Inheritance Tax

Why is it so hard to spend your own money within your life time?  There is a generous tax free threshold to allow for generational wealth, why is that not enough?

Last of all, discharge your asset and estate management can ensure your asset is distribute according to your wish, before and after your death, why not just do better planning?

Dynamic Pricing in Sale

I am observing the current November sale.  I think some dynamic pricing is in play which absolutely makes all of us thinking we bagged a bargain feeling conned.  Doesn't it defeat the purpose of a sale: building good wills?

Leicestershire Biker Down

I came across a Biker Down on Eventbrite, so I signed up to it.  It was 8.5 years since I last did Biker Down.  The content has slightly changed since then, it was a good refresher and I learnt something new.  I even downloaded what3words.

Black Friday Haggling

Black Friday deals in England is not really any good.  But don't let a sale stop you from haggling.  I managed to get a new internet deal cheaper than my current deal, cheaper than their published deal, cheaper than their opening offer.  Success!

Wonton Bowl Noodles

I had a wonton bowl noodles from the other day. The seasonings had two tiny dried shrimp.  It was edible but nothing to write home about.  I suppose that is true for all instant noodles.

Christmas Wrapping

Our Christmas shopping starts in January, but now the wrapping season has started.  We spent a few hours confirming allocation and wrapping.  

Can't we all just abandon wrapping in the name of the environment and just wrap everything in newspaper without tapes?

Motorcycle Live 2024

We have not been to a Motorcycle Live since 2017.  I hadn't really looked at going to Motorcycle Live since 2021, when we decided not to go, but entered all the competitions and actually won something.

Some of the people from the bike clubs were going, so I roped Sarah with me again.

This time I was adamant to get on some test rides, therefore we were at the gate at 9:45.  I still did not manage to get onto a morning test ride.

After we test drove the Microlino, we went to meet the bikers for a coffee.  Then we went back into the queue, finally I got a test ride booked.  That was our very unproductive morning.

The lunch was very disappointing, it is possible to be worse than expected.

We finally started walking around the show before the test ride.  There weren't actually that many freebies, unless you want to sign up with the insurance companies.  Power Bronze 25% off offer is good, but I gave up the idea as there would be new exposed metal works.  We sat on a few bikes, talked to a few stalls.

HD stall was pretty good, we got some snoods, played some table footballs and posed for some pictures.

When it comes to my test ride, it was raining, the route was a little muddy.  I was test riding a Speed Twin 400, I am not used to the twin's power band, so I was overrevving everywhere, and the vibration was horrible.  The bike next to me was a Norton, it was so loud, I couldn't even hear myself think.  Let just say, the best thing about the test ride was that, I was wearing their gear, and I don't have to deal with the mud and sweat.

When we took the train back to Hampton in Arden, it was delayed due to a wartime bomb near track... A long eventful day.

I made sure I entered all the competitions, let see Santa comes this year.

Black Friday in Grocery Store

You don't normally see Black Friday sale in grocery store.  This oriental store in Nottingham is having one.  It is essentially a stock clearance sale in the name of Black Friday.  I got some noodles from the sale, only to know they only for one month date on them.  I guess I will be working on them these few weeks!

Infrared Thermometer

We take temperature with our hands, and of course it is not very scientific, we could probably detect if something is a few degrees difference, but nothing accurate.  

Between our hands and a calibrated thermal imaging camera, there is something in between, surface temperature probe.  You can even plot your own thermal image, by taking temperate in a fixed grid and colouring in a sketch of the room.

I think an infrared thermometer is the perfect economical tools to identify the worst offending cold spots, and we tackle one heat sink at a time...

Smoking Cable

I thought my car USB adaptor failed.  As I stopped and checked, one of the cable started smoking!  It was really scary.  And I did the dramatic thing to throw the cable out of the car, and the adaptor is working again without the dodgy cable.  Mystery solved.  Dodgy cable in the bin.

Plebs

Since I signed up itvX, I am watching some TV programmes, one of which is Plebs, a period comedy based in ancient Rome.  So much historic inaccuracy...  Afterall it is a comedy.

Heating is On

We were in a cold rental property, and we had multiple electric heaters on and tripped the breaker!

And one year and a day ago, we turned on the heating in the house on for the first time last Winter, so we are quite consistent.

Free Chocolate

Cadbury Secret Santa is on again.  These days, the posters aren't really poster, they are rolling on the reel on the screens, we just missed it, so we stood and waited!!

Let see if the chocolates turn up!

North Yorkshire Loop

I have done this loop many times on my motorcycle, but this time I took Sarah in my car.

We first went to Heck, then Thirsk, up Sutton Bank, down to Rievaulx.  Onwards to Clay Bank and Mount Grace.

Lovely and scenic, but definitely less fun than being on the bike.

Cycle The Solar System II

We went back to the solar trail with our folding bikes.  Last time we had a Brompton and a big electric bike, this time two elementary folding bike, it took a lot longer to cycle those 15 miles... 

And I reckon the houses between Mars and Jupiter is totally the astroid belt!

Spurn Cycling

We took the folding bikes to Spurn Discovery Centre.  After learning we could cycle to Spurn Point, we did.

Except when we say cycle, there was 25% of the distance = 50% of the time = 75% of the effort pushing the bikes across the sandy causeway.

Not again....

Beverley Shopping

We went to Beverley for lunch, but before our lunch, we were preoccupied by all the Christmas charity shop shopping.

We had a quick look at the Minster and ended up in Blue Bird Bakery Cafe, except we couldn't get a seat.  

I also had a sausage roll from Rose Cottage, I cannot believe they actually have a shop.

Bulky Folding Bike

My Apollo folding bike is really bulky, making it hard to transport!  Let that be a lesson for people thinking about folding bikes, think about the folded dimensions and if it serves your need.

Eufy Maintenance

Eufy was not happy.  I chatted to the customer service on the app, they don't seem to be recommending much apart from sending me links from their FAQ..

Pretty Dim Sum

We went to Joy's Kitchen the second time.  This time we tried their platter, which contains two new inventions.  One of them was supposed to be hot, except they were not hot.  They were all very neat.

Leeds Bread Wonky

When I was at Leeds Bread Coop, I was very tempted by the malthouse, but they had some wonky.  In the spirit of saving food waste, I went with a wonky.  It is more dense, and less holey than the normal, otherwise it tastes just as good.

Commuting on Train

The bus fare is rising next year, so I am practicing to take a train to work.  I can buy train tickets on specific trains and that will be cheaper than buses.  

