KEEPING TIME

SATURDAY

Set off from Flockton to go pick up and pay for the Westminster clock and of course to see it and hear its chimes for the first time that had  Helen bought through the week off Ebay .
The morning was very sunny and we headed for the A64 bound for the city of York to Kirkbymoorside .There is a roundabout after all the exits for York there is three or four that you always get tail backs it is controlled by traffic lights and it takes forever some times no cars will get through it can take a hour to do a few miles today was no better .

The turn off we needed was the one for Castle Howard you drive past the impressive Carlisle monument this is called the straight it is around 6.5 km long .

This road has to be one of the best drives it is just so grand and impressive and of course straight you drive past an obelisk and two further gates that will only allow one car at a time to pass through .

We kept driving on this road there is no need to rush there is so much to see and it is always quite we had one car pass us the coming way.It would have been great to get out of the car and take some photos these ones here I took off the Internet and our not my own .

About half an hour later we had reached our destination of Kirkbymoorside a small Yorkshire village .We parked up easily there was no charge for parking and  the shop was only  a few hundred yards away it was still sunny and it seemed hotter here  it was just after one in the afternoon we meet with Paul the owner and he showed us the chime mechanism and wound the clock up ,  there is three winding holes and it is shaped like Napoleons hat I have to admit it did sound real grand it has a lovely tone and the chime is made by five striking hammers . After we had paid he took off the pendulum weight you should always do this when transporting the clock and we took it back to the car then we went for dinner at the Lemon Tree fish and chip shop which is a take away and restaurant we ate them outside on tables on the pavement and i have to say they are really nice fish and chips and the curry sauce is to die for.

We took the scenic way back and we stumbled upon The Star Inn at Harome it is a Michelin star restaurant after already eaten we decided to stop for a cider Helen had a tea the gardens was lovely it was well maintained and they grow a lot of their own veggies to use  and serve in the restaurant .

Helen drinking her cuppa tea i had a cider the beer garden was well kept they also had a roof garden i think food is quite expensive but it did look nice but small portions i quite like the Jeepers Creepers character too.

After leaving the Star inn we continued our journey home once again we went through a market town we have never stopped off at before so we park up we were now at Helmsley we spent a our looking at some of the shops and had a walk up to the castle not sure how old it is we did not do the tour as it was getting late and we was going out for a meal with our friend Erin so we made tracks home .

We made it home in time for supper and we went to one of the Vintage Inns the Sovereign all three of us had the mixed grills which was filling and cooked to perfection another great meal two in one day after eating this i just wanted to go home and chill out .

Helen and I about to tuck in after a long day we both need this i have to say i cleared my plate should have got bread and butter with it .

The clock above the fire place in its new home chiming away happily keeping time .

ZTE FOR ME

Bought a Minimalist leather wallet for £5.99 of Ebay of course I have been using old iPhone 5s case which is getting worn I keep taping it but it is time to throw it away.

I also bought from the supermarket a smaller frying pan to go with the larger one that I  bought the other day I was also thinking of purchasing  a smaller wok as I bought the  large one everyone knows stir frying food is quick and easy and extremely yummy  . Also invested in a decent pair of kitchen scissors and an electric carving knife which make slicing the joints a whole lot easier .

Tomorrow we are going to an antique shop in York to pick up a Westminster chiming clock that chimes the hour quarter past half hour and quarter to hour that Helen bought for £70 of Ebay hopefully we will make a day of it and get to go round York it has been a few months since we have been there.

Another phone i have been looking at is a Zte Axon 7 which apparently sport a wicked pair of front facing speakers  decent battery and camera as well as storage see here it looks the dogs bollocks https://www.zteusa.com/axon-7

CHEESY BUT HOT

SATURDAY
Loving Mexican cheese that I bought I got a block rather than a packet of slices and it is great for burgers or a extra cheese topping on pizza.
Bought four ice cold tins of cloudy cider and I manage to bring three of them in a couple of hours .I and cut the grass done the edges with the trimmer and sucked all the cuttings up with the garden vac then watered all the garden and the pots .
After I had finished I  had a cold shower and a hot cup of coffee.

