STRESS TIMES 10

A whole lot has happened since my last posting - some good - some bad ……….. but everything is manageable at the end of the day.

I got a great little email from my Tjom Carl Awsumb in Memphis which just about made up for everything we have been through these last few days:

The way that you wander is the way that you choose. 

The way that you tarry is the way that you lose.

Came across this quote. You’ll never be guilty of that. 

Thanks so much Carl ……… you have no idea how that little pearl of wisdom helped me get through this last week.

Before flying to Cape Town on the 25th to be there with Pat for the upliftment of the furniture I had to make damn sure - one way or the other - that the floors in the house were complete and covered with plastic ready to receive all of the furniture and the 100 odd boxes that my amazing wife had packed virtually single handed since I left on the 2nd of May. Yes, there was the odd bit of help from my daughter Chavane, and my cousin Colleen who bit the bullet and helped tape up boxes for about three hours last weekend. But that was it ………….. everything else was a “Single Handed Round the World” Yacht Race type effort …………. with the only comparison I can make being the amazing Dame Ellen MacArthur who held that particular record for a very long time.

The floors?  We had everything done on the evening of Saturday the 19th (and they looked absolutely amazing), but had not banked on running short of mixed satin stain for the pine floors in the entrance hall just one metre short of the front door. Everywhere was closed, so we had to re-sand with the big floor sander on Sunday morning after taping down plastic to all of the other floors ………… first thing Monday I picked up more stain - mixed and applied. By 3pm it was ready for buffing and the final coat of clear Polyurethane. Strict instructions for everyone to stay out until the following morning - lay the plastic and get on with all of the chasing, breaking and building in of lintels etc ready for our arrival back on Saturday the 26th.

The upliftment of the furniture was enough to drive anyone entirely around the twist - they finished late, and we had arranged to have the family and a few friends around for snacks and drinks at Chavane’s house at 6pm - so somewhere well past 7pm I had to go down and do all of the locking up leaving Pat to fill all of the conversational holes …………. the evening didn’t turn out too bad all in all, and I must thank Dave Rattle for making the effort to pop by, Dales and Meryl whose support we know we can always rely on, Neil and Maria whose company we simply can’t resist and with whom we are tackling the Chobe Cut Lines and Kwai River wilderness in September …………. and of course the Frylincks (Joe and Simone), without whom no drinks and snacks function of any description deserves to be called that. I have to say a very special thanks to Dave for the fantastic selection of  music that he put together for us on six CD’s - all with fantastic pictures of his family and friends and grandchildren etc., etc. (Well done Dave …………. a sterling effort as always which kept us happily entertained the entire way to Bathurst on Friday). You really are so deserving of the description “Muso” - in every possible sense of the word …………. and herewith a belated public thank you too for that amazing evening evening of live music that you and Caradoc provided at our 40th Anniiversary at 27 Tahiti Close - it will always be remembered. We have our 50th coming up in December, so perhaps the two of you want to start putting a playlist together :o) - and figuring out where you're going to do it.

On Friday morning Pat and I were at the house at 6am doing final sweepings and clean-outs - dropped the keys at the agent - and hit the road by 7am. Driving is always relaxing for me - I am in total control and my mind has space to play ……………. so yes - while 11 hours on the road is stressfull for some, it is something I cope with very well. Saturday however was entirely another story. 

We awoke to the most beautiful autumn day here on the McCreath farm just below the Toposcope ………. I took Jesse out for a quiet walk beyond the fences that contain their dogs and she thought that she was in doggy heaven. There was cowshit everywhere just waiting to be rolled in - vistas that went on forever - pink-blue skies that are so beautiful they are virtually indescribable. She was happy beyond any words, and her entire bearing made it entirely obvious.

Biddulphs had told us they would be there at 10am so we made a point of getting down early enough to ensure that the place was properly swept and ready for the cargo …………… again, Jesse thought she had landed in a parrallel universe to the one she woke up in and spent an entire two hours charging around the property investigating every nook and cranny - a grin from ear to ear glued to her face the entire morning. She managed to nail her first ever mole which she proudly showed us, and had to be stopped and put on her lead before she nailed the neighbour’s chickens that had wandered onto No. 6. We quickly found the holes in the fence and took the necessary measures.

