Swings and Roundabouts

Jasper woke us. It was soon after 05:00 and he had started to yowl. This is becoming an unwanted habit. Once he quietened down we managed to drop off to sleep for another 90 minutes or so. We had to be up before 07:00 to be ready for Ellie. Urban-Cub had had to wake Ellie so she was still little more than a zombie when she arrived. It didn't take long, however, for her to spark into life.

Most of the morning seemed to be spent with a) sums, b) more sums, c) hide and seek, d) jigsaws, and e) colouring. Actually, that was a good morning for the Gorse Fox. At lunchtime the Silver Vixen had to go to the surgery for a blood test, but was soon back.

During the afternoon we took Ellie out to the local play parks.  We started in one, then she decided she wanted to go home. 

We headed back but she then decided that we should see the ducks. As we arrived at the ducks, she declared that she wanted to go on to another play-park. At this one, she managed to meet up with a school friend, so we sat and watched as she played. Eventually she was bored and wanted to go back home.

The rest of the afternoon was fairly quiet as we had clearly worn her out.

As the Gorse Fox writes, the Silver Vixen is giving Ellie a bath. One suspects she will go straight to bed when she get home.

Success

 The Gorse Fox was up before seven. There was no need to be, he was awake and getting fidgety, so got up. He must have disturbed the Silver Vixen as she was up about 30 minutes later.

A message came in from the Urban-Cub. She was off to Chichester later with Ellie and one of her friends... the Silver Vixen was subtly invited along. She got ready and wandered off round the corner to join the trip. The Gorse Fox stayed put.

The primary task for today was to vote in the leadership election for the Conservative Party. The Gorse Fox has been undecided for weeks and had hoped that some clear water would emerge between the candidates. No such luck. He spent several hours reading through their espoused plans and tried to rationalise them against the best outcome for the Country. In the end he made his choice. He suspects that he will lose, but that's elections for you!

We have just received a text from Lady Penelope. It appears the Old Bill's operation is complete and the surgeon is happy with the outcome. Let us just hope that his recovery will be sustained and complete.

Sentences

 There are things about modern the schooling that make us ask "what?". Ellie was dropped off this morning and we prepared her breakfast before it was time for her to get dressed. "Grandpa, let's play teachers." she said. It was this point that grandpa had to line up at the kitchen door before coming into class for registration, line up at the living room door before going into the gym, and sit still while he was challenged to complete some number sentences. Number Sentences? It took a while for the Gorse Fox to realise that a number sentence was, in fact, a formula or arithmetic construct such as a sum. He was pleased, however, to be awarded A+ by Ellie for correctly solving 100+100 and 100+2. (He would like to point out that he did not need to use a calculator in the completion of these sums).

It was soon time to swap roles. The Gorse Fox challenged Ellie with some number sentences. At first they were all additions of two numbers, then he introduced subtractions, and finally sums or subtractions with three numbers. She cracked them all. The Gorse Fox awarded her A+.

Once Ellie was washed and dressed we went to Sainsbury's. She has a bit of conjunctivitis and we needed to get to a pharmacy for some eye drops. While there we also bought her a colouring book and some more coloured pens. This kept her occupied for the rest of the morning. We dropped Ellie off at Urban-Cub's after lunch and then had a quiet afternoon with our books in the Orangery. Urban-Cub has the day off tomorrow, but we will see Ellie again on Wednesday.

Meeeow

 For some reason Jasper starter to meow and yowl at about 5:00 this morning. As far as the Gorse Fox  is concerned, this is not cool! The Silver Vixen managed to shut him up and we drifted back into the arms of Morpheus until soon after 7:00.

The Gorse Fox had his usual Sunday football engagement.Team selection was difficult but must have been about right as it was a very tight game. The Gorse Fox's orange team came out winners with an 11-7 scoreline but that belies how close it was in terms of the game. We were lucky and put most of our chances away. Most of the yellow team's chances were just off target or blocked. The Gorse Fox managed to score 4 of the orange team's goals and was very content with the outcome (though he did hit the crossbar twice and  post three times).

The Silver Vixen had gone round to see Urban-Cub and sort things out regarding Ellie for the next couple of weeks. When she got back, we had some lunch and settled down for an hour's reading before going to see Old Bill. Old Bill is going into hospital tomorrow for a major operation. He has bee told to expect a stay of 10-14 days before being allowed home. It has been suggested that it will be a further 10 weeks of recuperation before he can do simple tasks such as being able to drive. The Gorse Fox will volunteer to go over and open his wine bottles for him.

