Industrious Saturday

It was always going to be one of those getting jobs done, Saturdays. We both had our lists, mine written down, D's in his brain.....Mine was long and never got completed, D's had one main item on it and was probably far more sensible.



The finished result is very professional and sturdy, five years or so of the elements raining and blowing a gale across from Glastonbury has taken its toll and I was afraid that the fragility of parts of the structure would allow Mr Fox easy access.



Rhubarb is picked and stewed, blackcurrants gathered, the vegetable garden is growing at an alarming pace!

Meanwhile the Air Day at Yeovilton was well under way, the Red Arrows flying over our house...I manage to get many photos of clouds but the Red Arrows are more elusive....This is my best attempt.






Baking was on the agenda, it has been too long....The result Matrimonial slice (don't ask!) courtesy of my sister in law...One of those chuck it all in recipes:

er,
1 1/2 cups SR flour
180g marg (6 oz)
1/2 cup oats
1 cup coconut
1 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup jam

Rub marg into flour
Add oats, coconut & sugar, Mix tog.
Place 1/2 mixture in square tin (approx 9")

Melt jam, spread on top

Sprinkle remaining mixture on top.

Bake at 190/ Gas Mark 5 for 1/2 hour


All Bran Cake was the second choice!




Both cakes sampled by S and P who popped in for an after lunch coffee (P with newly acquired yellow handbag... half price...bargain), 5 minutes after I mention to D " I wonder if P and S would be up for coffee in a minute!" S always looks ill at ease when he sits in our house, why? Well for the last, at least a year, he has been disturbed (no comment :) ) by the very noisy sound coming from our computer...."the fan is very noisy" he says EVERY time he walks in..... Yes we agree, but its not high priority to sort it...we have got used to the eerie whirring sound that rises and falls, playing a soulful tune all of its own. It seemed the moment had come where he could stand it no longer and the call went out for the Vacumn cleaner....




The sight inside was appalling to behold...dust? Lets put it this way, you couldn't see half the bits, they lay under 1/2 inch of dust....the poor fan had no chance of getting any airflow in....I was strangely excited by the thrill of seeing components reappear...then the vacumn cut out....

The vacumn has been an absolute pain for ages....overheating before a room is hoovered so that it becomes a race to see whether I can get around an area before it just doesn't want to play until cooled down which takes about 15 minutes or so....So we wait....this time it has only been a couple of minutes.....we chat, we wait...yes we've had other priorities... I am struck by how much we put up with things that aren't working well...are we the only ones? Okay vacumn starts again, we're off! I lean over said unit pointing out bits S has missed (He is a very patient man...), then guess what? Yep, it does it again.... Plan B now needs to come into play....Vax carpet washer with long nozzle taken off disgraced Vax and attached to old workhorse carpet washer. Result!

Everything is put back together, P has gone out to talk to the chickens, resigned, not for the first time, that her husband is on a mission....but to be fair, she has missions of her own, so we reckon they're quits really!



Fan plays a quieter more steady tune, and it is music to our ears!

Not sure when I mentioned Nick's broken Camcorder, how it came up into conversation, but S is interested and begins to ask questions...Off I go and retrieve said item. It is examined, turned over, opened and then the challenge is to try and get it up on the computer. S has informed us that there things our computer can do which we had no idea about.... I am instructed to search out an S video lead which strangely enough I find in the loft...which when entered feels as if I have entered humidity only experienced in the Far East...not good for the hot flushes...



I think R arrives at this point, doorbell rings and kettle is put on again... R works with computers and does the AV at church, so he is a useful man to have turn up. Three men around a computer talking technical stuff ....firewires and strange numbers IEEE 1399 or something. I am bemused and begin my ironing. Eventually S, not to be beaten, decides a fire wire need to be found...R has one at home, D drives him back and collects said lead....

To shorten the story, I will say that the result was I was able to watch films of my family and friends, not seen for 6 years or so.....very funny and somewhat enbarrassing for a fair few...but I haven't found the hyroglyphics one...which may be a good thing....perhaps it got recorded over or thrown away.

A very satisfying and fulfilling Saturday!