And in North Hampshire, lots of lightning too.

We got into it when we had an Austalian couple who were setting a Ebike world record stay with us; we then signed up late 2015 and we have had quite a few in 2016, a new Zealand couple straight off the plane, they came back on their way back – it was great fun listening to where they had been and their adventures. We have also had 2 cousins who were holidaying on the cheap and had been down to France for the cost of a ferry and 1 hotel night and finally a french couple who were on their way back to France to surprise their family for Christmas.
We have not yet tried it as cyclists yet but hopefully will attempt it on our next tour!
I like the entertaining side of it as I usually offer to cook dinner – it is always a bit bizarre letting them cook in your kitchen. We usually receive chocolates and beers as thank you’s but it is nice to trade stories and discover different cultures.

As an allotment holder, I urge you not to go hell for leather on the first weekend and then not turn up for the rest of year. My allotment is surrounded by people who do this; then never turn up, each year will be different so they say. I would section the areas and clear those first the old fashioned way with a fork and a sack to dispose of the weeds and grass as if you just turn it over the grass will yellow and die but you are still left with a mass of grass roots. I would not compost them as they generally hibernate and do not die. Our allotment rules state that you are not allowed to put carpet on the plot. Aldi currently have a weed mat if you want to put one down as you dig just to control as you prepare the plot. As I cleared the sections I would then start planting so you could get some potatoes and onions in – these can be picked up now fairly cheap from B&Q and Wilkos at the moment. I would also start planting some seeds and putting them on the windowsill to get them started ie lettuce, spring onions, leeks, courgettes, peas, broad beans etc. You can still grow a lot of seeds now as the weather has been fairly cool so plants are a little behind on germination. Keep an eye out on freecycle for excess tomato plants that people are giving away. This year I gave away approx 10 small rhubarb crowns. Attend local fairs/plant sales/car boots to get peoples excess plants etc.
Just enjoy the plot and the produce – I find it very relaxing and therapeutic and of course the fruits and veg is an advantage.
Then in Autumn start buying seeds when they are reduced ready to plant for next year!

I do, although currently just started a project where the lady said she wanted an aran jumper, so I told her about aran wool, quantity etc and she came round with pure 100% aran wool and a pattern for chunky wool (doh!). I am doing it for free. So if you want to get the pattern and the correct wool & quantity would quite happy make it up for you but probably won’t be able to start it until December…
In Farnborough, Hants if you want to discuss as I think you are in Kingston. I like to make the more complicated things like aran & socks although have never done fair isle so not sure if that was what you were after. Pure wool is better as it holds the pattern and does not stretch when washed. I usually pick up my 100% wool at charity shops otherwise it gets very expensive.

You make it sound like it is a one off. I must pass at least 3-5 people on my commute texting. In the past, I have peered in through the window to see what they are texting. I have also tooted them when alongside them – they jump and I hope this makes them realise that they were totally unaware of what they were doing. I also had someone who was on the wrong side of the road and she jumped so high she threw her phone against the windscreen. I have also used a contact us form when the company has a logo on their vehicle.
I did contact the police to see if they want copies of my helmet cam videos but they are not interested. It is mostly women I see texting – I hope they don’t think I am tooting them because I think they look good!

We use to get milk delivered, we liked the fact that they would deliver fresh milk 2/3 times a week. However they kept getting the order wrong – no apologies when I contacted them; then deliveries would often be late (delivered after 8am) so the milk went off. Dairy Crest who supplied our milkman paid less to the dairy farmers milk (just under 22p according to this article) than the local supermarkets despite being 3 times the cost!. We recently bought the milk from Safeway that gave an additional 10p to farmers but it went off before the best before date. I now just buy the fresh filtered white stuff.

