2020 - July

 

Sumi cat models in the kitchen. Our place looks better in the photos than it does in real life?

Brave cat: Sumi will go anywhere. I had to get up the ladder to get her back down off this ledge. Am thinking of putting some platforms up the wall to make getting up/down easy for her.

You can also see in the photo the smashed glass; a safety hazard that sat there for a month before they ordered the replacement, and another one or two months for the replacement to arrive. The door had to be lowered as it was previously sitting on expander foam, which is not a structural element!

Our wall leaked moisture so they finally came in to rectify that. It's under warranty for 6 years, so hope it works ok. We had the house inspected recently by Mario the professional builder in November and the damp was ok now.

Garry Corstorphan from Paddington Lace redid our front lace and balcony. He is semi retired. When he got back to work, his old wealthy patron asked him to just do something simple. So he slowly did the patron's daughter's lacework etc. As he went people cam past and asked for his card. He said he'd run out for the moment and gave out his number. Suddenly a business was born doing house fronts. He did a great job, careful and methodical. As Mario said while walking through; guys like this are a dying breed.

Many passers by commented on how it was going, and a fair few would love to put the detail back into the front of their terrace. Not sure who could do this once Garry fully retires.

Potato frenzy: at Laurens and Anke's place in Copeland near Gloucester. As much as you dug, there were more and more potatoes. We filled a bucket, and left it at that.

I love it when the boys get excited about this kind of thing. 

Good times.

At the local waterhole.

As good as it gets: the Prius averages 3.3 l / 100km. The only way you could beat this is if going downhill with the petrol motor turned off.