Radio producer Karl Pilkington, best known for working with comedian Ricky Gervais, lands his own travel series for Sky 1…. From BBC News. Full story

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Speaking with Bayan Northcott uncovered a wealth of information about the WCSSs and the period in which they occurred. This post draws together some clips from the interview. The interview progressed with Northcott going through his diary.

He began with some contextual remarks about the scene, and the position of Maxwell Davies, Birtwistle and Goehr.

First a comment about the number of people in attendence:

He continues, providing a context for understanding how they were able to draw so many participants:

On the morning of the first day, the participants made their way to Tisbury:

Upon arrival, Northcott first met Bill Hopkins and Robin Holloway:

On Saturday, 15th August there was a dinner and people explored the house.

On Sunday, 16th at 9am:
Composition class with Alexander Goehr, talking about rhythm and articulation

Then there was a rehearsal of the choir, conducted by John Alldis:

Lunch; then a composition class with Alexander Goehr:

Tea, then at 5.0 p.m. a lecture by Alexander Goehr:

Music in Our Time
ALEXANDER GOEHR will lecture on certain aspects of contemporary music with particular reference to works being performed in the evening concert.

Following the lecture was more choir practice, dinner and a concert by the Melos Ensemble, introduced by Michael Tippett:

8.30 pm Wardour Castle Assembly Room

MUSIC IN OUR TIME
Introduced by Michael Tippett
A concert of contemporary English Music.
MELOS ENSEMBLE
Three Piano Pieces – Hugh Wood
Monody for Corpus Christi – Harrison Birtwistle
Piano Sonata – Anthony Gilbert
Second Piano Sonata – Michael Tippett
Five Little Pieces (first performance) – Peter Maxwell Davies
Suite Op.11 – Alexander Goehr

Monday, 17th, 9am:
Composition class with Hugh Wood, analyzing Schoenberg’s op. 19, no. 4:

Then more choir with Maxwell Davies, lunch and composition class with Alexander Goehr and Michael Tippett:

5.0 p.m:

Early Organ Music            Recital 5.0 p.m.
Peter Maxwell Davies will introduce and play early music on a newly restored Snitzler organ. Works by: Dunstable, Taverner, Byrd, Tomkins, Gabrielli, Scheidt, Zipoli etc.

Then a choir rehearsal with John Alldis, and the evening concert:

Chamber Concert 8.30 p.m.
Melos Ensemble
Pianoforte Trio in F sharp minor Haydn
Six Little Piano Pieces, op. 19 Schoenberg
Seven Sketches, op. 9 Bartok
Première Rhapsodie for clarinet and piano Debussy
Four Pieces for clarinet and piano, op.5 Berg
Fantasia in C minor, K475 Mozart
Trio for Piano, Violin and Horn, op.40 Brahms

Tuesday, 18th

Composition class at 9am:

then choir:

and composition class with Maxwell Davies, talking canonic and rhythmic aspects of his work, with an aside about Britten’s War Requiem [late in the interview Northcott clarified that this aside was actually made on the Friday, after the rehearsal for the evening concert at the Old Wardour Castle], Stravinsky’s Threni:

Quartet for the End of Time Lecture 5.0 p.m.
Olivier Messiaen, the Man and His Music
given by Hugh Wood

Then more choir, in Northcott’s account including Verdi’s Ave Maria and Bruckner’s Gradual: Christus factus est. Neither of these pieces appears in the published programmes:

The evening concert was as follows:

Clarinet Trio in E flat K498            Mozart
Four Impromptus, op. 142            Schubert
Quatuor pour la fin du temps Olivier Messiaen

The Melos Ensemble performed; Nortcott comments on their presence at the WCSSs:

Wednesday, 19th:

Instead of composition class, in the morning was the first workshop by members of the Melos Ensemble of works especially composed for the WCSS. All of those who had nominated themselves as composers were invited to write a work for this occasion. The pieces rehearsed were by Edward Cowie, Philip Pilkington. (LS100049, 33′57″)