Calls and apologies - calls and excuses ……… they eventually arrived at 3.30pm by which time my dander was really up, but I tried to be civil. at 7.30pm I began to lose it when all of their labour were standing around chatting on cell-phones instead of off-loading. Yes ……… I lost it, but less that 40 minutes later everything was done and dusted …………….. an exercise which could easily have taken another 3 hours at the pace they were working.

Petrus and Luke boarded up the outstanding holes, and me and the two girls headed for the Ploughman’s Pub …………… two well-deserved double Captain Morgan’s and Coke, one of Michelle’s amazing Chicken Pies in front of a roaring fire (I was in shirt sleeves and it was getting very cold …… thanks Patrick, you saved my life), and almost all was well with the world again. Off to bed ………. never-ending cramp virtually the whole night ………. up in the morning and out and about in search of somewhere to watch the Grand Prix. Rosemary Davidson and her delightful sister Charmaigne (whom we had lost touch with for close on 20 years or more), resolved the problem, and we all ended up at the Highlander in Port Alfred for a lovely lunch in warm sun and the chance to pop in every now and then and catch up with what was happening in Monte Carlo ……………. pretty damn boring as always - but what a beautiful place to have a motor race.

Then last night saw all of my systems shut down - one by one - I was cold, depressed , fillibrating, cramping all over, and just about ready to give up on the whole damn shebang. I took four Rescue Remedy, three Disprin, and hit the sack. 

This morning another Pink and Blue heavenly sunrise - Jess and I hit the fields for a walk and suddenly all was good with the world once again.

We really got stuck in today and a “WHOLE LOT” got done ………….. still not 100% - but with my good wife’s steadying hand, right now tomorrow looks like it will be an even better day.

I almost forgot!

A few days ago Glenn and Anne McCreath popped down to the house - Glenn had a very old Kodak film with a few exposures left in a much older Bellows Camera, and he thought it might be good to capture something really 'period' with all of the old gear. Anne brought down a dress that really fitted the mood and to work they went. 
Once back home Glenn developed the old film and I have been fortunate enough to see the proof.............making it quite clear to them both that I want to buy a print to hang in the house once we move in.
I happened to have my little Nikon D5100 handy and quickly snapped a few shots of the lovely Mrs. McCreath in her Victorian/Edwardian dress, and spent a little while playing with the pics in Lightroom.
This one (not great compared to what Glenn did), captures a little bit of the Spirit of Place as it might have been 100 years ago, but I urge Glenn to publish his image somewhere .......... as a valid "old" film and camera archive image it is truly remarkable.
Thanks so much for your enthusiasm guys ......... it is really something in very short supply these days.

Anne McCreath taking 6 York Road "Back In Time"

PICTURES AS PROMISED

A couple of days ago I promised some progress pictures ........ here they are. Looks a right old mess I know - but there is progress on every front, and anyone who has ever been involved in a refurb of this kind will know how exciting it is to see it all coming together day after day.

Also, apologies to Lynn and Anne for getting their names mixed up ........... someone must be reading the blog for it to get noticed ......... Yippee! All repaired - will try not to let it happen again.

Eric (Have I got that right????? ........ nervous of making a mistake after getting nabbed earlier today), the Garden Services guy, popped by today to do a final cut and clean before we take transfer ............ what a really nice man. He walked me right through the garden pointing out the good and the bad - naming trees for me and suggesting what and where things should come out or be kept. Wow ....... what an amazing garden!!! Pat, my love - you are going to absolutely do your bundle when you see it next week. I just know that it is going to become a minor obsession of yours................and just wait until you hear all the birdsong, even with all of the banging and clattering on the site.

Prepping the Kitchen entry from the new scullery

Getting into "view" mode from the lounge out over the farmlands down to the sea 

The hole under the kitchen floor before prepping beams etc

Rubble sorted - floor joists in - boards going on

Busy with the boards

Continuing work in the scullery

Area of the stormwater collapse - prepped for buttressing and repair

Scullery brickwork reaching completion

Another point of view

Foundations for the buttressing in position

New kitchen floor in - sanding old floors in the lounge

The Mighty Sanding Exercise - a very serious undertaking with plenty of dust

10 Days In!

Tuesday the 15th May marked our 10th working day on site, and I am amazed at how much has been achieved. All of the floors have been jacked up, re-beamed as necessary and supported sufficiently to be the bearers of a serious stomping party in every room. One or two infills need to be completed before sanding and sealing starts on Thursday, and the new boards in the kitchen need to be laid. All of the internal breaking is complete and I can begin to feel the “flow” of the house.

