It has been another bitterly cold day. There had been a very light dusting of snow overnight, but nothing that would cause problems. We had clearly been lucky, hearing reports from the other parts of the country where the weather had been quite extreme. It’s times like this that we recognise how lucky we are living here on the South Coast and having a nice warm, modern, draught-free home. The Gorse Fox expects that Urban-Cub and Pistol Pete will be feeling both smug and snug in their new home, too.
The Silver Vixen had arranged to go over to help Urban-Cub in the new house and set off soon after nine. The Gorse Fox had football scheduled. An executive decision had been made that, with consideration of the weather forecast, we would play in the indoor arena at Ford today. It was a smart move. Old bones and joints would have found the biting easterly wind a little unforgiving, had we been on the usual pitches at Worthing.
We had a good game. The Gorse Fox was on the side of the orange-bibs today. Though one man short we were a bit more mobile. The Gorse Fox managed to get a goal in the 5-1 win, so was quite happy.
The early part of the afternoon was spent with the Silver Vixen lying on the floor on one side of the spare bed whilst the Gorse Fox lay on the floor the other side. In between was Jasper. He had checked the Google calendar and realised he was due at the vets and decided to hide. As usual this became a battle of wills. Eventually the Silver Vixen won and the Gorse Fox grabbed Jasper and deposited him in his carrier. He yowled and mewed the whole way to the vet's and the whole way home again. But at least it’s done for another month or so.
Wednesday, February 28, 2018
Tuesday, February 27, 2018
Snow
Overnight snow combined with a residual cold and a dose of cowardice kept the Gorse Fox away from the football pitch today. From what Urban-Cub tells us, that was probably a good thing as the roads round LA and Rustington were "carnage".
The Gorse Fox wrapped up warm and took the Silver Vixen round for her doctor's appointment. With ice about he'd rather he was there to provide a supporting hand.
Once back, much of the rest of the day has been spent merging data from a cousin's genealogy research (sent on CD many years ago - and forgotten!) Amazingly the genealogy file was converted to the new format without a hitch and then it was just a matter of going through and comparing his research with that of the Gorse Fox. What he had done was provide thumbnail photos of all of his side of the family and that certainly makes the tree much more interesting. Everything is now "in sync" and a full backup is running (you can never be too careful).
The Gorse Fox wrapped up warm and took the Silver Vixen round for her doctor's appointment. With ice about he'd rather he was there to provide a supporting hand.
Once back, much of the rest of the day has been spent merging data from a cousin's genealogy research (sent on CD many years ago - and forgotten!) Amazingly the genealogy file was converted to the new format without a hitch and then it was just a matter of going through and comparing his research with that of the Gorse Fox. What he had done was provide thumbnail photos of all of his side of the family and that certainly makes the tree much more interesting. Everything is now "in sync" and a full backup is running (you can never be too careful).
Monday, February 26, 2018
Moving in
Today was moving-in day for Urban-Cub and Pistol Pete. Ellie had been with us overnight so that they could get on with the move without worrying.
It has been bitterly cold and there are amber weather warnings for snow overnight tonight. We stayed in and stayed warm. There seemed no good reason to venture into the cold until late into the afternoon when we took Ellie back to her new home. They have done well. Everything is now in and the boxes are starting to get emptied. Beds are made, so if they do nothing else they can at least go to sleep. The garage, however, is stacked to the rafters and that will take some time to sort through. The Gorse Fox and the Silver Vixen have offered help where it is needed - but, of course, don't want to get in the way.
The Gorse Fox has spent much of the day walking round the house in his new football boots. They are a bit tight and very stiff. Hopefully they will ease with wear.
It has been bitterly cold and there are amber weather warnings for snow overnight tonight. We stayed in and stayed warm. There seemed no good reason to venture into the cold until late into the afternoon when we took Ellie back to her new home. They have done well. Everything is now in and the boxes are starting to get emptied. Beds are made, so if they do nothing else they can at least go to sleep. The garage, however, is stacked to the rafters and that will take some time to sort through. The Gorse Fox and the Silver Vixen have offered help where it is needed - but, of course, don't want to get in the way.
The Gorse Fox has spent much of the day walking round the house in his new football boots. They are a bit tight and very stiff. Hopefully they will ease with wear.
Sunday, February 25, 2018
G-force
An army is said to march on its stomach. The Gorse Fox alway thought that would be crawling, but who is he to argue with the wisdom of the ages. We were planning to look after Ellie later in the day so it seemed appropriate to start with a hearty breakfast. We had already decided to head across to Haskins when Two Hats pinged to ask if anyone fancied breakfast 'out'. The Gorse Fox explained the plan and Two Hats and Tinkerbell decided to join us.
We had a lovely breakfast (if slightly greasy this week), and sat and chatted over coffee for a couple of hours. They then decided to wander round the garden centre while we headed across to Urban-Cub to collect Ellie.
Urban-Cub had just got started on packing up the house so we volunteered to take the food stuffs and freezer contents across to the new house to save her a trip... and, after all, it was on our route home.
Ellie has been with us the rest of the day and is staying overnight. We'll deliver her back to the new house tomorrow once they have moved in.
We had a lovely breakfast (if slightly greasy this week), and sat and chatted over coffee for a couple of hours. They then decided to wander round the garden centre while we headed across to Urban-Cub to collect Ellie.
Urban-Cub had just got started on packing up the house so we volunteered to take the food stuffs and freezer contents across to the new house to save her a trip... and, after all, it was on our route home.
Ellie has been with us the rest of the day and is staying overnight. We'll deliver her back to the new house tomorrow once they have moved in.
