And the festive season is upon us.

So we are well into the realms of mad Christmas gift buying. Fighting our way through the throngs of people who are all desperate to find the correct gifts for their loved ones and all those family members that you dont hear from for the other 11 months of the year. Ive been watching people maxing out their credit cards on extravagant gifts with fear in thier eyes of have they got it right as if love can be bought from one materialistic expression on a holiday that seems to have lost all of its original meaning in our society of disposable possesions.

You grumpy git you may be thinking and I am the first to admit I can be bah humbug but I do like Christmas. I love the time I spend with family and its always a happy couple of days but for me that is Christmas. I really dont care about lavish gifts because the best gift is the kids laughter.

A strange experience happened today. I have completed the latest contract and as the next doesnt start until the end of January I thought it was time to add some qualifications to my skills. No point in being able to do stuff in our paper obsessed society without the right qualificatins. So I went along to ask at the local college about computer courses and a plumbimg course. I was taken straight to the plumbing building where the secretary sat me down in a classroom and promptly handed me an exam telling me I had 45 minutes to complete it. I thought this a bit odd but perhaps it was an entrance exam and I then filled the form out using maths I last used at school.

When done the exam was taken, along with myself, to the head tutor who marked it and then congratulated me on passing my City & Guilds level 1 in plumbing!!!!!

After the laughter stopped from me I asked what percenntage I got, 87% as it happens, and then told them I had only popped in to enquire about the course! After the shock sank in he told me that it was one of the highest marks this year and the fact I never sat the course didnt matter as my experience had obviously taught me all I needed to do for that level.

So I am now enrolled in the level 2 course which is a year long but I have been told I can be fast tracked through it which is good.

I have a hectic week coming up as im sure all of you do to so my next post may be a little while.

Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year (incase im not back before!)

Good News Good News!

What a difference a day really does make. The phone call for work never came so I made a couple of calls and lined up an interview or two. Wifey did the same and as a result this afternoon we both have jobs that start in the morning!

I will be doing handyman work for a chain of three homes that support adults with learning difficulties and wifey is working for a shop in the Victoria Centre so happy days.

Looks like Christmas should be good after all!

Getting settled.

I think I reached a new level of stress on this move. A plain of existence that brought home the fact that I am now 36 years old not 26 and I really need to get fitter because 10 days constant work no longer sits right with my body. Yes I have to admit that I feared a stroke or heart attack and once we were into the following day my body seemed to know that the worse of the decorating, building and moving boxes was over then took the opportunity to shut down and lock up for the day.

Still the worst is done and the house now resembles a home. The youngest starts school in the morning and the eldest should start next Monday. I was due to start work in the morning but as yet no one has called to confirm a start time....if they dont I will shoot down to another agency and sign up with them instead. I refuse to worry about it and I will get onboard with someone else as I have already made a couple of calls. I can be so sensible sometimes! I suppose its a case of having to be as we are skint after the move and Christmas is heading quickly in this direction.

I am the proud owner of two allotments here in sunny Nottingham. The best bit is they are directly behind the back garden so not far to go and potter. They have not been used in a long long time so there is alot of clearing to do but nothing worse than my old allotments were like.

We are finally connected to the internet again! The reason for my absense of late was the fact the old connection was playing up and I couldnt log on! Still here we are and the ramblings will continue!!!

My bike was parked up so long the battery died so it has been a mad hunt for a new one. The difference in prices from shop to shop is crazy!! The highest price was £44 but I paid £31 in the end so it proves its best to make more than one phone call!

So a fresh start all round and we are very very happy to be here.

Im stuck in the cardboard Alps!

As of late I have been crazy busy!

The move is on for Nottingham :) We collect the keys for the house up there first thing in the morning and a new start is on the way. The beauty of this move is we have paid for our present house until the end of the month, but I start work in two weeks, so I have two weeks to get our stuff from one to the other! With that amount of time I can literally make a new home for wifey and the kids before they move in which should make the transition alot easier especially on my grumpy teenager.

The house we are in is in surprisingly good order and this is due to only packing a van load at a time. The only drawback is I asked our local shop to save me some boxes and I think I now have more than a cardboard box factory!! Still it saves a fortune on buying the things so im not complaining!

Im going back on the road driving trucks to start with, although this isnt my first choice of what I want to do career wise, until something more interesting comes along. Wifey is now looking for work up there as well so hopefully we will both be working soon and get to replace our worn out furniture :)

MOT time had come around for my car again and of course it failed. Nothing too serious thankfully. Before I took it in I replaced the handbrake lever and rear lights so the only thing I missed was a rear suspension bush! The garage did that for a few pennies so hopefully we have another year out of our old jalopy before it needs replacing...as you can see im not that confident it will run for another year let alone pass another MOT LOL. Maybe I will be wrong and I hope so!

Im really looking forward to a new start and working with people again. Theres only so much of the kids talk you can take before you feel yourself dumbing down on a permenant basis! I will keep you updated on how the move goes and what the new job is like :)

Mixed emotions..

It is with great sadness that I write that wifeys gran passed away on Wednesday morning. The blessing in this sad situation is that she passed in here sleep in no pain with all of her children and grandchildren around her. I cannot think of a better way to go myself.

Wifey seems to be doing ok with it as does her Mum. Dont get me wrong there are tears and lots of sadness but there is an air of finality that comes sfter a prolonged illness. The funeral is now set for Thursday so thats the second that I have attended this year after losing my great gran earlier. Must be a side effect of getting older to be losing people close together like this. I hate funerals and im sure there isnt anyone who likes them but it will give closure to a difficult time for my wifes family.

Why the title of mixed emotions??

Well its because even whilst there is great sadness at the moment there is also great joy as our move to Nottingham has fallen completely fallen into place. I have now been offered 2 jobs up there and we are getting the keys to our new place on the 8th of November so I get a couple of weeks to slowly move our kit up there!
I had an excellent interview for a logistics position within the NHS which I am really hoping I get because its only 5 minutes walk from our house :) That would save running an extra vehicle which makes a big saving on the limited monthly funds!
The children are looking forward to moving ( Yes even the pig miserable teenage one!!) and wifey is beside herself with excitement with the reality of moving "Home"

Yesterday evening was spent helping my youngest sister and her boyfriend move into their new home. As the youngest of 6 and at the grand old age of 21 she is the last to move out of our parents and she is so happy :) On the flip side of the coin though my Mum is having abandonment issues with her "baby" moving out and everyone else now scattered across the UK and Ireland LOL. The time has come for my parents to now visit all of us and not us just popping in to see them as we all lived locally for such a long time!

My Dad has saved us a couple of hundred pounds in a very unique way. I was going to hire a Luton van for the final push of the move but Pops is going to build his own campervan and has just bought a nice long wheelbase Maxus van that he has offered me the use of to cart out stuff! This is superb because wifeys car is nearly due its mot so im sure that will cost a pretty penny to do :)

Thats it for now I will write again soon.

The move is on :)

OK then as you all know I have been actively searching for a job and wining about my lack of success!

Well I am pleased to say finally all is change on the home front. Ive been offered some work doing property maintenance and driving and the following morning my old boss called offering us one of his houses from the end of November which is superb!

Talk about all things finally falling into place :) and just in time as wifey is at the end of her teather with work and deeply unhappy.

So now the packing boxes must be filled and a truck hired to transport the endless junk that the kids insist is being kept as they "NEEEED IT" even though they havnt looked at most of it for months LOL

So its looking up which is a great feeling :)

I had a good ride out on the bike to Oxford last week and as I pulled up I heard the wondeful noise of metal on metal. The front brake pads had had it so I had to replace those....feeling fed up and a bit lazy I asked the bike shop how much to fix it and they quoted £90!!! Bugger that I paid £40 for the pads and changed them myself in 20 mins! I would like to say I saved £50 but as I didnt have the money in the first place LOL

Onto sadder news. Wifeys gran is in a bad way and she has spent the last few days with her in Nottingham. Cancer is such a vicious thing. Still it was 2 1/2 years ago that they said she only had 6 months to live and is it me but that generation are made of such tough stuff that she has defied all the odds and has been active playing bingo a few times a week until last week. At least she is still suffering no pain as has been the norm throughout this illness so thank god for small mercies.

It is very hard to see your family suffering and have no way of taking the pain away. The best I can do is just be here to offer support.

So a mixed bag of good and bad but life is moving on as it always does. Wifey cannot wait to be back up north with her family full time and after chasing around with me for 10 years I really cant blame her :)

All quiet on the home front.

Now its been a while since I wrote much of anything and thats because at the moment I have very little in the areas of excitement or interest to talk about.

The job search goes on in earnest and I have to admit that it has never taken me so long to get a job as it is at the moment. I feel like a bit of a meathead because every job outside of my experience, and even some within it, now need either a degree or diploma to start with. Even my truck licences now need another bit of paper to prove I know how to drive and load a truck!! Funny that as I thought the 2 tests I took and the £2400 I spent to gain the piece of paper from DVLA proved it but apperntley thats not good enough anymore! What a load of crap its just another money making scheme from our happy government.

But not to worry because if I spend much more time in my house I will get past my cabin fever and go completely mad...problem solved as I would then be dosed up on so much medication I wont care.

