Back to Reality

 

We woke early and managed to get most of our packing done before breakfast. The sun took a while to break through the early morning cloud and a thick fog could be seen flowing off the cliffs and down to the sea. 

The Gorse Fox made several trips to load the car before we settled down in the restaurant for coffee and a full cooked breakfast with J&T.

Once we had checked out and finished loading the car and said goodbye to J&T we went for a walk up to the Connaught Gardens above Jacob's Ladder. I provides some wonder view points to the west and down towards Budleigh Salterton.  We wandered around the gardens and viewpoints for a while then, saying goodbye, headed back to the car and set off for home.

The journey home was pretty painless, taking exactly 3 hours. The traffic was kind and the roads free-flowing. It was a most pleasant drive even though we had come through rain, fog, and bright sunshine.

Once home, the Gorse Fox realised that he had not set the heating controls properly. The heating still had 24 hours to go before it would have kicked in. The house was noticeably chilly. The heating was adjusted and kicked in immediately. The problem is, that having underfloor heating, it takes several hours for the temperature to come up to target. The Gorse Fox won't make that mistake again.

Darren dropped Ellie off with us after giving her her dinner. The Silver Vixen is getting her ready for bed now.

Branscombe

It was another gorgeous start to the day. It was chilly, at 4C, but the sky was clear and sun was rolling itself up above the horizon. We met up with J&T over breakfast and made our plans for the day.

Taking our car we headed along the coast to Branscombe. The Silver Vixen and Gorse Fox had visited before, but J&T hadn’t. Last time, we parked up near the Old Forge and walked the footpaths across the fields to the beach. With all the rain w have had recently, we decided this was a non-starter and with the help of Google Maps drove straight to the beach car park.

Unfortunately, the beach cafe was not open so we went for a short walk westwards towards Sidmouth. Tucked under the cliff were some wooden lodges that were available for rent and would afford uninterrupted views across the bay, and the soundscape of the waves 24x7. They would probably be a bit chilly at this time of year.

We turned and headed back, then continued eastwards. The recent rains had swollen the stream that runs into the sea and thus provided a very wet and fast-flowing barrier. We stood and chatted and watched the sea as it approached and retreated ceaselessly. It was immensely soothing. Finally, we tore ourselves away and made our way into the village where we stopped at the Mason’s Arms for a drink before heading back to Sidmouth.

Back at base we left the car and walked into town to enjoy an ice cream. The ice cream was home made and featured a wide range of flavours. The Gorse Fox and the Silver Vixen both chose the clotted cream flavour in waffle cones. These were absolutely huge - but thoroughly delicious.

We went our own ways after the ice cream. J&T had a bit more shopping todo, while the Silver Vixen and Gorse Fox headed back to hotel. We’ll meet up again in the bar before dinner.

Killerton and Back

After the glorious start to the morning we nudged in a lovely breakfast that would set us up for the day. We set off with J&T to visit a National Trust property that we had not previously explored.

Killerton lies near Broadclyst, north of Exeter. It was the home of the Acland family for several hundred years. The first Baronet Acland being ennobled for his support of Charles the first. They accumulated land through auspicious marriages and it was once said that you could walk from the north Devon Coast to the south without leaving their land. Even now the lands stretch to some 6000 acres.

The house was a little gem. Small, by stately home standards, but quite liveable by modern standards. It was beautifully decorated for Christmas with all of the baubles handmade by the staff. There was also a puzzle for any kids - they had to find a bee in each of the rooms. The volunteer thought there were 6 to find… but the Gorse Fox managed to find 7.

Leaving the house we grabbed a coffee in the kitchens. We picked our time well as we seemed to start a rush. All of the tables were soon taken and people were having to sit outside. When we finished our coffee we went for slow and gentle walk in the grounds. There is a spot, near their War Memorial, with a view across the county as far as Dartmoor 20 miles away. It was spectacular as the clouds repainted the shadows and opened up different views as the Marchand across the distant vista.

No trip to the National Trust is complete without a dalliance in their shop. We did finally escape and headed back to Sidmouth.