Saturday, February 24, 2018
Curtains
With Urban-Cub and Pistol Pete moving on Monday, today was a day to get stuck-in and help them. Urban-Cub was on duty at Gatwick, so we headed over to LA and while the Silver Vixen took charge of Ellie the Gorse Fox helped Pistol Pete. The first job on the schedule was the demolition (well, disassembly) of the garden shed. This needed to be broken down into easily transportable panels ready for the removal men.
Next we had some curtain poles to remove which didn't take long. The Gorse Fox convinced Pistol Pete that it would make sense to go across to the new house and start getting the curtains up and give Jake a chance to sweep and seal the garage floor. All these tasks were easy in themselves, but all required something that we had left behind - a set of steps, a vacuum cleaner, some bin liners etc. So it was that we got everything done interspersed with trips back and forth.
Next we had some curtain poles to remove which didn't take long. The Gorse Fox convinced Pistol Pete that it would make sense to go across to the new house and start getting the curtains up and give Jake a chance to sweep and seal the garage floor. All these tasks were easy in themselves, but all required something that we had left behind - a set of steps, a vacuum cleaner, some bin liners etc. So it was that we got everything done interspersed with trips back and forth.
Friday, February 23, 2018
Auspicious day
It has been an auspicious day. It started cold and frosty but they skies were gin clear and the sun shone down throughout the day right through until the fabulous red sunset.
The Gorse Fox and the Silver Vixen had a plan. There was some clothes shopping to do. The Gorse Fox needed some additions to his wardrobe for a forthcoming trip and today seemed like the ideal time. We hit the various gentleman's outfitters in Chichester. The first few did not really supply what the Gorse Fox was seeking, the next couple supplied it but not at a price that the Gorse Fox was willing to pay. In the end we wandered into M&S and found exactly what he sought at a price that made sense. Job done!
We stopped off at ASK for lunch. Some pasta followed by cheesecake seemed like a suitable treat before heading home.
Urban-Cub called. It was Ellie's first swimming lesson today so we got a blow by blow account of how well she had done. We're both glad that she's getting into the water so early. No doubt Cousteau-Cub will be very proud of her.
Urban-Cub was also very excited. Today she had completed on her new home. We loaded some champagne into the car (along with some spare garage floor paint) and headed over. We were given the full tour of the property. It really is delightful and we have no doubt that they will be very happy there. For a new property it has surprisingly large west-facing garden. The Gorse Fox is heading over to help Pistol Pete take down his shed tomorrow so that it's ready to be be moved to the new house when they move in on Monday.
The Gorse Fox and the Silver Vixen had a plan. There was some clothes shopping to do. The Gorse Fox needed some additions to his wardrobe for a forthcoming trip and today seemed like the ideal time. We hit the various gentleman's outfitters in Chichester. The first few did not really supply what the Gorse Fox was seeking, the next couple supplied it but not at a price that the Gorse Fox was willing to pay. In the end we wandered into M&S and found exactly what he sought at a price that made sense. Job done!
We stopped off at ASK for lunch. Some pasta followed by cheesecake seemed like a suitable treat before heading home.
Urban-Cub called. It was Ellie's first swimming lesson today so we got a blow by blow account of how well she had done. We're both glad that she's getting into the water so early. No doubt Cousteau-Cub will be very proud of her.
Urban-Cub was also very excited. Today she had completed on her new home. We loaded some champagne into the car (along with some spare garage floor paint) and headed over. We were given the full tour of the property. It really is delightful and we have no doubt that they will be very happy there. For a new property it has surprisingly large west-facing garden. The Gorse Fox is heading over to help Pistol Pete take down his shed tomorrow so that it's ready to be be moved to the new house when they move in on Monday.
Thursday, February 22, 2018
Lunch
Despite going out for the steak night then clustering round at Two Hat's and Tnkerbell's it wasn't too lat elast night. Some wine may have been consumed and there is a possibility that some Sambucca crossed the lips... but what goes on with Sonning Crew stays with the Sonning Crew!
The morning was suitably relaxed - some emails were processed and Facebook was handled, nothing too strenuous. The Gorse Fox made a start on the weekly admin but was interrupted by the nice person from Ocado arriving with the week's shopping. Then it was time to leave.
We headed across to Rustington where we collected Elli from the child minder, then headed off to Haskins. Ellie was taking nana and grandpa out for lunch. She was in a bubbly mood, full of smiles and chuckles and just charmed everyone nearby as we sat and ate while also feeding her. By the time we were finishing up, Urban-Cub had made contact and met us with us. After a brief stop at the local aquatic centre to show Ellie the fish we headed back to Urban-Cub's house fo a cup of tea. While there Cousteau-Cub managed to get through on the phone and the Gorse Fox had a lovely long chat with her.
As Birthdays go - it was pretty well perfect. Quite, relaxed, and focused round the family.
The morning was suitably relaxed - some emails were processed and Facebook was handled, nothing too strenuous. The Gorse Fox made a start on the weekly admin but was interrupted by the nice person from Ocado arriving with the week's shopping. Then it was time to leave.
We headed across to Rustington where we collected Elli from the child minder, then headed off to Haskins. Ellie was taking nana and grandpa out for lunch. She was in a bubbly mood, full of smiles and chuckles and just charmed everyone nearby as we sat and ate while also feeding her. By the time we were finishing up, Urban-Cub had made contact and met us with us. After a brief stop at the local aquatic centre to show Ellie the fish we headed back to Urban-Cub's house fo a cup of tea. While there Cousteau-Cub managed to get through on the phone and the Gorse Fox had a lovely long chat with her.
As Birthdays go - it was pretty well perfect. Quite, relaxed, and focused round the family.
