Just Stuff

Not a lot going on today. The Gorse Fox took Cousteau-Cub along to the Chiropractor this morning, and then on into Chichester for work. The Silver Vixen had to manage the Ocado delivery (though the driver carried the bags through to kitchen for her).

She hit the treadmill again this afternoon - increasing the time and the distance covered. Again, it's an impressive improvement. She's doing so well.

The Gorse Fox had to collect a prescription this afternoon but then spent the afternoon at the computer trying to write some code. He says "trying" because he actually failed to write a single line. The problem is that he knows he needs to use a particular Google library and he cannot seem to work out how to include it in his configuration - and yes, he has downloaded it! Frustrating. In most cases he would say "Google it" but Google spectacularly fails to give a sensible clue in this instance.

We're out to dinner with the Sonning Crew to celebrate Two Hats' birthday this evening.

Trip

Well, maybe the use of the word trip is insensitive. The Silver Vixen made the most of the Gorse Fox's trip to Worthing and cadged a lift to the Community Centre where she normally does Pilates. The idea was to meet up with the "girls" (and that term is used in its loosest sense) and join them for a cup of tea.

The Gorse Fox continued on to Worthing and joined the lads for a 6-v-5 football game. It was clear from the outset that the yellow-team with the extra player had all of the attackers and the orange team had to man the defences without any recognised strikers. The Gorse Fox was on the orange team and tried his best to play more of an attacking midfield role. This seemed to pay off as we stormed ahead with three goals in a row from the Gorse Fox. Unfortunately, the yellow team began to work together and it all became a lot harder. In the end, we lost but managed to keep the score to 7-5.

Back home we had a quietish afternoon but the Silver Vixen decided it was time to extend her exercise regime. As the Gorse Fox writes, she is striding along on the running machine. This is good exercise and will help build up the muscles and her confidence.

Metamorphosis

The morning started with the realisation that being in the last quarter of the year, a new accounting spreadsheet would be needed soon. This, in turn, would need new budget settings for 2020. Now any long-term reader will know that the Gorse Fox enjoys playing with the accounting spreadsheets and refining them a bit more each year. So it was that there was very happy hour or two this morning cloning and refining this year's spreadsheet ready for 2020.

Once everyone was up and about (or out) the Gorse Fox decided it was time to perform the metamorphosis that converts the workshop back into a garage. This didn't take as long as he had expected. The various tools, the surrounding sawdust, and other detritus were well confined and soon the car was back nestling in its little home.

The afternoon has been spent reviewing some YouTube video showing various aspects of Python and Google authentication. Finally, the Gorse Fox has started to cut some code - which, as yet, doesn't work.

Physio

Monday has been a day of mixed weather. It was grey but warm and dry this morning, but this afternoon saw the rain set in and the temperature drop. The Gorse Fox had an interesting morning providing moral support for Old Bill. He has been trying to get Mercedes to take his issue seriously. The problem is that the brand new car has a distinctly agricultural sound when it starts up and even when it is warm it has an irritating chirping sound. The chap from the garage came along to video and sound record the issue and try to get to the bottom of the problem. Previously the response had been "well that the sound of this type of petrol engine". That didn't wash when the engineer turned up in a car with the same engine and it was almost totally silent. Time will tell as what happens, but the Gorse Fox had been along to do his bit.

This afternoon, the Silver Vixen was at the physioterrorism department. They were immensely pleased with her progress and see her as been well ahead of where they would expect at this stage of her recovery. Trekking in Nepal is still not recommended but she certainly has a bit more latitude now when it comes to getting around locally.

Netted It again

Sunday morning's football started earlier than usual. It's probably just as well as the Gorse Fox had problems finding a parking spot. The centre was incredibly busy with many of the external pitches in use. It was fairly quiet inside, however, and we were able to get on with our game without any problems. The Gorse Fox was playing for the yellow bibs today. It was fairly even to start with but with a goal from the Gorse Fox we went off at half-time with a 4-2 lead. The second half allowed us to be a bit more dominant and the Gorse Fox added 2 more goals as we racked up a final score of 10-3. He still hasn't got back up to the distances he normally covers during a game, but he's getting there.

Urban-Cub popped in to see us with Ellie at lunch time. They had been shopping and Ellie was keen to show us her sparkly new welly-boots. We had a nice couple of hours with them before they had to head home.

Cousteau-Cub and the Coventry Hobbit returned from their weekend house-sitting. We had some supper and then settled down for a quiet evening.

Netted It

It has been a fairly benign day, despite the forecasts. So far, as the sun begins to set, there has been no sign of rain and the wind has been slight.

The Silver Vixen is busy sorting out the seasonal change in wardrobes. This involves swapping several metric tonnes of summer outfits for there Autumn/Winter equivalents. The Gorse Fox's only involvement is moving crates of clothes to make them more accessible.

The nice man from the Post Office rang the bell this morning. He had the new BT Home Hub for the Gorse Fox to install. This was fairly straightforward in essence. The time consuming aspects were re-seating the new hub in the "man cave" and hiding all the wiring. Velcro tape and cable ties were snipped and linked and after about an hour, everything was back to the satisfaction of the Gorse Fox. The afternoon has been spent checking the various connections and ensuring the device tables were a) correctly identifying those devices which are Static as opposed to DHCP, and b) the device tables actually reflect meaning full names and locations. As usual it turned out to be an interesting exercise and an opportunity to tidy some things up.

Refined it

The forecast was not good. The remnants of Hurricane Lorenzo were due to hit the country today. It appears that nobody had told the weather. It was a lovely bright breezy morning. The Gorse Fox made the most of it and hung out the washing, which soon dried in the stiff breeze.

The morning was filled with episodes of chores, of caring for the Silver Vixen, and of coding. The latter was a case of "gilding the lily". The code, completed yesterday, could be improved and the documentation extended. The Gorse Fox was in the zone.

The zone didn't last. This afternoon he decided to look at an old Python program he developed several years ago. How could that be improved and optimised? Well, the answer remains moot. Much of that old code was copied from a Google developer's sample. It is still just as obtuse now as it was then. The question remains, is it worth the effort? After all, the code works and has worked every day for several years. Maybe he'll let it ride.

This afternoon the Silver Vixen had an appointment at the hairdresser. There were several tasks that could be rolled into this, so we started off with a trip to Sainsbury's to change a dress that she had bought yesterday. She forgets how much weight she has lost and keeps selecting based on a size that she hasn't been for over a year. The dress has now been replaced with a sensible size and looks very nice. From there we zipped across to the hair salon and the Gorse Fox dropped her while he went back to the pharmacy to pick up some missing medication from her last prescription. Then the question was whether it was worth going home before collecting her, or not. He decided not. He went and parked by the salon and sat in the car listening to his book until she was ready to be collected and brought home.

Got It

It has been a day of two halves. The morning was quite busy and involved taking Cousteau-cub across to Rustington for her appointment with the Chiropractor. Then the Gorse Fox took her across to Chichester and left her at work with her weekend bag. She and the Coventry Hobbit will be house/cat-sitting for a friend over the weekend.

Back home, the Silver Vixen had managed the Ocado delivery and managed to get some of the washing underway. Little steps, perhaps, but definite progress. As there was little else to worry about, the Gorse Fox retired to the study and the Silver Vixen picked up her sewing.

The code that the Gorse Fox has been working on is now working well. He's rather pleased as he feels that he is making good progress with his understanding of the features, functions, and some of the techniques available. Now the next challenge will be to find another task to automate and to build on what he has learned so far.

Platform 1

It was cooler today, but the sun shone and the day was very pleasant.

The Gorse Fox left the Silver Vixen in charge at home (as if she wasn't anyway), and headed off to Worthing for some football. The game was a nice 6-a-side and started off as a very tight game. The Gorse Fox had his work cut out defending against their marauding attackers. Eventually, the dam burst and they scored. By half-time, the score was 2-1 but we were hanging in there. In the second half, it became a little more one-sided and the eventual score was 5-2. The Gorse Fox had tried his best but his stamina wasn't back up to its normal levels.

Back home we had decided that the Silver Vixen would be more comfortable in her own chair in the evenings. Recently she has been in an older chair with extra cushions to give her the height she needs. All we had to do was raise her chair to the right height. The Gorse Fox turned the garage back into a workshop. Plywood and pine were attacked with circular and chop saws. Holes were drilled, screws were inserted, and before long we had an elevated platform on which the chair could be supported. Hopefully, she will be a lot more comfortable this evening.

After her final jab, the Gorse Fox took the Silver Vixen along to Sainsbury's. He had some general groceries to pick up and the Silver Vixen wanted to buy some new leggings. It was a bit of excitement for her, getting out of the house and starting to roam about. Soon she will regain her full confidence and there'll be no stopping her.

Mixed bag

It has been a mixed bag, weather-wise, today. We've had warm sunshine, strong winds, and brief downpours. If you miss the rain, then it's actually quite pleasant.

Cousteau-cub was off early this morning, but it was still dry as she headed for the bus. The Coventry Hobbit left a couple of hours later. He has a long day planned as he is working a split shift. During the down-time in the middle, he was hoping to get to a swimming pool for some exercise.

The Gorse Fox rattled through the morning chores, the most important of which was to wash the floors downstairs. Fortunately, the Karcher makes fairly easy work of this and everything is nice and sparkly again. The Silver Vixen was weary so stayed quiet in the bedroom while the Gorse Fox was making all the noise. When he finished he retired to the study and spent an hour or two working on some Python code. He is determined to crack this but finds that it takes so long because he keeps having to refer to the online manuals.

We had our penultimate trip to the surgery this afternoon. The Silver Vixen had her jab and we managed to get home just as the heavens opened for another downpour.

Visits

The busy social life experienced by recovering retirees continued today. Cousteau-Cub and the Coventry Hobbit both went off to work leaving the old folk to look after themselves. The Silver Vixen had a friend from one of her covens come to visit in the morning. The Gorse Fox made himself scarce, only emerging to make more tea at regular intervals.

