Guess what was in the attic

They say it's an ill wind that blows nobody any good. Well the "ill wind" was the length of time it was taking to get a phone extension that works in the study. The latest time for an engineer to come isn't till 4th November and deciding it couldn't be rocket science I took myself to Maplins and bought a roll of telephone extension cable.  I've spent much of today clipping it as discretely as I can and to get it from one side of the study to the other I decided to run it through the roof space above.

When I was there I found a bag of books (the roof space should have been cleared but this bag had been missed) and in it I found the burial register for Eastham and the baptism register for Kyre.
And as you can see from the photo, I've wired up a socket in the study. I'm no longer having to use the hall as a study.

One down, one to go

The bare patch of grass is where a skip has been for the past few months. The good news is that it's just been taken away. The one remaining should be going on Monday. The pile of wood in the background should be going down to Stoke Bliss to add to the bonfire that follows the Licensing service. The view from the kitchen window is much better.

BT have finally got round to reinstating the phone number that has been the Rectory number for decades - 01886 853286. What I'm waiting for now is an engineer to fit a working phone socket in the study. There's a problem with the wiring. I asked them to do this over two weeks ago, and so far all there's been is one appointment that the engineer failed to keep. 

What do you think?

What do you think are the issues and the joys facing people in rural areas? That is the question that the Rural Intelligence Foundation are trying to answer. Their way of answering the question is using an online survey which can be acccessed here. 
The survey only takes a few minutes to fill in and the more peoplke that complete it the better.
Incidentally I think one of the main isues, and one they don't suggest, is lack of mobile phone coverage!

We're in - more or less

The removers were wonderful, Bennetts of Malvern. The staff were polite, intelligent, helpful... They packed us on Monday and delivered the first load on Tuesday and the second load on Wednesday. We're busy unpacking and deciding what goes where.
And of course there's all the other stuff that goes with moving. Scottish Power have been helpful. The postman has stopped to introduce himself.
The award for the least helpful has to go to BT - being in the sticks we don't have a lot of choice for phone or broadband. At least we now have a working internet connection, even if I can't use it in the study. Probably the most fatuous question was from a BT person. I had explained that I had no interent connection. She had tested the line & confirmed there was a fault at the exchange. "Would you like me to receive a troubleshooting email?" she asked. "I would love to receive a trouble shooting email, or any email," I replied, "I can't connect to the internet!!!!"  

Removers are here

The removal firm's staff have arrived this morning and are busily packing. Tommorrow the first load is delivered and unpacked and wednesday the second (and final) load.
Driving up to Hanley Broadheath this morning (taking some mucky stuff the removers would rather not have in their van) the mist was hanging in the valley bottoms with beautiful views.