I tried it for two days.  Between the train stations are fast, but the walking and getting on and off from the platform are triple the times required on the train itself. 

It is doable, let see how it works out.

Fancy Dress Trick or Treat

I saw a lot of kids no costumes, but they are not necessary the scary type...  Cows and dinosaurs...

Bicycle Cleaning

I made an effort to clean the bicycle with a little soapy water and a little rag.  I removed a lot of the dirt around the forks and the wheels, but I tried very hard to brush down the grooves on the handle bars, it doesn't seem to shift the engrained dirt...

Pork Crunch

When we were in a Melton Mowbray snack shop, I picked up a bag of pork crunch.  I am convinced it will be just like Cantonese pork skins.

They did turned out how I expected then to be.  I need to keep my eyes out for them.

Posh shops are selling them as high protein low carb keto snack, imagine that!

Bike Hanging

Last year I used the existing hangers in the garage to hang the bicycle, as a result, it was hard to access and I rarely used the bicycle, I used the folding bikes instead.

This year, I have fashioned a low level bicycle suspension system using ropes, and it is working well.

Leeds Bike Mill Maintenance II

So I went to Leeds Bike Mill again.  This time I brought my new folding bike, and a wheel from the big bike.

It was good to refresh my existing skills, give the bike a clean, help others.  Best of all, we got the bike on the stand and we got the gear sorted!

After that, I cycle to town for lunch and coffee.  When I got home, I put the wheel back on the big bike and made some adjustments.  A very accomplishing Sunday.

Lincolnshire Windmills

I wanted to visit a few windmills in Lincolnshire, but since some other bikers were coming with me, I have reduced it to one.

When we got to Waltham Windmill, I felt conned, they took the sails down for maintenance/restoration!

The cafe owners were happy to see us, I think they were expecting more customs for a dry Sunday.

I need to think about going to the two I missed, and check when Waltham puts their sails back up.

Light Night

I took 9 others around Light Night.  Many of this year's light shows were a bit trippy.  After just one show, one bailed.

There was a queue forming at St John', so we pass.

All in all, it was good fun.

Google Wallet

Anticipating my future travel needs, I am experimenting with digital wallets.  First of all, I have loaded all my loyalty cards, and only loyalty cards in my Google Wallet.  It has worked well so far for the ones I have tried.

I have shared this experience with the Gen X-ers and other geriatric millennials, they are now also transferring their loyalty cards on their digital wallets.  The first step to the 21st century!

Cat Paprika

Whilst we are waiting for the cat pepper, I fashioned some cat paprika, apart from the red colour, let's hope it works.

New Bathing Suit

A lifeguard had informed me my bathing suit was wearing a bit thin, so I finally broken the new swimming suit in.  It is a Speedo, but it is a single layer kind, not sure if it will last that long.

Basic Heat Transfers

Before we have to use a thermal imaging camera, we can always use our normal vision to identify the worst areas of uncontrolled heat loss across the fabric and tackle those first.

Pizza Roulette

We are treated to pizza roulette on a regular basis, and it is getting more adventurous.  

Comet Not

I tried a few time to look for the comet a few times this weekend, and failed.  I decided it is like needle in the haystack, even if you know it is supposed to be there.

Ramen that Isn't II

Just when I think all ramen should be pulled, because it meant pulled noodle.  The English are calling rice noodles ramen?!  Rice noodles are not even "mein", they are "fuin"!

Ventilation

It is exhausting to explain basic physics to people who thinks dehumidifier can replace mechanical ventilation or manual ventilation luften.

Dehumidifier is an air condition unit that create a cold surface for the moisture to condensate, they tend to not have sufficient air movement to remove moisture already condensate on cold surfaces.  And it cost more to run than any ventilation systems.

Ramen that Isn't

Ramen means pulled noodles.  If it not pulled, its just mein, noodles.

There is a new Lanzhou noodle shop in Leicester, I am not convinced they pull their noodles.

And Japanese never pulled their noodles, even though they call all their wheat noodles ramen...

Cha Siu that Isn't

Cha Siu means forked roast, once upon a time, they were roasted on a skewer.  You could still see cha siu that has a skewer hole.

Then obviously, the so call cha siu from Japan is not very much not skewed or roasted, it is a porchetta, roasted.

Then cha siu buns and cha siu baps were once believed to use leftover cha siu, I only to learn they were just cooked sweetened/seasoned pork!  Never had they been skewed or roasted.

Lumo

Lumo has not come under my radar until recently.  I looked it up, it sounds like a First offshoot.  I am always up for a cheap train ticket, so if it pops up, I wouldn't hesitate to give it a go.

Chilly Autumn Ride

Autumn is definitely here, this week is cooler than last week.  I was planning to wear my cold killers socks, but since I thought we weren't actually riding, I left them.

I did convinced Gary to take us up Cannon Hall, as to not waste Dave's journey to the West.  Dave's GS has heated drips AND heated seat! Gary and Andrew bailed after Emley Moor.  

Every farm shop we passed were full, people making use of the fair weather...  I am glad I made the decision to warm up at Cannon Hall!

We went home after Cannon Hall on Dave's Calimoto route.

Spa Hotel

I went to a spa hotel.  I thought I missed out for not having bought a swimming suit, but when I took one look at the pool, it was a paddling pool, so I didn't miss much.  I remember when I went to Castle Hotel in Scotland, their pool was also quite poor...

So I did some Sauna instead.

Cat Pepper

Chatting with the local allotment people, "What would you do if a neighbourhood cat likes to xxxx on your patch?", they said, "Cat Pepper." 

How do I not know about this!  I must get some!

Northern Lights in Leeds

Finally!

Tomato Pest

On close inspection, I finally find the culprit, the thing that damaged my tomatoes, snails!  Some of them were eating my tomatoes when I was taking the plant down, so they all had to go to the compost bin...

Bicycle Tyre Sizing

So I went out looking for a 700c inner tube, a guy from Evans told me, 700 is also known as 622, also know as 28".  At the same time, 29" is also known as 622?!  Such that, I could give them a think also.  How very strange!

External Mechanical Impact

So in the repair cafe, I landed another impossible task.  It was a 240V mains hedge trimmer.  The most typical problem is broken wire, it wasn't.  Everything was held by each other within the plastic hub, so once it was undone, it was impossible to put back together... And a floor full of grease...

But I did find out what was wrong with it.  The carbon brush was worn, not making contact...  So in hind sight, it needed an external impact to help the brushes be seated, a good old wack!

