Trying out a Fiat 500 for the day

To change the subject a bit from gardening I'll tell you about this cute little car I got to drive today!

My car had to go in for a service and Andre had planned to go diving so we talked the guy at the garage into loaning me a car for the day. Andre asked a few questions about the Fiat500 parked outside and when it came to fetching me a car to loan the guy said he'd see if he can get me a Fiat.

Andre's been talking about these little cars for a while now and I've never really liked the look of them too much. It was just another small little bubble car.

Unfortunately for Andre I was the one put on the insurance to drive the car since he had to go diving and I had to take the car back later today. So he couldn't drive it, but instead enjoyed telling me to go faster!

It's a really cool little car and that's not a word I use often. It was such fun to drive and I didn't want to give it back! It has a huge (as huge as can be for such a compact car) sun roof so it's nice and light inside.

It has a small boot (American: trunk) and you could probably fit a week's grocery shopping in there I suppose. I wouldn't see it as a family car. But then it could be more of a family car than my two seater! So it does at least have back seats and space for (not too long) legs in the back. 

The front was really spacious. I loved the dashboard. Really funky!

AND it tells me when to change gears! I loved it! If only it would actually tell me out loud so I could keep my eyes on the road more, but that would drive Andre totally mad I know. You can't see it so clearly on the picture below as we live in a bit of a bumpy road area but it says "shift" with an up arrow (click to enlarge). It also tells me when to shift down. (I know, naughty taking pictures while driving, but I was going slow and did it quickly and thought you might not believe me otherwise.)

Besides telling me when to shift (gear) up and down it also shows the date and temperature which is handy as well as which radio station you're listening to. It has all the necessary buttons on the steering wheel plus air con and electric windows. A "City" button makes steering even lighter and has "Stop start" which switches the car off at intersections once you take it out of gear and take your foot off the clutch. It switches back on right away when you step back on the clutch. Would have been good in Switzerland where everyone switches off while waiting at traffic lights.

Only £30 a year for road tax compared to the £260 I paid the other day for my car. And this little diesel model gets around 55 miles to the gallon (Andre and my car both get around 30 mpg) similar apparently to what the Prius gets which I still like even though Andre says it can't be called a car. (The Fiat500 is not a hybrid.)

I had a fun Saturday driving around in it. Especially since once we got home from the garage we realised we left the house keys in my car and had to drive all the way back again!

Apples and pears

I suspect you will all soon be quite bored hearing about the various fruit in our garden. Don't worry, it will soon be winter and will all be over then!

It's been a bit rainy this afternoon and while Andre's been out diving all day today and yesterday I took some time off too, reading on the sofa and having afternoon naps. I really don't usually do that.

When I got up just now I noticed it had stopped raining for a bit and spotted some pears on the ground below the pear tree. I rushed out to pick what wasn't ready for picking last week. Don't want to be losing out on any pears!

The pear tree is not as big as the apple tree yet. Not nearly. I have now picked all the pears except for three sitting right at the top which I can't reach. (What you see in the bag is about a third of what I've already picked.) They will stay in the fridge now for two weeks as I read they need to be kept cold for a bit in order to ripen. Then they get to sit out on the counter to warm up again and if they're still not ripe they will be spending some quality time with some of the apples who will help them along.

Did you spot another something green next to the bag? That is the one and only zucchini we managed to grow!! And it is tiny. See:

They just didn't get enough sun. Firstly it wasn't a very sunny summer and secondly they were in quite a shady spot in the garden at the previous house. Will try again next season.

And the bag Andre's dad and Marietjie brought from Borough Market filled with goodies from when they were in London a few months ago. It's now my fruit picking bag, I don't have a basket, and lives at the back door next to our wellies.

Family visit and curtain shopping

We had another family visit this past weekend. It's been so nice to have been able to spend time with all our family this year. This time it was Mom and Jürgen coming out to see the new house.

We didn't do any touristy sight seeing this weekend. Instead we dragged them around the shops to help us choose curtains. I have never before had to choose curtains and found it very difficult to make a decision.

After a few shops we finally found some fabric we liked. Initially we just wanted to get ready made curtains and be done with it, but there really wasn't anything ready made that we liked. And we would have had to shorten the ready mades anyway, so now we're having curtains made. Well, I still have to go and order them. When we got to ordering this weekend we doubted our measuring skills and decided to go back home to do another measure-up before buying.

Mom picked the first grapes from our greenhouse.
They were very nice and sweet!

We stayed home Saturday evening and made our famous home made pizza for dinner.

Sunday after breakfast we went for a walk along the canal and then home for scones and tea before having to take them back to the airport.

The two photographers at work.

Another great weekend!

Follow by Email

I have now added a "Follow by Email" button for those who don't follow through blogger or google reader. Fill in your email address and you should get an email each time I've added a new post. That way you won't have to keep checking and be disappointed on the days that I haven't had anything to share with you. 

I say 'should' as this is how I hope it will work! Let me know if it doesn't.