Once we had cheered him up and wished him our very best we returned home to our books and for the Gorse Fox to prepare dinner.

Just Visiting

 It was a lovely sunny start to the day. It looked promising.

The Gorse Fox had his  cousins' call... though several were absent this morning. It was still interesting to see one cousin, at 9:15 in the morning, sitting next to a BBQ which was cooking her breakfast, while she worked her way through some Bloody Marys.

Betty and Barney Rubble came to visit. We made the most of the weather and sat in the garden over coffee and the latest family updates from both sides. We also hear about their recent (missionary) trip to Yorkshire. It sounds like they had a very nice time and had the chance to visit the house they lived in when a young married couple. You can't beat a bit of nostalgia.

For lunch we headed to Fino's. The Silver Vixen and Gorse Fox had lovely meals but Betty Rubble found the King Prawns a bit chewy. Worse still, Barney Rubble had to send his seafood risotto back as the fish was overcooked and the rice was dry. He swapped to a different dish entirely and was quite happy with that.

Back home, we all had a quiet afternoon chatting in the garden.

All Change

 It was a fairly quiet morning The weather was warm, dry, and sunny. Once ready to meet the world, the Gorse Fox popped out to fill the car with petrol then set about steam-cleaning the hard floors downstairs.

Once the chores were done, there was the pressing matter of passwords. Several of the systems that the Gorse Fox uses had recently been compromised. It was time to change some significant passwords. Needless to say this took a while as, once a password had been created, the Gorse Fox had to re-connect to the service from each of his devices. One of the passwords was his "One Ring to Rule them All"... this took some thought. This needed to be clever but memorable. In the end the Gorse Fox came up with and algorithm and a bit of code that would reveal the password if he ever forgets it.

The afternoon was spent reading in the Orangery and the Gorse Fox was pleased to find that he had spotted the villain near the beginning of the book.

We gaot a call from Cousteau-Cub, late afternoon. She was very pleased. She had been for a job interview this morning and had received a call this afternoon to say that the job was hers. The pay fairly similar to her current job, but there will almost no fuel consumption... and she's on a 4-on 4-off rota. She's very happy... and we are delighted for her.

Under Canvas

 An overnight storm dumped huge amounts of rain on us and refilled the rill. It was accompanied by a rumbling thunder that woke Ellie. She was very good and after a quick trip to the loo, went straight back off to sleep.

We (well, the Silver Vixen) got her up, fed, washed and dressed fairly sharpish. Pistol Pete was coming to collect her and take her camping over the weekend. They were heading for a camp site near Lyndhurst. She was very excited and kept asking  "Is Daddy on his way yet?". When he did arrive, she couldn't get into the car quickly enough.

The rest of the day has followed the usual format for a Thursday with Ocado's delivery and the Sainsbury's top-up. After that, the Silver Vixen got on with some laundry while the Gorse Fox did the accounts. The afternoon, now warm and dry, has been spent reading in the Orangery.

Service

 We were up early this morning. Urban-Cub would be dropping Ellie off soon after 07:00. Ellie was absorbed by her iPad and required very little intervention for a while - other than food.

The Gorse Fox had to take the Fiesta in to Chichester for its annual service and MOT. He set off soon after 09:00 and lefty the car at the Ford garage whilst making his way back to the bus station by way of the Ford, VW, and Jaguar showrooms. Only the latter offered cars with light (white, cream, or light grey) interiors. This could be an issue when we have to replace the Skoda (if we decide to replace it) as the Silver Vixen is a little claustrophobic and finds dark interiors (which ar now the norm) to be oppressive and uncomfortable.

Considering buses are advertised as :every 10 minutes" the Gorse Fox wasn't amused by a 30 minute wait at the bus station... and then, when he alighted bus he was accosted by a neighbour for a chat. He was gasping for a coffee by the time he got home.

Ellie has been a joy during the day but by mid-afternoon the Gorse Fox had to get the bus back to Chichester to collect the car. There was nothing of significance to report. He paid the bill and then set about the search for the car within their compound. It took two complete circuits to find it. He fired it up and headed home.

Back home, Ellie was immersed in board games and the Gorse Fox was roped in to lose at some game or other before Ellie decided to try Draughts. The Gorse Fox explained the rules and gave her plenty of hints along the way. He suspects it will take a few more games but he has no doubt that she will be very good at it, based on today's showing.

