Saturday 20 August 2022

Saturday 20th

It's been a busy week ............... 

The weather has carried on being dry and humid here - still no rain to speak of (and I was very glad they cancelled the fireworks at the Patronal Celebration at the church over the road) so it's still a nightly round of watering whatever I have the energy to do.......always the greenhouse but outside has to take it's turn. Was very annoyed to find that despite the enviromesh over the Brassica plants, there are holes in leaves, caterpillars and white-fly. The plants are looking very sad - not worth the effort at all I think.

Eldest Daughter and the two boys were here from Surrey and we packed in lots of trips including a meet up with the two Suffolk families on the beach in Felixstowe on Sunday. This was quite eventful because the children found a live .303 rifle bullet amongst the rock breakwaters. Youngest Granddaughter thought it was a pen and tried to write with it! The Archaeologist son was very calm and thought it safest to call police which is what they have to do if they find live ammunition during a dig. It was duly collected and taken away - just in case.

The August WI meeting in this village takes the form of a 'Grow, Cook and Sew  Show' but due to the family visit I didn't bake (and there are no vegetable classes) so just entered Strawberry Jam, Mango and Pepper Chutney and a Photograph of an Historic Building. Surprised to find I got 3 x 2nd places but, unlike Bacton Fayre, there are no prizes for individual classes at this show only cups or trophies for points overall.
(The cards are folded and paperclipped to start with so the judges don't see the names)
The show is open to villagers to have a look in the evening and there's a draw, tombola and other fund raising stalls too. There's never been anything like this at any other WI's I've belonged to so it was interesting to find out how it all worked. 

On Wednesday a man from Essex and Suffolk Water Company came to fit me a water meter which I hope will save me about £100 a year and the same saving for the sewerage charges which are paid to a different company but will now be based on water usage rather than on Council Tax Banding.

Thursday was hair-cut day - they've put their prices up yet again, even though it only takes her 15 minutes to do a quick clipper cut and trim the edges....Oh well - anywhere else would probably cost the same and require driving so I'll stick with them.
Once home I used the last two aubergines plus some of my onions, two tins of tomatoes and a courgette to make yet another batch of pasta sauce, which were soon portioned up and frozen. There's now plenty in the freezer to make a meal a week almost until Christmas! 

On Friday a man came from the building company to have a more detailed look at the work that is to be done in making me a new en-suite with drains into the mains and a radiator so I will no longer freeze in winter and worry about the Saniflo macerator system packing up. They hope to start around the middle of September and take about 3 weeks. I choose to go with a bigger building company who employ all the trades so in theory there won't be any hold ups. 
He wasn't sure about turning the old en-suite into a store room accessed from outside due to changed regulations with regard to the proximity of the heating oil tank. But I've known right from the start that the oil tank will need replacing and moving sometime so may need to get that done before a door is put in the back wall.

Apart from that I've been enjoying the European Multi-sport Championships on TV. So good to see GB getting medals in all sorts of sports - very different to the past when a medal was a rare thing. 

Another bit of Nanna stuff later today as it's Eldest Granddaughter's turn to visit and to stay overnight - on her own -  better find some craft things for her to do.


Have a good weekend whatever the weather
I shall be back one day next week
Sue

28 comments:

  1. Congratulation on the seconds for your entries - how lovely. Your plans sound very exciting too - looking forward to photos when it's all done.
    Have a great weekend.
    xx

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    1. Not looking forward to having 'men in' ! but it will be a relief when it's done

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  2. We had the boiler serviced this week. Apparently our oil tank is 10cm too close to the original old garage. But it's been that way for at least 20 years - have they changed the rules do you think? When the boiler goes we may get an electric one instead. I hope your new loo is in place soon. It will be a Great Convenience I'm sure!

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    1. 2 metres from any building is now the rule - mine is about a foot from the back of the garage and the slabs it's on aren't level so I know it needs changing. - More expense!

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  3. Well done on your prizes. What an adventure to the beach for the family-great that your son knew the correct thing to do. Catriona

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    1. The bullet was a surprise. I expect it had been in the sea so was probably OK but better to be safe

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  4. I hope your new radiator works. My new, energy efficient gas boiler has meant I've spent two of the coldest winters ever! Simply dreading the coming months!

