Bristolian spiders

I was confronted in the bathroom last night by the biggest, nastiest, fattest spider I have seen in a long time - obviously one of the many 'obese' characters in the country that the government is so worried about.
Nothing for it but to call on Dad to ride to the rescue, which he did, with an air of resignation indicative of having had to do this many times before. If the thought went through his head that at my age I should be able to deal with my own spiders, he gave no sign of it.
Some foot stamping and scuffling ensued.
"I think I got it. It should be all-right now."
Not enough! For a peaceful night's sleep I need firm assurances that the creature has been stamped on, flattened to kingdom come and that there will never be remotest chance that it will resurface to raise my blood pressure again. A demonstration of the mangled body, albeit viewed through half closed eyes and the wrong end of binoculars, would be even more reassuring...

Motorway madness


Having got up at 5.20 this morning in order to be on the road bright and early for my trip to Bristol, I was less than impressed to discover in due course, that the M5 was closed between junctions 7 and 8.

By the time I reached junction 6 it was clear that to actually reach junction 7 in order to come off the motorway would take a considerable time - in fact, I could probably have walked it quicker. That being the case, I followed the example of many other drivers and exited at junction 6. I don't know whether I actually benefitted from doing that, but doing the detour and getting back onto the M5 at Junction 9 seemed to take forever. I gradually felt the will to live ebbing away...

Nevertheless, all good (and horrendous) things come to an end ...eventually and I did actually manage to finish my journey before becoming eligible for my pension, but a three and a quarter hour journey had taken me no less than six hours.


But later, in Dad's garden, in the pouring rain, I found this lovely rose, which I pass on for you to share.

Blogger changes


Having moved back to Blogger from 20six because of changes there which were obviously not going to improve the system, now I find that things are changing here too. Having learned caution the hard way, I decided to create a new blog to experiment and then I read hints of teething problems so thought maybe slow and careful would be more sensible than rushing where angels fear to tread, so I'm waiting... but now I find I can only comment on some blogs anonymously. One of the teething problems not highlighted by Blogger!


PS. Having suffered an unwelcome birthday yesterday I am just wondering if the 'slow and careful' approach is a surreptitious result of the passing of the years. Maybe I should rush in headlong and change everything after all - just to prove I still can!

Plaster board and dust

So, we're still no further forward on the British Gas smart meter front and I've given up making non-existent appointments with them...