Elle finished the day with nose bleed. Nothing serious, but her first nose-bleed. She was distraught until the Gorse Fox pointed out that he had hundreds of nose bleeds when he was young.

Aunt

The Gorse Fox started the day with a call from one of his cousins. He called to pass on the news that his aunt had been given a terminal diagnosis of 6-12 months. Apparently, though into her 90s, she is fully aware and still cheerful and at peace with the diagnosis. She will be a great loss when the time comes as she was a great support to the Gorse Fox and his little sister when we were growing up, after our parents had died.

The rest of the day has been fairly uneventful. The Silver Vixen has been sewing and the Gorse Fox has been working on the family tree. Recent changes in Bothe Family Tree Maker and in Ancestry had caused problems with, despite many sessions with the developers, could not be resolved. The Gorse Fox resorted to Pain B. A backup from June was restored and uploaded to Ancestry as a brand new tree. Various obscure checks have been made and the Gorse Fox is fairly happy that all is well. The new tree is now his default for all work.

This afternoon, the Gorse Fox has been sitting in the warmth of the Orangery and had read another book. He still seems to be polishing off a book a day.

Dashcam

 Ellie wandered into our bedroom at 6:18. She said that she couldn't find her tooth but the tooth fairy hadn't been. The Gorse Fox suggested that she look under her pillow. She trotted off, went back to bed and we didn't hear a sound from her until 7:45. Perfect.

We all had a leisurely breakfast and when the girls went up to get washed and dressed, the Gorse Fox decided to sort out the DashCam.

As we left here to drive to Brighton yesterday, the DashCam failed to start properly and spent the whole journey chiming at us. When we arrived, the Gorse Fox tried to switch it off or disconnect it. Nothing worked. In the end he unplugged it from the car's circuits and allowed it to run its battery to zero. The journey home was much more peaceful.

A little bit of Googling revealed that this is the outcome when th SDCard fails. The Gorse Fox removed the car, reformatted it on the MacBook, and ran some diagnostics on the card. Everything seemed correct. The battery was recharged, the DashCam reset button was pressed and then the SDCard reintroduced into the unit. Everything burst into life correctly. DashCam has been reinstalled in the car.

Much of the rest of the day has been spent tag-teaming with the Silver Vixen to keep Ellie amused. It was good to see her sit down with the Silver Vixen and do some sewing on the sewing machine. She has made a very good start at making a purse. She was also eager to sit down with the Gorse Fox and go through her phonics flash cards... all of which she got right.

Urban-Cub has just collected her.

Protection

 The Gorse Fox always gets a screen protector and some form of case for his phone. Yesterday, he dropped the phone, face down, on Trevor's brick patio. The screen looked as if it had cracked. The Gorse Fox was not amused. Then the Silver Vixen reminded him that he had a screen protector. This morning he removed the screen protector and was delighted to find the screen itself was unblemished. It was the screen protector that had cracked.

New screen protector is on order!

Brighton

 Sunday morning ran much as usual. The Gorse Fox had football booked and popped off to Ford to meet up with the rest of the lads. We had a good game. At first it seemed a little lopsided, but the Gorse Fox switched sides at half-time and it evened things up. The final score was 12-10 and included 4 goals from the Gorse Fox.

Once home and showered there were a couple of hours before we needed to go and collect Ellie. We were heading across to Brighton to meet up with Trevor and Sue for a BBQ. As we drove Ellie was discussing here loose tooth. A few minutes later we gave her a drink and as she took it, the tooth fell out. The tooth fairy received her emergency alert and the tooth was saved for later. They had a house full with Jon & Caroline and their family, the Silver Vixen's sister, Denise and her grandson, Louis, us, and of course Alan. It was a lovely mix of ages and personalities.

Ellie and Louis and the toddlers Cara and Emma played together and had great fun chasing around. 

Trevor started the BBQ and spent several hours cooking 7,000 sausages, 900 burgers, 650 chicken fillets, a whole field of sweetcorn, and some kebabs. (The Gorse Fox may not have got the number exactly right, but you get the drift).

Eventually, we got the chance to tuck in to the feast as it was starting to get dark. The children were still playing together, but Ellie was starting to flag. We had her night clothes with us, so the Silver Vixen got her changed. If she fell asleep while there or in the car we could just whip her up and drop her into bed.

We left just before 21:00 and were home soon after 21:40 - Ellie hadn't managed to sleep in the car, but went straight down without any fuss when we got home.

Progress

It has been a pleasant day. Not too hot, not too cool... just about right.

