It’s a Chard life

I’m glad to see the Grand Prix being covered by BBC again but it’s hard to believe that it’s been away for 12 years. I loved the website headline (www.formula1.com) after the race, “The Brawn Supremacy”. Just about summed it up really, although Rubens had a bit of luck coming second after a very eventful afternoon. I feel that Vettel was treated a bit harsh, having received a 10 place penalty after the race for being wiped out by Kubica. It’s probably because he was saying sorry to his team all the way back to the pits. Although he couldn't’quite bring himself to retiring to the pits for a while. Maybe he thought he could still win on 3 wheels; I wonder if he was singing that song. Hamilton got promoted to third after Trulli was given a penalty; that’s the first time I remember a steward’s decision going his way.

As I was saying, Chard is a pretty little town in the south west corner of Somerset. I remembered to bring my camera with me today so I can finally post a couple of photos. The main feature in Chard is the rock sculpture in the high street that seems part of the water feature that the council seem to go to great lengths to keep and maintain. The water comes from an underground spring and flows right through the high street. Witherspoons has converted the old cinema and you can still see the old fashioned balcony on the inside. I popped in tonight to sample their Tuesday special, mixed grill and a pint for £6.10. I tried the new large version for £7.60. It consisted of a 4oz rump steak, 2 x 4oz gammon steaks, 2 x lamb chops, 2 x Lincolnshire sausages, 6 x beer battered onion rings, a free range egg, tomato, mushroom, chips and peas; all washed down with a pint of your choice. Yes, the pint was also included in the price. Only trouble is, I'm stuffed now.

Whilst watching QI last week from my “room”, I was surprised to be told the Alexander Graham Bell was not the inventor of the telephone like we were all taught at school. It was Elisha Gray who was the co owner and chief scientist working for a company manufacturing telegraphic equipment. Bell copied Gray’s idea and patented it first. This was possible as at the time you didn’t require a working model to be granted a patent. Only later did he get it working. Ten years on Bell was challenged in the courts but the case was dropped as most people concerned had died. In addition Bell paid Gray $100 000 and Western Electric (Gray's company) was contracted as Bell's sole equipment supplier – an arrangement that lasted for almost 100 years.

Thursday is the new Friday

Travelling back to MK from Somerset last Thursday was a nightmare. That’s the worst it has been on the M25 since I started work there; even worse than when I used to come back on a Friday. I think more and more people are working 4 long days now than 5 normal ones when they are commuting. I never have any trouble when travelling down to Somerset on a Monday morning though but that’s because I travel in the middle of the night. It didn’t help this week as they put the clocks forward meaning that I effectively had to start out even earlier. Especially after I got up early on Saturday and Sunday to watch the qualifying and Australian GP before going into the flat to work all weekend. Didn’t Jenson do well? So did Lewis, but not much was said about him. That’s put him in good stead especially as the 2 Ferraris came nowhere. What a start for Ross with Brawn GP; not forgetting Richard Branson joining forces at the last minute. He is so jammy; but again, I suppose you make your own luck.



Before I started working in Somerset, I used to think of Maddy driving to work at Heathrow terminal 5 for a 5.30 start and feel sorry for her. However, I now go past the terminal 5 junction before 5am, have 2 more junctions on the M25 to go where I get off onto the M3 and still have over 120 miles to go before starting a 10 hour day at 7am. At least it’s only for another 2 weeks. Oh, didn’t I tell you, the contract is coming to an end. Perfect timing ready for our 2 week holiday to Goa. Well, I may have engineered the end a little but somehow managed to make them think it was their idea. This will mean that I worked here for 2 months all together; just long enough to become competent at Inventor and to got quite proficient with different aspects of Mechanical Engineering, which you need to become a good pirate. The sad thing about this contract was the timing, the entire time that I have been working here, I have also been renovating the flat at Oldbrook and now I am finishing working here the flat is also about finished. This weekend saw the kitchen walls tiled and the rest of the bathroom tiling completed. As well as fitting the kick boards and handles in the kitchen, it’s all coming together now and looking quite finished off. Claire has the final carpet being fitted in the lounge on Monday morning so by the time I post this it will be done. All I have to do next weekend is tiling the floor in the store room that comes off the kitchen which we have been storing everything in while all the work has been going on. Might even get a bit of time off next weekend; but then again no, I have fallen behind with my Open University work over the last 2 months so I need to get my first TMA in by next weekend. Good job I was ahead before I started here otherwise I would have been in real trouble. Never mind I can catch up again while we are on holiday in Goa. Did I say that I was really looking forward to it?



Half my journey is spent on the A303 which is quite an interesting road, as roads go. At the start you have the Little Chef where Heston converted in Big Chef meets Little Chef where Claire and I stopped once. Then it goes right past Stone Henge which I haven’t stopped at yet, but I must get a couple of photos before I leave. Then it goes right past Wookey Hole near Cheddar Gorge. Too much stuff for me to see all of before we go on holiday. Did I tell you we are off to Goa in two weeks?

Flats, Floods & Lager Louts

There is no way I can match Phil’s very intellectual blog about Charles Darwin so I’m not even going to try, all I really wanted to talk about today was my new carpets and progress at the flat. My week has been a bit disjointed and of course, not without its problems. I went to the flat on Monday to let the carpet fitters in. I thought they would be in and out in a dash but I’d forgotten how long it takes to fit stair carpet. They arrived just after 10am and didn’t finish until gone midday. I just about had time to go to the tip, go home and get showered and then went to pick up Harriet at 1pm.