Wednesday should see most of the conduits for plugs and switches cut and all of the grinding for the outside wall openings finished.

Decisions, decisions: do I create the openings and simply board up to protect the furniture …….. or do the breaking and clearing closer to the time……..working around the covered furniture and boxes? I’ll decide before the 22nd when I fly back to Cape Town to help Pat with the upliftment - one way or the other a decision has to be made.

Spent a really interesting couple of hours with Graham and Lynn Walker,  sipping a lovely 2007 Merlot at their beautiful renovation down in the valley where they look up over the same farmlands as we do. Graham visited me on site with a view to resolving a stormwater problem that threatens both his property and ours ………. we met this morning over a great cup of coffee at the Bistro where you pay what you think the coffee is worth ……….. or pay some extra forward with a disc that allows someone else who happens to be a bit short on the day to help him - or her - self to a cup…………..Graham invited me around for a drink after I had had a chance to fill out the necessary forms for the Ndlambe Municipality which he had kindly organised and supplied.........which is why I was there. Simple!

Ren and Colleen Brand sent through a pic of the Bistro a couple of weeks ago where they had met the proprietor ……… the lovely Anne, who is everything that they promised she would be. Thanks guys.

Today was one of those really special Autumn days - where the light was perfect in every respect - morning, noon and evening. Wherever you are in the world it seems this phenomenon reigns - and only lasts for a few days each season - so be aware of it ......... it is very special. This morning I got up very early and took some pics of the mist in the valley below this very special farm where I am staying ………. then I had the good fortune to watch the sparkling (fading) light against the farmlands from the Walker’s verandah, and as I returned to the farm and got out to open the gate there was the Evening Star in all its absolute glory against and azure sky settled gently on a burning rim of red that framed the northern hills. WOW! …….. Wish that you were all so lucky!

Had a young lady from the location that Anne had organized for me come in this morning to sweep out, dust and do a bit of washing. The cottage looks sparkling - and I have some clean clothes to wear. ……can’t wait after all the dust and dirt on site. On my way back from Port Alfred I picked up a small Rump Steak from Vaughn at the Shangri La store this morning ……….. cooked it up for dinner with a nice big fat mushroom, a few chips, red onion and tomato, some blue cheese and a slice of nice mature cheddar. Good steak makes such a difference………… unlike a piece I bought in Port Alfred last week which I seriously considered fashioning into a pair of sandals it was so tough. Goodonya Vaughn - keep it up! He also let me have a Free Range chicken - something I have not been able to find in any of the big stores up here so far.

My lovely cousin Lynda - and her (what shall I call him?),  sparkling / cheerful / thoughtful / considerate / complimentary (enough, enough!), husband Robin ……… who grew up and farmed  in the Karoo north of here (just a little south of Middleburg)……….. and who both have links to this part of the world via Grahamstown and Rhodes University, have together recommended that I obtain, and read, Noel Mostert’s “Frontiers”.  My searches today tell me that it is something special, and somewhat of a “collector’s item”, and not so readily available as I had hoped. I have asked Pat to visit what used to be “The Two Old Oaks” bookstore in Simon’s Town in the hope that she will find a copy there ………. whatever, we will find one somewhere I am sure. In the meantime I am reading “Assegai over the Hills” by F.C.Metrowich published in 1953, and which gives huge insight into a great many aspects of the world as it was in the Grahamstown District during the early 1800’s. A history lesson indeed, filled with a wide range of astonishing characters from both sides of the spectrum.

Tomorrow I will upload a few pictures indicative of progress on the house (I hope!)

NAILING IT!

Having arrived in Bathurst exactly one week ago on Wednesday ......... and started work on 6 York Road one week and one day ago go today, I am over the moon with the progress we have made. Any outsider looking in would really wonder what all the fuss might be about, but from a structural progress point of view things have been completed that I really didn't think we would have tackled as yet at this stage......................BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY - I have really begun to meet the people.

But first ............ one of my biggest concerns was the sagging floors. After a survey (much of it on my back in the dark dirt of a thousand years), I bought the necessary timber  and had the guys take down every superfluous treated gumpole on the site to use as props and supports. Petrus and Luke have been absolute stars, working in the most confined space imaginable they jacked up and lifted what will be the Master Bedroom floor - fitted new intermediate beams and bearers, posts and supports ......... after which we cut in the filler boards where we removed anything that was rotten. By yesterday afternoon we could have held a Rock Concert on the floor. It was level - it was solid - it was ready for sanding and sealing. Today they cracked the entrance hall and what will become our dressining room, and tomorrow we tackle the guest bedroom before going on to the lounge.......thereafter we will lay the new boards in the kitchen.

