I'm tiring myself ...

... out!  I had a delivery on Friday.  I'd been considering buying a 2 in 1 cross trainer for a while.  Mentioned it in passing to eldest son, as he's got one, only to be told not to be too hasty as it was possible that his would be going.  Newly bought and had become a coat hanger, apparently - lol!  Anyway, said cross trainer was delivered on Friday, after my exercise class.  It's big!  It's probably quite a bit bigger than the ones I had been looking at.  Definitely more substantial as I was looking at folding ones.  This one's not.  They look easy.  They are not!  I can't even start with the recommended 'easy' start because of my breathing problems so I'm adapting them all to suit my capabilities.  I'm doing little but often so when I pass the bedroom I pop in and just do 4 or 5 minutes on the machine.  The walking bit I can only manage about 1½ minutes on the lowest resistance but I up the resistance on the bike bit and finish my 4-5 minutes on that.  I'm finding I put in roughly 6 sessions a day this way and I'm feeling a difference.  I plan on keeping it going.  It's easier with the machine permanently available.

Had a bit of stress over one of my sales last night.  The bow buyer raised a dispute with eBay saying that it's not in the condition stated in my listing.  He raised the dispute before even contacting me.  It was listed as used and had 6 photos, some of which actually showing where there were small paint chips on the riser.  Not sure what this guy was expecting for his money but worse, he won't tell me how it's not in the condition stated in my listing.  He keeps giving excuses as to why he can't tell me yet but says he'll be posting it back on Monday.  He also bought a brand new arrow rest that I listed and he's saying that's not in the condition I listed either.  It's brand new, in a sealed box, for heavens sake!  How can it not be?  More like he bought it as a spare for the bow, as I had it, and as he's decided he doesn't want the bow then neither does he want the rest.  Personally I think he bought the bow for himself and has found it's not suitable.  He sniped the auction at the last minute and hadn't asked any questions, although all the info he would have needed was within the listing so I'm at a loss.  I think he's trying to find a reason to return it that pushes it onto  me and not himself.  It's not that it's been damaged in transit either as I would have thought he'd have said.  There was a lot of correspondence going back and forth last night and every time I asked for more specific information which wasn't forthcoming.  The last message I sent pointed out that we were on eBay's time scale as he'd raised a dispute and that if he didn't answer the questions I was asking he'd probably have to answer similar to eBay if the dispute escalated.  This morning he had closed the dispute as 'I'd requested him to'!  I hadn't asked him to at all and our correspondence will confirm that.  Pity, in a way, as I feel pretty confident that eBay would have found in my favour just by looking at my feedback .... just as described, well described, excellent eBayer .... and not just for the items I've sold recently but over time.  Anyway, he can return it and I'll refund what he paid for the bow and I'll either do a 2nd chance offer to the person he sniped (who did ask questions beforehand) or list it again.  He won't be getting his postage back though and he'll be in for a surprise when he finds out how much it's gonna cost him to return it.

I've been doing some investigating.  Coming back from my exercise class yesterday I found a visitor trying to get in the front door.  It nearly made it as well, until I found something to move it further away.  I found this .....

It was humungous!

  Very pretty in it's colouring but huuuuuuuuuggggggggggggge! (see my left hand digit finger?)

Apparently it's a privet hawk moth caterpillar.  It was probably looking for somewhere to bury itself so that it could pupate,  Not a lot of luck in our front garden as it's laid to gravel with membrane underneath it.  It would find somewhere eventually as we've a few plants so there are spaces in the membrane.  It digs deep to pupate and in June/July next year will emerge as one of these .....

Britain's largest moth.  As large as the one I saw in Cyprus 2 years ago (pictured in my Cyprus photo book [page 39] and also a hawk moth)

We've no privet in our garden, which is it's primary food source, and there's none near so the only place I can think it came from was our lilac bush as that is one of it's food sources.  It's only privet, lilac and ash and lilac is the only thing close.  If the daft thing had gone down to the base of the bush it may have been able to bury itself there.  Anyway, there's no sign of it now.  Perhaps I should have kept it and given it a pot of soil to bury itself in.  I might have got to see the moth next year ....

Thanks for dropping by .....

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