Sidekick

 It was a bit foggy and damp first thing. When the Gorse Fox got up, Ellie was already sitting on her bedroom floor playing and waiting for a) the green light on the clock, and/or b) grandpa. Fortunately, they coincided. After the usual breakfast/wash/dress stress, Urban-Cub took her across to the child-minder for the day.

The Gorse Fox got on with some domestic chores while Urban-Cub was out and Silver Vixen was upstairs. Once everything was done and settled, he'd read the paper, and checked social media, he headed out for a walk.

The fog had lifted but it was still damp and quite cool. Hat, gloves, and jacket with zipped-in fleece was the order of the day. In fact he was 3km into the walk before he felt warm enough to remove the gloves. The route today was pretty boring as it just zigged and zagged round the local streets. He managed a good 6.5km though.

Simon the Landscaper is back today. This time he has a young lad, Tyler, labouring with him. This slows him up a bit, as he has to explain what needs to be done, then check it. The lad seems to be doing well, though. He's very well spoken and polite, and clearly a hard worker. He has managed to dig out the trench for the drain while Simon continued with his meticulous construction of the edging.

Easy like Sunday Morning

There was a bright start to the day but it did soon cloud over and from then onwards we had a fairly grey day. It was nice to have a bit of a lie-in, if only for 30 minutes. The morning was spent reading the papers (online) but by midday, the Gorse Fox was eager for some exercise.

Heading down to West Park, he parked up and then set off. It was busy along the promenade, being Sunday morning. The Gorse Fox had to weave in and out as he powered along. On the horizon there was a break in the clouds and the sun blasted its way down to the sea. Passing the pier he carried on to The Lobster Pot before turning back.

On his way back he bumped into Jason (who used to run the football sessions in Worthing). He was out walking with his family. We stopped and had a brief chat, and the Gorse Fox was introduced to his wife and two children. He explained that the pitch had now been dug up at Woodside, and the new 3G pitch should be ready by the end of January.

Bidding our goodbyes, the Gorse Fox picked up his pace and headed back.

He had only been walking for an hour but had covered over 6km as he zigged and zagged past the Sunday lunchtime strollers. A lovely walk and certainly enough to get a nice warm glow.

We've just finished a roast dinner and Ellie (who was brought back late afternoon) is now in bed. She has a bit of a sniffle so we'll have to see if she is okay in the morning, before taking her to the child-minder.

Storage

 We had a slightly later morning today. Urban-Cub had bought a clock for Ellie. The clock face displays a coloured ring. The colours of the ring are meant to tell her when she should be asleep, when it's all right to be awake, and when it's all right to get up. This worked a treat and she stayed put until the green ring lit up.

Once Urban-Cub had taken Ellie across to spend the weekend with Pistol Pete, the Silver Vixen and Gorse Fox went with her to her storage unit. She needed to find the Christmas decorations so that Pistol Pete would have some to put up in his house. The problem was that she knew the decorations were boxed up at the back of the storage unit. We stripped boxes, prams, carry-cots, swings, slides, tables, shelves, garden implements, and more random boxes out of the unit and into the corridor. Eventually we arrived at the decorations and stacked them on a trolley. Then we had to play a game of 3-D Tetris to try and get everything back in the unit. The Gorse Fox has concluded that her new house may not be big enough. Perhaps something the size of Chatsworth House may have a better chance of housing everything.

Once we got back home, the Gorse Fox headed straight back out for a walk. It was a lovely, sunny, mild Autumn afternoon. The Bognor Regis promenade beckoned. The Gorse Fox drove down to West Park and set off towards the pier.

The tide was low, and the sea was as calm as a millpond. People were playing with their dogs on the beach and a lone paddle boarder was enjoying the sea. As the Gorse Fox approached the pier it started to get a little busier, but he was walking at a fair pace and managed to weave in and out of the dawdlers and back into clear space. He carried on past the the Bandstand and Butlin's and round the corner to The Lobster Pot.