Harriet was very quiet on Monday, she has such high expectations of her birthday and Christmas that almost every time they come round she is always disappointed. Poor HH, a few of the family and quite a few of her friends had forgotten that it was her b-day. I have to say that I felt sorry she had to celebrate her b-day with her tired, old mum but I tried to make the best of her day. We went to browse around IKEA and then went to The Odeon to see Marley & Me. Harriet hadn’t been to the Odeon for years and was surprised to see that we had the whole cinema to ourselves. The film was, for the most part, funny and light but the end was sad and we both had a little sob. It was a blistery day on Monday and after the film we made the short walk back to the kebab flat where I made Harriet some supper and gave her a glass of wine. Shane came to pick up her and I fed him some of the lasagna that I’d cooked the night before.

I was back at the flat on Tuesday and my first job of the day was to hoover up all the bits from the new carpets. The new carpets make such a difference and I was pleased with my choice. After the hovering I tried to get the single bed back in the spare room but as much I heaved and lifted it just wouldn’t go in. I wasn’t going to be beaten and in the end I had to dismantle the bed on the landing and reassemble in the spare bedroom. This whole frustrating manoeuvre took me nearly an hour and put me seriously behind. After I got the bed in, I popped to Winterhill to pick up a single mattress for the spare room. I went into Dreams first but ended up getting an air sprung mattress from Sleepmasters in the upstairs of Harveys. I got a fantastic mattress for £119 which came with a 5 year guarantee. Absolute bargain of the week.

When I got back to the flat I got on my dirty clothes and painted the garden fence. It wasn’t an absolute priority but the sun was shining and I knew it was going to be raining for the rest of the week. Whilst I was painting Jill (the neighbour below) turned up in her car. This is the first time I had seen her since the morning the water was pouring from our flat through her bedroom ceiling. I was slightly anxious and asked her about her holiday. She said she spent the first few days worrying about her flat, wondering whether the leak had stopped. What could I say??? Sorry! We had a general chit chat, much about nothing, but she did mention that Phil’s banging and drilling had awoken her on Sunday morning. Apparently she has economy 7 and had set her alarm for 3am so she could put on her washing machine. And I thought I was sad!!!

I managed to get all of the fences painted and got home just in time to jump in the shower to wash the sandolin out of my hair and then went to David Lloyd for a 2pm hair appointment. I hate the hairdressers, 2 hours of staring at my reflection is so distressing. I wasn’t pleased with the results, too mousey, too short but I guess it will grow and the sunshine in Goa will lighten it. When I got out I had just enough time to whizz to Tesco Kingston to get a single duvet, a mattress protector and a duvet cover for the Oldbrook spare bed. Normally I wash and tumble dry new bedding before using but I couldn’t be arsed so I just ironed out all the creases, but don’t tell Harriet!

On Wednesday it was back round to the flat for more jobs. When Phil first got in the flat he took off all of the downstairs doors and put them out in the garden. We were going to change the brown wood doors for some nice white panel doors but the bedroom doors looked fine when I painted them so we decided to save money (and time) and put back the original doors. I managed to get all 4 of them up the stairs from the garden and into the lounge. First up I had to clean all the bird poo off and then gave them a light sanding and then another wipe down before I could give them a coat of primer and undercoat. I had given the upstairs bedroom doors 4 layers of white emulsion but decided to gloss the downstairs doors to make them more durable. They came up great just after one coat of gloss but to make them super duper they will need a second coat. It makes me want to put gloss over the emulsion on the bedroom doors but new carpets and me and a tin of gloss don’t bode well together so I may well have to forget this.

Phil phoned me at lunchtime to ask me if I had heard anything. I said “heard about what?” Apparently he sent me an email to say that he had had a call from a letting agent managing the flat below our Two Mile Ash flat to say that water was pouring in their flat from our flat. I’d left the kebab flat before this email came in so I hadn’t picked it up. Good job really, another flood in the same month is more than I can cope with. Thankfully our Two Mile Ash flat is fully managed so this wasn’t as much of an big deal as it normally would have been. I suspect the flood was from the washing machine but I’ve yet to find out the cause. I was just cleaning up when 2 men from DFS turned up to do a site survey. Harriet had booked them to come round to make sure that the new sofas she had ordered would actually fit through the door. The 2 burly men measured and said they thought they could fit them in so that’s alright.

After they left, I locked up and went to David Lloyd for a swim, steam and Jacuzzi and how lovely that was. I can’t even remember the last time I did this. It was about 3pm when I got in the pool and there was hardly anyone there. Last night Christine picked me up and we went to Cineworld to see Deception. We were both tired and it took a while for the plot to sink in and even at the end I’m not sure I understood everything. Still, a movie takes your mind to another place for a couple of hours and lets you forget your troubles, which has to be a good thing.