Sergeant Hector's Father-in-Law that he promised to me as a bricklayer on my first visit to the Police Station (when we originally called in to check out the village's crime stats), started on Tuesday and we have built in most of the lintels and bricked up all the necessary openings. Tomorrow we start on the kitchen scullery / laundry structure. Vorentoe ..... (Forward - as theysay in Afrikaans). Let's get this thing done!

The first person to pop around was my next door neighbour from just across George Road - David Forsdyke - he tells that he is well involved in the history of Bathurst, which, from my point of view makes him an ideal drinking / coffee / dinner buddy, and I know that I am going to get to know him very well over the next quite short period. 

Next to pop in was Tom Barrett, who with his very charming wife Allison, own the the object of much of my trespassing during previous visits to Bathurst ............. the Stone Cottage adjoining the Wesleyan Church, and diagonally across the road from No. 6 York Road. I was in the middle of a Grinder dust storm in the passage when I spun around to get out and all but knocked Tom right off his feet. He had met my oldest buddy, Peter Davidson, at the Bathurst Agricultural Show a few weeks previously, and Pete had told him that I was about to take ownership and begin restoration of the old house, and he had come to invite me to a small - but regular - gathering of a few Bathurst friends and regulars at the Stone Cottage .......... a sort of "Chop & Dop", except that you brought your own tipple and a plate of food ............ short notice - on my own - renting on the farm ............ I settled for a plate of some mixed nuts and sliced biltong and a packet of Flannagans Irish Chips.

What a lovely bunch of people - what great grub - what a beautiful house - what a tremendous collection of photographic memorabilia of the Proteas tour to Bangladesh, (in 2003 I think it was ......Hansie / Kallis / Boucher / Jonty  et al) ........... all at a very welcome evening's entertainment at the Barret's residence in the "deshi" at the time, where I believe they were all only too happy to get some traditional  fare and some good South African hospitality. Tom's stories were fascinating and made really good listening in every respect.............particularly with my family's cricketing background as a bit of a foil. They also have a really beautiful collection of paintings ............. a group of watercolours by Chrystal Wynne covering farming in Rhodesia in the early 8o's in particular. Certainly some of the best watercolours I have ever seen.

Rob ......... a Scotsman whose surname I forget, was an ex Berea Park regular and able to spin a few catching "when we's" of his own when it came to to the old days in Pretoria............... then there was Howard, Chrissie and a few others whose names I really do apologise for not remembering, other than Lois 'Lane' (who I believe lives just down George Street) - but who I am quite sure I will be able to match up and remember after the next ten or fifteen visits together. Whatever - Whoever - they were really lovely people one and all ............... and so very welcoming!

All of this was of course after popping up to the Ploughman's Pub at the Agricultural Museum which is an absolute "must" for anyone with even a passing interest in the history of South Africa. Pat and I had spent a good four hours with the curator of the museum on our last visit to Bathurst about four or five years ago, but don't recall any pub then. There is now! And the proprietor Patrick Rowley is a real stand up fella who welcomed me into his environment with trust and enthusiasm as I was looking for a venue to watch the Spanish MotoGP on Sunday.

What do I know about Biking ........... NOTHING! But I spent the afternoon in the company of a few bikers from Grahamstown who were there to share their enthusiasm for the sport with anyone else who might be interested ........... what a cool bunch of dudes: I remember Theo (who used to race bikes), and Laskey, or Laisekey, Latskey ...... or whatever .............. I will meet him again - what an absolute gentleman, and with a sense of humour to match anything I have ever come across in the past.

Before I left for the Pub on Sunday I went for a long walk around the McCreath's farm where I am staying ....... windmills / views / 'Old Man's Balls' / Nguni's ............... and views - more views - and more views.

When I got back a donkey came to make friends ............ judging by some of the pics he may have thought he was a rabbit .............. I fed him a carrot, and he now seems to make a point of hanging about until I arrive back just before dark each evening so that he can bum another carrot or two.

So ...... here's a bit of history, which considering where many of us originate from, makes quite interesting reading.