Vegan means eating anything that has any animal produce in it or made by it. Basically you do not eat or wear anything that has had a face. Which means no cake, biscuits, cheese, eggs, milk etc. It is a very hard lifestyle to live unless you cook everything from scratch with vegan margarine, vegan cheese (which does not melt but creates a leathery skin) etc you have to scrutinise packets every time you buy them as retailers often change ingredients.
I am a lacto-ovo veggie which means I eat dairy & eggs but not fish and even I sometimes I find eating out can be a real PITA.
I would not have a leather sofa etc, but I do wear leather shoes/boot; I do not have any (fashion) leather /suede jackets – I did try fake leather shoes but they made my feet sweat and smell, which is never nice when you can smell them as you walk along. There is lot of pork or beef gelatine in a lot of food produce, e.g. (bought) profiteroles, marshmallows, a lot of sweets this is made from boiling down the bones so is strictly off limits.
I am happy to handle & cook meat but I know a lot of vegetarians aren’t but then I have been veggie for 26 years, I became veggie due to the way animals were treated back in the 80’s. l also dabbled with Vegan I lasted about 2 weeks as it was so hard however I do like my eggs, cheese, butter, cake, biscuits etc. I think if animals were treated as well now then I would probably just eat free range & organic but then everything was farmed to increase productivity rather than looking after the welfare of animals.
There are some great vegetarian recipes and maybe the best thing would be to get a vegetarian recipe book like “Food for Thought” written by vegetarians that specify if recipes can be made vegan and how.

We had this type of issue when we moved – you had to cross a pavement to access the house through the back garden. We were told we would have to raise a contract that could cost hundreds… or get a signed letter from another solicitor to say that we had not had any issues accessing our house before that cost us ~£30.
We thought next time we move we are going to get our then buyers solicitor.
We did not complain to any ombudsman but we did write on some paperwork that our solicitor wanted what we thought of them. When I went down there to give them information they wanted. I was told that I could not drop it off and needed an appointment. They were surprised to find out I wanted their first available appointment. For some reason the house sale went through quite quickly after that – not sure why… we were really pissed off with the constant letters that arrived on a Friday,we did not get them to the evening which was then too late to act on, despite asking them to ring /email us (as well) if there is a problem etc. Imagine how surprised they were to see me a few months later when they were touting for business at our work place.

We stayed at this [/url]one when we did the Castles and Coast sustrans route a few years ago (Newcastle upon Tyne to Edinburgh then back to Berwick upon Tweed).
There was a pub a short cycle/walk away near to a curry house. The bus stop was just at the bottom of the drive where buses went into the city several times an hour.

We had a zanussi which went rusty on the door after 4 years apparently it was my fault for cleaning it.
We currently have a Samsung (American style fridge/freezer) which is great – not had a problem with it in the past 5 years. The only thing is that you need to open the fridge door really wide to get the salad drawers out. I think fridge/freezers are something you really need to look at in person to get an idea of size/restrictions etc.

You can get a perfectly decent commuting bike for £200. Something tough enough with decent gearing and brakes that will last and is serviceable.
It’s just that we’re all bike snobs and 7sp is below us, when, in fact, it works perfectly well
Working in the trade has had an odd effect on me. I don’t buy top of the range stuff because I can get it cheap, I buy more basic bikes than I ever did because I know how well it works!

I guess the problem is that there’s nothing much wrong with the seals Fox, Rockshox etc supply. They’re tough as old boots in general, so why change?

You can make your own liver cake recipe[/url]
we managed to train a spaniel with these – just by getting the container out she started to behave

Have you tried his home number…
In his iphone for sale he states “if anyone needs clarification please phone 01302840961 , i am the Director of Maths at Ash Hill Academy in Hatfield Doncaster. “
There is also a Director of Maths – M Wilkinson Linky

I use a top peak trailer it is great because you can jacknife it to the bike and it parks. Before we used the EBC trailer. Both great and both can hold a great deal. You just need to remember you have to carry the weight so no 25kg sacks of potatoes! You need special lugs to attach them the the bikes.
The only issue is you load it from the trolley to the bike so you look like you are nicking a trolley load of stuff and then carrying it from bike to kitchen for example in small handfuls. You can’t load the trailer bag at the checkout as the bag sort of deforms as you fill it then lift it. I guess it depends on what you are getting.

we do a lot of cycle touring and our main requirements are local pub near by, decent facilities, hot and cold water (without additional charges). What makes a top campsite is a dry area to sit and eat at if raining e.g. a sort of mess tent, fridge/freezer, washing line & picnic benches dotted round.
TBH we would suck our teeth at 20-25GBP a night but I guess you are trying to encourage families so not have a pppn rate. Offering a discount for walkers and cyclists gets a thumbs up!
we don’t often stay in rented cottages so can not comment on that.

Me: Turning into a one way street.
Me to woman in car: Your driving the wrong way, its a one way street
Her: I know
Me: Oh well that’s alright then…. rode off shaking my head.

botanybay – Member

Well, I’m booked into a salon on Thursday in Leeds for the procedure (couldn’t find one in Bradford), so wish me luck!

