What are you all up to

We've finally had a few days without any rain, 🙂 gave the van a quick wipe round and its now back in storage. Hopefully we will be able to get away again in a few weeks. Got all the decorations and lights down and packed away too. Had a meet up with some friends yesterday, good catch up as we haven't seen them for a while, they are planning a big move up to Scotland, they have been looking at a place which includes some caravan pitches.

Good to hear you are slowly recovering from your shingles Millie, hope the vitamins help.

DEBSC,  hope there isn't too much damage from the floods at your caravan, I saw some pictures of the floods Stratford-upon-Avon even the theatres closed.

KjellNN sounds like a big job changing the battery, I had thought they were all under the bonnet,😳 OH put me right, apparently the battery in the MG is under the back seat.

Our Grand-daughter and her parent's are coming for lunch today, OH is making his ginger pudding with toffee sauce 😋 vegetables are all done ready. Also making the most of the half price leccy, washing machine on and another load will go in afterwards. Better get on now with lunch prep, hope everyone has a good day. 

Sorry this isn’t quite ‘What are you up to today’ but I keep getting sent photos from granddaughter that I have to view so it sort of is.

Youngest granddaughter decided a while ago that at 10 she is old enough to look after her own pet, our daughter said if she could save her pocket money, and she has done chores to earn more, then she’d consider it. Quite a discussion on what to have, she thought of a hamster but I pointed out that they sleep most of the day, can bite - hard! And they don’t live long. I suggested 2 guinea pigs as I had them as a child, so did our kids and I’ve had a few since the kids grew up. IMO, charming little creatures. So she settled on this and I willingly offered to look after them if they went on holiday. Yesterday was the day, so they visited the pet shop with the proviso that if none then they’d try a rescue centre or wait. Now granddaughter has had an obsession with bearded dragons since really little. No guinea pigs available so guess what! A photo arrived yesterday of the expected cute fluffy creatures, no! A bright yellow, bearded dragon called Rosie! From the smiles on granddaughters face in the photos she is over the moon. Daughter loves it too, I seem to have offended daughter when I asked if it bites, ‘no! Apparently, it’s really adorable, very friendly and loves sitting on granddaughters chest and being stroked. I’m not so sure about it, it has a very long tail and looks ferocious. I quickly rescinded my offer of looking after it, apparently friends have now offered.

Just been sent another photo of it in its vivarium with its heat lamp on. With the cold and frost here today I want one, no not a dragon, a vivarium with a heat lamp.

With love and care, a bearded dragon might end up being a next generation pet. They can live 20-25 years. They sound interesting Debsc, and I hope your GD loves her new friend. 

Good news on your MIL WN, she has been in our thoughts.

I am busy crafting today, new year, new project. Embryo stage at the moment, but brain is buzzing……

Well it now seems I got it slightly wrong. They did go to the pet shop, no guinea pigs, so left empty handed. On the way home they called in at a friends and told them about the wanted new pet. Friend was moaning that since son had discovered football his bearded dragon was not getting much attention. Granddaughters ears pricked up and after some discussion the deal was done, maybe meant to be. Rosie is 3 years old and is at present sitting with granddaughter on her bed in the sun while she does her homework.

2 days.....who are they kidding?!!!!

Just as well I had second thoughts about where it might be then!  

  Our Smart also had the battery under the floor on the passenger side, so that made me think about it.

It was only a small battery, but so tightly fitting, and no handle on it, that it was very awkward to remove.  My hand joints are painful these days, so I had to get SIL to help with it too.  Arm muscles are also not what they used to be, 30 years back lifting a 50kg bag of cement was not a problem!

I would say having the battery changed in a garage would be a 2 hour job max, and the big batteries are £300+ to buy.  Halfords will do it for you, no idea what they charge.  I bought ours from Euro Car Parts, they can also suggest a fitter should your dealer seriously want to charge for 2 days.

Will  need to check where the battery is in our new T Cross.   In our previous Volvo XC 90 it was under the boot floor at one side.

Bitterly cold here today, so I will be leaving finishing putting the car back together meantime.  At least the doors etc are now working.

Beautiful day in Lee on the Solent, we now have our own beachside sauna, it is a trailor much like a shepherds hut with a big wood burning stove, seats 7 people, looked like a family in there this afternoon when i cycled past, the idea is you sit in the sauna for perhaps 30 mins and then dive into the Solent, which is 3 degs today , not sure i am brave enough to do that took a couple of photies but they are not great but one just shows the sauna and the the folk in the Solent.

also so today in the car park a "motor home" well a transit van with a diy conversion but interestingly it had a very large open gas ring by the door which was being used to cook bacon, and a wood burning stove inside with the smoke stack out through the roof, in view of what happened on a club site last week I did think this was an accident waiting to happen, not the first one i have seen but this one was actually lit, not something i would like to be parked next to,

I guess they put the battery under the passenger seat or under the boot because there is no room in the engine compartment, but what a palaver just to change the battery, I guess the battery requires no maintenance, but i also guess it would be very difficult to attach jump leads or a battery charger ?   

That sounds it was meant to be, a really nice story. Hopefully Rosie will have a forever home now. Friends of ours, their daughter works for Jollyes Pet Shops. She sets up and manages stores, and they work with an Exotic Pet Rescue organisation. Sadly so many are given up, or need rescuing. 

Kj - Totally agree with you about the two days - that was my reaction as well - but we all know what car dealership salesman are like I will be going to our local Bosch Service Centre garage whom I trust absolutely - and before they do anything will get them to check on the state of the battery. When the caravan goes in for service - one of the reports I get is the state of the battery 'health' - so I'm sure my garage can do it as well. This is the garage that charged me £300 to re-pad the brakes (using genuine VW parts) when the main dealer wanted £750!

Last night just after 7 pm Mother-in-Law had a Stroke. Fortunately (?) we have experience, recognised it and paramedics were there in 15 minutes. We got home about midnight. It would seem that the Stroke was caused by an undiagnosed Arterial Fibrillation problem. Maybe. The irony is that yesterday was the best she's been since before Christmas.

We've had a busy day today as you would expect. When we saw her today there was talk of her needing an operation on her brain at Liverpool but that's been put on the back burner at present. She looked bad today and had a rough night but there are rays of her old self still there, as she did point out the lovely coat the lady visitor opposite was wearing. 

Some days you feel like howling at the moon.

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