Northcott didn’t attend the 5.0 p.m. recital of Bach, Rameau and Couperin, but did return for the evening discussion about opera:

Opera Today 8.0 p.m.
Alexander Goehr, Peter Maxwell Davies, Michael Tippett
Chairman: Harrison Birtwistle

Thursday, 20th:

The 9am composition class was devoted to listening to a recording Messiaen’s Turangalîla:

Northcott confirmed the McGaw recital as following the printed programme, with Mendelssohn, C.P.E. Bach and Satie. Northcott missed the Pruslin (then aged 24) lecture, Characterization in Mozart Opera.

Following the lecture was a concert including music by Cage and Feldman, put on by Roger Smalley and David Bedford, which doesn’t appear in any programmes:

Friday, 21st:

Owing to the ‘glorious weather’ Northcott took leave of the official routine and spent time talking to Patrick Carnegie.

After the break was a composition class, with Northcott’s piece being workshopped. The following is included for those interested in Northcott’s early composition:

After lunch, Northcott, with Edward Cowie and Maxwell Davies walked to the Old Wardour Castle, discussing conducting along the way. The evening concert took place there and there was a rehearsal.

8.30 pm Old Wardour Castle
Nocturnal
A concert in the open air of English and Italian echo-music from the 16th and 17th centuries for brass and voices
Given by: Gabrieli Ensemble and Choir conducted by Peter Maxwell Davies, Alexander Goehr.
Music by Maschera, Isaac, A and G. Gabrielli

Wood’s files included a document which gives the details of this concert:

Canzon Cornetto a 4 Scheidt
Quam Pulchra Es Dunstable
Courant Dolorosa a 4 Scheidt
Paduan a 4 Scheidt
Cor Mio, mentre vi miro Monteverdi
Air, Corante, Allemande, Corante, Saraband Cocke
INTERVAL
Sonata, Hora decima No. 6 Johannes Pezel
Sonata, Hora decima No. 39 Pezel
Adieu, Adieu, my heart’s lust Cornish
Fair Phyllis I saw Farmer
Draw on, sweet night Wilbye
April is in my mistress’s face Morley
Canzon Primi Toni a 8 Morley
Canzon Septimi Toni a 8 G. Gabrielli

Northcott comments on the concert, some of the problems in performance and confirms the contents of the concert.

Saturday, 22nd:

Most of the day was spent rehearsing for the evening participants’ concert.

The programme is as follows:

Concert 8.30 p.m.
Participants Concert
A concert given by the participants of the summer school
Conductors: John Carewe, Michael Tippett
Morgengesang C. P. E. Bach
Sequentia Sanctia Evangeli Secundam Lucan, in illo Tempore XXII 14-20 Peter Maxwell Davies
Ave Maria Verdi
Gradual: Christus factus est Bruckner
Music for a film scene Schoenberg
Canzona II David Ellis
Movement Neville Gambier
Castle Music Anthony Gilbert
Serenade Op.11 Brahms [three movements only]

Northcott’s comments here are especially enlightening, with asides about compositional priorities at the time (‘relevance’, ‘unity’) and the notion of basing works on early music. He neglects to mention Tippett’s Little Music for Strings, although he does mention Tippett as being there conducting the rehearsal for this.

The day ended with a late-night party.

Sunday, 23rd:

Bill Hopkins drove Northcott, Robin Holloway and Anne Carr-Boyd back to London.

It is inevitable that conservatories will begin to look a little tired and grubby if not cared for and failure to clean can accelerate the deteriation of seals etc. It is therefore important that conservatories are given a clean from time to time. The frequency of such is more important with some conservatories than with others. Dependant upon the direction in which your conservatory is facing and where it is located, it may be suspectible to greater build-up of moss, lichens etc.

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Footy Manager Update

Finished 8th last year, knocked out in the Champs League Quarters and won the Italian Cup. Somehow that was enough to stay in charge, I was quite lucky that someone was trying to buy the club so they kept thanking me for my patience.

