Still not quite right but getting there

Having finished the parquet floor in the front room, I am not having to inhale any more noxious fumes and that is going to help enormously. I don't think it has been helping me get over the cought that had been bothering me for a couple of weeks. However, I have also been able to get out for runs and rides, including a trip to Ringwood on Friday for an eye test. I was very pleased it showed no change over the past two years, so no need for any glasses just yet.

We have been pretty busy over the past ten days having enjoyed a trip to Compton Acres where we also took Juno. Not sure she appreciated the Italian or Japanese gardens but we did. The photos show her out and about in Cranborne and in Verwood and she is doing better and better, a lovely family dog. She's currently lying on the floor with Maria and Juno is squeaking her santa toy, rolling on her back and holding it between her paws.

There's been time in the garden too and I have done another mow of the lawn! It's November and the grass is still growing. There are plenty of leaves to clear too. One highlight today was seeing a buzzard perched by the back hedge on a telegraph pole, perhaps attracted by the dozens of sparrows there which hide in the hedges by the feeders. I also cleaned out the sparrow nestbox and found the summer's nest and a small wasp nest too.

Alison and I had a trip to the allotment where I planted the last of the autumn onions and the broad beans. The garlic is already doing well. We harvested greens and more beetroot and pruned the raspberries, strimmed the grass and tidied the compost heap. It is all looking pretty good for the time of year.

We are still working through the potatoes we grew and there are still more beetroots and carrots to come home, as well as having garlic bulbs on the go too.

Perhaps the main activity has been the parquet floor. I've taken up almost all the tiles and cleaned them before gluing them back in place. It is pretty level, the latter sections benefitting from greater expertise! Once in place I got the sander out and gave the surface a good clean using the sawdust to mix with the filler/sealant. That stank the house down, a really powerful smell and not something you could stay in the room long with. However, it did go off quickly which was good. I then oiled the tiles and they look pretty good and are certainly stuck down for a good few years now.