After lunch and a trip to the surgery for the Silver Vixen's jab she trotted off for afternoon tea with Lady Penelope. The Gorse Fox stayed put and pottered on the computer.

We received an email from the local Nissan dealer claiming that they want cars just like ours and offering a valuation. The Gorse Fox replied and awaits their response. He knows it's just and attempt to get us to purchase a replacement, but is interested in what the valuation would be and whether they would purchase the car without us making any other transaction with them. We'll see. (Our new car is scheduled to be built next week).

Back in Boots

The forecast was for flooding in the Lower Arun district. We had some rain overnight, but it wasn't too bad. Clearly, with a very high tide due today and the run-off from the Downs, the Arun is going to be at risk today.

The Gorse Fox was back in his football kit today. The Silver Vixen is moving about well and confident enough that she was happy to look after herself for a couple of hours. The Gorse Fox joined up with the rest of the lads and we had a 6-a-side match over at Arun Sports Arena. It's only been four weeks since he last played, but the Gorse Fox was shocked at the difference it made to his stamina. Indeed, he was glad to do his turn in goal for 15 minutes just for the rest. It was a good game, overall, and quite close. The eventual score was 8-7 to the other team, but the Gorse Fox did contribute 1 goal on his return.

Urban-cub and Ellie brought Cousteau-cub and the Coventry Hobbit home, arriving just as the District Nurse came to give the Silver Vixen her jab. There was a little confusion at first as the nurse struggled to find a place where she was happy to park her car, but she sorted herself out in the end and got on with the jab. We had a mad 10 minutes with Ellie but Urban-cub had to leave so a kind of hush dropped over the house as afternoon naps took over while the Gorse Fox got on with supper.

A Good Drying Day

It has remained dry all day, but there has been a strong breeze. Ideal conditions for drying the washing so the Gorse Fox got on with several loads of washing and filled the washing line. (A very domesticated display, he's sure you will agree).

After whipping around to the surgery for his flu jab the morning followed a fairly normal course with the Gorse Fox helping the Silver Vixen and then preparing a list for a trip to the shops. Urban-cub and Ellie arrived and spent an hour or two with us before heading off with Cousteau-cub and the Coventry Hobbit in tow. The Coventry Hobbit was going into Chichester to work, and Cousteau-cub was going back to LA for the weekend. The Coventry Hobbit will join them after his shift.

This left the Silver Vixen and Gorse Fox on their own for a quiet afternoon. He had to get the shopping out of the way, but then we had some quiet time until the District Nurse arrived for the daily jab.

Around and about

It was a day of mixed weather. When the gf first got up the sun was shining and it looked promising. This soon changed and we had showers and high winds throughout the day.

The morning was fairly quiet to start with. The Gorse Fox managed a brief burst on the computer before other priorities took over. Mid-morning Urban-Cub and Ellie arrived to see Nana, but almost as soon as they turned up the Gorse Fox had to take Cousteau-cub across to the Chiropractor in Rustington. This visit was primarily so that she could receive the result of her MRI, but he did give her some remedial treatment while there.

The afternoon saw a trip to the doctors' surgery for the SIlver Vixen's jab. WHile there, they took the opportunity to also give her the flu jab. (The Gorse Fox is cheduled for his jab in the morning). When er got bak, the rain had turned torrential - just as Cousteau-cub and the Coventry Hobbit were about to go to Chichester. The Gorse Fox did the decent thing and said he would drive them in so thatthey wouldn't get wet waiting for the bus. This turned out to be a bit of a trek. Chichester was in a state of virtual gridlock and the return trip which we would expect to be twenty minutes took well over an hour.

The Coventry Hobbit had his trial shift working as a chef in a pub. We saw him when he got back, and it seems he quite enjoyed it. He's going back tomorrow and said that he'll give it a go for at least a couple of weeks as they clearly need the help.

Not Gooey but GUI

A fair bit of rain over night, but it's been dry during the day. Both the Silver Vixen and the Gorse Fox seem to be fighting off colds. He's not sure, at this point, whether either is winning the fight.

The morning was spent cleaning the oven. (Who says we don't know how to have fun?). Fortunately, the oven has a self-cleaning feature but this doesn't apply to the racks, nor the top combi-oven. It took a while but everything is nice and sparkly now.

Cousteau-Cub and the Coventry Hobbit went in to Bognor Regis to try some of the local job agencies. Several have opportunities that he could start next Monday, but first he needs to see if he likes the trial he has scheduled for tomorrow evening as a chef at a pub in Chichester. It sounds as if he could be sorted quite quickly.

The afternoon was spent with the computer. The Gorse Fox installed BSF4ooRexx on "condor". This didn't appear to work the first time, but having uninstalled it, then reinstalled it we have a working utility. Why install this? Well it allows the Gorse Fox to combine the power of ooRexx code with the functions of Java. As such it fills in the major gap in ooRexx: a functioning cross-platform GUI. Now its working he'll have to learn how to use it. That's a plan for another day.

Jobs

There was more rain overnight, but again it cleared during the morning.

The Gorse Fox has been trying to listen in to the REXX Symposium again, but with mixed results. There were several interrupts where he had more important tasks to worry about, and several occasions where the sound just disappeared from the feed. He's taking one such break to write this blog post.

The Gorse Fox did manage to get out and stroll into the village to get his hair cut this morning. Stopping on the way back, he looked at the new model of our housing development. This actually shows the last stages of the development and the houses planned for the next build phase. It looks really interesting.

Cousteau-Cub and the Coventry Hobbit have gone into Chichester this afternoon. The Coventry Hobbit has never been too Chichester so he wants to have a look around before meeting with a friend of Cousteau-Cub. She is, potentially, interested in the Coventry Hobbit working as a chef in a local establishment. We'll have to see how he gets on, and whether he feels suited to the role on question.

Out and about

Today started with torrential rain. Fortunately, it cleared up during the morning and remained dry for most of the remaining daylight hours. More rain is forecast overnight.

The Gorse Fox was up early this morning and had a good 90 minutes before he heard anyone else stirring. After breakfast he logged in to the second day of the Rexx Language Symposium, but soon had to drop off in order to take Cousteau-Cub and the Coventry Hobbit along to Bognor Hospital for Cousteau-Cub's physio appointment. In its own right this was fine, however, the Gorse Fox had made the mistake of taking the Silver Vixen upstairs before he left and because he waited for Cousteau-Cub was away a lot longer than planned. The Silver Vixen was not amused and actually made her own way back down the stairs in order to get her medication.

The afternoon saw the Silver Vixen take a rest, as did Cousteau-Cub and the Coventry Hobbit. The Gorse Fox sat at the computer and watched the afternoon proceedings of the Symposium until it was time to take the Silver Vixen to the surgery for her daily jab. (Up until now, the District Nurse has been visiting, but now that the Silver Vixen is a bit more mobile we can get the nurse at the surgery to  do the injection). When we got back the Silver Vixen and Gorse Fox took a walk with a view to building up her stamina and strength. A little bit every day.

Full

It's been a full day. Note full of any single event, just full of lots of bits and pieces. Where the odd gap did open up, the Gorse Fox joined in the webcast of the Rexx Language Association's annual Symposium. At first the sound quality was quite poor, but eventually, it got sorted out and became quite interesting to listen in on.

Other than that, the Gorse Fox was on laundry and taxi duty. A full day, but interesting.

Birthday

The weather forecast was dire. After the past few glorious days, we were expecting torrential rain and thunderstorms. Actually, we got about an hour of rain and then everything dried up and it turned into a nice afternoon. This shouldn't be a surprise to us as Cousteau-cub's birthday is usually blessed with decent weather.

We made our way across to LA. Cousteau-cub and the Coventry Hobbit were staying with Urban-cub and we had been invited to join them for a birthday celebratory lunch. The Mask came down from London and J&T joined us from Wokingham. It was a lovely little gathering, though unfortunately, Pistol Pete couldn't be there as he was on duty.

As usual, Urban-cub put on a huge feast involving two legs of lamb, a mountain of roast potatoes, and enough vegetables and gravy to satisfy a regiment of the British Army. Once we had all had our fill of the "roast" course, it was time to start on the Birthday cakes and the cheesecakes. It was a wonderful meal and was finished off with candles to blow out and party-poppers with which to frighten the dogs.

Once we were done, we had to prepare to get home in order to be ready for the District Nurse's daily visit. It took a while to load the car as Cousteau-cub and the Coventry Hobbit were coming back with us (with all of their stuff in tow).

Code

It's been another glorious day, even if the wind has been a little cool. The Silver Vixen has made the most of it and spent most of the afternoon sitting in sun, lapping up the rays. Her progress continues to impress and we even managed to go for a short walk around the Crescent today. She'll be out jogging before long.

The Gorse Fox had some tidying up to complete. There are a couple months of photos in Google than needed to be downloaded and filed on the local machines. When he analysed the tas he realised there was a lot of manual intervention required to create all the correct target folders. He decided that this was a task that could be automated. He installed ooRexx on a USB that could be run on the iMac. A few lines of code later he had a working script that dealt with the last couple of months of photos and should work for future photos when required.

Booked

It's been another lovely day. Not a cloud sullied the blue of the sky, though a cool breeze was quite noticeable in the shade.

It was another quiet day on the domestic front. A few chores, some washing, and then assisting the Silver Vixen. She is progressing well and has dispensed with the crutches when moving around downstairs, and only uses a single crutch when on the stairs. This is great progress.

The Gorse Fox spent a fair bit of time in the branches of the family tree today. A clue from his cousin in Suffolk helped him discover a new batch of distant cousins from Welwyn and Hatfield. He also contacted the hotel where we were due to stay next week with a view to rebooking for later in the year. Their quote came back, and whilst a little steep, he decided that it would be nice to have something to which the Silver Vixen could look forward. This is now booked for the latter part of November.

Talking of bookings, the Gorse Fox has been invited to the Over-65's Lunch at his old school in October. He enjoyed this immensely last year and decided to make the effort and go again. He has RSVP'd and also booked his train tickets. St Albans, brace yourself, here he comes!

