Having not written a blog since travelling back from Bulgaria through a horrendous storm, it is a British storm that has prompted me to put finger to keyboard again. And the fact that Sue has spent the last 2 days in bed with a tummy and chest bug, plus I got bored spending yet another morning painting the garage ceiling. Still in Bulgaski work mode I foolishly thought I would brighten up the garage by painting the ceiling. A very big mistake. So far 7 mornings and many tins of paint have been soaked up into the rafters and though today the last one was finished, they could do with a depressing second coat (sanity will prevent this) and I have yet to ‘do’ the ceiling in between (which is even thirstier). They will be done before 2015!!!!

Normality has returned to the Palmer house-hold. Curry nights are being held again (to the delight of Charlotte)and it is nice to feel once again that warm feeling working its way through your system from a nice British Biryani! You just know that all will be well the following morning.

With Nan’s house now sold I have been busy contacting various people companies etc. notifying them of change of ownership and that all Direct Debits and bill payments will stop. She even got a £5.12 refund from an energy company! You used to pay no rates on an empty property, but our present government changed that to 50% and then followed that up with 150% if it is empty for over 2 years. Very nice of them. Nan is getting quite involved in the life of Huntingdon Gardens. She and Isabel frequently go out for lunches, she now attends the coffee mornings for a good gossip session and of course there is Wednesday Bingo. She appears to be fully booked up on trips out and is presently planning Christmas.

We have started our Christmas planning. There is ‘Snow White’ at the Lighthouse Theatre in Kettering and Boxing Day greyhound racing already sorted. Sue and I have also booked to see ‘Bellowhead’ in Leicester with Jim and Brigitte.

I managed to get a round of golf in with Andy on a very windy day. The course was quite water-logged and there were few other fool-hardy souls venturing out to chase the little ball. We should have joined them (where ever they were), it was not a memorable round.I have also been down to the Rugby Club to watch a couple of first team games. They are playing in a higher league this season and are doing reasonably well, though I do feel there are a few coaching/selection issues that need to be addressed.

My Fiesta went in for its first MOT, I also booked it in for a service (as a treat). They kept it all day and now it has a nice new stamp in its log book. Jamie is considering changing his car. He was reminded on how thirsty his present one is with fuel when the Petrol station cashier pointed out that he appears to spend more time there than she does. I wonder what he will get?

Charlotte’s hen’s are now laying and produce on average a couple of eggs a day. Though they have been consumed mostly in Rothwell, Sue and I were treated to one each last week and they did taste very good. Chick, chick, chicken lay a little egg for me!

STORM. What storm? All week we have been regaled with warnings from the Met’ Office regarding impending doom. I personally blame some friends form Italy, who at the same time decided to visit the UK. It is more than a co-incidence that on each of their previous visits the country has been blanketed with one type of foul weather or another. Having heeded the warnings I removed the garden swinging chairs, rolled up the pool cover, dragged the trampoline against the hedge and moved the pool chemical barrels to a safe place. As predicted, the wind began to blow, the rain began to fall and the radio upped its warnings. Sue, already bedridden through a stomach bug, watched ‘Strictly’ followed by ‘XFactor’ and then snuggled down defensively in bed cuddling a reassuring hot water bottle. Manning the watchtower throughout the night I first heard the wind begin to howl, the rain rattle heavier on the window and then …………….. phfffffffft! Despite the many rants on radio 4 of Armageddon being wrought on soft, evil southerners; trees down, flooded homes, electricity supply failures it seems we virtuous Harborians were spared. Day light showed that the river had risen (a little) and that the fallen leaves were all now in tight little tidy piles. Some say you have to wait to get your reward in heaven, some of us obviously do not.
However, all was not hunky-dory. I had been looking forward to a good blow! My early morning bike ride through the fresh Leicestershire countryside increased my disappointment as I passed no broken branches, toppled trees or even small heaps of kindling twigs! The plan to spot the winters supply of wood burner fuel on my daily, bikely jaunt and then return in car with newly sharpened chain-saw, like the predicted holocaust, did not happen. We shall have to burn the children.

Sarah has been busy with her studies and already completed her first essay a month ahead of schedule, I know because I had to read it. It was about the fascinating subject of alley-gates. She has had Lee to visit a few times, though it appears his primary function is to fend off starvation and feed her. They did have a nice time celebrating Halloween in Sheffield (it must come earlier, up-north).

Jamie visited Coventry Stock-car Racing Circuit recently, though the car in the photograph he put on Facebook did look remarkably like his own. They must be very busy now at his work as the company has taken on another employee to help Jamie. He was starting to work very long hours and he certainly needed some support.