What`s that noise?

Coming out of the butchers and going to the Post office this morning, I became aware of a strange sound in the town.

It was a sort of metalic clanking sound.

I walked further along to the greengrocers and the sound became louder.   It was like the sound of the clanging of a herd of cows with cowbells on them.

People were standing and looking up the road, trying to identify what the sound was.  It appeared to be getting closer.  Then we could see a group of people walking down the centre of the road, all dressed in colourful costumes and ringing large bells as they came.

It turned out that there was a Town Crier competition in the centre of the High Street, and town criers from across the country had come to take part in it.

Very colourful they all looked in their outfits on the sunny morning.

Removing the fan

continued from yesterday.....

The workman- two of them and a young lad, came in carrying a big bag of tools and a new extractor fan to fit in the kitchen window.   Now, I should add that it was early evening when they came, so dark outside.  
Looking at the fan they said that they just needed to unscrew the fittings on the current one and then put the new one in,  wouldn`t take long.   One strapped a light to his head and went outside to hold the outside part of the old fan.

They got the screws out, but, the fan wouldn`t lift off of the window.  We just need to cut the seal all around it then it will be free to lift out I heard them saying.   So they did that.  The chap outside was trying to pull his side off, and the ones inside were doing the same, but, the fan still wouldn`t budge.   So next they tried dismantling more of it.    I went off into the other room and left them to it.  I could hear them knocking and banging away at it.  

A while later one of them came through to me,  "We`ve a problem, a little mishap - but it`s nothing to worry about" he said.  "the glass has cracked around where we`re trying to get the fan out".   We`ve found that whoever put the fan in, didn`t do it right - they`ve completely stuck it to the window with strong sealer, and we can`t get it off.   So, I went throught with him to see.  

He showed me the cracks (actually not quite as bad as I expected).  "We`ve got to get a new pane of glass for it -then it will be easy to put the new one in.   It won`t be your expense" he said.

"How long will that take", I asked, and was told 3 or 4 days, but we`ll block the fan blades etc all up so that you don`t get any draught in he said.   Then spotting that I`d got an extractor over the cooker, they asked if I really wanted a fan in the window, or just a plain window.    Now, to be honest, I`ve never liked that big monstrosity in the window - so I jumped at the chance of having the window replaced with a plain piece of glass.

So..... now I wait.

Draughty kitchen

I`ve just realised how long it is since I wrote anything.     I suppose that shows what a plain ordinary life I lead, that I``ve not been inspired and haven`t found anything interesting to write about.

I don`t really know if this is interesting - but - here goes....

My kitchen window has one of those big square extractor fans in it.  Through, I suppose the wear and passing of time since it was put in, I noticed that one and then two of the outside flaps which should close the aperture when not being used, had fallen off.   During the summer this didn`t matter so much, but with the cold winds of recently my kitchen was becoming colder than inside my fridge!    So, when the builder was doing the outside of my house several weeks back, I mentioned it to him, and he said he could get one of his electricians to sort it for me.

Weeks went by, I rang and reminded him 3 or 4 weeks ago.  He said he hadn`t forgotten and that he`d get the chap to come when he was in the town again.   Fine.   My boss popping in with some work and a cup of tea the one day last week came into the kitchen and immediately said "it`s cold in  here!  where`s the draught coming from?"   I explained what and why.   So he straight away got out his mobile phone and rang the builder (who he knew).   What happened? - the workmen came last night!

What the postman brought

Opening one of the envelopes in the mail the postman had put through my letter box yesterday I came across this from the insurance company which deals with my car insurance -  headed Birthday Offer, (although it`s not my birthday for another 48 days) I thought, Oh, what are they going to give me or treat me to.

"Birthday Offer.
Dear Ms............
We understand how, with time life insurance becomes more expensive and difficult to get.  So we`re delighted to offer you an easy opportunity to get more value for money, provided you apply before your 57th. birthday.      ....it can provide your loved ones with a guaranteed cash sum on your death from any cause........"

