First Visit: The Chester House Estate

Off for a ‘day out’ (just the two of us) to the Chester House Estate in nearby Irchester, Wellingborough. Bought originally by North Northamptonshire Council in 2004 as Chester Farm. Re-branded and then re-opened in 2016 as Chester House Estate, it opens from 10-4 and is free to get in with free parking too! 😀👍 …
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A Smart Octopus!

Back in June last year, we took the first steps to improving our environmental footprint by going ‘all-electric’ for our main car. Then, in April 2020, we ditched British Gas as our dual-energy provider, and based on recommendations from friends who’d already made the switch, moved to the rather weirdly named Octopus Energy. Today was …
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The Greenhouse Effect

Letting me loose on any DIY task is always a risk! 😮 And recently was one of those (ahem!) ‘opportunities’ to demonstrate my talents (or lack of them!). Specifically, Ann’s new mini-greenhouse. It looked splendid in the pictures online, but like most things these days, it arrived (from those very nice people at Access Garden …
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Return to Kelmarsh

Well, I haven’t been here since the 14th of December 2011! – for my wedding! 😍😍😍! Click on the button below for a trip down memory lane… Wedding Pics (Unofficial) Welcome back to 2020! The reason for today’s visit was an invitation to a private tour around Kelmarsh’s well-known Gardens (where Mrs P is a …
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Oliver – Live in Concert

We drove down to Roger, Jane and Oliver’s this afternoon. The weather was horrendous, but it was well worth it as we were going to see Oliver playing flute in the East Herts Concert Band at their Christmas Concert. The venue was the delightful St Mary’s Church in the village of Standon, a Grade 1 …
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Tea for Three

We picked up Helen, and headed to the ever-reliable Beckworth’s for one of their Afternoon Teas! Yumminess predicted! The food and service didn’t disappoint, and judging by the fact that the rest of Northamptonshire were also there, others were equally impressed! Afterwards, we took a look round their Garden Centre and chose one of their …
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Two Locals and Two Towneys

We caught up with Nick and Celina today. After a quick look round their local Garden Centre, we headed off to another local for Lunch – The Black Bull, in nearby Market Overton. Then it was back to theirs for a coffee and to admire how much they’ve done with their Home since we were …
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Gardeners’ World

Today, we slipped into ‘gardening mode’ and headed off to our good friends Nicki and Richard who have just bought their first house together, in Banstead. We’re here until lunch-time on Sunday with a list as long as your arm of garden-stuff that need ‘sorting’. The specific target? Their back garden – a jungle of …
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Tech Alert (No. 877)

Warning: This Blog contains a serious amount of techy nerdiness, and (more scarily) me attempting some DIY. It’s not for the faint-hearted, so if you are easily shocked, please click HERE to exit!  OK, so I’ve had my new whizzy Amp, sorry ‘AV Receiver’ for just about 12 months now, and recently re-cabled it all …
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82, not out!

Not content with enjoying ourselves at Ian’s 70th birthday celebration yesterday, today, we laid on a birthday lunch for Lee’s 82nd! Pick up from Yeoman’s Court was just after 11am (carefully avoiding the planned Armistice celebrations in Burton Latimer) and then we headed back to ours for the birthday lunch. But, before lunch, there was …
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Return to Netherfields

After last night’s late-night curry-fest with the Costellos, what could be better than a lie-in this morning? Well nothing actually, but instead, we sped off to Nick and Celina’s to continue with helping them re-model their garden. After a quick faff-around in the kitchen clearing up the final debris, we hit the road early and …
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Dahlia Express!

Another small garden project today in the shape of lifting Denis’s Dahlias! Gosh, we don’t hang about, we left home pretty early and were on Denis’s doorstep by just after 10am! Bev arrived not long after which gave us all the perfect excuse for a coffee-break! …and boy, has Denis got a lot of Dahlias! …
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Lounge Makeover (Part 1 of 9637)

And so it begins…   The Lounge was the first room we decorated when we moved-in nearly 21 years ago, and although it’s worn well, it’s looking a bit drab, when compared to the other, more recently decorated parts of the house. Being us, simplicity and speediness didn’t come into it, and every square inch …
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Sean/Prawn/Bourne

It was off to Sean’s first thing to continue our pruning marathon. One very full wheely-bin and a sack-full and we were all done… until the next time!Before… After… The next stage was to drop into the local dump (oh, the excitement) and get rid of the extra bag full of foliage – but the queue …
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Pre-Christmas Get-together with the Neighbours

Sometimes, all the signs are that it’s probably best to stay under the duvet. This morning was one of those times! We retrieved the Polo from five-days of ‘intensive care’ at the garage, only to find that after taking it for a spin, the exhaust system fault light re-appeared. Then, just as we were heading …
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Stalag Pemberley – The Eastern Sector

David and I tackled the suspected ‘escape loophole’ for Biscuit today, by duplicating the established extra trellis construction from earlier this year, on the east (left) side of the garden, towards Karen and Paul’s. Biscuit Having tried a temporary construction over the past few weeks, we’re pretty sure that’s where she was exiting. David and …
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