Back and Beyond

Making the most of the end of riding season, I went to the back and beyond, the back side of the Pennines.  I went up from Heptonstall, through Slack onto Widdop to the Pendle Hills.

The scenery so nice that people were not keeping their eyes on the road and really bad thing can happen in a split second in such narrow roads...

Worn Inner Tube

As it appears that the busted tyre might have damaged the inner tube, it has popped.  I need to go some a new one...

Local Bicycle Shop

I finally used my local bicycle shop.  I thought I might as well shop local and tried Dave Rayner.  He sold me a pair of part worn 700c tyres for £15, tiny cheaper than if I went to Halfords.  So let see.

Modern Pies

Whilst I was looking up Delia's pies in Norwich City, which I am not convinced exists, I found an "Aussie pie shop" in Norwich, and another pie shop in Nottingham.  Their pies are "modern", "inventive" and most importantly, not "economical!...  Is it just Pukka and Pieminster, nothing in between?

Garforth’s Lightbulb Moment

We have received some funding to encourage more people to ditch the CFL to go to LED!

https://ecofriendlygarforth.org.uk/led-bulb-swap/

Rosin Resin

You say toMato, I say Tomayto.

You say Rosin, I say resin.

Sturgis No Thanks

Someone at Sofy's wedding knowing I ride and lived in the States asked if I went to Sturgis. No Thanks!

Ludwig

The new BBC show Ludwig is much like The Mentalist, less serial killery.

Pulled Noodles

I am not convinced the new noodle shop in Leicester actually pull their own noodles, which is a signature of Lanzhou noodles...

Lunch Thali

We had a lunch thali at Herb, it is really good.  I wonder what they put in them!

It helped that they were extremely mild.

Self Service Dinner

James and Sarah both has problem of the concept of assembling/cooking dinner on the dinner table... I think it is not in British culture...

Image Search

Image search is making life so easy.  You used to either have to know what that thing is or ask someone who might know what that thing is, now the search is getting good!

Richmond Vegan Sausage Roll

So I had a Richmond vegan sausage roll.  It was better than Gregg's, but it is still a bit pointless.

Tomato Ripening

So tomatoes can ripen off vine, you just need to be patient.

The Sun Inn

So it has been 8 years since we last ate at the Sun Inn.  They understandably put the price up to £13, which is still cheaper than a lot of Sunday roasts.

The food was fair, we were stuffed!

Yale

One of the mythical creatures statues shown in Kew was a Yale: mythical goat type thing.

Shoei's Return

After using Bell for the last 8 years, I am finally returning to Shoei!

 

Have I Got News for You US

So they just started going Have I Got News for You in the US.  It is okay.  Looking forward to seeing more.

Tea Coffee Success

I have made the tastiest tea coffee thusfar.

Loose leaves tea, ground coffee, brewed together, sugar, evaporated milk.  Yummy.

Harvest Moon Eclipse

Before

About maximum.

Sunflower Microgreen

We left the sunflower seedheads out for the squirrel, when we can harvest them ourselves.  Although they are too small to be eating sunflower seeds, but they can be grown into Microgreen!  Let me have a go at this.

Thorpe Park

To continue the story, the entrance was fully of barriers to make you walk around, so you don't feel like you are queuing, I call this "Heathrow Experience".  We went through bag check and into Thorpe Park as it opens, most of the rides were not yet open.  

I went to the first one that was open, Stealth: 0-80mph in 1.8 seconds.  Because Sarah did not go with me, so I was a lone rider, I even jumped to the front to fill an empty space.  Its magnitude did not dawn on me until I was strapped down.  It was fast, it was scary, and it all ended very quickly.

After that, it was a bit of a daze!

Rush: giant swing is a modern version of the pirate ship, except scarier.  I cheated, by closing my eyes.  I hate pirate ship!

The Swarm: a winged coaster was actually very smooth, very nice.  As I described it, imagine being on Julie's motorbike, fast, smooth, sweeping bends.

The Saw's queue was too long, so I passed the first time around.  The screaming from the riders were not encouraging.

Colossus: world's first 10 looping coaster, in comparison is an old clunky coaster, it was fine, but it has too many corkscrew spins.

Mr Monkey's Banana Ride is a child's size pirate boat, which I just about to tolerate.

We weren't initially planning to get wet before lunch, but we walked past Storm Surge: spinning life raft, and we went for it.  Sarah's rain coat protected her from most of it, and I got a little wet.  The water was still quite clean in the morning. 

High Striker: child's size drop ride was just around the corner, so we forced ourselves on the ride as the operator wanting to get off to his lunch, I swore it was a shorter ride than the children before us.

We nipped to our car for lunch, changed into our wet gear, in preparation of the afternoon wet rides.

Quantum: magic carpet was just by the entrance, we so went on it just after our lunch, thinking maybe we needed something calmer just after lunch.

Sunset Cinema was showing a 4D race car short clip, so we went and sit down for a little bit, there was a bit of chair shaking and air jet spraying.

When we got to Dobble Tea Party, we were the only two in the tea cup, it was a bit too spinney to my liking.

Big Easy Bumpers were very calm dodgem, sparks no longer fly around. 

Most of the roller coasters' queue are getting long.  We queued up for The Walking Dead: indoor roller coaster.  

And Ghost Train: actors in the tube train, much like the real tube experience!  At the end of a tube ride, do we still have a soul?

Nemesis Inferno also came with the Heathrow Experience, and it was also a bit old and clunky.

After that, Sarah was ready for more roller coaster, so we went on Colossus and the Swarm.

The Saw's queue had died down, so we went for it.  It is like a smaller version of the Stealth, with the added thrill of part of it in the dark.

We have ruled out Hyperia, queue too long, and we might not have the stomach for; Samurai, Vortex, Zodias as we don't like to be spun; and detonator that we don't like to be dropped. 

It also started raining, we were ready for the wet rides.  Flying Fish junior coaster was a bit clunky, and we were on the coaster for 5 laps, we got quite wet!

Depth Charge: super slide actually wasn't wet as we imagined them to be, I slid a lot further than Sarah did.

Tidal Wave promised to drench us and it delivered, I had not been this soak for a long time.

Just as the park closes, we squeezed onto another Storm Surge ride, by now, the rafts are full of water at the bottom, that also got my feet wet!

I left the park shivering...  It was a very accomplishing day.

Surrey Day 6: Woburn

On the way north, we went to Woburn Go Ape, it was a nice, old course.  We took the opportunity to look at some animals.

