These were my Mother's Day flowers from Gabby. In a less than ideal Torquay pottery vase but at least they are upright and not sprawling.
My day started with a bill. A HUGE bill. The plumber's bill for coming out Christmas morning and doing a quick repair to the leaking UV system. It was just short of £300! It made me feel quite ill as I can't take that from my current account (especially after having to pay the heating boiler service bill of nearly £200 this month). That's from savings, which I try not to touch as a rule. I wrote back, telling him not to bother quoting for the shower (I've been waiting for that since Keith was alive), and saying how surprised I was at how much he had charged. Turns out it was for another repair too, from October - I'd forgotten that - but even so it wasn't cheap! My eye had fallen straight on the bottom line of the bill...
Anyway, the day DID improve as I drove down to Carms to see a quilting/horsey friend, and see her horses. That was lovely, to have horsey cuddles, though she gave me Polos for them and they were mobbing me for more! Her dogs were very friendly too and my clean jeans soon had muddy paw prints all over them! Ah well, what are washing machines for?!
Then I popped to my friend Pam (she lives next door) and had a natter and a cup of tea with her and caught up on all the news. I always visit her when I go to quilting group.
After that I drove back but went straight to Tesco and did a stocking up shop. Since when did Saxa salt start costing £1.80?! My fault for not going to Aldi first, but in my defence I needed the loo by then and Aldi doesn't have one. I stocked up on a few tins too, and a big bag of Easy Cook rice, and Earl Grey teabags were on offer, and I always get them whilst they are reduced as they are so expensive to start with. I will have to get used to "ordinary" tea I think. I need to start running down the freezer as it is full, and I had two big fish fingers for tea with a potato sliced thinly and tossed in olive oil. Very tasty with Tartare Sauce.
I checked the greenhouse and some of my Cosmos seeds have sprouted through. They are the only ones so far.
I had a cuppa and then went out and put rose feed around 2/3 of my roses. Since it is largely horse manure, the others can have horse manure muck heap, in fact they all can.
I have had an advert in the Co-op to try and sell Keith's mobility scooter. It's been there for months. Now some old boy wants to buy it (at far less than I'm asking but I did offer to knock £100 off but he wants it cheaper still). Anyway, he has looked it up on line and says it can be taken apart. He only has a TINY car, and even taken apart it would be too big lengthwise, and is SO heavy. The heaviest part (batteries I reckon) are 31 Kg. He was chasing me again yesterday, having viewed it on Saturday, and was saying something about it being a nice day so could he come over? Well, I suddenly realized the "nice day" bit meant he wanted to take it apart to see if he could get it in his car. No way, Jose! You buy it, you can play with it as long as you like, but no way am I letting you take it apart before you've paid for it in case we can't get it back together again! I will have to list it on Ebay or Gumtree. I think the latter might be easier.
Right, back to enjoy some more episodes of The Other Bennet Sister. I have cancelled Audible (which I had put on hold for 3 mths and it suddenly snuck back and I was a member again). Instead I have halved the outgoing and gone with Prime - History Play - which is free for 7 days and then £4.99 a month. I will see how good it is before committing. I love the history and archaeology programmes and especially enjoyed the other episodes of Alice Roberts in search of the Holy Grail which I watched last night (yet no mention of the Nanteos Cup, which surprized me). If not as good as I hope, then I shall go with History Hit. I know - it costs nearly the same as Audible, but tv is my relaxation on wet winter days and all evenings.
If my daughter was reading this she would say good grief she drinks almost as much tea as my mother! Repair bills are the worst! The mobility scooter is practically new isn't it? It will be a great buy for whoever is willing to pay a fair price. I wonder if ads are allowed on surgery noticeboards. Do you have any caregiver support groups nearby on or off facebook where you could advertise? I sold a pair of kayaks in almost new condition at half the price of retail. So many people tried to beat me down on the price, I suspect some were resellers trying to make a profit and thinking they could take advantage of an old lady. Eventually a lovely young couple recognised their worth and were thrilled to get them. Restored my faith in human nature.