The takeover didn’t go through, I was given £25million to spend, annoyingly Berlusconi wanted me to boost the clubs profile, I went through shit loads of players trying to sign, got offers/contracts accepted for Vidic/Pato/Tevez, annoyingly I need a defender most, so went for Vidic.  Big Silvio decided to go through with the Sneijder deal despite not having the transfer funds available. No money for anyone else though.

My starting line up for next year should be

Ochoa

Alves Vidic Nesta Richards (Accomplished at LB)

Cassano Sneijder Pirlo Obertan

Kaka

Torres

Backups include Vela, Bojan, Gattuso, Jankulovski, Gourcuff, Asulin, Gilardino, Oliveira, Mata, Tavano.

My squad still doesn’t look strong enough though, I should be able to challenge for top four though. That’s such a pathetic aim really.

I might sell Kaka, to blood Vela and I can get around £35million for him. I want a proper LB too, went for Adriano/Baines/Bale but now I’ve ran out of money, quite annoying. I could do with a good backup keeper too, not sure who I want though.

Just listening to a Karl Pilkington thing for Q Radio, it’s not great, too much music and not enough talking, not that surprising as he’s by himself though. I can’t wait for them to do some more stuff. I really want to see The Invention Of Lying too, Gervais is quite annoying but almost everything he does is great, although I can’t really remember Ghost Town, I don’t think I liked it much though.

Anyway, Great Track of the Day ;

Oasis – Married With Children

I’ve spent the last two days in the Pilkington Library.  Opened in 1980- the year that I was born- it’s probably the ugliest library I’ve ever seen.

Pilkington

Like a pyramid was dropped from the sky.  Actually, to be fair, I should mention that the inside sucks too.

Impacto del conflicto en una fábrica de cristales: Terminales como Toyota y Mercedes tienen problemas para abastecerse de vidrios y tuvieron que frenar la producción. Es por la crisis en la autopartista Pilkington. Ayer hubo una cumbre de empresarios.

La industria automotriz está a un paso de la parálisis. No por un golpe directo de la crisis internacional ni por las demandas salariales de los mecánicos, sino por una huelga de diez días en la única fábrica de cristales para autos de la Argentina. El conflicto en la autopartista Pilkington, de Munro, fue el eje de una reunión de urgencia convocada ayer por la Asociación de Fábricas de Automotores (ADEFA), que reúne a todas las terminales del país.

En las automotrices confirmaron a Crítica de la Argentina que en los próximos días estarán imposibilitadas de continuar con la producción por la falta de vidrios para sus vehículos. En algunos casos, como Toyota, la escasez del producto obligó a reducir el nivel de fabricación, mientras que en Mercedes Benz se aplicó un licenciamiento entre el martes y el viernes de esta semana, dijeron en el sindicato de mecánicos (SMATA).

El conflicto en Pilkington, una compañía de capitales japoneses, arrancó dos semanas atrás cuando, en medio de una negociación salarial, la empresa despidió a 33 operarios. El envío de los telegramas motivó una huelga que se prolongó hasta ayer y el dictado de la conciliación obligatoria por parte de Trabajo. La fábrica ayer mantuvo sus puertas cerradas e impidió el ingreso de sus casi 500 trabajadores.

En una audiencia en la cartera laboral, los directivos advirtieron que, de no alcanzar un acuerdo con el personal, retirarán sus inversiones de la Argentina. Ante el pedido de aumento salarial del 30%, la empresa contestó con el ofrecimiento de $ 260 mensuales no remunerativos hasta agosto y el pago de un adicional de mil pesos por única vez. Pero condicionó la oferta a que se efectivicen las cesantías. Fuentes de la cartera laboral dijeron que la compañía aceptó reducir los despidos a 12 trabajadores a los que identifica como más comprometidos con el reclamo salarial.

Los operarios se reunieron anoche en las puertas de la fábrica dispuestos a acampar, a la espera de la reapertura de la planta esta mañana. El abogado Edgardo Moyano, que representa a los despedidos, informó que también hoy harán una movilización con operarios de otras autopartistas para reclamar por sus puestos de trabajo.