And also stopped at MK Pride, had a walk around.

There were more delays on the road.  Before we get home, we even did a supermarket sweep, going to two supermarkets!

We are so glad to be home.

Surrey Day 5: RHS Wisley

Finally at last,we went to RHS Wisley.  RHS Wisley was the reason why we went to Surrey.

There were road works in the area, so the drive was not very nice.  The garden was unlike Hampton Court and Kew, a hillier version of Harlow Carr with a greenhouse.

There were different birds than Harlow Carr, I might have seen a Kingfisher.

Surrey Day 4: Kew Garden

Kew turned out to be out only day driving into ULEZ, why we brought Pizza instead of Danby.  It was very much London, traffic was not nice. We got there at 10am.

Having learn out lesson the day before, we agreed to stop every hour or so for refreshment as to make sure we are not exhausted.

All the greenhouses have now reopened.  I was steamed/cooked in them, not pleasant.

We finally got back to the car at 6pm, definitely got our ticket's worth.

Surrey Day 3: Hampton Court Palace

So in order to calm down from Thorpe Park, we went to Hampton Court Palace thinking it would be an easy day.

We left the house later, we parked at Thames Ditton and took the train to Hampton Court in order to qualify for the two for one offer.

Since the forecast was going to be rainy in the afternoon, we walked around the castle ground first, in the wind. That has exhausted us early.

We finally left the Palace in the afternoon, and walked back to Thames Ditton, in the rain, by then we were driving in rush hour, which we had to pick up top up groceries.  We ended up at home late, so much for an easy day out.

Surrey Day 2: Thorpe Park

I only realised we would be near Thorpe after I booked the accommodation.  Since then, we were preparing to go mentally.

We thought the park would open at 9am, only in the morning we checked and it was going to open at 10am, so we watched the boats on the Thames for an hour.

When we parked up, it was getting busy!  We actually got in the park before 10am.  Most of the rides were not open yet.  The first one open was Stealth, without thinking it through I went for it.  It was hair raising.

I will probably write up the rides separately, all in all, it was a good day!  I went on 18 different rides, I think we got out money's worth of thrills. We just have the nurse our mildly concussed brains the next few days.

Surrey Day 1: Windsor

We opted for the free option in Windsor, Windsor Great Park.

We went to Windsor Farm Shop first pick up some ham and sausage roll.

We parked up at a free car park, took a bus to Sunningdale, which was not £2/journey.

We strolled through the park, if we had done the park another day, we could have watched some polo!

The ham was a little salty, the sausage roll was okay.

The last stretch, the long walk, felt very long, even though it was downhill for a short mile.  

RHS let's us park at Saville Gardens, so we moved the car to have a look. 

Surrey Day 0: Thames Ferry

We were in the Weybridge area, and we had to take a ferry across the Thames.  The area's water is managed by a lot of weirs and locks, it is not tidal as we thought of Thames.  It was £5.5 return for that little hop!

Walnut Pesto

The pesto grows well this year, it grows so well that I had to make pesto! 

Dynamic Pricing

Oasis's concert tickets' dynamic pricing made to the news, we are just looking at Thorpe Park, and they also use dynamic pricing.  So unethical...

Green Tomatoes

One of my tomatoes has irreversibly snapped, so I had to take all the tomatoes off and hope they will ripen..

No Fee

When something advertises as "no fee", we just need to know where did they charge more, for this case, the poor exchange rate.  There is no such thing as free lunch...

Cat Beeper

So my neighbours have cat beepers, I am not sure they are effective.  One of the neighbourhood cats start pooping on my front yard, repeatedly.  I tried to add scent to deter them, they literally just move to the unscented bit!  Awful!  I just don't want to buy another piece of plastic...

No CHATS

I was chatting with Haylie, then we talked about money.  Surely everyone wants to send instant payment, free, who want to pay CHATS?!

Fushsia Berry

I showed Shelly a fushsia, I offered it to her, and she actually ate it!  So when I offered her a second one from another fushsia bush, it was hard for me to refuse my own medicine.  Shelley thought it resembles blue berry, I think it resembles grape, either way, fairly mild and tasteless. 

Chilli Honey

So when I was in Manchester a few month ago, I had a pizza with chilli honey.  I thought the pizza was too wet.  Then when we were in Kirkstall Market, Ninny and Mark also had pizza with chilli honey.  Apparently it is a thing, but I definitely don't like them.

Barber Trainee

So I have been going to the trainee for a long time, there were no big mistakes from the trainee before.  Today, they clipped my sideburn unevenly, as a result, they had to just clip them all together, so I am now missing the decorative bits around the ears!

When Universal is not Universal

I bought a visor extension for Unthank, but because Unthank has a tiny visor, right against the dash, so I cannot mounted the extension onto the existing visor.  So much for a "universal" visor extension...

Trespass Incident

There is the normal kind of train delay, then there is the abnormal kind of train delay.  I was caught out in one yesterday: some trespasser was on the line and wasn't removed for two hours. 

I didn't give up hope a quick resolution for an hour.  I count myself lucky when my train was stuck on a train platform, so we can get out of the box.  After an hour sitting on the train, I also decide to walk away.

Hanlon's Razor

Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.

Scunthorpe Pride

So much to people's preconception of Scunthorpe, I went to Scunthorpe Pride. It was alright, fairly small, a little bit like Belper.

Dark Kitchen Food Court

Whilst I was in Manchester, I went to a dark Kitchen Food Court, it is a thing, apparently.

Manchester Pride

After much debate, I took Unthank to Manchester for Pride instead of other taking the train.  I was a bit lost due to all the road closures. Coincidentally, I stopped right at another bike park.  Maybe all the road closures and the cops were good for my bike.

Free Washing Machine Clean

Supposedly I was getting free electricity, so I put the washing machine on clean.  It did feel clean afterwards.

Bongkrekic Acid

I have watched a video on bongkrekic acid, it causes very unpleasant death.  I looked it up, I maybe giving up a lot of food mentioned...

The out of date coconut oil is relegated to be fire starter...

Free Electricity: Summer Demand Flexibility II

I missed one of the sessions, this time I tried, I think I managed to use 1.38kWh... all 40p worth of it, if I actually have it for free.

Infinite Bridge

So I had a look at the Infinity Bridge.  It is a nice little bridge, except... The bends are not symmetrical, so the "infinity sign" from the reflection would be oO, instead of OO.