They are doing a lot of refurbishments at The Lobster Pot, no doubt making the most of the enforced closure to get the maintenance done without impacting business. 

Doing an about-turn, the Gorse Fox started to retrace the route. The sun was low and shining brightly off the sea. It made for a glorious walk, though it did mean having to squint at times. The Gorse Fox was thinking that it was a shame he hadn't delayed his walk by a few hours because he suspects there was an excellent sunset in store.

Still on Edge

 It's been a grey and very still day. It's also been really quite chilly. A sure confirmation of this was seeing Simon the Landscaper wearing his tartan jacket all day, and occasionally even his woolly hat.

Progress today has again seemed slow, but the quality of the finished product started with the time spent on the preparation and design. Simon has worked non-stop throughout the day but progress seems slow.

We aren't concerned about the speed of progress. He's intent on getting it right. He's pleased with how things are going (and so are we) and also pleased that he should have a new labourer from next week.

Urban-cub took Ellie to LA this afternoon so that she could meet up with a friend (in the open) and they could play in the park. The Gorse Fox had a decent walk, and the Silver Vixen had a quiet day.

On Edge

 It was a decidedly cool start to the day. The Gorse Fox was glad to have his big jacket on.

Alongside the usual Thursday excitement of the Ocado delivery, the accounts, and the Sainsbury's top-up the Silver Vixen had plans. She disappeared across to LA to meet up with a friend for some gentle exercise and a coffee.

Urban-Cub and the Gorse Fox were left in charge. It was a good job we were available as there was an almost continuous queue of delivery drivers arriving at the door with various packages for Urban-Cub.

The Gorse Fox did take a break from the deliveries and went out for a walk. Again he was glad of his big jacket and gloves.

Simon the Landscaper was here al day again. The original plan of laying the drains was shelved as the drains hadn't arrived. This allowed him to get on with laying out the edging.

It was slow going because he is such a perfectionist and insists that every level and every corner has to be perfect. The Gorse Fox watched and saw how every angle was measure and checked, then measure again and cross-checked. They really were perfect. It is clear that this part of the process will take a few days. (It was nearly dark by the time he left this afternoon... which is why the photo is a bit dark).

Hardcore

 Work is progressing well. Simon started the day by laying a membrane and then bit by bit covering it on hardcore. He has a trailer which he loads up at the compound then wheel-barrows onto site.

By the end a rather wet day, he had the first layer down and compacted. Tomorrow should see the first bit of "build" with the edging and drains going in. Then he will put in a further layer of hardcore before starting on the tiling.

Other than the landscaping there is very little to report. The Gorse Fox managed a double circuit of Bersted Park by way of exercise. The Silver Vixen had an appointment for a blood test and spent the afternoon on the phone to Aunt Blodwyn.

Solo

 Simon arrived at eight this morning. He's a hard worker. He's meant to have a labourer with him, but had to sack the last one for taking drugs while on the job. With no replacement, he's doing it all himself. By late morning the rest of the decking frame was stripped away and disposed of. He returned with lasers, a plate whacker, measuring lines, and a digger.

Over the afternoon he measured out the levels and placed the  markers ready for tomorrow. Ellie was intrigued by the plate whacker and excited to see the digger (even though it wasn't used). Simon commented that the it was the easiest preparation he has had. There was no digging out to do, all he had to do was compact the surface with the plate whacker.

Tomorrow he will start the build with a thick layer of hardcore.

Not much else to report today... the submission of the online shopping list, and spin twice round the estate for some exercise. That's about it.

Destruction

 Monday started early. The Gorse Fox was wide awake and, in the end, got up at about 6:45. Ellie was already awake and she came downstairs to keep him company. There were things to do today. First on the agenda was to move the cars to make room for the skip, and move the bins so that there would be clear access along the side of the house.

