Now we have been here in the Quirky Museum for 7 months, I am starting to feel more at home now. Why? Read on….
It is things like meeting Russell (photo above) that feeds the feeling of being at home. On Saturday I was doing some gardening and my attention was drawn to a cough and a splutter on the other side of the road. Turned out he was a neighbour (from further along the road) who was jolly friendly and was pleased to tell me all about his new acquisition which had just conked out – a Solex bicycle, sort of powered by a little two stroke motor which turns it into a front wheel drive moped. We discussed the mechanics, the history, the joy of pottering around and the need for insurance and a number plate!
When I asked what led him to buy it, the answer was simple. Red wine and eBay.
In other news
As Lockdown 3 is easing, I’ve been down to see my mother. In fact I’ve brought her back to stay with us for a little while! Knowing she’s always so keen to “earn her keep” we have a few little things lined up to keep her nicely occupied and can be done together. Today, for instance, we brushed a load of fine sand into the gaps between the brick paving and this was nice to do with each other.
Running, gasping and all that
I have been running a few times each week. My fitness has certainly improved this year but seems to have plateaued out. This is mainly because my feet seem to be painful and are protesting and, I fear, preventing me from doing too much.
Nevertheless I have been for another run with my friend Jon. I suggested a 5 mile run, so he made it 6.5 miles. I suggested 9:30mins/mile pace and he dragged me along at 9:15mins/mile. There I was spluttering and gasping, thinking “why didn’t I ask him a complicated question at the bottom of this hill?” so he could do all the talking. I am due to have another run with him next Monday, so I’ll see if I can secretly ask a few more of my open ended questions as we inevitably head up hill.
Looking on the bright side, we’ve had a couple of runs wearing shorts! This is a brilliant uplifting thing to do, though arguably a dodgy sight for innocent members of the public.
Decluttering
We continue on our decluttering road but sometimes it feels as if we are going one step forward and two steps back.
Today we were pleased our friend Paul collected the faulty talking microwave. So that was one thing gone, just as well with the discovery of a significant number of pillows and duvets that were stashed in various parts of the Quirky Museum. At least I can use some of the synthetic ones for addition insulation.
Rachel continues to astonish me with her eBay sales. There seem to be a steady stream of books, odds and ends heading out of here. Mostly just small value but it’s still good to see these unwanted things finding new homes. I still sometimes worry about chucking something into the rubbish which might have some value; Rachel is my insurance policy as she’s brilliant at researching things, much better than me.
Teeth :o)
In a previous post I mentioned my teeth are apparently showing their age, or rather the gums that hold them in – younger years when thoughts of nothing ever going wrong are catching up. So one of my friends (another Paul) recommended a “Water Pic” device. It is like a jet washer for your teeth and so I bought one – I might even do a review on it as I think it’s pretty good.
So yesterday when I had my regular hygienist appointment, I proudly told the hygienist all about it as a way of preventing her normal tutting and sighs. She wasn’t impressed by my purchase and pointed out that it was no substitute for seeing her.
Nevertheless she did concede my teeth were all lovely and clean but continues to be concerned about some of my gums, pointing out more people loose teeth because of gum disease than decay. We will see how it goes, not that any of my teeth are in any immediate danger but I have all of my teeth and I’d quite like to keep them!
The Quirky Museum
This is the new name. Our house might be quirky, very quirky, but it’s no longer dusty, so please keep up with us.
With the changing seasons we have started to spend a little more time in the garden and its been nice saucing things up a little outside. Now that’s not to say there’s nothing to do inside, far from it.
There’s still painting and decorating to be done and in the meantime we have had our friend Val (above photo) come to do some electrical work. This is about replacing the odd dodgy, sparky plug and the like. It is still nibbling around the edges as the whole house could benefit from being re-wired, although we might settle for a new consumer unit one day, thereby doing away with the old fashioned fuse board.