Steve_M

Good evening. Today’s bimble. Not including navigational errors. We had a couple of extended refreshment breaks which made it a good day out. I can recommend the tea room at Carsphairn if you’re passing. Some of the roads are amazing, some are a bit careworn. All were enjoyable.

Tap’s in…

Very observant . The Quooker tap is being connected up today.

Swap heating bills?

Oh, and I went for a bimble on the sv650 to get out of the way.

A few weeks ago I mentioned we’re having a new kitchen fitted. The fitter finishes his work tomorrow, then it’s up to us to do the finishing touches (new skirting board and some decorating). Despite prophets of doom, only two minor hiccups occurred, both dealt with promptly. “Before” and “Nearly finished” We’re rather pleased.

I didn’t realise they were in Barnard Castle. Unfortunately I can’t justify (afford!) a set having already got more than enough bike kit.

Those leathers! I had a set. Scott. My OH loved them but they got a bit tarnished when I got my knee down (and elbow, and shoulder).

Now you tell us. We’d have bought that when we lived in Norwich.

Look what’s turned up. I just need to tax it and carry out POWDERS checks before exploring some of the local roads on it. It’s a bit different to the GS. Speaking of the GS. Do I have to acknowledge other riders now?

Hopefully meeting and riding with some former colleagues who are doing the RBLR Iron Butt. I haven’t met them since I “retired” nigh on ten years ago but we’ve kept in touch. Should be fun.

Late night or early start? Good morning.

I’ve mentioned before that we’re renovating our property. We have so much to do, and doing 90% of it ourselves (plus the garden which is quite a challenge) something had to give.

I’ve fitted three kitchens myself, plus a couple of utility rooms, and several bathrooms. This, though, is a big job, and would take me substantially longer to do. On the bright side, the guy is a local sole trader with a reputation to maintain, I’m on site and will be monitoring both progress and quality. The bit to cringe about is how much it’s costing

3 weeks is good going. We’ve planned for a month, though the installer has mentioned that he’s been having issues getting some of the white goods, particularly ovens. We’ve specified a Neff oven and, yes, that’s the make he’s having trouble getting.

Ours was a high quality but poorly designed kitchen that was all a bit knackered. We’ve redesigned it to work for our needs and are paying someone vast sums of money to make it happen quicker than we could do it ourselves. We have relocated kitchen activities to the utility room which we’ve kitted out with an air fryer and microwave. I’ll be cleaning up the BBQ and for days when we want something burnt..l

We had a kitchen this morning. It’s been dismantled and put in a skip. Not looking forward to a month without a proper kitchen (microwave and air fryer cooked meals for the intervening period).

After my divorce I started looking for a car for myself. I spotted our old 1.6l Peugeot 205GTi in a garage. At a decent price. Knowing it’s history I was tempted so went and had a look. The interior had been changed to a scruffy 1.9l interior (the interior was immaculate when we sold it two years previously) and numerous little dents and poorly painted scratches had appeared. Then I spotted the mileage. It must have been reversed quite a lot as the mileage was about a thousand less than we sold it.

It was for the best. The new owner has the time and skills to fettle it and get it back on the road. I have neither. Slightly sad to see it go given how much I’ve enjoyed owning it. I was actually more sad when I sold my ST1100 ‘cos on that occasion the guy actually rode it away from the house. At least this time it went on a trailer.

The buyer for my VFR collected it today. A sad moment. Having bought it in 2002 it’s been used to tour (photo in the Pyrenees), commute, skills training and track days. On the other hand, the new owner will refresh it and get it back on the road, which is pleasing.

Exciting weekend in store? Not here. Emptying the kitchen and relocating the contents ready for the people to arrive on Monday to demolish / dismantle in prep for a new kitchen being fitted. Here starts 4 to 5 weeks of having minimal cooking facilities, dust, noise, etc.

Good morning. Freshly picked strawberries for breakfast.

We had a circuit fuse due to water in one of the sockets (long story involving stone walls not allowed to breath, leaking guttering and heavy rain) and we’re quite surprised to discover sockets in various parts of the house not working as a result.

If roughing it means using the spa, swimming pool, sauna, hot tub. Yes. We can’t afford to stay in the hotel, though. That’s way out of our budget, especially as we have family with us. We’re in the timeshare we have* on the site. *inherited - we get to use it once every 5yrs.

Good evening. We’re on holiday in the Lakes. Just popped to the on site swimming pool and as we came out I spotted a couple of McLarens in the car park. A quick nose around and I counted nine in total (I assume the drivers are staying in the hotel).