The evening didn’t end well though. When I left to go to the cineworld there was a bunch of drunkards who had somehow got into our block and they were lying in the entrance lobby swigging cans of lager. So when Christine pulled up in the parking space outside of the flat after the movie, I was a little anxious that they would still be there so she said she would drop me right outside. Unfortunately as she reversed she backed into a parked car outside the kebab shop. On investigation she had cracked the front bumper of a blue mondeo. The incident attracted a bunch of young drunken louts who was partying in a first floor flat and this wasn’t a pleasant scene; I tell you, the sooner I get out of this place, the better. Fortunately her car was okay but we took some photos of the damage and left a note with Christine’s mobile number on. I felt bad for Christine because an insurance claim is the last thing she needs and if I hadn't been so panicky about the lager louts, this wouldn’t have happened.

I was so wound up when I got in last night that I stayed up and watched telly until late so I’m really tired this morning. The plan was to be up and at the gym for 7.30 but here we are already gone 8.45am and I’m way behind schedule. Still, I had planned to take it easy today and just get ready for Phil’s homecoming tonight. He will of course, be knackered when he walks through the door, but no doubt, he will be champing at the bit to get in the flat first thing tomorrow morning to start on the tiling. There is a lot to be done this weekend but if all goes to plan and we have no major mishaps, come Sunday we should be on the home run.

You can only get 5 in a Sunbeam

Just a quick catch up from my end. I know Claire is doing a great job keeping everyone informed but I need to clear my camera down before our holidays (I can’t wait). Claire and I had talked about going to Goa again before our visa’s run out at the end of April but hadn’t had the time or money to look for something. I had asked Claire if she had kept the paper work from the last one as we managed to get away for £350 each and could have had one for £250 if we could have gone a week earlier. Sadly, living in a tiny space, there is no room for such things so I started the search again. The first place I tried was an old favourite of mine, www.teletextholidys.co.uk . I get emailed offers from then almost daily but don’t often read them and they never seem to offer Goa anyway. First hit within 2 minutes I had found one for £255 each, I couldn’t believe it. I must need the holiday and fate, at last has returned to my side. When I rang they were not open so I kept trying from around the flat; I suppose most people don’t start work at the ridiculous hours Claire and I keep. I finally got an answer just after 8.30am but the lady’s computer had not warmed up so she said she would ring back when it had. I must be an old computer as she didn’t ring back until 9.30am. However, my perseverance paid off as we got the last 2 flights on a Thompson holiday with a hotel thrown in. I don’t know if you have ever tried to get flights to Goa but they seem to start from about £650 each, then you have to get accommodation on top so to find both for such a low price is unbelievable. Let’s hope they don’t mind me taking time out at work.

Well, Georgina is off on her school skiing trip to the USA on Friday. She is so excited, she can’t sleep. Not sure where she gets it from. She has not had so much luck with the other school trip she has booked to Madagascar where the kids collectively arranged the entire trip where they hike and camp across the country. Due to the current political unrest, it has been postponed and replaced with one to Kenya and Tanzania. Still not bad for a 16 year old, but when you have put so much time in arranging things you can imagine yourself there so there is bound to be disappointment.

Harriet has just turned 20 so is no longer a teenager. She has been busy hunting around for furniture and stuff ready to move into the flat we are renovating for her and Shane. I think we should have the back broke of it after this weekend when I hope to finish the tiling. I’m looking forward to a weekend so I can recover from the week before, not getting more tired during it.

Never mind the Australian GP starts this weekend so I will be having some time off to watch that. Good job it starts at 6am on Sunday morning or I wouldn’t have seen it live. Maybe we won’t finish it this weekend after all. The photos throughout this blog are not relevant to this blog but are from the last few weeks where they would have been better placed in Claire’s blogs, but as I said I need to clear my camera down. I am looking forward to Claire’s next blog myself as I haven’t seen the place since the carpets went in on Monday. Another good thing about keeping one of these, you know what’s going on when you are not there (or at least hope you do).

The Pale Blue Dot

I’m not sure if you have been following any of the Charles Darwin programs on the tv recently but I watch the series of 3 called “Darwin’s dangerous idea”. The final one was on last Thursday and I managed to watch it over the weekend. I was amazed at how much stuff was in there that I didn’t know, especially as I watch and read everything I see regarding these things. This is a short blog highlighting some bits mentioned in this last program.

I knew that there had been 5 mass extinctions in the past where between 65 and 95% of all species had been killed off in quite a short space of time. Like when the dinosaurs were killed off 65 million years ago by the comet or meteor that struck the earth giving us mammals a chance. I had also heard it said that we are currently at the beginning of the 6th mass extinction but just hadn’t grasped the scale of it. You occasionally hear of another species disappearing or only a few left and we all know that lots are endangered but I didn’t realize that 27000 species were going extinct every year. That’s species, not animals; 27000 entire species are dying every year, never to be seen again directly due to us. I hadn’t grasped the scale or significance of this, especially with the inter-relationships of different species in their ecosystems. This is serious trouble and I can’t see how we can do much to stop it or even slow it down. It seems to me if it goes on unchecked it is only a matter of time before the whole system breaks down.

It sort of reminds me of James Lovelock’s book about Gaia which is also mentioned in the program. His neighbour was William Golding, the guy that wrote “Lord of the Flies” and whilst they were out for a walk one day he came up with the idea of Gaia who was the Greek Goddess of the Earth. In this book, the Earth acts like a giant organism that, to a large extent, self regulates and keeps things at a status quo. Well worth reading. The program also mentioned that Darwin wrote the very first paper on Coral reefs. These are interesting as they are like the canary of the mining world. At the first sign of trouble they die out first going white in what is called Coral bleaching. Coral is also under threat.