Simon, the landscaper, arrived. There would be no skip needed today. The cars were moved back onto the drive. Simon grabbed his tools, enjoyed a brew, and started ripping the deck apart. Considering how long it had taken the Gorse Fox to build it, it was a shame to see it go down without a fight. Simon, however, congratulated the Gorse Fox on several occasions through the day on the way in which the deck had been built. "I've seem lots of professional built decks that are nowhere near as well constructed as this." Indeed, it was the methodical build that made it so easy for him to dismantle. By the end of the day it was nearly all gone.

It all fitted into the back of his tipper truck, so he's left it pretty clear over night.

UPS arrived with some packaging from Apple. This was for the Silver Vixen's old watch. The Gorse Fox got it all packed up and walked round to the UPS collection point at West Meads. With a couple of little diversions he managed to stretch it out to a nice round 5.5km walk.

With Lockdown 2.0 being lifted soon, it looks as if we may be able to restart football in early December. We'll have to see what tier we are assigned to.

Do not disturb

 It’s been a remarkably quiet day today (at least so far - Ellie is due back later!). It’s a bit grey outside, but at least it’s not raining. After a morning reading the papers (online) and catching up on the accounts the Gorse Fox popped out for a walk.

He was collared by a neighbour who was in the mood for a chat. So having walked all of 100m, he stopped and chatted for half an hour.

Back on the route, the Gorse Fox did a reverse circuit of the usual Shripney loop. He noticed as he approached the RR roundabout that a new building that has been going up has finally got a sign up to identify it as a Lidl (not a little Lidl, but a big Lidl). With that by the RR Logistics Centre, Aldi opening up at the Saltbox, and Sainsbury’s and Tesco just down the road, we will be spoilt for choice.

The route continued. On R~Owen Way there were some temporary traffic lights. It looks as if they are putting up a new mobile phone mast. It’s not clear whether it is 5G, but one assumes they infrastructure will roll out before long.

The Gorse Fox completed his walk and settled in for the afternoon. The slow-roast lamb had not switched on, but there was still time to trigger it all manually. (The Gorse Fox had forgotten to press the Start button  after setting the timer on the oven.... Doh!)

Birthday girl

 Today is the Silver Vixen's Birthday. We had planned to be away in Devon for a few days, but Lockdown 2.0 put a stop to that. On top of that, the present that the Gorse Fox had ordered was not in stock and will not now arrive until the end of the month. There was, however, a mountain of cards for her to open, and gifts from friends and family.

Cousteau-Cub had arranged for a "High Tea" for one to be delivered, so she will enjoy that this afternoon.

The Gorse Fox had to pop to Sainsbury's for some bits for the marinade he has planned for the lamb, so he combined that with a walk and managed to tuck a quick 6km under his belt.

Wet and blurred

Though it had been frosty first thing, it soon changed. The frost melted and it started to rain. It wasn't heavy rain, but it was incessant. We spent the morning sitting and chatting with Urban-Cub about her new job, between the various congratulatory phone calls that were filtering in.

While all this was going on, the Silver Vixen's new Apple Watch arrived so the Gorse Fox set that up for her. This has various additional features over and above those on her defunct model. Well, it works for a start! also it provide fall notification, blood oxygen levels, ECG traces, and sleep monitoring. Once that was done, the Gorse Fox contacted Apple to see about getting the old watch fixed. The process was managed via "Chat" and prompted the Gorse Fox to go back through all of the things he had already tried. The conclusion was that it was dead and needed to be sent away for repair. The Gorse Fox knew this already, but had to play the game. He now has to wait for the formal packaging to arrive so that the watch can be returned safely.

At lunchtime the Silver Vixen was busy searching Amazon for Christmas gifts, Urban-Cub was was getting ready to go back to sign her contract, and the Gorse Fox was determined to go for a walk. In the circumstances this seemed like the perfect time to try out his new waterproof trousers. All covered up in Gore-Tex jacket, Waterproof trousers, and Gore-tex shoes he headed out into the rain. The first order of the day was to remove his glasses. The rain may not have been heavy, but it was coating his glasses in no time. This meant that the next hour was spent seeing the Shripney loop through the myopic blur of short sight, rain, and spray. By the time he got home his waterproofs had proved themselves. Externally soaked from head to foot, he was completely dry underneath, and had ticked off another 5.5 km.