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    1. Oh dear, that doesn't sound good. Hope you have some alternative for winter

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  5. WE had our furnace cleaned and tuned up (whatever that means) cost a fortune. Not looking forward to heating bills this year. had rain for a couple of days not enough to get us out of the drought but a help all the same.
    enjoy your granddaughter.
    Cathy

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    1. I looked at heating oil prices for my next top up - double this time last year!

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  6. We had our old toil tank replaced by an oil tank company. The new one was put further away but don't think it is 2 metres away, maybe 1 at the most. Mind you, it would have had to be well into the front garden to obtain 2 metres. Ah well. Our water bill halved when we had a water meter fitted.

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    1. I know I'm going to need a new oil tank before a door is installed into the old ensuite as it would be much too close.

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  7. All the best on your WI wins. A trip to the beach must have been great fun and you had perfect beach weather. Finding a bullet is a bit of a surprise. Undergoing construction inside the house is always a disruption...the end result is the prize. You must be looking forward to your new master bathroom. The new cost saving water meter sounds excellent. Reducing costs when everything is rising is great.

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    1. I'm dreading having people working in the house as we used to do everything ourselves - but will have to grit my teeth and cope

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  8. Good job your son was with you on the beach and could take charge.
    I had a wet cut at our village salon yesterday and it was £33!! - I have been going into our nearest town and being a model for an apprentice and that costs £12.50 for a cut and finish plus a nice coffee from their fancy machine, however, they were having a two week break.

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    1. Oh my goodness! £33 is rather a lot. I only once had my hair cut by a trainee - it took her over an hour - I just wanted to get it done and get out!

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  9. The rules on siting of heating oil tanks is to do with closeness to combustible materials so if a tank is going to be near a wooden door then it has to be 1.8 metres away from it and it has to be that far away from the eves of the house and 1.8 metres is just over five feet and most house eves and bungalows will be higher than that. However, if it is next to a solid brick wall then it can be as close as you like. The chances of heating oil spontaneously combusting are zero even if you threw a match at it. So relax everybody. My tank is next to my house but if I measured it it is probably several feet away and definitely more than 5 feet from the eves.

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    1. My oil tank will definitely have to be moved before the building work of having a door put in the back of the house as it's only a few inches away and the slabs it sits on are no longer level, plus it's only a 1000litres and I'd prefer bigger to take advantage of having a bigger delivery

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  10. As usual a busy programme Sue and pasta sauce for the freezer,

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    1. I'm looking forward to a couple of quieter weeks before the building work starts

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  11. A live bullet on the beach! Glad nothing bad happened with it when the grands found it. I've had a week of Covid but now have tested negative so must mask for 3 more days just to be sure. Glad that having had the vaccines and boosters and getting the anti-viral that symptoms were lessened. Still something to be avoided and wish I had been successful with that. Of the 10 of us on vacation I was the only one to test positive and experience it.

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    1. The bullet had probably been washed by the sea so might have been harmless, but you never know.
      Hope you are soon recovered fully from covid

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  12. Well done: building plans and grandchildren and the WI fair. A busy week.

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    1. I hope for some quieter days soon, don't like being too busy!

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  13. Well done on your wins that chutney sounded interesting.. We think we have at last had everything done in this bungalow, altho a new patio would be nice. Hope all your building work goes well, it will be worth all the inconvenience while its being done.

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    1. The whole house could do with a re decoration - but that will wait!

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  14. Well done on your three second places, not bad for your first showing there.

    The oil tank that we had moved to comply with regulations back in Wales has now been moved again, it has been re-sited into the front garden and where it was is now in the process of being dug away to form new retaining wall and a root cellar at the back of the house for the new owners. I'm so glad that we don't have to worry about anymore work going on.

    Good luck with yours, it will be good to have a more comfortable en-suite for you to use.

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  15. I'm glad I won't have to freeze after every shower this winter!

    The oil tank here definitely needs replacing and moving. There are several companies who do the whole thing so should be OK to get it done easily- apart from the cost of course!

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