Back to the UK.

Tuesday 28 July.

 

After breakfast there was a few things to pack away before we left. Moira packed the video recorder and the TV into their boxes and I put them up in the loft. I checked the rat killer that I had put there when I cleared the loft two months ago. It was all still in place and not been eaten, showing that we must had got rid of the rats. Moira moved the car down to the parking slots and I closed the garage door and fitted the blocks on the runner to prevent opening. With everything packed, the house neat and tidy and all our security measures in place we were on our way about 9:30 am.

 

We stopped at the Spar supermarket on the way to pick up some fruit for our lunch, Moira had made sandwiches before leaving. It was a lovely day and the drive to King Shaka airport was uneventful with very little traffic on the road. Before dropping the car off with Budget/ Avis we filled up with petrol at the filling station we were told about at near the hire car drop-off point. I took photographs of the car being filled and the dash board with the petrol tank showing full. I have plenty of evidence if they try to charge us for petrol and Moira also made sure she got a receipt this time.

 

In the departures hall Moira printed off our boarding passes from the machine, she had booked in for all our flights on the internet last night. Once we had our passes we checked in our cases then it was on to security. There wasn't any problems and we were soon through to wait two hours for our flight to Jo'burg. We went to a bar and ordered beers to go with our lunch then sat and read until it was time to go. It was just an hour until we landed at O R Tambo airport. There we had to collect our cases from the carousel before checking in at the BA desk for our next stage. Our cases were labelled to go through all the way to Glasgow and they printed our boarding passed for the flight to London and for the next one to Glasgow. The security checks were straight forward again, the only nuisance is that we have to take the laptop and the Freeview recorder out of our backpacks each time to go through the x-ray machine separately. Next it was emigration where we got our passports examined and stamped

 

We had three hours to wait for our plane for London at 7 pm. We continued reading our newspapers for a while then went to look for a bar to get a beer to go with a couple of sausages that were left and Moira cooked last night. We found a restaurant but we couldn't just order a beer, Moira enquired at the information desk and they said there weren't any bars. There was a 'Mugg and Bean' coffee shop where we ordered a bottomless cup of coffee instead. The service was terrible and we nearly walked out after waiting so long when the waiter arrived with our order. It was a repeat when we asked for a top up for our bottomless cup but it passed the time and soon it was time to make for our boarding gate.

 

We had to show our boarding passes and passports to get into the waiting area just to sit for they were ready for us to board. The woman looked at my photograph in my passport then asked me to remove my hat to get a better comparison. Before this we had been scrutinised at the check-in desk, security and emigration without having to remove my hat but to get a seat in the waiting area it was required? It is either security paranoia or airport security is a growth occupation industry. The aircraft we were on was the latest thing with an upper deck. When Moira checked our seats on the web last night she said we were up top but we thought that was the small bump at the front of the plane where we had been seated once before. But this was different, it was a whole upper deck similar in size to the normal one below. There were separate boarding sections for upper and lower decks and it was quite a quick and efficient loading operation. Our seats were in the centre section and I had an aisle seat, this meant that I didn't have any worries about disturbing somebody to get to the toilet during the night.

 

The plane took off on time and it wasn't long before they were serving dinner. We both had salad with a spicy chicken and rice. It was all right and there had a nice wine to go with it. I watched a couple of TV comedies on the entertainment screen. There were both 'Still Open all Hours' the spin off from the old Ronnie Barker comedy of the 70's. After that there was a film of the Oscar Wilde play, 'The Importance of being Ernest' with Colin Firth and Judi Dench which was very good. I tried to watch something else but my eyes were closing and I tried to get to sleep. I was feeling cramped and my neck was sore but I was just managed to drop off when there was a scream from Moira. She was sleeping and the woman sitting next to her somehow stood on her foot and wakened her with a start. After that we both took pain killers and managed to get a bit if sleep.

 

 

Wednesday 29 July.

 

I must have managed a couple of hour's sleep as I wakened when they were starting to serve breakfast at 3:30 am(BST, we were back an hour). We both had an omelette which was a bit rubbery. The landing was on time at Heathrow and then we had a long walk to get to where we were catching our connection to Glasgow. It involved a walk on the moving walkway, a journey on the small driverless train then the ordeal of another security check. This was the worst one we have encountered. The queue moved very slowly and we removed the laptop and recorder from our packs as before. That went all right but for some reason my backpack was put to one side for closer examination. This was in a long queue of other bags to be checked closely and another long wait. When it was my turn they emptied the pack and waved some electronic wand over everything then sent it through the x-ray machine again. They found nothing and I was left to repack the bag again. It was fortunate that we had plenty of time ( 4 hours) before our flight to Glasgow.

 

We found a seat and parked ourselves for the wait. There was free WiFi and Moira downloaded the newspaper to her iPad. When I got my iPad out I found that the battery was flat. There were charging points nearby and I put it on to charge and after half an hour was able to download the 'Telegraph' as well and work on the crossword. The boarding gate for our flight wasn't put on the info display until three quarters of an hour before it was due to take-off. When we got the gate number as usual it was at the far end of the row of gates and a 10 minute walk. There was a large queue and we sat down until it cleared and we got on near the end. The plane was full and I had to put our bags in a locker well away from where we were seated. The take-off was 30 minutes late but that must have been taken into account in the schedule as we landed in Glasgow on time, 11:30 am.

 

It was just after midday when we headed to the bus stops for home. There weren't any delays after leaving the plane and our packs came through fairly quickly. We had just missed a bus to Braehead but there was one going to Paisley which we took and caught a train from there to Port Glasgow. When we got off the train Moira bought rolls for lunch at the bakery and we took a bus home and saved money by not taking a taxi.

 

Everything was all right in the house but the garden was a bit overgrown and will need attention soon. We settled down for some lunch when we got in, Moira had some salmon that she put that on the rolls with a cup of tea. In the afternoon we relaxed and once I got the TV going watched some old comedies late afternoon. After that it was quizzes while we had dinner. Moira had chicken drumsticks in the freezer and we had them with cous-cous. The third Ashes Test Match from Edgbaston started today And I watch the highlights on Channel 5. England did extremely well and bowled Australia out for 136. In reply they were 133/3, they should win this one.

 

We were both very tired and got to bed at 8:30 pm which was actually 9:30 pm SA time and by our body clocks.

 

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Getting ready to leave tomorrow.

Monday 27 July.

 

This was our last day here, tomorrow we make our way up to Jo'burg to connect with our flights to London and Glasgow. Before breakfast we went put for our last walk. Before leaving we took the rubbish from the garage, that we had piled up when we cleaned the garage on Saturday, up to the gate for collection by the Municipality. There was an old rug and two beach loungers amongst the stuff but they didn't last long, the scavengers were soon there and off they went.

 

We walked over to Abingdon then along Crain and Miller roads to the bridge over the Durban Rd. once across we walked towards the bowling club and once over the railway took the road on the other side back. It was over the track again and when we reached the foot of Abingdon it was up the hill home. It was a good longer walk but Moira was suffering again with a very painful thigh.

 

After breakfast there was one last job to be done. The potholes in front of the garage had to be filled with the cold tar. I brushed out the dirt and leaves from the holes first then gave them a wash out with plenty of water. The weather was much better today with a cloudless blue sky and a very hot sun. I left the holes to dry off while I had a cup of tea. When they were nice and dry I began digging out the tar from the bag with a paint scraper tool. It was quite sticky and solid and required some effort to get it out and into the holes. I filled them about an inch proud then hammered the tar down level with a heavy metal mallet. At the end it was worth the effort as it looks good and hopefully will stay in place for some time.

