At last the Summer has arrived. Today and yesterday the weather was sunny and almost too warm - long may it continue. Everything, including people's temperament and mood seems to lift when the weather is good. This morning five of us from church took to the streets to talk to people about our faith and to invite them to church. It was good and we met a few people. newly moved into Harrogate, who were actually looking for a church. We will be doing the same thing every Saturday throughout August - hope the weather continues to be warm and sunny.
After that I took my motorbike up into the Dales for a few hours. I just rode out in the general direction of the Dales, deliberately getting a bit lost, but knowing that eventually I would see some familiar road signs that I could follow to get home. It was a brilliant ride and worked out as I hoped it would, with me finding signs for familiar places which took me through some beautiful villages in the Dales and some great biking roads.
The rest of the day was spent cleaning up our living room where the work to install our wood burning stove has virtually finished. The stove and the new lay out of the fireplace is going to look great. All that remains to be done is for me to do the painting of the walls and skirting board and to get the carpet back down. I have to wait for the plaster to dry first which could take several days - but the bulk of the dirty work is done now. We now have extra space in the room because we have removed the hearth and fire surround. We have a wood burner stove which not only looks superb but is also plumbed into the hot water tank and also gives us a radiator in the bathroom. Everyone tells me, including the plumber who has been working in our house, that the stove is ultra effective and that we will get a lot of heat and as much hot water as we want from it. Can't wait to try it out but that will mean saying goodbye to this lovely warm weather and having to tolerate the bittingly cold, damp stuff again. Getting rid of some of our bigger pieces of furniture and general clutter will also give the impression of more space in our living room. In a few weeks time we will start work on the study which will be transformed into a second, smaller living room which we can also use as an extra bedroom. Again there is a lot of work to be done but it will be really nice when finished and will give us greater flexibility and choice about how we use the house. We will put our dining table in the conservatory and use it as a dining room throughout the year. Heating it with a small electric fire when we want to eat there is not expensive and is very effective. Our plan is to get the bulk of the work done before September.
No cycling this weekend. I am beginning to feel a bit sluggish so will have to do something very energetic before too long.
Saturday, 26 July 2008
Friday, 18 July 2008
18th July
It's very satisfying when a day has passed and you feel you have actually managed to achieve something in work. Today has been such a day. I have had at least three meetings this morning and this afternoon when decisions were made which you hope will result in some progress. So much time is spent, or if your not careful can be spent, in maintenance, just keeping the wheels turning, which I find frustrating. So it is particularly pleasing when you feel that decisions have been made during a day's work, or pieces have been put in place which will take you forward.
Our efforts to reorganise our house so that we have more room has taken another step forward today in that we have had a very large bookcase / cupboard taken from our front room to Bethan and David's house in Ripley. We are trying to downsize our furniture and get rid of things that are unnecessary so that our living room has more room for living. Getting rid of the bookcase has created a great feeling of space, next to go is the enormous settee that dominates the room, to be replaced, when we can afford it, by a smaller two seater. Two large marble coffee tables are due to go and my much loved, but oversized, music centre will be replaced by a mini version. The wood burner is to be installed in 5 days time and then we can put the carpet back, paint the chimney breast (not in that order) and things will almost be comfortable again. One of the real highlights of the day was meeting two young, very pleasant, friendly, polite and hardworking removal men who came to take the bookcase to Bethan's. They were professional and went out of their way to make sure I was pleased with the standard of their work. Quite a nice day really.
Our efforts to reorganise our house so that we have more room has taken another step forward today in that we have had a very large bookcase / cupboard taken from our front room to Bethan and David's house in Ripley. We are trying to downsize our furniture and get rid of things that are unnecessary so that our living room has more room for living. Getting rid of the bookcase has created a great feeling of space, next to go is the enormous settee that dominates the room, to be replaced, when we can afford it, by a smaller two seater. Two large marble coffee tables are due to go and my much loved, but oversized, music centre will be replaced by a mini version. The wood burner is to be installed in 5 days time and then we can put the carpet back, paint the chimney breast (not in that order) and things will almost be comfortable again. One of the real highlights of the day was meeting two young, very pleasant, friendly, polite and hardworking removal men who came to take the bookcase to Bethan's. They were professional and went out of their way to make sure I was pleased with the standard of their work. Quite a nice day really.
Wednesday, 16 July 2008
16th July
Today - a lovely walk with Mary above Scar House Reservoir which was very windy but dry throughout the entire walk.I have not fully recovered from Saturday's Three Peaks walk and struggled in places even though it was only six miles. We are so fortunate to live in such a beautiful part of the world; not as dramatic as some of the higher mountains we have recently visited in France nor the mountains of Snowdonia, but the Yorkshire Dales has this gentle beauty of its own and we live so close to it.