Cousteau-cub and the Coventry Hobbit have arrived back in the UK this afternoon. Urban-cub, with Ellie in tow, has been to Gatwick to meet them and is bringing them back to LA for the weekend (it's Cousteau-cub's birthday on Sunday).

Cables and hubs

We were just enjoying a quiet breakfast when the phone. Rang. It was Ocado and they were 30 minutes early “Would it be all right to deliver?” Absolutely. In fact we find they are often early, except on days when we want to out.

It was a morning of family tree research once the chores were out of the way. Nothing new came to light, but it did make the Gorse Fox question the information he had on a 3 times great aunt of the Silver Vixen. A bit more digging will be required.

The nice man from Amazon delivered our packages this afternoon. This gave the Gorse Fox a chance to try out some of the ideas he had regarding attaching drives and hubs to “Condor”. Well, the hubs have worked but the direct cable didn’t... but he’s not totally surprised.

The Gorse Fox sees that Cousteau-Cub and the Coventry Hobbit are enjoying a day in Florence. A lovely spot. He just hopped that she doesn’t overdo it.

Surface

We had a lovely long chat with Cousteau-cub last night. She was relaxing in a hammock in the grounds of her hotel in Tuscany. She is clearly loving it there but is considering leaving a day early so that she and the Coventry Hobbit can visit Florence on the way back.

Today has been a bit more of the same. The Silver Vixen has been pottering some more and managed to get out into the garden to fiddle with the raised beds. The Gorse Fox continued to work on "condor" and is looking further at options regarding extending to a further SSD and also extending the ports. This has taken a lot of reading and a bit of guesswork. He thinks he now has a solution in mind, but will hang fire for a bit.

The Silver Vixen had a visit from a member of her coven this afternoon. This meant that the Gorse Fox had to deal with some hubble-bubble to make the tea and managed to steer them away from the "eye of newt" in favour of some dark chocolate and raspberry biscuits.

The Gorse Fox took the opportunity to blitz his study while this was going on. Many megabytes of scanning and several bags of shredding later, he was astonished to find there is a wooden surface to his desk.

The Silver Vixen is enjoying the last bit of the afternoon sunshine at the moment.

Matron

Matron would be pleased. The Silver Vixen continues to make excellent progress and the Gorse Fox continues to try and provide whatever support is necessary (with the exception of injections, which are left to the District Nurse).

There isn't really much to report as we have just been getting on with her recuperation today. This afternoon Urban-cub and Ellie popped in for a couple of hours to see Nana. The Gorse Fox took the opportunity to whizz around to Sainsbury's for some bits and pieces but was soon back. We spent the afternoon enjoying the warm autumn sunshine in the back garden as Ellie pottered from one pursuit to another as the whim took her.

Urban-cub has managed to sort out cover for Ellie such that we do not have to factor her into our plans until after Christmas. This takes the pressure of the Silver Vixen and allows her to heal at her own rate without the pressure of "being ready" for a session as G-Force.

Physio

The Silver Vixen was scheduled to have her first session of physioterrorism today.  The Gorse Fox took her along and accompanied her to ensure that, between us, we remembered everything that was said or recommended. They were very good and caring and it went well. What surprised us both was that the next appointment was set for three weeks hence. Somehow we had both expected a more intense regime with several session each week. Apparently not. The view was that the Silver Vixen was doing very well and was more advanced than most people at this stage of their recovery. Next check in three weeks... but keep doing the exercises,

The rest of the day has been spent pottering. The Gorse Fox is immensely impressed with the speed of "condor" now that the new external drive is running the show. He contacted a local certified engineer to see if he could change the failing hard drive for him. The simple answer was "no". The particular model of iMac that is "condor" needs the removal of the bonded screen in order to access the drive and he was not willing to embark on that. External drive it is then.

First fix

Another gorgeous day here on the South Coast. The Silver Vixen is making good progress and managing to scoot around the house with a single crutch and leap up and down the stairs with a pair of crutches. (Well, "leap" maybe a bit of an exaggeration).

The Gorse Fox's first attempt to fix "Condor" has been pretty successful and he has managed to clone the hard drive, and boot up and run the system from the clone. The cloning process reported a number of errors along the way and advised how to circumvent them. Thank goodness for the Time Machine backups. Having circumvented the errors the Gorse Fox has reverted to the internal (failing drive) for the moment. He has decided to re-clone the drive and ensure that he also manages to get the "Recovery" drive this time (he forgot first time round). That process is chugging away upstairs at the moment and will probably run for several more hours.

We've heard from Cousteau-cub. She and the Coventry Hobbit arrived at their hotel yesterday afternoon and are making the most of the peace and quiet and the lovely looking surroundings.

Sick

The question of the day is "Is a sick Condor the same as an ill Eagle?".

Well the Gorse Fox isn't sure it's illegal, but it's certainly a real pain. Condor has crashed several times today and the new SSD drive didn't turn up until late afternoon for the Gorse Fox to start looking for some form of remediation. The Gorse Fox is now cloning the drive to the new SSD in the hope that he'll get a new, uncorrupted version that he can use while sorting out the failing drive. It's been fiddly, and it's been slow, but it is copying. (The Carbon Copy Clone app has reported that the disk is flagging errors so the Gorse Fox is moderately confident that if he can get a clean copy, he'll be ok).

In the real world, the Silver Vixen is making good progress and spent and hour or so out in the sunshine this afternoon. We've heard from Cousteau-Cub and the Coventry Hobbit and they have seen the sights/sites of Pisa and were ready to head, via Florence, to their hotel. We haven't yet heard from Urban-Cub today, but we did get a "WhatsApp" yesterday evening.

We are enjoying the peace and quiet and the fact that we only have to please ourselves.

Down

It's been a quiet day. With only the Silver Vixen to worry about we have pottered at a gentle pace throughout the day. We had updates from Urban-cub and Cousteau-cub regarding their various trips. Urban-cub is already in Santorini enjoying a seat in the sun by the pool. Cousteau-cub and the Coventry Hobbit have just gone through to departures and found their flight has be been delayed.

The Gorse Fox is perturbed. He has found, again, that the iMac, "condor", has failed overnight. It's not clear what is causing this but the Gorse Fox fears it may be a failing hard drive. He has ordered a new external SSD which he'll install as a replacement and see if that clears the problem. If it doesn't, he'll use the disk as another Time Machine backup drive.

Empty nest

The Gorse Fox was up early. He was quiet enough that he didn't disturb the Silver Vixen even though he took a shower (as a rule he waits until she is up and about before such ablutions). Cousteau-Cub was up soon after and the Gorse Fox took her into Chichester for work. This will be the last such trip for a little while.

Back home it was a fairly typical Thursday with admin, chores, and the Ocado delivery to take care of. Alongside this, the Silver Vixen got up and about and had some breakfast.

Late morning the Sonning Crew arrived for a cup of tea and a chat. They all wanted to see for themselves that the Silver Vixen was on the mend and to check that the Gorse Fox was looking after her well. He passed inspection.

As they left, Urban-Cub arrived with Cousteau-Cub and Ellie. Cousteau-Cub finished her packing and they loaded the car. They were gone within the hour... and the Silver Vixen and the Gorse Fox were alone again; empty nesters for a week while Cousteau-Cub enjoys some time in Tuscany with the Coventry Hobbit. At the same time, Urban-Cub is off to Santorini to attend the wedding of one of her friends from work. Pistol Pete is left in charge of Ellie and the home.

And relax

Today has been a relatively quiet and relaxing day. No hospital trips were necessary. Indeed all of the trips today would be classed as standard domestic fare. The Gose fox picked up some prescription for Cousteau-cub then took her to work. This afternoon he popped along to Sainsbury's to pick up some bits and pieces. Very chilled.

The Silver Vixen has continued to make progress as she has moved around the house, leapt up and down the stairs, and done her post-op exercises. It really is good to have her home and see her looking so well. The district nurse visited this afternoon to give her an injection. This will continue for the rest of the month.

Great escape

It turns out that today was the day of the Great Escape.

The day had started ordinarily enough. The Gorse Fox took Cousteau-cub into work. The traffic was heavy and the journey that used to take six or seven minutes during the summer had deteriorated to 20 or 25 minutes.

Once home, the Gorse Fox started on a blitz of the house. Everything needed to be spotless for when the Occupation Therapist visited. It didn't really take too long, as he had been keeping pretty much on top of things. The OT turned up as scheduled and started working through her checklist. In essence, the biggest problem she found was the height of some of our chairs. These would have to be out-of-bounds when the Silver Vixen returned home. Chairs had to be such that the seat squab was at least 18 inches from the floor to ensure the hip was kept at the right angle. The Gorse fox would move some chairs around and that would be all right.

He went into the hospital. The Silver Vixen had had a good night and had done her morning physio. This meant that she had now done the stairs. This was the last impediment to her discharge and with that cleared, she was expected to be released tomorrow. Then it all changed. The multi-disciplinary team had had their regular meeting and decided enough was enough and that she could come home today. This was excellent news but would mean hanging around until everything had been made ready and the pharmacist had provided the correct medication to bring away. There would be no hurry.

The Gorse Fox headed off to the garage to have the wheel looked at once more. As he drove out, Urban-cub and Ellie drove in. The chaps at Chichester Cars could not have been any more helpful. Again they removed the wheel and again went through their diagnostic procedures. Their conclusion was that it was the tyre valve and pressure monitor. This had a silicone seal that had perished on one side and the air was bleeding out slowly. He showed the old one and it was quite clear that it was a problem. Ten minutes late a new valve and monitor were in place. Hopefully, all is now well with the wheel. Time will tell.

The Gorse Fox returned to the hospital. Ellie was being very good and Urban-cub had provided some bags for the Silver Vixen's stuff. This was all packed and ready. It was now a waiting game. Urban-cub and Ellie left in time to collect Cousteau-cub from work and take her home. The Gorse Fox stayed put. In the end, it was coming up towards seven before we tunnelled out and escaped. The Silver Vixen is now sitting on a dining room chair in the living room, with Jasper on her lap, watching a bit of TV. The World Order has been restored. There is, again, a form of equilibrium in the Universe.

