Washing machine noises and a lovely walk

On Thursday the washing machine was making an unusual noise, then it seemed like the drum wasn't rotating so I hurriedly switched it off.  Once the Engineer got home from work he switched the machine back on to listen to its noises and sense its mood.  The drum turned slowly to start with but as it accelerated there was a very definite series of odd bangs and a final twang.  The motor kept running but the drum slowed down to  a stop.  Four screws later and the back panel was removed to reveal that the belt that drives the drum had snapped.

Ping!

The machine is pretty old so it took the Engineer quite a while to find the right belt online but he managed to order a new one and it arrived this morning in less than 24 hours and was then fitted within half an hour.  Its very useful having an Engineer in the house.

While we went for a walk we left the washing to slosh happily and the Teen elected to stay in bed.  We drove to Hunston and walked along the canal tow path back into Chichester.  Its not long walk but it was warm, sunny and very peaceful.

View from Poyntz(!) bridge - Chichester cathedral in the distance.

 There were water lilies and flag irises along the edges of the canal. 

Water Lillies

The irises with their yellow flowers were almost glowing in the sunshine.

Flag Iris

Once we got into Chichester we walked to the Cathedral close and broke out the picnic.  Homemade crustless quiche and homemade chicken nuggets, ham roll and salad.  Very nice. 

Yum

Our main reason for going into Chichester was to go to the Society of Floral Painters Exhibition at the Ox Market Gallery.

There was a minor disagreement about the location of the gallery which is almost hidden, down a narrow alley.  After a brisk discussion and a bit of walking it was decided that the Engineer's internal compass was a bit out of whack for once and we went in the direction I suggested, to find the gallery right where its always been. 

The Exhibition was lovely; it seemed that careful thought had gone into the placement of each picture, showing all of them to their best.  There was some beautiful work, from botanical to much looser mixed media pictures and all of it worth seeing.  The exhibition is on until the 7th of June and the gallery itself is a wonderful space, full of peace and light. 

We decided that after such a healthy lunch we should stop for a cup of tea and cake.  The Swallow Bakery is where I go when I want a good cake in Chichester and it didn't disappoint. 

Devil's chocolate food cake and chocolate brownie.



Didn't last long!

After a brief detour into the Cath Kidston shop, where I stroked the bags and sighed a lot, we walked back to the car along the canal path.  Dark clouds has started to gather on the horizon and it looked like a spring shower was in the offing, but the rain stayed away.

Below is a collage of the day; the butterfly is a sculpture that is by the canal basin in Chichester.  If you look carefully you can see the Engineer going into the Ox Market gallery which is in an old church - there are certainly plenty of those in Chichester.

I hope your Saturday was just as nice as ours.