Also mentioned was the rise and fall of the Peppered Moth during the industrial revolution. Another great classic, written by James W Tutt where the light version of this moth thrived before the onset of smog and the few dark versions thrived after to become the most common where 98% were black during this period. This story is regularly repeated when talking about mankind’s effect on evolution. David will be proud of me for remembering.

The biggest surprise for me was that Darwin’s last book with the catchy title of, “The formation of vegetable mould by the action of worms (with observations on their habits)” became a best seller during his lifetime, far outselling “On the Origin of Species”.

I leave you with a quote from Carl Sagan’s classic, “The pale Blue Dot” inspired by an early space photograph taken of the planet Earth by Voyager 1 from a distance of nearly seven billion kilometres (4 billion miles) as part of the Solar System family portrait.


Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader", every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there – on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.

Sagan, C. (1994). Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space. Random House, New York.

Harriet, Holidays & Kitchen Sinks

I guess it’s the same in most other households across the UK but Monday has to be the worst day in our house. We both didn’t want to open our eyelids when the alarm when off at 3.30 this morning but Phil somehow got up to turn it off then reluctantly waddled to the bathroom. It took some strength, but I eventually dragged myself up and went to the kitchen to make tea. I had half packed Phil the night before but the cold stuff couldn’t be done the night before. Poor Phil, he couldn’t face any breakfast and only managed a few sips of tea before he was out the door and on the windy road to Somerset to face yet another week away.

Actually it s been a tough few days. We didn’t have a great journey home on Thursday night and the M25 was even worse than normal but thankfully I’d had the hindsight to put the wine in the fridge before we left, so at least we had something chilled to unwind us when we got in. On Friday morning it was tea, breakfast and straight to the flat to see how David had got on with the bathroom. We’d given him a key and we’d booked him for Thursday and Friday to put the new bathroom in. When we got round the flat David had appeared to have done nothing on the Thursday other than position the bathroom furniture in its place, nothing was plumbed in. David arrived at the flat just after 10am and blamed his lack of progress on the bath stuff we’d brought from BathroomBits4Us. Phil was not impressed; I am not going to say much, other than at the end of play on Friday David had fitted the bath too high, f***d the bath panel leaving a 2inch gap and plumbed in the toilet so close to the bath that you can only sit on it sideways. It’s a shame and we were more than just a little bit disappointed. I am pleased though with the tiling that Phil has done, although its not finished, its good to see my vision coming to life.

Because of David, Phil felt that he didn’t get as much achieved as he wanted too but actually I thought he got a lot done over the weekend. He tiled all of the skirting in the hallway and kitchen and drilled off all the tiles in the kitchen which was no easy feat, as they were stuck to the walls like glue and didn’t want to come away. Phil also got the wall cabinets up in the kitchen and put on all the doors. He got the worktops fixed to the base cabinets and cut out the hole for sink with the new jigsaw. It was only after he got it in, did he tell me this was the first time that he had put in a sink. It wasn’t an easy job fitting the sink, after he had cut out the hole, Phil had to paint the hole with mastic, then seal it in and then screw it up underneath the cabinet. The screwing wasn’t easy, I tried to help out but I couldn’t do it. Phil persevered and managed to get all the screws to grip the sink.

With the sun pouring in the windows I realised that bedroom 2 needed a fourth coat of paint. I tried to convince myself at first that it would make do with a touch up but it was no use, I put on my decorating clothes and got out the roller. Things are all ready now for the carpets which is a good job because the upstairs carpets and the stairs and landing are being fitted today. All in all, we spent a total of 25 hours in the flat over Friday, Saturday and Sunday and poor Phil was absolutely knackered. On Friday we went home for my home cooked Thai green curry and rice which I cooked in Grace’s kitchen in Somerset and brought home. Phil wasn’t happy with it because I had used English aubergines and not the Thai ones which he prefers. There was enough left for Saturday lunch but Phil didn’t fancy it so we went to the Silk Road Restaurant next to Staples by the station. This was the first time we’d been and I have to say it was the hottest, spiciest Indian food I have ever tasted in the UK. Not cheap and at first I thought the portion size was meagre but it turned out we’d ordered enough to satisfy our appetites. We ordered 2 meat dishes, 1 plain rice, 1 pilau rice, 1 vegetable dish and 1 chilli naan for Phil. We finished every mouthful and it was delicious. I have to say, I didn’t feel much like working afterwards but I forced myself and we ended up doing another 3 hours before finishing at 5pm. Of course, no weekend is complete without a trip to B&Q. This weekend we surpassed ourselves and made 5 trips. I think we can make our way around this store with our eyes shut, sad really.