Wednesday, February 21, 2018
Out and about
It was a bright but chilly day - nice to be out and about. The morning was taken up with the usual Arun Amblers football. Our usual goalkeepers weren't available today so the Gorse Fox went in goal for the yellow-bibs during the first half. He only conceded two goals whilst the lads on the pitch managed to score three. In the second half the Gorse Fox returned to his normal position of centre back and and we started to make a bit more progress. The game ended up a sound 7-5 to us.
Back home it was a case of a quick shower, a bite to eat and then the Gorse Fox took the Silver Vixen across to LA so she could have lunch with her coven.
Back home he buried himself in the family tree. He failed to find the 1939 register entries he sought but did find some Electoral Register entries that caught him off guard. He needs to send an email to a cousin to find out if she can elaborate.
Back to LA to collect the Silver Vixen - it was very slow because of the traffic, but she was there waiting as the Gorse Fox came round the corner. Now we are just preparing for steak night at the Pink Pub with the Sonning Crew.
Back home it was a case of a quick shower, a bite to eat and then the Gorse Fox took the Silver Vixen across to LA so she could have lunch with her coven.
Back home he buried himself in the family tree. He failed to find the 1939 register entries he sought but did find some Electoral Register entries that caught him off guard. He needs to send an email to a cousin to find out if she can elaborate.
Back to LA to collect the Silver Vixen - it was very slow because of the traffic, but she was there waiting as the Gorse Fox came round the corner. Now we are just preparing for steak night at the Pink Pub with the Sonning Crew.
Tuesday, February 20, 2018
Back to normal
This Tuesday was back to normal. The Gorse Fox headed off to football and the Silver Vixen headed off to meet with her coven. Whilst it was bright here, by the time we got to Worthing it was raining. The rain continued throughout the first hour of football.
The first hour wasn't too bad - two draws and one loss. The Gorse Fox wasn't reading the game as well as usual and though he made a number of timely interventions, he didn't get much of a chance to roam forward. The second hour saw a change in personnel and new teams. This was better. We won all three games - though they were all very tight and could have gone either way.
Back home the Gorse Fox managed to drop his lunch all over the kitchen floor. If it was bread, it might have been ok. It wasn't. It was a chicken pasta in tomato left over from last night. What a mess. In the end the Gorse Fox had to wash the kitchen floor.
During the afternoon he retired to the garage and knocked up a 'feeding station' for Jasper. Jasper has started to batter his feeder all round the kitchen overnight. This has often meant it has got stuck and not opened for him. It was time to come up with a solution. We now have a small wooden plinth containing a heavy weight to prevent it from being moved. Jasper's timed feeder slots into the top of this plinth so he can't extract it from the plinth. We'll have to see if it works, but the Gorse Fox is hopeful.
The first hour wasn't too bad - two draws and one loss. The Gorse Fox wasn't reading the game as well as usual and though he made a number of timely interventions, he didn't get much of a chance to roam forward. The second hour saw a change in personnel and new teams. This was better. We won all three games - though they were all very tight and could have gone either way.
Back home the Gorse Fox managed to drop his lunch all over the kitchen floor. If it was bread, it might have been ok. It wasn't. It was a chicken pasta in tomato left over from last night. What a mess. In the end the Gorse Fox had to wash the kitchen floor.
During the afternoon he retired to the garage and knocked up a 'feeding station' for Jasper. Jasper has started to batter his feeder all round the kitchen overnight. This has often meant it has got stuck and not opened for him. It was time to come up with a solution. We now have a small wooden plinth containing a heavy weight to prevent it from being moved. Jasper's timed feeder slots into the top of this plinth so he can't extract it from the plinth. We'll have to see if it works, but the Gorse Fox is hopeful.
Monday, February 19, 2018
Release
The new release of the software used by the Gorse Fox for managing his family tree was made available overnight. The Gorse Fox has upgraded and spent the day sorting out the outstanding problems (as mentioned yesterday) and doing some fresh research. It has been a very successful day and several new names have been added to the tree. The Gorse Fox has now got a workflow that seems to do the trick - search in Ancestry (but probably ignore existing trees), verify in the General Register Office (if between 1837 and 1957), then seek additional information on Findmypast (such as the 1939 Register)... and, of course, do not enter any fact for which there is no documented evidence.
Sunday, February 18, 2018
Better
That's better. The Gorse Fox was up early - had his eggs and bacon, and headed off to football. First game for about 10 days and he was itching to get going. Not a very auspicious start as the Gorse Fox was a little off the pace at first and we were soon 2-0 down. Then the Gorse Fox started to roam about and struck a good ball from the centre spot into the bottom left corner of the goal. Two minutes later we scored another. We then started to fire on all cylinders and by the end of the game had amassed 14 goals while conceding 4 or 5. The Gorse Fox collected a hat-trick. Most satisfying.
Back home the Silver Vixen had been chatting with Cousteau-Cub who is in Phuket having met up with Agent Mulder's eldest. He is taking a year to travel about and seems to have fallen in love with Thailand. His initial 13 stay has extended to 30 and he may extend it some more.
The Gorse Fox spent the afternoon working on the family tree. The problem he has been working on with the developers is not making progress so he has resorted to plan B. He told them to close the problem report. Removed the offending entries from the database and started adding them again using a different approach. He knew this would work all along, but wanted to help them with their debugging. Anyway, all is now resolved using plan B.
Back home the Silver Vixen had been chatting with Cousteau-Cub who is in Phuket having met up with Agent Mulder's eldest. He is taking a year to travel about and seems to have fallen in love with Thailand. His initial 13 stay has extended to 30 and he may extend it some more.
The Gorse Fox spent the afternoon working on the family tree. The problem he has been working on with the developers is not making progress so he has resorted to plan B. He told them to close the problem report. Removed the offending entries from the database and started adding them again using a different approach. He knew this would work all along, but wanted to help them with their debugging. Anyway, all is now resolved using plan B.