I felt quite depressed by the time I`d finished reading it all - not because they weren`t actually giving me a birthday gift, but (although I know a lot of people do unfortunately die young), I felt that to suggest that I should think about death as something for a birthday offer was unfeeling.  At my birthday, I would be thinking of celebrating and remembering happy times, not looking and thinking of what could happen in the future.

Needless to say, I shan`t be accepting their offer!

Why the name?

 I have "strange" thoughts or trains of thoughts and questions at times!

Doing something with different colours yesterday, I got to thinking.....
why is the colour Red called red, or Brown  brown, why is Green called green - infact why are any of the colours called the names they are?   Why isn`t yellow called blue or blue called purple??   Who decided what colour should be named what it is?

Ok, maybe you`ll say that brown stems from an old Latin, Roman, Egyptian or some other derivative-maybe for the colour of earth - but then who decided that earth should be called earth?.... and so it goes on.......

Why is anything called what it is - who was the very first person to name them???

Harvest time

Yesterday was Harvest Festival here.  It`s one of my favourite days in the church`s year, when we give thanks to God for the bounty of food which he provides for us.

A Perfect Sunday Afternoon

This may look to be just a picture of sand, but it`s one of my favourite places to walk, and I went there yesterday afternoon.   There were lots of families there enjoying it too - some just walking, some playing cricket on the sand, a few digging sandcastles, some sunbathing, others picnicing - all enjoying the open air, warm sun and the space.   And - what joy - not the sound of a single person talking on a mobile phone!   There are just miles and miles of sand and its very peaceful.  It really is a place to feel close to God in creation

I walked for about an hour and then became aware that the sun was disappearing and the blue sky had an ominous black cloud coming up, so I made my way back to the car.

Leaving the car park a short time later, it began to rain, so we drove to another village where we could sit by the water.   Whilst sitting there, although it was still lightly raining the sun came out, and I found another delight.....

..... to my right was a beautiful rainbow - so I just had to get out of the car and take some photo`s of it.  It was a perfect arc, I could see both ends, but unfortunately it was too big to get the full arc on a photo.   This is the best I could do.

Bird Watching

Sitting on a seat looking out at the sea the other afternoon (not yesterday, it was raining), I saw a starling come and land on the ground very near to the seat.   I didn`t take a lot of notice at first, but then became curious when suddenly I heard the whirr of wings of a flock of other starlings coming to join him, just a couple of feet away from my feet.

I sat very quietly and watched them, and discovered that on the concrete edge and coming up from the weeds just below the edge were hundreds of ants - they`d found an ants nest.   I quickly looked down at where my feet were!, but thankfully no ants had come that far.

As I watched, they were quickly devouring the ants, then I saw one lift its wing and peck under it.  Watching them closer others did the same, and it appeared that they were picking up ants and putting them in their wings.  I wondered why?.   Although somewhere in my mind I seem to recall a tv nature programme about this, but I can`t remember the reason the starlings do it.  They seemed totally unaware of me sitting there, they were so engrossed in the feast they had found.

A Strange phone call

My telephone rang yesterday evening, just as I`d finished watching a television programme.   I looked at the number on the display and saw that it was my mother.   I answered it as normal, and heard her say "Is that you (and my name)?"  I said "Yes"
"it doesn`t sound like you" she said and then she kept repeating my name ...  I kept saying "Yes it is me"
"what the matter?"   - "nothing" I replied
"who have you got there"   - "no-one, I`m on my own" I answered
"you`ve got someone there who shouldn`t be there"  - "there`s no-one here only me" - I again said
"You`re not answering me" 
"Why won`t you answer me?" - "I am answering you" - I said

All the time, I was answering her, but she kept on and on repeating these questions over and over and she was getting more and more agitated and not stopping to listen or wait for a reply, I got to shouting the answers but still she didn`t seem to be hearing me or taking it in.