Escape

Today is the Coventry Hobbit's Birthday. With his recent decision not to return to Thailand after the forthcoming trip, he made the most of the day by leaving the Island once and for all. He'll be spending a couple of days in Phuket before flying back to meet up with Cousteau-cub for their holiday in Tuscany.

The Gorse Fox heard from the Silver Vixen. She had been moved to a private room overnight. He bed in the war was needed for an elderly lady suffering from serious confusion. The Silver Vixen was shuffled down the corridor into a nice room with its own en suite facilities. This is a lot quieter and has afforded her a much better night's sleep.

The Gorse Fox drove Cousyeau-cub across to Bournemouth. She had an MRI scheduled and we were determined that it should be completed before her holiday. The weather was foul, but the journey was quite trouble-free. We arrived in plenty of time and joined the patient waiting for treatment or scans. The Anglo-European Chiropractic College was quite impressive. Students came out and escorted their next patient along to their treatment room and managed an impressive turn-over. Cousteau-cub seemed to be the only person scheduled for an MRI and was shown through on time. It took about an hour and the first thing she did when she got in the car was to take her meds. We had a good run home, getting in soon after two.

The Gorse Fox contacted Old Bill. Time was running away with him and he needed to collect the Fiesta from the garage after its MOT and Service. He kindly dropped everything and shuttled the Gorse Fox up to Chichester. The Fiesta was collected and returned home with a clean bill of health.

Cousteau-cub was due at work, so the Gorse Fox loaded the car and we headed off. She was soon dropped and the Gorse Fox continued on to the hospital. The Silver Vixen's friend had been visiting and they had treated themselves to "high tea" in her "suite". She left soon after the Gorse Fox arrived, but Urban-cub soon replaced her. She had been shopping in Southampton and stopped in on the way back to LA. We had a lovely few hours. The Silver Vixen was quite buoyant and it looks as if she may be discharged on Wednesday.

The Gorse Fox left the hospital and collected Cousteau-cub from work. It had seemed like a long day all round.

Visits

The Silver Vixen had another disturbed night. One old soul is on a pressure sensor because she keeps trying to get up and is at risk of falling and damaging her new hip. She doesn't seem to sleep and keeps trying to get up and go to the bathroom. Everytime she she tries, and it could be every few minutes, a loud alarm goes off and wakes anyone sleeping nearby. The Gorse Fox suggested to the Silver Vixen that a shot of rum would help her sleep, and the empty bottle could be used as a club to make the restless patient sleep. Let's put that idea on the back burner for now.

Betty and Barney Rubble visited lated morning. The Gorse Fox and Cousteau-cub had only been there about ten minutes, but as there is a strict 2-visitor limit, we left them to it. The Gorse Fox dropped Cousteau-cub in Bognor and went on home. Two lockable medicine cabinets had been delivered and needed to be hung. This didn't take too long, but it did mean moving our existing key-safe.

Back home Cousteau-cub spent some time making room in drawers and the wardrobes for the Coventry Hobbit's clothes. He'll be back with us in a couple of weeks.

We went in to spend the afternoon with the Silver Vixen. She was quite spritely. She had managed to have a shower and was moving around quite well. We had a lovely afternoon, leaving her to it when supper came along.

Drop in

Today was a day for drop-ins.

It started early-ish with a trip to Chichester where the Gorse Fox dropped-in on the Ford garage to leave the Fiesta for Monday's service and MOT. Then he hot-footed back to the bus station and headed home. Cousteau-cub was up and about by then and wanted to go to Bognor so he gave her a lift so she could drop-in at the hair salon and get some pre-holiday shopping done.

Home again, the Gorse Fox put on some washing and headed out. This time he was dropping-in on Sainsbury's. They have just introduced these new scan-as-you-shop devices. The Gorse Fox, always loving a bit of technology, asked to be shown how it works and set off around the store. It was certainly very convenient, particularly if you only have an armful of shopping as opposed to a trolley-full.

Back home again, the Sonning Crew popped in for a status bulletin on the Silver Vixen, then the Gorse Fox headed into St Richard's and dropped in on the Silver Vixen for the afternoon. She looked much more relaxed today, having had a good night's sleep. Her various observations were returning to what passes as normal for her. She was seated comfortably in a chair and able to walk, with the aid of a frame, across the ward to the bathroom. This was tangible and visible progress.

The Gorse Fox set up her iPad and phone so that she could watch Strictly this evening. She wrote down the instructions, just in case. The Gorse Fox will be on standby with telephone support just in case it doesn't work.

Back home, he's been invited to join the Sonning Crew for a takeaway, but Cousteau-cub is clearly suffering after her exertions in Bognor, so he'll get something for her and keep her company this evening.

Here and There

The pattern continues.

There was some admin to start the day then the Gorse Fox pottered around with some domestic chores. Once Cousteau-Cub was ready we stopped off via the doctor's surgery to get a repeat prescription sorted out and then took the back road into Chichester.

The Gorse Fox arrived at the hospital just in time to see the Silver Vixen's cubicle closed as she started on some physio, then as she finished we were both "enrolled" into the group physio until she was called for a CT Scan. The Gorse Fox went with her as she was wheeled through the labyrinth that is St Richard's Hospital. She didn't have to wait long for the scan, but it did seem like quite a wait for the return journey.

The Gorse Fox left her on the ward and headed to Chichester Cars. They were going to try and diagnose the problem with the wheel. There was a short wait so the Gorse Fox made use of the time to go and see the Ford service department and then the Skoda dealer. The Ford service department were in chaos, but at least he got agreement to leave the car with them over the weekend - this simplifies the arrangement for Monday trip to Bournemouth with Cousteau-Cub. He then went to Skoda. It appears that our sales chappie has left the company, and we have a new guy, Toby, who will handle our order. The order itself has not yet been allocated a build week, but is likely to be beginning of November. Let's hope "Brexit" does't play a hand in this.

Back at the hospital, the Gorse Fox spent the rest of the day and evening with the Silver Vixen, leaving only when it was time to collect Cousteau-Cub from work. The Silver Vixen is feeling pretty pleased with herself as she has managed to walk a few steps with the walker, and is able to get out of bed and sit fairly comfortably in a chair. If only the demented souls in her ward would settle at night and allow her to get some sleep, she might actually feel a bit better.

Part of the furniture

It was a lot cooler this morning, but still bright and sunny.

A pattern is beginning to form as the Gorse Fox starts the day with emails and messages then get on with chores and dealing with the list of things wanted at the hospital.

Apparently, the Silver Vixen had a very disturbed night. It wasn't pain or discomfort, it was one of the old ladies who kept trying to get up and setting off the alarms every time she did. The Gorse Fox made sure he left the earplugs in easy reach when he left this evening.

He stayed with her through the morning and then phoned the car place to check they could perform their diagnostics on the wheel. It was a good job he called. They had a chap off sick and could no longer help today. The Gorse Fox will have to return tomorrow. He popped home for some lunch and to check on Jasper, then made his way back to the hospital.

There seems to be some good progress as the Silver Vixen has managed the physio, has got out of bed and has managed to sit in a chair. Indeed she sat in a chair while having supper.

The Gorse Fox received an email while at the hospital informing him that one of his football buddies was also in St Richard's having had a stroke. The Gorse Fox took some time out to go down to his ward, wish him well, and tease him unmercifully.

Back with the Silver Vixen, she was clearly flagging having had so little sleep last night. She just couldn't give in and sleep though. As she drifted off something would disturb her or she would try to resist. It is easy to tell she is feeling a little better as she is already starting to worry about all of the other old dears in the ward, and is watching out for them. One wanted to go upstairs and close all the curtains (there is no upstairs, they are on the top floor) and though barely mobile kept threatening to go and make some coffee as the trolley was late. Another insisted the nurse strip he naked so that she could go upstairs and have a wash. Goodness, all life seems to exist in that small ward.

The Gorse Fox stayed put until it was time to collect Cousteau-cub from work. Once home, he was astonished by an inbound phone call from the Silver Vixen's brother. Nobody seems to have heard from him for months, but he had had a text regarding her fall so phoned for a status report.

Hip hip hooray

It was a very wet start to the day, but it soon dried up and brightened up. It turned into a very pleasant day overall.

The Gorse Fox started the day with messages to update everyone on progress (or lack thereof), then he got on with chores. Jasper was wandering around, clearly very confused that the Silver Vixen still wasn't around.

Once Cousteau-cub was up and about we went into the hospital to visit the Silver Vixen and stayed with her until the Gorse Fox had to take Cousteau-cub on to work. She had had a much better night last night and looked pretty relaxed, considering. She had had a further x-ray and had been visited by the anaesthetist. She was scheduled to be first on the afternoon list. The Gorse Fox, having dropped Cousteau-cub, returned to the hospital so that he could be with the Silver Vixen when she was taken down to theatre. He's had lots of practice but still hates it when they wheel her away.

The Gorse Fox was annoyed. The new tyre was losing pressure like the old one. Clearly, the problem was not the tyre, but rather the wheel itself. The Gorse Fox returned to Chichester Cars who refurbished the alloys last month. They said the Gorse Fox should bring the car back tomorrow afternoon and they would take a look. The problem could be deformation in the wheel caused by hitting a pothole or even a small crack in the rim. They would try and diagnose the cause of the leak and we could decide what to do from there.

Back at the hospital, he settled down by the empty space where her bed had been and plugged in his earphone to listen to his book. He was in for the long haul. He was determined to be there when she was wheeled back. It was a peaceful 4 hours before she returned looking relaxed and comfortable. The surgeon had called the Gorse Fox to say the procedure had gone well and he had spoken to the Silver Vixen in the recovery suite. Now it was the Gorse Fox's turn to see for himself.