Great start to the day

 It’s been a great start to the day. The phone rang just after nine o’clock. It was for Urban-Cub. It was confirmation that she has go the job that she interviewed for yesterday. This is great news for her - she just has to go back to Southampton this afternoon to sign the contract.

Lethargy

 Urban-Cub was up early. She had an interview in Southampton and needed to leave home at eight. Ellie, hearing Urban-Cub moving about, woke up with vengeance. So it was that a six o'clock this morning the Gorse Fox was trying to calm a distraught three-year old as he started his day. She was having nothing of it. In the end Urban-Cub had to step in and Ellie became her shadow for the next couple of hours.

The Silver Vixen and Gorse Fox took Ellie across to Dizzy Ducklings then wandered back in time for the Ocado delivery. Once everything was squared away the Gorse Fox headed to Sainsbury's for the top-up and to select a joint for the weekend. He has chosen a nice shoulder of lamb which he plans to roast slowly for about 5 hours.

Urban-Cub got back soon after midday. She was quite enthused by the interview and felt it went moderately well. She should hear by close of play tomorrow whether she will be offered the job. We all have our fingers and toes crossed for her.

The temperature had dropped quite a few degrees below the temperatures earlier in the week, but it was dry. It was very hard to gather the enthusiasm for a walk for some reason. In the end, he forced himself out the door and had an easy 40 minute stroll.

It was bright, but there was a very cool wind, which was fine whilst behind the Gorse Fox, but on the return leg it was blowing straight in his face and was "bracing" to say the least.

It's been a quiet afternoon and the lethargy of earlier has persisted. The Gorse Fox can't be bothered to cook tonight so we have ordered a Chinese for delivery.

Beating the forecast

 It was a mild and fairly bright morning but the forecast suggested that rain would set in during the afternoon. Urban-Cub and the Gorse Fox walked Ellie round to Dizzy Ducklings then cam back and finished our own breakfast.

The Silver Vixen had her Zoom Pilates booked for late morning. Urban-Cub had some food shopping to do and the Gorse Fox was planning to go for a walk. As the morning wore on we all broke off for our various activities.

The Gorse Fox headed out towards Aldwick, down West Meads Drive, down to West Park and along the promenade. The tide was on its way out, so it wasn't as impressive as last time. The promenade was, however, still littered with debris.

There seemed to be a remake of Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds" going on as flocks of herring gulls clustered, swooped, and soared in one small area along the route.  The Gorse Fox kept going and passed the pier.

The clouds were beginning to thicken and as he continued he saw less and less of the sun. He looped through the town centre and out past the railway station. From there he, again, zigged and zagged down some roads he hadn't previously explored. By the time he got home, he was nicely aglow and had tucked about 8.5km under his belt.

Walking in the door, the Gorse Fox was greeted by Jasper wanting his lunch. By the time that was dished up, the rain had started. He had timed it all to perfection. (His new waterproof trousers arrived this afternoon, so he's set for future bad weather).

As Ellie will be with Pistol Pete over the weekend, she won't be around for the Silver Vixen's birthday. The Silver Vixen has been banished to the front room, and Urban-Cub and Ellie are preparing a birthday treat for later this afternoon. The Gorse Fox is staying clear for the moment, so that they can get it all done without distraction.

Looping And Saving

Not too much going on today. The Urban-cub and Gorse Fox walked Ellie round to Dizzy Ducklings then wandered home. We managed to have a quick (socially distanced) chat with the neighbours. Everyone is keeping well and Two Hats has decided to finally retire. That seems like another item to stick on the list of things we need to celebrate when things return to some semblance of sanity.

The Gorse Fox went out for a walk late in the morning. It was a slightly longer variation of the Shripney Loop. The weather was dull and grey so the only photo that the took was of the first of the new buildings going up in the new Saltbox development. This area will have a number of outlets, the most significant of which is a new Aldi store.

