Barn door

 Ellie was at home last night so the Gorse Fox (suitably caffeinated) wandered round to meet her and Urban-Cub and walk with them to school. It was a nice but windy morning.

Back home we finished getting ready and the Gorse Fox and Silver Vixen headed off. The Silver Vixen for Pilates and the Gorse Fox for football. We had an extraordinarily quick run through and the Gorse Fox dropped the Silver Vixen at the Community Centre and headed on to the Sports Centre.

Jack had picked the teams and, as usual, there was a significant imbalance between the teams. The Gorse Fox, playing in Yellow, was up against the four best outfielders in the club. He and Ian played at the back and managed to keep things under control for about 10 minutes and then the goal was breached. I think the final score was about 5-1 or 6-1. The Gorse Fox tried to help out with our attack when the opportunity arose. It was no use, he had one of the those days where he couldn't have hit a barn-door from two paces.

He collected the Silver Vixen on the way back through and we had a quite afternoon. Urban-Cub has just dropped Ellie off as she will be staying with us overnight.

Inflation

 Ellie pottered into our room soon after 6:30. The Gorse Fox gave her the iPad and suggested she play in here room until 7:00. There was no argument and she disappeared until she heard us moving about. The usual morning procedures were followed and washed, fed, and prepared, Ellie marched off to school with the Silver Vixen and Gorse Fox in attendance.

Back home the Silver Vixen made the most of the bright and sunny start to the day to get some waxing out on the line. The Gorse Fox prepared for a meeting with Skoda. We have a year to run on our existing deal and it was worth looking to see if there there mileage in replacing the current car. The lates version of the configurator allows us to select all of the features that we currently have, with one or two minor exceptions. The Gorse Fox sat down with the salesman and gave him the parameters within which he could operate. After much to-ing and fro-ing we got to a final number. "So what you are offering," said the Gorse Fox "is an exact replacement for our existing car. This replacement, however, will cost £10k more than the current car, or with a PCP deal it will be nearly £200 per month more than the current deal. Is that right?" He looked somewhat sheepish, hesitated, and muttered "Yes". The Gorse Fox asked if there were any redeeming features to this deal and would he take it. "No". The Gorse Fox left.

It's been a quiet afternoon.

Service

 Ellie stumbled into our room soon after 6:00. "Nana, the rain has woken me up!" she complained. "There's nothing we can do about that, Ellie. Go back to bed" was the response. She did an about turn and disappeared until 6:30 when her night light turned yellow. She pattered back to our room... and was sent back to play in her own bedroom until the light turned green at 7:00.

The normal process took over and morning ablutions and breakfast we took her round to school. Fortunately, the rain had stopped by then.

The Gorse Fox gathered his bits together and drove in to Chichester. It was time for the Skoda's annual service and its first MOT. The car was dropped off and a salesman engaged with the Gorse Fox to discuss a possible replacement. A suitable configuration had been created by the Gorse Fox and now it needed pricing up. The Gorse Fox has arranged to go back and speak to him tomorrow.

Back home there was a quiet hour or two over lunch and early afternoon. Cousteau-Cub dropped in to see us, on the way back from a Doctor's appointment. It was nice to see her, though we all kept our distance as she was still recovering post-Covid.

Then the Gorse Fox had to head back to Chichester and collect the car. He just missed the 15:22 bus, but that should not have been a problem, he would get the 15:37 which the online app kept reporting as "On time". Well, it kept reporting it until 15:37 and then it disappeared from the app and apparently the face of the earth. It was 16:00 before any bus arrived. The Gorse Fox was not amused.

The car was collected without incident and the Gorse Fox headed home. Some thick pork chops were on the menu tonight and just as we were finishing them, Urban-Cub dropped Ellie off for the night as she has another very early start tomorrow.

Why?

 There was no reason to get up early. Despite this the Gorse Fox was awake at 5:00. By 7:45 the Gorse Fox was getting fidgety so he got up to enjoy a good coffee and watch Match of the Day from last night.

