Disruption

The Acorns Are Falling

~ beetleypete ~ 20 Comments

This year is a very ‘bad’ year for acorns, depending on your point of view. The hot summer has produced a bumper crop on the large oaks at the front and back of the house, so we are now suffering something of an ‘acorn avalanche’. This old post gives some idea what that is like, and not many of you have seen it before.

beetleypete

A sure sign that the season is changing, the sound of falling acorns is upon us in Beetley.

I should give some background, to make this all easier to picture. I could just post a lot of photos, but that would be far too easy. When we first viewed this house, one of the things we most liked about it, was the presence of two large oak trees. One is at the front of the property, and the other in the back garden. On a Google Earth viewing, they can easily be seen, dominating the comparatively small plot. As it is a bungalow, they do not intrude on the roof, and provide valuable shade, as well as an attractive ‘canopy’ over most of the property. They are both very old, perhaps over three hundred years or more, with the larger one in the garden, though the one at the front…

View original post 766 more words

Another Job Jobbed

~ beetleypete ~ 55 Comments

When I was young, my parents would always say that anytime they finished doing something around the house. As young as I was, I always thought it was a rather silly expression.

Now I am older, I still avoid using it. However, I have come to appreciate the sense of relief, if not satisfaction, when those routine jobs are over.

After ten days with a broken heating/hot water boiler, and trying to remember to keep switching on (and off) the electric back up, the boiler has been fixed. My son-in-law arrived earlier, and has been working for three hours to replace faulty parts, and get it going. The amount of dirt and soot inside the relatively small boiler cabinet had to be seen to be believed, and I was once again glad that it is situated in the garage, rather than the house.

It didn’t help that it has been raining torrentially all day, and walking in and out has left the floors of the garage and connecting shed covered in a wet sooty sludge that cannot be walked on until it has had time to dry out. Unfortunately, the freezer and large second fridge both live in the shed, so I have had to dump old towels onto the floor to be able to walk back and forth to the house without treading in sooty footprints.

After a week when the kitchen cupboards were painted, and the flooring measured ready to order and have fitted, I am relieved that the boiler has been fixed too, allowing the possibility of actually having a ‘day off’ of household disruptions on Sunday.

And I found myself thinking, “That’s another job jobbed”.

Domestic Disruption Ended: Almost!

~ beetleypete ~ 44 Comments

After delays due to the Coronavirus lockdown, and then a problem when the first painter had to leave the job halfway through, the kitchen/diner has finally been painted! The new painters finished the units and cupboards yesterday, and they make the room look a lot more modern now.

Ollie has had to be kept out of there for two days, and his routine was disrupted, which he hates of course. And he had to sleep in the living room, with his food and water bowls moved into the small hallway outside the bathroom. As a treat, we took him to Castle Acre yesterday, for a change of scene. Of course, he would have preferred to stay at Beetley Meadows, so spent his walk around the Priory grounds hanging back and crying…

Today’s job is to investigate new flooring for the dining section. It previously had horrible old carpet tiles, which we threw away last year. Now we have to get something laid under the table and chairs, and when that is done, it will finally be finished.

I am definitely not getting any other tradesmen in until 2021, and maybe not even then!

More Domestic Upheaval

~ beetleypete ~ 62 Comments

Part two of the kitchen decorating saga begins! With the tiling completed, and the tiles having had time to ‘settle’, the painter has started the considerable task of painting the kitchen-diner this morning. We are also havng the dated units rubbed down and painted a light colour, so probably looking at a minimum of four days, possibly five.

After all the stress with Ollie recently, I went to bed at 9:30 pm last night, and slept like a log. Up early this morning to take down the lampshades, strip everything out of the kitchen, and pile most of it into the living room. It’s amazing to realise just how much stuff you have stacked around on kitchen worktops, as well as Ollie’s bed, food and water bowls, boxes of biscuits and food, and his treats container. Fortunately, no rain is forecast, so I was able to put the waste bins and kitchen chairs outside on the lawn. Other than the dining table, which I did not want to dismantle, the room is now completely empty, and ready for work.

I suspect we might be eating out or getting food delivered for a couple of days, as the prospect of having to put everything back and move it all again in the morning definitely does not appeal to me.

It is only 9:15, and it already feels like late afternoon after such an early start.

When the painting is finished, new flooring is next on the list.
Fortunately, we don’t have to move every single thing to allow that to be done.