Sweet Pea Flower Harvesting

Apart from vegetable, apparently I have another produce in the garden, the flowers.  So I harvested three bunches of sweet pea flowers for Sarah to give away.  It is always best to give to those appreciate them.

Destructible Honda

It is a common believe that Honda motorcycle is indestructible.  It was proven wrong today.  A 2021 Honda failed to start after a small knock, ECU was cutting out, so more like a digital problem.

RAC turned up, they thought it was the battery and jumped it.

Calderdale Pride 2024

We had fun last year, so we went again.  I made a mistake searching for Halifax Pride, because the search returned Halifax Canada.

We parked at the same car park.  We still got some McVities goodies.  Nice little day out.

Woodland Creation - Potting III

I took Sarah to the potting session after I first went.  She liked it so much, we went again today.  This is the final session, as Arium is resuming the normal commercial potting works.  We actually get to see their potting machine in operation, gripping the plugs, pushing in the pots and rolling trays in their racks, impressive.

Free Electricity: Summer Demand Flexibility

Much like the Winter demand flexibility schemes, they are rolling out flexibility to us.  Although it was a cloudy day, I would have exported about 1kWh in that one hour.  We ran everything and cooked everything, and we still only managed to use my 1kWh and used another 0.96kWh, and I am hoping the full 0.96kWh would be free.  That will inform me if I should be bothered next time...

Northern Lights

Ever since the May, the recent sighting of Northern Lights in England, I have been following the Lancaster University AuroraWatch.  I knew one was coming soon, but I just wasn't awake at the right time!  So I missed them again!

Language Error - Caterpillar

So in Cantonese, Caterpillar is hairy worm.  The ones in my garden now are not hairy!

Cheshire Adventure After Math

After some rest, we had to take stock of the massive bag of food from TGTG.  As well as two loads of laundry to do.

My home grown produce has to wait till we clear the deck from TGTG.

Meanwhile, because of the Sun and the heat, many more caterpillars appear, I need to process our radish as soon as we can!  Also needing to catch up on the gardening...

Cheshire Adventure - Day 3

We finally left the lodge, first went to our other friends'.  Sarah had not been to their new house.

Followed by a very English lunch at the White House, by Blackstone Edge Reservoir.  

We took a long scenic route back to another friends' house for a birthday party, where we were grilled by the Sun.  The party was mostly expat like myself, we were differently complained about Southern Spain, Sardinia and Greece are too hot in Summer, and no heating in leaky house in Winter.

Finally, we went home to pickup a TGTG.  They literally filled out bag full of food, which was crazy!

Before I clock off for the day, I was watering everything in the garden!

Cheshire Adventure - Day 2

We had made travelling plan into Manchester for a friend's wedding, then our other friend messaged me in the morning.  So I called back, and we arranged to travel to hers instead, and she will drive in, much to Sarah's relief, the Manchester inner city driving can be overwhelming.

We were in town a few minutes early, had a walk around the library, went to the ceremony, had an inter-session coffee, went to the wedding breakfast, by then was a very late lunch.

We went back to our friend's, and went onto the Caribbean festival.  They had a stage for each country, our chests were pounding from all the amplified bass sounds.

We went back to town for the evening reception, the evening was concluded by the damn parking warden ticketing our friend even though we definitely bought a ticket, when he was in the car park!

Cheshire Adventure - Day 1

We went to Beeston Castle in the morning, it was lovely and windy as I remembered it.  What I didn't remember was the 4' roads getting to the castle.  I rolled my ankle at the top of the Castle, which was a little unwise...

The drive between Beeston to Frodsham was not that far, but extra slow when there are three oversized farm vehicles in front.

Then we went to Delemare Forest to do Go Ape, with my spraint ankle and spraint wrist.  It was a nice course. 

We finally went back to the "lodge" to cook again.  I was tempted for another TGTG, then we didn't.

Cheshire Adventure - Day 0

We made our way across the Pennines.  We opted not to go to Cheshire Zoo, fearing it will be overrun by kids in summer holiday.  We had a walk around RHS Bridgewater, which has now fully reopened.  We asked the helpdesk loads of gardening questions!

Then we went to the famous IKEA Warrington, had a free cup of tea.  Got some food from the supermarket before went to our accommodation.

The room was supposed to have a kitchen, they initially gave me a key to a room without a kitchen, then they gave me a key to a room with a hob.  No microwave, no sink, no tea towel, no pot or pan, no utensils.  I begged for a pan and I had to be inventive with my cooking.  Luckily I had my trusted pen knife from the car.

The Too Good to Go from the service next door was a very good supplement.

Apocalyptic Octopus

We are clicking on this Octopus game, and I didn't think about its meaning initially.  Someone told me the street is blue because it is water and that's how we get octopuses.  Then I had a deeper thought, did it mean the whole world is under water, and the octopuses are playing with human sports, human cars, human games.  And in time, they even develop nationality... 

In this case, the most unrealistic bit of this game is that, electric cars are famously hydrophobic!  

Sport Therapist

I often book massage on Groupon on a discount, I sometimes feel bad about it.  On the other hand, they are using Groupon to reach out to new customers...

Anyway, she properly beat me up, aka loosen my lower back.  Whilst I was there, she had a little squeeze of my sprint wrist, something I thought NHS could do, except they won't, as it is "just" soft tissue and I am not screaming my head off.

Summer Swell

My friend asked if the city appears to have more or less people in Summer, in particular August.  It is more noticeable in mainland Europe, when "everyone" goes to the countryside, I don't think it is the case in Leeds. If anything, there is more people in town, the Sun is shining, school is out.

Distilled York Tour

I dragged the reluctant Karen to see York.  We distilled it into 3 hours including lunch!

Belper Pride

I took Karen to catch up with Sarah in Belper Pride.

It was a, little, weird, pride... Good spirit tho 

Visitor Preparation

I give the bathroom and kitchen a wipe.  I vacuumed the conservatory.  I nearly had a fit when the air pump was playing up!  Preparation complete (as much as I am willing).

Rain Finally

After the dry spell, the rain finally came.  It has completely full up the water butt which was good.  But as soon as it cleared up, it was warm again...

Nero Working

With the encouragement of the free coffee, I have been working in Nero for a few times.  Sometimes I feel sorry for them, drinking a "free" coffee, and using their resources.

Cougettes

So I even tried one of my yellow courgettes.  It is the same verdict, a bit pointless, except for the vitamins and the fiber...

Bike Washing

After the single track roads, I gave Unthank a little rinse to get the worse off.  I came home to wash her, under the Sun!  It was not fun, but at least she is now black-ish again.