The sun was still out and we all fancied a walk into town. We split up as we hit the shops and the Silver Vixen and Gorse Fox picked up a few bits before continuing the walk to the eastern end of the Esplanade. The sun was slipping inexorably to the horizon as we headed back. We’ll all meet up again in the bar before dinner.

Lovely start to the day

 

What a glorious start to the day. Hopefully, this sort of weather will persist for a few days.

Devon

We had decided that we would make an early start. Traffic should be light and we could be in Sidmouth before noon. We had packed yesterday afternoon so there was no real rush this morning. We were in the car and on our way by 8:45.

As predicted we saw very little traffic. The weather was a little wild at first, but as we headed west it began to clear. As usual, we stopped at Bridport for a comfort break and some coffee, but were soon on our way for the last 30 miles.

The doorman at the hotel ushered into a prime parking spot and suggested that we check in and get comfortable, leaving our luggage in the car until our rooms are ready at 3pm. Sounded good to us… so we checked in and made our way to the lounge where we had a refreshing drink and a sandwich. The hotel is beautifully decorated in preparation for Christmas and as the Silver Vixen said, it looks like a film set.

J&T turned up soon after we had settled down. We chatted over our collective snacks then decided that a walk was needed. We wandered in to town and somehow managed to find ourselves trapped in the knitwear triangle (Seasalt, Crew Clothing, and Cotton Traders). Like an escape room, there is a trick to getting out. The trick seemed to be based on the purchase of goods. We managed. We the stopped in the department store. The Gorse Fox was looking for a particular type of sweater, but was unsuccessful. The Silver Vixen, however, spotted their leather jackets and mercilessly bullied the Gorse Fox into buying one . The jacket is rather splendid and must contain the hides from a small herd. It’s certainly heavy enough.

Back in the hotel, we are now settled in our room and unpacked. We’ll meet up with J&T in the bar before dinner.

Away

The Gorse Fox had his usual cousins' call this morning. The backdrop on the call was the inside of Chichester Cathedral and the Gorse Fox played Gregorian Chant to set the mood. The theme today wa keeping warm. Tim had a series of hats that he switched as the call began, Sarah had a lovely Astrakhan hat. When challenged, the Gorse Fox said he didn't worry about specific clothes, he just threw another socialist on the fire - that way they had at least some purpose and value to the community.

Later in the morning, without any fuss, we managed to get Jasper into his carry case and took him across to the cat whisperer for a few day R&R. It's funny, but as soon as we have dropped him, the Gorse Fox feels as if the holiday has started. The afternoon was spent selecting, down-selecting, then further down-selecting before packing. All is now packed and we are ready for an early start. With luck, the journey should only take about 3 hours and it would be nice to there around lunch time in order to make the most of the day.

Only 1 month

 Ellie, realising that today is the 25th is excited to inform us that it is only one month until Christmas... and that she will be helping mummy put up the decorations next week. The Gorse Fox wished her luck and said that we will probably start on ours on the 24th. There's no sense in overdoing it.

Once the Gorse Fox had done the usual walk to school and had coffee and breakfast he popped round to the surgery to give them a copy of the letter from the hospital regarding the Silver Vixen's procedure. The rest of the day has been fairly quiet, allowing time to sit with some tea and a book in the warmth of the sun-baked orangery.

The Gorse Fox collected Ellie from school and she settled down with the Silver Vixen to do some craft projects while the Gorse Fox prepared her dinner so that she could eat before Pistol Pete came to collect her for the weekend.

Procedure

 Ellie kept herself amused when she woke at 6:30 and didn't venture into our room until 7:00. We went through the usual morning process and Urban-Cub turned up just in time to walk her to school.

The Gorse Fox had ordered a new battery for the DashCam and this arrived earlier in the week. The Gorse Fox had taken the camera apart to see how the battery was changed and decided it was a fiddly nightmare. Two Hats had offered help and so we spent a quiet hour muttering under our breath as the new battery was installed and the camera put back together. Much to our amazement, it worked. The Gorse Fox will refit it in the car when we returned from our forthcoming trip, making do with the spare camera that is installed at present.

At lunchtime we headed in to St Richard's. The Silver Vixen was booked for her "procedure". The Gorse Fox took her through to the treatment centre but then had to leave her to it. Whilst the procedure would only take 30-45 mins, she would then spend time in recovery until they deemed it safe for her to travel home. The Gorse Fox went in to Chichester to kill several hours.