He headed off to Ford for the football. We had a new player this week and he changed the dynamics of team selection. After the first 10 minutes the Gorse Fox called a halt and swapped two players around. `Even though his team was losing at that point it was clear that it was a factor of luck and once we started to mobilise we would sweep them away. The change made the difference. The Gorse Fox started to motor. He hit both posts twice before finally grabbing a goal. The second half changed again as the opposition changed goalies. The scores started to even up. The Gorse Fox score a couple more goal and at the end of the hour we had shade it by a goals.

The Silver Vixen and Gorse Fox had a quiet afternoon in the Orangery with our books before Pistol Pete delivered Ellie back. She will be staying with us overnight as Urban-Cub has to run the Inventory Check for her store, starting at )4:00 tomorrow.

Up North

After the usual cousins’ call, the Silver Vixen and Gorse Fox headed up north. It was time to go and see Betty and Barney Rubble up in Odiham. Some may not regard Odiham as “up North” but it was 45 mile inland from home and that constitutes up North for the Gorse Fox.

It was a glorious autumn morning and as we swept through the Downs and across through South Harding, Petersfield, Selbourne and Alton we couldn’t help but comment on the beauty of the scenery and autumnal finery of the woodlands we traversed.

We had a lovely time with Betty & Barney - catching up on family news, health news, political views, gardening, and heaven alone knows what else. At lunchtime we headed across to Newnham. We had a table booked at “The Old House at Home”. Considering how long we lived in the area, it is place we had never visited. It turned out to be delightful and had a very good menu and the portion sizes were epic. (The coffee was particularly good, too).

We returned to Betty and Barney’s and chatted more over several further cups of tea. At one point cheesecake was offered round. There was no way that the Gorse Fox could have eaten any more, so he declined.

We had a good run back and Jasper greeted us by the front door. As we prepared for the evening the Gorse Fox noticed that Jasper had thrown up on our bed and on the carpet next to the bed. This meant that the next 30 minutes was spent clearing up while Jasper just sat there and watched us.

Push-Over

The Gorse Fox was first up. Coffee was made and tea brewed for the Silver Vixen when she came down. He wandered round to Urban-Cub's and escorted Ellie to school. There was great excitement as today was the day for the annual individual photos.

Back home, the Gorse Fox had a quick breakfast and then went round for his appointment at the Doctor's' Surgery. The appointment was with the physio to discuss the discomfort he has been getting from his hip and knee overnight. She started by asking lots of questions and the got the Gorse Fox to perform various bending and stretching exercises while standing. Content, she lay him on the couch and went through several further exercises. The interim conclusion was that his joints were still very flexible and were not exhibiting the wear and tear that she might have expected. The Gorse Fox was then asked to sit on the side of the couch and she squatted in front of him, holding his left foot. "See if you can push against me" she said. The Gorse Fox pushed and straightened his leg. The physio ended up flat on floor. "Mmmm, I should have braced myself better" she said. She changed her position and braced her legs. She grabbed the Gorse Fox's right foot. "Can you push against me?" she asked. Bad move. The Gorse Fox pushed and again straightened his leg. She, again, ended up sprawled on the floor. "Oh well," she said "no sign of any muscle wastage there, then." The examination came to and end. A diagnosis was given and some exercises recommended. The Gorse Fox will try them to see if they help.

While he was at the surgery he asked about the annual MOT that most of his friends and family seem to undergo. Was he missing out? Had he been overlooked? There was a frantic tapping of keys and the computer flashed up that he did not need an MOT as he has no known underlying conditions. He felt somewhat relieved.

Back home he got on with the accounts while the Silver Vixen talked to Cousteau-Cub on the phone. Then, after a bite of lunch he sat down with his book until it was time to collect Ellie from school. Once home, Ellie sat with the Silver Vixen and completed her homework while the Gorse Fox got dinner ready. We had just about finished with dinner when Pistol Pete turned up to collect Ellie for the weekend.