Trying not to tire her, he sat with her through the evening leaving only when it was time to collect Cousteau-cub from work. She was pain-free but under no illusions that it would stay that way. She was, however, convinced that the nursing staff would keep her as comfortable as possible.

Plans change

It was a bit grey today, but still warm.

The Gorse Fox had woken early and was first down. He was busy sending texts and emails to all the friends and organisations that needed to know about the Silver Vixen. Relatives: check. Friends: check. Pilates group: check. Holiday cancelled: check. Cattery cancelled: check. Things were under control.

Urban-cub and Ellie gave Cousteau-cub a lift round to the doctor for her scheduled appointment and then on to work. Ellie was still suffering but Urban-cub had a prescription that she would fill and get her started on some anti-biotics. Hopefully, that would finally give her some relief. They packed up their stuff and headed home and the Gorse Fox went in to visit the Silver Vixen.

The Silver Vixen was still nil-by-mouth with the expectation that the operation would be this afternoon. She was desperate for a cup of tea but just had to look on longingly as the other patients supped on theirs. Her pain was pretty much under control, but she was eager (if that's the right word) to get the hip fixed. The Gorse Fox stayed with her until midday then headed home.

At home, the Ocado shopping list was next on the agenda, then it was a matter of waiting for the chappie to come and change the tyre on the Qashqai. As it happens, he turned up earlier than expected. He was the chap who had fitted the tyres originally, so we had a quick chat while he got started. He was done and dusted within about 15 minutes so the Gorse Fox headed back to the hospital.

Not much had happened in the intervening two hours, but the old dear in the next bed was getting very confused and very loud. Heavens knows how anybody gets any rest. The consultant turned up late in the afternoon to explain that the surgery would be deferred until tomorrow. The previous case was still underway, after six and a half hours (more than twice the expected time), and it would be better to just cancel the procedure for today. The plan is now that she will go down tomorrow afternoon. Disappointing, yes, but at least she could have a cup of tea!

The Gorse Fox left to collect Cousteau-cub and get home to make dinner, then picking up some earplugs, earphones, and various other bits and pieces headed back to the hospital for the evening.

Not part of the plan

Well, the best laid plans of mice and men, and all that!

The Gorse Fox took Cousteau-cub in to work and the car reported that its tyre pressure was low, again. Clearly, there is a problem with one of the tyre and it will need replacing. It seems a shame to have to fork out so much money just as we are about to change the car! The Gorse Fox stopped off at the garage and pumped it up as the Silver Vixen would need the car during the day.

The Silver Vixen was meeting with a friend at Haskins Garden Centre, so left mid-morning. The Gorse Fox spent a while working on the Family Tree and then refreshing the Time Machine backups on the Macs. As this was underway, the call came in. It was the Silver Vixen. She had fallen and was hurt. She couldn't drive the car back.

Tinkerbell leapt into action and gave the Gorse Fox a lift across to Haskins where we found the Silver Vixen. She was in a bad way and was having to use a trolley as a walking aid. It was clear to the Gorse Fox as we helped her into the car that she wasn't just hurt, her hip was broken. He drove her home. She was being a bit stubborn and insisting he went for his scheduled health check results before heading for the hospital.

Finally, at the hospital, she was seen quite quickly as the triage nurse clearly saw the seriousness of the injury. From then on A&E clicked into action and did what they do best. She was assessed, X-rayed, and given something to block the pain.

Meanwhile, back home, Cousteau-cub was joined by Urban-cub and Ellie and the Gorse Fox's support team clicked into action. Plans for the week were changed, lifts arranged, bags prepared... the whirlwind had begun.

Still Suffering

Apparently, Ellie is still suffering and said: "Mummy I want to be better now". Somehow you wish you could take it away from her, but realise we all have to go through this minor illnesses as we grow up.

The Gorse Fox was up first this morning and had a quiet hour looking at some old photos from his cousin John. These included a wedding group from the Gorse Fox's grandparent's wedding. They were very interesting as he hadn't seen them before. He kept up the forensic examination of the snaps until he had to leave for football.

We had a good 6-v-5, 5-v-6 game today. The sides looked a little lopsided from the start, and so it turned out. The Gose Fox was on the weaker of the two teams and we were under the cosh from the very start. At half-time, we managed to hold the score at 4-2, and by the end, it had doubled to 8-4. The Gorse Fox did manage to contribute one goal to the tally.

Back home, the Silver Vixen and Cousteau-cub have been at the shops this afternoon while the Gorse Fox has made a start on tonight's supper.

Fumes

We had hoped that a good night's sleep would see Ellie fully recovered and back to her old self. No such luck. Though she went down to sleep moderately early, she was awake and calling within about 30 minutes. This set the tempo for the rest of the evening and most of the night. She would sleep fitfully then wake up crying and calling for the Silver Vixen. The cycle usually allowed about 30 minutes of rest before the next intervention was required. The Gorse Fox was eager to do his bit but was not welcome at all. Only Nana would do. The Silver Vixen soldiered on, and Cousteau-cub did her bit around dawn. The Gorse Fox fetched and carried when needed but mostly just lay there feeling useless. He suspects we are all just running on fumes today.

Urban-cub came along early this morning to collect Ellie. The latest word from LA is that there is no real improvement and all she wants is cuddles with mummy. Let's hope she sees some improvement this afternoon.

The Gorse Fox spent much of the morning working on the family tree. There was little or no urge to do anything too active. The Silver Vixen is at the hairdresser this afternoon, and Cousteau-cub has been into Bognor Regis to shop for the Coventry-Hobbit who has decided that he will not return to Thailand after their holiday to Italy but rather will stay here in the UK and try and get a job.

Beach time

It was a little cooler today. Still warm, but there was a cool breeze. Urban-Cub arrived just before 0900 to drop Ellie off with us. Ellie was clearly under the weather and was very clingy. To be fair, instead of being a misery, as many children can be when unwell, she was just a bit subdued.

The Gorse Fox dropped Cousteau-Cub off at work, mid-morning. She was explaining, on the way, that the Coventry Hobbit was not going to have his work permit renewed. His Visa allows him to stay until February, but his regular work will stop. He'll still be able to do some freelance work. The timing isn't great as it expires just as he returns to Thailand after his impending trip to the UK. The question they have to sort out is where he is going to go, and what he is going to do. Life is never boring!

Ellie had a nap at lunchtime and seemed a lot brighter afterwards. We decided a trip would perk her up.

The three of us hopped on the bus into Bognor Regis and after a quick stop in a furniture shop, we headed down to the promenade.

Ellie played on the swings for ages, whilst keeping a close eye on all the other children in the playground. We finally coaxed her away and stopped for an ice cream, then she dragged us back to play area and explored the slides and the swings some more.

It was coming up to 1700 before we hopped on the bus to head home for some tea. As the Gorse Fox writes, Ellie is in the bath under the keen supervision of the Silver Vixen. She still seems a little under the weather but hopefully a good night's sleep will restore her to her usual self.

Just stuff

It's been a nice day, though cooler than of late. The Gorse Fox was up first and pottered in the kitchen for an hour or so before there was any further sign of life. He had used the time to extend his infamous accounts spreadsheet even further. In turn, these additions have triggered further ideas that he will ponder before committing fingers to keyboard.

Urban-cub turned up with Ellie. Ellie would spend the day with us, and Pistol Pete would collect her when his shift finishes this afternoon. There was a certain degree of chaos during the handover as Ellie was eager to see Cousteau-cub, and she was only just emerging. At the same time, the window-cleaner had arrived to make everything sparkling clean and knocked for payment. Ocado was also due but fortunately, they were running late.

The rest of the day has really been spent at Ellie's beck and call.

What's Up

The Gorse Fox is not playing football today. Cousteau-cub still needs to be taken to and from work, so he skipped football in order to help out.

There had been a bit of rain overnight, but nothing much. It was bright and warm when we went down for breakfast. The Silver Vixen headed off to Pilates and the Gorse Fox stayed put. The initial idea was to create some pivot tables in the accounts spreadsheet, but he was distracted for a while by the fact "condor" (the big Mac) seemed unresponsive. It took a while to get everything back to normal, but now it seems to be fine.

Returning to the accounts spreadsheet, the Gorse Fox created the first of the pivot tables. He will ponder its value for a while before rolling it out further across the months.

Peregrine Down

It is an inauspicious day. Peregrine, the Gorse Fox's production server is down. It has run without intervention or interruption for 930 days but today it off the air. The Gorse Fox tried to resurrect it, hoping it was just a networking problem, it wasn't. This actually required a reboot. As it was in this state, it seemed like a good opportunity to bring it up-to-date with all of the latest fixes and kernel changes. It took about an hour to get everything done, but now the server is humming away in the Batcave again. Hopefully, it will be another few years before the next intervention is required.

The weather today has been glorious again. Temperatures have been up in the high 20s and the sky has been cloudless. It was a lovely day to play football. At least, that's what the Gorse Fox thought, but many of his fellow players spent the whole time complaining about the heat. It goes without saying that there was no second session. With all the complaints about the heat, the players just melted away at the end of the first hour. The Gorse Fox had done his customary laps of the track before the football started, then played for the green-bibs. We drew the first game, lost the second and drew the third game. It must be said that we played some lovely football, though the Gorse Fox failed to score this week.

The Silver Vixen met up with one her coven in Arundel. She commented on how hot it had been and also how busy Arundel was today. The outdoor lido was clearly doing a roaring business.

Bank Holiday

The nice thing about a Bank Holiday is that you do not have to go to work. The nice thing about being retired is that every day is like a Bank Holiday. Today was a gorgeous day with record-breaking temperatures. The Gorse Fox had opened up the house early in the morning and maintained a pleasant airflow throughout the day. While it was hot outside, it was quite comfortable indoors.

There wasn't a great deal on the agenda. The Gorse Fox was distracted by some family tree stuff. This ended up consuming several hours of investigation and discovering some more cousins for the Silver Vixen. There's a bit more to do, but the groundwork has been completed.