He started by grabbing a coffee in a nice little coffee shop and whilst there managed to finish his latest book. As he left, the heavens opened and rain set in for the rest of the afternoon. He ducked into Crew Clothing and bought a new sweatshirt then headed back to the car so that it wouldn't get too wet. Walking back into town along East Street he passed a jeweller and saw a necklace that was ideal for the Silver Vixen - 15 minutes later it was gift-wrapped and snuggling in the bottom of a fancy bag. This too was ferried back to the car for storage.

Shopping done, the Gorse Fox wandered back into town and spent a little quiet time in the Cathedral before going round to the chiropodist for his scheduled appointment. As he left the chiropodist, his phone rang. It was the hospital to say that the Silver Vixen was ready for collection. 

The procedure had gone smoothly and no problems had been found. We now have to wait for correspondence from Southampton Hospital to see when they can intervene.

Living on the Edge

 Life in retirement is always a pleasure but there are times when we have to push the envelope and do something that is way outside our normal comfort zone. So it was that today, after the usual school escort service, the Gorse Fox and Silver Vixen went to Sainsbury's. No, really. We did, and yet it is Wednesday, not Thursday. It just shows that you can teach an old fox new tricks.

The rest of the morning was spent with some admin, chasing down the documentation for the extended warranty taken out on the Skoda while the Silver Vixen had a pressing engagement with an iron.

Jasper was intent on sharing today. The trouble is that it was his food he wanted to share and, kindly, threw up on our bed and our bedroom carpet. We managed to get in an hour or so with our books before the Gorse Fox went to collect Ellie. 

Cooling Down

After the exceptionally mild autumn and the recent heavy rains we saw a bit of a change overnight with the temperature dropping down to values more typical of this time of year. It was bright and crisp (though not frosty) when the Gorse Fox went to escort Ellie and the Urban-Cub to school. It was a day where the coats needed to be zipped up.

Once home, the Gorse Fox had some breakfast while the Silver Vixen started on a cleaning spree in the bathrooms. He got on with some admin and then prepared this week's shopping list. We are doing the whole shop ourselves, no Ocado this week. As we are going away for a few days, the Ocado delivery seemed overkill.

The Gorse Fox watched some of the World Cup games as he pottered. None of the teams really caught his eye, so far, today.

Birthday

 Today was the Silver Vixen's birthday. Normally we would do something special, but this year we have the angiogram booked for later this week and the trip to Sidmouth booked for the weekend. We would have fairly normal day at home, rather than chance picking up some sort of virus or bacterium in the wider world.

Ellie was dropped off at 7:15 and we sorted her out ready for school. By the time it was time to go, the rain had progressed to deluge proportions. The Gorse Fox insisted that the Silver Vixen stayed at home and the Gorse Fox managed the school run. The morning was spent drinking coffee and reading the papers before the Silver Vixen got the urge to vacuum and the Gorse Fox caught up on some chores.

This afternoon was occupied by the England-vs-Iran game from the World Cup. This was a most satisfactory 6-2 win, finishing just after we went to collect Ellie from school. She hadn't been home with us for more than 15 minutes before Urban-Cub and Darren turned up to give the Silver Vixen her birthday presents and to collect Ellie.

Roast

 It's Sunday, and as the Gorse Fox is avoiding indoor football until the Silver Vixen's procedure has been performed, it meant that he had a very leisurely start to the day. This included a full English breakfast that was cooked in the air fryer... and was delicious.

The rest of the morning (what was left of it, given that we were slow to get going) was just faffing about. Soon after midday, The Gorse Fox had decided on the procedure he would follow for the preparation of dinner. With that confirmed he could disappear in to the Orangery for some reading.

Dinner was roast pork (with the best crackling that the Gorse Fox hs ever made). Whilst the pork was cooked in the small oven, the roast potatoes and roasted carrots were both prepared in the air fryer. Overall, it was a huge success.

We have just received Urban-Cub's schedule for the week, Currently it is not certain that Ellie will be with us overnight at all... but there are still a couple of nights that may be in the balance.

