When we left for Lidl and Aldi’s this morning it was cloudy in patches but getting duller as the day went on. We went to the Posh Lidl at Bad Elm’s dated at 1903 and nothing like their usual buildings. We had ice cream outside as there is no freezer at the apartment. At this rate I will be overtaking you again Jim. Then it was off to Aldi around the corner. We are basically looking for wine to take home. A 3 liter box of chardonnay that Clare likes at home is £13.99 since the budget, whereas the same box is 5.99 Euros here. A huge saving so worth buying, trouble is finding them; we only have 2 boxes so far and have scoured the Rhine valley time and again. We now have about 14 boxes of Cabinet Sauvignon that I like luckily as there is no shortage of those.

It was then back to the ferry for Boppard but this time we left the car this side to save some money. By this time it was getting quite cool and a few raindrops were felt so we decided to move inside into the restaurant for lunch today. Even this family of ducks looked cold. We had a walk around Boppard visiting all the bakeries and saw a huge gang of bikers on their choppers but by the time I had my camera out I could only catch the last one. Mum and Dad got excited; probably thinking about their old Triumph’s and BSA’s from the 50’s.

It was raining proper when we returned on the ferry so we sat inside for the first time. Maybe it will brighten up tomorrow? I read that Germany got its name from the Romans who called this whole area, “Germania” that also includes Poland, Austria and the Czech Republic. Everyone is preparing for the big match tonight; come on Germania!

The Angry brothers

The rocky ridge at the back of Bornhofen bears the ruins of two castles. These are separated by a high wall known locally as the Fighting Wall. And hereby hangs a tale.

At Sterrenberg Castle we are told, there once lived a knight, whose consort died young. After that, a young damsel kept the house for him and his two growing sons. The latter lost their hearts to the girl, and the younger of the two found favour with her. One day, recruiting started for a crusade and the lucky lad was off to the Holy Land, the damsel having pledged her troth. On his return after many years, however, the lad brought a Greek wife with him. Sterrenberg Senior built a new home for the couple and called it Liebenstein Castle. The elder brother was dismayed at the younger’s faithlessness, and soon a high wall separated the two premises. Yet, the brothers met in church, and swords were drawn. In a vain attempt to separate them, the damsel was stabbed and died. The two brothers fell in a dual, and all of this broke the father’s heart.

These were the two castles that we climbed up to on our first walk.

These boots were made for walkin’

And that’s just what they did today. We set off at about 8.50 along the Rhine and Claire was raring to go. It started out a little grey but the sun soon came out making the river walk very pleasant. We walked from Kamp-Bornhofen through Kestert, Wellmich and St Goarshausen to Loreley where the statue is. Then back to St Goarshausen on the ferry across to St Goar but nobody came out to collect the money so everyone had a free ride. This is quite a walk (about 20km) and it was now 12.30 and lunch time so we were just about to look for a place to eat when we thought that we should just check the ferry times first. Good job we did as there was one in 15 minutes and not another one for a further 3 hours. We decided to catch it and have lunch in Boppard. Last time we came we had all driven from Kamp to Rudesheim, had lunch there and left Mum and Dad to drive the car back while we got the ferry to St Goar where we had lunch and then had the long walk back through Hirzenach, Bad Salzig to Boppard, across the ferry to Filsen and then walk back to Kamp.

I took more pictures of castles on this trip than anything else but only put 2 in

We decided to stop off this time at Bad Salzig so as to get Dad some more Liver sausage to bring home but hadn’t realized that it was another 5km back to Boppard. By the time we had walked there we were knackered and it was 2.50pm and most places had shut for the afternoon so the choice was limited. After lunch it was back across the ferry for another 3km walk home. By this time Claire was moaning a little about her blisters and aching legs.

She even had to take her boots off and walk the last 3km in her socks (well mine).

The Mosel

We have had 2 of the best nights sleep that we have had for months here, we believe because of the blackout shutters that they have over here. The first night Claire woke up for the toilet and couldn’t find the bathroom and was climbing around the room when I woke up and switched the light on. Our long sleep last night meant that we had a later than ideal start on our long trip to the Mosel and our first stop of Bernkastel. The satnav seemed to be taking us the wrong way so we stopped and had a look at the map and it seemed close enough to trust. The journey ended up taking us 9 minutes whereas it took us 150 minutes to return along the Mosel coastal road so the satnav did know what it was doing but didn’t take the views into account.

Bernkastel is a very pretty old town with houses dating back to the 16th Century. It was a bit steep in places and also cobbled but Mum somehow managed even though Dad had us walking backwards and forwards looking for his favorite restaurant. We all had a lighter than normal lunch as the usual pork steaks were beginning to wear thin. We set off back along the river after lunch stopping off here and there for a quick walk around. Cockem is a nice town if anyone is interested but we didn’t stop there this time as we had had a day there 2 years ago when we brought my parents last time. I used to like this town as a child, I remember waiting my turn for a go at waterskiing for hours, only to miss my turn when the engine broke down on the boat just as it was my go.

We didn’t arrive back to Kamp until about 4pm so Claire and I made a quick getaway for our daily walk. We had earlier decided to walk along the Rhine to the ferry where we crossed the river to Boppard. We arrived just as the ferry was leaving our side and had to wait for a whole cycle. We both love Boppard which is another typical oldy worldy town on the river. We had a quick walk around before stopping for some liquid refreshments, and boy, was Claire ready for some! We found a nice little restaurant in a narrow street with a modern menu and decided to sample a starter each which we shared so as to taste 2 dishes each. It had the strange name of Steverus Stusse but we would recommend it and I hope we find time to eat a proper meal there before our return.

We headed back to the ferry and walked back into Kamp stopping off at a little bar for a nightcap whilst watching the sun go down; bliss!