TUESDAY
A friend we use to work with came over to see us she came with her daughter and her daughters husband after going totally the wrong way they found us they loved where and how we lived so much so the husband offered us £75,000 next year when he gets some money through , i was not there if that was the cash we will have more or less doubled our money should we sell .

WEDNESDAY
Pay day we will do some food shopping and buy some goodies to drink and eat  ,we will also stock up on certain items coffee is on offer,  cider is on offer and i need more coconut ice cream .

Listening to  - Jon Bellion "Human Condition".

ICE FROM JAPAN

IT IS HOT too hot i have to g to work in a sweat red hot office no air no ventilation and uncomfortable we should have air con and free ice cold water .The temperature hit 35 degrees hotter than Spain and Athens .
I count the days until my two week holidays even thou we are going nowhere we will at least have to make it to the coast ,
Still not heard anything about my blue badge for my disabled parking it has been two weeks since my assessment i should hear soon i hope ,

THURSDAY
I have not got my blue badge i scored 9+ I needed a 12+ to get the  badge failed by only 3 points but  I will reapply in a years time.

I found this ice cream in a local supermarket Lidl it is from Japan is served in coconut shells because it is coconut ice cream if it is one thing i adore is coconut ice cream and this is the boss , two half shells for £1.79p what value its taste is gorgeous but of course only if you like coconut .

BEEN THERE GOT THE T-SHIRT

TFIF
I washed the car I hosed it down and washed it with Turtle Wax car shampoo i did not wax it , it is a black car and looks good when it is dirt free specially at night .

I took Pip out yesterday and George our ginger tom cat followed us  he has done this before no big deal , and he knows his way home.This was in the morning around ten o clock it was hot and sunny  , Helen went looking for him at around 21.00 hrs he been out all day no food no water .

He was in a field of rap seed oil plants and was  stood  there crying for some reason not moving he had been there all day , what was going through his head and why he was transfixed there I have no idea why , the farmer had his combine harvester ready to cultivate the field the following day he would have been cat mince .I think George is now down to seven lives .

SATURDAY
Went food shopping bought really nice beef burgers and Mexican chili jalapeno cheese slices to go on top also bought stir fry veg and fresh egg noodles and some quality chicken breast.

SUNDAY
Washed all the windows in the van also washed some of the van or parts of it then i had a shower ,
Drove over to my Daughters house she was colouring Helen's  hair. She was also cooking us Sunday dinner we had roast pork and roast potatoes we also had apple crumble and ice cream delicious.
I think it is the first time we have had Sunday dinner cooked for us other than dining out at a pub or restaurant .

I learned my son has lost his driving  license through drink and driving , his insurance is going to triple when he gets his license back in twelve months has he is still not talking to me i can only guess he is gutted living where he does it  is going to make life very difficult but at the end of the day the law is the law he broke it now he pays the price , I know how bad it feels I have been there done that and got the t-shirt  , I learned from my errors hopefully he will too.

He also has solicitors fees of £900 he was told they could get him off so it was a very expensive night out plus he will have a fine to pay and court costs.

WATCHING - Mr Robot season two.

LISTENING TO - U2

NO CONTRACT ON ME

I phoned my mobile provider Three and cancelled my phone contract which means no upgrade no new phone .
I have switched to a sim only plan which has dropped the cost from £48 a month to only £9 a month and is set for one year  rather than two years .

I have been looking at various phones Leagoo Shark , Cubot and Oppo so far i am favouring the Leagoo Shark with a 6300 mah battery at a cost of around £155 .The Cubot is cheaper and the Oppo 3 about twice the cost of the Shark ,  at the end of the day it is a phone and of course i know own the iPhone 5s i am currently using .

I got sick of being brained washed that you must have the latest phone , this generation , this years model or this years newest  release. I now feel that  it is all hyped advertisements making you feel you are lacking in social status because the phone you are using god forbid is two years old.

If get a Android phone i might look at getting a new Android tablet s well i thought the Google Nexus tablet was a great machine as good as any other model out there for about half the cost of a Apple .

BARBEQUE 2

As far as i can tell my assessment for my blue badge went alright it will be a fortnight before I know if my application has been approved or declined .

Started watching Game of Thrones once again I started on series three so far its been very good seen four episodes it does seem to get better and better , although it is gory and violent the storyline is gripping .