Saturday, February 17, 2018
Security
The Gorse Fox has a security camera monitoring the driveway and entrance to the garage. This had been set up to deposit images onto an FTP server (falcon) whenever it detected an event. This stopped working some time recently. The camera was still recording to its inbuilt S~D card, but wouldn't send images to the ftp server and wouldn't allow the Gorse Fox to connect to it remotely.
It was time to sort this out. To start with the Gorse Fox dug out a spare (faulty) camera and connected it to the network to check that connection to the network via ethernet (instead of WiFi) didn't raise any unforeseen issues. It didn't. So after lunch, along with Two Hats (who has some tools for putting ethernet connectors on cables) we drilled a hole from the family room through to garage and ran a cable from the switch through to the camera. It was fiddly and the Gorse Fox is not sure he would have the patience to cable these things up with any regularity - but Two Hats persevered and we now have a bespoke ethernet cable in place. The camera is, once again, accessible remotely and seems to be depositing images onto the ftp server as required. He will have to monitor this for a day or two, but suspects we are back in business.
It was time to sort this out. To start with the Gorse Fox dug out a spare (faulty) camera and connected it to the network to check that connection to the network via ethernet (instead of WiFi) didn't raise any unforeseen issues. It didn't. So after lunch, along with Two Hats (who has some tools for putting ethernet connectors on cables) we drilled a hole from the family room through to garage and ran a cable from the switch through to the camera. It was fiddly and the Gorse Fox is not sure he would have the patience to cable these things up with any regularity - but Two Hats persevered and we now have a bespoke ethernet cable in place. The camera is, once again, accessible remotely and seems to be depositing images onto the ftp server as required. He will have to monitor this for a day or two, but suspects we are back in business.
Friday, February 16, 2018
Keep taking the tablets
The Gorse Fox has noticed that the keyboard that he has connected to his Lenovo Tablet seems to a little erratic. It's fine once connected, but it seems to take a little while to connect properly. This could be because he keeps the Bluetooth switched off except when he needs to use it - and forgets to turn it back on. Even when he has switched it on it can take a little while to register the keyboard. He needs to experiment some more and see if he can make the whole process a little slicker.
Meanwhile, IRL, we had a good night with Ellie. She didn't wake until gone seven and even then was in no hurry to get up. We've had a good morning with her and as the sun is bright, the Orangery has warmed up and Ellie has made use of the additional space to charge round in her walker (with the occasional pit-stop to take on water).
Meanwhile, IRL, we had a good night with Ellie. She didn't wake until gone seven and even then was in no hurry to get up. We've had a good morning with her and as the sun is bright, the Orangery has warmed up and Ellie has made use of the additional space to charge round in her walker (with the occasional pit-stop to take on water).
Thursday, February 15, 2018
Breaking news
The Gorse Fox and the Silver Vixen are on G-Force duty. Urban-Cub arrive just before 08:00 with Ellie and after a swift breakfast headed off to Gatwick, Ellie stayed with us and has been the focus of the day. The Gorse Fox did manage to get his Thursday admin done while she had a morning sleep, so all is well.
The phone rang as the Gorse Fox was preparing some soup for lunch. It was Urban-Cub. She had finally heard from her builders and has been given a completion date of 23rd February. Ooops - that's earlier than she had come to expect. Needless to say she, and Pistol Pete, are delighted and very excited.
Talking of excited, Cousteau-Cub reminded us today there are on 37 days to go before she is back with us. We can't wait to see her again.
During Ellie's afternoon nap the Gorse Fox considered his external security camera. It is still recording on the micro-SD card, but has stopped connecting to the WiFi and consequently he can't control it, nor will it post the captured images to the FTP server the Gorse Fox so carefully built. Plan B is to try it with an ethernet cable rather than WiFi. That will have to wait until the weekend, however.
The Gorse Fox has also heard back from the family tree software developers. They have given him some things to check, but again, these will have to wait - probably until Ellie has her morning sleep tomorrow.
The phone rang as the Gorse Fox was preparing some soup for lunch. It was Urban-Cub. She had finally heard from her builders and has been given a completion date of 23rd February. Ooops - that's earlier than she had come to expect. Needless to say she, and Pistol Pete, are delighted and very excited.
Talking of excited, Cousteau-Cub reminded us today there are on 37 days to go before she is back with us. We can't wait to see her again.
During Ellie's afternoon nap the Gorse Fox considered his external security camera. It is still recording on the micro-SD card, but has stopped connecting to the WiFi and consequently he can't control it, nor will it post the captured images to the FTP server the Gorse Fox so carefully built. Plan B is to try it with an ethernet cable rather than WiFi. That will have to wait until the weekend, however.
The Gorse Fox has also heard back from the family tree software developers. They have given him some things to check, but again, these will have to wait - probably until Ellie has her morning sleep tomorrow.
Wednesday, February 14, 2018
Better
The Gorse Fox is feeling a lot better today - but decided that football was not going to be on the agenda. That would have been a bit silly.
Betty Rubble came down to visit the Silver Vixen so the Gorse Fox has spent the day in the study working on the family tree. Not very successfully. He's looked up lots of information, but none of it has added to the existing knowledge base. Very frustrating.
Betty Rubble came down to visit the Silver Vixen so the Gorse Fox has spent the day in the study working on the family tree. Not very successfully. He's looked up lots of information, but none of it has added to the existing knowledge base. Very frustrating.
Tuesday, February 13, 2018
Home draw
It was a foul morning and the Gorse Fox was not feeling much better. He decided that staying home was more efficacious than getting cold and wet playing football.