Shot

 It was quite wet overnight but by the time the Gorse Fox had to walk round to meet with Urban-Cub and Ellie, it was just a very light drizzle. Ellie was in a strop this morning. She wanted to wear her plimsolls instead of trainers for PE. The trouble is the plimsolls are still too big for her. She tried them on and eventually conceded the point. She then refused to wear her trainers because the velcro fixing had failed - a point that she had not previously brought to our attention. She seemed particularly aggrieved that we could not magic a new pair of sports shoes out of thin air in the remaining 5 minutes before walking to school. Eventually, she wore her normal school shoes and took some sports socks with grips on the sole. Sorted!

We had the usual morning with the delivery from Ocado and then the top-up shop at Sainsbury's.

At lunchtime we popped into Chichester. We had decided to get lunch there before doing a little shopping and then getting our Covid shots. We stopped off at The Old Cross, a pub in North Street. We had never been there before but found it to be really quite welcoming and cosy. It had a good menu and fine selection of drinks. The Silver Vixen had a Lasagne, and the Gorse Fox had Hunters Chicken. Both were quite delicious and along with drinks, came to the grand total of £25. Seemed like a bargain!

It was time to get our jabs. We joined the short queue and were shown through to the booths. Five minutes later we were walking back to the car, each with an arm shot full of vaccine. We had to wait for 15 minutes before driving home, in case there were any adverse side-effects, but we were home before 15:00 and settled down with cups of tea and our books.

Heart to heart

 It was another chilly night. The Gorse Fox had switched the heating on for an hour or so during the evening and it took the edge of things.

Ellie was dropped off soon after 7:00 as the Urban-Cub had to go across to Southampton today. Ellie was in sparkling form and wanted to colour in a maths puzzle where the colours were dictated by the answers to "number sentences". She seemed to make heavy weather of some of the sums, but the Gorse Fox suspects it was because she was more interested in the colouring than the arithmetic. We dropped her off at school at the usual time.

The Gorse Fox drove the Silver Vixen across to Angmering for her Pilates session and then continued on to Worthing for his football. Being Wednesday, the sides were quite unbalanced and whilst his Orange team managed to stem the attacks for the first 20 minutes, our defences were finally breached. The final score was about 5-1 and the Gorse Fox was at fault for a couple of the goals. In the vernacular, "his bad".

Picking up the Silver Vixen on the way back we got home and had some lunch and a cup of tea. The mail had been delivered. The appointment for the Silver Vixen to see the heart specialist had come through. Clearly, things have changed and we need to hear what he has to say and understand what interventions may be required.

We collected Ellie from school and we have all enjoyed a chicken curry for tea. Urban-Cub is now on her way home but Darren has already come round to collect Ellie.

Flights

 It was a cold night, hovering around the frost mark. Urban-Cub dropped Ellie off soon after 7:00. Ellie hadn't fully clicked into gear and it took a little while before she finally switched on. We got her off to school and returned home. The Silver Vixen was meeting a friend for coffee and the Gorse Fox had football.

There was a good turnout for the football and we managed to field four teams and manage a round-robin. The team on which the Gorse Fox was playing turned out to be the strongest with an initial 2-1 win followed by a 5-1 win, and finally a 3-0 win. All of this was made possible through good movement and accurate passing. It really was a pleasure to play.

Back home the Gorse Fox got on with some reading before collecting Ellie from school. The Silver Vixen had not slept well last night, so the Gorse Fox left her to rest in the warmth of the Orangery while collecting Ellie and taking her to park for a while.

The Gorse Fox has booked our flights for next May. It will be nice to visit with Michael and Liz and have a nosey around that part of France for a a couple of days.

Bookings

 Ellie woke just after 6:30 but stayed in her room until gone 7:00. We had a normal start to the day and, ready for the day, headed off to school clutching all the usual stuff plus a bag full of things for their Harvest Festival.