After the usual cousins' call the Gorse Fox returned to his niggling problem with the Family Tree. After a lot of faffing about he has managed to upload a completely new tree based on the backup taken at the end of June. Whatever happened now, there is one synchronised tree pair (as opposed to pear tree) that could take the Gorse Fox forward if it becomes necessary.

Applying the same logic to the tree backup created in mid August, the Gorse Fox thought he had got everything back on track. As before, the first synchronisation worked but the second (having tried to change things that had not needed changing) failed. The Gorse Fox is immensely frustrated and may have to acknowledge that he will need to redo the research that he did in July and early August.

The afternoon has been spent reading

A Quiet Celebration

It was a little overcast to start with but it was a day worth marking. It was 49 years ago today that the Silver Vixen was crazy enough walk down the aisle and say “I do”. Here we are, all those years later and The Gorse Fox is still as besotted with the Silver Vixen as he was in 1973. Physically we might be a bit older, but mentally we are still in our early 20s, laughing at the world, at each other, and making the most of what we have.

We took the bus into Bognor Regis at lunchtime. We had a reservation at Mustards - one of our favourite local restaurants. It was a bit like a private dining experience as we were the only two people there for much of the visit. 

We both settled for the whole lobster… but asked the kitchen to shell it. It was delicious, served with a green salad and some chips - and a bottle of Malbec. We lingered over lunch and then enjoyed a sweet - cheesecake for the Silver Vixen, chocolate fondant for the Gorse Fox. It was a lovely couple of hours.

Once back home we had a quiet afternoon sitting in the Orangery reading. It reminded the Gorse Fox of the original Wedding Day when he spent the morning reading “The Kraken Wakes” by John Wyndham, then quickly got changed and headed off to the church.

It’s funny but one online comment was a “Congratulations from you bridesmaid”… from a cousin who wasn’t actually our bridesmaid! They, for the record, were the Silver Vixen’s sister, the Gorse Fox’s sister, and Kim Jones (daughter of the Spurs and Wales footballer, Cliff Jones).

Testing

It has been a decent day today. Temperatures in the comfortable low 20s, a pleasant breeze, and no rain (though we could have done with some).

We had the usual start to Thursday with Ocado's delivery and the Sainsbury's top-up. After that we retreated to our projects, though the Silver Vixen got involved in sorting out the balance of Ellie's clothes between here and Urban-Cub's house.

The Gorse Fox got imbedded in the Family Tree software. He had decided that the work-around suggested yesterday was not adequate as it would lose all of the items that he had previously marked as private. Despite several hours of fiddling he has been unable to get to an adequate solution. He is very frustrated, but has put it to one side and spent a few hours this afternoon with his books as a relief. It is clear that the testing of the last set of updates from the developer was inadequate.

Grounded

 It was a bright start to the day. The Gorse Fox was beginning to wonder if the cancellation of the helicopter flight was really necessary, but by the time the original schedule rolled round it was poring with rain and the cancellation was fully justified.

After the odd chores and a quick update on the accounts, the Gorse Fox dug into the family tree. There has been a recent update to the software and there has been some new DNA information. It was time to update the details on one cousin. That's when it all fell apart. There appears to be a pernicious bug somewhere that stops certain updates being applied and synchronised with Ancestry. That blew the next few hours. The old files have been stored but a new master has been downloaded as a basis for future work. The Gorse Fox is not 100% happy with this as he suspects there may be some information that has been dropped. He will keep the old trees on a backup so that anything that proves to be missing can be retrieved.

The Silver Vixen has spent the day in her workroom sewing.

Uneventful

 The Gorse Fox was going to summarise today as uneventful. That is not really true, though. It rained. In fact we had quite a few showers, some thunder and some lightning. After such a long dry spell, this is and event worth recording.

There hasn't been too much else to report. The Gorse Fox spent some time measuring up the bathroom cabinet and annotating a photo to send to the architectural glass company. He then tried to work out how on earth this was fixed to wall and has drawn a blank. More investigation is required.

Much of the rest of the day has been spent reading, though an email and text message did arrive to postpone tomorrow's scheduled helicopter trip. They are being cautious because of the weather forecast. The Gorse Fox has no problem with that!

Mirror, mirror on the floor

 It has still been delightfully warm, if a little overcast today. Parts of the country have been hit with flash flooding, but we are still parched here in West Sussex.