Los trabajadores denunciaron un “lock out” por parte de la empresa y dijeron además haber sufrido el ataque de “una patota de más de 60 matones, con dirigentes del sindicato del Vidrio a la cabeza”. El gremio, al que los delegados de Pilkington no responden, cerró un acuerdo con el resto de las compañías del sector por un aumento de $ 260 mensuales no remunerativos.

La parálisis de Pilkington puso en alerta a todas las terminales automotrices. Los gerentes de compras de las firmas se reunieron de urgencia en ADEFA para exponer las dificultades que atraviesan. Con el diagnóstico en mano, intentarán que el Gobierno apure una solución al conflicto, que puede terminar de paralizar a varias de ellas la semana próxima. La crisis en la fábrica de vidrios se suma a otras dificultades en el mismo sector, como el cierre de las autopartistas Mahle (elabora aros de pistón), de Rosario, y Autoliv (cinturones de seguridad y airbags), de Pilar.

Fuente: Crítica (08/05/09)

I’ve been a fan of Ricky Gervais since he first burst onto the scene with The Office, which was amazing. In my opinion Extras was even better. Stephen Merchant, the co-creator of both shows, was hilarious as Darren Lamb, the agent of hapless extra Andy Millman. And Gervais’ latest movie Ghost Town wasn’t half bad either. However, I only started listening to the back catalogue of The Ricky Gervais Show podcasts in January of this year. Ricky and Steve are joined in presenting this award winning, record smashing podcast by a third compatriot, their former producer/collaborator from the Xfm radio show of the same name. That man is Karl Pilkington.

How has it taken me so long to discover this amazing man? I mean I heard his name being murmurred in the back-alleys of the interweb, but nothing could prepare me for what I had found. He is quite possibly the funniest man alive, and that’s saying something when he’s sharing the mic with the creators of two of the best TV shows in history.

Pilkington is a self-confessed “satisfied fool”, and it is his idiocy that makes the podcasts so ingeniously funny. Only Mr. Karl Pillockton could possibly make such a paradox possible. Gervais and Merchant simply ask “the shaven chimp” questions (that are usually way beyond the scope of his intelligence) and await his inevitably hilarious response. As you can probably tell from the picture above, Pilkington has an unnaturally round head, or ”a head like a fuckin’ orange”, a phrase of Ricky’s that fans of the show tend to spout regularly. This is a constant source of fun for Gervais, who derives sick pleasure from giving Pilkington’s head a “squoze”.

I have now listened to the majority of the ‘work’ that the trio have produced, from the early Xfm stuff to the latest The Ricky Gervais Guide To… series of podcasts. And It appears that, over the course of nearly a decade, the “Baldy Manc Twat” has learned nothing despite the best efforts of Gervais and Merchant to educate him on the most basic things, such as why you can’t just pick a species of animal and say “get rid of em” because you don’t feel they do enough to earn there place on this planet (something Karl has said about jellyfish, snails, cockroaches, sloths, and many more, him being unable to grasp the concept of an ecosystem).

Through his imbecility, Pilkington has come up with some of the greatest quotes and unintentionally hilarious one-liners known to man. Well, I suppose, who else would they be known to? Shit, I’m starting to sound like him now. The Elephant Man is simultaneously Karl’s favourite movie and his favourite freak, freaks being an obsession of his. This has resulted in some ingenious utterances:  “The Elephant Man would never have gotten up and gone, ‘Oh, God. Look at me hair today.’” See what I mean? The ingenious observation of an idiot. In the latest series of podcasts, Karl has described art as “something for your eyes to look at”. That’s as deep as his understanding of the subject gets. Another source of hilarity are Karl’s comments on the appearance of Steve: “I was walking home the other night, and I was thinking about it, and do you worry that when you’re old you will be on your own?”, or “Were you a tall baby?”. Amazing.