Once home, the Silver Vixen headed off for an appointment and the Gorse Fox retired to the study. His main purpose was to look at flight options for our flights to/from Toulouse, next May. Options identified, he informed the participants and will await their vote.

While in the study he also looked at options for next February. Barney Rubble, whose Birthday is a few days after the Gorse Fox, decided he would like to go away like we do, and asked if we could all go. The Gorse Fox looked at various options and now awaits their decision. At least we already have Jasper booked in at the cattery, whatever happens.

The rest of the day has been fairly quiet, though we did collect Ellie from school. She was only with us long enough to do her homework and then Darren cam and collected her.

Looking down

 It was a lazy morning. The Gorse Fox had decided not to play football, so there was no hurry to get going. After a full English breakfast we pottered about. The Silver Vixen went round to see Urban-Cub to advise her on the planting of all of the bulbs she had bought. The Gorse Fox stayed behind with his book.

This afternoon we the Gorse Fox had the rearranged "Experience Day" that had been purchased by the girls for his birthday. It was originally scheduled for August but clashed with the collapse of the best weather of summer. Today, the weather was perfect. We had a little cloud bubbling up but bright sunshine and blue skies all around.

We headed for Goodwood Aerodrome. We were the first arrivals for the Gorse Fox's flight. This meant that he was given the opportunity to take the front seat, next to the pilot. He grabbed the chance. We stood and watched a couple of earlier flights go out and come back, then it was the Gorse Fox's turn.

He wasn't allowed to touch anything, but had the best view on the helicopter. We took off from Goodwood and then headed down across Tangmere, Bognor Regis, Pagham and along the coast to Portsmouth. The pilot kept up a running commentary through the headsets. The commentary meant that the excellent view was put into context and various landmarks were pointed out and the homes of various people were identified from the air.

We flew at about 1500 feet at 130mph until we got to Portsmouth. There, we stopped and hovered, stationery over the harbour, as various sites were identified.

It was an incredible view and then we moved over the HQ of Starfleet (who's helicopter pad is a nightmare to land on, apparently) and then back along an inland route towards Chichester.

It really was an excellent 30 minutes made perfect by the weather. The Gorse Fox did, needless to say, take plenty of photos and video.

Urban-Cub has just dropped Ellie off with us. She's staying with us overnight tonight as Urban-Cub has to start early at the store in Cowplain tomorrow.

Out to Lunch

 

Though a little cooler overnight, it was a lovely bright and cloudless start to the day. As the sun burst through some of our Acres, they seemed to glow in the Autumn light.

The Gorse Fox had his usual cousins' call first thing. His Zoom backdrop was the lake at Stourhead this week... after all, we all need an ornamental lake in our garden.

Word came through from Michael that Charlie was "up for it" and that we should start planning the long weekend in the South of France for next May. We haven't heard back from the cat whisperer yet, so do not know when he may have availability for Jasper. That will be the biggest constraint on our plans. The Gorse Fox has set up a WhatsApp group for the trip. That way we can all stay in touch and have our say.

We had lunch planned. We were meeting up with the Trevor and Jane in Chiddingfold. We had a very pleasant run through the country and arrived a few minutes before them.

As you might expect we had several hours of family news, health news, laughter and good conversation. All of this was accompanied by a lovely lunch and lashings of tea and coffee. Time galloped by and before we knew it, it was was 15:30. It still took another 30 minutes or so to say goodbye but it was a lovely afternoon and we just stood in the sunshine chatting until hitting the road. 

Other than a couple of video calls from Urban-Cub and Ellie, the rest of the day has been very quiet and relaxed. 

Power Cuts

 Ellie was dropped off soon after 7:15 this morning and we clicked into the usual process of getting her ready and dropping her off at school.

Once home and breakfasted, the Silver Vixen went out for some shopping and the Gorse Fox got on with some domestic chores. (It really is no fun when you don't have domestic staff). The Gorse Fox then slipped into some admin before starting to look at some potential holidays for next May. Nothing leapt out but there seemed to be some decent offers on the Algarve - the problem is that we have never been there, so don't know where to look.