The Silver Vixen was out for an appointment for much of the morning. When the Gorse Fox had completed his planned chores he settled down with the phone to nail down a few things that were floating about but hadn't solidified. First on the agenda was a call to Skoda. They were offering a free pre-MOT check and Warranty check as the car is approaching its 3rd birthday. We have been having some ongoing problems with the keyless entry system and this appears to be a known problem (according to Mr Google). All of this has now been recorded and will now be addressed (hopefully) in a couple of weeks time. Next on the agenda was a call to the body shop to confirm a date for the repair to the damaged front wing. We now have that sorted and it looks as if it will be done a couple of days more quickly than we had been led to believe. It will be a busy start to next month.

Once the Silver Vixen was back and ready to hit the streets we loaded the bathroom mirror into the car and headed for Havant. The mirror has been sitting on the floor of the Gorse Fox's study for the 3 or 4 years while we have tried to find a solution. After Friday's phone call we were fairly optimistic that they could help. We knocked on the door and the chappie came down to look at the mirror and its fixings. The first thing he said was that it had been incorrectly designed. The hinges were designed to be used in pairs, not threes. The problem with 3 hinges is that unless they were absolutely millimetre perfect the middle hinge would be under strain every time the door was used... and lo and behold, it was the middle hinge which had failed. The problem was that the mirror is about 10kg and the bonded hinges are only designed to hold 6kg (which is why they had added the extra hinge). What they should have done is use a totally different hinge system. We now have a potential solution but it will involve removing the whole cabinet from the bathroom and taking it to them. That will be a challenge, but at least we have a solution.

We grabbed some lunch in M&S while we were in Havant and then headed home for a quiet afternoon with our books.

94

 A little bit of high cloud today but it was still a lovely day. We didn't have sufficient players for football so the Gorse Fox had a quiet morning at home with the Silver Vixen. 

At lunchtime we strolled round to Urban-Cub's. She was having a bit of a "do" as part of her birthday celebrations. Darren was running the BBQ, Ellie was watching TV and Urban-Cub was circulating. Cousteau-Cub and the Coventry Hobbit were there and we were joined by Darren's mum and aunt, one of his brothers and his family, and one of his friends and family. Later, a couple of the neighbours also joined us. It was a lovely gathering and an opportunity to finally get to know Darren's inner circle.

It was unfortunate to find that most of the friends and family were with Arsenal or Chelsea supporters. Spurs would be playing Chelsea later in the afternoon so there was a good deal of banter. As the game kicked off  and news was filtering through from the ground they took great pleasure in keeping the Gorse Fox informed of Chelsea's lead. The Gorse Fox was steadfast. He explained that he would not get concerned until the 94th minute. As the 80th minute approached, the TV was switched on and we watched the clock tick down, Spurs were still 2-1 down - but the Gorse Fox continued to say he wouldn't worry until the 94th minute. He was almost spot on. In the 95th minute Harry Kane scored the equaliser and the game finished all square. The Gorse Fox was vindicated and the naysayers were astounded by his prediction.

We spent the afternoon chatting and munching through the endless supply of food and drink. It was about 19:00 when we finally left - and it looked as if it would carry on for a while yet.

It really was a lovely day.

Perfect

It has been an almost perfect day. Jasper wasn't in any hurry to wake us this morning so we managed to get up when we felt like it. The day was bright, sunny, and the the sky was cloudless. The temperature rose throughout the day and hovered around the 30C mark.

The Gorse Fox had his usual call with the cousins. In the case of ClaggyMaggy - she was calling in from a narrowboat up near Stop-on-Trent. Once  a WREN always a WREN he supposes.

The rest of the day has been very quiet and thus, very pleasant. The Gorse Fox and the Silver Vixen have spent virtually the whole day sitting under the parasol in the garden, reading our books. Urban-Cub visited very briefly to borrow the Gorse Fox's drill, but other than that 10 minute interlude, it has been very quiet. 

The Heat is On

 Another glorious day. The temperature up into the 30s and hardly a breath of wind.

The Silver Vixen had Betty Rubble visiting for the day and they swept off to lunch on her hybrid broomstick. The Gorse Fox was left to his own devices. This gave him a chance to answer a couple of overdue emails, do the accounts, update the Family Tree Maker software, and update the SatNav on the Skoda. A very fruitful day.

There was a chance to do a bot of reading in the afternoon before they got back from lunch. That's about all there is to report today... though the Gorse Fox may have found a company that can sort out our bathroom mirror (at long last). He will have to take the failed unit along to Havant for them to take a look... but that can wait until next week.