Free stuff from our water suppliers

I love receiving packages in the mail and love it even more when it's free!

Last week we got mail from the water supplier company in this area, reminding us of course that our water won't be for free, but offering some other free goodies. I went onto their website which is a great website by the way. Very informative. I learnt that we have hard water as I suspected of course and that 99,7% of water tested in households were of very good drinkable quality in our area. That's good to know as often I can't be bothered to pour water from the filter jug but just fill my water bottle straight from the tap. There was also more info about the water which I didn't understand and wasn't important to me. All I needed to know is that I can drink it and need to use a little more detergent in the washing machine for hard water.

On the website there was also a water calculator. It asks you questions about your house and how you use water. E.g how often do we bath vs shower which is less now that we discovered that the showers at the gym has even higher pressure than we now have at home making washing my hair much quicker! One thing no one can complain of at the gym is the water pressure!

Anyway, I also read that we can have a water meter installed (*free of charge*) and this will be done on Tuesday morning next week. This will mean that we won't be billed for an estimated average amount of water we might have used but instead for the amount we use only. This should save us some money. We live in a 3 bedroom house and in the average 3 bedroom house there are also children using water so we should be using less than the average and even less now that we are paying to shower (and exercise) at the gym!

On this website there was also a section of free water saving goodies that you could order. We ordered what we could use in our house and received it today. I think it's great that they offer this, helping people to save water and money.

The two blue packets are stuff you put in flower pots or hanging baskets and it absorbs more water so you won't need to water your flowers so often. Great for saving water and especially when I forget to water the plants! Not that that is a problem here with all the rain we've been getting. There's also a thingy for the kitchen tap, a hosepipe connector and a sprayer for the garden. When I opened it I actually realised there were already some of these lying in the shed, left by the previous owners. (I must still show you everything we've discovered in the sheds. Another time.) Again, not something we need to do very often. The garden is quite happy with the rain water it gets.

Our part-time cat

The neighbourhood cat is still visiting us regularly. As much as I like cats he's not allowed in the house though. I don't want a cat smelling house. He does try his luck occasionally. He's very at home and very confident.

It's nice having a little bit of a cat around. He's our part-time cat. He keeps us company when we're in the garden and we talk to him. Then we go back inside, close the door and someone else feeds him and pays his vet bills. He's the perfect pet!

Corfe Castle

Corfe Castle, in Dorset, is an 11th century castle. Well, what's left of it. We came upon it by accident when we were on our way home from Swanage a while back. We were wanting to avoid the ferry route and then found this!

We don't often pay to see stuff, but this one was definitely worth it.

A little bit of interesting information about the history of Corfe Castle. Excuse me this one time for just copying and pasting from this national trust website.

A King is murdered

In 978, before the present Castle was built, legend has it that King Edward the Martyr was murdered at Corfe by his stepmother who wanted to put her own son, Ethelred ‘the Unready’, on the throne. While stag hunting in the Purbeck forest, Edward paid a visit to Corfe, where Elfryda is said to have offered him a goblet of wine, then treacherously had him stabbed in the back while he drank it.

A castle is built
Corfe Castle was begun by William the Conqueror soon after his arrival in Britain in 1066. It was served by the surrounding community in return for the use of homes and land, as well as shelter in the Castle in times of trouble. Much of the Isle of Purbeck was a Royal Forest so the hunting of game without royal permission was punishable by death.

A state prison
Corfe was one of King John’s favourite castles. Between 1199 and 1216 he added a great many defences. During his troubled reign the castle was often used as a prison, where many prisoners met their deaths. He also used the Castle to imprison his niece, Princess Eleanor (the Fair Maid of Brittany). King John turned Corfe Castle into a comfortable royal residence. There would have been a garden and a kitchen to grow and prepare food for the king’s table.

A private home
From the 14^th to the 16^th centuries, Corfe Castle was less important as a royal stronghold and often fell into disrepair. In 1572 Queen Elizabeth I sold it to her friend and Chancellor, Sir Christopher Hatton, thereby ending its 500 years as a royal home. He converted it into a prestigious home, complete with fine furniture, tapestries and silk cushions. In 1635 Corfe Castle was bought by Sir John Bankes.

The Castle is demolished
During the 17th century, the Castle was home to the Bankes family, who were staunch Royalists. Following the outbreak of the Civil War, the Castle was attacked by Parliamentarians. With Sir John away from the Castle, defending the home fell to Lady Bankes and her family, 80 defenders, a cannon and some loyal servants. They successfully held the Castle. Two years later however, during a second siege, Lady Bankes was betrayed by one of her garrison, Col. Pitman. Lady Bankes survived the siege and moved to her family home in Middlesex where she died in 1667.

The castle was deliberately demolished resulting in the dramatic ruin you see today. Much of the stone that was removed was used in building the houses of Corfe Castle Village.

Corfe Castle Village Church

A pub in Corfe Castle Village

All the best photos taken by André of course!