Lanzarote visit

 We spent ten days in Lanzarote a few months after Noels knee replacement....

The Gutter press of England

Having watched the performance last night of the UK Gutter PRESS  ie BBC Ms Laura Keunsberg- SKY News Sam Coates is appalling to watch how they like to try and debase the efforts the UK Government using to try and stop this damn COVID. Its though they think that Boris and his team went around the country sprinkling the COVID bug with the intention of making everybody ill and to see how soon we can get to the 100 K dead which the Press last last almost gleefully played up to.

Sam Coates has only to look at his own organisation where Beth Rigby boots organised a party against government lock down rules and did exactly what she was complaining about to Boris.

The BBC have recently asked me to complete a survey of what I think about them, really not much . I only pay the TV licence as I do not wish to break the law but actually we don't watch much BBC tele as its mostly repeats or crap. Why we have to pay money for all LIVE television irrespective of Channel its on with the money only going to the BBC is barmy, sounds like a Tony Blair screw up to me, along with the wars and lies. I feel very sorry for all the people who have lost their lives but at least I know my family has not contributed to it as we have followed the stay at home advice and taken exercise locally and shopped when needed. So we have not infected anyone unlike many other people wo go to raves, protest marches and it they who have caused the deaths of so many people and these people that the press should focus on. The BBC news recently highlighted some people who take great glee in ignoring the restrictions and gave them pride of place on their web site which is bloody disgraceful and show how biased the BBC and many other newspapers are. There was also a photo of two other so called BBC journalist commenting on the Washington scene smiling away in the photo when writing about the departure of Mr Trump and we know the BBC never liked his Presidency. Its easy to scorn but when did the Journalist do as much good as Trump did whilst in power.

US Politics is bust as a direct result of the Dems never accepting that the Republicans won the 2016 election and went out of their way to get rid of the president and  ow they have the audacity to say we want to heal the rift, the one that they caused???ridiculous.

One good thing is the way in which the UK Government has set up the distribution of COVID jabs, as of today of nearly 8 Million people compared to the EU which is struggling quite a bit to get anywhere. 

This will surely mean that hopefully the UK will be the first country in Europe to hopefully restart its economy and give the UK a leading edge advantage over the rest of the EU.  Oh well I am glad we are out out…….

Well that's my moan for today…..

 

Well 2021 and BREXIT finally is complete

 Well not everyone wanted BREXIT in the UK and certainly Nicola Sturgeon of the Scottish nationalist Party who has no doubt where her future lies without looking over her shoulder to see the serious problem that Scotland has with Drugs, Drink , schooling levels and many other challenges which she chooses to ignore however my view is that during 2021 we shall lose out politically and hopefully disappear from whence she came.

On the other hand I have a number of friends who voted to remain but have completely changed their minds after watching the squalid politics played by the EU in this matter, with Macron very deceitful and finally the UK Government calling Mr Barnier’s bluff.  Perhaps the final deal may not have been as we liked but that does not mean that we can can it at any time in the future, we shall see. I am not bothered that my passport has to be a minimum of six months to run before entering the EU is the same for just about every other country in the world where you need a min of six months and have limited time to stay. I am sure this applies to people visiting the UK as well from the EU. There are so many benefits as a result of BREXIT that in five years we will hopefully look back and say, why did it take so long?

I cannot wait for Mr Tony Blair to start off gain on this matter, he has been a complete and utter failure as a politician apart from perhaps when he was labour leader which is not hard to achieve when you look back who has held the post. He failed as the Mid-east rep and the only thing he has  really done successfully is make a large amount of dough. I also wonder why is it that failed politicians always believe they no more that the current ones, Mrs May’s plaintiff words during the recent Brexit debate in Parliament was a bit like a kids , my dad's got a bigger car than yours's!! or my deal was better than Boris, the fact that no one voted for it hardly seems to have escaped her notice.

COVID is really a big problem and what with so called ‘rejecters’ standing and chanting outside of hospital's that it is a hoax , a representative of the mob should be allowed in without a mask after signing a personal exemption  form any NHS help, then see what happens. Noel is reaching the age so that he is on the third priority list and hopefully will have the jab sometime in January, all being well.  Our travel plans to Florida for this year have been disrupted and we have had to cancel for the time being but we have also booked a cruise, we actually booked last June. for the end of May 2021 to celebrate 50 years of marriage  and we are hoping that the COVID situation will t least allow this.

