Another Year Gone, A New Home and All Clear
So another year over and what have we done, asked John Lennon in 1971. Well in our case quite a bit. When we moved here, we had a 10 year plan; looking back and now forwards, I think we’ve achieved about 8 years of it to date. Outstanding for 2024 are soffits and fascia’s and revamping my bathroom. All the other major jobs have been ticked off the list. There are some smaller things to do in the garden, such as some steps up a bank and levelling up the poly tunnel, constructing a wildlife pond in the woods, but on the whole, we’re pretty much done. Time to concentrate on outside providing the weather holds. The new porch has been half constructed as the weather beat Mark from finishing it before Christmas, however, it has cut down the leaves accumulating in the hall already.
Emma and Martin finally moved into their new home in the middle of the month in Frome, within easy walking distance of ASDA, B&Q and the train station. We went down a week in advance to help with decorating etc. I loaded the car with everything I needed for decorating and general DYI, only to find the previous owner – who worked from the spare bedroom – had decimated the carpet and underlay with his swivel chair. So the second job after replacing the door locks was to lay a laminate floor. And where were my tools for such a job – back home of course. Emma even had to buy me a saw to do the job! My mind went back to the first laminate floor I laid where the planks didn’t click together, just tongue and groove and had to be glued together – what a nightmare. I filled holes and cracks in walls and Martin followed on with sandpaper. They both painted the walls in cloakroom and kitchen and I used a laser level to lay a masking tape line about 40cm from the ceiling before painting the sitting room walls (what I’d describe as army camouflage green, but some fancy name by Valspar). Its a lovely starter home for them, well constructed and surprisingly warm with the heating on tickover. There’s even an RJ45 ethernet cable installed between the router point and the spare room and best of all – 70MEG BROADBAND!!!! We returned home to our 3MEG wet string courtesy of TalkTalk – but that’s another saga. Nice to see the chipboard flooring sheets had been glued together to prevent the usual creaking as they are walked on. The garden is manageable for a busy couple and when the fine weather comes, a good initial strim and a small mower will keep it tidy. It even has parking for two cars – such luxury.
I had my follow-up visit to Dr Saw regarding the shadowing on my prostate MRI scan. With much trepidation and ‘what if’s’ on my drive to see him, it came as a great relief when he declared that there was no cancer cells in any of the biopsy samples. He compared my prostate to a little kitten, not a cat or a roaring lion. Perhaps he also trained as a vet, who knows. He then gave the caveat that “men of my age” will inevitably get prostate cancer by the age of 100! So go away, be aware of the symptoms and get your PSA checked every 6 months – oh, and if you need another biopsy, feel free to come back. It still leaves the unanswered question of what was causing the original discomfort which still occasionally pops up.
So Seasons Greetings and a Happy, Prosperous and Healthy New Year to all our followers.
Nigel & June