 

There wasn't any food left now in the house so we decided to dine out today. We didn't want to go out at night and be late so settle on a good lunch and sandwiches for our evening meal. The restaurant we picked was the 'Captain's Table' on the beach at Southport. We had been there a number of years ago and it was quite good. We left at 1 pm and drove there. There were a few cars parked outside but when went into the bar it was deserted. I asked the barman for the restaurant and he directed us next door which had plenty of tables but also deserted. The barman pointed to the toilets in the corner, he though I had asked for the 'rest rooms'. It turned out that the restaurant was closed on a Monday. Instead we headed back to Port Shepstone and the large Spar supermarket at Harbour View which also had a restaurant that we were sure would be open.

 

We sat a the window and got a view of the sea and lots of different birds flying about. We both had the rump steak with an egg on top and chips. There was also a beer to wash it down and it only coat R120 (£6). When we left went to the Oribi Plaza, first to the small hardware shop where I got a container of caustic soda for putting down the drain in the shower which is tending to block. The next stop was the biltong shop for some dried wors to take back for Suzy, her favourite; the same shop also did photocopying and Moira got a copy of her ID book to enable Alison to pick up her driving licence when its ready. The final stop before heading home was the medical centre and Rekha Sugudhav to pick up my old hearing aids that were to have been returned from the repairers. They hadn't come back yet and Moira told her to hang on to them and we would get them at the end of the year when we return.

 

When we got home I put the recommended quantity of the caustic soda down the shower drain. I left it for 10 minutes then it said to pour hot water down the drain. I did this from the kettle and the reaction with the soda caused it to splutter and boil. I did it gently, a little water at a time until the violent reaction stopped. Now I left it overnight hopefully to clean out any grease that is causing the blockage.

 

Moira had done most of our packing, there wasn't much to do as we travel light. She also cleared the ornaments and books from the shelves on the wall units. The ornaments she stored in boxes but I got on a chair and stacked the books neatly on the top shelf of a wardrobe. I reckoned that it wasn't a good idea having stuff on display and tempting people to rob us.

 

We were at a bit of a loss with the cycling finished and had to settle for an evening of quizzes on the TV. We had our light meal of sandwiches for our dinner. Later before going to bed there was the PG Wodehouse comedy 'Blandings' which was quite good.

 

 

 

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The final day of the 'Tour de France'

Sunday 26 July.

 

The rain stayed on during the night and it was till coming down when we wakened, so we gave the walking a miss. We lay in bed for about an hour reading the newspaper. Moira got up first and had her shower then while I was shaving and washing she made the breakfast. She was using up the food we had in the fridge and freezer before we leave on Tuesday, so we had two sausages each with our normal 'full English' to finish them off.

 

After I cleaned up the dishes the only job I still had to do in the house was on the tiles and I mixed up some cement to use as grouting. There was the tiles I had laid at the bathroom door to do, also I cut away some of the grout that was cracked between some of the tiles. Moira rubbed the cement in between the tiles and then cleaned them up. There are still a few tiles that are creaking or sounding hollow which we will deal with when we come out again at the end of the year, but it looks a lot better than when we arrived two months ago.

 

We spent the rest of the morning reading the paper and relaxing with a cup of tea. Moira made soup for lunch today and we had it with a French type baguette that she crusted up in the oven. I checked the time for the final stage of the 'Tour de France', the procession in to Paris. It was listed at 4 pm which seemed to me to be later than normal unless they were just showing the final 10 laps round the Champs Elysees and Arc de Triomphe. I settled to watching the Hungarian Gran Prix until the cycling started. They had just started their warm-up lap when the power went off again. Moira had gone down to see Pat in the bottom house to say cheerio before we leave and I was left in on my own. I spent the two hours until the power was restored working on the 'Telegraph' crossroad which I managed to compete.

 

 

 

When the TV did tune in again it turned out that the cycling hadn't started. They were starting in Paris this year, going round the outskirts and suburbs for 40 km then arriving in the centre for the serious 10 final laps. Earlier in the afternoon there had been a woman's race as a build up and to keep the waiting crowds amused. Unfortunately the weather was dreadful with torrential rain and they were skidding and falling off their bikes as they did the laps by the Champs Elysees. When the men started it was still raining and it was decided that it was too dangerous and that the final times would be taken when they crossed the 'finish line' at the start of their first lap. The leaders, like Froome, Quintana, Valverde and Sagan, still had to complete the full course i.e. the full 10 laps but they could ride at the back and keep out of trouble. The sprinters were still going to race flat out so I couldn't understand how the changes helped them in riding safely.

 

 

In the end when they did get going it was an anti-climax. They more or less trundled along together behind a safely car for the whole 40 km until they came to the time point on the Champs Elysees. The riders spent the time chatting to one another and posing for photographs. When they got to the Champs Elysees they still took it easy for the first two laps with the Sky team casually leading the way. After that it got a bit more interesting with a few breaks from the peleton and the speed picking up. It only got exciting on the last lap as the sprinter's teams started to form into lines to lead out their fast men. In the end it was the German Griepel who won again, his fourth stage win. Cavendish finished eighth, it hasn't been his year or maybe he is getting old, I think sprinting is a young man's game.

 

We continued watching afterwards with the presentation of all the awards. For some reason George Osbourne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer got in on the act and made the presentation to Froome. I can't understand why they are so desperate to claim Froome as being British when he was born in Kenya, educated in South Africa and now lives in Monaco.

 

The last part of this year's 'Tour' didn't finish until 8 am. We listened to the radio until 'Call the Midwife' came on BBC Entertainment. It was another that we had seen before but it was good. Off to bed again at 10 pm as normal.

 

 

 

 

 

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Power cut just after start of 'Tour'

Saturday 25 July.

 

It was out for a walk again first thing this morning. We went straight along Ibis Rd intending to turn down Foxon Rd. but when we reached the turning there was another road to the left, Kiepersol Lane. I had never been along there in all the times and routes I had run here over the years so we decided to see where it led to. The tarred surface went for about 150 metres then became grass but there wasn't any path from there we could take so turned back. As we came to Foxon Rd to continue on our previous planned route it began to rain. It wasn't bad at first but soon it became quite heavy. We walked down to Stapleton Rd and crossed over to Russell Mellick Rd and round to Crain Rd then Abingdon and home. It was a good walk and we felt like going further this morning but the rain put us off.

 

We weren't too wet when we got in, but got out off our damp clothes and Moira showered while I made the breakfast. After I had tidied up in the kitchen we both started clearing out the garage. We made a pile of the junk that is to go for rubbish on Monday then packed what we wanted to keep on the shelves and along the sides of the walls. We finished by giving the place a good brush out. It now looks all right and everything is neat and tidy.

 

My next job was to repair chips in the tiles. I mixed up some Prattley Putty and filled in all the chips or breaks I could find. It didn't take much to fill them in and I had quite a bit of the putty left over. I used it to fill in a gap between the front door frame and the wall. After that it was time to relax. I made a cup of tea and worked on the prize crossroad in the 'Telegraph'. I managed to finish and submit it, one of these days I'll win the prize. The rain of earlier when we walked had gone off but later in the morning it clouded over again and started to pour. That settled any thought of playing bowls, anyway I wanted to watch the final day of the 'Tour' in the alps.

 

After lunch it was time to settle down for the 'Tour'. This was the final serious day's racing. It was still in the Alps and the finish was at the mountain top ski resort of Alpe d'Huez with its 21 hairpin bends snaking all the way up. They were showing the full stage on TV this time and as they set off it was along a downhill section for 25 km before reaching the first climb, Col de la Croix de Fer, an 'out of category' ascent to 2067 metres. Unfortunately we didn't see any of these early parts as our electric power was cut not long after the start. I hoped it would be back on after an hour and we wouldn't miss much, so I sat and read the newspaper on my iPad. At 3 pm it didn't come on and it was another hour to wait and hope. It came on at 4 pm, that was a 2 hour cut and I couldn't even make a cup of coffee to keep me going. For the time we were out of power we could have managed a game of bowls, if the weather had been better. When we come out to South Africa again a priority will be to have at least a little 'Camping Gaz' stove to make a hot drink during these outages.