Union Chain Bridge

The next day, I went to see the Union Chain Bridge.

North Pennines

I went to County Durham to a GBMCC event.  I designed a little figure of eight, three counties, run around the North Pennines.  Beautiful! 

Summer Heat

Summer is here, the persistence Sun made me put the third sail up...

DIY Plumbing

So I finally see to Angela's sink.  It was not something PTFE can botch.  It was a perished washer, we should have gone to Toolstation just for the washer, but we went to get a full trap instead, which didn't really fit, but I just used the washer.  Glad to have helped.

Sunflower Mutants

I got some sunflower seeds, and as it turns out, these sunflowers are prone to suckers!  Even the one that looked normal, it now also has a little sucker.  Maybe they were all meant to be multi-head sunflower?

Summer Harvest

The produce is now coming thick and fast.  I managed to give some away.  Even I have to chip in to eat some courgette... 

Silloth Rally

Lovely summer rally.

Glasgow Pride

Glasgow Pride. great fun!

Piaggio MP3

A British company has jazzed up the Piaggio MP3 making it hybrid.  I wonder if Piaggio knows, maybe they are actually in agreement.

Carlisle LGBT

Carlisle LGBT+ are blessed with an LGBT centre managed by some lovely people.

Civic Duties : Report Crimes

I went to a networking event, and the event has invited a police officer to talk about the local crimes.  He reckon we should report all crimes, big and small, and all anti-social behaviours.  So I did.

Bike Bulb Replacement

One of the little running light has blown, so I looked up how to access it online.  It was indeed dead easy!  Two screws!

Grilled Courgette

So I finally had one of my courgette.  They are just as I remember them, a bit tasteless, a little pointless, except the vitamins, of course...

Riding School

So the little farm shop was next to a riding school, and we saw some kids just trotting around on their ponies.  Seriously, just give them little 50cc mini moto, 3 horsepowers that listens to you without having to brush them down and sweep their shits.

Little Roast

We went to a local farm shop for Sunday Lunch.  It was nice, but a little small.  On the other hand, Sarah was given half an 8" quiche!?

Cottage Garden Crop Photo

This is not my first crop of the year, just the first one I am bothered enough to take a picture of.

Too Good to Go Spree

I had a little Too Good to Go Spree recently, went to 5 different places that we had not been.  It was a mixed bag indeed.  One of which I handed straight to a homeless lady...

Two Locks

I brought two locks to park my bike in York.  I saw a biker pulled in and I thought he was local, so I asked how many locks I should put on, he said, there's never too many locks, so I put both locks on.

Later on the day, I bumped into the same biker, he changed out of his bike gear and as he turned out, he rode in from Manchester to attend the same workshop I was attending.  No wonder he thinks we need all the locks 😆.

Spring Onion Planting

I cut one of the spring onion to its base.  My mom seemed to think it will grow back.... I have put it in the front flower bed, let see if it is successful....

Summer Cut

I finally went to get my hair cut short for summer!  My neck has not seen the Sun for a long time!

Successions Planting

It maybe a little late to plant succession crop in July.  The extra sugar snaps I put down last week just germinated!  The one that is nearly ready looks really good. I am excited!

BANANA

We know about NIMBY, apparently there is BANANA.  Build absolutely nothing anywhere near anything...

Bike Fest Shafton

We went to Bike Fest Shafton today.  We do not expect it to be big like Bike Wise.  We were pleasantly surprised.

I have even found little old Endee.

Difficult Quiz

We were at the Garforth Gala.  Our Eco-friendly Garforth has a quiz.  They did not use my solar quiz, because one of the persons think it was difficult.  When I look at her quiz, I think hers is harder.  Ultimately, they look hard because we don't have each other's answers in hand...

MSG overdosed

I caught up with David and I got some Oriental noodles.  It had so much MSG that I had a headache the rest of the day...

Community Energy

Walt and I went to a community energy seminar.  It is clear that Walt and I do not want to run an energy company... Not-for-profit... for free...

Pontefract Scufflers

I was walking around Pontefract, most bakeries sell Scufflers, even the butchers sell baps in Scufflers!

Lidl Dried Shitake

Lidl was selling some dried shitake mushroom, I thought I would get some to try.  They turned out quite nice, albeit a little on the small size.

Townclose Glowworms

So we want on a glowworm walk with Yorkshire Wildlife Trust at our local Townclose Hills.  They are tiny.  We saw 9 with our own eyes, and the YWT team counted 12.

Because it was very dark, photo do not come out well!

QR Code Malfunction

I prefer typing website out long so I know the website better, but people are too lazy for that, so there is such thing as links.  The latest type of link is a QR code, which we had something printed, and it did not work...  Exactly my thought, just type it out...

Chickens for Beginners

I have been wanting to go to the poultry for beginners course at Temple Newsam for a while.  Although my house deed in theory does not allow for poultry keeping.

I saw the course popped up and I signed up.  Only to be confirmed that it is cancelled due to lack of student....

Is it a sign? That I shouldn't bother?

Motorcycle Crimes

I saw a poster in Squires for West Yorkshire Bike Crime.  Then I went to a shopping mall for a coffee on a motorbike, the security came running after me.  I thought he was going to tell me off for parking at the bike racks.  He told me I can move the bike to the safety of the compound.  So I just told me, I would be gone in a few minutes.  

I grabbed my drink, his colleague was standing by my bike, guarding Unthank.  I thanked them for their concern, and at the same time I am shocked of this happening.  I told them what I heard about Skelton Lakes.

I quickly finished the coffee and left.  What has the world become...

Useless Compost

I bought some compost, and I think they are not very good for sprouting seeds... maybe I end up using them all as soil conditioner....

Heck Factory Shop

I finally got the opportunity to go to Heck Factory Shop.  I had a sausage sarnie, which was okay, at least I was confident with the sausages.  I was on my motorbike, so I wasn't going to carry around chilled sausages for hours in this warm weather.  I got to go back another week!

I probably won't try some of the weird flavours tho.

Clay Bank

I went back to Clay Bank with some bikers.  I had taken little Rome, Flint and now Unthank there.  The car park got bigger and now they want to charge for parking!

Fizzy Cola is Back

I was disappointed the whole of 2023 because Haribo's fizzy cola was not available at the factory shop, and they said it was due to production line down.  I even look for them when I was in Holland.

They are back!!!!  I stashed up!