Thanks for the funny replies too, lol.

Hopefully it will help ease the pain and I can get back out on the bike.
Good luck and take painkillers an hour or so before hand…

Italy is beautiful – Rome I would suggest for a long weekend as it is beautiful but small but it certainly has a lot of things to do eg the Spanish steps – best seen in the summer, trevi fountain, the coliseum, Sisteen chapel – we found the queues were long in the morning but at lunchtime had practically disappeared. Italy is very easy to get round by on the train so you could get the train to Florence (1.5 hours from Rome) and Pisa I think is about 30 minutes from Florence so a day trip.
We have always booked our hotels via Bookings.com as they usually have the smaller hotels that will guarantee double beds and are very accommodating. The hotel we stayed at organised a taxi to collect us from the airport. We found when trying to book a hotel in Sicily through a travel agent we were told it would probably be twin beds despite mentioning that it would be our honeymoon they could not guarantee it.
Have you tried AirBnB, as hotels in Italy are on the expensive side?
Sicily is a place that when we go back we will go round the island and stay at several places for a couple of nights.
I am quite comfortable at booking everything separately but then I know some people like to have everything mapped out for the whole stay.

We set up a camp kitchen in in our garage when we replaced ours. We had a microwave and a camping hob with grill.
Sometimes we would go out to eat on a Saturday as we had spent the whole day working hard.. or we would go to Sainsburys as they heated a pizza (that they made)for a £1.
New potatoes now have microwave instructions on the back.
We did not have a slow cooker but I use mine to make
pulled pork
carrot and lentil casserole
steak & kidney for pie fillings
Lamb shanks
Irish stew
Mind you can make Mexican fajitas in 1 pan, curries require 2 generally, you will be a whizz by week 3 of generating meals. Look also for camping recipes as they usually only require a couple of pans.
I think the first thing I cooked with the new oven was Yorkshire puddings.

Do you write adverts for a living?

If you turn a battery charger off at the wall but not unplug it from the motorbike – it also drains the battery…

India YMCA clicky clicky[/url]

I have a Janome which I got for my 18th (25 years ago) although it does not get daily use it has been used to make curtains, pouffes, cushions, pillow cases, make duvet covers smaller and to take up trousers for the short of leg MrPP. This is also the make they use in the Great British Sewing Bee. Have you got a local sewing shop you can go into to ask their advice?

Personally I prefer the Jamie Oliver recipe & method. Generally fast active dried yeast does not fizz – apparently yeast technology has moved on in the past 20 years. I have been told that you can generally get fresh yeast from the sainsburys bread counter. Don’t put the yeast & salt next to each other – they retard each other. Brush the top of the dough with olive or rapeseed oil – prevents the dough going soggy from the toppings/sauce.
I put mine in an old dominos pizza tin (they were going to throw them away) – so thick based. In an oven I put mine on bread function 220 degrees for about 10-15 minutes. As a lot of people say less toppings is more.

Do they visit the trap shortly after being presented with cake and consumption monitored by Mrs PP?

I don’t force them to eat! I’ve won awards for my cakes (& chutneys) I will have you know…. cheeky bugger!

I met some really friendly nice people despite it being really grim weather! At hub 2 Newlands corner, I did pick up a right hand glove pearl izumi large I think it is a ladies glove nobody owned it when I went round near the end. Let me know if it is yours and I will send it to you. Also some YJ yellow lens glasses. They would have been binned if I left them there, so maybe I can reunite these with their owners?

Awhile ago I saw a top tea pot review and le creuset teapot was top. Not got one though as they never to seem to have the correct colour…

PP using his o/h’s account again?

Or ..If you live with an idiot,sooner or later you will start acting like an .

That’s a bit harsh fathaggis fasthaggis, no it irritates me when there is a cycle path and cyclists don’t use it, it annoys me when people walk in the road next to a pavement and also when people choose to walk on the cycle path rather than the pedestrian side. As a driver it irritates me when someone is cycling (slowly) beside a cycle path. I guess I am just getting grumpy in my old age. Don’t get me started on “Baby/Princess/Twins/Grandchild on Board” signs.

They aren’t the only ones. I contacted a calendar company because they forgot about the 29th February on a leap year. They just ignored me so I left them a bad review and they deleted it (twice). I sent them several emails and they ignored all of those. If I am ever in Melbourne I will pay them a visit – not that I hold grudges..