 

Whatever happened before in the race we were now back just at the exciting part. They were on the slopes of Alpe d'Huez and all the leading contenders were still together. There was about 9 km to the finish and Valverde made a break and Froome let him go only to see a few minutes later Quintana shoot forward. He now caught his team mate Valverde who paced him clear of the chasers. When Valverde tired Quintana pushed on and caught up with another Moviestar team mate who had been in an earlier breakaway and was waiting to help Quintana. They raced around the screaming crowds at Dutch corner where they were lucky to find a narrow gap to make their way through. Shortly after the crowds the road widened out and Quintana left his helper and pushed on in pursuit of the now lone leader, the Frenchman Pinot. He had had about 2.5 minutes lead when Quintana made his initial break but it was too much to make up on the ferocious climb and Quintana got second place 17 second behind. Further back Froome didn't panic but kept a steady controlled cadence behind a couple of his lieutenants. He had 2.5 minute lead on Quintana at the start of the day and could afford to lose some of it. In the end he lost 1.5 minutes so still leads the race by a minute and tomorrow being a ceremonial ride into Paris he has won this year's 'Tour de France'. He also won the polka dot jersey for the 'King of the Mountains' due to his finishing position on the 'Alpe'

 

When the cycling was over we had dinner then listened to the radio until 8 pm when the detective 'Lewis' came on. This was the second and concluding part of the one we watched last Saturday. It was quite good and we didn't have any loss of reception tonight when it was reaching the climax. We listened to the radio for an hour before getting to bed at our usual time.

 

 

 

 

 

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More painting and cycling.

Friday 24 July.

 

We went for a walk again this morning before breakfast. It was a nice cool morning and lovely for walking. We made our way down the hill via Abingdon and at the supermarket turned along Link Rd that runs parallel to the main Durban Rd. When we reached the end at the junction with the P68 we turned left and made our way up the hill to the turning with Ibis and home. Although the P68 was a busy road I don't think it's as dangerous as some of the narrow quieter minor roads where even though you are going on the left hand side into the traffic, the cars coming from behind can get very close. But on the P68 it is wide and there is a small hard shoulder that keeps you safely away from the oncoming traffic. Moira was managing a lot better today and she had no problem keeping up with me on some of the long steep hills.

 

When we got back I made the breakfast then washed up the dishes. Next it was into my working togs and more painting. The job today was the surrounds at the front of the garage. There was a lot of high areas, about 3 metres, and I had to get up the ladder to reach them. This meant Moira was tied up holding the ladder. I went on to some even higher bits, the ridges running down the sides of the ends of the roof, that were badly marked and stained. For these Moira fitted the handle of the roller into a broom shaft. This enabled me to get to some of the awkward places with the paint. At the end I used up any paint that was left in the tray by brushing it into some patchy places along the bottom of the gable facing the drive. When finished and after cleaning up I was very pleased with the effect and it is looking very nice. It was then time to shower, change and relax with a cup of tea before lunch.

 

Moira found another fault with the work that was done yesterday. It wasn't the gate but the drop bars that they fitted to the back door. The bracket at one side was snagging on the door and she couldn't get it open. As I predicted there was no sign of him this morning and Moira phoned or texted him every hour until she eventual got a reply. The same as yesterday they arrived as I was settled down watching the 'Tour'. The noise wasn't too bad this time as he just had to remove the bracket and grind off the oversize that was obstructing the door. Next he put epoxy cement over the bolt heads. When the cycling was finished I had a look and the epoxy was just dolloped on. We set to work on it and spread it more evenly with a knife and wiped the excess away with a damp cloth. It look a lot better but still a bit shabby. Hopefully it will do the job it's intend for, to keep out burglars.

 

Back at the cycling Nibali showed how he won last year by soloing to victory on top of La Toussuire on stage 19, while Quintana kept himself in contention in the battle for the yellow jersey by snatching back 30 seconds from Froome when he danced clear on the final ascent to the line.

The third of four successive stages in the Alps was to prove Froome’s most trying day of the Tour to date, and he was under pressure from the start. An early onslaught from Movistar, Tinkoff-Saxo and Astana on the opening climb, the Col du Chaussy, left Froome largely isolated, and though his Sky guard regrouped in the valley that followed, it was a sign of things to come.

 

Froome’s teammate Thomas, fourth in the GC as the day began, struggled on the Col de la Croix de Fer and ended up losing more than 22 minutes to slip to 15th overall. Six kilometres from the summit, Froome himself was placed on the back foot when he had to stop after a stone lodged in his rear brake, prompting Nibali – who turned twice to look at Froome – to take advantage and shoot off with some 62 kilometres still to race, after his Astana team had laid the groundwork on the lower slopes. Nibali denied that he had attacked expressly because Froome was in difficulty, though the yellow jersey saw the incident differently.

 

"He did see what he was doing, I’m pretty sure he looked around, saw I was in trouble and attacked. In my opinion you don’t do that to the race leader, it’s not sportsmanlike," Froome complained afterwards.

 

Nibali closed to within a minute of earlier escapee Rolland by the summit of the Croix de Fer and had more than 50 seconds in hand on the yellow jersey group, and he continued to gain time on the long, sinuous descent that followed. He eventually caught Rolland just over the top of the penultimate ascent, the Col de Mollard, where they had an advantage of 1:47 on the Froome-Quintana group. Despite a scare on a tight right-hand bend midway down the descent, Nibali and Rolland reached the base of La Toussuire with that buffer largely intact. With 16 kilometres of climbing remaining, last year’s Tour winner lifted himself from the saddle and eased clear of Rolland, never to be seen again.

 

With a shade under six kilometres remaining, Quintana finally sensed his opportunity and jumped clear of the yellow jersey group. Froome was quick to marshal a response, first attempting to close the gap with Contador and Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) on his wheel, before then proceeding to give chase alone. Initially, at least, Froome succeeded in limiting his losses well, keeping Quintana’s lead pegged at around the 15-second mark, but the relentlessness of the Colombian’s rhythm began to tell in the final three kilometres, as he nudged his advantage out towards the 30-second mark.

 

Quintana crossed the line in second place, 44 seconds down, while Froome came home in third, 1:14 behind. The Briton had the consolation of putting more than a minute into Contador and Valverde, who finished together, 2:26 down, and he declared himself pleased to have limited the damage.

After dinner tonight we listened to the Country Music Channel on the radio until 8 pm when the courtroom drama 'Silk' came on TV. It was coming to a climax in the story when the picture started to break up before it was lost all together. It came back for a couple of minutes before disappearing again. We gave up when it was due to finish and returned to the radio, the reception there was normal. It was disappointing as we don't know what the outcome was. Maybe when we return to Scotland the series will be repeated and we can find out what happened.

 

 

 

 

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House painting and security gate fitted.

Thursday 23 July.

 

 

The weather was nice this morning and we got out for a walk before breakfast. We went round by Edinburgh to Park Rd and down to Norman Av then when we reached Old Faith Rd headed down to the Spar supermarket. We stopped there to pick up the local newspaper before heading up the hill home. It was a good walk and Moira is beginning to move better and isn't feeling so much pain now that she is rubbing 'Deep Heat' into her thighs and calfs.