So, whatever you have planned to do with your spare time (but is it spare time if you’ve made plans? Ahhh), change your mind and get listening to The Ricky Gervais Show podcasts. I challenge you not to laugh your tits off. Learn why Karl bought his girlfriend, the long-suffering Suzanne, a jumbo box of condoms for Christmas. Let the greatness of such features as ‘Monkey News’ (“ooooh chimpanzee that, ya f*@kin…”), ‘Rockbusters’, ‘Karl’s Diary’, etc. astound you. Free excerpts and one-off shows can be downloaded as podcasts on iTunes, the back catalogue is available on iTunes and at Audible.com.

Andy

Pilkington K Glass OW is an improved form of Pilkington K Glass, the UK’s leading low emissivity glass product. Pilkington takes another step forward in the energy efficiency evolution with the introduction of Pilkington K Glass OW – the latest development in the Pilkington K Glass range of energy efficient glazing products designed for use within the Pilkington energiKare range. Offering increased light transmission, improved solar gain and a brighter appearance, Pilkington K Glass OW helps to achieve improved Window Energy Ratings (WERs) in the greatest available range of profiles.

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La empresa suministradora de vidrio para el sector automovilístico Pilkington ha decidido cortar por la sano. Hace una semana la entidad anunció recortes de plantilla a nivel mundial debido a la caída de ventas en los últimos meses. De hecho la producción en la firma local no ha llegado al 50% de lo previsto para el último trimestre.

Con estos datos, siete días después, las instalaciones en España han admitido que su situación se encuentra entre las más afectadas a nivel mundial debido a las pesimistas perspectivas que presenta el sector del automóvil en el territorio nacional. 

Por lo que la empresa anunció ayer a las 16 horas a sus trabajadores y de manera informal que se preveía el despido de 190 trabajadores. Poco menos de la mitad de los empleados si se tiene en cuenta que el total de miembros que constituyen el colectivo productivo son 440.

Tal y como transmitían desde el sindicato “la directiva nos ha informado de que se va a parar de forma indefinida la elaboración de laterales y se reduce la turnística en parabrisas y lunetas”. 

Hasta el momento en estas dos últimas secciones se estaba trabajando a cuatro turnos, según los sindicatos.

Fuente: lasprovincias.es

Not many people know this, but the act of mooning originated as a show of respect among bonobo monkeys. At some point in their evolution, younger males started approaching the troop leader, turning their backs to them, and laying their arms on the ground as a sign of submission. Gradually it became custom for the troop leader to acknowledge the gesture by mounting the lesser males and initiating mock intercourse.

Needless to say, this peculiar custom can lead to difficulties wherever humans come into contact with this species. Last year alone, six Canadian tourists tragically lost their virginity to overeager troop leaders (frustrated for years by the lack of females in their enclosures) while mooning caged monkeys in south-east Asia.

So how did the act of mooning turn into the full-cheeked insult it has become today?

Extended periods of captivity, often in close proximity to humans, have resulted in strange anomalies in monkey behaviour. In earlier times, the bonobo was content to remain the blissed-out, peacenik hippy of the primate order, happily chewing hemp leaves, inventing useful contraptions, and contemplating strategies for a better tomorrow. However, in recent years bonobos have generally been more interested in violently assaulting each other and their human overlords than in building a better world or even ‘getting it on’ with other monkeys of either gender.

Bonobo monkeys turn to drink

Scientists believe the bonobo’s prolonged exposure to human customs – in particular, their consumption of alcohol – has caused this species to embrace violence as an answer. Researchers point to a decreased ability to deal rationally with the world around them, impeded understanding of hand gestures and other forms of communication, coupled with an increased tendency to want to settle disagreements by scratching, biting, and hurling poo. Conservationists note that the increase in violent incidents involving bonobo monkeys has seen a similar increase in the number of empty containers of fermented fruit juice and other intoxicating beverages, found in cages where troops of bonobos are held.