Came home via Ripley to pick Lucy up and had a delicious Ripley ice cream whilst we waited for her.
This evening we attended a meeting in church which was addressed by Jeremy Clough who heads up the Town Pastors. It was one of the most encouraging and positive things I have heard about church for many years and I was very challenged by it. Awesome to hear that Christians and non Christians are taking to the streets of Harrogate and making a difference where it really matters
Came home via Ripley to pick Lucy up and had a delicious Ripley ice cream whilst we waited for her.
This evening we attended a meeting in church which was addressed by Jeremy Clough who heads up the Town Pastors. It was one of the most encouraging and positive things I have heard about church for many years and I was very challenged by it. Awesome to hear that Christians and non Christians are taking to the streets of Harrogate and making a difference where it really matters
Tuesday, 15 July 2008
15th July
Our summer holiday in the Jura, France has been and gone - and pretty wonderful it was as well. Our second grandson George is now walking and last weekend I completed the Yorkshire Three Peaks with a group from church. On the house front we have taken our house off the market and have started doing this one up with a view to living in it forever and ever and ever.
So a busy month - but now a little more detail.
Our holiday in France was absolutely brilliant. Beautiful lakeside campsite, Lac St Point being surrounded by Swiss chalets; and warm sunshine for the whole of our stay. Wherever we went the scenery on the journey was even better than the destinations !! High mountains, deep valleys, tumbling waterfalls and lots of forests. At one point, in the distance, we saw a snow topped Mont Blanc from the summit of Mont D'Or and the mountains surrounding us were magnificent. We had a few half days walking round the trails which would have been used as cross country ski trails during the winter. There was just so much to see and go to and do and hardly any tourists, apart from a few Germans. I hired a bicycle for a morning and had a good ride around the area, going off the main roads into the hills and around lac Romeray. We ate simply at the campsite; baguettes for breakfast, picnic style lunch and something cooked in the evening - everything, especially the evening meal tasted fabulous, even though it was often very basic food. Maybe it had something to do with eating outside. The red wine and the cheese was as delicious as ever, one or two bottles of red finding their way back to the UK.
The day before we left the UK for our holiday George started to walk unaided. He's been plodding along holding someone hand for weeks but didn't quite have the confidence to take off on his own. By the time we came back from France he was really on the move and talkng his own little language as did his mother many years ago.
Whilst we were away we had arranged for our hearth and stone fire surround to be removed and for the fireplace to be opened up in readiness for a wood burner stove to be installed. However there have been a few minor hitches which have slowed everything down, but we should have everything in place and working in a weeks time. The plan is to have a wood burner (actually it is a multi - fuel stove) installed and plumbed into the hot water tank so that we get free hot water throughout the winter. Our gas and electricity bills are crazy so I thought this would help reduce the bills especially if I could get my hands on plenty of free scrap wood. I am trying to be a bit more green in my thinking so a few weeks ago I replaced all the light bulbs with low energy / long life bulbs. Anyway, back to the stove. I have already started to collect wood for the winter and over a few weeks have managed to get hold of some suberb stuff which should keep us going for a few months at least - and so far its all free! Roll on the cold winter months!
And then there's the Yorkshire Three Peaks. About 7 of us from church decided a few months ago that we would take up the challenge. You have to complete the walk, which involves climbing Pen Y Ghynt, Whernside and Inglborough and walking the distance between the mountains which comes to about 25 miles, within 12 hours. We set of at 7.45am and got back to Horton in Ribblesdale at 6.30pm, so we got our certificates which included an invitation to join the Yorkshire Three Peaks Club. I think it was the hardest walk I have ever done especially as I was struggling with my achilles tendon which I injured a few weeks back and hasn't healed up properly yet. I was a bit annoyed with myself that I wasn't walking as well as I would normally have done and its strange how an achilles problem can knock everything else out of synch, but I'm quite pleased with the achievement I think the hardest part of the walk, at least psychologically, was the 8 mile walk between the first peak, Pen Y Ghynt and the second, Whernside. It seemed never ending, it was very boggy, muddy and wet and at that point I wasn't sure if my achilles would hold out. I'm not sure if it was harder than the Snowdon Horseshoe that I did last year - quite different - but harder ?
Any other news? I bought a second hand road / racing bike a few months back but haven't really managed to go too far on it yet. It seems to involve an entirely different technique than the one developed with my mountain bike - the gear shift is on the down tube insted of on the handle bars and of course with drop handle bars the riding position is different. I need to get out on it for a really long ride into the Dales - maybe this Saturday - weather permitting. Since getting back from France I have been so busy in work that I haven't managed a decent ride on my Kawasaki. I am still hoping to go to S. Wales to see my Mum and will use the bike then - but finding a few days for that is proving difficult. I would also like to ride the bike over to Snowdonia again and climb something there as well.