The bike is still great fun, shame I have no money for petrol, and the van just sits on the drive supplying a nice and dry enviroment for the spiders that have moved in :)

See I said I had nothing of interest to report and now im onto a big winge session so im going to sign off and see what the weekend brings :)

What a drawn out process.

At times I feel like my head is going to explode and I really do not know how to burn off my frustration and high blood pressure. The source of my angst of course is my on going job search.

I really had not realised how much harder it is these days! The pleasure of working for yourself for such a long time I suppose. I rode up to Nottingham earlier in the week and had a very productive day. It started early with my first appointment at 8am. That was the start of an eight hour run around that has produced 2 job offers.

The problem with these offers is that one is for a wacking £5.99 an hour and the other was an agency with only the promise of work until Christmas. Niether is a decent enough option to uproot the family and make a 70 mile move to the north.

So the search is still ongoing but I have to admit it is taking longer than I have ever experienced before. As wifey so helpfully pointed out, the days of leaving a job on Monday and starting another on Tuesday are long gone!

The search widens...

After careful consideration I wound the business up, it was costing more to run than it was earning, about 3 weeks ago and started the hunt for a full time job.

Now our little neck of the woods has been obviously dying for some time now with lots of boarded up shops and companies going under but I have been looking for work in the papers, online and calling direct to no avail!So....wifey and I had a chat today and as she is from

Nottingham originaly and has alot of family still there it was suggested that I start searching around that area as well. I then pointed out that I do not want to live in a city to which she replied what about all of the villages in the area?? DOOHHHH!! LOL

What a plonker there are some really lovely areas there so the search has begun for work first as I would commute to start with but I am really surprised how many more vacancies there are up there!! Did a quick search and found there local paper is online with an added extra of a job site which is topped up as the work comes in...57 job posts already today!! I have applied for more work today than in the last three weeks!Anyone else planning on moving for work or is it just us that are mad or is this a sign of the times??

Pish & nonsense!!!!!!!!!

There I was first thing this morning enjoying my first brew of the day, you know the one that quenches your thirst the most as no other does all day long, when up pops on the news a specialist who has now declared that sleeping with your partner is bad for your health! As we all toss and turn as well as pinching the duvet during the night we should now sleepp in seperate beds so we can live just a little longer. What a load of crap!
What do they think will happen? Will we all rush out and buy up single beds creating a glut of doubles that are no longer wanted? Of course not. Do you remember when you were in your late teens and you had your new partner over to stay for the first time? We always squeezed into a single bed for the whole night :) Now of course you wouldnt want to do that on a daily basis and of course the novelty of being crammed together does wear off in time but apperently the average double bed isnt enough for two.

I have a far easier solution if you are not enjoying a double bed, I have used this one myself and I can assure you it works, BUY A KING SIZE BED!!!

A fun trip to the dentist this morning to have a scrape and polish....I hate paying for torture and the invasion of other peoples fingers wrapped in rubber probing the depths of my mouth is beyound repulsion...it takes all my strength not to throw up in the chair :) Then of course there are the patronising comments and info of " Dont eat too many sweets" "You shouldnt smoke it stains your teeth" well I do bloody smoke and I pay you a fortune to polish my bloody teeth so get on with it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The best line of all was upon leaving..."I want to see you again in six months" I want a Ferrari but that isnt going to happen either! So now I have two days of pain whilst my poor gums get over the pasting they have taken...

Theres alot to be said for the posiitive side of tartar LOL

Bank Holidays & Birthdays

Again its been some time since I last tapped the keyboard but in all fairness its been really busy :)

Now on bank holiday Monday our little close had a BBQ. Now picture all of the neighbours, 10 households in total, putting up 3 gazebos, getting the bbq out and then spending the afternoon chatting in the sunshine playing games and generally getting to know each other. It was fantastic! What a superb afternoon! It really promoted a real sense of community spirit which in our fast paced world where most people do not know who their neighbours names let alone spend time with them a welcome it really was and it was agreed that we will do it again a few times next year.

My oldest daughter has now turned 13 years old!!!!!!!!! Will she turn into a Kevina??? Will she spend most of her time sulking in her room??? Will her speech turn into a series of grunts and shrugs??? Well if it does then there wont be much of a change as shes been like that for the last couple of years LOL. Of course she is happy, smiling and coherent when she wants a Dads Taxi run doing! The pleasures of parenthood eh.

Now to celebrate this passing of age wifey talked me into throwing a party in the garden complete with bouncy castle and lots of food. Well lets start with the castle. My sisters boyfriend conviniently runs a bouncy castle business so for a discounted price he popped around on the Saturday morning with the castle and blew it up......now you know when you go to fun fairs or fun days and you see the bloody great big huge castles complete with turrets and roofs which you have to pay a pound for 30 secounds of jumping around....it was bigger!!! LMAO this thing was 20ft wide by 17ft long and was held down by big metal stakes :) To say the kids enjoyed it would be an understatement. It took up most of the garden and I thanked wifey for having the forethought to put the dog into kennels for the weekend as she would have had kittens with that up and would have been desperate to get on and play!

I spent a happy 10 hours in the kitchen cooking as the party was split into two with my daughters friends coming from 2pm until 6pm and then our families turning up from all over the country... now even though the day went off without a hitch I wouldnt want to do it again! I have for the last few years just booked somewhere and let them take the stress of the party and now I remember why ;)

The job hunt is well underway and I have to admit to feeling really low at the moment. I dont do scratching around finding something to do very well and have been struggling to fill my time. Of course the weather had been crap of late so even the allotment has been out of the question but at least the last couple of days have been dry so some time and work has been done.

Well time for a bath so enough drivel for today :)

How times have changed.

Charlie Brown was a B-17 Flying Fortress pilot with the 379th Bomber Group at Kimbolton, England. His B-17 was called 'Ye Old Pub' and was in a terrible state, having been hit by flak and fighters. The compass was damaged and they were flying deeper over enemy territory instead of heading home to Kimbolton. After flying the B-17 over an enemy airfield, a German pilot named Franz Steigler was ordered to take off and shoot down the B-17. When he got near the B-17, he could not believe his eyes. In his words, he 'had never seen a plane in such a bad state'. The tail and rear section was severely damaged, and the tail gunner wounded. The top gunner was all over the top of the fuselage. The nose was smashed and there were holes everywhere. Despite having ammunition, Franz flew to the side of the B-17 and looked at Charlie Brown, the pilot. Brown was scared and struggling to control his damaged and blood-stained plane. BF-109 pilot Franz Stigler B-17 pilot Charlie Brown. Aware that they had no idea where they were going, Franz waved at Charlie to turn 180 degrees. Franz escorted and guided the stricken plane to, and slightly over, the North Sea towards England. He then saluted Charlie Brown and turned away, back to Europe. When Franz landed he told the CO that the plane had been shot down over the sea, and never told the truth to anybody. Charlie Brown and the remains of his crew told all at their briefing, but were ordered never to talk about it. More than 40 years later, Charlie Brown wanted to find the Luftwaffe pilot who saved the crew. After years of research, Franz was found. He had never talked about the incident, not even at post-war reunions. They met in the USA at a 379th Bomber Group reunion, together with 25 people who are alive now - all because Franz never fired his guns that day. (L-R) German Ace Franz Stigler, artist Ernie Boyett, and B-17 pilot Charlie Brown. When asked why he didn't shoot them down, Stigler later said, "I didn't have the heart to finish those brave men. I flew beside them for a long time. They were trying desperately to get home and I was going to let them do that. I could not have shot at them. It would have been the same as shooting at a man in a parachute." Both men died in 2008. This is a true story http://www.snopes.com/military/charliebrown.asp THIS WAS BACK IN THE DAYS WHEN THERE WAS HONOR IN BEING A WARRIOR...THEY PROUDLY WORE UNIFORMS, AND THEY DIDN'T HIDE IN AMBUSH INSIDE A MOSQUE, OR BEHIND WOMEN AND CHILDREN, NOR DID THEY USE MENTALLY RETARDED WOMEN AS SUICIDE BOMBERS TO TARGET AND KILL INNOCENT CIVILIANS...HOW TIMES HAVE CHANGED...... A wonderful story

New toys and vandalism

I arrived at my allotment this afternoon to find some friggin toerag has nicked my marrows and some beans the to add insult to injury they smashed a few panes of glass in my greenhouse! You have to ask yourself why? What sort of person would spend the time harvesting my crops then decided that some wanton vandalism was on the cards? The police have given the usual shrug off and in all fairness I suppose they couldnt catch the kids that did this if they wanted to but it did wind me up a bit.

I believe that we should save and work hard to get what we want. I learned the valuble lesson years ago that credit doesnt get you anywhere but into a worse mess so just save your pennies until you have enough for what material possesions your heart desires. So when some local lowlife comes along and thinks I want that and takes it does not sit well with me. If I cath the buggers there will be payback and a few late night visits to the plot are in the pipeline as I was not the only plot holder hit with this theft and destruction.

There was something that took the sting out of this though and that was the fact that I bought a new toy this morning...