SATURDAY
It is the end of my week off work back to the grind Monday cant be arsed with it , Helen's brother goes back under the surgeons knife his kidney transplant is not working fluid is building up in his body and he is retaining water his arms legs etc have swollen to twice their normal size on of his main senior surgeons is all for operating the other senior surgeon apparently not .

SUNDAY
Went over to my nephews house in Bramley Leeds it was his mother's , my sister birthday mid week so it was decided to have a barbecue this Sunday.
The food was great really nice chicken ,  burgers ,  sausages , and kebabs with chocolate cake and strawberry gateau for desert .
We had the tv on to see Andy Murray win Wimbledon for the second time in his career which was good .
The weather was sunny then cloudy then sunny with intermittent showers of rain but we still had a laugh and a good time .Second barbecue of the year .

HAYFEVER WOES

SATURDAY - Off for a whole nine days and i am going to love every one because i rather be at home than at work .Even if the weather today is no better in fact it is mid morning and it is raining again.

Thankfully in the end we did get quite a bit of sun , went looking at tv's amazing picture quality still think Samsung are great tv's also looked at laptops , dab radio's and coffee machines nearly bought another Amazon fire stick for the bedroom but left it . Went to the Whereby Whaler restaurant for fish and chips we are getting quite regulars .

SUNDAY
My hay fever is back with a vengeance I have not had it as bad as this in a few years my eyes steaming , nose running ,  head thumping and to top it of no Priton tablets. I  drove myself  over to the supermarket the winding roads with major bends is no fun when every sneeze causes a major concern luckily I made it ok and bought the tablets .I really use to hate summer from April to end of August i use to get the dreaded hay fever I use to suffer immensely.

MONDAY
Hay fever just has bad I guess it will be a good twenty fours hours before the tablets I  am taking kick in .

TUESDAY
Hay fever is ok everything seems to be fine no more symptoms
Charlie our friend from Holmfirth called over to drop his girlfriend Katie of for a reading whilst we went to the pub for a couple of ciders.

WEDNESDAY
Power washed all the concrete paths around the van the van is forty foot long and ten foot wide we have quite a lot of the hard stuff to wash down using a nose that gives one  inch width of jet can take a while , I was absolutely soaked my feet and trousers from the knee down was wringing wet  I need it to dry so i can then go over it with the hose and yard brush to get rid of all the debris , that's a job for tomorrow . After I have been for my assessment for my blue badge parking permit fingers crossed if I am eligible then  no more parking woes at work ever again

THINGS GOING ON

Received my Tombow Air press pens I ordered two in the matt black finish  I  have also ordered another one in a clear plastic finish , they are for the price,  quite cool pens which  will write upside down should you need to and will also write on wet paper .

The weather is still totally rubbish it is still very grey , very dull , cloudy but worst of all wet and it is not looking to improve any , the cats and the dog is getting feed up with the weather also .

I have two meetings today at work with HR ( I don't like HR people one little bit ) and works senior management   which i can tolerate quite good ) about two different people one is a person working nights and allegedly he is sleeping whilst he is supposed to be working ,  it is also alleged that he is working two jobs both of which are full time  , how he is awake and functioning i have no idea which makes me doubt that this statement is not true .

The other is about a female worker we feels she is being victimized and bullied by her line manager when she came to our office she was distressed that  much historical and crying . I reckon  that if she had been on a tower block or bridge the chances are she would have jumped I have never seen anyone she distressed and freaked out about being at work

Well three days to work then nine days off annual leave one of the things i would like to do is visit Yorkshire Sculpture Park of course depending on the weather and hopefully go to one of the farm ice cream shops for freshly made ice cream , i am easily pleased .

Helen cashed in a whopping £25 for getting three correct numbers on the Lottery it has been a while since we won a bean  .

Had my haircut at the little green shack again which is called Terry's  , it is near Holmfirth I have been again for the second time only .Don't let appearances decide you he  does a very good cut , He has been located there for years I like to feel i am supporting local business and he must have done hundreds of cuts . And as you can see from the photo  it is literally just a wooden shed or shack  with a waiting area at the back and side and one seat and  basin at the front where you are seated for your hair cutting , which i guess it is all he needs .

