Some things …

I forgot to tell you that we had the men round the other day to put in our cavity wall insulation. It started in January with a doorstep visit by a woman with a clipboard. Three months later (it would have been sooner if we hadn’t been in Chatel) we had three guys with a truck round filling our walls with little plastic balls. The whole things took an hour and a half … and cost us nothing. I don’t unnecessarily boast about having the work done for free – paid for by the council – because we can afford it. I mention it because there may be some of you out there who could benefit from free cavity wall insulation. We qualified because of the age of the house and the fact that we’re electric only. I don’t know the rules, but it’s worth investigating. Interestingly, and I know it’s getting warmer, we’ve only had to put the bar fire on once in the evening since we’ve had the work done. Result. (They reckon there’s a 30% saving in central heating costs.)

Some blokes and a pipe

We’ve also had two trips up to see Jen. Her list of ailments (bless her) have continued to grow. She now has gastroperisis, which prevents her stomach from emptying properly – she’s being sick an awful lot, losing weight she can’t afford to lose, and is lethargic. It’s a combination of a number of things, but includes the fact that she has floppy joints (there’s a proper name for that). Anyhow, as she waits for the NHS to clear its backlog we designed some eating patterns and foodstuffs (low fat and low fibre, the opposite of which hangs about in your tummy for a bit) and went out and filled the cupboards. I couldn’t resist going into teacher mode and producing some posters to remind her what works, and what doesn’t. I can report that so far, so good …

Our Jen Chew and walk!

We’ve got two outstanding jobs on the van. First we’re resurrecting the seat covers. My attempt a couple of years ago has begun to show its age and C wants to get involved this time. More to follow on that. From a mechanical point of view, I’ve installed a proper battery charger for the vehicle battery. And, having looked under the bonnet I’d say the starter motor needs a look at. I’m thinking of replacing it myself (£100) as opposed to getting a mechanic around to do it (£250). There’s no oil involved, it’s just plug and play. However, as you can see from the photo, there’s a bit of rust which might present a problem. I’ll let you know how it goes.

this might need replacing

I’m close to finishing the final edit of book 8 (still no name yet). I’m going to have that done by Easter, after which it’ll go to my beta readers and then, Julia, my proofreader. Hopefully it will be out in July. And I’ve started conversations with some of my army pal’s friends and relatives as I build a back story for the biography I’m ghost writing for his trip through Africa (with Parkinson’s). I have been busy … of sorts.

And we had old army pals, Daren and Karen, around for supper on Tuesday. They have a Hymer like ours and are heading off into the sunset in September for some extended touring. We always have a lot to talk about and notes to compare. Tuesday was no different. They are lovely people and we hope to tour with them (probably Nordkapp, won’t that be fab?) sometime in the future.

We’re off to Dover this weekend to stay with Richard and Caroline. It’s going to be an interesting journey … we might have to leave a couple of hours early.

Over 300 people died with covid yesterday. I think the hospital admissions are levelling out and, as a result, the deaths will do the same and eventually drop. But it is something when we can lose close to 2,000 people a week, easily the worst killer in the country, and now consider it to part of our life. I have to say, I don’t get it. But I know I’m in the minority.

Have a lovely weekend.

this is nice …