The Gorse Fox manages his household accounts and budgets with a fairly sophisticated spreadsheet. Several thoughts collided and sent him scurrying down another track. The first thought was about the BBC show "Shop Well for Less". This is a rather pathetic look at people who have overspent and shows them how much money they could save if they hadn't overspent in the past. This made him think that the best thing they could do is manage their accounts and budgets properly. The second thought was that the cubs could probably benefit from a similar idea. Now, a spreadsheet such as that used by the Gorse Fox is all very fine if you sit down at a laptop every day, but maybe a better solution is a tool on the phone or tablet. The research started and in the end, the Gorse Fox installed "YOLT" to try it out and see if it was fit for purpose. Initial testing seems fine and it may be just what the cubs need... and is certainly what the victims of the BBC programme need.

Family day

It was a cracking day, lovely and warm, hardly a cloud in the sky, and only the slightest of breezes. It was a day to savour.

Unfortunately, there was no football. Some of our players clearly have no dedication and think it's more important to go away on holiday than it is to play football on a Sunday morning. No commitment! The Gorse Fox and Silver Vixen had a quiet morning pottering about. We were expecting Urban-cub and Ellie to bring Cousteau-cub this afternoon and to stay for dinner, so the Gorse Fox popped round to the shops for some last-minute cheesecake!

The early afternoon was spent enjoying the sun in the garden, but then the Gorse Fox had to start on dinner and the Silver Vixen did some dead-heading in the flower pots. The family turned up mid-afternoon and we had a lovely few hours together with dinner out on the deck.

Friends

It was a glorious day. The Gorse Fox suspects people were heading for the coast in their droves. We had different plans. We headed up to the wilds of Hampshire to spend the day with Betty and Barney Rubble.

Driving against the flow, we had a wonderful journey up and had soon settled down for a cup of coffee and biscuit in their back garden. We caught up on all their domestic and family news. They too have ordered a new car. This was forced upon them by their impending house move. The new house has a single-car garage and a single parking spot. Their Prius wouldn't fit in the garage, nor would the Mondeo, so they have decided to sell the Prius and have ordered a Fiesta Active. This is small enough to fit in the garage. The Gorse Fox suspects that by the time we see them next, they will be ensconced in their new home.

At lunchtime, we headed off to the Hoddington Arms at Upton Grey. We had been there once before, several years ago, and liked it. It was time to revisit. We weren't disappointed. The staff were very friendly and the service was good. The menu was fairly extensive for a small out-of-the-way pub, but that doesn't detract from the quality of the food. We all started with some cod goujons, but then diverged over the main course. The Gorse Fox had some beer-battered haddock and it was really delicious. We were so full that we all skipped the desserts and headed back to Odiham.

We had a lovely afternoon drinking tea and chatting before bidding our farewells and getting back on the road home. Again we had an excellent trip back, clearly choosing a time when nobody else fancied being on the roads.

It had to happen

Yes, it had to happen. Ellie is just so good at night that we almost take it for granted. Last night, however, she actually woke and the Gorse Fox and Silver Vixen had to go into her. She eventually dropped back off to sleep after about 90 minutes and, fortunately, didn't wake until 8 o'clock.

Urban-cub arrived to collect Ellie and take Cousteau-cub into work. This left the Silver Vixen and Gorse Fox a couple of hours before we met up with the Sonning Crew. We had arranged to go into Chichester by bus and grab lunch at The Giggling Squid. It had been arranged as a "thank you" for the Gorse Fox taking Old Bill along to the hospital last week. It was a very generous and highly appreciated gesture.

As usual, the Giggle Squid provided a lovely setting for our lunch. Some tucked into the tapas platters, but the Gorse Fox went for the Chicken Gra Pao - asking for a "hot" version. It was delicious and it is unlikely any of us will need to eat again today. As usual, when we go out with the Sonning Crew, we had a lovely time.

Back home, the Silver Vixen and Gorse Fox took a stroll along to the far end of the Crescent where the builder's hoardings have just been taken down. This gave us an opportunity to see the layout of the latest phase of houses that have been built and get our bearings regarding the area where the next houses will soon rise from the dirt.

Delivery

The theory is that Ocado will turn up sometime between 09:30 and 10:30 with our weekly shop. At 10:30 last night we received a message to inform us that they had operational problems and our delivery had been cancelled. They were kind enough to give us a voucher for the inconvenience caused.

This morning dawned and the Gorse Fox headed across to LA to collect Ellie. Urban-cub had an early meeting at the airport and a diversion to us didn't make sense. We were soon home and Ellie was tucking into egg and bacon with toast and marmite. So far so good.

We printed off the list of items we had planned to get from Ocado and headed off to Sainsbury's. AN hour or so later we staggered home with the shopping. The list was all very fine, but it was based on Ocado's categorisation which is "cupboard", "fridge", or "freezer". This bears no resemblance to the way in which goods are organised in the supermarket. We zigged, we zagged, we doubled back, we looped and at times, we gave up. Eventually, we were done and everything was stowed away. Ellie had been very good and patient throughout the trip, which was a bonus.

There was a very quick turnaround. We headed back to the car, this time with Cousteau-cub in tow. We parked up in Chichester and Cousteau-cub hobbled into work while the Silver Vixen headed off with Ellie and the Gorse Fox went along to get his regular chiropody appointment. When we met up again we decided to grab some lunch so headed into "Crispin's". It's always so friendly in there and the Silver Vixen was able to share her jacket potato, bacon, and beans with Ellie. The Gorse Fox went for a Caesar salad.

Ellie fell asleep before we had even left the car park, but woke with vengeance as soon as we got home. We spent the afternoon in the garden with her playing in the sandpit. Hopefully, we have wor her out and she will go down quietly at bedtime.

Fiddling

It's been a lovely day. There's wall-to-wall sunshine, and the temperatures are in the low 20s. Very comfortable. The Gorse Fox had cried off football again today, Cousteau-Cub still needs help getting to and from work - and while she is improving, we are happy to do our bit.

The Silver Vixen was out at Pilates for the morning and the Gorse Fox spent the time fiddling with this blog. He had received several comments from Google regarding some of the settings and some old posts which it deemed to be sub-optimal for mobile consumption. This triggered a bit of fiddling about and some experimentation. Thus we have a new theme, some widgets have been removed, and a couple of very old posts have been updated.

All Change

The Gorse Fox thought it was about time for a change of themes for the blog, and time to remove some of the redundant widgets. Please let him know if this causes any problems.

Indulgence

The Gorse Fox was up early this morning. He had to get Cousteau-Cub into work and planned to leave a little earlier than usual for football.

He arrived at the sports centre just after half-nine, got changed and headed out onto the running track. He had to make up for yesterday's indulgence! So it was that before the football started he had already tucked 9 laps of the track under his belt.

The football went well. We were a well organised team and moved the ball around between us. In the first game we managed a 4-1 win. The second game (which looked a bit harder) ended up 4-0, with a goal contribution from the Gorse Fox. In the last game of the first hour we managed a 2-0 win. As usual there was a big change of personnel and teams at that point. In the second hour we managed a win 2-1, a loss of 2-0, and a draw. It was really nice to get a full two hours of football played with decent numbers of players for the first time in a while. The Gorse Fox managed to cover over 12kms over the sessions - so felt that he had made up for yesterday's indulgences.

That was good

Now that really was good.

The Gorse Fox and the Silver Vixen headed into Bognor Regis on the bus. We were deposited at the end of the road where "Mustard's Bar and Restaurant" is, a few seconds later were were walking in the door.

It was surprisingly busy for 7 o'clock on a Monday evening and we had to elbow our way through the bar area to the restaurant. We later found out that there a supper club from Aldwick meeting there this evening and they were busy getting their drinks in before going through to sit down.

By going through immediately we were able to be seated, get our drinks, and place our order before the restaurant filled up.

The food was simply superb. The Silver Vixen had a Terrine of Nutbourne Tomatoes and the Gorse Fox chose Seared Sesame Crusted Tuna Loin. He has eaten in restaurants far and wide, but he has never had such a wonderful piece of tuna. It's a shame really. The Gorse Fox can't see himself ever ordering anything else as a starter, yet there was so much from which to choose.

For our entrees, the Silver Vixen chose Half a Lobster and the Gorse Fox selected Beef Wellington. Again these were excellent. It may be just a small restaurant, but the standard of the food is off the traditional scale.

Finally, the Silver Vixen had Pear Poached in Sauternes, and the Gorse Fox had Triple Chocolate Brownie.

What a stunning meal. To cap it off, we left the restaurant and as we got to the end of the road, the bus turned up. Perfect meal, and perfect timing.

46

A day of sunshine and showers, but more importantly it is our 46th Wedding Anniversary. We have a quiet meal planned at a local restaurant tonight, but most of the rest of the day has been fairly typical. It started with running Cousteau-Cub into Chichester for work, then after some breakfast, we got on with various domestic chores. We stopped for some lunch and spent some time looking at hotel booking sites with a view to taking a few days away around the time of the Gorse Fox’s birthday, next year. We were looking at places in Devon and Cornwall, but haven’t decided on any particular location as yet.

The afternoon was spent with code again. Having had such a successful afternoon yesterday, the Gorse Fox thought he’d set up the same environment on the Mac in his office. No such luck. The base IDE installed with no problems, but the GUI extension failed to link in, whatever he tried. A frustrating couple of hours.

The Gorse Fox has just got back from collecting Cousteau-Cub from work and taking her to the chiropractor. Now we are just getting ready to go into Bognor Regis for dinner.

Drips

The day started with torrential rain. This continued until mid-morning. Then the sky brightened up and the clouds were shredded by the ever-strengthening wind. Now, late in the afternoon, the sky is blue, the temperature is quite comfortable, but the wind is still fierce.

The Gorse Fox had football this morning. It was a simple 6-a-side game and, at first glance, looked well balanced. We had the two most mobile players, but they had a team that boasted all mobile players. We were under the cosh. By half time we were 4-0 down. Fortunately, we started to claw things back but never quite caught up. The final score was about 6-4. No goals from the Gorse Fox this week. He was too busy defending.