My last beef is the fact we cannot visit the caravan due to being in Tier 4 and we we have not been able to set up the extra poles to support the awning which arrived on site three hours after we had left and two days late but now we can only hope that ny snow fall is not much or that the site staff will clean it off before the awning collapses

Well its been to long since last entry-so here we go

 Well its been a long while since I wrote an update and mainly due to the fact we have been very busy plus a brief wasted visit to the caravan in Somerset. Unfortunately we did have a lot of problems with the house which took some while to resolve and after engaging with the top management of Octagon developments we were able to finally resolve them all pretty much apart from a couple of things.

There has been a lot to learn about controlling the underfloor heating, air ventilating system, new kitchen and utility equipment and so there have been  few mistake as well. There re t least 14 different thermostats controlling bathroom floors and room temperatures and when we moved in they were all on different settings, with incorrect dates and timing and other values and after some investigation we have installed a wireless system to control them all, it could not have been done before due to lack of internet. The site mistakenly covered the Virgin Media (pit) they call it with four inches of tarmac and steel plate and so there was a big problem but with a lot of shouting and stamping feet we got it resolved.

Our near neighbours are very nice and only 9 houses have been occupied for the moment with others coming on stream during the next few months and the good thing is that slowly but surely the delivery companies re beginning to find us without difficulty thus avoiding the challenges we experienced in the first few weeks of moving in. In early December they were able to move the side fencing and carry out some extra paving for us and so we have gained a good storage area and now waiting for help to put up the new storage units we have purchased. Needless to say COVID19 has had a big part to play to making our lives difficult so we cannot do what we want. In early December we paid a brief visit to the caravan with the intention of adding extra awning support rods which were due to arrive upon our arrival, but they did not arrive until we had left the site and now we are unable to visit to get them fixed up and so hoping there will not be to much snow.

The Utility Companies that the developers had signed up with were not our choice  and to change should be simple but the British Gas Company were so disorganised that eventually I had to go to the ombudsman to get the matter resolved so that I can switch to my preferred supplier, two months of hassle with Brutish Gas was an absolute nightmare.

In the interim we have has the garden sorted with lots of new plants and its looking quite good if only it would stop raining as the ground is soaking wet and we hope that it does not damage the plants, we shall see.

The house now has vertical blinds pretty much everywhere for privacy and Jennifer is starting to make curtains but we are also waiting for some new built in furniture to arrive mid January and also new beds and so once this is all complete then we can finalise which curtains will go where.

We have had to cancel our trip to Florida until further notice as the state of Florida is suffering very badly with the virus whilst our travel insurance company would not cover us with all the problems and so we will have to wait till later in the year and then decide what to do. On 31 May 2021 will be our 50th Wedding Anniversary and so we have booked to go on an Eastern Mediterranean cruise starting from Istanbul and ending up in Venice, but will have a few extra days in advance of the cruise to enjoy some extra days around Istanbul, which should be great.

Well its now just after Christmas and unfortunately due to the COVID bug again our plans to have all the family stay with us could not happen but not knowing that the Government would change the lockdown rules we had ordered  turkey large enough to cater for ten people plus extra with all the other stuff you buy at Christmas which is all now residing in the freezer. Oh well will eat it sometime. New Years eve was usually with friends but its most unlikely that will happen and together with Chelsea current poor performance its not been the best of Christmas. But better to stay fit and well rather than risk catching the bug… Oh well its 2021 in  a few days and just hope that is better.

Where have you been they cried aloud!!!

Oh boy where has the month gone since the last blog. After leaving the caravan for West Byfleet and staying in the Hilton for a few night whilst we moved in to the new house which became almost solid with boxes, yes much to much stuff. There was still some furniture we wanted to donate to a charity, any charity, but nobody was able to take due COVID reasons but finally our removal people Luxfords came to the rescue as they were the suppliers of storage space to a local charity and so when unloading the containers we were able to pick out the stuff we did not need and put it back on the van for them to take it away.

