We're back!

At long last, we're back after several weeks of effectively being out of touch with the outside world!  We developed a bit of a crackle on the phone line a few weeks ago which didn't get any better and so we rang BT and made an appointment for an engineer to come out.  Of course he didn't turn up on the appointed morning.  When he did come he established that the fault wasn't in the house . . . .good, that means we don't have to pay.  As it was getting dark he promised to come the next day to track down the fault.  Of course he didn't turn up and when we rang to chase it we were told we'd have to make another appointment, the earliest being several days later and so on and so on and so on.  Four missed appointments, two promised phone calls from the complaints team which didn't happen and several weeks later, the line had got so bad that we had no internet connection at all and the phone was virtually unusable.  An engineer finally turned up unexpectedly yesterday, tracked the faults (yep, more than one) to way down the line the other side of the quarry, fixed them and we are now up and running again.  It seems to have been incredibly hard work to have got this sorted and I can't believe BT can run in the way it does with missed appointments being the norm and not something to apologise for. Actually, I can believe it because we had exactly the same problems getting a line in the first place when we moved here.

So, what's happened in the last few weeks?  Well not so much really - Bob's back is slowly getting better, but after doing a bit more to the stone wall a few days ago it was twinging again (even with me doing most of the lifting) and so we have to wait a bit longer.  I have spent several afternoons shovelling mud and leaves off our lane - in some places it had got quite deep and with all the rain it had become a real mess - no point in waiting for the Council roadsweeper I don't think!  Quite satisfying to look at it now I've finished, but it was quite hard work!  
Bob had an unusual job to do repairing a very old bench which had been made out of tree roots.  The seat had completely rotted away so he replaced that and also replaced/reglued/renailed some of the roots.  It is still in a rather delicate state as the wood is really quite old and not very stable, but you could sit on it (very carefully).  It is very cleverly done, but is also fairly hideous isn't it?

We have made a panel for the side of the bath which was good fun.  It's bright red - 

oh my goodness it was so bright it was almost day-glo to start with.  More coats have toned it down a bit and now it is in place I think it looks really good (and quite funky!).  I bought a blue and a yellow match pot and mixed up various colours and then got bottle tops of various sizes, a wine glass and a smaller pot and did lots of bright coloured circles round the bottom corners of the panels.  The idea is to give the impression of bubbles which I think worked quite well.  I enjoyed myself anyway!
It has certainly brightened up the bathroom which was quite black and white before.  We used to store the loo roll, bubble bath and (for some strange and unknown reason) the tin of shoe-cleaning stuff under the bath when it was open.  In our excitement to put the panel in place you can guess what we did!  Yep, we screwed it in place with all the stuff still behind it - d'oh! Oh, if only we had half a brain between us.

Hasn't the weather been horrible? Everywhere is just so wet and muddy.  If you go to the top of our little hill and look out over the Shropshire plains, it looks like the new Lake District.  I guess we shouldn't complain, we could be in Somerset, but everyone is getting just a little fed up with it.  Yesterday and today we have woken up to quite a covering of snow, but then by lunchtime we've had blue skies and sunshine.  There are little glimmers of Spring and we have to focus on those.  The snowdrops are out and the daffodils are on their way.  On the odd sunny day, the birds are singing their little hearts out and getting ready for Spring.  We actually saw a Red Kite circling above a couple of weeks ago which is quite exciting.  I think I've said before that we followed the re-introduction of Kites quite closely in Northamptonshire before we moved and had got a bit complacent about them because the re-introduction was so successful.  We counted 46 one evening over a communal roost site!  So, it is really nice to feel that excitement again when we see one here - this was only the fourth time we've seen them here.

Lottie laid an egg a day for a week or so, but mostly behind their feed tub instead of in the nest box and since then we've not seen a single one . . . . so, does that mean she's stopped laying again, or are we going to find a big pile of eggs under a hedge somewhere?  Horse has also started laying again - good old Horse.  Dot is still a complete waste of time - I'm sorry, but she has never really earned her keep and just hasn't endeared herself to me somehow.  Peggy is obviously feeling her age and has been doing penguin impressions for the last couple of weeks.  She spent a few days just sitting by Bob's woodburner in the workshop and we really didn't think she'd make it through the night for a few nights but she does seem to be on the mend again, just she waddles around in an upright manner like a penguin.  She seems quite happy, has bright sparkly eyes, good colour and is eating.  We can only assume it is something like arthritis and the weather isn't helping.

I went to see Laura in Scotland last weekend - Bob stayed here so he could eat sausages and watch rubbishy films in peace!  The weather in Scotland was atrocious - really cold, wet snow and so, apart from going out for lunch on the Saturday, we didn't do much except spend a fortune drinking coffee in the Samye Ling cafe!  Next time I go up there will be in April when Laura finishes her nunning and starts her new life in the big, wide world - exciting times.  Bob's sister, Jane and her bloke came to stay at the weekend which was a nice surprise.  She is also about to embark on a new life running her own shop which is also exciting.  I think Bob is going to help her fit out the shop when she gets the keys in a few weeks.  I have this week off work and we are off to Norfolk for a couple of days to see Mum and Dad.  Dad had a knee replacement on Saturday and is due out today - isn't that incredible!  Such a short time and he's walking on it already.  I'm sure they could do without visitors this soon, but we'll try not to be too much trouble and may even be able to help out.