September and October were to be our nice socialising months before we got stuck into fitting the new kitchen and preparing for Christmas. We went to a couple of supper clubs organised as part of the Great Bath Feast (greatbathfeast.co.uk) and had a couple of trips to the theatre. One show was in Glasgow so we combined that with a visit to the family and a very nice time we had.
Having landed at Edinburgh airport we decided to try out the recently installed tram system. Nice. Slow, but nice.
The SSE was the venue for the show we'd booked for in Glasgow. The locals call this the "bunnet" because it looks like one, a bonnet that is. If you ever get a chance to see a BBC Scotland TV show called "Still Game", see it. It's about pensioner pals Jack and Victor living out their twilight years on a Glasgow high rise council estate. It's OAP's behaving badly (and often laugh-out-loud rudely) but written and played with a rare wit, warmth and wisdom. As soon as I heard there was to be a live show, I booked.
Then two things tripped us up. One night, a few out-buildings and sheds in our village were targetted by thieves and we were one of those who had a break in and several items were stolen. Two weeks later there was a terrific thunder and lightening storm in our area. While we were admiring the storm (they don't usually last the 3 hours this one did) our house took a hit. The electricity blew but we presumed all would be well in the morning and went to bed early thinking the worst that might happen was that we'd lose some freezer foods in the power cut. (I wish I'd taken the photo below but it appeared in the local paper, the Bath Chronicle.)
Next morning we woke to find anything with an electrical circuit had been fried so there was no broadband or phone connection. The boiler was affected so there was no hot water. Two TV's, two games consoles, a PC monitor and the dishwasher had broken. We traipsed round the house flicking switches to see what the storm had left us with that worked. Thankfully the cooker and kettle were still operational and nothing looks too bleak if you can wrap your hands around a comforting cuppa. Many of our neighbours were in the same predicament but the small group who gathered round our garden gate to offer help (mostly to those without working kettles) knew enough plumbers and electricians to begin the repair work.
October wasn't our best month. Neither of us had ever claimed on household insurance and suddenly we had two claims within two weeks. Bah.
We cheered ourselves up by taking to boys to Wookey Hole, aka The Wookey's Hole, the Hole of the Wookey etc etc make up your own rude names. It's a series of caves and you can visit as part of a guided tour.
Spookily lit lakes. Rubbish photos.
This is one of our favourite wacky days out in deepest Somerset with lots of odd added attractions - so giant dinosaurs are found next to a clown museum which is beside a 1950's seaside style penny arcade. The boys go for the crazy golf and ice cream and I go for the cave aged cheese which is rather good and stored in nice photogenic shelves in the caves.
We took home a 1.8kg truckle of finest cave aged cheddar. I think the excuse was we needed it for Christmas.
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