Friday lunchtime

Sun's shining again :)

And John, the gasman, has fixed the boiler so we have hot water again!

The problem was - and John showed me the evidence, that the coating on the wire that connects the timer to the boiler was damaged exposing the wire inside. The wire was touching the metal casing of the boiler and so everytime the timer sent a current down the wire to switch on the boiler it earthed and the circuit breaker put the boiler off again.

Yes. Something like that.

John has put some insulating tape round the faulty bit of the wire and another gasman is coming on Monday morning to replace the wire.

Seemple.

Ross is working just now on Aunt Dawns computer and he says it's a big job. Her systems are a mess and will need to be reinstalled and we all know what that means, don't we?

Happy days!



I took this photo when I was on holiday last year - I like pictures with my stories but I don't have anything current, hence my choice. I like it :)

Don't you think it feels warm and sunny?

Thursday 20th May

Today, the sun is shining again! Hurrah :)

And Ross has finally made it to the big time. He got a letter yesterday morning in the post, addressed to:

Managing Director
BanchoryTechies

- a 'managing director'! :)

What a laugh! We were both tickled by the thought.

Anyway, no time for idle chit chat, got a load of ironing to do today and a food shop.
Can't think what to have for tea. How about boiled eggs. . . they're diet friendly, aren't they?

Evening of 19th May

I've just checked the time in Adelaide and it's now seven o'clock in the morning so,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KELLY!

Veggie tendencies even then, I see :)

Talking of vegetarian options.
I've just eaten vegetable curry - 1 point and 80g of white rice - 4 1/2 points for my dinner, but why am I bothering?
Tonight, Anne and I went to the Weight Watchers meeting at Kingswells to be weighed.
. . . and how much had I lost?

one and a half pounds :(

Yes, that's it. One and a half measly pounds :(

After all the misery and starvation.
After all the point calculation and cabbage ( zero points in cabbage)
I manage to lose a pound and a half in total.

Anne has lost two pounds and she admitted to eating a three course meal which included dessert and cheese board on Friday night and half a bottle of wine on Saturday night!

Is it fair?
I don't think so!

I'm on my own tonight. Ian is down in Paisley just now, so I'll just go to bed now and weep buckets into my pillow.
Can you hear the violins playing?

No, don't feel sorry for me, don't feel guilty, Ian for not being here in my hour of need. . . I'll be fine.

As fatties all over the world say, "Tomorrow is another day!" sob, sob.

Evening of Thursday 6th May

Getting very close to a certain little person's birthday :)

I thought I'd come upstairs and get the book I'm reading at the moment - move it on a few chapters.

'Grave Surprise' by Charlaine Harris. I got it when we were on holiday.

It's about a girl who has been able to sense dead bodies buried in the ground ever since she was struck by lightning.
"Not too sure about that one," I hear you say.
Well I am - sure that is - it's dire but I'm half way through it.
I've started so . . .
You never can tell, it might get better! :)

The garden refuse has been taken to the tip today, along with a couple of very determined snails who just refused to let go!

Come to think of it, maybe I should start collecting all the snails that live in my garden and give them a new home in the big garden rubbish skip at the tip :)

For the past few weeks, since the leaves have appeared on it, I have had to go out and visit my climbing hydrangea every morning.
Why? To take all the snails off the plant and throw them back, as high as possible, onto the embankment.

I swear everyday, as soon as they've landed, they begin the journey back down to the hydrangea!! :(

They obviously think it's delicious! In years past they've decimated it, leaving it looking like a raggedy twig! But not this year! Oh no, I am going to save it this year.

Friends have suggested placing jam jars of beer all around the plant.
" - at least they would drown happy" they say.
Others have encouraged me to put down slug pellets - there's a rather tastefully named one, I believe, called 'Slug Off'!

But I must admit, I have a soft spot for these slimy little antenae wagglers in shells and just can't do it :)

Part of my plan for this summer is to clear out our garage - I want one as neat and tidy as Lucy and Scott's.



Step 1 is to get rid of the car that sits in front of the garage door to give me room to put things out.
DO YOU HEAR ME, ROSS!

Just before I sign off, I want to share a couple of images with you.

Ian

having found a beer that he likes . . .

and a temperature that he doesn't. . .

I love these photos!

Monday 3rd May

It's late - the clock on the computer says 21.22 so it'll be another short entry.

No photos of the wedding or the barbecue here, I'm afraid!

I pulled my camera out of my bag when we arrived at the church only for it to tell me that the battery was dead! Why? It had been fine the last time I'd look at it!

Sowhat about the wedding?

Well, they had a little candle ceremony during the service.
The mothers of the bride and groom walked up to the altar - different sides, and lit the candles that had been placed there for them. Then they lit a bigger thicker candle together.
This, it said in the little wedding booklet, symbolised the union of the two into one!

I told Gill King about this today when we were driving to the swimming and she said that they had done something similar at her son's wedding.
It transpires that Geeta, Howard's wife, is Latvian and the 'candle thing' is part of their traditional wedding ceremony!

I never thought to ask Sri if it was traditional in Indonesia too. I must do that the next time I see her - I'll let you know!

They had also printed the names of everybody who had a part to play in the wedding on the back page - I thought that was quite useful.

The other little touch I liked was the napkin at the meal.
It had a sprig of rosemary and a sprig of thyme folded in it and little books of flower seeds.

Oh and there was a quiz on each table - 'How well do you know Maya and Rav?' It was fun - lots of people didn't know answers and wrote down daft things.

And getting the answers at the end meant that we all learned something - like they're going to the Philippines for their honeymoon!

It was a lovely meal I especially liked the Morrocan lamb. Oh and here's something they did different as well. . . they had the speeches after the main course - before the dessert which by the way was individual little pavlovas with passion fruit - yummy.

This little section is called. . . .

CRYSTAL COVE
(our holiday to America continued. . .)

Ian outside the restaurant on the beach. . . which is as close as we got!
It was very atmospheric with its fifties' music surrounding it!

And these two photos show you the derelict chalets on the beach which are gradually being renovated for holiday homes to rent!
The tiny wee figures in the photo immediately above are Lucy and Braeden :)