Visits

 Ellie was awake soon after 6:30 but played quietly in her room until the Gorse Fox started moving about at 7:30. Very civilised. She had some breakfast and then, having dressed, insisted on playing school teachers. As a result, the Gorse Fox had to write out a page of "number sentences" for her to complete. the approves of games like this and is just waiting for her to ask about spreadsheets. Urban-Cub popped along to pick her up and we prepared for Betty and Barney Rubble to visit.

Before their visit, however, Cousteau-Cub and the Coventry Hobbit turned up. The primary purpose was to give the Silver Vixen her birthday presents but it was also a chance to see the Coventry Hobbit's new Mercedes. He gave us a demo of how the roof folded away into the boot. It was like watching origami, and was immensely clever. They didn't stay for long and planned to go on to se Urban-Cub.

No sooner had they left than Betty and Barney arrived. We settled down with some coffee and biscuits and started th catch-up on health and family news. The former subject seemed to dominate the whole day for both families. It is clear that we are far better served by our doctors' surgery down here than they are in Odiham. They pointed out that for a non-urgent appointment they had been offered a slot in 16 weeks. That is outrageous.

We drove into Bognor Regis for lunch at Mustard's. There were two large parties at other tables. Even though we were tucked away it was quite loud in there and made conversation challenging. It's a shame because the food was excellent.

The Gorse Fox started the crispy pork belly shown on the photo, whilst the Silver Vixen and Barney had Salmon Gravadlax, and Betty had a butternut soup.

For the main course the Gorse Fox and Barney had fish and chips, the Silver Vixen had sea bream, and Betty had supreme of chicken.

We didn't bother with a sweet course as we had some blackberry and apple pie waiting in fridge at home. We had a quiet afternoon chatting over cups of tea and bowls for blackberry & apple with custard and cream.

Better and Barney left around 17:30 and the Silver Vixen and tidied away and settled down for the evening.

Firmware

 It should have been a quiet start to the day. There was no need for the alarm this morning, but as it happened, Jasper was wide awake by 6:30 and whilst the Gorse Fox tried to ignore him, by 6:50 he decided that enough was enough and got up.

As it is "Children in Need" day today, Ellie was able to go to school in her pyjamas today. Needless to say, this was a moment of stress as she tried to choose between her various sets of PJs and the shoes that she would wear with them. Eventually, decisions were made and we headed to school.

The Gorse Fox had a few chores this morning and then headed off to the shops for some cat litter. The Silver Vixen was, meanwhile, at the hairdresser. Who the Gorse Fox got back he returned to the problematic DashCam. He isn't quite sure what he did differently this time, but on the second attempt he actually managed to get the firmware to update to the correct level. Now he just has to wait for the new battery and hopefully everything will be hunky-dory again.

We collected Ellie from school and filtered back through the cake sale. All of the funds were destined for "Children in Need" so we donated generously for the cakes we had selected. The rest of the evening has been pretty quiet, despite Ellie being here overnight tonight.

SDcard

 Ellie padded into our room just after 7:00. The Gorse Fox was already wide awake and left Ellie to get into bed with the Silver Vixen while he went to wash and dress. She was in a bouncy mood this morning and very eager to get to school. The Gorse Fox hopes this lasts throughout her education!

Once dropped at school, the Silver Vixen and Gorse Fox fell back into our usual Thursday pattern... waiting for Ocado to deliver then going to Sainsbury's for the top-up. Now, this gave the Gorse Fox the time to reset the DashCam that Two Hats had lent to him, yesterday. Once this was done, he re-inserted the microSDCard that his own DashCam had claimed to be corrupt in the new DashCam... and the trip to and from Sainsbury's was dutifully recorded without incident. This suggests to the Gorse Fox that the problem lies with the DashCam unit, not the card. He ordered a new battery for his own DashCam. We will see if that provides the basis to a solution.

After some basic weekly admin, the Gorse Fox retired to his book for the rest of the afternoon.

Between showers

The Gorse Fox had to post a birthday card on behalf of the Silver Vixen. He put on all his waterproofs and headed out into the rain. Within 100 yards the rain stopped. He was somewhat overdressed!

