What are you all up to

I needed an appointment at our GP surgery today so rang dead on 8.00am - I was already 23rd in the queue! I reserved my place in the queue, got a phone call 10 minutes later and was offered an appt for 10.00am and was all done and dusted by 10.30am. Such great service. Most impressed.

We got our Council Tax bill today and yes it has gone up but not by as much as we feared. It has gone up by about 4%.

It has been a grey, cloudy day today but no rain and quite warm.

Excellent service from your GP surgery Millie, I wish ours was as good.

Like others no rain but no sunshine either today,so an improvement 🤔sort of,  managed a lovely walk round our park with Polly this morning before work.

Hope you enjoy Rutland Moulesy, we have ventured around the area when staying at Top Lodge.

Well that was a bit of a too eventful day for us.

MiL had a tumble at 4.30 this morning on a loo visit and banged her head on the wall. Long story a bit shorter, we were in A&E at 5.10. I dropped both ladies off. They were dealt with quite quickly by A&E standards and after a CT scan and examination MiL allowed home and was,  just after 9.00. She went to bed and slept. She seems OK and none the worse except for pride. Wall might not recover though.

OH reports that there was over 70 waiting on arrival, some from 7pm the previous evening. Also reported that 2 nearby waiters were regular weekly visitors whose conditions hadn't deteriorated but still wanted seeing to.

Town for me later on.

Received a BT telephone directory for first time in ages. Now a slimline version.  Full of Jones' Davies' and Williams' mostly seeing as we're in Wales.😃

Good service from your surgery Millie.

Our council tax gone up by 9%. Looks like we will be paying for a £1millio fine for not hitting recycling targets. Feel annoyed as we are quite enthusiastic about making sure we do our bit and looks like we'll be lumped in with others that can't be bothered.

Perhaps this will help to explain why they are known as Maya and 33. The number in brackets indicate the year that each was born.

Brief history: The nest was first occupied by White 08(97) and Green 5N(04) in 2007 who raised 2 chicks. In 2008 they paired again but the nest failed and in 2009 it was unused. In 2010 a new pair, Green 5R(04) and an unringed female nicknamed Mrs 5R, took up residence and over the next four years raised 11 chicks. Green 5R(04) failed to return in 2014 and Mrs 5R paired with a new mate, Blue 28(10) and laid 3 eggs. Blue 33(11) arrived determined to claim this nest and ousted Blue 28(10). Blue 33(11) kicked out the eggs and spent the remainder of the season bonding with Mrs 5R who was then officially named “Maya”. Since 2015, Maya and Blue 33(11) have paired up each year and to date have successfully raised 26 chicks

That was some service millie, and the same at A&E for your MIL,WN. Good to hear that she appears none the worse for wear following her fall.

Good to read of all those out cleaning their units, that will be my first main job after we get back from this trip. Looking at the state of some of the units on the sites we have been on recently it would appear that they are lucky to get a wash once a year!!

We moved down to another Haven site today, Haggerston Castle, South of Berwick. We had to stop for a while en route, having to leave by 10:00 and not allowed on until 13:00. The touring section of the site is about 1/4 full. The pitches are not as good as on a club site but fine for us, and a bargain at under £15 pn. We are far enough away from the entertainment complex so should no be bother with noise. Had a wander around some of the static site,  parts of which are very well laid out. Weather has been a bit mixed but mainly dry and we had a red sky tonight so hopefully tomorrow will be fine.

I was just going to mention Barnsdale to you😁 Needs a full day. Enjoy.

Sorry to hear about your MIL WN, but good all ok and that she is back home. Great NHS service for both you and Milliehull.

Interesting re Haggerston Castle Nellie, it’s a good location for getting around, and that’s a fantastic bargain. Big sites can be great early season when they aren’t too busy. We had one of our worst ever stays on a Club Site interestingly enough, got the timing wrong, and had a week at Yellowcraig one BH. Nightmare, so busy, and the pitch we had was awful, end of a turn into another area, so traffic passing constantly, children everywhere😱 We were still in caravan, otherwise we would have moved on. Our fault, hadn’t realised it was Scotland school holidays, we usually love Yellowcraig.

We are out soon. MH ready, using our free night, so Club Site will be good value. Only a couple of nights, but boy is it welcome.🤗 

Wish our surgery was as good as that millie - the only way to get a same-day appointment here is to go and queue outside at 0800 in anticipation of them opening at 0830 - bit like being in a third-world country.  You certainly wouldn't get one over the phone.

Pleased MiL is OK and back home WN. 

Well I said yesterday was going to be expensive. Good news is that car got through its MOT on the second attempt.  They had to fit a new fog light and we were both surprised that it hadn't shown up as a faulty light on the dashboard beforehand. New wiper blades, two new tyres and full service - just shy of four figures. And this garage is usually half the price of a main dealer!!

I've never had a car so long - nearly 9 years now.  I've normally swapped them every three years or so but I have to say it's the best tow-car I've ever owned and since VW no longer produce the off-road Touareg, I'm reluctant to part with it - especially when one sees the cost of a new one!

Today's walk was along the south shore of Rutland Water from Barnsdale to the visitor centre at Sykes Lane which features this modern sculpture of "the Great Tower" which  when created in 1980 was, at the time, the largest bronze structure ever - not quite sure what the relevance to Rutland is though (modern art, eh? ).

We had our lunch watching several kites and buzzards circling but sadly no sighting of the ospreys. Also a pair of grebes ducking and resurfacing, we'd hope they'd do that courting ritual with their beaks, but no such luck! 

Then on to the most well known image of the area, Normanton church on the edge of the lake, now deconsencrated and used as a wedding/ entertainment venue.

Another bright day, though just starting to spit with rain now.