MONDAY AGONY

People are pissed about the Eu referendum all i know is this ,  if things stay the same then nothing will ever change ,and nothing new will ever happen what is now will always be and where is the fun in that.

 .Fuck sake we had a vote and we voted the vote to leave was bigger ,  christ grow some balls and act like leaders instead of headless chickens do the job you are being paid and have been elected to do.

 And to all those who now are bitching and crying but who never got of their fat and skinny lazy arses to go to the polling stations to place a little X in a box , wind your necks in and shut your mouths and  cease your bitching , and yes i voted to leave .

Latest purchase of Ebay are two Tombow Air press pens in Matt black finish i first saw the pens on http://everydaycarry.com/articles/pens  web page .

Rest of the week to work then I have a great nine days off annual leave hope the weather improves .

MONDAY
Took today off from work as annual leave totally unplanned  I phoned in this morning as Helen's back is giving her grief and she could end up in serious pain so we are off to see the physiotherapist hopefully if she can get dressed and get in to the car we will get some advise as to what to do .
A few exercises to do and a bottle of pain killers hopefully problem solved . Don't know if it is a plus or not but i will be home to see the England game with Iceland we are already out of Europe hehe.

EXPOSED

Off to vote this morning before i go to work , right or wrong time will tell if i made the right choice to stay in the EU or to leave the EU.

I saw a Manny a old friend that i did my joinery apprenticeship with  , we started  on the same day and we went through three years of college together  . We used to meet up four nights a week and Saturday dinner time .We were very  good friends .I  have not seen him for years decades in-fact  yet we recognised each other straight away he was coming out of the lift in the hospital i work at he  had to have two metal rods in his back part from walking with a stick he looked well .

SATURDAY
Think the rest of Europe is a little  pissed of with Great Britain oops .

Bought another four solar powered light bulbs for the decking from the garden centre at Dobcross .
Went to the Wetherby Whaler at Wakefield for tea as always the food was good the fish spot on .

SUNDAY
Went back to the little country lane that we use to live on at Holmfirth ,We called  to visit Samantha as it is her birthday tomorrow , we also saw our next door neigh bough Roger how we much Toad Hole cottage.
The cottages have been sold the land at the back of them so they can dig out the banking to open up the back wall put doors and windows in and create a garden they got the land for £1 yet it cost them £750 in solicitors fees to complete the sale and do the deeds .
Some of the exposed stone work will have not been seen since the 1800's .To get to ground level another ten foot of dirt needs to be removed the owner of this cottage plans to put a door in the back wall and create a garden ,

Bought a welded  metal chicken for the garden and a wood rolled top bread bin for the kitchen with a built in bread board  , We also went to the farm shop and bought some food goodies like Cornish pasties Yorkshire puddings, steak pie , bacon and  made there very tasty home made gravy .



Watching - "I am Wrath" and "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot ".

ENGAGED

Fuck it's Monday already , why do weekends go too fast why is the weather so rubbish where is summer because it's not here yet.

My daughter is on holiday in Portugal and her boyfriend has proposed so now they are officially engaged of course i wish them all the joy and happiness and luck in the world i truly hope they have a long happy marriage .

My son never got in touch with me its been at least six months that i have not heard from him. He is being a idiot and there is little i can do about it until he see's sense and answers his phone , there is little point in me trying to call him , but life goes on i am not one to dwell on negative energy  for now it is what it is .

Loaded Kodi on to a frejds fire stick it was a different way i did it iw having trouble with the Es file explorer i used this method  https://seo-michael.co.uk/tutorial-how-to-install-kodi-on-a-firestick/ and it worked just fine .

England 0 Slovakia 0 if we cant beat these . Then  the England football team might as well pack their suit cases and get the next flight back home .

Listening to RHCP new album "The Getaway". Great album art work great music

Watching "Gods Of Egypt "

IN THE CAN

SATURDAY

The street had a barbecue we all went to our friends Jacquie's plot we all took food and drink ,
We made up a load of  kebabs with orange red and green peppers , onions and mushrooms some where with chicken and the others we skewered lambs kidney and bacon .
It was cold as the night drew on but we had no rain which was good i guess there was  around sixteen of us in one garden which was quite good fun we might have one ourselves hopefully the weather will be a hotter , i need to build one.