Family wise all seems to be OK. Owen and Kim are working hard in the business, Dan, Kim and Dom came over last Thursday for lunch - lovely to see them. Dominic is now running around and kicking a football around the garden. Bethan is pregnant again - due in January. Lucy's results from University have been good - on target for a 2.1. And that's enough for tonight! I really will try to keep my blog up to date in future and not leave such long time gaps between entries.
So a busy month - but now a little more detail.
Our holiday in France was absolutely brilliant. Beautiful lakeside campsite, Lac St Point being surrounded by Swiss chalets; and warm sunshine for the whole of our stay. Wherever we went the scenery on the journey was even better than the destinations !! High mountains, deep valleys, tumbling waterfalls and lots of forests. At one point, in the distance, we saw a snow topped Mont Blanc from the summit of Mont D'Or and the mountains surrounding us were magnificent. We had a few half days walking round the trails which would have been used as cross country ski trails during the winter. There was just so much to see and go to and do and hardly any tourists, apart from a few Germans. I hired a bicycle for a morning and had a good ride around the area, going off the main roads into the hills and around lac Romeray. We ate simply at the campsite; baguettes for breakfast, picnic style lunch and something cooked in the evening - everything, especially the evening meal tasted fabulous, even though it was often very basic food. Maybe it had something to do with eating outside. The red wine and the cheese was as delicious as ever, one or two bottles of red finding their way back to the UK.
The day before we left the UK for our holiday George started to walk unaided. He's been plodding along holding someone hand for weeks but didn't quite have the confidence to take off on his own. By the time we came back from France he was really on the move and talkng his own little language as did his mother many years ago.
Whilst we were away we had arranged for our hearth and stone fire surround to be removed and for the fireplace to be opened up in readiness for a wood burner stove to be installed. However there have been a few minor hitches which have slowed everything down, but we should have everything in place and working in a weeks time. The plan is to have a wood burner (actually it is a multi - fuel stove) installed and plumbed into the hot water tank so that we get free hot water throughout the winter. Our gas and electricity bills are crazy so I thought this would help reduce the bills especially if I could get my hands on plenty of free scrap wood. I am trying to be a bit more green in my thinking so a few weeks ago I replaced all the light bulbs with low energy / long life bulbs. Anyway, back to the stove. I have already started to collect wood for the winter and over a few weeks have managed to get hold of some suberb stuff which should keep us going for a few months at least - and so far its all free! Roll on the cold winter months!
And then there's the Yorkshire Three Peaks. About 7 of us from church decided a few months ago that we would take up the challenge. You have to complete the walk, which involves climbing Pen Y Ghynt, Whernside and Inglborough and walking the distance between the mountains which comes to about 25 miles, within 12 hours. We set of at 7.45am and got back to Horton in Ribblesdale at 6.30pm, so we got our certificates which included an invitation to join the Yorkshire Three Peaks Club. I think it was the hardest walk I have ever done especially as I was struggling with my achilles tendon which I injured a few weeks back and hasn't healed up properly yet. I was a bit annoyed with myself that I wasn't walking as well as I would normally have done and its strange how an achilles problem can knock everything else out of synch, but I'm quite pleased with the achievement I think the hardest part of the walk, at least psychologically, was the 8 mile walk between the first peak, Pen Y Ghynt and the second, Whernside. It seemed never ending, it was very boggy, muddy and wet and at that point I wasn't sure if my achilles would hold out. I'm not sure if it was harder than the Snowdon Horseshoe that I did last year - quite different - but harder ?
Any other news? I bought a second hand road / racing bike a few months back but haven't really managed to go too far on it yet. It seems to involve an entirely different technique than the one developed with my mountain bike - the gear shift is on the down tube insted of on the handle bars and of course with drop handle bars the riding position is different. I need to get out on it for a really long ride into the Dales - maybe this Saturday - weather permitting. Since getting back from France I have been so busy in work that I haven't managed a decent ride on my Kawasaki. I am still hoping to go to S. Wales to see my Mum and will use the bike then - but finding a few days for that is proving difficult. I would also like to ride the bike over to Snowdonia again and climb something there as well.
Family wise all seems to be OK. Owen and Kim are working hard in the business, Dan, Kim and Dom came over last Thursday for lunch - lovely to see them. Dominic is now running around and kicking a football around the garden. Bethan is pregnant again - due in January. Lucy's results from University have been good - on target for a 2.1. And that's enough for tonight! I really will try to keep my blog up to date in future and not leave such long time gaps between entries.
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