I listened to a Radio 4 programme the other day about serendipity or “happy accidents” and thought afterwards that it seemed to confirm my belief that “what goes around, comes around”. So, I suppose I shouldn’t have been too surprised when Ted and Val Finch offered the tyres and suspension units from one of their trailers and a monster mower which they had retired and replaced with something more civilised. The small trailer now only needs a different tow hitch and we will be back on the road. The mower needed a good “fettling”(Thanks Andy) and has already seen action in the back garden and at the front of the house. It will definitely speed things up but I’ll have to do some levelling and it may be just too big for some parts of the garden, so I won’t be putting the strimmer away just yet.
I was also a bit surprised when a postcard landed on the doormat, reminding me that the van needed an MOT. I’d forgotten that we had bought it pre-registered. The MOT coincided with some Caitlin sitting so despite expensive problems with windscreens and brakes it wasn’t too much of an ordeal. Thanks Emily for the use of your car. It made things so much easier.
The central heating system which had started to vent at low temperatures finally got some attention. I replaced the immerser thermostat without success and finally decided that professional help was needed. After a couple of false starts, we finally got in touch with Jonathan Arnot of Gas Safe LPG Services who diagnosed a failed expansion vessel. Although he pumped it up and it worked for a while, it finally was replaced and hopefully, the problem will be solved. We’ll see.
We’ve been to a couple of orienteering events in Rannoch and Connel. It was back to normal after the splendid 6 Day areas. We had planned to kayak around Bute after the Connel event but the weather was so wild that we had to call it off. Shame, because we’d done the planning for it but the right thing to do because I’d also fractured a finger doing some kayak rescue training earlier in the month.
Suse’s entries into the Tarbert Flower and Produce Show resulted in 2 firsts and 4 seconds. She turned up at the Village Hall on the Friday evening with a carrier bag full of veg which she tipped on a table and said, “What do I do with these?” In no time, three gentlemen were telling her!
Another example of serendipity or ‘small world’ syndrome occurred when it turned out that a Tai Chi friend of Suse was tracing her ancestry and wanted to come to Tarbert to track down her great grandfather, who had been a school teacher here. Thanks to McIntyres, we were able to find out a lot of information and to visit the paces he lived and taught, including Whitehouse! Heather was gobsmacked by how helpful and interested peope were. As if that weren’t enough, McIntyre’s had held a similar enquiry from someone in Australia, who turned out to be Heather’s father’s cousin. She now has discovered a branch of family she didn’t know existed and is going to visit them in November.
We are now in tidy up mode for the winter and are thinking about trying to get some paths and drainage sorted out before the weather deteriorates further. The planked oak has been used to make a pair of bedside lights for Emily’s birthday present but really needs some more permanent “airing” arrangements. Suse and I also managed to finish the Times crossword from Saturday 14th September. We normally manage the Saturday Telegraph but this is a first for us.
Finally, after several failed attempts, the garage now looks like a workshop after another big clear out and a bench building session. Hanging tools on hooks just makes everything so much more organised and seemingly more professional. The broken table saw has now been mended (Thanks again Andy) and I’m looking forward to getting a stove fitted so that winter working isn’t such an ordeal.