Tag: Efford Recycling Centre

Refurbished Lantern

This warmer, overcast, morning we transported another full car load to Efford Recycling Centre and returned with

a dusty plastic framed mirror; two glazed plant pots with holes in their bottoms; and a wooden framed glass lantern in need of some refurbishment.

Afterwards I made a slight inroad into my iPhotos stock of pictures by culling all the pictures in

Once night fell, Jackie photographed her refurbished lantern.

She had cleaned it up, re-fixed a cracked glass panel, inserted a set of solar lights by way of a door she had opened, freed and firmed up the catch.

This evening we dined on tasty baked gammon with piquant mustard sauce; boiled potatoes; firm cauliflower and cauliflower cheese; moist spinach; and crunchy carrots with which I finished the Malbec

Advent Day 3

This morning we transported another surplus water butt and 14 more bags of garden refuse to Efford Recycling centre and returned with an

apparently unused IKEA child’s wicker chair which we have placed beside the curtain behind which Ellie stood looking out of the window until the grandfamily moved away, waiting for their arrival for Christmas.

“Every year, one road in Hampshire takes Christmas cheer to another level with every house on the block transformed into a winter wonderland. In total, seven houses in Byron Road, New Milton, band together to light up the street with dazzling fairy lights to raise money for the NHS.

“The annual tradition was started by one couple just under 20 years ago and their enthusiasm for all things Christmas. 75-year-old Ged Hollyoake was a builder before he retired and he and his wife Susan Burley, 75, began decorating their home in 2004.

“Since then, the pair’s festive spirit has become infectious with neighbours helping and beginning to decorate their homes with roof lights, icicles, nativity scenes and giant life-size snowmen. Conveniently, the garage next door has offered out its car park as a place to store all the equipment to keep the road clear.

” “The display takes around two months to plan and Ged leave[s] all kinds of hooks and tacks up all year around so the lights can go straight on. He changes it up every year and there’s always plenty of decorations inside too. It’s very well organised and Ged helps the neighbours with theirs’ too. “

“The road sees thousands of visitors every year and on November 27, families piled in to see the countdown around 5pm. The annual event has not been without its challenges however as it was forced to close in 2020 due to Covid restrictions.

“In past years, some houses have stopped, or refused to take part because of the busy crowds that can gather. On the whole however, many people are supportive, especially as the display has raised around £90,000 for the NHS.” (Extracts from http://Hampshirelive.news/whats-on/family-kids/how-one-hamp…

Earlier this year Jackie and I met Ged at the Recycling Centre where he told us his wife had recently died.

The tradition is being continued by their son, Dax, although the charity being supported is now the Oakhaven Hospice.

“Dax said: “As the display became more of an attraction, we decided to start raising money around 15 years ago. This was largely to do with my mum who had been in ill health and Bournemouth Hospital were fantastic. We wanted to try and raise as much money as possible for the NHS, even more so after the Covid pandemic.”

“To find out more information on the lights, please visit the Byron Road Lights Facebook page.” (Hampshirelive news)

I have posted on these lights several times in recent years and therefore updating the story today.

Here is tonight’s gallery.

We enjoyed a long conversation with Ged and his 5 years old grandson, Dillon (?sp)

This evening we dined on Jackie’s wholesome cottage pie; moist spinach; tasty Brussels sprouts; tender runner beans; and crunchy carrots with which I drank more of the delicious Georgian red wine.

A Leaky Butt, Garden And Loo Refuse

With Storm Conall raging all around the south coast, yet leaving us

unscathed we transported 12 bags of green garden refuse and a leaky water butt to Efford Recycling Centre this morning and returned with what Jackie termed a glorified toilet roll holder which fits neatly in the

downstairs loo and keeps a good supply in there. This is her photo.

Martin had to negotiate a severe flood stretching some distance from Ringwood to Bransgore, no more than five miles from us.

In the dark later afternoon with a lamp strapped to his head the excellent Greg Mouland visited and cleared a drain blockage. I had only sent him an e-mail yesterday and he squeezed us in after all the rest of his work.

As Jackie said, “we got rid of an awful lot of shit today”.

This evening we dined on roast chicken; boiled new potatoes; crunchy carrots; firm pure white cauliflower with its chopped leaves; tender spinach and green beans; and tasty Brussels sprouts, with which I drank more of the Fleurie.

Pumpkins And Witchcraft

This morning we stacked the Hyundai to the gunwales with more bags of garden refuse and a large aluminium container. One of the bags contained the roots of the felled bay tree, the stump of which bears the initials of Aaron, Mark, and Steve who rid us of the tree. The last named now works at Efford Recycling Centre and helps us a great deal when we unload our garden refuse.

Later, I finished reading Agatha Christie’s ‘The Under Dog’ which I will review soon.

On our return from the tip we noticed a pumpkin display drawing attention to the sale of eggs from a resident of Christchurch Road which pointed us towards Burley later the afternoon.

On the way up Holmsley Passage we followed a cycling family before

watching the efforts of another driver persuading ponies to scarper.

Burley was in full witchy celebration mode. The first eight of these images all bearing titles in the gallery are mine. The next nine by Jackie, who also photographed

a clock to confirm our location.

This evening we dined on delicious smoked haddock cheese centred fishcakes from Lidl; Jackie’s piquant cauliflower and leek cheese and crunchy carrots, with which I finished the Fleurie.

A Damp Dump Drive

Late this morning, in steady rain, we transported 11 bags of garden refuse and a broken spade that even we couldn’t recycle, to Efford Recycling Centre and came back with a print of a painting of flowers which Jackie had been given because unsold contents of the Reuse Shop were undergoing periodic culling.