Conservationists also suggest that overindulgence in alcoholic beverages on the part of the monkeys has led to a decreased ability to successfully complete the sexual act, and that the ensuing feelings of impotence have found expression in the lamentable violence that has rocked the primate world in the last few decades. Some studies suggest that if these hostilities are allowed to escalate at their current rate, this will result in all-out war between different groups of monkeys in less than 5 years, and that total extinction of the species is imminent.

Lately, however, researchers in primate behaviour have seen what may be a move towards a different fate for these formerly gentle creatures, in the emergence of what appears to be an entirely new sub-species. This new breed, which scientists have provisionally named the Chinobonobo, has begun to adopt different human habits, such as walking upright while looking important and wearing comfortable slacks.

How well this new subspecies will succeed in the wild remains to be seen, as the bonobos have been observed attacking any monkeys that show signs of walking upright without the assistance of cage bars, carving rectangular clipboard-sized objects out of flat rocks, or adopting an expression half-pensive semi-concern as if caring deeply without listening at all. In a number of instances, true bonobos – Bonobo Classic – have gone so far as to rub fruit juices on sheets made of straw, marking these sheets with faeces in a sort of hieroglyph, and sticking them on the backs of chinobonobos to indicate their deviance from “true” monkey behaviour and as a sign that they should be ostracized.

But you don’t have to take our word for it. The following news item, from a highly reliable source, details the exploits of one such monkey.

Monkey trouble for zookeepers
Wed Dec 2, 2008 8:40am EST

By Samson Y. Delilah

Not a picture of the monkey.

KYPTOWN (Rueturs) – A search is ongoing for a male monkey who escaped from the Kyptown Zoo on the evening of November 19. Zookeepers are eager to retrieve the monkey, named Karl (after renowned UK monkey fancier Karl Pilkington, to whom he bears a striking resemblance) due to his popularity with child visitors.

According to zoo officials, Karl managed to bypass security by pretending to be a zookeeper who’d lost his keys. Based on evidence found discarded by one of the exits, it seems that Karl managed his disguise by stealing a zookeeper’s jacket and fashioning a crude badge from chewed bamboo and elephant dung.

Karl is one of several chinobonobo monkeys that the zoo acquired in a recent attempt to recapture some of its earlier popularity. The breed is known for aping human behaviour. Zoo officials maintain that Karl was always a particularly enterprising specimen, who would often regale zoo attendants with comical displays of near-human behaviour, such as drinking and falling down a lot.

Interest in apprehending the fugitive chinobonobo has increased over the last two weeks, following the sighting of “a short, excessively hairy man” at the scene of a jewellery heist. Police say robbers got away with a large safe containing many precious diamonds belonging to the owner of the Do Bears Mining Co.

When asked about the possibility that a chinobonobo monkey may have been involved in the robberies, the officer in charge of the case, Sergeant Hardwick responded, “Are you out of your [expletive] mind? Chinobonobo monkeys have management potential written all over them. Everybody knows managers avoid the real heavy lifting.”

(Additional reporting by Vaughn Lillywhite, editing by Yrus Trewely)
© R.U. Kid Inc./Rueturs 2008 All rights reserved

So there you have it, folks. More Pure Fact(TM) coming your way in 2009.

[Originally posted as AtraBilious on africans.co.za on Thursday, December 11, 2008.]

Karl Pilkington “Pilki”