 

We didn't bother to shower until later, I was going to do some more painting, this time the front of the house. The man who was making the security gate for us was supposed to come this morning to fit it. He was supposed to come on Monday, then yesterday now Moira kept phoning and texting him until we got a definite time. It wasn't quite definite as it was meant to be this morning but he didn't turn up until the afternoon when I was busy watching the 'Tour'.

 

I didn't try to ladle the paint from the heavy 20 litre container into the roller tray, it was a messy process yesterday, but just dipped the roller into the top of the tub. I used the tray to run the roller back and forward to spread the paint evenly. I laid out old curtains on the stoop to prevent any paint drips getting on the tiles. It was a bit awkward painting where the creeper was growing over the awning and up the top of the wall. I had to use the ladder to get up to the edging that slopes down from the roof and Moira held it steady for me. It turned out actually to be quite an easy job and the paint went on nicely and covered any marks and stains on the wall. It took me about 2 hours to finish along the front of the house. It is looking very bright and clean.

 

We showered after I had cleaned the paint brush and Moira stored the roller in the tray with some water. After I was cleaned and dressed I relaxed with a cup of tea and worked on the 'Telegraph' crossword, successfully. After lunch I put on the TV for the cycling. I was enjoying it for an hour until the guy arrived with his two helpers and the new gate and began to install it. It was now noisy with their drilling, grinding and hammering; I couldn't hear the race commentary. I think the guy was a bit of a 'cowboy' and didn't measure the job properly. He had to remove the 'skirting board' tiles to get the gate to open properly and even at that it didn't open fully but fouled on the wall. Another thing was that the hinges looked a bit skew. He said he was coming back tomorrow to put epoxy cement on the bolt heads to prevent anybody removing them. He said he will be here at 10 am but on past performance I shan't be holding my breath for him arriving then.

The second day in the Alps took the riders 186.5km from Gap to Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne. The Frenchman, Bardet, attacked from a break just shy of the summit of the 'Cat 1' Col du Glandon and carved out an advantage in style on the way down the mountain before holding his lead over the Lacets de Montvernier and the 10 subsequent kilometres to the line.

 

Compatriot Rolland (Europcar) set off in pursuit after cresting the picturesque Lacets, or shoelaces, which were making their first appearance in the Tour, but he couldn’t gain any ground. Anacona (Movistar) took third from the fragments of what had once been a 29-rider breakaway. It is a debut Tour de France stage win for Bardet, for whom the icing on the cake was to move into the top 10 on GC.

 

Whereas the pressure was on Chris Froome right from the start of yesterday’s stage, today it wasn't until the Col du Glandon, that he was really tested. The outcome, though, was the same; he would not be shaken and moved one step closer to Paris, and his lead remains at 3:10 over Quintana (Movistar).

 

It looked like Team Sky would exert their characteristic control all the way up the Glandon but Contador lit things up with an attack that saw him go clear and link up with a group up the road. Nibali made an attack of his own near the top of the climb and while the yellow jersey group thinned, Froome himself remained in contact, and they caught Contador on the descent. Nibali tried again on the Lacets but Quintana, who stands the most realistic chance of overhauling Froome, was fairly inactive given the dwindling kilometres he has to cancel out a hefty deficit. With the top of the GC unchanged, gruelling summit finishes at La Toussuire and Alpe d’Huez on the next two stages are where the attacks will have to be made.

 

After the cycling Moira made the dinner, no power cuts tonight. We watched the early evening quizzes on TV then I put on the Freeview recorder for something different to watch. There was an old film 'The Corn is Green' starring Katherine Hepburn about a woman setting up a school in a mining community in Wales and discovering a genius who wins a scholarship to Oxford. After that I put on a murder mystery, 'Hidden Remains', only to find when it 'finished' that there was a second part. Unfortunately I hadn't recorded it, and it was very good as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The 'Tour' has reached the Alps.

Wednesday 22 July.

 

 

It was still raining this morning when we wakened so we didn't venture out for a walk. The data allowance we had for the internet ran out so we couldn't get the newspaper first thing. I read and finished my book instead. After breakfast Moira went to Vodacom in Port Shepstone to get another couple of Gigs for the internet. While she was out I cut round the grouting on a couple of tiles outside the bathroom door. They then lifted easily and I began to chip away at the cement. This time it came away a bit easier and by the time Moira got back I had cleared about a third. I worked on it in spells throughout the morning and had it cleared and ready to relay the tiles mid-afternoon.

Now we had internet it was possible to get the 'Telegraph' downloaded. I read it in between spells of cement chipping. Last week Moira had left my hearing aids with the woman at the Medical Centre for servicing. The report was that they were obsolete and expensive to repair. Moira phoned her this morning and arranged to go in at mid-day to find out what options we had. She forgot about going bowling when she made the appointment and if we wanted to play it would be a rush. When we looked at the weather we decided to give the bowls a miss. It had been raining on and off most of the morning then cleared up. But now close to lunchtime the clouds were dark and it didn't look very good. It tuned out to be the right decision as it got very dark early afternoon and then there was heavy rain again, certainly not a day for playing bowls.

Before lunch we went to the hearing centre and spoke to, Rekha Sugudhav, the Clinical Audiologist about hearing aids. She said the technology had advanced leaps and bounds since I got mine. They were at different performance levels and prices. The cheapest at R12000 each wasn't much good under noisy conditions, at R2000 it was much better and for R34000 you would be able to hear clearly in any conditions. When I got mine about 10 years ago they were R12000 each but the exchange rate at the time was R10 to £1. So maybe the prices aren't too bad and depending also on how much the Medical Aid pay towards the cost. We decided that to leave it until we come out again and also enquire what we can get in the UK under the NHS.

When we got home it was time for lunch and soon after the cycling began on the TV. It was now in the mountains of the French Alps after their rest day. Sky's Chris Froome remains the GC leader after holding off several attacks by second-placed Quintana while Germany's Simon Geschke won in Pra Loup.

Giant's Geschke had broken free with 50km left of the 161km stage. Earlier, the American van Garderen, third in the GC, was forced to retire, he was struggling well behind the peleton. In an aggressive start to the race he was dropped on the first climb of the day, the category 3 Col des Lèques, suffering with illness. While he did regain contact, the pace picked up again on the Col de la Colle Saint-Michel, the third climb of the day, and soon the BMC team car ground to a halt and van Garderen unclipped, climbed aboard, out of the Tour.

 

Geschke attacked from a large but splintering breakaway just before the foot of the category 1 Col d’Allos, before holding his lead down the mountain and up the short final climb to Pra Loup. Talansky (Cannondale-Garmin) gave chase but it was ultimately in vain, while Rigoberto Urán came home third.

There was plenty of action in the yellow jersey group and while Froome defended his lead over Quintana, and Contador lost over two minutes after crashing on the descent of Allos, and dropped to fifth overall behind Geraint Thomas (Sky).

Pra Loup is symbolic for being the scene of the downfall of the great Eddy Merckx. In the 1975 Tour, the five-time Tour de France winner was in yellow and in the lead on the descent of the Col d’Allos but was overhauled on the final climb to Pra Loup by Bernard Thévenet, who took yellow and went onto to win the race. Merckx wouldn’t wear yellow or win a Grand Tour again and Thévenet wrote himself into cycling folklore as the Tombeur de Merckx – the man who brought Merckx down.

Contador might still be in the race but his general classification ambitions were dealt an equally fatal blow. The Spaniard, part of a select group than included Froome, Quintana, Nibali, and Valverde, crashed on the descent of the Col d’Allos and finished 2:17 down on Froome. He is now 6:40 back on GC and his already faint hopes of pulling off the Giro d’Italia-Tour de France double have all but disappeared from sight.