Poor Phil had literally run out of steam by lunchtime yesterday, he was already working at the flat at half past seven so at half past one I persuaded him it was time to stop work. We packed everything away and went back to the kebab flat for a shower and a change into human clothes. Harriet came round with a mother’s day card, a bottle of wine and a massive box of chocolates for me, bless her. We had intended to walk along the canal and have a late lunch at the Giffard but instead Harriet gave us a lift. Phil ordered a rump steak for him and a tipsy steak pie for me which we washed down with a pint of larger and a bottle of wine. It was lovely to just sit down and relax for a change! The sun was still shining when we came out of the pub and we enjoyed a lovely walk home along the canal. Well, half the walk home was along the canal, the last half is up the hill when we turn off at Campbell Park and this is the bit that Phil hates. He moans all the way up and he was so tired, I had to grab his hand and pull him up! It was feet up and catch up with telly when we got back and then early to bed ready for Monday morning.

It’s Harriet’s 20th birthday today so HAPPY BIRTHDAY HH! I can’t quite believe that this time 20 years ago (literally because she was born at 7am) that I was having a forceps delivery after a 36 hour labour. I have to say not happy memories! Harriet has taken the day off work and this afternoon we are going for a look around IKEA and then going to see Marle and Me at the cinema. I think she would like to do something this morning but unfortunately I have to be round the flat to let the carpet fitters in.

Since I blogged about the offer of sale on the kebab flat, we have offers of back gardens and spare rooms. It’s nice to know you’ve got friends so thanks everyone. Jimmy has very kindly offered us the use of Shirley’s house which is vacant so if our sale does go through, we may very well take him up on his offer. That is, of course, if Shirley’s house hasn’t sold and is still available. At least we have somewhere we can go.
Phil has just phoned me to say that he has arrived safely in Somerset. He says he feels absolutely knackered. I’m not surprised really, he didn’t stop for a moment over the weekend. It was just a shame that David messed up because if he’d managed to fit the bathroom on Thursday, Phil possibly could have taken the whole day off yesterday. I am really worried about him; he is working himself to the ground. Still there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Phil got on the internet on Saturday morning to have a look at the price of flights to Goa. He just happened to find the bargain of all bargains and booked!!!! Not only did he get return flights but we also got accommodation and transfers and all for £255 per person. This is unbelievable and we couldn’t help ourselves. The accommodation is only 1 star and trip advisor says, and I quote, “avoid like the plague” but we can use it as a base and move somewhere else if its as grim as the reviews suggest it is. Our visas for entry into India expire at the end of April so we don’t have the extra expense and hassle of apply for new ones and our jabs are up-to-date. Of course, Phil has yet to break the news to his work and they are not going to be happy because he is contracted until the end of April. Hey ho, my boy needs a holiday and a holiday he shall have. We fly 2 weeks on Saturday and I can’t wait!

SOLD subject to contract!

Well a sale price was agreed yesterday on the kebab flat and so it looks like we're on the move again. We held out for what we wanted and the only down side is that we have had to throw in the white goods, the beds and the table and chairs. Our buyer wanted the carpets, the light fittings and the blinds which we would have left anyway so we don't feel hard done by. She also wanted the sofas but these are Phil's best valued possessions and there was no way in the world he was going to part with them! Of course, nothing is ever a done deal until you got the money in the bank but you do have to make plans.

I have already promised to rent the Oldbrook flat to Harriet & Shane so we can't move in there. We were thinking maybe we could rent a caravan or something on Cosgrove Park, that would be okay for the summer. The tenant in Cranfield is moving back to Dubai in October so the plan is to move in the bungalow and give that a major refurb so we only have to find somewhere to live for the next 6 months.

Life is certainly never dull!

A Chard Life

The last couple of days have been fairly quiet all round. Apart from a trip to Tesco’s and going to Phil’s work to take him some noodles and salad, I stayed in the house for most of Tuesday going through the Excel lessons on my borrowed copy of my ECDL disk. Although I am familiar with Excel having used it for ever I am pretty much self taught and have bluffed my way through over the years so I am forcing myself to go through all the lessons from start to finish. Its’ such basic stuff that it’s like watching paint dry and my mind gets distracted but I did learn more about formulas which in the past have always frightened me. Again it was a lovely day but it was cold in Phil’s room so I was brave and ventured into the conservatory and got out my laptop. It was baking hot in the conservatory but I persevered, the sun is such a rarity that it’s nice to bask in it when it does come out.



The hours soon went by and before I knew it, it was time to jump in the car and go and pick up Phil from work. I can pretty much make my way around Chard now without having to use the sat nav which is amazing for me because I have absolutely no sense of direction and I mean NONE! Phil was fairly upbeat when he jumped in the passenger seat and after a 10 hour stint at the sweat shop, said he felt like going for a pint. We drove to a pub called Ye Olde Poppy Inn on the way to Uxminster, which I had heard one of the locals talking about. Unfortunately it didn’t open till 6pm but we decided to wait the 10 minutes in the car-park rather than go elsewhere. Phil saw this horse in the pub garden and couldn’t resist taking a picture. Things are very traditional here in Somerset; the pubs open for lunch 12-2pm and don’t seem to open again until 6 or 7pm, unlike in Milton Keynes where they seem to be open all hours.



We ordered a pint and a half of the local cider and this is the first pint of cider that Phil has had since he’s been working here. It was okay, cold but a little on the sweet side. Unfortunately Phil spotted the menu which I have to say was most impressive and eventually persuaded me they we should eat. We both went for the steak and Guinness pie with new potatoes and fresh vegetables. We thought we would get the normal frozen pub grub but amazingly the pie was homemade and the veggies were fresh. Only down side, and yes I am sorry to be negative once again, was that none of the food had been seasoned. Unlike Phil, I don’t need a shed full of salt but even my taste buds detected the blandness. Still, not bad for £7.95 and maybe we shall go there again. After the pub it was straight back to the house for pyjamas, some TV and lights out at 10pm.