ReplyDeleteI have two cups a day. Occasionally three. We bought the mobility scooter 2nd hand but it was regularly maintained having been a hire vehicle at the Mobility Centre. I advertised it in the town here too, but no interest.
DeleteThere's nothing like spending time with horses. i find myself getting to the stables earlier and earlier so that I can spend time grooming Tex (he likes lying down in the mud so his mane is always a mess). He loves a good neck scratch. It's terrible the way food prices have gone up and definitely worth shopping around. I get my Earl Grey at Lidl. Not quite as much bergamot as the one from Morrisons but a lot cheaper. (Can't remember exactly.) Home Bargains are surprisingly good for some things. Most of their food is UP junk but the chia seeds are half the price of the ones in Morrisons and their crystallised ginger is reasonable too.
ReplyDeleteWhen my mum was bedbound and I was nursing her, I would go out on Fahly and it grounded me. I wish I had still had him when Keith was so ill. I was within a cat's whisker of a breakdown.
DeleteTV is also our entertainment here. I am trying to figure out how to cut the cost though and still manage to have the sports channels that Harvey enjoys watching.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
I'm not surprised, with your looooong snowy winters. It's the extras on, say Sky, which really bump the price up. We had Sky here, but that included the History channel and racing, and we didn't have films or other sports.
DeleteThe coltsfoot is beautiful!
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely. I thought I saw some growing on the verge a mile or so before the Sugarloaf, and I was right.
DeleteI'm thinking of getting rid of Audible they have snuck another pound on, £9 short of a penny. Is it worth it? 'The other Bennet sister' is wonderful, the writer has got the exact 'feel' of Austen.
ReplyDeleteLike you I am thoroughly enjoying The Other Bennet Sister. The balance is right and very Austen. I think, tbh, that History Hit will give me the best value for money. If I pay for the year all at once, I get 4 months free . . .
DeleteSome people think that you just want to give things away for the sake of it and are cheeky timewasters...chancers!
ReplyDeleteWhen I list it on Gumtree or Ebay I will add the ramps to be included with it (they were £185 on their own) - you can't get it in the vehicle without ramps. This chap has something the size of a mini. We did buy it 2nd hand from Hereford Mobility Centre, but it had been one they hired out on occasion and so was regularly serviced.
ReplyDeleteYes some bills are an eye opener, but for 2 jobs I would have thought perhaps not so bad? Have you tried Borrow Box with your library I get audio books free from them?
ReplyDeleteThink what it would cost me in London! I looked at the Borrow Box listings and wasn't that impressed. I like big thick favourites of mine from years gone by and they don't list those.
DeleteYou could probably make your own Earl Grey tea by adding Citrus bergamia essential oil to black tea but that might work out to be expensive too. It’s what the good brands use but some substitute bergamot flavouring i.e. not the real thing. Not to be confused with Monarda, a perennial herb. Charmaine
ReplyDeleteGood idea Charmaine, but I don't drink much of it so will just stick to the Twinings .
DeleteI'm facing £1400 for a roof repair, got to be done.
ReplyDeleteShocked to find that two smoked mackerel fillets cost £6.00. When did the plentiful fish that, as a child, I used to catch and sell for 5p each round the caravan sites suddenly cost so much? Of course, the other side of the coin {no pun intended} is that on Vinted I'm getting between £20 and £40 for old copies of Vogue magazines. It's mental.
As for the chap trying to talk you down on Keith's scooter . . .
Oh no. That's not good. Crazy prices for mackerel fillets, compared with what they were back when you used to sell them. But hey, you are getting amazing prices for your magazines!
DeleteDon't some people take the mickey, he probably wanted you to give it to him for free. I've had another potter in the garden and we've been and bought some top soil and I succumbed in the YS section, buying some plants. I've also washed for Britain, so the basket is empty. Its been glorious here. Take care. Xx
ReplyDeleteHe's been looking on Ebay and seeing what other people have priced scooters at, but I looked at the sold prices and dropping to £400 was a very good deal. Glad for your garden pottering and some new plants.
ReplyDeleteI've been in similar pickles with repair bills, especially last year with our old car. Selling stuff is always full of chancers wanting something for nothing.
ReplyDelete