Since our trips to Majorca and Barcelona, it’s been a busy time, not to mention very warm with several heatwaves over 30c and even 38c!
Ali had her summer ball down at the Langstone Hotel which was good fun.
We ordered a new pergola for the garden, this years summer sun really brought it home how difficult it was to get some shade at the back, so we went for one from White Stores in Windlesham and £2.6k later the order was processed. This meant taking some of the slabs up which then meant re-grouting between the slabs, fairly hard work but we got it done! This got installed by their team early August 2026, a slight issue with the roof which they’re coming back to sort out, but it does look very good and we’re both very pleased.
Sky Park Farm became our Friday night local and quite a few times we walked over there, a few times with Ali & Chris, once with Darryl and Rob plus partners, even a few times on our own. Spotted a barn owl on the way back, plus Gill saw a badger, deer etc. Only once did we have to use the torch on the way back! Lovely place, very good value (fizz n chips) and a great way to spend a summers evening.
Skylar had an early birthday party at a village hall in Broadbridge Heath as they were going to Disney and would be travelling back on her 5th birthday. The party was K Pop themed and Leo had fun too!
Ali & Chris treated us to the Sausage & Cider festival in Chichester which was good fun, with some excellent tribute bands, although Scouting for Girls were real life.
Myself & Gilly went to Brighton for the day, with a coffee stop in Arundel.
Works been busy with a brief quiet spell where I actually went for a decent ride with Darryl & Rob on a Wednesday!
Still very hot!
A big project was getting the boiler replaced, this meant a major tidy up of the loft which we did, plus moving stuff into plastic containers. Managed to also sell Tom’s old electric drum kit.
Bike rides, I’ve been out a few times with the mtb crew on a Thursday evening, this has been a baptism of fire, very good fun especially with a beer afterwards in the SB. The spark has been brilliant!
Other bike rides include Hampton Court-Richmond Park, just myself and Gilly plus Virginia Water to Windsor with Ali & Chris.
Wednesday 12th August was the Solar eclipse, I wanted to go to Hayling but it was very busy, so we ended up on the beach at Emsworth where we sat and watched with a picnic!
Thursday 13th August was a big day, new boiler day! Rob Kempster and his mate John got on with this major task, we were going for a combi bolier and this meant getting rid of the tanks in the loft. Come mid-afternoon we headed up to London to see Jesus Christ Superstar with Sam Ryder as Jesus, it was the hottest day of the year but luckily it wasn’t too bad in the theatre which was also probably 99% full! Great show and we even had a pre-theatre meal at Flat-Iron in Brewer Street.
On the Friday it was day 2 of the boiler installation and it was looking good, until the final stage where they tested the heating, there was an excess of sludge and they would need to come back to do a deep clean drain, plus replace 2 radiators as well.
Work wise, busy and with a run of horrible/overgrown jobs, anyway enough of that – it was still very warm, although today (18th August) as I write this it’s actually low 20c.