He walked on past the lake and noticed how full it was now looking, considering it had been almost dry a month or so back.

The rain held off until he got home - thank goodness.

Angel

 It has been another very wet day but having said that, it was actually dry when we walked to and from school with Ellie. She had slept through until she heard the Gorse Fox moving about this morning. He had get on the move a bit sharpish as Urban-Cub was dropping off the second bottle of her antibiotics on her wy through to work.

The morning was filled with chores and a review of the latest consultation documents for the A27 Arundel upgrade. Review completed, the Gorse Fox filled in his survey responses.

The saga with the Dashcam seems to be moving forward. The manufacturer has concluded that the battery is failing and needs replacing. This could be done by the Gorse Fox (if he was handy with a soldering iron - which he is not) or sent away to be fixed and 3 times the cost. The Gorse Fox bumped into Two Hats. Two Hats is handy with a soldering iron. He said he would sort it out and to order the battery. Meanwhile he lent a spare Dashcam that we could use until everything is fixed.

Ellie was delighted when the Gorse Fox went to collect her from school. They are preparing for Christmas Play and she wanted to be an angel. There would be only one angel from her class. She was chosen... and we haven't heard the end of it all afternoon.

Figures

 Heavy rain had set in overnight and was forecast to last until the early afternoon. If the Gorse Fox needed an excuse not to play football, this would have been a contender. He didn't however, need an excuse - he had already decided not to play this week in an effort to semi-isolate prior to the Silver Vixen's procedure next week.

It was fairly peaceful day. The Gorse Fox spent some time with the spreadsheets that track our energy usage. Not only was it time to file the latest month's figures, it was also about time that he did some additional analyses of trends. It was heartening to see the trends are down on last year. Less electricity, less gas, and less water. A degree of caution should be sounded as, so far, the weather has been very mild.

We did a bit of reading after lunch and then went round to the school to collect Ellie. She will be staying with us overnight tonight and tomorrow night.

The Gorse Fox made a very successful version of "Hunter's Chicken" in the air fryer this evening. Chicken thighs dusted in paprika and garlic powder, then stuffed with cheddar before being wrapped in bacon. This took 24 minutes at 175C in the air fryer.

School run

 With Ellie now feeling a lot better, and no longer infectious, we were back on the school run today. The Gorse Fox wandered round to provide the guard of honour on her way to school and this afternoon the Silver Vixen joined him for the return.

The rest of the day was very relaxed. Some chores during the first part of the morning, some admin, and then  some research and some reading.

Though the new phone, ordered over the weekend, isn't due until the week before Christmas, the Gorse Fox was interested that it has no SIM slot. It only supports an eSIM. The question that he was trying to answer is "how do we get the initial eSIM installed?" It didn't take long to find a YouTube video that showed the process, and it really could not be simpler. Now he just has to be patient.

The Gorse Fox prepared a curry for Ellie this evening. It's something that she seems to really like and polishes off in no time. Now fed, she has gone home with Darren as Urban-Cub is on a late shift.

Getting to grips

 It was a lazy start, the Gorse Fox not emerging until 7:45.Coffee made, he settled down with the online papers until the Silver Vixen pottered downstairs.

With the new Air Fryer in situ, it seemed only right to try a breakfast treat. So it was that the Gorse Fox used a heavy glass to make an indentation in a couple of slices of bread and broke an egg into each. 8 minutes later he had a delicious egg on toast. Attempt number 1 was a success.

The Gorse Fox would research some more and try to use it for dinner.

Much of the rest of the day was spent looking at YouTube videos for hints about using air fryers, Several recipes were copied into the Gorse Fox's library for future use and a couple of ideas were seeded for dinner.

Whilst all of this was going on, the Gorse Fox may have (accidentally) ordered a new iPhone. The particular model ordered is unlikely to arrive before mid-December but should be a major upgrade in terms of the camera function, speed, and overall capabilities. It is also the first phone that the Gorse Fox will have that is solely eSIM (no physical SIM is supported).

Dinner this evening saw the air fryer pressed into use. A Sainsbury's lamb dish and separate roast, diced potatoes were cooked in 30 minutes. It was delicious and significantly quicker than the main oven(s).