Hurray we have internet that works

Yesterday BT finally sent some engineers to see why the broadband was so rubbish.  We had already worked out that the broadband had been a problem since Easter when the landline for the phone went off for 5 days and had to be fixed - half the road was off.  BT must have known this too, after all they are the ones who fixed it.

When the engineers turned up yesterday we told them this.  They tested the line and said that the speed coming in was about 3mb, and concluded that the reason we only received 98kb was because it had been reset very low.  Apparently after a line fault BT will set the incoming level very low ( in our case 135kb) and it should adjust itself but it hadn't.  However all this information was online on the BT site that the people we have been talking to on the phone are able to see, so why didn't they reset the incoming level (which took the engineer about 5 minutes) and saved the cost of the engineer visit?  Who can tell?

It was supposed to rain all day today, but actually has been pleasant most of the day.  We got a walk in this   morning and have spent the afternoon putting up a shed.  We are about a third of the way through it. The sparrows were very happy when we finally stopped and went in, because we were working by the bird table, and they were waiting for dinner.  5 minutes after we went in it was sparrow central out there, with lots of young being fed by parents.  Very entertaining.

Goat trails

I think the Pembrokeshire National Park needs to classify its paths with goat symbols.

No goats would mean something you can take a baby buggy along - flatish, no serious inclines etc

2 goats would mean that it was more hilly, with some bumpy and rocky bits

And so on up to the path we did today which was 5 goats.  It started at 1 goat, but by the end, as we got to Strumble Head we were clambering over rocky outcrops, it was definitely 5 goats.  It was enlivened by me asking how fell runners managed to run over this sort of terrain without breaking anything and Brian demonstrating.  He was, admittedly, wearing boots, but his demonstration of a fell runner running lightly (which involved tripping and nearly falling over) was very entertaining.

We found a great place for our picnic lunch which was a little hut built up to about waist height, on the cliff edge.

Why is it there?

Dry stone walling practice?

Wind shelter for the sheep?

It was a great wind shelter for us eating our lunch anyway.

The knee has been behaving and the back managed with a couple of rests today, over about 5-6 miles so I am pleased.  As it is forecast to be rain, rain and more rain over the weekend I can't see us getting much walking done.

ooh the internet is working.....

I tried to blog the other day but the internet was so slow I gave up.

I am at Brian's and the exchange here should have a broadband speed of 1.5 mb which isn't fast but ok for text and things.  However it has been 97kbps, 99, 128 etc.  Brian is in fairly regular communication with BT who phone up - always Irish we have noticed - tell us they are looking at it, and nothing changes.

If we got speeds of 1.5mg then you can do most things that don't need lots  of pictures but it is a bit random. 

BT Infinity - the time it takes to use the broadband.

More to the point he is paying for broadband and half the time is getting something slower than dialup.

However the sun shone today and we went out for a walk.

We have worked out the gaps in our walking of the Pembrokshire Coast path between Newgale and Strumble Head, and are aiming to fill them in this summer.  We have ticked 2 stretches off so far, and today was about 5 miles according to my pedometer. 

I have a back problem and have been doing my exercises and using by back support corset thing, but the problem has been my right knee instead!  It has decided to complain and on the first walk got really sore - however it was ok today so maybe I just need to be firm with it.

I won't attempt to attach photos till I get to broader broadband (ie home).  Life is too short to try it here.

Forgotten my list

I have just realised that I have totally forgotten to add the books I have read to my list for the last couple of months.

Ooops.

I shall have to try to remember what I have read.

I have just booked tickets to go and see Sound of Music (on stage) which I missed the last time it came to Cardiff.  The other tickets are for Swan Lake done by a Chinese company which will   not - I feel - be traditional.  Unfortunately we are seeing them only 1 week apart but.....

I am off out with Louise again tonight before I go off to Pembs on holiday.  One day and then freedom for 2 weeks.

Empty Property Officers

There is a programme on tv at the moment about people finding and then doing up and moving in to empty homes.  There is also an actual job called empty property officer.  They find them, find the owners, and arrange for them to be done up/sold/whatever.

Where do people find these jobs?  That would be fun.

Lovely weekend

What a good weekend!

Friday evening was so warm that I got a barbq and we had a barby, out in the garden till late in the evening and it was fab.  

I got my hair cut and coloured on Saturday  morning which is a great relief as it had got to haystack (with grey) proportions.  I now will look more respectable in the holiday photos.

I got lots of boring things done - housework stuff, because the lovely weather vanished in the afternoon and I had to run out and save the washing and the saddle Nic had oiled and left on the fence.  B was writing a piece using the words of the last sermon which St David wrote, so he was attached to the piano for a lot of the weekend.

Today Louise came over. She is staying with her daughter who lives nearby and has just had a baby. I went in to meet baby Amelia Kate who is lovely with lots of hair, a very dainty pretty baby, then Louise came back to my house for lunch and a lovely long talk.

Great.

First barbq of summer

The weather has woken up to the fact that it is now June and it has been lovely today.  As B was coming up this weekend I got a one off barbq and we had a barbq supper.  It was a bit (!) smoky so we had - as B pointed out - smoked salmon, and burgers, and more wine than we should have.

It was lovely.

Tomorrow is due to be fine and then the weather plummets down again for the following week.

However Louise is visiting her daughter so I will be seeing her on Sunday and then on Monday with other friends for an evening catching up- it will be great!

Having one of your best friends moving to the north of Scotland is a pain, but it is lovely when you see her again!!

Funeral blues

Today was the funeral of a friend who died of cancer.

She was 48 and the youngest child is 8. 

What can you say?