The Silver Vixen was going out for lunch with a friend so the Gorse Fox installed himself in front of the computer and spent the day working on aspects of the family tree. Most of the time was spent going through an online chat with the support team. The Gorse Fox still has a problem with some media files that are not getting uploaded. In desperation they sent him the pre-release beta code for the new version of the software. It all seems very nice and slick and does everything he wants of it - except sorting out the 19 media files. (Other media files have uploaded without incident both before and since this batch). The problem is back with their engineers.
The Silver Vixen was going out for lunch with a friend so the Gorse Fox installed himself in front of the computer and spent the day working on aspects of the family tree. Most of the time was spent going through an online chat with the support team. The Gorse Fox still has a problem with some media files that are not getting uploaded. In desperation they sent him the pre-release beta code for the new version of the software. It all seems very nice and slick and does everything he wants of it - except sorting out the 19 media files. (Other media files have uploaded without incident both before and since this batch). The problem is back with their engineers.
Monday, February 12, 2018
Trees
Pretty uneventful day really.
Various domestic chores got cleared during the morning and then the Gorse Fox headed to Sainsbury's to top up the supply of porridge oats. Ocado have been out of stock of good porridge oats for the last couple of weeks and the Gorse Fox was almost down to the dust in the packet.
After lunch he picked up on Old Bill's family tree. He had texted some queries last night so it was time to try and help out. It took and hour or so but he drove the tree back and showed Old Bill how to start from a known point and work backwards through life events. In doing this we proved that the online tree from which he had picked up some information was clearly wrong.
The Gorse Fox is a little under the weather, so not sure if he'll be playing football tomorrow.
Various domestic chores got cleared during the morning and then the Gorse Fox headed to Sainsbury's to top up the supply of porridge oats. Ocado have been out of stock of good porridge oats for the last couple of weeks and the Gorse Fox was almost down to the dust in the packet.
After lunch he picked up on Old Bill's family tree. He had texted some queries last night so it was time to try and help out. It took and hour or so but he drove the tree back and showed Old Bill how to start from a known point and work backwards through life events. In doing this we proved that the online tree from which he had picked up some information was clearly wrong.
The Gorse Fox is a little under the weather, so not sure if he'll be playing football tomorrow.
Sunday, February 11, 2018
Hail
Back home after Breakfast at Haskins the Gorse Fox set about cleaning the oven. Fortunately, as the oven is self-cleaning, this was fairly easy. The only fiddly bit is cleaning the racks. It all needed doing. The last thing we wanted was the smell to get worse next time we used the oven.
During the afternoon we were hit by a hail storm. Hailstones the size of ball-bearings hammered down. It was clear that we would soon be trapped and would have to await the emergency airlift. The Gorse Fox went and checked the freezer to see how long we could survive, based on our stores. We'll probably be all right for about two weeks.
At the height of the storm, when the hail was at its deepest, the Gorse Fox took some photos - in case they were needed for insurance purposes or of the TV news. You can clearly see the extremes of weather that we have to survive hear on the South Coast.
At the height of the storm, when the hail was at its deepest, the Gorse Fox took some photos - in case they were needed for insurance purposes or of the TV news. You can clearly see the extremes of weather that we have to survive hear on the South Coast.
Tiffany's?
Well Tiffany's seems bit of a trek for Sunday breakfast. We've decided to do Breakfast at Haskins' instead. Always good value for money and it's a nice morning to pop out (given that there's no football this weekend).
Saturday, February 10, 2018
Smoke gets in your eyes
A wet and breezy day didn't encourage us to go out so we concentrated on pottering round the house. Old Bill knocked and we had a chat. He was about to download GoodSync onto the PC we have been cleaning up - so the Gorse Fox volunteered to go across and configure it. While there we also copied some of his old non-volatile, pre-retirement business files to a DVD so that he didn't need to keep them online - now that they are backed up and copied to DVD. The Gorse Fox also helped out with some of his family tree queries. As an aside the Gorse Fox noticed that he seems to get a totally different home page on Ancestry from that the Gorse Fox sees, no idea why.
Come late afternoon it was time to prepare supper. Oven was cranked up to 200c and the various dishes placed on the relevant shelves. The 'Gastro' chips were places on a mesh tray near the bottom with a drip tray beneath - to catch the oils or fats that would inevitable drip through. As the cooking time ticked along there was slight smell of burning fat. The Gorse Fox didn't think to hard (unfortunately) and boiled a kettle. The idea was to add boiling water to the drip tray to stop the fat from burning. Well, let's just say this was the smartest move he's ever made. The water mixed with the fat and evaporated instantly filling the oven and kitchen with an acrid smoke. It took ages for it to clear even with the extractor fans on full. A lesson learned, methinks!
Come late afternoon it was time to prepare supper. Oven was cranked up to 200c and the various dishes placed on the relevant shelves. The 'Gastro' chips were places on a mesh tray near the bottom with a drip tray beneath - to catch the oils or fats that would inevitable drip through. As the cooking time ticked along there was slight smell of burning fat. The Gorse Fox didn't think to hard (unfortunately) and boiled a kettle. The idea was to add boiling water to the drip tray to stop the fat from burning. Well, let's just say this was the smartest move he's ever made. The water mixed with the fat and evaporated instantly filling the oven and kitchen with an acrid smoke. It took ages for it to clear even with the extractor fans on full. A lesson learned, methinks!
Friday, February 09, 2018
Not a lot
Well, there's not a lot to report today. Ellie woke up at a perfectly respectable seven o'clock and we had a gentle start to the morning. By the time Ellie went back to bed for a morning nap, Urban-Cub was on her way. We had a lovely couple of hours with her before she an Ellie disappeared back home.