Then I heard her saying,
"what shall I do, I`m going to get someone to come round and see you, you`ve got someone there who shouldn`t be there"
"I`ll get the police to come round"
"I`m not going to bed until I know you`re alright"
And I just couldn`t get through to her that nothing was wrong, everything was normal.

I began to think that she was having some kind of fit or turn.  
I wondered what to do.   I daren`t put the phone down, because if she heard it cut off I sensed that she`d be even more alarmed.

Then I thought, the only thing I can try is to try changing the phone I`m using and pick up another of the handsets in the house.   So, I tried that, and it worked!  she heard me on that.   Thank goodness. 

So we then experimented and I got her to ring it again and I answered on the first phone I`d been using and she heard me perfectly.  So, what had been wrong, I`ve no idea.

Following a very windy and wet Bank Holiday weekend, the sun came out today and it was so beautiful that it enticed me to leave my work (I had done my allocated hours), and leave the housework and go out.    So, I jumped into the car, drove a couple of miles along the coast and then went for a walk along the cliff top.

  It was beautiful.   The sky was blue and so was the sea.  I tried to capture all the wonderful colours and shade of blue in the sea, with my camera, but it doesn`t really do it justice.

Twitching curtains?

What will the neighbours think?

I`ve just realised, I`ve had, and got different men coming to my house every day this week!   I`m not talking about the outside workmen, because they`ve all gone.   These have all come to the front door and I`ve let them in.

First, on Monday, it was my boss - because now I`m working from home he comes up for various things.

Then on Tuesday, first a visit from my boss at 7 a.m.!   and then an Accountant about 9 a.m. who stayed the day.

Wednesday saw another man on the door step - this time the washing machine repair man, because my machine refused to work

Today, I`ve got the gas fire servicing man coming mid morning

Tomorrow I`ve a friend who should be coming

As to Saturday - that remains unknown at present

And on Sunday, I`m entertaining a visiting Minister to lunch.

What will the neighbours think of all these men coming and going from my house???!

Catching Up

I`ve been so busy over the past days since my last post, that I haven`t had time to write anything.  

So, an update - The scaffolding came down off my house one day last week, so I now have what looks in one sense to be living in a new house!   - well from the sides and back views, the front we have kept the same bricks as before, and just had pointed up where necessary, so I`m glad about that.    I don`t think I`d like to change the traditional look of the front.

I`ve now been working from home for a fortnight and it`s lovely!    I looked out of the window the other morning at the time I should have been setting out for my office and it was pouring with rain.  What a pleasure it was to just be able to go upstairs to my office here and not have to get umbrella and rainccoat out and venture out into it.  All I need to do is to get things sorted out as to the best layout for working in the room, but that will come with working there and finding out as I go, what works best where.


Today is Sea Sunday at our church, and it was my week to do the flower arrangement, so yesterday I spent several hours doing that.    Here is the result of my main arrangement.

Facelift

My house is undergoing a facelift at present. It was built around 1900, as far as I know. (I`m thinking of trying to find the actual history of it) It was, so I`m told the first one to be built in this road, and is the only one which was a detached house the ones which followed it were all semi-detached.

Being built over 100 years ago, of a softer type of brick and a sandyier mortar I suppose its no wonder that the bricks have been eroded away with the winds, the salt air and the weather. As for the mortar between the bricks, it had got so that you could run your finger along it and it would just crumble out.   Infact at times, sitting indoors at night you would occasionally hear pieces falling down in the cavity wall. 

So, although preserving the bricks on the front with pointing up, as the weather hasn`t attacked them so badly, the gable ends and sides have now had a coat of cement (or whatever you call what they put on them), and then it`s going to be painted with a weatherproof paint - so a new look!

Yes, expensive, but worth it.

A New Start

I started a new phrase of my working life yesterday. 

I`ve worked in the same business and building for just over forty years.  During that time, I have ofcourse seen lots of changes, both to the actual physical structure of the building, its frontage, door, inside layout etc have been changed numerous times.   When I started there, the first and second floor of it were a `house` and the manager lived there, coming down stairs straight into the store.  Later the stairs were closed up and made to enter from the main street to access the upper floors.  Then, for years and years the upper rooms were left empty. 