The afternoon started with the books, as usual, but then the Gorse Fox got a call from Michael. Michael was one of the Band of Brothers with whom the Gorse Fox went to school. He now lives in the South of France. His call was a suggestion that the Silver Vixen and Gorse Fox should come down and stay for a long weekend with him and his wife next May, along with two other couples from the Band of Brothers. It sounds like a wonderful idea. The Gorse Fox has already sent a note to the cattery to see if they have availability for Jasper.

While talking of breaks, it occurred to the Gorse Fox that if we could get Pistol Pete to collect Ellie from school on some of the Fridays when he has Ellie for the weekend, then we could sneak away for a weekend. We are fairly busy until December, but it may be nice in the New Year.

We collected Ellie from school as usual, but there was some confusion over what was then going to happen. As far as we were concerned, she would be with us until Urban-Cub finished at 18:00. Ellie, however, had a completely different expectation, say that Darren would collect her and take her to meet Urban-Cub and do some Halloween shopping. As she was getting stressed, the Gorse Fox contacted Darren. It was clear this was Ellie's imagination rather than an agreed plan. He was home, however, and happy to come and collect her. Thus, Ellie left us a couple of hours earlier than expected.

Another one bites the dust

 Cousteau-Cub called us this morning. She was feeling a little better but had a terrific thirst and had lost her sense of smell. It was good to hear that she appears to be improving.

Ellie was awake by 6:30 but didn't disturb us until soon after 7:00 - quite civilised really! After the usual morning procedures, we walked her to school and headed home for our own breakfast and to be ready for Ocado.

The Silver Vixen had an appointment at 11:00 so the Gorse Fox was trusted to go and do the top-up shop on his own. (Well, that's not quite true - he gave Lady Penelope a lift to do her shopping, but he's convinced that it was just a ruse to keep an eye on him and report back to the Silver Vixen). Once home and with all of the shopping stowed away, the Gorse Fox retired to the study to do the accounts.

The Silver Vixen back in time for lunch and then we had a quiet hour or two with our books. It was while we were reading that the Gorse Fox received a message from Cousteau-Cub. It appears that the Coventry Hobbit  has also succumbed to Covid... though for him it just seems like a bad cold.

Ellie is back home overnight, though we will see her first thing.

So Proud

Ellie was awake by about 6:30 but didn't really disturb us until 7:10. She was obviously hungry this morning as she asked for "Grandpa's Porridge" for breakfast.  She was presented with freshly made proper porridge and demolished every morsel. 

After depositing Ellie at school the Silver Vixen and Gorse Fox headed towards Worthing. The Gorse Fox dropped the Silver Vixen off at Pilates and then went onwards to his football. We had a good 6-v-6 game, made all the more enjoyable by the removal of the 3-touch limit - at least for the first half. Unfortunately, we were obviously enjoying it too much so the ref decided that we would revert to 3-touch in the 2nd half. It was a good game overall and the final score was 3-2 to the other side.

The Gorse Fox dropped in to the Angmering Community Centre to collect the Silver Vixen on his way back through. Once home we had a bite of lunch then settled down for a quiet hour or so with our books before it was time to collect Ellie.

Ellie has been given some homework that involves identifying, spelling, and using 45 "common exception words" that she is expected to know by the end of the school year. Well, she rattled off all but 7 of them in a couple of minutes, and today she has started to write sentences that use these words.

The Gorse Fox is so proud. He asked Ellie what she would like for dinner. "Curry" came the reply. She had recently tried a curry at school and liked it. The Gorse Fox didn't have any kiddies curry meals, so he made one from scratch. It turned out to be a huge success and suspects that this will become a staple.

Hospital

 So we heard from Cousteau-Cub. She had, as a result of Covid, spent the morning at the hospital. They suggested that she could wait for a side ward, but in the end she came home. She did say that she had improved a bit during the day.

Obviously, we are worried about her, but there is little that we can do.