If any other projects are taken on in 2021, I will want to make them outside ones! 🙂

Some Domestic Disruption

~ beetleypete ~ 63 Comments

This year was planned to be the year we finally tackled the kitchen/diner. Unchanged since 1995, it is a style that is beyond getting away with calling it ‘Retro’, and definitely better described as’Dated’. After new windows, interior decoration, and carpets last year, I had to wait to save up the money to get someone in to spruce up the kitchen. In an ideal world, I would have used a kitchen planning company, and had all new units installed. But we all know that the world is not ideal, and I just cannot afford the many thousands of pounds that would cost.

The compromise was to change the multi-coloured tiling for something fresh and neutral, and have the cupboards rubbed down and painted. Once the tiling is finished, the painter can come in to do his job. Unfortunately, the painter is not adept at tiling, so we had to engage someone else to do that. He was so busy after not working during the lockdown, that he has to do the job over this weekend, instead of a weekday. So no morning lie-in, and everything shifted out the way of the numerous surfaces requiring his attention.

One good thing about the layout of this house is that social distancing from the tiler is easy to achieve. He is doing a good job so far, (Saturday) and plans to continue until 5:30, coming back to work all day tomorrow in order to get the job done.

As soon as the tiling is in place, we have to arrange a date for the painter to come. He estimates perhaps four days to make a good job of the fair-sized room, especially as he will also be painting all the woodwork and cupboards. To be honest, left to me, I would have tolerated the 1990s look.

I’m sure it will soon be back in fashion.

A Domestic Update

~ beetleypete ~ 63 Comments

After my recent post about being disrupted by the arrival of the painter today, it seems that the disruption was not as bad as I anticipated.

With everything piled into the middle of the living room and covered in dustsheets, I have been exiled into the office since 8:30. That meant an early trip to the supermarket, to get out of the way, and a slightly longer dog walk for Ollie after that.

Julie went into the bedroom to listen to music on her phone, and I was unable to sit and watch the midday news whilst eating my sandwich, as is my habit.

Otherwise, we have no curtains at the windows until later this week, and will probably be spending more time in the kitchen. Whether or not I will be able to get anything on the TV later, after having to disconnect the aerial, that remains to be seen. I had forgotten just how many wires sit unseen behind the unit that the TV stands on. Moving it right out this morning, I was actually surprised by the amount of cabling required to be able to watch stuff. There is the TV of course, then the Blu-Ray player. Add to that the streaming box, the PVR cabling, and lots of extra bits for a device that boost the signals, and there is enough electronic gadgetry there to facilitate the 1969 Moon landing, I’m sure.

One family member was very disrupted though. Poor Ollie the dog had his world turned upside down. His toy box had to be stored in another room, and he was unable to lie against the wall until we went out, as he usually does. Having to go out of the front door, along the side of the garage, then back in through the kitchen door confused him completely. Every time he followed me outside, he thought we were going out for our walk.

His frequent disappointment had to be seen to be believed.

This evening, I have to get at least one sofa out of its covers to sit on, and try to get something working on the TV. I suspect a very early night is in the offing.

But the main job will be trying to keep Ollie away from the walls, without shutting him in the kitchen. If we did that, he would think he was being punished for something, and wouldn’t understand.

The painter tells me he might have to give the woodwork a second coat on Thursday, so only three more days to go…

Walking with Bertha

~ beetleypete ~ 19 Comments

We had some plans for today. Julie’s son was coming up from Hertfordshire with his girlfriend, and we were going to meet up with her other children, and all go out to eat in Norwich. The table was booked, and our spare room prepared for the overnight guests. Julie had made brownies as a treat, and for once, everything was well organised. It was going to be a family Sunday. We were not expecting particularly good weather. The TV forecast had mentioned heavy rain was possible, and there could also be strong winds, up to gale force. After so long with blue skies, and uncomfortable heat, it seemed rather cruel that nature should pick this weekend to shuffle the deck. Julie’s son had to turn back. The M25 was closed, the weather appalling, and the surface water was becoming too dangerous. With the prospect of local road closures, weather disruption, and the chance of being stranded somewhere, we decided that discretion was the better part of valour, and scrapped the whole thing.