Just about every room was full of boxes and so it took nearly three weeks to go thro them all and sort out what we need and don’t need, one of the problems is that in our last house we had loads of ornaments and photos everywhere but this house the window sill are not wide enough to support anything so what to do, we shall probably have to sell on some stuff and Noel has been in touch with a local Auston company who seemed a bit interested.

Although the Octagon development has an excellent reputation it has not really rubbed of on this place and we have almost a catalogue of faults and error and some being of crass stupidity, wires dangling dangerously from electric towel rails where two out of three don’t work to a loo roll holder that was fixed so close to the sink vanity unit it is impossible to put on or take off the paper roll. We have had issues with the electric lighting which initially it had a mind of its own when to turn on and off, to equipment in the plant room not working and so I have been very busy trying to resolve but hindered by two main events.

1- The house is located on a new road on a new estate and so because it not on google or sat navs delivery drivers even with detailed instructions did not bother to try and find

2-  Virgin Media systems did not monitor the completion of the houses also it will take about a month from when we moved in until we get hi-speed internet and still working from our slow MiFi

So trying to chase delivery or organise the office many companies do not recognise the address and make up an alternate address.

But we soldier on and slowly but surely we will get there and the house is beginning to take shape, still lots of sorting and stuff to buy but hopefully by Christmas we might be where we want to be ad ready for the new year.

Oh well lets see what happens over the next few weeks

Not long now to our move

Well after nearly 3.5 months in our Caravan in Waterrow, Somerset we are getting closer to moving to our new house in West Byfleet. Earlier this week we paid a flying visit to WB and then was able to spend approx 2.5 hours roaming the property, not so much to find faults, but just to check on how matter were progressing.

We had hope to find a fully completed house inside but when we arrived the carpet layers had been running late and had not finished and so there were bits and pieces and other work tools around the place. On an earlier visit amount one month ago we discovered that the walls had been painted the wrong colour, which has now been corrected, so this time to check to see if anything was missing. We have been trying to work out where all our furniture will go as we believe we have to much which is always a problem when downsizing. When we got back to the Hotel that we both awoke overnight with the same though and ended up having a cup of tea at 3.30 am and working on layouts, phew not the best thing to do.

Its now getting so close that we should consider ordering certain new equipment that we need such as washing machine, dryers, lawnmowers etc etc and also lots of racking to the garage and also for the storage area on the top floor. There will be a lot more stuff we need but cannot order until we are in situ but at least we can prepare for the event. At the moment full legal completion should be on Friday 2nd October and we plan to leave the caravan on Sunday 4th October and arranged for the keys handover at 1000 on Monday 5th and so we can make final judgements on furniture positioning, or not as the case may be.

Most people when they downsize at our age tend to go for a bungalow but of course we are little different and go for a smaller house with double the amount of stairs which might be challenging to the male member of the family.

The house in on what was the Broadoaks Park Estate and country house which is currently being renovated as are three other historic buildings on the site and it is a private estate and so we should not have the parking issues that Wey and Round Oak Roads are currently experiencing.  The garden is a lot smaller that the last house and should be easy to maintain, we hope although we may call in some gardening design people to see what they suggest.

Anyway the next few months will be quite interesting and perhaps even challenging.

Three nights at the Tortworth Park Hotel- Wotten Under Edge

We tend not to take photos of bedrooms as they often looks a bit messy but we took photos around the hotel grounds which are extensive and they are on a our photo website. On the first night Noel had to go of the special menu and and asked for a steak medium status but it arrived nearly well done which I pointed out to Jennifer and it was obvious that the waiter noticed and came to apologise but as I was not to bothered, but rather hungry had started to eat it, but we discussed the matter and he suggested a new steak and I said it wasn't necessary but five minutes later a brand new steak turned up after I had already eaten about 2/3rd’s of the other one so needless to say started all over again. Food was excellent but the menu was limited due to COVID and as I did not want the same thing again the next two days we decided to explore nearby where we found a nice pub serving Sunday lunch we we duly enjoyed. The weather at this time was really superb and warm and nice to sit in the garden under the umbrella passing the time of day listening to music etc.

Following a very nice three nights in Cotswold Water park we moved on to stay at another deVere Hotel Property near Wooten under Edge in Gloucestershire and this Hotel was a a beautiful old house that has been very nicely restored and could be just like a nice club house with rooms.