Its a Ninja 600cc and goes like the clappers!! Ive wanted one of these for years and like most people could not buy one new so have waited patiently for the prices to come down and here we are! Ok its nine years old but it rides very well and im over the moon!! Best be watching out as I dont want to collect anymore stamps on the old licence :)

This evening my youngest daughter and I spent some time going through old photo albums one of which was my wedding album which she has never seen before! She was amazed at how young everyone looked and I have to admit being suprised myself! Its amazing at how much your kids change in seven years :) The older albums were from my late teens and early twenties and it can really open up old memories and remind you of who you are and how you got here! I have to admit that I have just been feeling like "Dad" lately and this evening has put my mind in a much better place feeling like me as an individual again.

Lets see what tomorrow brings...

Wedding food & Birthday presents

I have been having a recuring dream. Its not every night but at least once a month and the detail is unbelievable. I can do what I want in this dream and mingle freely with the people in it, I do not know most of them but its a freindly town and the people seem very relaxed.
This hamlet, as ive just realised as town is far too grand a word for it, seems to be in Northwest Spain. How do I know well its down to gut feeling and the fact the area is so green.

I have a house and that is very spanish being very higgly piggly in its set up with the toilet being down a long set of stairs and being more a less outside with a basic roof covering covering the courtyard to get to it giving just a little protection from the elements. Its set on to a small mountainside and is very rural with adjoining land , I think this is mine, growing many fruits and vegtables. I seem to always walk or catch a bus as near to it as I can from the Hamlet/town and the scenery is nothing short of breathtaking with its lush trees and grasses, rolling mountains (big hills) and lots of adjoing streams to one large river rolling through them all.

Guests appear on a regular basis in my small home and they are always most welcome visitors. Last night it was my brother and we sat and chatted for hours then had a wander around the land inspecting the crops. I love this dream and this is the first time I have remebered it in such detail once I have woken up but strangely I always reconise it when it comes around again in my sleep.

Back to reality then... Wedding food.

What about it I here you ask? One of my Brothers, the one in the dream, runs his own catering business and he had a very large wedding to cater for last weekend. I had been booked to give him a hand from the day he got the job so it was early on Friday morning I set off on the 25 mile drive to his house to begin the long weekend of work.
Our first job of the day was to go and collect a large chiller van from Melton and this was to be somewhat of a problem. We arrived to find a suprised looking chap behind the counter who obviously was not expecting anyone that day. We were then told that we hadnt booked a van! Pillocks were obviously wrong as we had the paperwork to prove it but we were then told that the van we wanted was in Loughborough!! This was another 25 miles away!! Enough was enough so I stepped in at this point as my brother was looking like he was going to explode! I pointed out somewhat forceably that we needed the van now, that we had paid for it and there was no way we could both lose another 2 hours buggering about to sort their mistake. With this they backed down and found someone to take me over to the van whilst my brother went off to carry on with the day.
Well when I got to Loughborough it was the wrong type of van!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was supposed to have a stand alone chiller that was deisel run but this one had to be plugged in to a 16 amp electric supply. The proverbial hit the fan in a big way!!!!!!!!!! The biggest problem was THERE WAS NO OTHER VAN ANYWHERE so I had to take this one and deal with it when I got back!

I went straight to the site of the wedding and what a wedding site it was!! A huge Marqui shaped with two turrets but most importantly for me there was a sodding great big generator being set up so off I went to see the sparky who lined us up with the power we would need for the wedding the next day! I then saw the sound man who had a converter I could borrow so we could plug the van in at home whilst preparing the food so by the time I got back to my brothers house I had the whole fridge thing sorted so one less worry for him!

We then spent the rest of the day, evening and until 2am that night preparing the food. Up at 6am on the Saturday to do a bit more food prep and off to site to set up. We pulled 38 hours out of 48 feeding 148 people on the first meal and then around 400 on the evening buffet. It turned out the wedding was for a brother of one of my brothers old friends so the day was spent seeing the faces of boys and girls in the men and women in front of me!

This group are very laid back and I have to say I havnt seen a better wedding. It was very relaxed with 2 live bands and a disco follwed by people jammong with all manner of instruments outside around fires. Around 100 chinese lanterns were sent up in the dark and what a spectacle that was to see! Lots of bright lights that could bee seen floating away for many miles.

So lots of hard work yes but well worth it. It made me realise how much I miss working full time and with other people so I have decided that it is time to find full time employment and kiss my failing business goodbye.

As I write it is my wifes birthday and she is having a well deserved lie in. I think she will be pleasently surprised when she awakes as we dont normally go too mad for birthdays with a single present but this year I have spoilt her with 2 new perfumes, diffuser hairdryer thingy she wanted, a large boquet of flowers and five new books. I have also arranged with friends to go out for a meal this evening because she deserves it. She has been working so hard of late and does not moan once. Without her hard work we would have really struggled this year as my business has been so quiet so time for a bit of repayment I think.

Ok then its about time to take wifey a cup of tea up and start the day. The suns shining so I intend to take advatage of it :)

Broken Bones.

Of course it is obvious that I have already broken my promise of writing more regulary....But i do have a good excuse and a note from my Mum honest! :)

I got a call last Saturday telling me that one of my sisters (the one with a learning disabilty) was going to go and stay in Crete with my Auntie for a month. Now she was eally excited about this as she loves to travel and loves company of any sort so off my parents & sister went to Nottingham to stay with my Auntie overnight before their flights. My sister got up bright and early the following morning and as she starts to come down the stairs she slips then slides catching her right leg beneath her about half way down and promptly snaps it not so cleanly at the ankle....I know thats making you squirm and thing a bit more than ouch!

So off she goes to the QMC in Nottingham where she is told that not only is it broken but it needs a plate putting in and the tendons repairing and untangling from the bone. So instead of a month in the sun 8 days in a Nottingham hospital begins.

Now my wife is from Nottingham and I have spent a few years living there myself when we first started dating so I know my way around. The in laws are still there and I have seen more of them and the city in the past week or so than I have in the last two years LOL. Being so far away my sister was not expecting many visitors so I have been up 3 times, the last with one of my daughters with who I had a lovely day out visiting the tourist areas of Nottingham that, as always the way when you live somewhere, i hadn't seen before. We went to the caves, Wollaton Hall, and enjoyed the city center which has been converted into the largest man made inland beach for the summer! What a cracking idea eh! Kids that wont be seeing the coast this summer get a taste of it complete with beach shops and food stalls...excellent!

Anyway I digress, my sister had her operation which went well and finally made it home on Sunday. We then had to source a wheelchair for her and build ramps to get in and out of the house but luckily I had planty of wood stored at my allotment for this so it cost nothing more than some time.

It was with a heavy heart I have had to sell my mini. This is due to the serious lack of work around and bills to pay. Still I am sure I will find another project when i least expect it at a good price...well thats what I am convincing myself anyway.

In a bid to save some money we set off for a cheaper way to use our mobiles today and got a great deal on a contract each supplied with new phones. As our phones are now about as ancient as the dinasours and giving up the ghost we managed to kill two birds with one stone. They are very fancy with touch screens and more applications than I will ever use so I cannot wait until the kids get back off of their holiday with their Auntie and Gran so they can show me how to use it!!!!!!!!! LOL

As you can see its been busy busy busy again but not with work! Still im a big believer that you should always be there for family so I cant complain at all.

Walking on Ladybirds

I do not remember the last time I have felt so relaxed for so long. I have just had a fantastic 8 days away with wifey and the kids at Trimmingham.

We left early on Friday morning for the 3 hour drive to the coast and the start of our family holiday this year. A stop at the platic food palace (Mcdonalds) on route so the kids could get their fill of crap lunch, and we call this a treat eh!, and we were at the seaside by 1pm :) greeted by a carpet of of red ladybirds. This was a joy to behold, "look dad they are sooo cute" cried my youngest but it looked like a plague to me. Still it was quite pretty.

Now my wife is obessesed with getting everything in its place whenever we get to somewhere new. So we had a happy hour putting our clothes into draws and then off to the supermarket to shuffle around with the hoardes piling in groceries and holiday treats.

After we were all stocked up and settled in the holiday could begin in ernest.

Now to say it was an interesting week would be an understatement and the best way to tell all is in sections of the places we visited.

Amazon Zoo:-

This is just outside of Cromer and the leaflets boast it to be an amazing collection od animals from the Amazon. Now whilst the idea was sound the reality was less so. There were many cats, birds and reptiles to see but unfortunely the tanks were filthy so much so you couldnt see the fish or reptiles. The birds were not wanting to come out of there boxes and the monkeys were hiding as well. The ponds were so full of weeds the ducks could not swim properly and the whole place was a sorry state if im honest. Oh and there lots of ladybirds.

Muckleborough Tank Museum:-

Now this was a place worth visiting :) Its an old training camp on the east coast just outside of Sheringham that has been converted into a war museum. There is everything from tanks to planes to trucks to jeeps. A massive collection of paperwork from all eras of the world Wars from call up papers to standard issue kits. Its well set out and you could loose a whole day there if you dont have a bored teenager and a 9 yr old in tow. Still they found it interesting enough but I would have been happy with at least another 2 hours there to read through all of the paperwork but after the best part of four hours the kids attention had not just waned but walked out and was playing on the nearest beach so off we toddled into Sheringham which is quite a lovely town. It did seem to have a growing number of lady birds under foot though.