Woodland Creation - Potting

The second phase of Woodland Creation after collecting seeds is propagating them and potting them up.  I saw the advertisement and I took the opportunity to volunteer.  

I recognized the organizer from another event.  It was the first time I went inside Arium's green house.  It was basic manual labour potting the sprouting seeds and chit chat over plants and the project.  I hope I have helped.

Networking with Free Food II

I went to another networking event, it also has free food, except I didn't know, so I ate lunch before going to it!  

So I had paid for a hotel lunch, which was quite rich and a little greasy...  The view was nice tho.  I even considered recommending it to the bikers, but because of their room selections, I don't think it would work that well...

Networking with Free Food

I went to a breakfast networking event, the sausage sarnie was below par, I shall get a bacon sarnie next time!

Missing Bike Rack

My local gym has undergone entrance reconfiguration.  The main entrance is now reopened, but they haven't put the bike rack back!

USB-C PD

After some debate, I bought a USB-C PD charger, both as a backup charger for the laptop, and a charger for that massive power bank.

Cancel and Rebook

Martin Lewis often encourages us to check, rebook and cancel.  I made a mistake, I cancelled first.  After I couldn't find a more suitable accommodation, I was worrying about what I could do.  Then I went back to my original booking, and the marketing discounting has made the booking cheaper.  Cannot complain...

Humber Bridge Viewing

I have previously went to the designated viewing area, which often require walking.  The view from Waters' Edge is just perfect.

First Courgette

I cut down the first courgette and it went straight into the BBQ.  The first one is always going to be on the small side... It was said to be tasty, I wouldn't know...

Sandals

It is a common believe that we don't need sandals in England...  Or it is only required 5 days in a year for the brave souls.  My leather slippers had served me well for the last 7 years, and in the last few years, they were the garden foot ware.  I think a pair of sandals will be perfect replacement.

Yeasty Slug Traps

It is more common to use beer trap, but since I am too cheap to waste beer, so I saw online you could make yeast traps instead.  I tried, they are mildly successful...

Spotting Moon

So the moon has got a little bigger, and with a clear sky, I looked at it through the spotting scope again.

Calimoto Desktop

I was going to give up on Calimoto and I have already deleted the app.   As it turns out, I can use desktop to plan route and share.  So it works for me.  I just need to adopt it to other navigation tools.

Yo! Japanese Curry

I got a Yo! Japanese curry sachet, and finally used it yesterday.  Sarah thought it was smoother than the other oriental curry mix.  Looking at the packet, the Yo! sachet has a lot more artificial ingredients and the first few ingredients are sweetener and sugar.  Go figure...

Barbequed Chicken Wings

Chicken wings are a "must have" in a Hong Kong barbeque.  I don't normally get chicken wings for barbeque in England, thinking I would be the only person who would be eating them.  This time, I actually had to get a whole chicken, because I went to a small supermarket.  So I portioned out the drumstick and the chicken wings for barbeque, two of each.  

It went down well, and I am happy to have barbequed chicken wings.

Spotting Scope

I saw a used spotting scope in a shop window, after some quick search online, I decided to enquire about it. We saw spotting scopes in Bempton Rocks, it would come in handy.

We spotted this pigeon on the bank of River Ouse in Selby. We tried it on the Moon, and it was a new moon, making it extra hard! We are looking forward to using it more.

House Sparrows

I never knew house sparrows would make me so happy, they eat aphids!  Come my friend!

Loose Leaf Tea

Loose leaf tea does not imply their quality.  I made a mistake buying some Tesco loose leaf tea...  Having said that, still better than those Lancaster teabags..

Overpriced Sunday Roasts

We had a Sunday roast at Burford in the Cotswold.  Of course it was expected to be expensive.  It was 20 quid, and the beef was not carved to order, I could tell it has been bathing in the gravy.

Then we were in a local pub, this one was £17.5, the beef was overcooked, and the sausage was overly salty, the Yorkshire pudding was burnt...

I may have to do them myself...

Calimoto

Some bikers are raving about Calimoto, but is it £50 good?  They used to have a basic free level, but it doesn't anymore.  When we were last out, Mark's Calimoto app crashed.  It surely cannot be £50 good...

Oversized Battery Bank

As it turns out, oversized battery bank takes a long time to charge...

Kippered Out

When we were at Whitby, I popped up to Fortune's and got a pair of kipper.  I think we are kippered out.... Just too many bones!!!!  

Yorkshire Puffin Festival

I took the opportunity to go to Yorkshire Wildlife Trust Yorkshire Puffin Festival at Flamborough Cliffs.  Unlike RSPB Bempton Cliffs, there's no barrier.  There were more puffins than two week agotwo week ago when we were at Bempton Cliffs.

There were loads on the cliffs, some flying, some bobbing in the sea.

I actually took the bikers there, but they all opted for a warm cup of tea instead of seeing British wildlife.

Car Washing Finishes

I did wash the car, but I rarely finish it by wiping down.  Streaks really show in black cars...

Ribby

I bought some beef rib and pork ribs from the farm shops.  I have decided that ribs are too ribby, by that I mean bony.

Bin Diving

My neighbour has got a skip outside, then someone was very excited about the prospect of bin diving, which I am not usually a big fan of.  There were some MDFs, some old composts, sad plants and pots.  I will pass, thanks.

Barton Marina

I was going home on A38, so I thought Barton Marina would be a good place for a break.

 

It was a very nice marina, a lot of nice shops, it seems popular as a family outing. I would certainly stop by again when I near it.

Local Farmshops

Enroute home, I finally decided to explore my local farm shops.  

Rhubarb Triangle Farm Shop does some nice sausage rolls and free farm animal viewing.

Swithens Farm ShopSwithens Farm Shop has two access roads, I took the bumpier road in.  It has a working cafe, child play area, farm visit, etc.  The butcher was very chatty.

Overpriced Farm Shop at Chipping Norton

Fan of a certain show would know which farm shop I am talking about.  One of the bikers is a fan of the show and lead a run down that direction.  I have already expected it would be horrible, and it exceeded my expectations, in a bad way.

The farm is on a 8' road, and everyone just park up as soon as possible, which means parking on the verge, making the narrow road extra muddy.  The overflow carpark is only single car width and has a massive potholes at the entrance.  There is no warden sorting out the junctions.

The queue to anything is long.  There is no entertainment on site, apart from the queueing and fellow punters' company.  Apparently the queue for food, as well as queue to farm shop were two hours.  Some punters implied their burger would worth the wait, of which Gwilim and I concurred that no food is worth 2 hours wait!

