outings – Mr Knitter

I keep meaning to do a post, and then something comes up, and later I realise that I didn’t do my post, and think I will do it now, but manage somehow to get myself sidetracked and BOOM! Forgot to post again. I do not know what is going on with me. So, forgive me for my tardiness!

Fish…

Since last we “spoke” as it were, I finally got rid of my large tank in the lounge. Part of me was glad to get rid of it, and part of me was sad to see it go. The fish love their new smaller home and my Cameroon shrimp seems happy too. Although it was a great tank it took up quite a lot of room, being so massive. We have a unit that we moved into one of the halls when we got the tank, so that is now back in the lounge. My thoughts for getting rid of the tank was to move the smaller tank onto the said unit and get another small tank and finally do a nano reef tank. However, the cost of doing a reef tank is high. I have found a nano tank I like which is £150, but then I need a skimmer and a heater so that’s another £90. Add sand, live rock and all the other bits I need to get it started and I am close to £500 without even adding fish or coral. So, before I take the plunge I have downloaded and printed a book on the subject and intend to read it in full before I decided on what to do. Having spoken to a few people the jury really is out. Some say it is easier than tropical, some say get a large tank as a nano can have problems being small, and others rave on about nano tanks, so there is no real help chatting to others LOL.

I bought an external 12-litre canister filter for my other large tank which works like a treat, but today I added on an extra 2-litre filter canister to that. In essence, water is drawn out of the tank to the small sub canister then passed into the large canister and finally put back into the other end of the tank. I did manage to make a bit of a watery mess as I had not fastened one of the inlet pipes properly oops! I had lost a few fish over the last few weeks, so thought the canister filter would help sort the water quality out. It has UV inside so sterilises the water as it filters. The lighting I have on the tank also decided to die, only 6 weeks after it being exchanged after the first one died after 4 months. Thankfully the aquatic centre where I get most of my equipment and livestock were very understanding and spoke to Fluval who admitted there was a problem that they have now sorted out and to exchange it for me.

Dogs…

It was Harpers 5th Birthday on Sunday. As always we took them to McDonald’s for hamburgers, then to the pet store so Harper could pick a toy, which this year was a rather large monkey, and two packs of balls. Needless to say, they both had a great time.

Knitting…

Thought about it, even mentally made a pattern for a hat for winter, but that was it, but it’s the thought that counts, isn’t it?

Books…

I was reading The Massacre of Mankind which is a sequel to War of the Worlds and in the end, I gave up as it was so slow and the author was trying to write in the style of H. G. Wells but failed page after page. As most of my readers will know I love classical literature, so have no problem with ancient writing and old English, but this bad, if he had written it in current English it would have been a good read.

Outings…

I went to a joint Christening and Communion party a few weeks ago, got very drunk and had a ball.

Last week we went to Delamere Forest again, which for some reason driving there we managed to take all the wrong turns. I came off the motorway/highway onto the expressway in order to go over the Mersey Gateway Bridge, which when you get to the end of the expressway is straight over the roundabout, however, when you follow this, you end up in an industrial estate and nowhere near the bridge. It would seem the directions for the bridge do not exist, and when you get to the end of said expressway you turn left and ignore the signs. But as I managed to turn the wrong was we ended up back on the motorway heading in the direction of home. Time though was on our hands. My satnav said we would get there at 11:15 when we left home and although I managed to go on a long diversion of 20 minutes we got there at 11:22 thus proving that time travel can be achieved.

Education…

The degree is now on hold. I was so undecided about doing it that I thought it best to put the thought to one side until I was 100% committed to doing it.

General…

After returning from Ireland I had tests and a cardiac assessment done. My blood results came back reporting a lack of vitamin D, which is about right living so far north and the general lack of sun. But I also did not have enough of the good cholesterol either, but this could be due to coeliacs disease. The doctors’ office suggestion was to take vitamin D tablets and eat more oily fish etc. Luckily I found a company that sells vitamins on Amazon and they do a vitamin D that is 4000iu, and when you buy a product they thank you by letting you pick another one for free. I decided on Hemp oil tablets as they are for omega 3 and 6, so that’s the bloods sorted.

The scarecrow festival came and went, and I managed to take exactly zero photos of it. I mean, what is the point of having a great camera, living in the country, and having festivals if I do not record it? Answers on a postcard, please!

We bought new garden furniture, namely a table, chairs and a parasol, just in time for the monsoon season to hit us. Yes, my luck/timing really is in at the moment.

I have managed to have a few barbeques lately, between showers that is.

I finally took the leap into meditation after dipping my toes off and on into it over the last few weeks. I have joined Headspace for a year, and am finding it quite good and just have to add it into my daily routine.

In other news, I had a puncture in one of the rear tyres on the car.

So, how are you all?

As we say up North. I cannot believe it has been this long since I last blogged, so by this entry, you can rest assured I am not dead. However, I cannot testify to whether I have been abducted by aliens in the last month, which would account for the loss of time and absence of my wittering on about this, that and the other.

So, where have I been? Not far if I am honest. M went to see his Mum in Ireland for her 80th, so a month ago I dropped him off at the airport. The service I have to say is brilliant. I book his ticket and log his assisted needs, take him to the airport and to the special assistance desk and quite literally hand him over. They check his bags in, take him through security and customs and then to a private lounge and get him food and drink if he wants or needs it. When the aircraft is ready for passengers, he is wheeled through and put on board via a lift, and seated, they put his overhead baggage in and make sure he is all okay and ready for the trip, then the rest of the passengers get on. At the other end it is the same, but obviously in reverse. As I am not there at the other end, he is then handed over to a taxi driver that we have arrangements with to get him to his parents’ house. All in all the service is brilliant, however, a few years ago we booked with special assistance and it was close to a disaster, as they had left him miles away from the boarding gate with no one about and no information. Only for him asking a staff member he would have missed the plane as they had forgotten about him and as he was last on the aircraft he felt embarrassed as all the passengers were waiting on him. Even though it was not his fault, the experience put him off travelling alone. He hates flying that is why we usually get the ferry and take the car with us when we go to Ireland, but the cost is insane at the moment. Usually about £400, where his trip on the plane and the taxi costs about £180 return.

So, today I dropped M off again at the airport for his latest trip to Ireland to see his Mum again, and he will be back on Sunday.

The only other thing of any note that I have been up to was going to Delamere Forest with the dogs. It isn’t on the doorstep so usually about a 90-minute drive to get there if the roads are being good to us. When we were there they must have been filming something as there were lots of crew vans, lighting, catering and other film type trucks about. I could not see anything going on apart from the myriad of vehicles. we went for a walk around the large lake and just enjoyed pottering about for a few hours, then back in the car for the journey home. Some think we are mad doing a 3-hour drive just to walk the dogs, but the new scenery and places make the walking more enjoyable. I may take the dogs out tomorrow for a jaunt to somewhere for the day, sitting in the house really does not have any appeal when M is away. The photo with this post (viewable as the featured image on my post) is of the lake in all its glory, its name is Blakemere Moss. Lots of birds and wildlife about, and obviously lots of dog walkers, cyclists and joggers. It is a lovely place.