On the last day we went for dinner at another pub with not quite the same ambience but the food was also good and of course a lot cheaper than the hotel. Finally after three nights we had our breakfast, must wear your masks whilst attending the buffet and all around the Hotel, not really good, but must be done and then we left for our drive back home ie the Caravan in Wiviliscombe and went via the Costco shop in Bristol where we stocked up on beer, wine, steaks and sausages etd before getting back at around 1500hrs

It was nice to have the break as we were getting a bit itchy waiting for the house to be finished. Anyway Noel is off to Lanhydrock in Cornwall tomorrow for two nights with friends to play golf, should be fun…

 

Three nights at the De Vere Cotswold Water Parks Hotel

Well we had a great three nights at this Hotel as we felt we needed a break away from the caravan and the chance of a proper double bed and somebody else to do the cooking and no need to empty the chemical loo, heaven!.

Our journey from Waterrow took just over two and a half hours and we were able to check in right away in to our Studio Apartment which was quite large but a view over the garden and car park rather than the lake, oh well, better luck another time. We spent quite a lot of time on the first and second day in the room with walks to dinner and as breakfast was being delivered on a daily basis although not suitable for Noel which required a walk to reception to collect some bacon and scrambled egg buns. On Friday we went for a longish drive going via some of the lovely Cotswolds Villages and also some shopping in Waitrose Cirencester which was a big ship and with the café newly opened we tested out a cup of tea and a cake before heading back to the Hotel. In the evening we went to the Boathouse restaurant but the choice of food at the Hotel is limited by the amount of chefs they can have working in the kitchens which is such a shame.

In the evening we watched a bit of BBC Tv and I can honestly  say its quite rubbish and I am am not sure what type of audience it catering to, certainly not us and so I doubt I well re-sign up for a BBC licence when most of the time we watch streaming stuff.

After a nice nights sleep on Saturday morning we headed off to our next hotel…..

A day trip to Penzance by train

Well after several weeks living in the caravan and not being able to go away overseas as we normally would we decided to get out and about a bit more but leave Somerset for a few days and so for the first day out we have booked a train journey from Taunton down to the end of the line in Penzance.

And so an early morning for us getting up around 0730 and we left the site just before 0830 en-route to Taunton station, we went a little early as we have no idea how busy the parking is and just to be safe and eve though we got stuck behind school buses and road works we arrived in plenty of time to find that the train was running about 20 minutes late. Oh well!!!. We had booked first class tickets to ensure we would not be in a crowded train and the arrival board showed that the first class carriages were at the front of the train so down the station we went and board the the first coach only to find afterwards that the first class was at the back of the train and so off we went to claim our correct seats.

The train journey took about four hours and passed thro some nice country and then along the coast line in one place we could see about three large cruise ships parked and we eventually arrived in Penzance in the bright sun and it was really lovely and the place was buzzing. We walked along the coast line in the direction of the restaurant we had chosen and it was very nice and we both had the largest scallops I think we have ever had and then Jen had the fish pie and me a large steak and we saw this off with a bottle of wine. The food was lovely but the service was extremely slow and by the time we had finished we had to go back to the station for our train which noel thought was 16.15 but on arriving we checked out tickets and it was actually 16.50 although Jennifer discovered that actually there was no 16.50 train and so we had to rush to connect with the 16.15 which got us back to Taunton around 20.00 hrs. Of course you had to wear your mask on the train at all times and also there was no buffet service so you could not get a cup of tea.

It was a most enjoyable day out but were were both rather tired by the time we got back to the caravan. Tomorrow we have booked to stay away for six nights with three in the Cotswolds and another three nights in a interesting hotel in Wotten-under-edge in Gloucestershire.

A very busy last week getting the caravan ready for winter

As we have not really ever caravanned in the winter we recognise that we have some things to prepare so as not to have a frozen water system either in or outside the caravan.

So with a trip in to Taunton we purchased some very thick insulation to wrap around the pipes and then this took a couple of hours to fix and also in the recent storm the carbon pipes moved quite a bit we followed our neighbours advice and purchased some jubilee clips to hold all the pipes in place. We also changed the water outlet to two rather than the one to ensure there would not be any risk of one pipe freezing and blocking the other and so over the few days it took to purchase and complete allowing for the poor weather all is complete. The weather was so bad at one point that the wind was so strong that it blew over over our gas BBQ.