From there he looped onto the old highway and back home. A very pleasant 6.5km.

After lunch, the Gorse Fox received an email from BT. It was a Black Friday offer which promised £72 a year savings. He was a little sceptical so phoned BT.  We tried various combinations of offers but couldn't match the emailed offer. The Gorse Fox went back online and started to examine the current contract. It's due to expire within the next 6 months. There, nestling on the summary page was a list of three possible offers. It only took a couple of minutes for the Gorse Fox to make up his mind and switch the contract. Never mind Black Friday, the Gorse Fox had just saved himself £180 per year. The lesson to be learned is that the headline, ey-catching deal, may not be the best... look deeper.

Pebbles

 It was overcast but dry. Urban-cub took Ellie across to LA to the child-minder and the Silver Vixen and Gorse Fox got on with some domestic chores.

By late morning the Gorse Fox was ready to go out for a walk. (With no football at the moment, he has to keep up his exercise). As he left the house he had no clear idea which route he would take today. In the end, he headed out towards Aldwick, dropping down and passing the hairdresser where the Silver Vixen used to go. He carried on along Fish Lane to West Park and Marine Gardens.

As the Gorse Fox turned onto the promenade, it became clear that the thunder of the surf was still encroaching on the paths. Pebbles from the beach were strewn across the path, in places they were in drifts where the sea had hurled them.

 Further along towards the pier, there were more drifts and the larger waves were still overtopping the sea wall and washing onto the promenade.

It was really quite exhilarating but this was the aftermath of the storm. It must have been quite something when it was at its height.

The Gorse Fox carried on, passing the pier, and then looped up through the town. Then zigging and zagging he took a number of roads and paths that he hadn't previously walked and made his way back home. All in all the walk took just over an hour and a half and covered about 10km.

Late in the afternoon, Urban-cub headed back to LA to collect Ellie. Soon after she left we got a call. She was running late. She had just witnessed a road traffic collision and was waiting for the Police and Ambulance to arrive so that she could give a statement. This is the sort of excitement that nobody really wants. When she finally got home and we had had some dinner, the Gorse Fox retrieved the SD-card from her Dashcam and we extracted the relevant footage, in case the Police need to see it.

The Landscapers were due to start on our deck replacement tomorrow. We got an email, late in the evening, saying that they were delayed on their current job, and now would not start until next Monday. It makes no real difference to us - it's not as if we sit out on the deck at this time of year!

Slow

There was a fair bit of rain overnight and we are in a Met Office "yellow warning" area. The Gorse Fox was expecting to be confined to the house. By mid-morning, however, the rain had passed and a breeze was drying the surfaces. The breeze is expected to escalate during the afternoon and evening with more rain coming through. 

The Silver Vixen and Urban-Cub had decided that there was to be a spring (autumn) clean of the kitchen. This seemed like a cue for the Gorse Fox to get some exercise. He headed out into the sunshine. It was surprisingly mild and he soon worked up a pleasant glow. For a change, he decided to randomly roam the local back streets. Unlike yesterday, it was very quiet, though there were some dog-walkers here and there

As he walked back onto Bersted Park he saw that the willows were glowing nicely in the sunshine. He looped back onto the estate and home. Walking in, it looked as if nothing had happened in the hour he had been gone. Everything was still out on the various worktops and everything was being scrubbed within an inch of its life. He kept moving in case he caught the attention of the Dettol Spray or Cif.

Eventually, it was all done. This allowed the Gorse Fox sufficient access to start on dinner. The plan was to cook a large joint of beef, but to cook it very slowly. This had been successful a couple of weeks back, so the Gorse Fox thought he'd try it again, but do it even more slowly this time. A large joint of silverside is now nestling in the oven at 120C, where it will stay for about 3 hours (with the temperature cranked up for the last 15 minutes). It is sting on a bed of chopped onion and carrot, and luxuriating in a shallow bath of mulled wine and beef stock. Let's see how it turns out.

The forecast suggests that we will get gales and heavy rain for about 4 hours starting soon. The Gorse Fox is glad that there is no reason to leave the house.

