Manually cross-posted from https://hrrunka.dreamwidth.org/452236.htmlRead more... )

In other news, mostly we've been getting on with garden projects. I did some work to raise the water level in the pond just a little. The aim is to get the level as even as possible, so that as little of the liner as possible shows above the water line when the pond is full, and that the pond overflows at one controlled point. The catch is that the ( Read more... )

We've been to Germany and back. For whatever reason we decided to take the Channel Tunnel route, and both ways we ended up on a later crossing than we'd planned. Wet weather and slow traffic on the M4 and M25 were mostly responsible for the delay on the way out. We got a train an hour later than the one we'd booked, and got to Bielefeld after 9pm. ( Read more... )

It's been a busy two months. My mother and sister were over here for the whole of July. They did go off visiting friends and relatives for some of the time. Old friends came to stay for a couple of days in the middle of the month, sadly while my mother and sister were away ( Read more... )

Last Monday my mother and I headed east to visit cousins in Fulham. We spent the night there, and my sister came there from Heathrow early on Tuesday morning after her flight from Australia. We spent a while over breakfast catching up on family news. Then, a bit before noon we headed south to visit more cousins near Wimbledon. We spent the night ( Read more... )

One niece (S) and two nephews (A and H) have been to stay, at least in part so that they could catch up with their grandmother. She put them to work. Quite a bit got done in the garden, and the bonfire pile is now quite large and waiting for a sensible bonfire occasion. One nephew (H) stayed on for the rest of last week to chauffeur his grandmother ( Read more... )

There's being quite a lot going on. A was in Germany for the best part of a fortnight, only finally getting back on Sunday. I spent a few days in Germany, and hired a car to make things a bit easier while I was there. This time I ended up with a Fiat 500. Its size had some advantages, particularly when I came to parking in crowded streets. We got a ( Read more... )

On Saturday morning I set off early, heading north in the general direction of Hereford. The weather was bright and sunny, but decidedly chilly for this time of year. My car's outside temperature indicator stayed below 4°C the whole way there. The Hereford Amateur Radio Society had teamed up with the Essex CW club to put on an intensive day of ( Read more... )

It's been a busy dozen days or so. A was over for a full week. I collected her from Stansted the first Wednesday and took her back there on the second. A lot has been happening, most of it reasonably constructive ( Read more... )

Since my last entry I have been over to Germany for a few days, and had Alex and F to stay here for just over a week. They flew back last Thursday ( Read more... )