The afternoon was very quiet. The Gorse Fox spent some time on one of the Linux machines before getting a message from Old Bill. He was stuck in his research into one of his great aunts. The Gorse Fox had a look and cracked the problem immediately. Old Bill was delighted but admitted he had spent most of the afternoon trying to solve it. The Gorse Fox guesses that it is just experience that allowed him to get the search parameters right first time.
On a separate note, the Gorse Fox was also looking for opportunities to have a week down in Falmouth in the summer. There's not much availability, but he may have found a couple of openings. He needs to talk them through with the Silver Vixen and then we can decide if we'll go ahead.
The afternoon was very quiet. The Gorse Fox spent some time on one of the Linux machines before getting a message from Old Bill. He was stuck in his research into one of his great aunts. The Gorse Fox had a look and cracked the problem immediately. Old Bill was delighted but admitted he had spent most of the afternoon trying to solve it. The Gorse Fox guesses that it is just experience that allowed him to get the search parameters right first time.
On a separate note, the Gorse Fox was also looking for opportunities to have a week down in Falmouth in the summer. There's not much availability, but he may have found a couple of openings. He needs to talk them through with the Silver Vixen and then we can decide if we'll go ahead.
Thursday, February 08, 2018
Early start
For some reason Ellie decided that 04:20 seemed like a reasonable time to wake up. This started the day. The Silver Vixen changed her and the Gorse Fox went to heat a bottle. Fed, she started to settle. Then Jasper arrived and started to meow. This woke Ellie. The Gorse Fox chased Jasper away. Miss Ellie started to settle again. Jasper arrived again. He started to meow again. This disturbed Ellie again. The Gorse Fox chased him downstairs and decided to feed him - that would shut him up. The problem was that Ellie was now wide awake. The Silver Vixen and the Gorse Fox tag-teamed until we got her back off to sleep. Fortunately, she then slept through until 08:15.
The day has revolved around Ellie. We did manage to take her out for a walk after lunch - and she slept until we got home. Not long enough, however, as she started to get a little grizzly late in the afternoon. Food and drink soon cheered her up (clearly taking after her grandfather). She's having a bath as the Gorse Fox writes this, so a Youtube Nursery Rhymes clip is in the next browser tab, ready to play as she emerges.
The day has revolved around Ellie. We did manage to take her out for a walk after lunch - and she slept until we got home. Not long enough, however, as she started to get a little grizzly late in the afternoon. Food and drink soon cheered her up (clearly taking after her grandfather). She's having a bath as the Gorse Fox writes this, so a Youtube Nursery Rhymes clip is in the next browser tab, ready to play as she emerges.
Wednesday, February 07, 2018
Flakes
Another very cold night across the country - though we didn't really notice it. There were a few snowfalls, even along parts of the South Coast, but nothing came across as far as us. When the Gorse Fox headed out for football, he could see the odd snow fall, but nothing to cause concern.
Football was the usual fun hour of banter and exercise ending with an even 2-2 draw. The Gorse Fox got a bit narked at one point when accused of running. Now, he is not denying that he was running. He was. It is the hypocrisy and inconsistency that drives him to distraction. People were running throughout the game - but when the Gorse Fox opened up, then it was called as an infringement. Pah!
Back home the afternoon was brightened up by Ellie. She is staying with us until Friday.
Football was the usual fun hour of banter and exercise ending with an even 2-2 draw. The Gorse Fox got a bit narked at one point when accused of running. Now, he is not denying that he was running. He was. It is the hypocrisy and inconsistency that drives him to distraction. People were running throughout the game - but when the Gorse Fox opened up, then it was called as an infringement. Pah!
Back home the afternoon was brightened up by Ellie. She is staying with us until Friday.
Tuesday, February 06, 2018
Fire
If anyone has seen the news about the major fire on Phi Phi and is wondering about Cousteau-Cub and the Coventry Hobbit - the Gorse Fox has been in touch. Cousteau-Cub is actually in Phuket, so well clear. The Coventry Hobbit was still on Phi Phi and went along to help with first aid. Despite the press reports, the fire was confined to a moderately small area of the town - not the whole Island as the Swedish press reported.
Success
It was a bitterly cold night so the Gorse Fox was looking forward to football with a degree of trepidation. He left, heading out in the usual direction. Almost immediately he hit traffic tailing back from Shripney's roadworks. A quick volte face was performed and the Gorse Fox headed up via Drayton and Tangmere to the A27. This turned out to be a smart move as he had a very good run through in the end.
Football was pretty successful He had a team of good ball players so it gave him some opportunities to roam more than usual. In the first hour his 'red' team won all three games and only conceded one goal. In the second hour he played for the 'greens'. This was more equal - a win, a draw, and a loss. Overall it was great fun.
Back home he went over to spend the afternoon with Old Bill. The reorganisation of his computer was completed and the offsite backup to Google Drive was under way. The Gorse Fox has left a USB drive with a backup of everything, and now Old Bill will download GoodSync and the Gorse Fox will set up his onsite backups in the next day or two.
In parallel with all this we wiped and reinstalled his old laptop. It now runs Ubuntu and he plans to use it for his family tree work. Yes, he is hooked!
Football was pretty successful He had a team of good ball players so it gave him some opportunities to roam more than usual. In the first hour his 'red' team won all three games and only conceded one goal. In the second hour he played for the 'greens'. This was more equal - a win, a draw, and a loss. Overall it was great fun.
Back home he went over to spend the afternoon with Old Bill. The reorganisation of his computer was completed and the offsite backup to Google Drive was under way. The Gorse Fox has left a USB drive with a backup of everything, and now Old Bill will download GoodSync and the Gorse Fox will set up his onsite backups in the next day or two.
