Blogs from Ruthin, Denbighshire, Wales, United Kingdom, Europe

Suzy is getting ready for her satelitte dish to be sorted - we hope. Booked in on Friday this week to a guy in Telford who hopefully will sort her out. We are not paying as although the guarantee ran out a few weeks ago we could not and were really not prepared to travel again to Dorset to have it fixed. The company did not want to come up to do it on our drive and they did not want to send us back to RoadPro for the second time in a year. In the end the compromise was made and we are booked in for this week fairly local. We need to empty the van again so that they can get into it to find out why the dish wont come down. Frustrating because ... read more

32 days and counting - Suzy is standing in the snow. The weather has turned nasty. It began to snow last night and we woke up this morning to a heavy covering and a grey leaden sky. The journey to work was fraught to say the least with abandoned cars littering the road making it hazardous for overtaking and difficult for the gritters and the snow ploughs to clear the way. Gwernymynydd Hill was a shambles, drivers out of their cars with shovels trying to dig their way out. Cars left in the middle of the road. In the end I got to work,turned round and came home again. This time last year March was fairly temperate with mild weather and the reservoirs empty.Drought was forecast. What a difference a year makes. The clocks change next ... read more

Suzy is parked in the snow on the drive wrapped up against the cold wind and the driving snow. The snow started early this morning with a bit of windy flurry. As the day progressed her silver screen covered in snow insulating her against the cold and her little rubber boots became hidden by the drift that was accumulating up against her. I think she probably wasn't jealous of the fact that I had to go out to work and leave her on the drive. I know where I would prefer to be. The drive to work had been fairly uneventful in the morning however as the day progressed the snow came down and turned everything into a world of white. Gardens and trees that looked brown yesterday now have a nice white coat. The few ... read more

Autumn has definately kicked in. The mornings are getting much darker and gloomier and will continue to do so especially when the clocks go back in less than a months time. It is becoming dusky in the evening around 6.30. All colour has gone over in the gardens apart from the remaining hardy roses, dahlias and chrysanthemums. The leaves of the trees are taking on the Autumn colours of bronze, gold, yellow and crimson. And those that have already changed are being blown off like confetti in the wind. The Indian summer we had hoped for is a bit intermittent. When the sun shines it is here but most of the time it is cooler and raining. Shops are beginning to fill up with all things Christmas and the gardens are looking very sad for themselves. ... read more

It's been easy settling into semi-retirement. Instead of dreading work on Sunday nights it's a lovely feeling to realise that there are still more days without work. Things have been moving on apace with Suzy as we have gradually filled the fridge up with food to take with us on our trip, items have been moved from cupboard to cupboard as we try to find the optimum use of space and everything bar the kitchen sink has been taken into the van. We have produced a shake down list with all the items we need to take with us and we keep coming back to it as we realise we have forgotten to list something. The list seems to grow by the day as we think of something new. . A new atlas of Europe has ... read more