Back home it has been a quiet afternoon. The Silver Vixen has been reading and the Gorse Fox has drip-feeding some more aspects of coding in Python. He has now found a simple graphical user interface that he can use for simple dialogues, messages, and other displays. He doesn't need anything too fancy as he isn't trying to develop any complex systems. PySimpleGUI seems to fit the bill. Soon he will be ready to invent some application (or reinvent some utility) that will enable him to put all of this together.

More code

Nothing really to report today. The Gorse Fox and Silver Vixen pottered around first thing, then settled down for a day with our hobbies.

The Silver Vixen was sewing in the Orangery, the Gorse Fox was watching YouTube and practising various coding techniques. Cousteau-cub managed to go out for a couple of short walks, but spent the day as quietly as possible.

Code

Friday started earlier than planned. Jasper had decided he wanted to go out and, to reinforce the point, he used the Gorse Fox as a trampoline until he relented and opened up. Once up, there was little point in trying to go back to bed so the Gorse Fox had his first coffee of the day and settled down with YouTube.

The Gorse Fox has found a presenter on YouTube that has a clarity of style that makes learning quite easy. Though he has written Python code in the past, he never found that it flowed off keyboard the way some other languages did. The day, interrupted only by taking Cousteau-cub to Chichester, and lunch, has been spent buried in these YouTube videos as Corey Schaffer has patiently built up the Gorse Fox's understanding. In parallel,  he has upgraded the version of Python and the development tools on each of his computers.

The weather, as forecast, collapsed soon after lunch. It's quite dark and the rain has been pouring down for most of the afternoon.

An arm full

Cousteau-Cub had to go to the chiropractor but the Gorse Fox was due at the surgery to get his bloods taken. The Silver Vixen stepped in. She ferried Cousteau-Cub across to Rustington and left the Gorse Fox to take his arm along to the surgery.

Perhaps he should explain. The NHS is currently providing free health checks for people between the ages of 40 and 74. As the Gorse Fox sneaks in to the lower end of the range he thought it would be sensible to have just such a check. He duly turned up at the surgery and presented his arm. The phlebotomist stuck her needle in and the vein started to express his very life-force. Unfortunately, the vein immediately shutdown. Perplexed, she grabbed another needle and stabbed him once again. There was a quick squirt of claret and, again, the vein shutdown. She decided to try the other arm. This was getting serious. The Gorse Fox only has the two arms and if this one didn't work there was no plan "c". The needle penetrated his limb and the process repeated itself; squirt, trickle, nothing. She decided the only solution was a different and much finer needle. She returned to the first arm. Blood finally squirted out and several vials were filled. She apologised for using the Gorse Fox as a dart board and he headed home. He will return in a couple of weeks or so to get the results.

The Silver Vixen arrived home with Cousteau-Cub who promptly went upstairs to lie down and get some relief before going in to work.

When the time had come, the Gorse Fox headed to Chichester with Cousteau-Cub. The usual 10 minute drive took well over 30 minutes today. It would appear that a van had overturned on the Fishbourne roundabout and the traffic was tailing back everywhere. As he fought through the back-doubles we heard that the A27 had been closed eastbound for recovery of the vehicle. Cousteau-Cub was duly dropped at work and the Gorse Fox, this time heading against the traffic, was home in few minutes.

We have received the quotation for the replacement of the decking. It is far more than we are willing to pay so we will look at other alternatives.

Foul

We\re not talking about football. It's the weather. It's been a foul day with incessant rain and blustery winds. The few breaks that have occurred were enough to lull people out then trap them in the next downpour. The Gorse Fox was not silly enough to get caught by that old ploy.

The Silver Vixen went off to Pilates this morning. The Gorse Fox had dropped out of the football. He had to get Cousteau-Cub to work in Chichester and had volunteered to take Old Bill across to Shoreham for a hospital appointment. Knowing the various bottlenecks between here and Shoreham, the Gorse Fox kept an eye on the traffic throughout the morning. Three options were suggested, none looked too problematic. In the end the Gorse Fox plumped for the A27 and despite being caught by two trains at Westergate, we still managed to complete the journey in 45 minutes.

Leaving Two Hats and Lady Penelope at the hospital, the Gorse Fox headed to the nearby superstores and plugging his headset into his ears went for a stroll around M&S and Tesco while listening to his book. Once bored with that, he returned to the car and sat in peace while the narrator chatted in his ears. A couple of hours later, as he had gone to grab a coffee, the text arrived to say the hospital appointment was over.

The Gorse Fox picked up his charges and pottered home through the late afternoon traffic. It looked as if it would be dire, but we managed to keep moving and were home within the hour.

Stacked Deck

After yesterday‘s storm, today’s lovely weather came as a very pleasant surprise. The Gorse Fox had football scheduled for this morning. But first, he had to take Cousteau-cub into Chichester ready for work.

There had been a tournament yesterday consequently there were fewer players than normal today. We did, however, have sufficient players to have a decent seven-a-side match. GorseFox was playing for the team with blue bibs and in the first game, we had to fight hard to manage a 0-0 draw. In the second game, we actually managed to win one 1-0. In the third game, we lost 2-1. The Gorse Fox did not manage any of the goals today however he was very pleased that he put on a very creditable defensive display.

Back home, the Silver Vixen had gone out to have a wander around in Bognor Regis. Gorse Fox grabbed a bite to eat and waited for the Silver Vixen’s return. We had a man scheduled to meet us this afternoon and look at our deck with a view to possibly replacing it with a composite deck. Whilst we are happy with the deck itself unfortunately as it is wood it is liable to splinters and Ellie does insist on running around in bare feet. A composite deck would at least ensure that she could not do any damage to her feet. We will have to see what his quote comes back as.

Overwatch

The G-Force were on duty until mid-afternoon. It was a wet and blustery day so we didn't really get an opportunity to take Ellie out to play. The Gorse Fox took her with him when he drove Cousteau-cub into work, but that was just the start to the day. Once home we sorted out some breakfast and then spent the morning playing, drawing, listening to nursery rhymes, and running around in the Orangery. She was, mostly, a joy to be with, but she did have her moments of absolute defiance.

After Urban-cub had collected Ellie, the Gorse Fox had to get Cousteau-cub from work and take her across to Rustington to see the chiropractor. We saw some pretty spectacular lightning on the way across and were washed by some heavy rain. Fortunately, it had almost stopped by the time we had to leave the car. Cousteau-cub seems to be making some steady progress and seems a lot better this week. Clearly, she will need to be careful but it's good to see things improving.

Panels

The wind had dropped overnight. There was the odd drop of rain, but nothing that would really constitute a shower. We had a quiet start to the day. Old Bill suggested a walk along the promenade to get some coffee, and despite the attractiveness of the idea, we declined. We had several minor tasks to clear before G-Foce started their shift.

Pistol Pete had problems. A couple of fence panels had blown down in the storm. The Gorse Fox had volunteered to help replace them. We headed across to LA. Urban-Cub was a fair bit better today and was certain that she would be back at work tomorrow. The Gorse Fox helped Pistol Pete as fence panels were shuffled and others were fixed. It didn't take too long. Soon the garden was fully enclosed again.

We brought Ellie back with us and, as usual, she is in the bath and the Gorse Fox writes this. The sound of laughter and of splashing water pervades the house. It is always such a joy to listen to this, and such a relief not to be part of it!

Candles - not in this wind

The forecast storm had hit overnight. There was some rain, but the real force was in the wind. Our heavy garden furniture was waltzing its way around the garden when we opened up the blinds. Several of our acers had toppled over in their pots. Several times throughout the day we went out to straighten things up.

Today was Urban-cub's birthday. She was meant to be at work but was still off sick. We planned to go across and see her. The Silver Vixen went across first so that she could watch Ellie while Pistol Pete took the dogs for a walk. The Gorse Fox and Cousteau-cub followed once Cousteau-cub was up and about and feeling able.

With Urban-cub still under the weather it was not really much of a celebration. We sat and chatted and looked after Ellie. Pistol Pete went out to do the big shop, and we sent Urban-cub back up to bed for an hour or so. We stayed on until late afternoon and then headed home. We'll see them again on Sunday as G-Force will be on duty overnight.

On a different note, the Gorse Fox has had problems with using his phone to play music or books while driving. He has never managed to get it working properly in either car. He decided he would have a concerted effort to solve the problem. Out came the manual for the Fiesta and he re-read the details. Doh! The problem was that he had not been unlocking his phone prior to connecting it to the car. He tried it out. It worked the first time. He then tried it in the Qashqai. It worked. All of this time he has silently cursed the fact it wasn't working, and the reason was he had not unlocked it! Oh well, he had the most of it and listened to part of a book on the way back from LA.

Ouch

Well, that didn't quite go to plan.

J&T turned up as expected and we sat down for some tea and a chat. So far, so good. We heard the saga of Blade & Sophie's house move, and how it hasn't yet happened but is due this coming week. We chatted about the new cars that we have been considering and eventually ordered. At an appropriate moment, the Gorse Fox ordered fish and chips for us all. We settled down to eat. As the Gorse Fox was taking his last mouthful, the phone rang. It was Amber calling from Urban-cub's phone. Urban-cub had caught her finger in the car door and "there was blood everywhere", could one of us go over to help?

The Gorse Fox grabbed his keys, said goodbye to J&T and headed across to LA. Urban-cub was lying on the kitchen floor, Ellie was sitting on a little stool next to her,, and Amber and her friend were trying to keep calm. Urban-cub's hand was wrapped in a tea cloth which contained a bag of frozen peas and she was feeling faint. Ellie was trying to feed her with chocolate buttons, but that was making her nauseous.

The first thing to do was to assess the extent of the injury. Urban-cub can't deal with that sort of thing, so hadn't looked. The Gorse Fox carefully unwrapped the tea cloth. The cut on her finger had already started to close up and the bleeding had stopped. There was no real concern regarding the cut, the bruising, however, was likely to be a different matter. The Gorse Fox helped her to her feet and got her to the sofa in the lounge and we gave her some water. After a while, we took her up to bed and let her sleep. It turns out that she had been ill much of the day and hadn't been into work. Some of her symptoms were more likely to be a result of that illness than the accident with the car door.