In parallel with all this we wiped and reinstalled his old laptop. It now runs Ubuntu and he plans to use it for his family tree work. Yes, he is hooked!
Monday, February 05, 2018
Files
Lots of random bits and pieces today.
First on the agenda was chasing Nespresso for the recycling collection and bags. Though they were on the latest order, they were not fulfilled. (Fortunately, the coffee itself turned up). Next the Gorse Fox had to give some thought to the forthcoming holiday. For some reason Virgin actually wanted us to pay for the giving them the honour of serving us. The Gorse Fox headed in to Chichester and zipped across to the Virgin Travel Desk in House of Fraser. Money was handed over and he headed home.
Back home the Gorse Fox went across to old Bill. He had promised to help him with his PC, its files, and his backup. He was proud to tell the Gorse Fox that his backup ran every lunchtime and copied all the relevant files to his external USB drive. The Gorse Fox checked to see what was being backed up. Nada. The drive was empty. He wasn't backing up at all. This would be a long afternoon. Firstly we attached a brand new, empty USB drive and backed everything up - then checked it. Then we disconnected the backup drive and started to reorganise the way in which the files were stored - setting up meaningful folders and moving things around. Next on the agenda was the 'offsite' backup using Google Backup... the problem was that his Google drive space was already full. We then went through and rationalised what was there and what could be purged. Bit by bit we cleared things up and then set the new folders to be backed up. Slowly they started to upload. It will take some time but we should have an offsite backup before morning. The only major outstanding tasks are to set up a working 'onsite' backup and then to purge a lot of the old stuff.
Old Bill is getting interested in genealogy so when we finished for the afternoon he came back to our place and the Gorse Fox showed him what he does and the sort of information that can be accessed online and how to get to it. In 5 minutes we had set up a small test tree and found the name of his grandmother (which he had never known). The Gorse Fox warned him that it is addictive, but he was already hooked.
First on the agenda was chasing Nespresso for the recycling collection and bags. Though they were on the latest order, they were not fulfilled. (Fortunately, the coffee itself turned up). Next the Gorse Fox had to give some thought to the forthcoming holiday. For some reason Virgin actually wanted us to pay for the giving them the honour of serving us. The Gorse Fox headed in to Chichester and zipped across to the Virgin Travel Desk in House of Fraser. Money was handed over and he headed home.
Back home the Gorse Fox went across to old Bill. He had promised to help him with his PC, its files, and his backup. He was proud to tell the Gorse Fox that his backup ran every lunchtime and copied all the relevant files to his external USB drive. The Gorse Fox checked to see what was being backed up. Nada. The drive was empty. He wasn't backing up at all. This would be a long afternoon. Firstly we attached a brand new, empty USB drive and backed everything up - then checked it. Then we disconnected the backup drive and started to reorganise the way in which the files were stored - setting up meaningful folders and moving things around. Next on the agenda was the 'offsite' backup using Google Backup... the problem was that his Google drive space was already full. We then went through and rationalised what was there and what could be purged. Bit by bit we cleared things up and then set the new folders to be backed up. Slowly they started to upload. It will take some time but we should have an offsite backup before morning. The only major outstanding tasks are to set up a working 'onsite' backup and then to purge a lot of the old stuff.
Old Bill is getting interested in genealogy so when we finished for the afternoon he came back to our place and the Gorse Fox showed him what he does and the sort of information that can be accessed online and how to get to it. In 5 minutes we had set up a small test tree and found the name of his grandmother (which he had never known). The Gorse Fox warned him that it is addictive, but he was already hooked.
Sunday, February 04, 2018
Playing
The Gorse Fox has spent much of the day playing.
This morning (after a suitable breakfast of eggs and bacon, with coffee) he headed off to Ford for football. We had a good 6-vs-6 turn out today and though we (the orange-bibs) were soon 2-0 down, we pulled ourselves together and started to claw things back. In the end, we ran out 12-4 winners - the Gorse Fox only contributing one goal today, but providing the assists for several.
Back home it was a quick shower and then in next door where there was a coffee morning for the Sonning Crew. Conversation ranged across decorating, holidays, water softeners and laptops. In the end Two Hats asked if the Gorse Fox would show him Linux on his old laptop and resolved to come round this afternoon to experiment.
The afternoon started with Two Hats and his old laptop. It still contained Windows 7 and was dreadfully slow and dreadfully back-level. The Gorse Fox started by running Ubuntu from the USB stick. That was it. He was hooked. 30 minutes later the laptop had been completely wiped and Ubuntu 17.10.4 installed. We checked out the all the obvious features and all seemed to work just fine. Two Hats left clutching his 'new' laptop and resolved to spend the afternoon getting to know it.
This was all the excuse that the Gorse Fox needed to retire to the study and continue to play with his own installation... and that was how the afternoon was lost.
This morning (after a suitable breakfast of eggs and bacon, with coffee) he headed off to Ford for football. We had a good 6-vs-6 turn out today and though we (the orange-bibs) were soon 2-0 down, we pulled ourselves together and started to claw things back. In the end, we ran out 12-4 winners - the Gorse Fox only contributing one goal today, but providing the assists for several.
Back home it was a quick shower and then in next door where there was a coffee morning for the Sonning Crew. Conversation ranged across decorating, holidays, water softeners and laptops. In the end Two Hats asked if the Gorse Fox would show him Linux on his old laptop and resolved to come round this afternoon to experiment.
The afternoon started with Two Hats and his old laptop. It still contained Windows 7 and was dreadfully slow and dreadfully back-level. The Gorse Fox started by running Ubuntu from the USB stick. That was it. He was hooked. 30 minutes later the laptop had been completely wiped and Ubuntu 17.10.4 installed. We checked out the all the obvious features and all seemed to work just fine. Two Hats left clutching his 'new' laptop and resolved to spend the afternoon getting to know it.