Mouth mining

This Summer weather is just wonderful. It's like the times that the Gorse Fox was working in the USA - bright blue skies, lovely warm days and evenings, and a degree of predictability. Our usual Thursday schedule was scrapped for today. We had the usual Ocado delivery but then headed into Chichester. The Gorse Fox had an appointment at the dentist (hygienist) and the Silver Vixen wanted to wander round some of the shops.

We parked up and wandered into the town. There was time to spare before the Gorse Fox had to undergo his torture session. We started at our favourite jeweller. Jasper had caught the Silver Vixen's necklace and broken it so it was time to get it replaced with one that was a bit more robust. While we were there, given that we have a Wedding Anniversary next week, we looked at some of his other necklaces and pendants. One rather caught the eye, so we picked that up to celebrate.

The Gorse Fox disappeared off to the dentist. The hygienist spent about 30 minutes mining among his teeth. The conclusion was that there wasn't much to find other than the amalgam that previous dentists have used over the years. At least he got a clean bill of health. The Gorse Fox then wandered back to centre of town to find the Silver Vixen. We hit a few more shops before stopping for lunch.

We had booked lunch at "The Ivy", which has only been open about 6 weeks. The first thing that you notice when you enter is how big it is - not only wide, but also very deep. The interior design is striking. It is reminiscent of a cross between an interior designer's fantasy and a palm house. The next thing that is apparent is how busy they are - every table was taken (it was a good job we had booked).

We settled down with the menu and debated what to have. The Silver Vixen started with a Kiln-roasted Salmon Tian whilst the Gorse Fox had Bang Bang Chicken. Both were delicious. For our main dishes the Silver Vixen had an Halloumi Salad while the Gorse Fox had a Malaysian-style Monkfish and Prawn Curry. We cleared our plates. The Gorse Fox was tempted to lick his clean. The curry was delightful - creamy, sweet, not hot, but loaded chock full of monkfish and prawns. The Silver Vixen also finished every morsel from her plate. There was no room for a sweet - and no need to eat again today. Thoroughly enjoyable lunch, and we will certainly return.

Leaving Chichester we stopped off at Sainsbury's before heading home and spending the remainder of the afternoon in the cool. of the lounge, reading our books.

Celebration Day

Today is a celebration day (cue Led Zeppelin). It is the anniversary of Urban-Cub arriving and completing our little family unit - the Silver Vixen, Cousteau-Cub, and the Gorse Fox.

The morning started much as it does most Wednesdays. The Silver Vixen got ready and headed out for Pilates, and the Gorse Fox headed off to football. The weather was significantly hot, even at 9:30.

Football was a remarkably even split this week. Because of the heat we played 4 quarters rather than 2 halves. It game us a chance to take on water. The final score was a satisfactory 3-3 and the Gorse Fox was pleased to have contributed one of these after having two attempts saved earlier in the game.

The Silver Vixen and Gorse Fox went round to see Urban-Cub in the afternoon. Cousteau-Cub was there and she and Ellie were making the most of the pool. Neighbours kept knocking at the door to wish her a Happy Birthday and drop off some flowers. It is nice that she knows so many nice people. We didn’t stay too long as we were due back later to baby-sit while Urban-Cub went out for a meal with Darren.

We had our dinner at home then went back to Urban-Cub’s. The Silver Vixen put Ellie to bed and the Gorse Fox chauffeured Urban-Cub and Darren to the restaurant, “Fino”. Back with the Silver Vixen we sat and watched some TV until the text message said they were ready and the Gorse Fox headed back to collect them. It was earlier than expected but they had had a good meal and enjoyed themselves. The Silver Vixen and Gorse Fox were home before 22:00 - Perfect.

Diversion

 It was another brilliant day. Wall-to-wall sunshine and the temperatures in the mid-20s. The Gorse Fox had football scheduled in Worthing. The Silver Vixen was meeting a girlfriend later for lunch so she stayed home to get ready. 

The Gorse Fox set off just before 9:00 and in order to avoid the roadworks, followed the A259. It seemed like such a good idea. The trouble came at Flansham. An accident had closed the road. The Gorse Fox had to do a rapid mental recalculation and divert. It only added about 5 minutes to the journey but it was good to know that his mental map of the area joined the dots so quickly.