Having decided to dedicate all of yesterday to Excel stuff, I decided to let Phil take the car and drive himself to work. I was still up at 6am making tea and sandwiches for Phil to take for lunch and felt really in the wide awake club by the time Phil left for work at quarter to 7. Unfortunately probably so did the other house guests because I inadvertently set off the fire alarm when I was toasting hot cross buns for Phil in the microwave grill. This is the second time this week that I’ve set off the smoke detector and I don’t think I will be welcomed back. Especially, as I also decided to strip the bed and put the washing machine on, not realising my mistake until the spinning programme came on making a real ding dong. I quickly hung the stuff on the line and slinked back to our room as soon as I could. The house rules state that you must not use the washing machine after 8pm but I stupidly didn’t think about putting it on early in the morning.


The owners of no 14H (Phil’s Somerset home) are Mike & Grace whom seem nice although I haven’t spoken to them much. Grace scuttles away every time I use the kitchen and Mike seems to spend all of his time in his office at the back of the garage. Phil tells me that Mike is an architect and did the plans for their house extension so they could rent out rooms. Phil’s room is on the ground floor just to the left of the front door and all the other bedrooms are upstairs. We can’t quite make out how many rooms they have altogether but we know that M&G let out 4 rooms including ours. I am curious to know what living accommodation they have kept for themselves because as far as I can make out, they only have an en-suite bedroom and the office. The kitchen, conservatory, driveway, front door and garden are all communal.



Having stayed here for 4 days I think their set up just about works, of course I haven’t seen the other rooms so can only comment on my experience. Phil’s room is okay, very compact; the en-suite is even more compact, very slim space and not good for a big boy. We haven’t spent much time in our room, what time we have spent, has been in bed (watching TV) but when here together we have been stepping on each toes. In the short space of time that Phil has been staying here, I think he has got his own places for things with his own little routines and my being here has upset the balance. If I am honest, it’s probably the same for me in the kebab flat during the week but at least I do have my creature comforts. I tell you, the kebab flat will feel like a mansion when we step through the front door tonight!


I cooked a Thai green curry in the kitchen yesterday and felt really uncomfortable using all of Grace’s stuff. She didn’t seem to mind, I guess this is part of the deal for her, but even so, I still felt weird. I met Irish Steve who has been staying here a while, he’s not all that bright but he’s got a smiley face and showed me how to put on the economy programme on the washing machine. Steve tells me there is a Chinese couple staying, Rowena and sorry can’t remember the name of her husband. Apparently Rowena works nights but I’ve never seen her or her husband although I have heard them. The 4th room above Phil’s room is vacant at the moment. Phil had I were discussing the idea of doing the same thing when we were in the pub the other night. Not right now because we haven’t got money to buy but 4 rooms at a hundred a quid a week is a good source of income. Mind you it would have to the ‘right’ house and it would have to have its own private entrance, kitchen, lounge and garden, so private in fact, that I wouldn’t have to see a soul! Ummm on second thoughts perhaps I’m not cut out to be a residential landlady!!





I spent yesterday afternoon learning about complex formulas and learning the difference between absolute and relative cells, all very boring stuff. I am two thirds of the way through the module and just want to get it over and done with now. Phil came back from work and feeling how cold our room was suggested we go out for a quick pint. We drove into Chard and went to check out a restaurant that I spotted. We went in and met the owner but although she still runs the B&B cum hotel, she no longer runs the restaurant. Apparently her son who was the chef has moved to France. She did however recommend The Kings Arms in Stockland http://www.thekingsarmsinn.org.uk/ just outside of Chard. We eventually found our way to the pub getting lost up and down country lanes and what a charming little place it was. Unfortunately they were doing 2 courses for just £9 and even though we had green curry and rice in the fridge at no 14, we had to eat! Phil had the duck pate and the steak pie and I had chicken to start and steak to follow. It was fantastic, good choice of wine as well, log fires and linen napkins and if I ever come this way again I will definitely eat here again. Phil drove home and it was back to bed to watch some telly before lights out.


Thursday is the new Friday for us and today we are going home. It’s been a funny old week for me, although I’m not sure what I expected. I haven’t read any of the magazines or books that I packed in my case and neither has Phil studied any of his OU course. We’ve enjoyed some fine wines and meals and the weather has been wonderful. The week hasn’t been without stress though; our Cranfield tenant phoned to say his electric meter key had stopped working. I spent 45 minutes on the phone to E-on the supplier but in the end I had to get mad Betty from next door to go round and help Abdullah. We also have had a half serious offer on the kebab flat so I have been fielding calls from the agent and going back and forth between them and Phil. I missed a call last night so I have yet to hear what the latest is. We don’t want to give the flat away and we both agree we will not be bullied into accepting a low price. We have no mortgage on the flat, the council plan to replace all the windows and modernise the communal areas (although god knows when) so if need be, we can do a re-let and hang it out for a few years until the market prices increase.


