Glad to be alive and other things!

It's all very well having GRAND PLANS but nowadays the internet makes things happen so quickly i.e. booking flights, accommodation etc. it leaves a lot of time to cogitate and sometimes change ones mind!  Which is alarming so we try, and succeed most of the time, to get the cogitation part in before parting with any money.

But now we have another pesky spanner in the works.....had a bit of a health scare last week which may have put paid to the above mentioned plan.  Feelings about this range from relief that we're not stuck in the middle of the Aegean, and fed up (although we've had excellent health care in Greece in the past few years).  Trying to be positive and alternatives already being mooted as I write!! 

I would like to add at this point that we are exceedingly grateful to the NHS which literally saved my life and continues to offer support .... what superstars they all are.

We got back from our last trip to Symi at the end of October last year and since then we've not been up to much really apart from campaigning for a new lamppost (and succeeded!)

.......marched on a couple of demos (one about the NHS and one about refugees)

.......and a last minute trip to Malta

.....and I think we're off to another demo to show our antipathy to Mr T from the USA.

Since Tuesday…

…we've been without a car (since Monday in fact) - it's been in the garage finally getting fixed after someone drove into it while it was parked outside our house last September while we were on Symi. The situation has not been settled despite the fact that there were two witnesses to the event. Our next door neighbour heard the collision and then looked out of his window to see the driver get out of his car, look at ours and then drive away without leaving a note. He was quick enough to take a picture of the numberplate, which has been traced to a hire car company who insist that it was not on the road on that date…Our second witness is our near neighbour's 14-year old daughter, who actually saw the collision on her way back from school - but because she is under 18, her report is given less weight.

All this would have been fine had Su's insurance company actually been more assiduous in pursuing the offending owners - we have had to cough up a hefty excess to even get our car fixed (the damage is worth much more than that), and the company even went so far as to slap a charge on the insurance, even though they accepted that Su wasn't at fault. She soon sorted that out! So, now we await the return of our car that we were originally told would be with us on Wednesday, then probably yesterday - and now almost definitely today. We shall see…

In the meantime, we have been using Shanks' pony, our bus passes and taxis to get about Bath. Wednesday saw us swelling the coffers of the local taxi firm to get to the hospital and back (all is OK). While there, several photo opportunities presented themselves including this charity fundraising bagpiper - I think everyone bought raffle tickets in appreciation of her stopping :-) .

In the coffee bar area looking up, the seagull shadow was entirely coincidental to the nautical display

 Wall art…

One of a series of wood engravings depicting ageing bikers…

Another worthy image? 

And one I could not resist even though I try not to mention the "T" word…

 In the city centre yesterday , I spotted this locked hatch with adornments

The Pokemon Liberation Army is a new one on me! 

Mounted police remind me of student marches in Glasgow in the 1970s - you soon learned to give them plenty of room!

One for Greg Michaelson, spotted in a shop window display…

 This morning's sunrise…

…as seen though our Greek evil eye deflector.

Catching up - a few recent photos…

We were in Bristol on Sunday by the river. This picture of Gromit navigating the boat is from an earlier visit for a Stop Bombing Aleppo protest.

Walking through Queen's Square, I noticed this tastefully decorated statue of King William (and finally realised that this statue is the reason why the Orange Order parade through there on the anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne).

From a walk down to Bath one morning - lovely mist over the city. 

Winter frost making lovely patterns on this car bonnet

From a visit to Holt near Bradford on Avon 

Another Holt sight! 

Sun through our stained glass window on to the hall wall. 

Chew Valley Lake seagulls all lined up waiting for the remains of our fish and chips…

A chilly walk on Brean beach… 

A spontaneous visit to Painswick provided us with this unusual house name.

So to Bristol yesterday. As a diversion from immediately devouring dim sum, we walked by the river…

Along Welsh Back, noticed this memorial to merchant ships and mariners who died in World War II 

Gnomic graffiti 

More street art 

A cormorant/shag drying itself in the afternoon sun 

More art on the side of a waterside shed. 

Back home, successfully wrangled our TV recorder into submission!

Dreams really do come true!!

If you read the last posting you'll see that one of the lists was the following.........

........but before we indulged ourselves we thought we'd go for a walk by the river that runs through Bristol (the Avon) which is lined with old warehousing (now apartments) and new buildings (apartments).  We live in Bath which is all very Georgian palladian whereas Bristol, historically, is mostly Victorian/Edwardian. 

but there's the occasional medieval treat......imagine Henry VI and War of the Roses.

As the city develops you're more likely to see something like this.

Making lists and then more lists....

First of all we made a list of all the repairs etc needed to be done to the house before we could hand it over to future tenants followed by the list of who was going to do what, depending on individual skills, or who would be employed/bribed (by food) to come and do it for us.
Then we made a list of all the things we'd keep in storage. And then another list of what we'd put on ebay. And another list of what we'd give away.
And then there's the list of what we need to arrange re health insurance, house insurance, travel insurance.
And there's the list of where shall we live. And the list of where shall we travel to.
M is currently working on the list of all the films we've recorded and not seen and will fit nicely into a small digital thingy.
I'm looking forward to looking at the list of dim sum I'm hopefully going to eat later if we can get away from all the other lists!!

Welcome back!

It's been a long time since I wrote on this blog but hopefully you'll be hearing from me on a regular basis from now on. 
After much humming and hawing about our future we've now got a plan....miracle!!
But first things first.......a few health checks.  A bit more work to be done. A month away in Greece!!!
A ferry ticket which we must use before end of year and some tenants for our house while we are away. So not much to do but we better get started........... CHEERS!!

Reactivating…

We will post to this blog much more frequently and regularly than of late. Watch this space for more stories, photos and plans as they unfold…