I find with a speed up, a few toots on my horn and a look of determination soon gets them out of the way. Sometimes I even shout MOVE! Either that or I pretend they are skittles – especially with the college kids. If they can’t see me approaching towards them then they do not deserve to live or breed…

Use any of the following Baby wipes the cheaper the better, nail varnish remover (removes everything except nail varnish) and WD40.

We removed our old kitchen to find that the soil pipe had cracked at the base and we had a soak away in the corner of our kitchen!
We also found a hand sawed arch that was very skew-whiff – the plasterer found it hysterical and could still recall it 3 years later when we had him back for plastering the lounge

As currently someone who is removing a wall that is made up of mainly mortar and old paving slabs. My tools of choice are a combination of a pinch bar, sledgehammer, crowbar, lump hammer, bolster and a lot of swearing.
Next job is to lift the ‘crazy’ paving patio.

Bracknell Travel lodge – only 2 miles away from Coral reef which is opposite Swinley. Couple of premier inns around this area as well.

Golden retriever pub is close by to swinley it depends on how close you want to stay.
Unfortunately a pikey camp has just set up over the weekend on the outskirts of Bracknell near Jennets Park so maybe best to bring some sturdy locks.

Most of Europe were off yesterday (Labour Day) so they seemed to have taken a long weekend.

We used the Post office one last year in the US – we managed to load it okay via mobile and picked it up on the same day. I think MrPP had to take id with him to get one. You will need a phone that can be used in the US if topping up from a mobile.
We only found 1 motel that would not take it so make sure you always have a credit or debit card.
Hope you have a wonderful time.

We stayed at a hotel in London after seeing the Lion King, fire alarm went off at about 3am so we had to evacuate the hotel (February with snow on the ground). Then it went off against at 5am then at 7am – by this time we gave up trying to get any sleep. Not even a sorry or any money back when we mentioned it. We were told it was kids in a room setting it off. MrPP said that was not really a satisfactory reason and they should have been kicked out. Really disappointed.
We did get money off the hotel we stayed in for our 1st anniversary – mind you twin beds were a little surprise. TV not working, Dogs barked all night as there was a wedding reception in the field next door (past pub hours) and could not drown it out with the tv, light did not work even after we mentioned it and they told us they had fixed it. Then to top it all the dog was sick by our table at breakfast – she was very apologetic although not a full refund.
We have not been back to either hotels since.

Ohh I work in Thames Valley Park so are you Microsoft or Oracle? I commute from Farnborough. The commute has got worse this year. Last year it was taking just under an hour but now it takes 1 hour 10 minutes in the school holidays it takes 30 minutes. The train takes just as long. Had a go at seeing how long it would take me to cycle and that was just over an hour so now all I need to do is be prepared for good weather and organise work clothes and laptop to be in Reading! At least we were not affected by the floods like a lot of people living near Reading! As to where to live depends on your budget and what you want. I don’t understand why you would pay higher house prices to commute out of London.

Both my sisters currently live out there. They got a good packages which included, private healthcare, schools and flights back “home” every year. Most people take the kids back home for the 6 weeks they have off school in the summer so the place can feel deserted in June & July. My sisters all live in 1 condo 3 adults with 4 kids under the age of 7 + 2 nannies/housekeepers. The condo’s are great with swimming pools and depending where you are other play facilities. Usually only 1 person in the Singapore works as it is difficult to get work visas so the other person becomes a kept person great if you like shopping and lunches. Mind you my sister did help out at the schools but that would seem a bit weird if you don’t have kids at that school. The humidity and heat can be hard to deal with especially with small kids and if you like doing a lot of outside things. Schools start younger over there so don’t overlook education as most of the time you sign up for 3/4 years. Renting is very high as a lot of people are brought into Singapore. It is a very clean place as there are a lot of rules especially where car ownership is concerned. My family go to Malaysia just across the border for weekend breaks and golf. Location wise your seaside holidays are Indonesia and Malaysia a bit up from Spain. It is a very multicultural city so very welcoming and friendly. It is very built up but the metro system is easy to get around. The Singapore grand prix can be seen from most condo’s. It is an expensive place to live as the import tax is high. The only place I know where you select your items in a supermarket yourself then have them delivered home. As most people are only there for 3/4 years you can get to know people then they leave and you are back at square 1. It reminds me a bit of stepford wives. It isn’t for me but then we are all different. If you don’t try it you might always regret it – it would only be for x number of years.