Karl Pilkington’s Blog

Ricky Gervais Show

Playlist

1 The Pilkington Bible 1
Alleee 1
Jonathan and Darlene * Cocktails for Two
2 The Pilkington Bible 2
Guido & Maurizio De Angelis * Violent Rome (1st Version)
Max Bygraves * Get Me to the Church on Time
3 The Pilkington Bible 3
Stelvio Cipriani * Ecologia Del Delitto (Titoli)
The J’s and Jamie * My Cigarette and I
4 The Pilkington Bible 4
Main Titles * Pee Wee’s Big Adventure
The Swings * Glow Worm
5 The Pilkington Bible 5
Ennio Morricone * Gocce Di Pioggia Su Di Me (Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head)
Mark Holly * Sweet Street Lady
6 The Pilkington Bible 6
Midas Touch * Melting Pot
Val Norman * The Ballad of Barbara Graham
7 The Pilkington Bible 7
Guglielmo Papararo & Vittorio Montis * Gravita’ zero
Frankie Lane * Rockin’ Chair
8 The Pilkington Bible 8
Billy May’s Rico Mambo Orch * Hernando’s Hideaway
Eric Henry * Pirates and Emperors
9 Pilkington on Heaven 1
Electric Coconut * Beautiful Sunday
RIAA * The Dynamic Show Ever Gave
10 Pilkington on Heaven 2
Fred Bongusto * Il Divorzio (Main Title)
Alleee 2

At the end of the day, we all Download, init?

It’s a wonderful sunny day.

And I’m stuck indoors working out skylight details (at least I’d like to think that’s what I’m doing) and sifting through Pilkington Planar product brochures and specifications. And listening to the Queer As Folk soundtrack.

But on the bright side, I’m all booked and paid up for Balik Kampung 2009. w0ot

I’m so so so looking forward to summer I just wet my pants thinking about it.

We were fortunate enough to invited to provide the corporate event photography at the Pilkington’s Quiligotti Golf Day. The weather provided perfect conditions for both photography and play, but that didn’t stop some of the competitors from finding the bunkers on this challenging course. Everybody seemed to find form by the 18th hole, and evening drinks on the patio were the perfect finish to a very successful day with many friendships formed.

The group was split in to 2 with the none-golfers opting for a clay pigeon shoot. I would imagine this would have been quite a value for money exercise as many of the clays could be reused as they were completely untouched by shot. I think that it must have been the type of cartridges used…well that what I always blame!

The day was topped of by a fantastic presentation meal with loads of prizes awarded. Thanks go to the team in the marketing department and Jeremy Oliver for all his help on the day.

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We must apologise yet again for the lax upkeep of this blog, we’ve both been so busy, what with holidays, gardening, new job, wedding preparations etc etc.  Plus the fact that the weather has been far too nice lately to sit indoors on the computer!

A couple of symbolic “topping out” type additions to the house since the last post.  Firstly – at last we have a house number, so now people have no excuse for not being able to find us!

Secondly, we have a lovely new front door!  We’re not really fans of PVCu, but seeing as the rest of the bungalow already had PVCu windows, it made sense to replace the existing (rubbish) door with something similar (but better!).  We both really dislike patterned “obscura” glass, so we went for Pilkington Optifloat Satin glass instead.  It looks really smart and modern, and does the job nicely – lets 85% of the natural light into the hallway, but obscures any view from outside almost totally.

Unfortunately it’s not all been sunshine and cupcakes.  Last weekend Beth noticed a funny mark on the carpet in the conservatory.  On closer inspection, it turned out that about one third of the carpet was damp – the washing machine had been leaking!!  It appeared that the connection between the washing machine hose and the copper cold water feed wasn’t done up tightly enough.  Whether it was loose to begin with, or if it had gradually worked its way loose, we don’t know, but what was evident was that it had been leaky for some time!  As you can see from the photo below, pulling up the carpet revealed a gruesome sight, as all the underlay was moudly an’ orrible!

It was so disgusting: we had to shovel the felt underlay out because it was disintegrating!  Luckily it was a lovely hot and windy weekend, so we kept the door and window open, and it’s pretty much dry already.  We’ve got some spare underlay leftover, and hopefully enough carpet to put down.  Every cloud does have a silver lining, as the leak meant that we had to clear everything out of the conservatory.  We’d been storing all our DIY bits and pieces, paint tins etc in there, and now we’ve found a new home for them, so we’ll have space in the conservatory to actually sit and enjoy the warmth!

In other news, we’ve conquered the main mountain of tree!  We took 2 van and trailer loads to the tip at the weekend, so that’s the first big pile finally gone.  There’s still a smaller, more recent pile to go, but hopefully that’s only a couple of van loads.  We can almost see grass!