Pulse Ox

So we heard from Cousteau-Cub. Despite having 5 jabs, she has just succumbed to Covid-19. She is, of course, at home resting. Her breathing was getting a bit crackly this afternoon so the Gorse Fox took our Pulse Oximeter across to her so that she could stay on top of things. 

Ellie had been with us overnight. She surfaced at about 6:40 but didn't really disturb us until soon after 7:00. We went through the usual routine and Urban-Cub turned up in time to do her hair and walk with us to school.

The Gorse Fox changed and headed off to Worthing for football. There had been a tournament yesterday, so the numbers were down. This meant that we ended up with a 10-v-9 series of 3 games. The Gorse Fox is not keen on thesis games as they are too crowded and it really is not conducive to the beautiful game. We drew the first game 1-1, then lost the second 1-0, and lost the. third 2-1. That last game was the best of the lot, however, as we ditched the 3-touch rule for the duration. We had a new chap playing with us today. He's from Liverpool and is in his 50s. He really was a very talented player and it will be fun to play with him in future weeks.

Back home we had a quiet hour or so with our books before going to the school to collect Ellie. She got home, changed, and tucked in to her homework and her reading. She did very well and it's nice to see her enthusiasm.

Feet

 The Gorse Fox was up early. Jasper had disturbed him, then his alarm had gone off, then he remembered there was no need for the alarm. The problem was that his hip and knee were giving him trouble and there was no point in just turning over. It was clearly time for coffee. At the appropriate hour the Gorse Fox wandered round the corner to escort Ellie to school with Urban-Cub. We are moving back into a normal run of things - Urban-Cub is returning to work and we have Ellie staying with us several nights this week.

Once Ellie was deposited at school, the Gorse Fox returned home for another coffee and breakfast while the Silver Vixen got ready. The Gorse Fox had an appointment at the chiropodist in Chichester and the Silver Vixen was going to accompany him so that she get some shopping. The chiropodist that treated the Gorse Fox was locum. She was immensely gentle and his feet felt superb when she had finished. She did comment that, besides his toenails, his feet were in really good condition - which was nice to know.

Back home, we had a bite of lunch and then settled down to read for a couple of hours until we had to collect Ellie. Ellie had some maths homework but was eager to complete it. She whistled through the exercise in no time and seems to have an aptitude for numbers.

Not a Roast

Jasper was practising for a full chorale by 6:00 this morning. Though the Gorse Fox's hip and knees were already ensuring that he was awake, he was not going to give in. Jasper quietened down and settled down for  a while. Just after 6:30 he started agin. Between him and arthritis, it was clear that the Gorse Fox was not getting any more rest. He grabbed his glasses and his phone and leapt from bed with all the elegance for a mountain walrus. Once downstairs it was clear that it was poring with rain and Jasper was not interested in going out. The whole exercise had been fruitless.

Though it was Sunday, the Gorse Fox was not planning to play football. He had a specific recipe in mind for lunch and it would take most of the morning to prepare. By 8:00 he was lining up all the ingredients and,  soon after, he was peeling the shallots to get things under way. The recipe was featured on a Tom Kerridge TV show a couple of weeks back and featured a stew of beef short ribs. It took all morning to prepare, but goodness gracious it really was superb. This is a dish we will certainly do again... and the beauty of it was that we still have enough left over for dinner tomorrow.

Just stuff

 The day started just after 7:00 for the Gorse Fox. He wandered downstairs and Ade a coffee, fired up the iPad and settled down for some quiet time with the news and (anti)social media. Just befor8:00 the Silver Vixen came down with Jasper in tow. The day had, officially, started.

Being Saturday, the Gorse Fox had the call with his cousins. There was little to report, and little on which to comment. There was, however, the usual banter. After the call, the Gorse Fox buried himself in some admin - accounts, scanning, and filing. This took several hours. The Silver Vixen had some tidying up in the garden  and some planting to fill her morning.

The afternoon was spent with our books