Shire Farm Horse Santuary:-

Now this is really a girlie day out if im honest and held no interest for me what so ever but being a family holiday and the fact that my daughters are animal mad off we went.
Now the set up is for animal rescue and this is a good cause but they did tend to try and get as much money out of you as possible as often as the oppotunity arrised. This opportunity apparently arises more often than I saw fit but what the hell do I know eh?
The kids loved the Horses and all the other farmstock ad it was very hands on which is great when so many places cage up animals due to Health & Safety nonsense.
There was also a great collection of old horse carts and machinery in museum type barns which again gave some interesting reading.
There were what seemed like Ladybird carpeting and wallpaper on everything.

Holt Windmill:-

This is a fantastic restoration of a windmill. Now you may think thats a bit dull and do you wear a Kagool chap but I think we have lost so much of our history that its great when people have a bit of spare cash so they throw it at keeping something alive as was the case here. Good for them.
You can go on all four levels and the ladders are very steep, all in keeping with what it was in its day.
Strange thing was though that it had a red & black lawn. Seemed to be moving as well.

Of course Crabbing off of Cromer pier:-

The competition was set. Boys verses girls. The girls team was Wifey, the teeneager and mates wifey who was staying with us. The boys team was myself, 9 year old daughter (I know not a boy but Tomboy counts) and my mate who was staying with us.

On the first innings the boys won with 5 crabs to the girls 1. Of course we rubbed it in a bit and made them buy the ice creams.

The second innings on the last day we were there resulted in an incredible total of 24 crabs caught!!!!!!!!!!!! Not one of them big enough to eat but the sport was great fun :) The scores were Girls 17 Boys 7. Now seeing as we were so gracious when we won the girls told everyone they met they had wiped the floor with us and made us buy really big ice creams :) Strangley on the pier no red to be seen?

The swarm then took flight. My god ive seen many types of bugs but nothing prepared me for this onset that was to last a few days. You couldnt walk through the bloody ladybugs. They were in everything...and I do mean everything. You ate them, picked them out of your ears and couldn't get them out of your car because everytime you opened a window or door to put them out 5 times as many wuld get in. It was like red snow it was that thick and quite freaky! No wonder we hadnt been bothered by any seagulls there was far too much to eat in the air!

They crawled into the caravan through any hole possible and they just kept coming!! Loading the car was hilarious and we brought more than a few bugs back home with us but hey im sure they will be happy with the lack of competition for food here.

I have taken up fishing. Ive never been interested in fishing before but what a relaxing way to pass a few hours. Just relaxing on the beach with a rod up and line out trying to catch your tea:)
Of course I didnt catch a bloody thing but hey who cares I was probably doing it wrong LOL

So a great week spent in superb company with a few beers thrown in for good measure. Now back to reality with washing to be done and the van sorting for Mondays work.

Welcome to the lair of the new computer geek :)

I am indeed a self confessed hyped up sort of chap. I cannot bear to be idle as it drives me mad so I am constantly on the lookout for new challenges. Of course I have the allotment which takes up a fair slice of my time but is at the time of year where we have a lul between sowing and harvesting and then the next sowing for the winter season so apart from chasing weeds not alot happening there.
The mini project is coming along in leaps and bounds, I have had a hppy few days on it welding up holes. This of course involved welding new metal to old which is never an easy task and you end up chasing out a small 1" hole to about 5" ! The ignition is sorted as are the new headlights, wipers and brakes. The interior is now in and the heating system works again.

BUT this doesnot fill my evenings whilst wifey is at work and there is only so much deadhead TV you can watch so.......................

I have learnt how to build computers! I spend enough time buggering around on the things so I figured lets have a go at what makes them tick :)

A friend used to own his own PC shop so off I went around to see him where there was a table just full of PC components to which he looked at me and grinned saying " There you go lets see if you can figure it out". Now after playing with classic mini electrical systems I just followed a logical course and had the PC built in 20 mins!!! I cannott believe how straight forward they are to build! This evening I have put in an extra hard drive on my PC for storage incase I get any viruses all my data will be quite safe :)

The kids have broken up for the summer from school...Yey wohoo isnt that just fine. All will be fine this week as the euphoria of the summer lying ahead is fresh in thier minds. Next week will be fine as well as we are off on holiday for the week so the time will be filled with lots to do! The week after we will be entering the dreaded third week in which the "Im Bored" syndrome will creep in. I will be followed around constantly being asked what I am doing 20 times a day and nothing but pure will may stop me thinking of shallow graves :) LOL

Work is still ludicrusly slow but I have had a happy day today trying to get a turfing job finished in the rain! Now theres wet, then theres soaking and then theres "why didnt I just shower in my clothes this morning" wet. We were soaked but got the job done in record time and then of course the sun came out and the rain stopped. But hey ho a bit of pocket money for our holidays.

Thats it for now will keep this up a bit more regulary from now on...honest :)

Bloody Customers!!!!!!!!!!

Now its not that busy. Ive had a couple of good weeks but a rubbish year overall and I took on a decorating job under the agreement that the customer was to supply the materials and the price quoted was for labour only. I called today ready for the start in the morning to be told that I had to supply the materials etc for the price quoted on labour!!! Unbeleivable!!!!!!!!!!

Of course I politely remided her that was not the case only to recieve a torrent f abuse from her so I said you best find someone else to do the job. 2 mins later the phone rings again and I get another earfull from her daughter I really am thinking of packing it in and getting a proper job.

Less time on the plot and with the kids but I really am getting to the end of my tether with idiots like this, people wanting something for nothing and competing against cowboys who charge pennies.Sorry for the rant but I am really peed off at the moment!

I have wholeheartedly enjoyed my kids for the last 24 hours. My daughter from my first marriage has graced us with her presence and my eldest daughter had a friend over for the night...this combination of being outnumbered 5 to 1 by the female of the species would normally spell disaster and have me running for the nearest doorway out of the house and then driving for the furthest point of the country for a couple of days until the visit was over but not today.

THE KIDS GOT ALONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No squabbling, butching, fighting or falling out. At no time have I had to step in with a gruff voice dishing out punishments! In fact everyone pitched in to get the household chores done and I then spent a happy couple of hours fixing the clutch on the mini which now drives!!

Then we all went to the allotment and everyone pitched in netting up the raised beds and mowing the pathways!! Again no fighting!!!

My eldest has now gone to her friends for the night and the other two girls are spending the night together in the den!

I am doing a carboot sale in the morning and they are coming to help...they offered!!! No winging about getting up early...I am sure I have pased into some strange parrelell universe or I may still be in bed dreaming.

I have had offer after offer of tea, in fact I have not put the kettle on myself at all today! Its not my birthday (I checked), its not our wedding anniversary (I double checked) and it sure is not Christmas!!

I hope this is a turning point of the kids growing up a bit. It may just have been a good day and if that is so I have enjoyed it immensley!!

The heat breaks!

I awoke this morning all tucked up in the comfort of my bed to the sound of rain falling heavily onto the windows and leaves outside. It is a wonderfull noise and feeling to awake to after over a week of very high temperatures. This reminded me of those fantastic storms that happen in Spain after the long hot summer and all you want to do is run outside and stand in it soaking up the freshness it creates clearing away all that heat and dust!

The surge of plantlife coming into growth again and the general kick start of life from insects to mammals that have lain in a semi dormant stage for the long hot months. This was the feeling I had this morning :) A new start of a new day in which you can move around for more than 5 minutes without wanting to sit down for a siesta!

Its now pleasently warm and im off to my allotment to pull some weeds out! These of course love the rain and warmth more than any other life form :)

Slowly Melting.

Well its been the busiest couple of weeks of the year so far and we have enjoyed temps in the high twenties and early thirties!! I now know what a baked potato must feel like :)

The best news by far over the past couple of weeks is that our friends that have had IVF tyreatment are now pregnant!!! Ok ok we all know its very early days and the test was taken as soon as humanly possible but this is a fantastic step forward in the right direction for them after months and months of preperation with major weight loss and gallons of hormone injections with many highs and lows.
So we are praying and hoping beyound all hope that the next nine months will go smoothly for them as I cannot possibly think of anyone who would be better parents than these two.

Now to us....we had a break away again which was pleasant but the big holiday is now only 3 weeks away and we are really looking forward to it! A week of relaxing with no dog or work :) I have ordered a mobile internet thingy that we can use whilst away as I am not paying the £3 pounds an hour the campsite would like for me to hire a laptop!!! I mean how bloody stupid not to set up there wifi with a voucher system so people can use their own laptops!! I am sure they may make alot of money that way. Still who am I to tell them how to run their business.

The allotment is now in full swing and we are happily harvesting new potatos, onions, iceburg lettuce, strawberrys, peas and boy oh boy do I love it!! The other veg is coming along in leaps and bounds but there is alot of watering to do in this hot weather. The tomatoes are all growing nicely along with the cucmbers so more salad to come :)
With work I havnt spent as mich time there as I should have done but with a day off tomorrow a full day there is ahead along with lots of weeding to do as well as netting up to keep the bloody pigeons at bay!

My little mini is slowly on the mend but with every repair two more problems seem to appear! Still it will get there in time but that is running closer to the mini 50th in August that I really want to drive it too. Tonight I will fit the new clutch slave cylinder and thats one step closer eh!!

The kids seem to be testing the boundries again of how far they can be pushed along with my patience. Im not the first parent to be going through this im sure but it drives me around the twist!! First my son plays up so much at school he nearly gets kicked out and then my girls are thinking they are 21 instead of 12. Sometimes I dont think im much good at this parent thing until I speak to others with tribes the same age and they feel like it to.