Finally as part of the clearing up process we stripped the contents of the awning and laid down new plastic to protect the rubber matting and then moved the refrigerator to the far end of the van and so inside the awning it looks so much nicer and much tidier.

We are also changing the control panel in the van as the current one is old and getting quite difficult to read and so the during the annual service on Saturday 12th the engineer will hopefully fit it. The site has been quite full in September and according to Jamie the site owner they are pretty much booked up fully for September and also October which is great for them. The demand for caravans and motorhomes this year has been enormous and it has been quite difficult this year to purchase a new van as the manufacturers were closed and the only stock second hand or what the dealer had on the forecourt which was immediatly sold out. Sites have been overwhelmed with bookings and one small thing I discovered was that there was a big shortage of chemical toilet stuff and so I have had to stock up big time to cover us thro the next couple of months.

Anyway we plan to have a few days away from the caravan not because we are bored but we do like to travel around and so we are in the process of fixing up a few days away and also it helps if the days go by faster that we can get to house move quicker, we shall see what happens.

 

Where has the time gone??

Well time seems to have flown by in the last few weeks with us enjoying time with the family plus a trip back to West Byfleet to see how the new house is coming along.

So starting with the house visit a couple of weeks ago the journey up was appalling with with heavy rain all the way but when we got to to Weybridge we were unable to visit the Cafe One which has been a regular haunt and ended up in a new place for a a bacon sandwich for lunch followed by Noel getting a haircut for the first time in a few months. We stayed the night in the Hilton Cobham, good rates and near West Byfleet, and then we went to building site and found that our house was being painted, which is great, but the wrong colour which was not so great. Because they were painting we could net see anything really as all the kitchen and bathroom furniture was covered so not really a good visit but they have in the meantime repainted the house as required.

We found that on the Wednesday night when we were there that all restaurants were fully booked due to the Government assistance and so we had difficulty finding somewhere but e chanced upon a Fish and Chip restaurant in West Byfleet which had a special room upstairs, called Jane upstairs, where we could enjoy table service Fish and Chips from down stairs plus a bottle of wine and its walking distance from the new house.  Following that we did a quick visit to Waitrose across the road and it at least twice the size of the one in Weybridge and we are really hoping they have as good a fish counter as the Waitrose in Wellington, Somerset, time will tell.

Last weekend it was Noels birthday on the 22nd of August and it was great that our son and daughter and connected families were all together in Taunton and we could enjoy their company and have lunch together in the local farm shop café which was really nice. It was fun to watch the kids demolish ice cream sundaes.

We have experienced very strong winds and rain during the past week and the awning was taking a battering and the locks on the legs not holding and then the neighbours suggested putting jubilee clips on and so on last Monday we went to Wickes in Taunton and got some jubilee clips and also some pipe insulation for later this year to stop all the water pipe freezing up. We fitted the jubilee clips on Tuesday and that required a complete tightening of all poles and this resulted in a much tighter and stronger awning.

Well this is being written on yet another wet day, in fact very wet and it has not stopped all since we woke up. We did have ideas of going to the seaside and eat fish and chips in the car but changed our minds as its so bad weather wise and opted for a steak and salad in the van and then a pleasant afternoon nap. We also recd a photo of the repainted front entrance and downstairs corridor from the site including a photo of the guys preparing the front pathways, looking good.

This Covid thing keeps on going and is ruining daily life for millions of people but I suspect as some time we will just have to accept just like the flu and hopefully they can find and antidote soon as the number of deaths is working its way to one million which is not good at all. Oh well lets see what happens.

Various comments on life

Hi. Have just watched the full footage of the arrest and killing allegedly of George Floyd which has caused riots all over the world as this was classed as a racist attack. The Washing Post that rubbish newspaper printed a report as they were the only newspaper allowed to see the complete tape which clearly indicated that the police were very much at fault, but when you watch the video from start to finish things are not what they seem. Why they did not publish the video earlier I do not not know but in the meantime the BLM were calling for the death penalty or at least being charged and jailed for murder but once you see the full video, there is perhaps no charge to answer for. The guy was drugged up to to the eyeballs and already complaining he could not breath even before the police touched him, take a look .

