Monday 17 March 2014

Out again

We'd been asked to look after Daniel this weekend while Damon and Liz went away for a friend's birthday celebration.
With the lovely weather we had been enjoying recently we decided that if it wasn't looking too bad we'd take him out on the boat.
As the week wore on the sunshine got less and less, but at least rain wasn't forecast so we decided to take the plunge (not too figuratively we hoped!).
Friday afternoon saw him delivered to us and on Saturday morning we pulled the plug and set off for Castleford.
True to form the weather didn't actually play ball. It didn't rain, but the wind got up and the sun disappeared.
With Dan helping Cath with the locks (they are all electric) we reached Castleford at about 2.00 o'clock. I then took Dan for a ride on a bus into town, it's something he doesn't get to do normally as mum and dad of course have cars.

Sunday morning we set off in a rising wind heading for Stanley Ferry where there is a good pub and a Wacky Warehouse for Dan to play in. We had organised for to meet Damon and Liz here for lunch.
The trip along the Calder bit of the Aire and Calder canal was not that pleasant. The wind was quite biting. At King's Road Lock the wind whipped the water into white peaks. The local boaters call this place windy lock, and we can see why.
Arriving at Stanley Ferry I took Daniel into the Wacky Warehouse for a play around until mum and dad arrived.
When they did we moved into the pub, only to be told that the wait for lunch orders was about 30 minutes, the queue for the bar was around 10 minutes so we decided to go and find somewhere else.
What a good decision that was! A search on Google turned up the Thatched House pub about a mile away. It was a real winner. A carvery was on, and 4 adults and a child cost under £35 including desert. The meal was excellent, and having piled on the meat, the chef asked if that was enough?
After looking at the weather forecast we decided to return to Leeds in one go, starting out fairly early(well, for us anyway). It took us nearly 5 hours, and it was fairly cold, but we got back before the wind got too much.
On a different note, we've found a house and had our offer accepted. The vendor still hasn't found a place to buy, so things will no doubt take a while.

Friday 7 March 2014

Spring

Spring seems to be in the air. At least the BBC say so.
Yes, the weather is looking better, and boats everywhere are starting out on their summer cruising.
Sadly though, not us. We're out house hunting.
We had an offer on our house, which we accepted, so now it's time to find one up here.
Damon has taken us out a couple of times in the car. Transport like that is a real boon when attending viewings. Others we have to carefully plan bus timings to arrive at the property at the right time.
So far we have seen about 10 places. One which we viewed last Friday really rang all the bells, but unfortunately someone who viewed it before us also thought the same, and the owner accepted their offer as they were the first.
Yesterday we went to see a bungalow, which seemed to be fantastic in description, but it was on the edge of what we could afford. On viewing it we were disappointed to find that it needed a huge amount of work/money spent on it, so we had to drop that one.
Today we've seen another bungalow which we like very much, but it does have some down sides, like a built in dish washer, yet nowhere to put a tumble dryer. We are keeping it in mind though.
We have 3 more to see next week.
Tomorrow there's a double birthday celebration at Damon and Liz's house. It's Daniel's 5th and Damon's 30 something. John, Sara and Auntie Brenda will be in attendance as well. Cath is making a banana trifle, it might survive my attentions if Cath keeps her eye on it.
Bob