Situated on the left bank of the Kowie River, Bathurst was founded in 1820 - established on the Kaffraria frontier, an area of fierce conflict between white settlers moving Northwards and African pastoralists and refugees from the Mfecane moving Southwards. Named after Secretary of State for the Colonies, Lord Henry Bathurst, it was initially intended to to be the administrative capital of the Albany settler country (now called the Albany District), but Sir Charles Somerset moved the administrative offices to Grahamstown because of its superior military position.

in 1821 the settler blacksmith Thomas Hartley built the original Bathurst Forge, which in 1831 was converted into a pub, the Bathurst Arms, which remains the oldest licensed Pub in South Africa...............now known as the Pig & Whistle after being renamed during World War II by servicemen from the nearby Air School. Famous settler Jeremiah Goldswain bought the Pub for his son in 1853, and it was he who added rooms where the forge had been and turned it into an Inn. The Wesleyan Chapel today still contains the family Bible of Jeremiah Goldswain.

On a lookout point above the village there is a circular Toposcope which is inlaid with 57 Bronze Plaques recording details of each settler party. The Toposcope is constructed around the original stone beacon from which many of the 1820 settlers were shown their allotments of land.

Last week Sunday saw the 180th Anniversary of the Bathurst Anglican Church - the oldest in South Africa, .......and the Wesleyan Church across the road from our house, which was constructed in 1823, served the residents of Bathurst well on more than one occasion when they barricaded themselves into the church against marauding Xhosa warriors. I can just imagine hordes of them holed up in the bushes at 6 York Road formulating plans to storm the church ............  certainly food for thought.

On the Farm - Sunday morning

Colloquially known as "Old man's balls"

Quite a few Old Men

View to the sea from the Toposcope

The oldest Anglican Church in the country - celebrated 180 years las Sunday

My pal the Donkey - I call him "Bunny Rabbit"

A couple of shots of Glenn's Nguni

This girl was having a conversation with me

THE BREADBIN

THE BREADBIN

Fortunately there was the most beautiful full moon when I picked my guys (Petrus, Luke, Bernard and Hartso), up in Masiphumele at 4.40AM on the morning of Wednesday the 2nd May, 2018. We drove straight back to the house at 19 Grand Bahama where we had packed the 3 meter long trailer with my entire collection of power and other tools ………… plus a couple of hundred liters of paint and 24 meters of shade cloth that I had acquired in Cape Town in readinesss for this project. The Trailer was parked in the garage but still needed topping up with some of the luggage and bedding that I had told the team to bring along …………. and top it up we did.

When we pulled out  at a few minutes past five AM after giving Pat a final hug and kiss I did so with very mixed feelings - she had been up and about since the alarm went off and was standing by with a great cup of coffee and some double thick yoghurt mixed with Bathurst’s finest Granadilla Curd that we had bought at the Sunday Market during our previous trip ………I was missing her already and we hadn’t even driven off yet. 

And so we took off ........ and not without quite a bit of trepidation. The Breadbin was really feeling the weight, and with 1000kms ahead of us I had serious doubts about her making it all the way. The first thing I became aware of as we jumped onto the N2 freeway off Baden-Powell was that the moment I went just one click over 75kms per hour the trailer began to sway, and like a bulky, life-threatening pendulum increased its momentum from side to side to a point where I knew full well that if I did not brake and slow down it would flip the Breadbin with no effort whatsoever. Question: were the tyres hard enough? I had pumped them to 450 in Fish Hoek on the way out, and feared that if I went any higher they would simply explode and blow me right off my feet. We would have to live with it and stick to 75kms per hour. This was an extremely trying exercise as the Breadbin really wanted to go a good deal faster every chance it got, and I had to be mindful of the limit to the point of distraction every minute of the sixteen hours we were on the road, as once the wobble started it was extremely difficult to get back under control - the trailer quite often exhibiting symptoms resembling a destructive form of Artificial Intelligence as it pulled both itself and the Breadbin out towerds the centre of the road in the path of both passing - and oncoming - Pantechnicons. Whatever you may think, there are far better ways to check out of from the restrictions of this mortal coil I am sure.