This was all the excuse that the Gorse Fox needed to retire to the study and continue to play with his own installation... and that was how the afternoon was lost.
Saturday, February 03, 2018
Slow
It was a very slow start. The Gorse Fox didn't wake until nearly nine! This is almost unheard of. The morning progressed at a suitable leisurely pace.
The Silver Vixen retired to her study and worked on a throw she is making. The Gorse Fox retired to his study and got on with a few tasks on the main computer before powering up 'eagle'. This machine, if you remember, was the old Windows PC which had been repurposed and was now running Ubuntu Linux. The problem is that there seemed to be a fatal software problem somewhere. The Gorse Fox had noticed it a few weeks back, but hadn't had the opportunity to do anything about it. Today was the day.
The Gorse Fox downloaded the latest Ubuntu build and created a bootable USB thumb drive. He booted it and rebuilt the system. He wouldn't say this was trouble-free, but he did eventually succeed. The nice thing about this latest build is that he didn't have to do anything special to get the screen resolution set correctly. It also uses a different desktop call Gnome. Fortunately the Gorse Fox had kept notes in his configuration software. Once initialised all he had to do was re-run the configurator with the various scripts saved from before and the system was back. He has re-booted several times and - so far - is not seeing any of the problems that had emerged before. So the eagle is back!
The Silver Vixen retired to her study and worked on a throw she is making. The Gorse Fox retired to his study and got on with a few tasks on the main computer before powering up 'eagle'. This machine, if you remember, was the old Windows PC which had been repurposed and was now running Ubuntu Linux. The problem is that there seemed to be a fatal software problem somewhere. The Gorse Fox had noticed it a few weeks back, but hadn't had the opportunity to do anything about it. Today was the day.
The Gorse Fox downloaded the latest Ubuntu build and created a bootable USB thumb drive. He booted it and rebuilt the system. He wouldn't say this was trouble-free, but he did eventually succeed. The nice thing about this latest build is that he didn't have to do anything special to get the screen resolution set correctly. It also uses a different desktop call Gnome. Fortunately the Gorse Fox had kept notes in his configuration software. Once initialised all he had to do was re-run the configurator with the various scripts saved from before and the system was back. He has re-booted several times and - so far - is not seeing any of the problems that had emerged before. So the eagle is back!
Friday, February 02, 2018
Arrangements
Today seems to have been about arrangements. It started off with news from Cousteau-Cub. She now has here flights sorted out and we have the dates in the diary.
Urban-Cub turned up late morning with Jake in tow. They stayed for a while and we talked about the arrangements for her forthcoming house move. Date is still not set but should only be a few weeks away.
We packed up all of Ellie's stuff and she Urban-Cub disappeared into the afternoon sunshine with Jake. The Gorse Fox isn't sure that Jake was quite ready for an afternoon of shopping, but that was in plan.
The Silver Vixen settled in the lounge to catch up on Holby City. The Gorse Fox settled in the study and started arranging this year's get together for Starfleet's VM Old Gits. This year is special as it's 50 years since CP/67 was released. Plan is to meet up in May, but need to wait until all the responses come in before a date is confirmed.
Urban-Cub turned up late morning with Jake in tow. They stayed for a while and we talked about the arrangements for her forthcoming house move. Date is still not set but should only be a few weeks away.
We packed up all of Ellie's stuff and she Urban-Cub disappeared into the afternoon sunshine with Jake. The Gorse Fox isn't sure that Jake was quite ready for an afternoon of shopping, but that was in plan.
The Silver Vixen settled in the lounge to catch up on Holby City. The Gorse Fox settled in the study and started arranging this year's get together for Starfleet's VM Old Gits. This year is special as it's 50 years since CP/67 was released. Plan is to meet up in May, but need to wait until all the responses come in before a date is confirmed.
Thursday, February 01, 2018
Uptime
By the way, the Gorse Fox's Rasperry Pi, "peregrine" has now been running, without interrupt or reboot, non-stop for 369 days.
Money transfer
The proceeds of the recent sale of some Starfleet stock arrived in the Gorse Fox's account this morning. This is destined to pay for the upcoming vacation. Some, however, had been earmarked for Cousteau-Cub so that she could fly home for a few weeks.
The Gorse Fox has a currency card with a further linked card in the name of Cousteau-Cub. The plan was to transfer the money onto his card, the switch it to that of Cousteau-Cub. The process started without incident, but the Gorse Fox noticed the the usual 2-3 minute delay in loading his card was stretching out. In fact several hours later it still had not updated. He checked with the card issuer. It turns out that he had clearly missed a step and the request had not gone through at all. He tried again. Three minutes later the funds were on his card and 30 seconds later they were on the card that Cousteau-Cub holds. She can now go ahead and book her flights.
The rest of the day has been spent under the watchful eye of Ellie. (The Gorse Fox is never quite sure who is looking after whom).
The Gorse Fox has a currency card with a further linked card in the name of Cousteau-Cub. The plan was to transfer the money onto his card, the switch it to that of Cousteau-Cub. The process started without incident, but the Gorse Fox noticed the the usual 2-3 minute delay in loading his card was stretching out. In fact several hours later it still had not updated. He checked with the card issuer. It turns out that he had clearly missed a step and the request had not gone through at all. He tried again. Three minutes later the funds were on his card and 30 seconds later they were on the card that Cousteau-Cub holds. She can now go ahead and book her flights.
The rest of the day has been spent under the watchful eye of Ellie. (The Gorse Fox is never quite sure who is looking after whom).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)