Relief

 Well that’s a relief. The Gorse Fox and the Silver Vixen have just received the results of yesterday’s COVID-19 test. Both came back as negative (not that we expected anything different).

Necessary Journeys

 Today has been wet, but it is destined to get wetter tomorrow. We had a quiet day indoors, for the most part. Urban-Cub had to meet up with Pistol Pete to hand over some papers he needed for his work.

After lunch, the Gorse Fox was getting twitchy for some exercise. It was still raining. This prompted him to go online and see if he could find some suitable waterproof trousers. They wouldn't be much use for today, but could stand him in good stead for the rest of the autumn and winter. 

He donned some old trousers and his Gore-Tex jacket and headed out. As he did so, the rain redoubled its efforts. Typical! It was, however, the final squall as the rain moved eastwards. By the time he had completed his first kilometre, the rain had petered out. The Gorse Fox observed that, while was taking his permitted exercise, there seemed to be a daffy-load of "necessary journeys" going on today. The traffic was as heavy as it would have been mid-week before the lockdown. This became more obvious as he saw traffic queueing back from the roundabout along Rowan Way, and along the A29 and A259 along the by-pass and onto the viaduct. Why? Because the queue for the McDonalds' Drive-Thru was blocking the roundabout. Pathetic - for goodness sake how badly do these people need to consume congealing fat and grease in a bun.

He looped into Shripney and down the old highway. Peace. The clouds were lifting. Leaves in their last flush of splendour clung to the branches. Those that hadn't clung hard enough littered the ground.

By the time the Gorse Fox arrived home he was glowing nicely. It had been a nice walk and a nice bit of exercise.

Back home, with the weather forecast suggesting heavy rain and high winds tomorrow we cleared the furniture off the deck (before the wind did it for us). Hopefully, the landscapers will begin this week and the whole deck will be replaced with tiles.

Stick that up your nose

 Not a lot to report today. There had been rain overnight, but it was clearing by the time the Gorse Fox came down for coffee. Ellie had had a disturbed night, but though she was awake, she didn't come down until the Gorse Fox had his coffee in front of him.

The morning was occupied by Urban-Cub needing to track down some paperwork in her storage facility. This meant that the Gorse Fox had to help her shift things around and get them down to the car. The only slight problem that arose was that her boot wasn't large enough for all the boxes she needed. The Gorse Fox decided the easiest solution was fo him to walk home, thus making room for extra boxes on the front seat.

While we were at the the storage facility, Urban-Cub received a call. Yesterday's phone interview had been successful, and she was asked to attend a face-to-face assessment and interview next week. This sounds very promising as the caller suggested that she would coach her in advance of the appointment.

The Silver Vixen has had a bit of a sore throat. She reported this in the Covid-19 survey that we complete daily. This morning she received an email suggesting she should get a Covid-19 test. We went through the process. She could include up to 3 further people in the test so the Gorse Fox put his name down. We managed to get a test today at Tangmere. (There were several thousand spare testing slots available). AT two-thirty we turned up and wen through the various checkpoints. Finally, we arrived at the test point. The Gorse Fox was chosen to be the first victim. The swab was stabbed into his throat and then stuffed up his nose. It was not pleasant, but didn't take long. Now we just have to await the results.

When we arrived back we heard form Urban-Cub that she had got through to the next stage of yet another job opportunity. ~She now needs to progress this with the vigour and enthusiasm she has shown for the first opportunity.

The Silver Vixen's Apple Watch seems to have gone on the the fritz. The Gorse Fox checked online and followed the various solutions that had been suggested. None of them worked. The Gorse Fox decided, in the end, that the best solution was to get her a new Apple Watch Series 6 and, when it arrives, we can send the old one off to be fixed. Once fixed we can sell it. The advantage of the new Series 6 watch is that it provides ECG, Blood Oxygen levels, sleep monitoring, fall detection, and so forth, in addition to all of the suctions provided by the existing Series 3 watch.