New hearing aids

A fortnight ago we went to The Hearing Centre in Lymington to have my hearing tested again. Apparently it has deteriorated a little and my present aids had to be tweaked a bit. However, we were told that some new Oticon aids were on the market now with the latest technology and I could try them if I liked. What an invitation! They cost about £4500 though - a lot of money.

A week later I went down to have them fitted with my own shells. I could try them for 2 weeks to see if they are a big improvement on the old ones.

That evening we did the Christmas Fair in Winchester and I did find it difficult to cope with all the loud noises. It was difficult to hear individuals speaking against the loud background noise.

On the Friday we went to Marwell Zoo and they were ok - although I had to turn down the volume I could hear individual speech much better but that was not against background noise.

On Sunday we went to the Anvil to hear the RAF band. I was terribly disappointed. I couldn't hear the compere really, and the aids just carried on the ringing sound after the instrument had finished!

Yesterday we went back to The Hearing Centre and Martyn Bowles changed the setting of the aids making them much more comfortable to use. It made a huge difference. My dear husband has now complained that he can't swear quietly under his breath without my hearing it! He says he can't get away with anything! So I'm very pleased. But it is going to cost me.....

Christmas Fair

Tuesday evening was a very good evening for both dizzydesigns and Raspberry - my daughter and my daughter-in-law. They each had a table for selling their hand-made treasures, lovely hand-made beads and silver jewellery and beautiful, artistic, appliqued bags. It was very, very busy and they both sold quite a few items. I think it would have been a little better if there had been more room for the buyers to move around and be able to stop and browse without holding up the through traffic. The picture above is of their tables in quite dim lighting.

Marwell Zoo

On Thursday we went to Marwell Zoo at the invitation of my sister-in-law and brother. It was a Christmas present from last year to my husband and me and we have waited all year. What a great idea! It was quiet, cold but beautifully sunny. It wa a good time to see the animals in their fantastic winter coats, all glossy and bright. There were a few animals, eg the monkeys and gibbons which were warmly tucked away for the winter but most were on show and we had lots of room to see them.

We didn't take the land train but hoofed it all the way round - good exercise in the lovely weather.

Afterwards we drove along to Fishers Pond to have a hot meal and it was very nice. The place has been taken over by a company which has made it much better than it was.

Intech

Yesterday we went to Intech in Winchester. The two grandsons had a great time playing on all the interactive scientific stations there. It was quite quiet when we arrived at 10.30am although there was a class of young children having a lesson with a noisy teacher so we had plenty of opportunity to try everything out.

This is the tornado making machine.

The mobile phone mast arrangement was rather good with a mobile phone going around the tracks like a train. Both boys liked the letters you feel through holes in a box and you try to work out what it says by touch.

And, of course, they enjoyed the black and white ball sorting machine which sends messages in binary form. Lots to pull, push, turn and try out. Great fun was had by all - not only the children!

Grandson's birthday.

Last Tuesday was grandson number 2's 9th birthday. He was so excited. Apparently they sang 'Happy Birthday to you' to him at school and he had a cake with candles when he got home. You can see it in the picture. He and his brother were given a Wii system for their birthdays and they have had a super time playing on that ever since.

Hillier's

Although the weather didn't look very promising, we decided to take a chance and go to Hillier's. It was great! We took two of my grandsons, put on their wellies and made our way through all the wet grass - trouser legs becoming very wet, but no-one cared. The trees have all taken on their autumn foliage and, where many of them have already dropped them, the boys enjoyed kicking up clouds of the crunchy leaves as they ran around.

The sun came out as we enjoyed all the pieces of 'art in the garden', from grassy sheep to chicken-wire dragon.

There were baskets of berries and fruit in the pavillion and they looked fantastic - gorgeous shiny reds, yellows, oranges, purples, black, white and greens. In fact they didn't look real. There were some medlars too - fruits which my father used to forage from the countryside. Not heard of much nowadays.

Unfortunately, the machine for making hot chocolate had broken down so the older grandson was disappointed. It's usually one of the highlights of coming to Hillier's! Never mind. They had fizzy Fantas instead. A great time was had by all!

My hairdryer ......

Yesterday my husband read what I had written about the hairdryer now only working on slow speed and he decided to see if he could fix it. The result is that everything was taken out of the casing and, after measuring all sorts of things, he found that the rectifier (shown as the black spider-looking thing in the foreground with 4 legs of wire) has shorted out causing the faster speed to be unavailable.

He found a new rectifier and fitted it and - hey presto! It now works perfectly. Wow! Just like new. And there I was thinking that I'd have to buy a new one.

Went for a short walk this afternoon alongside the River Test. The sun was shining and the air was calm. In the clear water of the river we could see the trout just resting facing upstream, gently swaying with the current. It was really lovely. The gravel on the river bed looked golden in the sunlight. Some of the houses have the river running through their gardens. How lovely to be able to enjoy it at any time.

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness ...

What fantastic weather we've been having over the last few days! Really frosty, windscreen-scraping mornings and warm, clear, sunny afternoons.

I have been out in the garden cutting back and pruning the plants and shrubs which have enjoyed their best ever weather this year! They have grown extraordinarily large - all thanks to the rainfall this summer. What we didn't appreciate, they loved.

I went to the 'Walled Garden' last weekend and expected to see lots of homespun crafts on sale, but the only things I could see which could possibly come into that category were honey, and jam. Rather disappointing. However, we did listen to a rather nice jazz band - sitting in amongst the fruit and veg beds we enjoyed a pleasant 20 minutes or so.

There were plants on sale too, and I rather fancied the intense blue gentian which is shown in the picture above. I haven't planted it yet - will have to cut back something else to squeeze it in! And so far the snails and slugs have left it alone - a miracle!

The grasses have seeded and look so light and fairy-like in the autumn sunshine that I just had to take some photos.

The colours are super at the moment.

I must just add something which surprised me somewhat this week. At the table when two of my grandsons were having a meal with us, the older one, (nearly nine years), asked, 'Do you know what reverse psychology is Nana?' I nearly choked on my food. Then he proceded to tell me what it is!! I just wonder what is going on in his head?

An update on the kettle: The lid works fine with the new knob but I have to use both hands to open it as you have to press in a button on the handle to release it at the same time as pulling the knob back.

Now my hair dryer has given up working on the faster speed and the lovely bread making machine has decided to play up. The dough I made the other evening just hadn't risen when the bleeper went off to tell me it was ready to made into rolls. I had to decant it into a bowl and leave it in the airing cupboard for another 30 minutes or so. It seems that the heating part of the programme is playing up.

Lovely husband has looked at both appliances and it now seems that the fault with the bread machine is intermittant but the hairdryer will now only work on slow speed. Ah well ...