During the cycling when there wasn't much action I mixed up some cement and laid the tiles in the sections I had cleared. I mixed up more cement than I needed and Moira used the extra to grout between the tiles I had previously laid. We also cut away the grout that was loose round some tiles and re-grouted them. When the cycling was over we had dinner then watched the quizzes until about 8 pm. After that there wasn't anything on TV we wanted to watch. I worked on a crossword, not successfully, then read until until bedtime. Hopefully the weather will be better tomorrow as I want to do more painting on the outside walls of the house.

 

 

 

 

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Meeting with SARS.

Tuesday 21 July.

 

It was out for a walk after having a cup of tea and read of the newspaper in bed for half an hour. We went up to Edinburgh Rd then before reaching Old Faith we turned down Park Rd. a bit down the hill we took a right turn on to Norman Av which led us to further down Old Faith. Before reaching the Spar supermarket we turned up past the tennis club, all the way to Edinburgh Rd again and home. It was another good hour walk but going down Old Faith Moira was suffering from sore thigh muscles. Later near the end the pain was easing, she probably still has to get used to the change in her stride pattern created by her new orthotics.

 

After breakfast we didn't bother showering as I wanted to jet clean more of the outside of the house. We took the hose through the garage this time and I did the front and the side of the house. We finished off by hooking up the hose at the back of the house and I did the section of the walls there that I had missed previously. It is all looking quite good now with most of the marks removed. There were places where the jet was too strong and stripped off bits of paint. I will fill these places with ployfilla when I get some and also in some places were there are stains I will give a coat of paint. The weather was beautiful and very warm. We got our seats out on the stoop and read for a while with a cup of tea.

 

After relaxing for half an hour I began cleaning the woodwork on the small front bedroom window. When it was dry I gave it a coat of varnish. It was so warm now that I had my t-shirt off to get a bit of a tan before returning to Scotland. When I finished the window it was time for our showers now that the dirty work was finished. After that we sat out in the sun again until lunchtime.

 

We set out for the tax office in Port Shepstone for 2pm. It took a while to find the woman who helped us yesterday but eventually she appeared and gave us a numbered ticket for the woman who dealt with 'complex problems' which described our difficulties. We still had to wait for an hour as the woman had three people before us. I explained what was happening with my tax and the UK taxman. She more or less agreed that we weren't theoretically resident in SA over the period in question. I said that it had been suggested that I download a SARS form to claim back the tax I had paid here. She checked on the web and printed off two forms. One was to stop paying tax to SARS in future, the other was to claim a rebate of tax already paid. It isn't just a simple process of competing the forms as they have to be signed and stamped by the Inland Revenue in the UK and then posted back from there. The problem with that is the difficulties with the SA postal system which due to strikes and a back-log of post its not a system you can rely on. In the meantime I will wait until we get back to Scotland and phone the taxman to explain the situation and play it 'by ear'.

 

It was quite convenient dealing with SARS today as it was a rest day on the Tour de France, so we didn't miss anything. When we got back I returned to reading my book and have nearly finished it but still can't figure out who the murderer is! There was a power cut at 5pm, the first we have had for ages and it was lighted candles as it got dark outside. It only lasted an hour so Moira was able to get the dinner ready at a reasonable time. After dinner we watched the quizzes on TV then later listened to the Country Music channel until bedtime. The weather had changed early evening and it began to rain. It got very heavy and continued through the night.

 

 

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Dinner with Alison and Peter.

Monday 20 July.

 

When we got up and before our walk we took, in relays, all the empty boxes and rubbish that had accumulated in the garage,over the last few weeks. The garage is quite clear now and just needs tidying up before we leave. After all the walking up and down the drive we just had a short walk this morning. Up and round Bird Rd to the road that runs parallel and back to Ibis then home. About 15 minutes, Moira didn't want to go much further as her leg and thigh muscles were sore.

 

After breakfast I put on old shorts that I had used for painting years ago and began painting the gable end of the house. I didn't bother trying to get very high, just as far as I could stretch with the roller. The main thing was to paint along the bottom of the wall where it was badly marked and stained. Also I had to paint the end of the wall surrounding the patio which was very marked. It took just over an hour and is looking very much better. After cleaning up the brushes etc I had a shower.

 

Alison had sent us a text saying she was coming at 10 am with the information about the rent and expenses for when the house was let last year, for my SA tax purposes. She didn't appear but later we got another text inviting us for dinner this evening and no doubt we will get the info then.

 

After lunch we went to the SARS offices in Port Shepstone. The place was crowded with people waiting on rows of seats with their tax problems. We were going to wait in the queue at the information desk when a girl came up to us wearing an overall that said 'Information Agent' and asked if she could help. I explained our problems with the UK tax authorities and she said the woman who could help wasn't in today but to come back tomorrow at 2 pm and she would arrange a meeting. When we left we went to Glen Smit the management consultants offices, who look after Lourie Gardens, that were next door. The levy for our complex had increased after the recent AGM and Moira wanted details so she could alter the standing order at the bank. Once that business was complete we went to Pick-n-Pay for some shopping before heading home.

The cycling had over 100 km to go when the TV broadcast tied in with the race. There was a large breakaway of riders about 6 minutes ahead of the peleton but the main contenders weren't interested, the nearest one in the break was over 30 minutes behind Froome. So it looked like the peleton were having an easy day and let the gap gradually increase to nearly 20 minutes at the finish. At that point they were climbing the Col de Cabre and both groups worked together and there were no attacks. It changed on the final climb, Col de Manse, and the leading group started to disintegrate. One rider managed to break clear, Ruben Plaza of Lampre, and crossed the summit a minute in the lead. A pursuing group included the wearer of the green points jersey Peter Segan. He isn't a renowned climber but hung in with the others until they crested the hill then he shot off. He is seemingly fearless descending on twisting winding hairpins but couldn't make up the deficit on Plaza and came in second for about the fourth time. The attacks started in the main peleton when they reached Manse. It was Nibili who went over first and gained about 20 seconds on the others but he is too far back to make do any difference now. The Welshman in the Sky Team, Geraint Thomas had what looked like a nasty accident on one of the hairpins on the final descent. Another rider collided with him and he went off the edge of the road and down a steep drop after colliding with a telegraph pole. The TV didn't dwell on the incident and we thought that was him out of the race but he somehow recovered, got on his bike and a team mate paced him to the finish, he only lost a minute.

 

When the cycling was over I checked the golf. There was about three on 15 under par then a group at 14 including Spieth looking for his third Major in a row. The amateur Dunne was beginning to struggle and the pressure of leading the Open on the final day was getting to him. The leaders were only just after halfway when it was time for us to leave for dinner with Alison and her husband Peter. It was just down the drive to the other complex beside Ibis Rd., it was now dark and we had to use a torch to find our way. We had a good evening and got the breakdown of the income and expenses for the rental. Alison had discovered that there was a discrepancy in the figures and there was about R6500 put into a wrong account by Nedbank. This will be paid to us when the bank sort out what happened. I told Alison to pay us R5000 and the difference will be her fee for looking after the house until we return. We had a lovely meal, pork chops and chicken with peas and mashed potatoes. It was after 10 pm when we headed up the drive home after some chatting about the happenings in the complex and the crazy neighbours we have.

 

It was straight to bed when got in, it was a late night for us.

 

 

 

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Scottburgh Car Show

Sunday 19 July.

 

 

 

The South Coast Motor Club were meeting at the Spar carpark this morning to drive together up to the Scottburgh car show. We left the house at 7:30 am for our walk and to go via the Spar to see the cars before they left. We walked over to Abingdon and straight down the hill. A few open sports cars passed us on the way down. At the carpark there was a number of cars already there and more arriving.