After many years of being disused, and with a change of ownership of the business the rooms became the head office, and I moved up there to work. 

Now, the rooms have been converted back into living accommodation and made into two flats.  That meant the office I work in needed to be re-located.

An office was made for me in the warehouse - disused warehouse (I should add) of another of the company`s stores.  I went over to look at it a few weeks ago, and as soon as I walked up the stairs to it I experienced a very strange feeling - I just totally felt very uncomfortable there, it felt somehow very spooky.   I just knew that I just couldn`t work there.  My boss, who was with me, took one look at me as said "you don`t like it, do you?"  and I had to admit I didn`t.     He was very good about it, and didn`t say - well this it you`ll have to get used to it, he instead said we`ll have to see what else we can find or do.

So, yesterday began the new session of my working life - as I am now working from home, and just using that "spooky office" for a base for mail, storing paperwork etc....   Last week we moved all the office items which I needed to here, and yesterday I started actually working here.     And it was a good day!

Flower Festival

Here is the Flower Festival which I was involved with last week.

Just click on the photo below and it will take you to the site will all the photos on.  - you can either then watch it as a Slide show, or individual ones, and at full screen.     Enjoy!



And, if you click on this one below, and do the the same you`ll see General Views

Flower Festival

A view of the Flower Festival I was involved with last week.

Flowers all around!

I`m in the middle of a Flower Festival this week.   Surrounded by beauty and perfume.

But, although that sounds delightful - which it certainly is - it hasn`t been without its hitches, snags and problems.  More so this year than others for some reason, maybe its the hot weather affecting everyone.

Anyway - here`s a picture of the delivery of the flowers on Tuesday evening.

Yes, the whole lorry full, was for the church!

Chair problem

My chair wee`d on the carpet.   

Yes, I do mean the chair and not myself nor anyone sitting in it.

I was sitting on my office chair in my office/workroom here at home yesterday evening and decided to just alter the height of the seat and the angle of the back slightly.   I pressed and moved the relevant levers under the bottom of the chair when all at once I heard the sound of liquid running.   I jumped up, wondering what on earth it was and where it was coming from as it seemed to be coming from the chair.   It was, out of the bottom at the back liquid was running onto the floor.    I ran downstairs and grabbed a cloth to put on the floor so that it didn`t sink into the carpet.  By the time I got back with the cloth it had stopped running out, so I set to work to mop up and clean the carpet - it was a very acidy, oily sort of smell to the fluid.    

Then, I wondered what to do, I daren`t sit on the chair again incase it made any more come out; I daren`t move it for the same reason.   Standing there looking at the chair, I decided that the best thing to do would be to give it a nappy - so downstairs I ran again, and got a plastic carrier bag, which I`ve now sellotaped to hang below the parts at the bottom where I think the fluid came from.    I think my next move is to somehow find a way to get rid of the chair, as I daren`t use it again.

Any ideas, how?   As a woman on my own I can`t carry it down the stairs, it`s too awkward a shape and weight for me to do that safely. And then, how to dispose of it?

Business trip

I had to visit two of our stores yesterday, one in Norwich, so I set off quite early so as not to be late through being held up in traffic.    What happened?     I got there thirty minutes early.    The sun was shining and it was a beautiful morning.  So having parked at the back of the store and rather than fluster the store manager by being so early, I had the opportunity for a short walk down by the river.   As usual my camera was in my handbag, I seldom go anywhere without it, so it gave me the opportunity to take these pictures of a spot I think is very beautiful.

And, a view along the river

Stained glass flowers

For the first time, I was asked to take part in a Flower Festival at a village church.   I was nervous about doing it somewhere else, but as the Organiser always does one for the Festival I help organise, I decided to accept.   This is the arrangement I did for the subject "A day in the life of..... a Stained glass worker".  

The Festival is at Upper Sheringham parish church this weekend.