Today is a day for packing up; I need to wash, iron and replace Phil’s bedding and towels, clean his room and en-suite and make sure his cupboards are stocked for next week. I plan to do a few more hours on complex formulas and may drive into Yeovil if time. Then I’ll pick up Phil at 4.30 and we will start on the long drive home just praying that we don’t get held up on the M25.

Blue Skies & Beer

Today’s blog is more of a picture blog than babbling tales. I had a busy day yesterday, after dropping Phil off I headed in to Chard for a spot of shopping. First stop was Tesco’s followed by Lidls then the Library and the Tourist Information office for a map. There were a number of shops which were closed on a Monday and a few that have shut down since the last time I was here. New Look had a sale and I managed to pick up a tracksuit and a pair of sunglasses. I brought a steak and ale Cornish pastie for Phil and sent him a text to say that I would meet him at his work at lunchtime at 12.30. I had already made him sandwiches but I figured he needed a Monday treat. As it happens his sandwich had gone a bit soggy so he welcomed the pastie, the only trouble was that it was chicken and ham and not the steak and ale that I had paid 40 pence extra for. Never mind he still ate it.

I’m not sure what the weather was doing in Milton Keynes but it was a beautiful day here in Somerset with clear blue skies and endless sunshine. So instead of doing my ECDL I decided to take myself off to the seaside. The man in the tourist information office told me the village of Beer was really pretty so I programmed this into the sat nav and off I went. It took me 40 minutes to get to Beer and when I got there I was glad I had made the effort. It was a lovely fishing village, quite unspoilt although I’m not sure what it would be like in the summer. I had a walk down the steep hill down to the shingle beach and then walked back up and checked out the shops in the high street. Beer has an array of chocolate box B&B’s, a handful of pubs as well as a chippy, a deli and a post office. I would have like to have had a drink in the pub on the corner overlooking the sea but figured I would look a sad lonely old woman so decided to get back in the car and head for Sidmouth, 7 miles further along the coast.

Sidmouth was much, much bigger than Beer. Same shingle beach and reminded me a little of Weston-Super-Mare. The shops were varied and interesting and I did delve into a few of the little back alleys. I treated myself to a cone with a single vanilla scope which was massive and then made my way back to Chard. Although the coast is only around 12 or so miles from Chard, all the bendy, windy, narrow roads make it feel a lot further in distance. I was knackered when I got back. When I got back home and uploaded the photos on to the blog and then had a go and putting together the laptop table I had brought for Phil but the screwdriver I had had brought was too big for the little screws. With not much time left before I had to collect Phil, I popped to Focus to get a small screwdriver and then went to the leisure centre to check out the gym. It’s tiny compared to David Lloyd but cheap. The only down side is that you have to have an induction before they will let you use the equipment. I booked an appointment then dashed to pick up Phil.

Phil fancied a pint at the pub nearest to the estate where we are staying so we ditched the car and headed out on foot. Unfortunately the pub was closed so we had no choice but to head into town. Weatherspoons was the nearest pub that we came to so we decided to have a few drinks there. It’s so cheap and they have some amazing deals. The barman gave us a number of a taxi but none of them answered the phone so we no choice but to walk back. It’s not so bad walking there but it felt a long way going back home.

This morning I dropped Phil just before 7am and then headed to the Leisure Centre for my induction. I have to say I didn’t feel much like being inducted, which was just as well; because the gym was shut and I can only think my appointment was for 7pm and not 7am. I will pop in later and rearrange because I don’t much fancy going out in the dark.

Most of the photographs in the blog are of Beer; it was such an enchanting place I couldn’t stop myself from snapping. The last photo is taken f

rom a street in Sidmouth looking down to the seafront.

I’m having a lazy day today and the plan is to study Excel from my ECDL CD but somehow I ended up in Google and am doing anything else bar from study! Also its blue skies out there again today and somehow it feels wrong to be cooped up in this room staring at the computer screen.

Sun, Sea & Singing Toilets

As predicted in my last few blog, the last few days have been hectic. More so for poor Phil than me, he has virtually spent 2 and a half days on his hands and knees, finishing off the kitchen and tiling the entrance hall in the flat. My role has been that of chief assistant and facilitator and I’ve tried to make things that little bit easier for him but don’t feel that I’ve done much to help. Phil was surprised at how much I’d done in the flat whilst he’d been away and remarked on this fact several times so I knew that he was pleased with me.

I was going to spend a couple of hours washing and ironing and catching up on the paperwork in the kebab flat on Friday morning but it was only when I checked my filofax did I realise that the rest of the kitchen was being delivered so I quickly flung on some clothes and rushed to the flat. No sooner had I got there when I received a call from the driver of the B&Q delivery van to say that they would be there between 9.45am and 10.05am. I was impressed because normally I am the last on the list but this feeling soon disappeared when I had another call from the B&Q driver to ask which me which floor we were on. Turned out that they were trying to deliver to the kebab flat! Never mind, I quickly gave them the Oldbrook address and they arrived soon after. The 3 of us unloaded all my bits and I checked everything off on the delivery list. All was okay apart from the fact that my lovely granite gloss worktops had not been cut. I had gone into B&Q specifically with the measurements for all the cuts and even left them a copy. As it happens I knew one of the delivery guys, as he rents the flat under our studio flat in Two Mile Ash. Anyway I gave him another copy of my measurements and he said he would take back the worktops and get them cut and deliver them in the afternoon, which he duly did. Nothing is ever easy or straightforward but we do get there in the end but it just takes patience which is something that I don’t appear to have much of these days.