Sixteen hours! As each one approached Bathurst became less and less appealing, but soldier on we did…………..finally pulling in to a totally sodden garden that had received the full brunt of the electric storm that we had been witnessing in the distance for three or so hours. It was a little after 9.15pm. We found the keys where Jacqui had promised she would leave them - tightly wrapped in in a plastic shopping bag - and were wholly relieved to see that all the lights worked as we wandered about the joist deficient floors ………. bouncing it seemed, from room to room, with a sense of ever increasing surprise that we weren’t in fact falling through into the black and frightening void below.

Without wasting any time we all dug in and unloaded the trailer in record time, spreading the load about all the rooms so as to avoid overloading any one spot and causing a collapse. Once finished we carefully swept out the studio room and brushed down the walls before shaking out and folding the tarpaulins that we had used to cover the load on the trip. These formed the base - over the two sheets of 16mm commercial ply that we had brought with us - of the mens' bed for the night.

Once they were settled I took my leave and and at close to eleven PM arrived at the cottage on Glenn and Ann McCreath’s Nguni farm below the Toposcope which they had kindly agreed to rent to us for the two months prior to the Grahamstown Festival. Once again ……..  thank goodness for the Full Moon. Despite the rain and overcast conditions it provided huge assistance as I carted all my luggage and bedding into the warm and homely heart of this 1873 stone cottage. If you are ever looking for a really warm and comfortable Self-Catering spot to spend a real farm experience with views across the fields and down to the sea…..then this is it. And I assure you that you will not find nicer hosts anywhere on the planet.

Needless to say, I didn’t want to get up on Thursday morning, but a million things called. It was a day of absolute and utter chaos …………. and in Bob Dylan’s immortal words, “A Hard Rain’s a gonna fall”………. I assure you it did - in huge buckets-full. I did the Co-op, and had the most obliging help from Esme, Dominque and Steve ……… quickly finding the urgent bits and pieces that we needed to get started while Petrus and I headed off to the Spar in Port Alfred to do all of their necessary shopping after dropping off the trailer …………. a really convenient “one-way” hire.

Then we went in search of beds! Port Alfred has plenty of 2nd hand shops, which, when it comes to beds, seem to think that as sale items they constitute retirement funding. Finally we ended up at the Bathurst  2nd Hand Shop on the way out of town, and there, with the assistance of the owner (Mr. Elliott), were finally met with a sense of reasonableness and a will to negotiate realistic prices agreeable to both parties. The deal was done - the mattresses loaded - and back to 6 York Road we went.

I had left the driveway gate open upon leaving, and returned home to find four wandering cows and a young bullock happily esconced in the garden ……… chewing their cuds and curious in the extreme as to why I might want them to leave - but leave they did after a little gentle persuasion, whereupon I closed the gate and they wandered on down towards the Pig ’n Whistle.

Luke, Bernard and Hartso had worked miracles. All of the tools had been sorted and packed into the cupboard in the one bedroom, and the entire house had been washed down …….. walls, floors and ceilings, with a mild to medium mix of bleach ………..it looked clean and it smelt clean - smile, smile, smile! I have always been a firm believer that a clean site engineers quality work, and for the most part this has proved to be true ………. being my own house this will of course be an even more essential ingredient.

We then hoisted the long  ladder up through the trap door into the ceiling ……….. what a revelation! On a few previous occasions working in old houses I had noted that whilst the roof structures seemed to defy every structural principle in their sparsity of timber, the timber that was there was always beautifully preserved. This was no different here, and while I resolved that one of the first acts would be to triangulate the existing trusses to a degree that I would be comfortable with from a structural point of view ……. and to double up on the joists which carried the Oregon ceilings ………. there was no reason why I could not demolish the wall between the lounge and the kitchen as it served no structural purpose whatsoever, and would provide the perfect fill for the underfloor cavity that would become the Dining/Kitchem floor, with very little extra fill having to be imported.

I came away feeling good. Friday would provide new insights as regards floor supports and what methods of jacking the beams up are going to be required …………. but Day 1 proved to be good………………..finished off very nicely back at the cottage with a couple of glasses of ‘not too bad’ Shiraz in the company of Glenn and Ann, plus Harvey, Lola and Bella (the two full - and one partially bred Border Collies), and the two pugs whose names I have yet to learn ....... after which I cooked up a couple of pieces of chicken before sitting down to prepare this script, load the pics - and fall into bed.

The Guys with the Breadbin and the trailer while filling up at Sedgefield

Well washed cupboards stacked with tools and rarin' to go

Sorted extras waiting to be used

Typical floor that needs "jacking up" and new joists

Visitors in the garden

Visitors leaving