So all in all lots of work and not alot of play but hey such is the way of things but it makes a dull write :) I have thought of a few observations I wanted to jot down but am far too hot and sticky to recall what they were at the moment so I will leave that for another day :)

And we are home :)

After the fun of being bored on Weds I had the realisation that life really is for living so on Saturday we packed our bags and shot off to the coast again for a weekend break. Yes we are spoilt but it costs very little as we stay at my parents static.

It never ceases to amaze how kids dont get bored of sand and water. The beach seems to represent a blank canvas where you can create anything you imagination desires. It matters not that the sea is cold enough to make the fish shiver as long as you are armed with a swimsuit and a towel. A bucket and spade can create a kingdom and bring forth its doom much quicker. A day can disappear in the blink of an eye but feel like an age in passing.

Its so nice to take a break from the rat race to reset the mind. But that is it for another month now as we will be having a whole week there at the end of July so we need to save the pennies for then.

The mini is running and im hoping to have it all set and mot'ed for the next break.

Right off to do some work then :(

I sit here listening to the Kerrang music channel wondering what to do with my evening? There will be a few limitations as im skint, got to get up early to go to work and ive hit that place where no motovation exists. You know the one its where you want to do something but spend so much time thinking about that even if you were to come up with a great idea you couldnt be arsed to get up and do it!

So far I have come up with putting the xbox on but its in another room, popping over to see my little brother but its 20 miles away, eating everything in the goodie cuboard but thats in the kitchen, making a brew again in the kitchen, having a cig but I have to go outside, talk to the wife......far tooo much effort LOL. I have scoured Ebay for all the things I do not need or cannot afford to the extent I cannot find anything I want. Good god im wasting the evening!!!

Now I could put it to a vote but by the time thats done it will be tomorrow!! LOL I am sure I will figure it out.

Bugger all of any interest has happend this week. Im begging to think that my life is really really dull!! I had a happy few hours at the plot today and taken a great harvest of Beetroot, onions and Radish from it. Oh there was a lettuce as well and that made a great salad this evening. Im looking forward to getting some new potatos off of it over the next couple of weeks.

Apart from that alll is much of a muchness. The dogs barking, the teenagers sulking and the young one is obsessed with NCIS on FX channel. Oh I have just been told by everyone else in the house that my taste in music is rubbish! Its certainly not and I shall remind the teenagers in a week or two about that when they switch their allegence to whatever the next fad is...more than likely the music I enjoy as thats the only one that hasnt been done yet!!

My New toy :)

I have just bought myself a mini. Now after a few years away from the mini scene I decided to get another one instead of a bike. This is not just any old mini...oh no its an RSP S which is a John Cooper conversion and only 90 were converted to the "S" of which this is number 9.

There is a bit of engine work to do and a new battery box to be welded in but nothing I have not done before :)

Heres a couple of pics:-

SOOOOO Much has been done!!!

So here I sit pondering where the best place to start is for what has been occuring over the last 10 days or so!

Are you sitting comfortably???? Then we shall begin :)

Last weekend the weather was like the middle of summer not the end of May. We had many days of mid twenties temperatures so in good old British fashion we packed up the car and headed off to the coast. We are lucky enough to have parents that own a static caravan in Trimmingham just north of Cromer thats on a great site overlooking the sea. Mum & Dad said they would have our dog so we were set for a few days of sunshine and seaside:)

We got there in the early evening after setting off when wifey finished work at 3pm. Chips by the sea for supper and then unpacked in the caravan. We spent a lovely evening with the girls at the site "club" and had a great nights sleep that only the sea air can give you.

As you know im an early riser and as we only had a short time there I awoke the family in a gentle fashion, walking around the caravan singing "GOOD MORNING GOOD MORNING" at the top of my voice. Well it was 7.45 and I had been up 2 hours by then! Soooooo by 9am we were in Cromer having a full english and drinking tea. There really is something special about the start of a new day. All the potential and time of a long sunny day ahead made better by the rolling sea in the view from our window.

So the day was spent in first the arcades then a happy couple of hours crabbing off of Cromer peir. No there were many people doing the same and they all had two or three crabs in thier buckets so how hard could it be? I went to the peir shop with my youngest to buy all of the relevant bits for fishing and we trotted off to the end of the peir. With expectant eyes my daughter helped bait the net and put the stones in for weight. Into the sea the whole contraption went. After an hour the kids got bored and trotted off with the wife to have a look around so I had a nice quiet hour looking along the coast and out to sea from my position on the pier. Of course we caught diddly squat so no fresh crab for tea LOL. Still it was a pleasent way to spend a bit of time.

We headed back for a late tea and it was then that my Mum called to say our dog had come into season and was pestering her male yorky so with a heavy heart we had to head home. Still we had a great 24 hours and will be going back again asap.

So obviously I now have a sulking dog that cannot be taken out and is blaming us for her condition. This will be the last season she has as she will be spade in 3 months time.

Next.............

Hmmn ok then I have been searching for a new motorbike but that is proving fruitless. I had found myself looking more and more at classics and I have now bought a John Cooper RSP R classic mini. It doesnt need a great deal of work to get it back on the road and I am hoping to before the big mini 50th celebrations in August. We hope to be cruising around the shows in the mini asap.

Work is still so so slow. There are so many people out of work there are those who will go out and work all day for £20-£30 a day so how the hell can you compete with that?

With a heavy heart I have made the decision that its time to look for full time employment. I have applied for a few jobs but im sure the market place is a real employers heaven at the moment for the top choice of candidates. Oh well if its meant to be....

We had a late frost on the allotment June 3rd which killed my cucumbers and the top half of all of my potato plants. I was gutted :( But the spuds seem to be making a comeback so although the harvest will not be as high as we hoped for at least there will be a harvest.

Thats it really for now so I will write again soon.

Its good isnt it!! Hasnt cost a penny to build!

And heres the tea shed....

[IMG]http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f15/min200/Allotment/P4290003.jpg[/IMG]

Feeling Lost

Im feeling kind of lost at the moment. I seem to have no direction at the moment with where I want my life to go. Now I know I am luckier than most! Wifey works full time and I work for myself as a Landscaper/handyman so I can collect the kids from school and look after the house etc.
I have my allotment which I love and we had our first onion off of that this week which was a superb feeling and I do spend alot of time there but I am a traveller by heart and I have to admit I am missing seeing the world at the moment.

Now I know that we wont be going anywhere else to live for the next few years until the kids finish school and thats as it should be but my work is really slow this year, bloody recession scaremongering, so I am ready for a new challenge in my work. What to do though?

I would still like to work mainly outside and I am very happy working by myself, I dont like the whole hierachy set up in big companies with those sort of people that live for a job title and the small amount of power they have over others, I can work as part of a team thats no problem as long as everyone pulls their own weight and gets along but I couldnt work in an office again even if the wages were ridiculusly high! So I am now looking around for grounds keeper works and maybe look into what qualifications you need to work for the Forestry comission.

I know these things take time but im feeling bloody impatient at the moment and what makes it worse is I dont know why. I feel short tempered and fed up!??? Im suppose its the change in the weather, its bloody hot at the moment, or the fact I have to wait for the bloody lazy little buggers that are my children to get up before I can do anything out of the house.

Right then thats enough moaning! What else have I been up to? Not alot really, wifey ordered a couple of new mobile phones that havnt turned up and I fitted some kitchen cuboards to the tea shed at the allotment :) People are asking when im going to put a bed in there so I dont have to leave the plot LOL but so far the tea shed has cost nothing to build and is very very handy when you are down there all day!

Im still looking for either a new bike or perhaps aa classic car but as yet nothing has caught my eye or has been in my price range. Still again there is no rush for thiese and I will force myself to be patient until the right thing turns up!

Weather is hot hot hot and looks to stay that way for a few more days yet! I love the sun but the allotment isnt that keen so I can see lots of running around today with watering cans :)

Bloody kids...

Why oh why do kids have to be so bloody horrible to each other?
My youngest came running in last night crying her eyes out because she had run over one of the older kids mobile phone on her bike and they were milking it for all it was worth. 30 secs later theres a loud banging on my door with 3 kids stood there saying it was broken...they changed there tune when I took it off of them and turned it back on and then it transpired that the two older ones had nothing to do with the phone anyway and it was the youngsters mums phone, he wasnt supposed to have it of course, So I prompely threw the two older ones off of my property and told the young one (nicely) thathe better run home and show his mum that the phone was a bit scratched and if she would like a new case for it I would be happy to supply one.
What gets my goat is that this pair of older kids hang around and turn any drama into a crisis and try bullying the younger ones. Ive already had a word with thier mum for all the good it has done as she didnt really seem to give a shit.
Anymore of this and maybe I will have to get my son over to have a word as he is closer to these kids age than me obviously! MInd you when they saw the anger in my face when I threw them off of my property they moved pretty sharpish!!

Just a quick ad on,

The kids have just put "Britains got Talent" on the tv and is it just me or by broadcasting this programme they are proving that britain really doesnt have any talent! I mean for gods sake they have 3 Farmers dancing with wheelbarrows at the moment!! Sod it im off ofr a bath I might find something a bit more interesting in my belly button fluff!

