Splice the mainbrace

I saw an amazing stat yesterday that 3 times as many UK servicemen died on one day of the Somme than have done since WW2, just shows what carnage there was. Another stat 6.5% of all British men died due to WW1 and 12.5% of servicemen, everyone must have known someone who died at that time.

Picking up on one of the points made, I think that a lot of new P&O customers are holiday makers at sea rather than people who love cruising and all that goes with it. There is a certain, in a lot of cases unwritten, etiquette, camaraderie and ways of behaving on a cruise, it is not just a hotel at sea IMO.

5c and sunny here, the double glazing is doing its job as the windows have condensation on the outside. After 4 nights we still haven’t been disturbed at night by squirrel (s?) in the loft🤞, so the led low wattage light left on in the loft seems to have worked. During this week I’ve tried to phone my hairdresser to make an appointment but their phone just rang and rang. So I walked around to it yesterday and their was a note on the door saying that they were closed until next Tuesday because of the new disease!!

I’d rather not trap it/them would rather deter or try and block their entry points. They’re probably getting between the gutter and the roof tiles but I can’t see any obvious places.

No squirrel? noise this morning. Read up on the subject and there are several deterrents from lights in the loft, radio 4 human voices radio on and strong scents like peppermint oil, lavender oil and vinegar. To start with just went with a led low wattage light on and seems to have worked last night but won’t think the problem has been solved just yet. However I didn’t see any around outside yesterday so maybe they’ve gone elsewhere anyway?

I loved reggae music in my youth and went to many local reggae band concerts in Southampton in the early 80s. One band was called Ebony Rockers, a band member was Craig David’s father.

8c and sunny here at the moment but forecast is showing possible showers later. We were woken by some banging noises in the loft at 6.00 am this morning, the first time we heard it was on Sunday, I got up and banged the ceiling and it stopped. We’ve had scurrying noises at dawn in the colder months for years but this new noise will need some investigation to see what’s causing it. I suspect mice or maybe a squirrel which we seem to have more around in the garden this year.

10c but little breeze and mostly sunny at the moment. The forecast show rain or showers most days for the next 2 weeks which won't help the moss plague around here that is growing not only on the grass but roof tiles, gutters and patio. Another subject, evening meal times for us are so different on cruises. We normally eat between 5 and 5.30pm at home but on cruises we opt for late sitting and can often be tucking into our main course after 9 pm. We tend to retire to bed at around 11.30 to midnight but don't seem to suffer any indigestion problems even though the meal is larger than we would have at home.

The bbc weather has just been on and for Southampton are forecasting 57mph wind gusts, in their words not exceptional for this time of year. The main problem is northwest France with over 100 mph gusts and the Channel Islands over 90!!

10c dry and breezy here this morning. The weather forecast for here is not too bad compared to the South which looks bad for tomorrow, I see that Arcadia is not departing this afternoon as planned from Southampton but staying in port for 2 nights until Friday morning. We didn’t have any trick or treaters last night but on our estate there aren’t many children anymore, all grown up and ‘flown the nest’. Where as down the road on a new estate there are many children and apparently lots of Halloween decorations.

I don’t know if it’s a general etiquette nowadays for trick and treaters but round here for the last few years they should only go to houses that have some Halloween decoration such as a carved pumpkin. Some people go to great lengths to decorate and ‘celebrate’ but it’s a non event as far as we’re concerned. When our children were young we did a token carved pumpkin, when I was young I remember doing bobbing apples, apples tied on string hanging from a door frame to try and eat and a toffee apple (everything seemed to revolve around apples 🍏) Whether you participate in Halloween or not have a good day.😊

13c dry and bright here at the moment. Hoping to have a walk later but forecast shows rain coming in. Nothing else much planned but I need to book a hotel in Devon in order to go to my uncle (dads brother, dad died 14 years ago) funeral, he was 99 yo. I’ve only met him twice in the last 40 years but have happy memories from when I was a child, but after then shared a lot of family history information by post and telephone. We go on a canaries cruise only 3 days after the funeral so it will mean Cheshire to Devon and back then back down to Southampton within 4 days, hope the weather is ok🤞

Up early (for me) this morning because our son is driving back to Southampton after spending a week up with us, he ‘worked from home’ yesterday. He should be back in time to go to the Southampton v Birmingham game at 12.30🤞. He certainly got me active, we walked about 15 miles in 4 walks this week Monday to Thursday, I must now keep it up as I used to walk a lot but have become lazy. 9c, calm and no rain here but looks like some rain overnight because the roads are wet. Thank you for all the birthday congratulations yesterday, in the end had fish and chips from the local chippy for tea with OH and son washed down with a bottle of cava🍾 I know how to celebrate😂

🎂🥂🍾

Maybe they can, pathetic batting. 77 for 4☹️

Dull and rainy here so a guilt free day watching the England cricket v Sri Lanka, they can’t do any worse than the past few matches, can they?

Absolutely, goes back a long way. We are both likely to be in the football championship next season and the Hampshire Constabulary must be dreading the match days as it’s normally a huge operation to keep the rivals a part.

I can’t recommend anything to do in the other place (Portsmouth)🤬 because apart from the dockyard with Victory, Mary Rose etc I have never explored there, I am from Southampton and just don’t do it😀

Gosh there a lot of us here who have birthdays in the next few days. Happy Birthday to all. I was always lucky that I never went to school on my birthday as it was always in the autumn half term🙂 I got a letter yesterday, as soon as I took it out of the letter box I suspected what it was. It was from my cousin saying that my uncle had died at 99yo, We will be going to the funeral in Devon from Cheshire only 3 days before we travel South again for our Queen Victoria cruise, so a lot of driving in late November. Our son got back here at midnight last night after going to the Southampton v Preston match last night at Preston, I watched it on tv and we were lucky to get a last minute equaliser.

6c and foggy here at the moment, hope that it burns off soon so we can have the sun that some of you have already but tends to linger here on the low lying Cheshire Plain. Our son is visiting this week up from Southampton so I’ve been more active this week with long walks with him and went to the Crewe v Stockport match last night. Crewe lost 2 0 and were pretty poor with no shots on target but Stockport looked very good. Son is going to Southampton v Preston tonight with a friend so hopefully a better outcome for our favoured teams. We have nothing much planned for my birthday on Friday ( and Grahams if I remember correctly), will probably have a quiet night in with a takeaway or M&S gastropub meal. I find going out too much of a faff and when I see the prices now a days I lose my appetite anyway 😀

What food is that? It looks like an empanada.

Mary Berry has a recipe using butter. https://www.maryberry.co.uk/recipes/christmas/special-mincemeat

Hazy sun, light breeze and 8c here currently, I hope that the ‘storm’ tomorrow and into Thursday isn’t too bad. I got some tasks done yesterday that I’ve been putting off. Booked cruise parking for November/December, opticians eye test, garden bin payment, over priced boiler service (just need to get it done) and contacted joiner to replace rotten strut on open porch. I’ve still got to contact edf with them suddenly over estimating our electricity use even though we are on a smart meter, they estimate 7000 kWh per year when we use more like 3000 so it is reflecting in our monthly DD. So busy being retired😅

Thanks for your feedback. I've now had 3 quotes, the £144 one and subsequently a £95 and £90 all from 'one man bands' (or otherwise known as solos artists).

Today I signed up for a 1 year energy fix, it’s about 5% more than the current price cap. The price cap was forecast to go up by 4% in January anyway even before gas prices have risen substantially with the current conflict around Israel. Whether it is the right call or not only time will tell.