Expensive volunteering and family

Life is pleasingly full which  much prefer. I don't like routine and I don't like sedentary. I ride blood bikes which is good as it gives me a chance to ride other bikes, I have to be an advanced rider ( checked every three years) and the feel good factor of helping the NHS and complete strangers.

A few shifts back (the blog is on catch up mode) I had a full house type of shift where I had collections in Stoke from the path labs and the maternity and then into Birmingham to Heartlands Hospital, the Children's Hospital, City Hospital, Blood transfusion service, Women's Hospital and Birmingham university. A good shift. Back in stoke I filled the blood bike up near its base and as I was heading off back down the duel carriageway I felt a bump on my boot and looked in my mirror to see my Iphone bouncing down the road !! Quick up the other side but by the time I got to it a few cars had driven over it !

It was/is  - see later in the post an Iphone X which was due out of support in September so I bit the bullet and got a new Iphone 15 ( yep an Apple fan boy - typing this on my M1 MacBook and I have an Ipad also.)

We also had some extended family time at Newstead Abbey where we had a wet walk and a nice lunch afterwards. Newstead is the ancestral home of Lord Byron and was before that an Augustine priory before Henry the VIII decided it wasn't ! Lovely place well worth a visit. 

Before much of this more lanes to ride on my Trusty Royal Enfield Himalayan 

The good news for those that have got this far is I brought a replacement screen on the off chance of the phone still working. A wet morning swapping the screen out and bingo I haver a spare  - the phone will be used as a nav device on my bikes as a plan b 

More fixing stuff and a big birthday

Back home the cottage was trying to be a boat by making me spend money I didn't want to. We came back to our oil boiler locking out. I have it serviced regularly and always chat to the local plumber who does it so know a lot about the workings. He could not get for a few days so I set to changing a few parts I have spares for. 

The 'eye' that detects ignition had failed before  - when the beast from the east struck which unsurprisingly I remembered well ! I had a spare so I tried that but no luck. I decided to replace the nozzle that helps make the spay of oil to burn. I kept the old ones from previous services. The one that came out was a bit sooty a good sign for a fix so I cleaned up the older one and put it in and spot on we had heat and hot water. 

Ricky the plumber came a week or so later and by then I'd sourced a new nozzle that was put in and the boiler serviced basically a good check and clean out the heat exchanger baffles  - the testing of co2 etc is the bit of kit I don't have and is needed to adjust the boiler burner. All sorted for another 12 months hopefully.

It was also a big birthday for Rachel which we celebrated by hiring a carriage on a local heritage steam railway for the family which is quite a large one now. A good time was had by all.

If you thought boats were expensive

.... don't be looking at static caravans!

Due to delays and other 'stuff' alluded to in recent posts on this blog we took a short notice trip to Wales  - North Wales Cricceth to be precise.  Monday 27th May I was all set to be in the workshop at home finishing off the plaster boarding when we got an email in relation to visiting a static caravan site on the coast.  A flash decision to go to Wales ( the boat was being blacked ) happened and we headed off 2 hours later to a nice hotel in Cricceth.

We booked in for chats at two sites one on the coast and one slightly inland all around the Harlech area. Lovely people to chat to and very open and honest about costs and use... basically you have to use them a lot to ge the value with costs of vans around the 35-40k mark with licences to occupy from 10-13 year then the van is worth what you can sell it for less removal fees... so basically budget for bugger all. Then the site fees of 5-6k a year plus gas plus electric plus internet plus insurance  - it's a 10k a year journey. I always used to think the 3-5 k a year for having the boat was a lot - out of interest we got a valuation for Percy while at the marina which was better than we were expecting. 

Getting back on the blogging horse

Wow - 3rd June was my last 'report'. Poor tardy performance !! So by way of apology to my blog and to get some content form my later years reading here goers a few days of catch ups ....

We were at Goldstone wharf for our evening meal and it didn't disappoint. Who knew these were a thing - look closely and tell me what ? 

Next day it was a simple bimble back but again we could not get 'in'  - worse facing south, but I had a plan !!