Anyway this single event has caused the riots all over USA and Europe and all were incorrect. A well known Black American has said that Black Lives only matter when there is a white man involved but in the majority of cases its black man killing black man which nobody seems to care about in the daily press? you work it out.

A  bit quieter week last week after quite busy few days in the pervious week. We have decided to buy a new television for the caravan as the current is is a bit small and when you watch a film with subtitles its a bit difficult to read. This TV has been excellent but we had a small one as we were using it on our touring holidays and it needed to be packed away each time we moved location and a bigger TV would have given us a storage problem but now being fixed in ne location we have jumped for a 18 inch to a 28 inch smart tv which is really great. We were planning a lunch out with our daughter but the usual places were packed out due to the current government incentive on Monday to Wednesday inclusive and so we visited Waitrose in Wellington and bought salad stuff which we ate inside as the weather had turned rather wet.

Lexus seem to have buggered up the installation of the Wi-Fi hotspot in the car by allowing the dealer to put in a part which was not fully supported. This problems has resulted in endless phone calls and three visits to Exeter over the past three weeks but know they seem hopeful t may be finalised next week, we shall see as I have told them if it does not work by the end of next week then money back please.

We resorted the layout in the awning and its much better with lots more room and all it took was ten minutes and a bottle of wine!!! Ha not true but now its easy to use the table in the awning for eating rather than having to fight our way past relaxer chairs.

The caravan site is still quite full and is apparently so for the rest of August and in to September which is really good for the site owner as they had a tough start to the year. COVID 19 has impacted everybody's life during this year and there still some stupid people out there not following the rules of social distancing and its appears its is mostly the younger generation and the Asians who all live in large families and close together and as one Mayor said that many of the people in Leicester who cam from Bangladesh did not understand either written or verbal English and totally ignored the requirements of social distancing.

Moving on lets hope somebody sorts out the every growing amount of people crossing the English Channel in Boats is its dangerous enough and its the French Authorities are supporting it seems with the   government taking no action, send in the submarines….that's what I say.

Finally Chelsea lost, as expected, in Germany yesterday with only half a full team, lets hope that Frank can sort it out.

Quite a busy week really

As the weather was nice ths last week we decided now that we have pretty much sorted the paperwork and the caravan that a few days out would be nice so as Noel was committed to a Video Conference on Monday lunchtime for an hour or so we planned to take a trip out on Tuesday and Wednesday as follows. So on Tuesday we drove over to the old town of Dulverton for lunch at the Copper Kettle which we have visited before and had a very good lunch indeed although the service was a little on the slow side but they had tables well spaced and and the staff wearing either masks or facemasks.

On Wednesday we took a trip down to the Clatworthy Reservoir and walked around there for a while and then headed of to Wimbleball Lake which was quite busy with a lot of campers and people on the lake fishing and sailing and so we stopped and had a cup of tea and a cake before heading back via all the small country lanes to the caravan for a quiet evening watching TV and packing for the trip up to the smoke, as they say.

On Thursday we drove back to Weybridge area for both of us to meet u with friends at two different locations but then we ended up together and finally left to check in to the Hotel just before 9.30 PM but a lovely day with friends whilst Jennifer's group celebrated her up coming birthday. On Friday Jennifer had a dental appointment then Noel had the car seen to at the Polish car wash before Jennifer met with a group of lady friends in out old road whilst Noel did the same and had lunch in the steak house in Ottershaw followed by a few glasses of plonk in the beautiful garden by the River Wey whilst watching the boats and canoes etc go by.

We had enjoyed two nights in the Cobham Hilton Hotel and although we had been offered beds by friends we do like to have our on space and not be beholding ,as they say. We then headed to see our son and daughter-in-law and grandchild for a light snack sandwich lunch before we headed to the dreaded A 303 which we new woud be slow and in the end we diverted via Salisbury to miss the usual huge delays at Stonehenge where peope seem to stop driving normally and look at this pile of stones whilst slowing down the traffic and having accidents causing even more delays.

We finally made it back to caravan with a trip that was about 45 minutes longer than usual but in time to see Chelsea to get beaten in the FA Cup Final, shame as they started of well then followed by two serious injuries and an incorrect sending off, so bit of a disaster really.

Oh well we have a much quieter week next week apart from a planned trip to Exeter and Salcombe.