South Coast Club's cars

The types varied from MG's and Triumphs to kit cars and old Ford and Vauxhall saloons. We walked around the parking area admiring them until they all left in a convoy at 8 am. We continued our walk and headed up Old Faith Rd home. It was a fairly easy climb at first then levelled out for a bit before hitting the long steep section. When I was running this steep section always reminded me of Poly Shorts, the famous Comrades' hill, as it wound its way up through the trees. I pushed on and when I reached the junction with Edinburgh Rd I turned to go back for Moira but she wasn't far behind and we stuck together home from there. It was a good route and a challenging hill to tackle.

 

When we got in Moira had her shower and I made the tea and toast. When Moira was finished she made the bacon, sausages and eggs while I worked on more cement chipping until the breakfast was ready. After I had washed up the dishes I had my shower then we got ready to go to Scottburgh. It had been cool again when we were walking but as we drove up the highway it began to get hot forcing me to turn on the air conditioning. I read my book while Moira drove up the road, there wasn't much traffic about.

 

The car show was in the High School grounds in Scottburgh. This was next to the golf course and along the road where we lived in the granny flat belonging to Bob and Pat for six months just after we retired. The carpark had a 'full' sign up and there were cars parked all along the verges on the adjacent streets. We found a place on the verge on the street opposite the gate into the golf course. It only cost us R10 each to get in, the pensioner's rate. The carpark was on the lower field and we had to make our way through the school grounds to the upper sport's field where the show was set up.

Scottburgh Car Show

We stopped at the beer tent and looked over the field, there were row and row of collector's cars all highly polished and in excellent condition even though a lot were about 50 years old. There were many tents and gazebos pitched on one side and selling various kinds of food. And as usual there was the public address system pumping out pop music. It's a curious thing that organisers of event seem to think that people can't survive without music blaring out!

Alex and his MG

Moira phoned Alex and he said he was in the beer tent that we were next to. We soon spotted him and he bought us drinks. We sat outside with a couple of friends of Alex from Jo'berg, another pair of 'petrol heads'. We sat now in the warm sunshine and refreshed ourselves with the cool drinks before starting to wander around the exhibits. It was very interesting and we saw nearly all the types of cars we have owned over the years; Austin A35, Ford Cortina, Ford Capri, Ford Anglia, Morris 1100 and Land Rover. There was lots of sports cars and Alex had his MG on display. We saw a Morris Minor Traveller that was in immaculate condition, it was gleaming and the unique wooden surrounds on the back were varnished and shining. We chatted to the owner and he wanted to show of the engine before we moved on, it was spotless and glistening as well.

Gleaming MM Traveller

Next in line there were three white Morris Minor 1000s, and I was reminded of the times I drove the girls to school in the morning and we had a car spotting game. You got 10 for a VW Beetle, 100 for a white Beetle, a Minor 1000 was worth 1000 points but the very rare white Morris was ?? we never spotted one.

Three white MM 1000's

 

Later I sent a photograph of these cars to Suzy and Margaret to remind them. Once we had been round all the cars we looked at the food tents for lunch but there were long queues at them all. We decided to head down to the sea front and get something to eat there. Alex was hanging on at the show and to see his friends so we said our farewells and would see him at the end of the year again.

 

We picked up the car and drove down to the carpark at the beach. There used to be a restaurant there but it was now closed. There was a cafe that had a sign saying 'wors rolls' but when we asked for two found they were all finished! We drove up into the town and spotted a curry house. We stopped there shared a lamb and a chicken curry with a portion of rice and a naan bread. We had a wait while it was prepared and had a beer to keep us going. The curries weren't bad but had a lot of bones!

 

After our lunch we made our way back to 'Tweni and I read my book again as Moira drove. As we got home and I was tuning into the cycling on TV Suzy phoned on 'Face Time', she had been to Port Glasgow and picked up our mail. There was a letter from the income tax assessment department. The guy had received my letter about the places and countries we stayed over the past 10 years to determine where we were resident. He had decided that I wasn't resident in South Africa for the periods 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14 but in the UK as each year I had spent more than 91 days there. He now says that I have to pay the full UK tax on my pension for these years, amounting to £6700 and to claim back from SARS what I paid in SA. I don't for a minute think that this will be easy. We spotted a SARS tax office in Port Shepstone on Saturday next to the 'Paint Pot' when we were looking for paint and will go there tomorrow and see what they say about the situation.

 

I settled down after the call from Suzy to watch the cycling but couldn't concentrate on it as my mind was turning over the tax problems what to do about them. When the 'Tour' did catch my attention they had gone over the small climb of Cote de l'Escrinet and Cavendish who was not in the best of health and other injured riders were left, they came in 9 minutes after the main bunch finished the day. Cavendish must have been disappointed as this stage was the last one for the sprinters before arriving in Paris. There had been a few breaks earlier but they only managed a couple of minutes advantage before being caught. All the teams were together for the final 30 km of flat cycling into Valence and the bunch sprint with Greipel winning for the third time.

 

During the adverts early in the cycling I checked on the other sport's channel for the cricket score. England were in again chasing 508 after Australia had declared at 254/2 . England weren't making a very good job of the chase and were on 25/2. After the cycling I turned over again but there wasn't any cricket to watch, England were all out for a miserable 103 and came no where near saving to the match. I moved quickly to the golf. The weather had improved and the players were hitting lots of sub-par scores in the calm sunny conditions. The interesting thing was the joints leader with the South African, Oosthuizen, and the Australian, Day, was an amateur from Ireland, Dunne. They were all at 12 under going into the final day. An amateur hasn't won the Open since Bobby Jones in the 1920's. The other player only a shot behind was the American Spieth who has won the Masters and the US Open already this year. Another record if he wins his third Major in a row.

 

We just had a light snack this evening as we had a big lunch at the curry house. Later I read my book until 'Call the Midwife' came on BBC Entertainment later. It was another that we had seen some time ago but it was enjoyable to watch again

 

 

 

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Lunch with Alex at 'Fish on the River'

Saturday 18 July.

 

It was out for a walk again this morning before breakfast. We went round Edinburgh Rd and down the hill to Norwood which was a new road for us to take to the Spar supermarket. We went over the main road and along Commercial Rd to the bridge crossing the main road then went all the way back up the hill via Miller and Abingdon home. It was a good walk and there are always hills to keep us fit. It had been about an hour's walk when we got back and we met Steve on his way out for a walk. He told us that he played a bowls competition at 'Tweni yesterday and they had all kinds of weather, cold at the start, then rain and warm by the afternoon. The weather today was cold when we were walking but it was beginning to heat up and looked promising for a beautiful day.

 

Alex was down at Scottburgh for the car show and was staying at the Blue Marlin hotel there. He said he might come down to visit us but we hadn't heard from him and we wanted to go this morning out to buy paint. Moira called him on the phone and he said he was on his way to 'Twini but that we had time before he got there to go out for the paint. We went out straight away and checked at the 'Paint Pot' in Port Shepstone first, but they were too expensive. Instead we went up to the Builder's Merchants next to the tile warehouse. They had a good selection and we got 20 litres of white matt finish and a roller for R700.

 

We came straight back after our purchases and soon Alex was phoning for us to open the gate into the complex. We had a cup of tea and sat and chatted until it was time to go out for lunch, we were going to Fish on the River. Alex had brought the 'fix-a-floor' tube of adhesive for fixing the hollow tiles. Unfortunately it needed a calking gun, like that used to apply silicone sealant, to apply the adhesive and we didn't have one. We decided to go to the little hardware store in the Oribi Plaza for a gun before heading on for lunch. The Plaza was busy but we got a parking spot near the entrance to the mall and we were in and out quickly and got the calking gun. The restaurant was quite busy and we had to park the car outside on the river bank. It was now very sunny and warm so we got a seat outside. We all had fish and chips and a beer. It was very nice and the fish, hake, is excellent.