Sure enough, within the hour, the sun had appeared. Blue skies and gusty winds blew away the rain, and we were left wondering if we had been too presumptuous with our cancellation. Either way, I had to take Ollie out, and we left for his walk in pleasant temperatures, and brightening conditions. I decided to wear a light coat, just in case. We had been informed by the weatherman, that these conditions were the result of catching the tail end of Hurricane Bertha, as it made its way across the Atlantic before fizzling out somewhere further north. I did a couple of tours of the meadow, and cheered by the warmth, decided to take Ollie across to Mill Lane, heading for the route behind the pig farm. I hadn’t got very far, when the sky darkened rapidly. Bertha had arrived. Perhaps she had gone for a look around north of Gressenhall, and decided she preferred the Beetley area. Whatever the reason, I suddenly found myself in the middle of a very unusual weather experience.

Once past the few houses, Mill Lane becomes a dirt track, shaded by large trees that meet overhead, and form a closed glade. Even in the brightest and warmest weather, this section of the path is usually dark and damp, and the ground always remains muddy. As I entered this, the sound of building wind became louder, and different to any I had ever heard before. In a moment, it was as dark as night, and all around me small branches, twigs, and leaves began to flutter down from the trees. They were caught in the strong winds, and began to swirl around just above ground level, as if they were trying to get back up into the trees that they had fallen from. Loud cracks advertised the falling of larger branches, which plopped down into the mud. And it was raining. Not just any rain, but hosepipe rain, coming at me horizontally, as if unseen Firemen were hosing me down. I didn’t really feel able to continue forward, or to turn for home. I had to close my eyes against the debris lashing my face, and within seconds, I was wet through to the skin. I wasn’t in the ‘eye of the storm’, I was directly in the storm. And it felt very strange.

I opened my eyes to check what Ollie was making of all this. The answer was that he was continuing as normal. Sniffing around up ahead, and trotting about as it it was just another day. I managed to pull up my thin hood, but that was soaked before it covered my head, and if anything, made me feel even wetter. I trudged on, shoes now black with water, and filling with mud and twigs, trying to remind myself that it was still August, and that this must soon pass. Once clear of the glade and into the open fields of battered blackcurrant bushes, the rain could really make its point. It lashed down with renewed fervour, causing me to turn sideways to avoid the worst effects. I contemplated going home, but Ollie had run off a few hundred yards ahead of me, to sniff at the rabbit burrows, so I carried on, hardly able to see for the water running down my head. And then it stopped.

In the blink of an eye, the sun was out again. It was bright and hot, and it was as if I had imagined the previous ten minutes. I started off once more, following Ollie, who had by then reached the plum orchards up ahead. Much of the fruit had been blown to the ground, and the stumpy plum trees looked buffeted and bruised. The hot sun could be felt on my back, and although I was still wet underneath, my thin coat began to dry out. I looked over to the south-west, and could clearly see the cloud that had passed over me. Low, black as pitch, and still swirling. It was accompanied by nearby thunder, and someone in the direction of Wendling was no doubt getting the same treatment I had recently received. I checked my watch, and realised that I had only been out for forty minutes. I had spent twenty of those minutes in the company of just the tail end of Hurricane Bertha, and it had been a far from pleasant encounter. I decided that Ollie needed to have his usual walk, so I carried on. The sand around the pig farm was damp, and reminded me of a beach as the tide comes in. The pigs showed no signs of being bothered by the storm. If anything, it had provided them with muddier than normal wallows, so they seemed content. I made it up as far as Gingerbread Corner, then turned to retrace my steps for home. Near the fruit farm, Ollie had other ideas. He spotted a rabbit, and took off along the rows of blackcurrant bushes, disappearing a few hundred yards inside the fields. I followed him up there, as I knew he would soon be back, looking for me.

Sure enough, he soon returned. But so did Bertha. A few raindrops, accompanied by darkening skies, and I knew she was back. I walked into some hedges lining the fields, and waited for the worst. Just heavy rain, and plenty of it. Ollie looked up at me, wondering why I wasn’t walking. This time, I was going to wait it out. After fifteen minutes that seemed like an hour, the rain stopped once again. In hot sun, I set off briskly, determined to get home before the next cycle began. We arrived back in warm evening sunshine, and a stiff breeze that made the leylandii hedges wave at us. I discarded my wet clothing, and gave Ollie a good dry with his towels. Julie made me a coffee, and resisted the urge to chuckle at my dishevelled appearance.

I had survived my walk with Bertha, and I sincerely hope that she never feels the need to return to Beetley.