SUNDAY
Put up the two fathers day cards i received both from my daughter she also sent me one from  my Grandson Jenson .
Made a lamb shepherds pie with cheesy potatoes on top for lunch , another weekend gone .

The photo is Pip on her morning walk the poppies are so more plentiful than last year on the 18th of July we will have been living here for a year a full twelve months in the can amazing got to admit i love every day i am so glad i bought us this wonderful place to live.

MADE OF STONE

Helen bought a two half barrels and water pump feature for the garden we can hear it's  running water from the bedroom and it is electrical powered instead of solar which considering  the amount of sun we are getting at the moment  is not a bad thing .


Bought 30 inch high semi naked lady stone ornament statue for the garden we are putting yogurt on to it and rubbing moss soil on to it to encourage the moss to grow it looks too new as it is.

England's opening game to Russia we should have won it same old England why Rooney is still playing amazes me never rated him think he is well over paid we don't need him get rid .We don't need the hooligans either get rid .

SUNDAY
All it did most of the day was rain not a flaming June we went out for some food and that was about it weekend over .



Listening to  - Albums by - Rosette , The Cat fish And The Bottlemen and The Lumineers .

2 BEE OR NOT TO BEE

MONDAY
Today is hot  I have finished creosoting the backs off the gates , and it is getting that I don't want to go to work  this afternoon a major issue with starting work  late in the afternoon specially when it's a red hot day your more than likely to find an excuse  not to go the  trouble is like most of us who work is I need to keep my job .

Our static van gets warm sitting out in the garden is not hot it is just right we also get a breeze it is an ideal spot for listening to music eating reading and drink ice cold cider oh how i wish i had a few days or weeks even months off work .

Helen got a letter in a brown envelope from the tax office Hrmc who are wanting her to pay a £100 fine for her late tax return which she did online the  beauty is that so does not earn enough money to pay income tax .vampires once they feed they feed constantly .

TUESDAY
Bought some fried chicken pieces for my tea and some piri piri chicken sandwich spread for sandwiches .
Still hot but rain treating an appearance later on .

WEDNESDAY
Helen did her online assessment for her tax she will have to pay the fine before the 31st of June .

Helen put out a saucer of water and sugar for a bee that was sparked out the idea being it is like an energy drink for them they take their fill get a boost a sugar rush i guess and fly away , Helen put that much sugar the bee I think got stuck in the mound of sugary mass unable to pick up its little legs  its wings sort of welded and stuck together via the sugar like glue.

  I was not sure if it died via the red hot sun baked where it was trapped or it used all its energy trying to escape its sugary grave  and in the end  gave up the fight. Needless to say it was dead . Not wanting the cats to eat it , too much sugar will root their teeth .

I picked up the little unbuzzing stone dead bee and throw it amongst the flowers as a final resting place . I left the saucer minus the bee out on the table on the decking  , got in to the car and left .
Helen went out after I had left for work and sent me a  text message  to say that "i have revived that bee forgot to tell you before you went to work gave it that energy drink sugar n water and it;s flown off". I did not have the heart to text her back and  tell her the truth perhaps tomorrow .

FENCING IN THE SUN

R.i.p Muhammed Ali what another great loss he had to be the most charismatic sporting great of all time a true inspiration to all.

We need to get some railway size timber so i can make a planter for the front of the van i think this is going to be my next project . I reckon i need around 12 pieces of timber obviously the thicker and longer the timber the more the cost I reckon we are looking at £12 to £15 per each  length .

My two year phone contract ends next month i am switching to sim only which will save me around £40 a month which means I will have to buy a new phone should i need one I reckon there is plenty of second hand phones for a third of the price.

Bought a remote light bulb that gives you the option of changing colour from red , blue green etc plugged it in did not work its going back tomorrow cost us £15.We also bought two solar powered light bulbs which just clip on to the bush they are brilliant and they only cost £6.00 for two .

Panelled in the three gates Pip will have to do her squirrel watch from the decking , we creosoted what we could in the time we had been to visit all three grandsons all born within 14 months .
Summer hopefully is finally here it has been warm and very sunny most of the day fingers crossed more is to come.