26th May 2009

Hmmn..................
Well......................
Another week or so has passed but if im honest its not been all that over exciting, dont get me wrong alots been going on just nothing that jumps up the wow scale.

The long awaited delivery of the Landrover on friday didnt happen. The chap got to the collection point, loaded up and then realised he was a ton and a quarter over weight so he promptly took it off again! I have called around trying to get a good price on delivery but as they are coming up over £200 its a no go for a motor thats been sat around for 10 years. Still I suppose someone else will have a lovely old motor to play with eh!

Sunday was a very very full day. It started early with myself and my youngest going to the local carboot sale which was massive and very very full due to the sunny day and it being a bank holiday weekend. For all of the stalls and people there was next to bugger all there worth buying, in fact I only came away with a very nice hand carved chess set for the bargain price of a fiver!
Then it was off to the cinema, I know a superb summers day and we went off to spend 2 hours in the dark, to see Hannah Montana the movie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LMAO it was a birthday treat for the youngest and I have to say it wasnt as bad as I was expecting. I wouldnt want to go to see it again but it was lovely to see the smile on Smithys face whist she was watching it :)
Once we were back into the sunshine we headed home for an impromtu barbucue at our house with family and friends. Just a few phone calls and about 20 people came around, highly unusual for us entertaining like that but we had a fantastic few hours and it was great to sit back in the sun and just chat after the manly bbq cooking was done of course :) So a busy busy Sunday and I loved it!

Im still trying to get used to the new house and have to admit it doesnt feel like home yet but im sure it will when a bit of decorating has been done. The kids love it and my eldest daughter is constanly out seeing her friends which is the main reason for moving. The fact these new houses are so poorly built that you can hear someone fart from the other end of the house is just something I will just have to put up with :)

The allotment is now jumping into life with everything growing at a huge rate which I love seeing! For the first growing seaon I think we are happily doing quite well.

The weather................. Its been very dry with a strong wind for quite a while. It rained very heavily last night which was much needed but the dry weather is set to continue as a rule of thumb for the next week or so.

Work is quite again but a few bits are coming through so cant complain.
Ok then all I will scribble again soon.

Facebook & Family

Ok all be warned its late at night and I have had an evening of rare drinking!!

What the F%*K is this Facebook nonsense about then? I do have an account at the insistence of wifey but she does do most of the sorting out on it for me, this is not because I cannot figure out how to but because I think its a load of nonsense and if she didnt do it it would not be done. I do enjoy the odd thing on it such as stts shuffle (a bank of jokes you can use to wind people up) but I do not like the fact that people that you have left behind in you r life for one reason or another feel its ok to look you up and hound you with "wow must have been twenty years what have you been doing?" Well if I wanted you to know what I had been doing for the last twenty years I would have called you sooner to let you know so sod off and find someone else to pester as you obviously havenothing better to do!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry all thats that rant over and heres some good news.......

I have just had a fantastic evening in the company of my Family. I am the oldest of six kids and tonight five out of the six have spent the evening together at my parents place which is such a rarity as we are all scattered all over the place. A fabulous sunday roast was supplied by mum & dad at a table seated for fiveteen (by god the family is growing!!) which was then followed by a few drinls and some serious catch up by all. It always ends up segregated with the chaps in one place and the ladies in the other (very old fashioned you know LMAO) and us chaps were having a right laugh talking about my upcoming Landrover and my brothers newly aquired Lancrab(Austin 1800cc) The best part of the evening is the plans for my brother to visit this Saturday for a boys evening in messing about as the women are off to Stevenage for the weekend on a pamper trip!! Now that will be superb!! A whole evening of messing around on old motors and games machines! Yes its true us chaps never grow up you know!

This may seem a bit disjointed but hey I have had a drink but what I want to really put across is the fact that if you are lucky enough to have a family that you really get along with and enjoy do as much as you can to spend time in their company. We all get too easily distracted by lifes everyday events and our own bubbles of raising kids but our time is short and we should spend as much of it as possibe with those that bring us happiness. I love my tribe and its fantastic to be with them for something as simple as a Sunday dinner. It should not just be birthdays and special events that we all get together.

Right then im off to sleep and then greet the hangover :)

Now more time has passed than I realised since my last entry. I would like to say it is because I have been rushed off of my feet with paying work but like most others I am rather quiet, thank god wifey has a full time job!, No friends I have been busy planting seeds and nursing seedlings down at the plot and its looking really good:) In fact its far better than I would have thought I could do for my first season on it!
The Potato's are doing really well as are the runner beans, parsnips, garlic, beetroot, cucmber, toms, carrots and I have just seeded some leeks so hopefully they will be up in the next couple of weeks. So all in all I am very very happy with my little escape place:)

Why do kids have the complete inabilty to either change a toilet roll or tell you there are none left? Are the mechanics of compressing a piece of plastic and removing an empty tube and then reversing the process by putting a full roll on so very difficult? Why is it always when I am desperate for a tom tit that I have to go hunting around to find a roll before hand, which is most inconvinient, or realise with sheer horror that a trip to the shops to get some first? Is it just me or are there other parents out there that suffer this torture? LOL

I am taking delivery of an old MK2 Landrover next Friday and cannot wait to get playing with it. First some mechanics by getting the old girl running again and then sorting the body work out. I love restoring classics and this will be my first Landy so it will be fun.

My bike has been sold:( Now the hunt for another begins :) I want something a bit more powerful so when wifey is on the back I can still overtake with confidence. The problem being that this time of year all bikes are quite pricy but there is no rush and I will take my time looking for a new one.

Now for the weather...its been windy and sunny and dry dry dry!! The allotment really needs a good downpour, never thought I would wish for rain!, and we should be getting that over the next 24hours. I watched the forecast earler and the woman opened with "Today there is alot of weather about" ????!!!!!!!!! What is she on about??? Surely there is always alot of weather about LOL

So a busy week really even though not through work.

Well it has been a while and this is of course due to the move.
I am in the current state of mind to say that there is no bloody way I want to move again!!!!!!!!!!! Of course if we can pay someone else to do it I wouldnt mind but if I have to do it myself it would really be at the bottom of my list of priorities :)
Obviously we are no in and the house is starting to look something like a home after the happy hours of unpacking boxes and finding places for the junk therein to live. The dog thinks we are on holiday im sure and keeps wandering around the place wondering why our stuff is in it!
There were a few hiccups along the way as there always is with any move...
The truck I had booked to move in became unavailable due to the company going under.
I then had a word with a mate who owns his own furniture shop who said I could use one of his motors so problem solved!!!..................Not.
He forgot to tell his manager about it so when I went to collect it on the Friday afternoon it was full of stock and unavailable for use, bugger.
So in the end I used my little old transit to move a four bedroomed house across town and talk about exhausted!! Still we are in and the move was the right call.

The kids are in their element. They have made new friends and are playing out every day which is something they couldn't have done at the old place. The van sits nicely on the driveway and there is no worries that its going to get broken into every time the sun goes down so yes, even though the house is smaller, this was the right decision to come here.

Now I do have another excuse as to why its taken so long to pop another entry in lately and that is because we had the TV, PHONE & Internet fitted on Saturday and all was working well....for about 3 hours LOL
Then the internet went down and its taken this long to get the bloody thing back online properly!

Still it could have been worse but it does prove the old adage of you dont realise what you have until it has gone. I had work stuff stored online so it was somewhat inconvinient when I couldnt get any of it!

Now topicalnews...SWINW FLU. What are the powers that be up to then when a bug thats killed less than 200 people worldwide becomes the main topic of every news bulletin? Talk about classic diversion tactics with all of this and Im sure that the real agenda will come out in time.

The weather is incredibly dry again and I have never noticed these things so much since I have taken on the alotment. I am having to water my plants there every day! Still any excuse to get away to the quiet place eh!

Speaking of that I best get the kids off to school and head down there for a nice cup of tea :)

25th April 2009

Well we are now getting into full swing for the move. The dining room is starting to resemble a warehouse stacked with boxes from floor to ceiling. The walls are looking bare and the house is starting to take on that echo effect that all buildings get when they are empty or heading that way. The house is slowly returning back to just a house and no longer a home. It is a sad thing as we have soo many happy memories here but when an area goes downhill it is time to move on.

The kids are really looking forward to the new house especially the youngest. She already has dug out her bike and has informed me the tyres need pumping up so she can ride around at our new house :) Youve got to love kids eh! As theres a school at the top of the road we gave our youngest the choice of staying where she is or going to this closer one. She has taken this decision very very seriously. At 8 years old this has been her first independent decision so she has been talking to her sisters, family and friends about it :) we then had a look around the new school and she was most impressed with it but I think the clincher was the fact she could walk to school by herself in the mornings LOL So a new uniform needs to be bought this week at some point.

So in 6 days the long move shall begin. Never ending boxes and furniture to be moved. Lots to take apart and then reassemble...I really can't wait!

We hit a glitch with the lorry that I was hiring....the company went bust!!!!!!!!!!!! Still at least I had not paid a deposit and a mate has lent me his Luton box van so that with my old Transit we should be ok.

I may be offline for a week or so due to the move and transfer of services so I will write again as soon as I can!

After a hard week I have had a great day today. It has rained for the past couple of days but today the sun has shone and shone. Its been the sort of day that makes you glad to feel alive.