There's no demarcation of the queue, so you have to ask your way around to find the back of the queue.  And some punters were walking and queueing what appears to be a lawn and occasionally a lady will shout, "please get off the spring barley".

Queuing, warm beer, overpriced burger, the holy trinity of British culture.

Lake Vyrnwy Bird Feeder

We rode to Lake Vyrnwy and stopped for coffee.  I announced I would be spending a few minutes at the RSPB bird hide.  The bird hide is actually a viewing platform for their bird feeders. 

There were a lot of different birds there, at least double the numbers of the one in RHS Harlow Carr.  There were the usual great tot, blue tit, coal tit and chaffinch.  Then there were nuthatch, woodpecker, which I saw at RHS before, in additional to a load of gold finch, green finch, and some other finch, some type of warblers, and a tree sparrow.

Scenic Route

Friday rush hour major routes are all congested, so I had to stick with the scenic route, except since I set off late, I had to power through the scenic route with minimum stoppage...

Although there was day light all the way down, but the overcast condition made the ride rather cold!

Second Sail

You know Summer is here now the second sail is up.  We may reserve the last sail for "heat wave"?

UKREiiF

I met up with a friend at UKREiif.  The event took over the whole Leeds Docks area!!

PV Planning

As it turns out, Steve's array is only on a 3.68kw inverter.  The system was mostly free from ECO4, so Steve didn't ask too many questions at the beginning, now he is furious....

Moral of the story, always get another pair of eyes on the proposal.

Underground Bakery II

We picked up a loaf from Underground Bakery at the Otley Show.  Last time I was in Otley, they already sold out their bread 

After trying them twice, I could rank them at top 5...

Holme Moss

I took the opportunity to ride to Holme Moss.  All the cyclists and walkers were also out, so the road was busy.  At Holme Moss, even the paragliders are out.

The Otley Show

The forecast kept changing, so we decided to go to Otley Show last minute.  A lot of fancy pigeons and hamsters, but no chicken or ducks this year. 

It turned out to be a very hot day, and we all ended with a bit of heat stroke.   All the stalls took the opportunity to the their soda pop prices up ...

The Tetley

So the Tetley restaurant is back open, but the short cut is closed, I guess I won't be parking on Sheaf for a while. 

Ice-cream on the Beach

 

Partial heat stroke stops me from the great Yorkshire war cry!  Three quid that!

Local Blue Tit

We now have a local blue tit that frequent out bird feeder on a regular basis.  Only if it would stay still for a second for a picture.

Coastal Trip - Day 4

The weather has finally turned, we did not take the bike out.  We walked around Flamborough Head, saw a bunch of sea birds we already saw and seals.

We went home via Wetwang, which is now branded Deep Blue, and the fish cake is still nice, just more expensive, smaller and a little underseasoned. And we went back to Sand Hutton for yet more asparagus!

Coastal Cycle Trip - Day 3

We took the bikes to edge of Cleveland Way, pushed down the hill, across the beach and cycled all the way to the Scalby Mills, all the way up to the castle and all the way back.  Apparently that is only 8 miles in total.

We did all that within the 3 hours free parking limit! We went onto Cayton Bay enroute home. We saw some sand martins at the beach.

Coastal Cycle Trip - Day 2

We cycled to Bempton Cliffs, which was only 7 miles but it was general uphill and we were cycling against the seabreeze.

We did manage to see three puffins... My trusted old camera manages take their pictures. As well as a lot of guillemot, kittiwakes, razorbills, tree sparrows and a few fulmars.

Coastal Cycle Trip - Day 1

After a long drive, via Sand Hutton picking up some asparagus, we parked up and cycled around Filey.

All the way to the edge of Filey Briggs and down the promenade. 

We spotted some seabirds on Filey Briggs' cliffs, namely guillemot, kittiwakes, and we saw some oystercatchers on land.

After the first trip, one of the plastic clips on the panniers already broke...

Another Folding Bike

In less than a year, I bought another folding bike.

Unlike the B Fold 3 bike with single gear, this Apollo Contour bike has 7 gears, also came with panniers, bike light, spanner and pump. Except that is too big to fit in my cupboard...

Hong Kongers in the UK: A Journey of Hope and Resilience

My friend from Birmingham told me about the exhibition.  I paid a visit, it was nice.

https://museumsandgalleries.leeds.gov.uk/events/leeds-city-museum/hong-kong-freedom-fighters/

We were pushed towards STEM.  STEM is where money is, but Arts is where culture is...  I am very grateful for the artists.

Coptic Wedding

We went to a wedding in a Coptic church.  It was different...

30kWh Day

This year my system hit a 30kWh Day on 30th April, which is earlier than last year.  Fingers crossed!

Glowworm

I only just realised glowworms meant firefly!  Let see if we can see some of them I. Our neighbourhood woods!

Leicester City Jam

We made a few mistake coming into the Leicester City Foxes celebration.  We should have avoided it.  Then the jam were not clearing off as we hoped, so we should have just pushed through rather then waiting.

ER

I have been binging on the old TV show ER.  Dr Corday commented on NHS and old boys' club still rings true today, some 25 years from ER.

Tyres Shopping

We still don't understand why sometimes car tyres wear down unevenly, even after all the wheel balancing, air pressure checking.  The worst part is finding replacement, even the branded offerings, they often change model, making matching difficult.

Early Radishes

After much struggle, the first crop of radishes were ready.  When I said crop, there were only 5 of them...

Plant Outdoor Acclimatisation

I have been wanting to put the seedlings outside, but it has been met with failures because of the cold and the slugs.  Now May has come along, the weather is looking up, I took a bunch of the plants out this week.  They definitely need some toughening up!

GreenTech

I went GreenTech Gathering. Apparently most people went because of the "tech" element of the title.  Some lost souls like myself went because of "green" element.  I should have read the detail description...

Manchester YHA

I went to stay at Manchester YHA, after all three of my possible futons were unavailable.

It was a bit of a mistake, Manchester is vibrant even on a Sunday, and the geese do not know the time.  Their tiny kitchen do not have any free tea or leftover food.  They also don't have any peelers nor knives...  Free parking tho.

Apple Peeler

So an apple peeler came in to repair cafe for an adjustment.  I didn't know it is still a thing.

Plant Identification

We went to a different Incredible Edible bed in a different part of Garforth.  They had a "herb" looked awfully like garlic mustard.  So I asked them about it, and they didn't know either.  They used an image search, and I was right!