Watching - Kangaroo Dundee

PRIMED

MONDAY
Amazon prime has taken one payment out of my bank for £79 and another one for £81.17p not impressed hopefully it will be put back this week .Spoke with my bank Amazon prime are well known for just taking money out of people accounts once the money goes back i am taking my card details off so no more money can go awol .Helen bought three plant pots and fixed them to the fence posts more flowers .

TUESDAY
Got one refund from Amazon prime still not sue if the other amount for £81 has appeared because i have been told they have asked for the money but it has not been taken , but the money has been taken from my account it should just reappear but will nit show as a credit .

WEDNESDAY
Helen bought some more solar powered lights for the arch  ver the path from the front gate , this time there was enough lights to do both sides and run a strand up the middle section. Some how the wire snapped i had to join it , and it worked tonight its not typical .

ALL DONE

SATURDAY
Creosote the panels removing each one which is a pain some are too tight then we are laying them down on two saw stool trestles creosoting both sides before refitting them back in situ some w are lifting higher  .
it took all day I also fitted the gravel boards , they also got creosoted concrete is porous they look ok dark brown they blend in .Our god friend Erin came and helped .
After we finished we walked the two minutes to our local the George and Dragon for burgers and cider .

SUNDAY
The fence is now all done and finished off yippee  ,  all of the fence posts I have now cut down trimmed the tops off and put the wooden post capping pieces on top . I also made a custom feathered board panel for the end of the fence which I creosoted and fixed that in it's place. Job done.

The new UV light for the out door fish tank is now working and hopefully will keep the water clear it has been a nightmare from day one we got a refund from the first supplier .

Went shopping when I finished had to get cheese and ham I also got more cider and pork pies a scotch egg and a summer berry trifle .

Back at work tomorrow for the bank holiday I need a rest it has  been a very busy week I also went to the waste disposal site we now have to register our car registration number online , they are going to start scanning cars that are using the tip to check you are living locally .

Watching - Keanu

DONT FENCE ME IN

Went over to my daughters house at Allerton Bywater last night we found a better way of driving over there which involves not having to use the motorway and it is just as quick .
She cooked us a really nice  tea it seems like it was only yesterday that  I was at her birth ,  how the years fly by .She is totally independent and a great mother JOB DONE .

Finally managed to install Kodi and the add ons Exodus , Salts and Phoenix  on my daughters fire stick it took me a while the install Arm on the download link on Es File Explorer for Kodi was not loading even though I was following the installation method word for word ,but  they never mentioned that you  had to click the more option in the bottom right hand corner and to  click the option of open in browser to run the download but once i did that it installed the latest version of  Kodi.

Bought some dark brown creosote and three four inch paint brushes to do the fence panels hopefully the weather is better than what it has been for the last couple of days .

FRIDAY
The fence is erected all the post are well in and fixed with a couple of bags of post fix solid thanks to our good friend Charlie .All i have to do is fix three gravel boards , cut the post to size fit the end caps and creosote the panels and on small section to board out using feather edge boards , and jobs a good one.

Helen's phone contract is run its course and instead of paying a whopping £50 a month it has dropped to under £12 a month which is a  massive saving and no more dreaded two year contract .
Mine is up at the end of July i was speaking with the operative from my phone provider and he was telling me about free roaming charges Great i side i be more than happy being able to use my phone in this country never mind abroad.

UP ON THE ROOF

Second day off helped my friend across the road rip his plastic garage roof off we are or he is replacing it will corrugated aluminum which will hopefully make it hard for moss to grow .
We have to make a couple of eight foot roof trusses and level the ridge through before fitting the corrugated sheeting .
It will take a few days to get it sorted and to get all the sheets replace some are asbestos which is fine until you need to remove it and dump it. One good thing he has every tool you need including power tools , from drills rip saws to compound mitre saws and angel grinders .

Went to Asda food shopping got pizzas and breakfast goodies I also got a couple of bottles of cloudy apple cider it was on offer.

Watching - "13 hours  The secret Soldiers of Benghazi".

Listening to - Bruce Springsteen.

Eating - Lamb minted chops .