I sold my greenhouse on Ebay for a ridiculusly high amount and the chap turned up this morning with some hard cash and then dismantled it and away it went.

Whilst the chaps were playing with glass I did a bit more packing so that side of things is going well and I am hoping the move should be quite smooth. It took the guys nearly three hours to remove the greenhouse but as soon as they were gone I grabbed my youngest and off to the allotment we went.

We did remember to take the scarecrow with us this time and its just as well because after two weeks of the rather ugly chap sitting in the living room I think I would have been mice meat if wifey had got home from work to find we still had company!
Now I did intend on running forwards and backwards all afternoon taking all of the plant pots there but as soon as we arrived I knew it wasnt going to happen. The afternoon was just pure sunshine without a cloud in the sky. It really is my santuary down there and I never want to leave once I have arrived. My mate the robin was happily hopping about and followed us around for 10 mins before he realised that no digging was going to happen today. After unloading the van I had a look around trying to make the decision on what to potter with next and that call came to the tea shed construction. Now you should have seen my wifes face when I told we had built one today..."Why do you need a tea room?" she asked and after I explained the small metal shed was for secure keeping and the tea room was for relaxing in and somewhere to run from the rain. Apperentley I am quite mad LOL but she doesnt realise that we need to take a tea break even when we are having fun :)

So after 5 happy hours and a call from wifey we came home for dinner. My evening is planned on doing next to sod all so Im going to sign off and get stuck in....

Its been a difficult week with emotions ranging from celebration to depression.

Lets start with the celebration side of things. Our friends were over from america nad it was good to see them again. We went out for a meal and had a good catch up. Then on Friday it was off to the hotel where wifey works for the day and night. All of them then played in the pool and tried to give themselves early coronaries in the steam room. Bugger that I went and had a coffee, put my feet up and read a good book. Everyone then went and had a shower etc and met up back in our suite (yes suite nice being upgraded because your wife works there) for a bottle of wine before dinner. Now our friend was upon the grand day of his 40th birthday and none the wiser for what had been planned for him.

After our delaying tactics with wine which was not all that hard if I am honest:) we took him down to the restaurant and into a private dining room where he was awaited by 20 of his friends and family. Now I have seen people turn red before but this was a new shade all to itself! He really had no idea that we had done it and it was a great way for him to see everyone whilst he was back over on his short stay from the states. The meal was fantastic and a good time had by all so all in all a very good day.

Now the rest...

Why oh why in this wonderful England of ours does it take so long to have a funeral after someone has died??? It was 10 days from when my Nan passed away until we had her cremation. You feel like you are just getting somewhere with dealing with your grief and then its time for the funeral which just drags everything up again. All those feelings of loss and hurt come straight back up to the surface and sitting in the chapel looking at the coffin just drags your heart down into the dark depths of your soul.

Well the day was warm and the sun out. I have no doubt she had this planned as she really loved planning did our Lil :) I had the honour of being a coffin bearer and taking Nan on her last trip into the Chapel. My uncle said a few words as did I which I will put below. Family had come in from all over Europe to say goodbye to the head of the family. It was a Sad sad day but she really did get a good send off.

Now these days are always going to be sad but it suprised me just how drained I felt at the end of it. All of my four passengers coming back from Oxford were fast asleep within minutes and it didnt take me more than 30 secounds to fall into gratefull oblivion once my head touched the pillow.

We were not the only ones to be going through all of these emotions on Tuesday... our best friends were also high in our thoughts as they set off to say goodbye to thier uncle who had passed on suddenly. Strange how there is always more than one death around the same time and we are lucky to have such good friends and family for support.

So there we have a strange few days. Many highs and many lows but as always the world keeps turning and life will go on.

Good bye Nan you will always be with me...

Well here we are heading toward the end of the week and the start of the easter weekend and of course in true British tradition its raining!

My great grans funeral will be on Tuesday and family from all over the world are flying back for it. Just goes to show what an incredible woman she was and how much she meant to us all. I was talking to a cousin who lives over in Cyprus and she asked why is it we only all get together when someone gets married or dies? I pointed out that all we can do in this life is bring up ourt children as best we can and they soon make their own way...its just the way of things. She promptly told me to shut up as I was depressing her and she didnt want her babies to leave!! LOL. Of course she was messing but isnt it strange that a family as large as mine that all lived within a 10 minute walk of each other when we were kids have now ended up scattered across the globe!? The world from our generation really has become a much smaller place. What was a once a year occurance of getting on a plane is now almost as easy as jumping on a bus. We think nothing of booking a cheap flight for a weekend away in the sun when our grandparents and parents could never dream of such things. Going to the next town was a big deal and hitting the coast was a long term break!

I digress....I have been asked to be a bearer at the funeral which to me is an honour and to also say a few words about Lil. I have so far written three speeches and thrown them away. Theres so much to say and so little time to say it I really want to do her proud. I will jot down the final draft here after I have said my bit on the day.

On the great news side our best friends have passed all tests and are now about to begin their IVF treatment. If anyone desrves kids its them but in a cruel twist of fate they need a kickstart to do so so heres hoping and praying like mad that this treatment is succesful. I love these guys to bits and they are so giving and caring that its about time they got just a little back. It doesnt have to be loads but lady luck just needs to give them a bit of a grin so they can hear the patter of tiny feet. We shall see over the next couple of months what happens.

Some friends are back over from America on a visit and its his 40th birthday tomorrow. There are about 25 of us going to a hotel for a meal and spoilt evening out with lavish rooms booked and he has no idea! His face should be a picture LOL. Now why we had to have lavish rooms is beyound me because I am sure none of us will appreciate them when we pass out at the end of the evening but the wives booked them and ive been told women know best....who am I to argue?!

The problem is that I dont really drink these days and I had 2 pints on Tuesday evening which gave me a hangover for 36 hours so why I would want to drink tomorrow is beyound me. I have been convincing myself that not a drop will pass my lips but who am I trying to kid. Once you get caught up in the atmosphere of a good friends birthday party the beer will be drunk and I will suffer. I wouldnt mind but a hangover on 2 pints!!!!!!!

AND I have just realised I havnt told the other big story...we are moving at the end of the month a couple of miles up the road to a nicer area. The house we are in is fantastic bt the area has gone steadily downhill over the last 6 months. Yound kids drunl out of their little minds and drug users crapping up the alley and leaving used needles around. My kids cannot go out to play and wifey tells me I cant deal with these youths as I will be in more trouble than them. The police are neither use or ornamant as they never "catch them in the act". So enough was enough. We looked at a few houses and found one we like in a really nice area at the end of a Cul de sac which is fantastic. The eldest daughters freinds are around the corner and the youngest can ride her bike outside...perfect. Now all we have to do is pack everything we own and load the truck, drive to the new place unload the truck and unpack. Easy eh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I must be mad!!!!

New life is growing at the allotment and I have got loads of wood for it from freecycle which is great. Lots of new raised beds which are nice and easy to look after. I have 45 slabs to collect in the morning for it as well as a load of topsoil so back ache here we come :)

Thats enough for now....I will be back soon.

It was with great sadness that I received the call yesterday morning that my great gran Lil had passed away. The world is a little bit more empty now she has gone. I took a walk along the coast after I heard and dwelled on memories of this fantastic women. Its strange how time passes so quickly and there has just been a massive generation shift. We wont know until Monday when the funeral is but its expected to be later this week.

Its been a strange week with many highs and lows. Works going well that was until Wednseday when I put my back out atop a 25ft ladder!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now that was an experience getting down form there very very slowly :)

We decided to go away to the seaside on Thursday as I couldnt work and the kids were breaking up from school. My parents have a static caravan near Cromer and what a great time we had for a couple of days:) :) No rush to do anything and lots of laughs and slot machines and walks along the beach and pier. It was bloody freezing mind you but hey ho a break away was what we all needed and it was so nice to spend some time away from phones and computers and TV. We played chess in the evening and ate far too much but isnt that what holidays are for?

We have started to look for a new house to rent. The one we are in is fantastic with 4 bedrooms three bathrooms and all in a victorian 3 story but the area has taken a real turn for the worse over the last 6 months with drug users and gangs hanging around and we feel like the kids are virtual prisoners in the house and theres no where close they can go out to play safely. So we are taking a good hard look around to find a nicer area but we know we will have to comprimise on size which will be hard after being spoilt for the best part of two years now.

The bikes all fixed and has had a few miles put on the clock and Ive been helping a mate fit his new kitchen today. The dog sulked because we left her with the neighbours on our little holiday jount but after 2 days has now decided we are ok after all and is more than happy we are home.

Still thoughts drift back to Lil who was the grand old age of 95 before she left us. Think of the changes she saw in such a lifetime! We should all be happy to live so well, be fit and active for just a portion of such a lifetime. Go out today and do what youve been putting off. See friends and family and tell them you love them because you just never know when your time will end.

See you again Lil I know you found your way...

Hmmm where to start?