We spent all day on Friday in the flat bar a quick break to go to the carvery and a trip to B&Q for bits and another visit to the Tile Depot. Phil had to get some hardboard up on the bathroom wall because it had leaked over the years and we couldn’t tile straight on to it. It was so bad that really we should have replaced the whole wall but hopefully the hardboard will do the job nearly as well.

Phil let me have my own way and I got the tiles for my feature wall in the bathroom although he moaned like crazy about the price. David came round to see what he had to do in the bathroom and thought the tiles looked shit. I have to say without the grouting I was doubting my own choice as well but once they had been grouted they looked wonderful and I could see my vision coming together.

On Saturday it was another full day in the flat. Phil had wanted to get going on doing all the cutting of the tiles but he was awaiting on David bringing round his tile cutter. Whilst he waiting he put together all of the kitchen wall cabinets. We are way off from doing the kitchen but it was still a job that needed doing and it kept Phil busy whilst we were waiting for David. David did eventually turn up with his tile cutter and Phil was able to get on cutting. There was lots of huffing & puffing & swearing, even more than normal and I kept out of way as much as possible. I did feel for Phil though, he is too big to be spending a long time on his hands and knees and I knew he was suffering. He had on his knee pads for most of the day but when we got home his knees were burning hot and very red. At midday we stopped, put on some human clothes and went to the Thai Modern restaurant for the buffet. We felt bad because we were the first and only customers so they had to make everything just for us. It’s very good but you can have too much of a good thing so we may leave it for a few weeks and try somewhere else. Just as we were leaving a big family came in to eat so we felt better for the staff. My guess is that it’s more popular in the evenings.

Friday and Saturday nights were shower, wine, TV and sleep precisely in that order. We were awake early and Phil was round at the flat by 7.30 in the morning without a cup of tea or any breakfast. Although we had finished off all the tiling, he had to do all the grouting. It was a shame because we just ran out of time on the Saturday, it would have been nice for Phil to have a lie in with the Sunday papers and have a day off for a rare change. Whilst he was grouting, I cooked a chicken chilli men, a wagamama salad dressing and made up some sandwich fillers. I also packed up all the stuff to take to Somerset and was at B&Q spot on the dot of 10 o’clock when it opened. Phil had phoned to say he wanted some beige grout to finish off the skirting in the bathroom. I got round just in time to do the job of cleaning all the excess grout from all the tiles. I didn’t mind doing this; if you don’t clean the tiles properly at this stage it’s almost impossible to get the muck off later on.

We cleared away, locked up and headed back to the kebab flat and after loading the car we were on our way on the long journey to Chard before midday. Phil very kindly agreed to take my Ford KA because I don’t get on too well with his Land Rover. The roads are narrow and windy in Somerset and it really freaked me out when I last came down to Chard on his interview test day. It was a beautiful day and we did get delayed on the M25 because of a minor accident. This was no big deal because we later heard on the news that the M25 was shut in both directions so it was lucky for us that we didn’t leave later in the afternoon. Phil was starving because he hadn’t eaten anything so we decided to stop at the Little Chef in Popham. We were really excited because we had seen the TV programme of Heston Blumenthal revamping this Little Chef so were keen to see the outcome for ourselves. Phil choose the oxtail and mash while I went for scampi and chips. Both meals were very nice and we recognised a couple of members of staff from the programme. I went to see the singing toilets which is something that amused the staff on the programme. I even took a video; they were okay but somehow more funny when we saw them on TV.

We got to Phil’s guesthouse just before 3pm, put the food in the fridge and headed for the seaside. Phil drove us to Seaton and we had a walk along the sea front. Seaton was alright not the prettiest of places but it was such a beautiful day and felt good to be in the fresh air. We sat outside and had a drink in a pub in the town and then headed to Lyme Regis. A few weeks ago Phil went to explore this place after work. It was very pretty and I liked it, although it was a steep walk back to the car park. We went to see the beach and then headed back into town for a drink in a pub with a roaring fire.

Then it was back ‘home’ or back to Phil’s room for pj’s and telly. His room is well equipped but very small. It is fine for just him but I wonder how we shall get on being the 2 of us for 4 days. I’m not sure if I said I was taking the week off and coming down to stay with Phil? I guess you could say that I’m on holiday! Actually I could do with a rest and it will give Phil some company. I have brought down my ECDL disk to study and a pile of magazines and books but the sun is shining so I think I may go and do some exploring. It feels a bit weird being in someone else’s house especially as the owners weren’t around last night so Phil wasn’t able to introduce me. I am typing this blog up from Phil’s room with the laptop on his bed and it’s not very comfortable. I brought the laptop table with me and went to put it together this morning but no can do because I haven’t got a screw driver. This morning I made Phil his sandwiches and dropped him at work just before 7. After dropping him off, I made my way to Tesco’s and then back to the house without using the Sat Nav. I think I can find my way to the town and will be able to get to his work to pick him up tonight. I suppose now I should publish this, get in the car and go exploring because it’s the only way I’ll get my bearings. More from me later in the week.