Alex and Moira at 'Fish on the River'

 

When we got home again Alex didn't stay but headed back to Scottburgh. We will see him again tomorrow when we go to the car show. As soon as we got in I turned on the TV for the 'Tour' but didn't pay much attention as I wanted to try out the 'fix-a-floor'. I picked 3 tiles together that were hollow sounding and as instructed drilled holes in the middle of the edges through the grouting. I then stuck the nozzle of the tube into each hole in turn and pressed the trigger on the gun to inject the adhesive. I was to keep pressing until the hole filled or the adhesive came out some of the other holes. It didn't happen and the fluid just kept going in until the tube was empty. I put the tool box which is heavy on top of the tiles to apply some pressure overnight to help binding. I was somewhat disappointed as even if this is successful one tube at R200 to do three tiles will end up very expensive. I decided to go back to cutting through the grouting then lifting the tiles, chisel out the cement and relay. It is a long tedious job but a lot cheaper. I made a start on this and lifted two tiles after cutting the grout. I spent about 15 minute spells through the rest of the afternoon and evening chiselling away.

 

When I was able to sit and watch the cycling I saw there was a 20 man breakaway about 6 minutes ahead of the main peleton. They were on the climb up Cote de Sauveterre but nobody was attacking in either group. The main peleton with Sky setting the pace seemed happy to let the leading bunch have the race and made no serious attempts to reduce the gap. The real drama was left for the final short steep ascent to the Cote de la Croix Neuve. The front group began to disintegrate and two stronger climbers rode clear over the top. The finish was flat on an airfield and the two Frenchmen Berbet and Pinot seemed to have the race between them as they sprinted for the line. Suddenly from nowhere an Englishman from the Wirrel, Steve Cummings, came flying past them to claim the win. He was riding for the South African team MTN Qhubeka and it happened on Mandela Day! There was action in the main bunch on the same final hill. Quintana broke clear, Nibali followed and Froome appeared to have been left. But Froome slowly clawed his way back then Nibali struggled. Quintana and Froome finished together but the big loser was van Garderen who dropped from 2nd to 3rd place with Quintana leapfrogging him. Nibali and Contador also lost time to Valverde who moved up in the GC. The route today had been through the gorges of the river Tarn. This is the area of the Robert Louis Stevenson Walk part of which we did a few years ago. The scenery of the cliffs and gorge was truly magnificent.

Cliffs and gorge of River Tarn

 

After the cycling I checked on the cricket. England hadn't done too badly and were all out for 312. Australia were now in for there second innings and doing well again. At close they were 108 without loss. England are now 362 behind and will be doing well if they can salvage anything from this match. Next I turned over for the golf and it was a bit confusing as there were still golfers who were well over par that should have missed the cut. It turned out that play was stopped in the morning with the ones still trying to complete their second round matches from yesterday. There was tremendous winds and the balls wouldn't remain in place on the greens for putting. The weather had cleared up later and they were out again still attempting to complete the second rounds. All the third round matches will be played tomorrow and the Open extended for the final day to Monday. It was difficult to figure out who was in the lead.

 

Later in the evening there was one in the Oxford detective series 'Lewis'. It was on at 9 pm and finished at 10 pm which was strange as this programme was usually 2 hours long. It turned out that it has been split in two but there was no indication when the second half was to be broadcast. It was quite good and surprisingly we hadn't seen it before.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Pressure cleaning outside walls

Friday 17 July.

 

We didn't go for a walk this morning but stayed in bed with our cup of tea and read the newspaper. Moira wanted to tidy up the house now all the boxes had gone and she could vacuum and wash the floors. I wanted to finish off clearing the cement from where the tiles were that I had lifted in the lounge, then relay them. After that we planned to pressure wash the gable wall of the house that was very marked and dirty.

 

After breakfast while Moira was doing her house work I finished off the chipping. I mixed up what I thought was enough cement to do the lounge and back bedroom tiles. It turned out there was only enough for the two tiles in the lounge and I had to mix up the same again for the bedroom ones. The tiles are looking very good and feel solid underneath. There was a little cement left and Moira used it to grout the tile I had laid in the bathroom a couple of days ago. We will leave the tiles I laid this morning for a few days to settle before grouting them.

 

When Moira had completed the house work I got the pressure washer set up and we began work on the gable end. The end of the small wall around the patio was badly stained with algae and even the violent spraying wouldn't clean it. We got some water and 'Handy Andy' with a scubbing brush and Moira scrubbed before I gave it another power spray. It was still badly marked and I am going to have to get some paint to make it look better. The main gable wall cleaned up not badly except for about a foot along the bottom that was badly marked, it will need painting as well. We had a lot of problems with the cleaner, the hose kept coming off with the pressure, it looks like we need to get a new connector for the hose to the instrument. Another problem we have is that in places the painting isn't very good and the jet just strips it off leaving the bare wall underneath. We have decided to buy some paint and touch up the bad parts next week.

 

After cleaning the machine and storing it away Moira hosed me down to get rid of the grit and dirt form my arms and legs. Then we had our showers and into clean dry clothes. It was then lunchtime and I turned on the TV for the cricket latest. Australia were still doing well though they had lost another couple of wickets in the morning session. They were about 430/3 at their lunch break. I turned over for the cycling at the cricket interval.

 

From the race profile for the 198.5 km from Muret to Rodez it shows another hilly stage that wasn't of any interest to the sprinters. There was a breakaway of 6 riders when the TV joined the race and they were in the process of climbing the Cote de Saint-Cirgue. The peleton was about 4 minutes behind and all staying together. Once over the top of the Cote the breakaway split and 3 riders broke clear. The peleton slowly pegged back their lead but it was very close and it was only on the final 600 m uphill to the finish when they were caught. The winner was the BMC Belgian cyclist Greg van Avermaet who out-sprinted the holder of the green jersey Peter Segan. The leaders positions remained the same.

 

As soon as the cycling was finished I switched over to the cricket. Australia had declared on 566/8 and put England in to bat for the last session after tea. They were on 26/1 when I began watching then lost another three quick wickets with very little addition to their total. Cook, the captain, was still in and playing sensibly and not taking any chances and survived with Stokes at close of play without losing another wicket. They had scored only 85 runs, they will be lucky if they manage to salvage a draw.

 

After dinner I change the sport to golf. The weather at St Andrews was bad with strong winds and rain. The play was delayed and some of the second round matches were held-over to finish tomorrow. After the sport was finished we watched the courtroom drama 'Silk', another in the series we haven't seen before. It was all right but its turning into a bit of a soap and the story line continues from week to week. Hopefully there will be some conclusion next week before we leave for Scotland.

 

 

 

 

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Removal of personal items to Scotland.

Thursday 16 July.

 

It was out for a walk again this morning before breakfast. We went up round Bird Rd to Old Faith Rd then followed it all the way up to the P68 main road that comes up from the Durban Rd., fortunately the P68 wasn't too busy but we kept safe by walking close to the side on the small hard shoulder. It wasn't far to the turning into Ibis Rd and then straight back along it home. It was another good walk and every day Moira is getting stronger and stronger. It was about 45 minutes today again with some nice hills to negotiate.

 

I made the breakfast as soon as I got in while Moira had her shower. The truck from Stuttaford's arrived at 9 am as expected and the two men got straight into packing everything into their boxes. I had my shower while they were busy. When I finished and came through Steve had come round to see us about the truck parked in the driveway. Shiela, the evil bitch, opposite had phoned him in his capacity as Head of the Body Corporate to complain about it. We couldn't think what her problem was as there was plenty of room to get past if she wanted out. Steve seemed to be embarrassed about it but I thought he should have told that woman to get lost and if she had a problem to come to us herself. She seems to have everyone running to her beck and call but knows that if she had come to us to complain she would have been told in no uncertain terms where to go. They only took an hour to pack the boxes and load them into the truck so I don't know what her gripe was.