The Gorse Fox stayed on until Ellie was settling down. Amber took over and said she would stay with Ellie until she was asleep, so the Gorse Fox snuck downstairs and came home.

Battening down

Strong winds and heavy rain are forecast for overnight and Saturday.  As the day has worn on, the winds have indeed got stronger and stronger. They have been battering away at the Orangery and sweeping the bifold doors open and closed as we had them partly open.  It's getting to a stage that we will have to close them completely and finish battening down the hatches. The forecast is serious enough that a number of major events have been cancelled - including Saturday's Chilli Fiesta at West Dean.

Cousteau-cub seemed a little better again today. She was able to stand at work yesterday and this helped a great deal. Apparently, her employer has called in their furniture chap to see if he can quote for a proper adjustable desk so that she can raise it to a comfortable level without propping things on books and boxes.

The Gorse Fox popped in to see Two Hats. We needed to complete the setup of his Raspberry Pi, which we had started last weekend. It only took about ten minutes to get things running how he wanted.

We are expecting J&T to drop in for tea later. We've invited them to stay for some fish and chips, but are not yet sure if they will have time.

Driving around

It was grey but warm this morning and this afternoon has brightened up. The clouds are beginning to break up and the sky is nice and blue.

The Gorse Fox was on chauffeuring duty this morning. He had to get Cousteau-cub across to Rustington for her chiropractic appointment then get her home again. The treatment seems to be helping, but sitting at work is not good for her. She's best lying down or standing up and one of these is frowned on in most offices. Back home, she had some breakfast and then the Gorse Fox took her into work.

Back home again, the nice man from Amazon delivered the parcel-du-jour. This was a booster for the Sky-Q signal so that Cousteau-cub could watch on her tablet. The Gorse Fox set this up and tested it in the most remote corners of her room and it seems to work. Only time will tell, but he has every confidence (at the moment).

Change

Cousteau-cub had an appointment with the phlebotomist so the Gorse Fox cried off football in order to take her. Strictly speaking, he could probably have done both, but he doesn't like to rush!

The SilverVixen headed off to Pilates. She left strict instructions that the Gorse Fox should hang out the washing when he returned from the surgery. As it happens, it was pouring with rain when he returned, so he used his initiative (frightening as that may seem) and grabbed the airer. This was erected in the Orangery and the washing duly hung up.

It was time to get his haircut. Unfortunately, it was also, apparently,  time to wake up Agent Mulder and Scully. The Gorse Fox stuck his phone in his pocket and as he walked to the barbershop, he accidentally dialled and redialled Agents Mulder and Scully. This is all very fine, but they are in Connecticut and thus, five hours behind us. He was calling them, repeatedly, just after five in the morning. The Gorse Fox suspects he is not the most popular cousin on this side of the Atlantic.

The rest of the morning was spent on administrative tasks. Road Fund License, emails, accounts, all sorts of trivia was cleared.

The Silver Vixen returned with Ellie in tow. We had agreed to look after her during the afternoon so that Urban-cub could do some of her own administration without interruption. As usual, she was a joy but did actually crash out for a sleep for an hour or so.

Emergency

Cousteau-cub managed to get an emergency appointment at the doctor's this morning. This proved to be helpful because it was one of the partners, and she was able to authorise repeat prescriptions for Cousteau-cub's condition. The Silver Vixen was acting as chauffeuse so the Gorse Fox was able to go to football.

Football was limited fun. The problem was, again, the numbers. With 18 players we ended up with 9-a-side and that limits your freedom to move about. Fortunately the Gorse Fox had done four and a half kilometres on the running track before going down for the game. The game only added about 3 more kilometres... way down on what the Gorse Fox would expect. To rub salt into the wound he didn't manage to score, and to add iodine to the salt, there was no second session.

Back home Cousteau-cub is making the most of the medication and lying down with a view to being fit enough for work tomorrow.

Rebuild

Damp start to the day, but it brightened up nicely and we have a glorious, if windy, afternoon.

With the trials and tribulations of Two Hats' Raspberry Pi, the Gorse Fox decided he would rebuild his "falcon" from scratch using the same approach as we tried yesterday. Needless to say, it went without a hitch. The Gorse Fox did take the opportunity to modify the configuration slightly and in so doing has given himself a lot more flexibility. Though he did the whole process manually, he has been back through his configuration files so that he could do it again and run his configurator program. Very satisfying day.

Cousteau-Cub was in a lot of pain from her back this morning. The Gorse Fox is going to collect her from work and take her to the chiropractor. Hopefully, he can help. The problems she has is that she is running short on the meds and is not due back at the doctor until next week.

That went well. Not.

A quiet day. Pleasantly warm, if not actually sunny. The Gorse Fox was up soon after seven as Jasper had decided that he needed company, or failing that, a place to howl. There was no football today as we could only muster 7 players.

The morning was filled with little victories. The most significant was that the Gorse Fox finally managed to get the remote full-screen access working to his Raspberry Pi. He's not sure that he will need to use it too much, but it's nice to know it's there.

At lunchtime, he headed across to LA to collect Cousteau-cub, but once she was deposited back at home, he headed to Sainsbury's to pick up some essentials for tonight's roast.

The rest of the afternoon was spent helping Two Hats with his Raspberry Pi again and preparing our "roast" pork.

Rebuild

It was a nice slow start to the day. There was nothing specific on the agenda, but there were things that needed to be done.

The Gorse Fox was a bit concerned. He needed to wash the cars, which is not something he does with any regularity. The novelty of this activity might attract a crowd, and the Gorse Fox hadn't arranged for any seating or refreshments. He was quiet and quite circumspect as he prepared for the ordeal. This stealth approach clearly worked as he managed to get underway without any audience at all. It didn't take too long to get both cars bright and sparkly. The Fiesta is now buried back in the garage and the Qashqai is gleaming in the sun on the front driveway.

The other activity that consumed a few hours was sorting out the Raspberry Pi for Two Hats. We had to switch the 32GB Flash Drive for a 128GB device. This did not go smoothly. The Gorse Fox should have thought a little more carefully when he set it up to start with. He had mounted the original drive on '/home' and really should have dropped down a further level in the file tree, that way he wouldn't have run into the 'device in use' problems that were encountered when he started the attempted swap. In the end, a complete rebuild of the Pi seemed like the best way forward. This went without incident and the Pi has been returned to Two Hats with everything apparently working as designed, and the 128GB drive mounted where it is needed.

Ladies' Day

Yesterday was Ladies' Day at Goodwood. The Gorse Fox and Silver Vixen headed into Chichester for dinner and when we arrived we felt as if we were interlopers at some huge wedding. Ladies and gentlemen, dressed in their finery, wandered the streets of Chichester as they progressed from bar to bar or restaurant. We were decidedly underdressed for the evening in comparison with the erstwhile racegoers.

As we were a bit early, we had a sneaky drink in Trents' before moving on to Cote Brasserie. As usual, our meal was excellent and our server was absolutely charming.  The Siver Vixen started with a Prawn Gratinée which she followed with the Fish Parmentier with a tomato salad. The Gorse Fox went for their August Specials menu and started with Tuna Carpaccio followed by Hake Piperade. The food was wonderful and it was a very lovely evening.

When we had finished we took a leisurely stroll down South Street to the bus station and hopped on the bus back home. Within fifteen minutes were settling down in our living room for a quiet evening.

Plans change

It's been a glorious day today. There was hardly a sign of a cloud in the sky, and the temperature has been in the low 20s. Ellie woke us at 6:30 and we were up and about by 7:00. Between the Silver Vixen, Cousteau-cub and the Gorse Fox, we tag-teamed her overwatch throughout the morning.

At lunchtime, Ellie came with us as the Gorse Fox took Cousteau-cub into work. By the time we were on the way back, she had fallen asleep. Of course, the journey is only ten minutes usually, and that just wasn't long enough. She woke as the Gorse Fox tried to get her out of the car, and though she needed more sleep, there was no way she was going to succumb.

Urban-cub arrived mid-afternoon and stayed for a short while before bundling Ellie and her bags into the car and taking her home. We had planned to go out and meet J&T for dinner tonight at Chiddingfold, but we received a call to postpone it. It appears that Blade & Sophie, who had been due to move home yesterday, were in limbo as there had been some cock-up somewhere in the chain. It would now be next Tuesday before they could move in. They did, however, still need to move out of their current apartment. J&T were rushing around trying to sort out some lock-up storage for their things and manage the ensuing chaos. The Silver Vixen and Gorse Fox quite understand. The table was duly cancelled in Chiddingfold and we decided to eat out in Chichester, instead.

Driving around

It's been a pleasant enough day without being too warm or too cool. It started with Ellie calling from her bed, but once the Gorse Fox had brought her in to bed with us she dozed back off for half an hour. In the end it was gone eight before we actually emerged.

The Gorse Fox was pleased to have checked on Google before heading off to take Cousteau-Cub to the chiropractor. The Rustington by-pass had been closed by an accident and there were significant delays on most routes. He planned well. Firstly, he allowed plenty of time, then he checked the maps for some suitable side-roads. It worked perfectly. He completely avoided the traffic backlogs and we arrived with plenty of time to spare.

Having dropped Cousteau-Cub back at work, the Gorse Fox returned home for a relatively quiet afternoon. Ellie was having a nap and that gave us a little down-time. Late in the afternoon we grabbed Ellie's buggy and the Silver Vixen and the Gorse Fox took her along to catch the bus into Chichester. We went all the way to bus station and then walked to the car workshop on Terminus Road where the Silver Vixen's Qashqai was bing sorted out. It must be said that the job they have done on the alloy wheels is really superb. They look as good as new and there is not the slightest hint that they had ever been scraped.

Only one more trip tonight, and that's to collect Cousteau-Cub from work.