Football was a bit different. There had been a tournament yesterday and this always reduces the numbers. Additionally, Worthing Seniors had a match against Southend later in the morning. This left us with about 18 players. Nine-a-side it was then. (The Gorse Fox hates this as it tends to be more like pinball). As it turned out, it wasn't' too bad. The Gorse Fox played centre back with a left and right back who knew what they were doing. We snuffed out everything that was thrown at us in the game. Meanwhile, our attack managed to chalk up 6 goals. We finally conceded one from a long range shot that the goalie couldn't get to. Final score of 6-1 was most satisfactory.

Soon after the Gorse Fox got home, the Silver Vixen went out for lunch. He had the rest of the afternoon to sit and read. He started in the garden (under the parasol) but as it got warmer he migrated into the lounge, where it was nice and cool.

The Silver Vixen cam home soon after 17:00. The Gorse Fox has just finished his dinner and is about to submit this week's shopping list.

Quiet Day

 It has been a quiet day. It started earlier than strictly necessary when Jasper decided to start singing at the end of our bed. The Silver Vixen may be able to ignore it, but the Gorse Fox can't. As it was about 7:00, the Gorse Fox got up and took Jasper downstairs and let him out into the garden.

The rest of the morning was fairly quiet and uneventful. The sun was shining, the sky was blue, the temperature was rising and it promised to be a wonderful day. 

The Gorse Fox had a few bits and pieces to do. He had been asked to put a team together for a friendly game of football this Friday. It was short notice. In the end, we only had a single player available. Game cancelled... but no great loss as they are a dirty team and several of our players refused to play them again.

Yet again, The Gorse Fox had to go and fill the Fiesta with petrol. This is getting silly. It's the third time this year!

The rest of the day has been spent with our books.

By the way, it's the Wedding Anniversary of the Gorse Fox's little sister and brother-in-law. A day worth celebrating, so congratulations to them both.

Menu

Ellie slept well and wandered in to our room at about 7:10. She threw her favourite cushion onto the bed between us and leapt over the Silver Vixen. The day had started! The Gorse Fox went downstairs with Ellie to give the Silver Vixen a few more minutes peace and a few minutes to come to terms with the day.

The weather was gorgeous again. No clouds interrupted the blue of the sky, and there was a fresher feel to the air. 

Urban-Cub had been at a works "do" and came along to collect Ellie around 9:00.

Jasper has been off his food for a few days. We cannot seem to find a recipe that he will eat. He seems to lick the gravy and take a few mouthfuls then give up. The Silver Vixen discussed this with Lady Penelope who suggested a particular yoghurt-like food. The Gorse Fox headed off to Sainsbury's. Two packs of this food were added to the trolley along with some mousse-like  delicacies that he might like. To be fair, he has eaten the yoghurt-like food but, so far, ignored the rest. We'll see how it goes. He does seem a little more active today.

The rest of the day has been spent reading in the garden or the Orangery. (The Gorse Fox like to read in the garden, but finds that sitting in the shade he starts to get chilly.  "Move into the sun" you might say - particularly as our garden is bathed in full sun most of the day, but no, the Gorse Fox doesn't like sitting in the direct sun so he raises the parasol and sits in the shade).

G-Force

 It was a quiet start to the day. The sun was shining. No clouds dared sully the clear blue of the skies.

The Gorse Fox had his usual call with the cousins. All were fit and well though several had broadband issues. The Gorse Fox can only say that it confirmed his view that it's grim up north. As the call was coming to an end, Urban-Cub dropped in with Ellie. It was the first time we had seen her for a couple of weeks and it was astonishing to see how much she seems to have grown. They had plans for a girly day and soon disappeared.

Much of the rest of the morning was spent helping the Silver Vixen with some online issues and then updating her MacBook. She got on with some work on her latest project.

We spent the afternoon buried in our respective books before the Gorse Fox broke off to prepare dinner of us and Ellie. Urban-Cub dropped Ellie off just after 17:00; she will be staying with us overnight as Urban-Cub has a work "do" this evening.

Spreadsheets

 It's been another fabulous day. We have had wall-to-wall blue skies with an occasional puff of cloud to decorate the azure above us.

There is little to report. The Silver Vixen has spent the day in her sewing room, working on her latest project. The Gorse Fox provided large cups of tea every hour or so.

The Gorse Fox did the accounts. While doing this, it occurred to him that there was a refinement he could make to the spreadsheet to make things easier. Plan A worked, but then a Plan B formed. Plan B quickly replaced Plan A... and was replicated throughout the rest of the year. (It was not, at this time, retrofitted to the previous months of the year). The Gorse Fox is quite pleased with this enhancement.

Most of the rest of the day was spent reading. Another book was completed and a new one started.