Our warm, wet, weather of recent weeks has provided breeding grounds for a myriad of irritating midges. During our dump drive a number of these emerged from the damp rubbish and will be reminding us for a day or two to come.

We call our downstairs loo The Print Room on account of the number of my photographic prints.

Here is today’s new addition.

My lunchtime antiques TV programme doze was interrupted by a telephone call from Alice who was to carry out my BCG procedure at Southampton General Hospital tomorrow. This has been postponed to next week because the vaccine has not arrived.

Later, I finished reading a delightful short story, the draft of a review of which I will use my bonus time to write tomorrow. It will not be posted until Thursday 24th, for reasons which will become clear when it is.

This evening Jackie both produced and photographed our dinner of tempura and salt and pepper prawn preparations; with duck spring rolls on a bed of her colourful savoury rice and a side of succulent ratatouille, accompanied by another glass of the Cabernet Sauvignon for me.

Chicken Shashlik

This morning I listened to the BBC live broadcast of the last day of the first cricket test match between England and Pakistan in Multan.

Later I packed the Hyundai with 14 bags of garden refuse which we transported to Efford Recycling Centre. As will be seen from this I am feeling quite fit and there were no repercussions today, nevertheless I spent the afternoon reading much more of ‘The People’s Act of Love’.

During my first BCG installation two days ago we were given informative dietary sheets clearly indicative of the negative effect of my long term penchant for very hot curries. Naga, Phall, Vindaloo, Jalfrezi all have to go.

Jackie is very partial to sizzling ponir or chicken shashlik. I have always been attracted to the dish when it arrives steaming on the table and therefore tempted to try it, but weakened and chosen the spicy-hottest meal on offer. Since cheese is also best avoided I tried chicken shashlik at Rokali’s this evening. Plentiful fresh salad is part of the meal, to which we added mushroom rice.

Alcohol is not recommended either, but I am advised that my one pint of Kingfisher wouldn’t be too harmful.

As usual fresh flowers appear on each table, and the service was friendly and as perfect as the cooking.

More Recycling Years Ahead

Now it has dawned on the Southampton General Hospital urology team that I have lacked information since my procedure six weeks ago, I am receiving a plethora of calls. In today’s I was given a date and time for a telephone appointment with a urologist. I informed the caller about Nick Lewis’s call yesterday. She did not know about this and we agreed that I no longer need the new one.

In the four days since our last dump trip Jackie has filled 13 more spent compost bags with green refuse which, along with an old ceramic cistern once used as a breeding ground for mosquitos and a broken plastic plant container, we transported to the Efford Recycling centre on a much colder day with a similar, though less severe, weather pattern to that of yesterday, and, as is our wont returned with two items with more recycling years ahead of them –

a stone container suitable as a plinth when upturned, and a metal potted plant stand.

I read more of ‘The People’s Act of Love’

By late afternoon the weather had settled down and we took a brief forest drive.

Cattle and a calf occupied the verge at Pilley,

ponies having moved to Bull Hill to forage among the browning bracken landscape.

It is always advisable when confronting tractors on our narrow lanes to pull over and wait for them to pass. They are always very appreciative.

A group of pheasants crossed St Leonard’s Road in front of us

and sought camouflage in the shade of the banked verge before vanishing through the hedge.

This evening we dined on Jackie’s colourful vegetable rice; tempura, and hot and spicy prawns, with which I drank Séguret Cötes du Rhöne Villages 2022 and the Culinary Queen drank Diet Coke

Real Recycling

On a warm cloud-gloom morning, we transported another collection of garden refuse to Efford Recycling Centre.

We returned with a shower stool and a marble topped table both of which will now be used in the garden, until, like the other broken metal items, they return to from whence they came. That is real recycling.

Fortunately the rain kept off while we were doing our dump run, but set in thereafter for the day. I therefore began reading ‘The High Path’ by Ted Walker.

This evening we dined on Jackie’s wholesome chicken stewp with fresh bread. Hacienda Uvanis Garnacha Old Vines 2020 accompanied my portion.

An Extended Recycling

On 16th March 2016, we transported bags of garden refuge to Efford Recycling Centre in the Modus and returned with this wickerwork chair purchased from the Reuse Shop.

This, of course had to go straight onto the decking, where it stayed for a couple of years until, now unsafe for seating, it became a

plant stand at the corner of the West Bed.

Sadly, even that is now beyond its strength, so it has been broken up and formed part of a further load of spent compost bags and other broken bits of wood and metal which we took back to where it came from this morning – in the Hyundai which has now replaced the Modus.

This afternoon I continued with my draft of ‘The Berlin Diaries’.

The choice between Lal Quilla and Rokali’s as our favourite Indian restaurant is very even, but during the holiday season determined by parking, because it is impossible then to find a spot near Lal Quilla. We aimed to chance it today, but after circling the town twice, we returned to Rokali’s where we enjoyed their usual friendly service and excellent food. Jackie chose Paneer Shashlik and I enjoyed duck Jalfrezi. We shared special rice. She drank Diet Coke and I drank Kingfisher.

Garden Refuse

On this very warm and sunny morning Jackie and I packed 23 more spent compost bags of green waste into our uncomplaining little i10 Hyundai and transported them to Efford Recycling Centre, formerly the Council Dump.

Later, in the afternoon, we visited Ferndene Farm Shop to purchase various provisions and

three more bags of compost.

I have recently begun reading “The Berlin Diaries of Marie Vassiltchikov” and will be drafting the review, on which I made a start today, as I go along.

This evening we dined on Ferndene’s meaty pork and chives sausages; boiled potatoes; particularly flavoursome mushrooms and Brussels sprouts; firm carrots and cauliflower.