My Great gran Lil is still with us! Bless her they really dont make people made of hardy stuff like her anymore! Its been a rollercoaster of phone calls saying iits now time and then the follow ups saying she has stabilised! I decided to go and say goodbye on Monday. Its going to sound daft but I kept hearing her calling me and I am so glad I went. I mean she looks awful and is bed bound, weighs in at 5 stone and is a shell of the woman she was but when you look into her eyes you can see the woman that was. I spent an hour alone with her talking to her of my kids and our plans, what we have been up to and where we are hopefully heading. I was told before I went in to see her that she sleeps constantly and may try to hit or scratch me but no such things happend. She spent most of the time looking into my eyes and holding my hands. She then pulled me in closer and pulled my hands to her face so i know that somewhere we made a connection. She will be missed so much when she goes but it gave me a peace that we had time to catch up and say out goodbyes. I know that last sentance sounds like she has gone already but I know it will be the last time we will see each other...such is the way of things.

Onto lighter notes...

The new toy (rotovator) arrived and saved me hours and hours of work at the allotment! I am happy to say that all the spuds and onions are in now with a couple of other beds preped up for beans and peas etc.

I got around to insuring my motorbike and spent time getting it out of the shed to ride to Oxford to see my gran on. I went straight to the local petrol station to pump up the tyres and fuel up. Well thats about as far as it went!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I managed in 1/2 a mile to get a bloody 4 inch nail into the back tyre so I dragged it home where it awaits a rear wheel removal and repair. Maybe I wasnt supposed to ride out on Monday.

The work is still coming in and all looks good for another few weeks which is great! The van is getting a service at the weekend, ive spent a fortune out on the clutch so hey I much as well get everything up to date on it eh!

Right im off for a bath and an early night. All this work is making the weight drop right off of me much to wifeys dismay...well envy really!

Speak again soon.

Well its been a busy couple of weeks full of ups and downs (Literally).

I managed to get a nice case of sickness and squits from wifey which didnot go down well as I was at a customers house when it first made its sudden appearence!!!!!!!!!!!

The van got fixed very quickly and I can only say how good the garage were at fitting it in. The phone has continued to ring with work which is fantastic!!

I have to date bought and returned two rotovators and took the plunge investing in a brand new one. I love new toys and this one should be here on Monday morning. Now that should make short work of the potatoe beds that need turning over at the allotment! Speaking of the allotment I have now planted so many seeds in the greenhouse I have both run out of room and pots!! I have bid on 900 pots on ebay so that should top up the stocks shortly :)

I was very kindly given a greenhouse over the weekend and the framework is now up in the garden waiting for a good scrub down and the glass putting in. This one will be used solely for bedding plants that can be used on contracts and for resale at the local car boot sale. This way I earn a few extra bob and do some cheeky advertising with my van ;)

Some sadder news was in the form that my great gran is expected to pass away over the next few days. I love this lady to bits and spent many many weekends with her whilst growing up and the memories are fantastic. She has suffered for 4 years now with severe demtia and how she is still breathing is a testoment to the hardy nature of the older generations because with all of her ailments including a dozen heart attacks now she should have moved onto the next world a long time ago. She will be sadly missed but it is one of those situations where she has no memory of who she is or we are and is in such a poor state of health her passing will be a blessing for those that are caring for her. She would be horrified to know what state she is in now as she was a proud and feircley independent woman.

Spring has returned and with the end of one season the new life that has arrived with the next is always a joy to observe. I love just sitting out with a cup of tea and taking the time to see what is now growing. Perhaps we should all take the time to stop and look every now then...

Bugger!

From yesterdays post you can see that things have been picking up nicely, that is until I was in Milton Keynes today taking a neighbour to and from hospital. We went to leave this morning from home but her car wouldnt start so we hopped into my van and took that instead. We just made it on time and she had her bak treatment. After an hour we are heading home when the clutch arm on the van gave up the ghost in the middle lane of a very large and busy roundabout!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So there I was directing traffic in my hi viz top nearly getting run down several times, on the phone to the police explaining we were a danger to other road users whilst my neighbour is on her phone calling the RAC to come and get us. The traffic wombles turned up quickly and towed us to safety closely followed by the RAC who inform me the clutch ratchet is buggered. He then towed me for 20, yes 20 miles back to a garagr I use in Kettering. Now that towing lark at 60mph is not for the faint hearted and not an experience I want to repeat! Still at least we were at the garage and based upon what the RAC chap said the quote for the rachet repair was £60. Not too bad and they were going to have it done by the close of play today....apparently not. They have just called and told me that its not the rachet but the clutch arm has broken off IN THE GEARBOX! So thats now a gearbox arm replacement by the means of the gearbox being removed first and as this arm breaking was caused by a worn bearing in the clutch so thats going to be replaced as well.

So the little cash we have saved over the last couple of months is now going to the garage...£350 of it. BUGGER!! Still at least I know the owner and im sure it would be alot more if it was taken elsewhere to be done. Its just that whenever we get a little bit ahead financially something bites us on the arse.

Oh well at least everything on the van will now be replaced and we were lucky to have the money here to pay for it. I just needed to get it off my chest!!!

Spring is coming.

Now its been awhile since I last wrote due to the fact the temperature has come up and the sun has been out. When this happens the phone starts ringing and its been precisely that that has kept me busy over the last couple of weeks.

People are once again venturing into their gardens and realising the weeds are making a comeback, the winter winds have blown in all sorts of rubbish and they want to put the ideas they have had stuck indoors for months into reality. Patios need cleaning and borders sorting, plants need putting in and different uses for that bare patch at the bottom now want to become a reality. So they look at whats involved, take a deep breath in of the warmer air and then pick up the phone to get me in because they dont really want to get muddy or spend their weekends off doing such menial tasks :) Fine by me!! I can start earning a wage again which is great.

I have sorted out the van and the shed and made a note of what equiptment will need replacing and I am happy to say its not alot this year. The investments I made last year are now starting to pay off with a minimal outlaw on new kit. A couple of things of course have to be sorted like a new work uniform to look the part and I have just finished today putting on the sign-writing to my old transit and what a difference that has made, it looks like a proper motor now after much fettling and plastering my bargain sign-writing kit on it.

I have finally made a start on planting in my christmas present greenhouse. The tomato plants are doing well and the runner beans, sweetcorn, peas, lettice, cucumber and pepper seeds all sown. The potatoes are chitting nicely and will be planted in a few weeks time. The allotment is starting to look like one with just a few more days work before that too will be ready to recieve the start of this years crops.

I had booked the flights to Spain and was looking forward to two weeks in the sun dogsitting for my father in law but such is the amount of work coming in I have had to cancel that :( Ive a couple of very promising contracts starting and I cannot turn such work away so I had to make the hard decision to work instead of playing. Very sensible I know but the sun was and still is damn appealing!

The dog has been an absolute toerag this last week and talk about accident prone! I should explain first that she is 18 months old and we have had very little trouble with her from since she was a pup so when she does anything naughty it seems like a huge issue!!
Firstly she trips me up at the top of the stairs, victorian stairs, and I go arse over tit from top to bottom pulling my shoulder and bruising my back. The next day she knocks over my youngest who has a mug in her hand, both go flying with my daughter bruising her hip and the mug exploding but not before it takes out a kitchen floor tile !! The this evening the dog decided she was to dig up around the new patio I laid in the back garde just yesterday!!????! Why???? I have no idea but hopefully thats the third thing and our 6 month dose of dumb dog over for now :)

A new greenhouse is yet to be aquired solely for the purpose of growing flowers and bedding plants. A contract needs lots of them and why buy them if I can grow them myself?? A few pennies saved hopefully.

So its all nose to the grind which is great after such a long winter. Wifey is moaning though that I am falling behind with my share of the housework! We both work and with 4 kids the place does take some looking after hence the washing machine on at 9.30pm...hope the neighbours dont mind!!

Time for a bath to soak my back bruises LOL I will try to write more often......

A mixed week.

Now its been quite a mixed week or so with much going on in all aspects of life.
I have been down with the lack of work coming in and this was due to coming to the end of a hard cold winter where I have felt like a bear in a trap being indoors for what must be the best part of 3 months...This changed hard and fast at the end of last week.
I had put in a day and a halfs work with one of my regulars and was enjoying a soak in the tub when I was presented with the phone by my wife. A friend had fallen behind with a painting job (a whole warehouse!!) and wondered if I could help out over the weekend. Of course when work is scarce you cannot turn any away so off a went over the weekend working for him. Then onto a fencing job for this week and the phone started to ring on Thursday and hasnt really stopped which is great. Its amazing how the sun putting in an appearence with the temp well above freezing for a change can bring out people from their hibernation. Perhaps this year wont be as bad as the media have us believe??

Wifey took the kids back up to Nottingham for a couple of days to visit her mother so all was very peacefull in the house...A strange sensation if im honest with no noise of any description coming from bedrooms but most welcome.

Ive had yet more of a think on what I do with my life. In fact ive been pondering this for sometime and have still got no further with what a could do as a different job but nothing would give me and wifey the flexability we have now. I enjoy my work and make people smile so all cant be too bad eh? Wifey pointed out ive got 4 great kids, im a good person (mostly :) ), a good Dad, we have a warm house, put food in our bellies and spring is coming back so I will get busier and wont be so bored.

I have to admit we are lucky. We may not have alot but there are many many people worse off than us. Time to think about some extra hobbies.

On the plant front I have a load of tomato seeds that have germinated so time to put the greenhouse heater on! I am off to the allotment in the morning with my youngest and there is loads to do there inc leveling beds and clearing a large area. If I remember to take the camera down I will post some pics.

Right thats enough for now I will ramble on again soon.