No football this coming Sunday. Apparently only 4 players had signed up.

Go

 It has been a much brighter day today. There has been some cloud, but it only served to make the blue sky more interesting.

The morning was spent with the usual shopping deliveries and collections, then we settled in for the rest of the day. The Gorse Fox started by calling the Insurance company regarding the damaged win of the Skoda. They asked a series of questions and a quote for the work. In less than 5 minutes the Gorse Fox had the go ahead and the money was set up to transfer into his account. The Gorse Fox emailed the body shop and confirmed that we wanted to go ahead. We now await their response and a schedule.

The Silver Vixen waded through some ironing before we both settled down with our books for the afternoon.

Quote

 It was another grey start. It was warm and a bit humid but overcast. The Silver Vixen had Pilates this morning and the Gorse Fox had football.

Warning signs, yesterday, convinced the Gorse Fox to take a different route to the football. As it worked out the route was trouble free and he arrived in plenty of time. Football was a 5-a-side extravaganza. The Gorse Fox seemed to have snapped out of yesterday's lethargy and was back to his usual self. By half-time, through good passing and good defending we were 2-0 up. This was the trigger for Jack to switch two players. The second half became more intense and though we scored one more goal, they did reply with two of their own. At least we won.

Coming home, The Gorse Fox thought he would be clever and avoid the current roadworks near Northbrook College. He headed along through Ferring. It was a great idea until the level crossing closed and the Gorse Fox had to wait for three trains to pass. Pah! At least the sun had come out.

An email had arrived overnight from the local car body shop. They have provided a formal quote for the repair of the Skoda's front wing. The Gorse Fox thinks that he will put this through the insurance. He'll sleep on it overnight, but doesn't expect to change his mind.

The afternoon has been spent with both of us reading; the Silver Vixen in the Orangery, the Gorse Fox in the garden. Very relaxing.

Grey but dry

 The day started grey but despite the apparent threat, there was no rain. Officially we have have had 0mm of rain in the last month.

The Gorse Fox headed off to Worthing for the football. The roads were quiet but various signs warned of roadworks for the next few weeks along the usual route.

Football was less than satisfying. We lost all three games. The Gorse Fox doesn't mind winning or losing as long has he plays well. Today he was dreadful. He wasn't reading the game, he felt lethargic, and those passes that didn't go astray were usually intercepted. Dreadful. (It must be what the Arsenal team feel like after every game).

When he got home, he found that Cousteau-Cub had dropped in on her way through. She didn't stay too long, but it was nice to see her. Apparently, the big fridge that the Gorse Fox helped with has now been cleaned up and moved into the house. Quite a bargain at £80... given their price when new is over £1000.

Talking of bargains, the Silver Vixen had a pleasant win on the Premium Bonds this month. Not huge, but enough.

The grey morning gave way to a lovely sunny afternoon which the Gorse Fox enjoyed while reading in the Orangery (the Silver Vixen was in her sewing room, working on her latest project).

Vote

Neither the Silver Vixen nor the Gorse Fox slept well last night. We can only put it down to the sauce that was put on the Kentucky BBQ Brisket that we had for dinner. Never mind, we'll survive.

The morning was spent with various chores and bits of admin, including some scanning and shredding some recent official documents. The Gorse Fox has embraced the paperless office concept and scans anything that is significant and then shreds it. It goes without saying that the shredding doesn't take place until at least one backup has been completed.

We had a video call with Ellie at lunchtime. It's only just over a week since we've seen her, but it seems like ages. We chatted with her for about 30 minutes until she got bored and started to play with her dolls. Even in the week, she seems to have grown and has clearly had a good time with Pistol Pete. We look forward to seeing her at the weekend.

This afternoon was interrupted by a phone call from our local MP. Knowing the Gorse Fox was a party member he wanted to encourage a vote for his favoured candidate. The Gorse Fox was being deliberately noncommittal, if not argumentative. The problem is that the Gorse Fox favours neither of the current candidates and made it quite clear that this whole exercise was a disgraceful blot on the Party and should be an embarrassment to all who were involved. (The Gorse Fox should point out that his MP was one of those wielding the long knives).

The rest of the afternoon was spent sitting in the garden reading. Another book bit the dust. This who know the Gorse Fox will realise that he gets bursts of enthusiasm for some hobby or pastime, then after a while bores of it and drops it - until it recycles weeks, months, or years later. At the moment, reading is the focus. He has read 20+ books in the last month... and is looking forward to the next.