 

After they left we went out to the tile warehouse in Port Shepstone. I took part of a tile that I had lifted to find out if they still had them as the box of replacements we have only has about 10 in it. Unfortunately they were an obsolete company and style so we will have to hope the 'fix-a-floor' treatment that Alex is bringing down at the weekend works. While there we bought a bag of tile cement and a tool for cutting out the grouting between tiles. When we left there we went to the builder's merchants across the road. I had checked on the internet about getting tar to fill a couple of potholes in front of the garage. There was a article available called premixed Asphalt and I asked if they had this product. They called it 'cold tar' and I bought a bag, there will be more than enough in the bag to do the three small holes Moira is worried about.

 

When we got back I tried out the grout cutting tool on a tile in the lounge that had a large chip out of its corner. I ran the tool up and down the edges and it cleared the grouting very easily. As the last of it cleared the tile itself lifted in one piece. The tile next to it was one that was hollow underneath. I removed the grout around it and it lifted in one piece as well. If the tiles lift as easily as this I might be able to lift and reuse the ones that are giving the 'hollow' problem. I turned the TV on before lunch for the 2nd Ashes Test from Lords. Australia were batting and doing very well, just before the break they lost a stupid wicket but went in on 80/1, not bad. After lunch I spent spells throughout the afternoon chipping away at the hard adhesive. It seemed to be coming away a lot easier on these two spaces.

 

 

As soon as the cricket stopped for lunch I switched over for the cycling. The Tour was still in the mountains of the Pyrenees. It was a 195 km stage from Lannemezan to the Plateau de Beille. It was a series of climbs and descents, the three major ones were; Col de Portet 1069m, Col de la Core 1595m, and Port de Lors 1517m with a final climb of 18 km to another mountain top finish at 1780m on the Plateau de Beille. When the TV made its connection with the race there was about 100 km to go. There had been a large breakaway of 22 riders and even though they were 12 minutes ahead none of them were close enough in the GC to worry the main contenders. They were at that point climbing the Port de Lors and were beginning to split up as the ascent got tougher. Over the top there was a smaller break of three riders and they picked up a couple of minutes on the others. The peleton kept together and there weren't any challenges when they reached this hill. The weather now deteriorated with heavy rain and hailstones. It was so bad at times we lost transmission and I returned to chipping away the tile adhesive during these interludes. The trio that led over the top stayed ahead until the monster climb to the finish where they began to struggle. None of them were recognised climbers and Rodriguez of Katusha, a good climber, broke from the ones behind and soon caught and overtook the leaders to eventually win. Back in the peleton there were now plenty of challenges to Froome, in turn Contador, Nibali, Valverde and Quintana applied the pressure but each time Froome responded and stayed strong. The only one happy to just hang-in without threatening was the American, van Garderen who is second at the moment in the GC. In the end all the main contenders finished together 6 minutes down on the winner.

 

When the cycling was over I switched to the cricket again. England weren't doing well and hadn't taken any more wickets since the lunch break. Australia finished the day on 337/1. There was also the Open Golf Championship from St Andrews. I watched to that until the comedy 'Open All Hours' came on BBC. Later there was 'Call the Midwife' but it was the one we watched last Sunday. I read my book instead before getting to bed.

 

 

 

 

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Good day bowling and warmer weather.

Wednesday 14 July.

 

Another walk this morning before breakfast. The weather was looking a lot better with the clouds having cleared and a nice blue sky; it was also feeling a lot warmer. We headed up to Edinburgh Rd then down the hill passed the Tennis Club to Mdoni Rd where we turned up the hill to Park then Old Faith before going down to Bird Rd and home. We were going at a brisk pace and when we reached Old Faith there was a couple of women walkers in front of us, we pushed to overtake them then left them far behind. It was about 3/4 hour today that we were out and wanted to make sure we got back for the woman from Stuttaford's with the forms to be signed.

 

I made the breakfast and then washed and tidied up the kitchen before she arrived. It didn't take long to get all the paper worked completed. I asked for an approximate time for delivery of the boxes in Scotland and she said about 3 months. As we will likely be away in Spain at that time I said that Suzanne would be at the house for it arriving. She said they would require an ID for Suzy before they would delivery it into her hands. She must be thinking that it was South Africa where they could easily delivery to the wrong house and the person would just accept it. They don't understand that our neighbours would take the stuff in if we weren't there or if the delivery people thought we were just at the shops they would leave all the boxes in the back garden and it would be safe enough.

 

Once she had gone Moira brought the t-shirts and other odds and ends through to the dining area and stacked it with the rest of the boxes. Everything was ready for collection tomorrow. While she was doing this I finished off clearing the adhesive from the tile spaces I had removed in the bathroom. It was all ready for laying a new tile. The little box of tile cement that we had bought I discovered was sufficient to lay only one tile. I mixed it with water and there was just enough and no more for the one tile. It seemed a fairly solid base once it was in place. It should be set by tomorrow morning.

 

It was an early lunch today before heading for Southport and the bowls. It was a big difference in the weather now, very warm and requiring only to wear our sport shirts and shorts. There weren't many at the club today, only enough for 2 rinks of trips and 2 of pairs. Moira and I were playing pairs but in different matches. I was lead and my skip was Bob. We won the first two ends but then the opposition came back and we didn't win another shot before the tea break. The tea must have helped as we made a come-back in the second half and won the match on the final end. It had been a close game all the way through and most ends were only won by the odd shot. I payed quite well and managed to get a couple of my bowls close to the jack each end. Moira's match was also close but she was on the losing side this time. I bought the other lead a drink while Moira got treated being on the losing side. We stayed for a half an hour and chatted over our drinks before getting home.

 

When we got in the cycling was in the final kilometres of today's stage so we waited until later to watch the highlights for the action and the result. After dinner we watched the usual early evening quizzes until 8 am when the cycling came on. The stage was again in the Pyrenees with more mountains for the riders to climb. The route was 188 km and started in Pau and finished in Cauterets. Cauterers was where we finished when we walked the first half of the GR 10. From there we caught a bus to Lourdes.

Lac de Gaube, Cauterets

 

 

The route went through Lourdes after leaving Pau then up the long climb over first the Col d'Aspin 1490m, next came the monster Col du Tourmalet 2115m followed by a steep twisting descent before the shorter final climb to the finish on the Cote de Cauterets 817m. I think this might be the route we took in the bus (the other way) to get to Lourdes. On the highlights programme they didn't show any of the early parts of the stage but moved to when they were tackling the climb up the Col du Tourmalet. There was a breakaway of 7 riders that was about 6 minutes ahead of the peleton but on the climb a Tinkoff-Saxo rider, Majka, broke away from the rest to cross the summit in the lead. The rest couldn't cut his lead on the fast descent, they were all going at the same speed, at times approaching 80 kph. At one point the leader had to avoid some cows that decided to cross the road at the same time.

 

He still had his advantage on the final ascent to the Cote de Cauterets and a comfortable win. In the main peleton there weren't any attacks on Froome and all the main contenders finished together. Except Nibili, last year's winner who was dropped on Tourmalet and is out of contention now. Tomorrow is the third and last day in the Pyrenees and there may be some challenges to the leader on the hills then.

 

It was nearly 10 pm when the cycling finished so it was straight to bed. The removal people from Stuttaford's come in the morning to pick up all the stuff we are sending back to Scotland.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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