What are you all up to
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Oh dear, this sounds ominous. I wonder what the Club is requiring of CLs? So many of our favourites are on farms. ☹️ They are perfect for getting back into touring at this difficult time. I wonder if it’s more to do with those with loo blocks, having to clean after each use, or something similar. I will see if I can find anything on C19 update page.....
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I don't know if this is of interest to anyone on here. One of my sons alerted me to an article on Money Saving Expert about State Pensions for women. Basically if a woman's state pension is below 60% of her husbands she may be able to claim some more money. Just to point out that if only applies to the Basic State Pension not to any supplementary pensions like SERPs.
David
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Sore point Pensions David as Mrs .WN one of those affected by the moving of the goalposts.
Not good news about the Cls. Would those be the ones down at Burgh Castle Oneputt? Shame if it is as I was hoping to get there (maybe) later in the year. Then again I'm hoping to get to a lot of places.
Quiet morning. Had quite a few thunderstorms move through during the night and the air was heavy this morning so we settled for me having my hair cut. Sorry to the hairy ones amongst you.
Belated happy birthday to Richard. Not a whisky drinker, prefer Brandy or if I can get it an Armagnac, so your safe from me.
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Not good news about the Cls. Would those be the ones down at Burgh Castle Oneputt? Shame if it is as I was hoping to get there (maybe) later in the year. Then again I'm hoping to get to a lot of places.
Yes, WN. I don’t know all the rules but apparently the owner is expected to sanitise taps, locks, emptying points etc every couple of hours. The people staying at the farm at the moment do that anyway without the farmer getting involved. I think most of us That van are clever enough to know how to keep ourselves safe
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This sounds like the Club going overboard to me. Surely it’s not beyond an intelligent person who has made the decision to take a holiday on a CL to do their own sanitising? As intelligent human beings we are fully capable of using gloves, washing our hands, hosing down a cep point, wiping anything like taps etc... before and after use. Children just need to be supervised properly. If a CL has loos and showers, and they cannot be cleaned umpteen times a day, then just close the loo block down🤷♀️
Unless I am mistaken, I am sure that the virus isn’t spread via urine or faeces, so it just requires the same safe sanitary practices everyone now uses at disposal points?
Besides which, (apart from any curtain twitching members), just who is going to sit with a clip board across every CL, monitoring sanitary practices. It’s an insult to most farms as well, they know much more about hygiene than the Club ever will, it’s a way of life on most farms.
Sorry but this just beggars belief to be honest. By all means ask CL owners to provide a disinfectant spray at taps, but surely visitors need to take the appropriate personal steps themselves.
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Unless I am mistaken, I am sure that the virus isn’t spread via urine or faeces, so it just requires the same safe sanitary practices everyone now uses at disposal points?
I think you might be mistaken. From what I have read about the spread of the virus COVID 19 it is present in the urine and faeces of infected people. One of the reason they tell you to flush the toilet with the seat down. However given that flushing is capable of propelling virus droplets in the immediate area of the toilet could a risk. That is why strict hand hygiene is recommended at all times. Also one of the reasons I would be reluctant to use site facilities!
I suppose with the CL's it depends whether it was advice or an instruction. Some are inclined to confuse the two? You could argue that it is up to the individual to safeguard themselves but on the other hand the CL owner is providing a service at a cost to the customer so has a duty of care. I don't mean this in a nasty way but when we next use a campsite I won't trust anyone to have been sensible with their hygiene I will just make sure mine is!!!
David
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Belated happy birthday Richard.
Not been able to get on the site any which way for days - not even sure how I got in now!
Posting while the going is good. Won't comment in posts cos my brain won't hold all the info and I haven't got to the last page yet - I may not!
Beautiful weather yesterday and today. Social distance meet up in our garden with OH remaining uncle, his cousin and her hubby. Good to see them as she had a stroke recently, like OH looks a picture of health but certain impairments. Also had callers from down the road, social distances to admire the puppy. Good day all round.
Today took puppy out in the car in her harness and seatbelt, OH on back seat with her. Checked on the grave, all good, headstone approval received, in under a week, so stone masons adding mum's inscription and it can be put back. We planned our words and I was surprised when the invoice came back that both dad and mum have 95 letters each! This I know cos we're having dads reblacked too, their suggestion but at least they should fade together All equal then even if by happenstance. Then swung by mums, badger digging NEVER had an issue in 64 years, typical when you want to sell. Also have 2 underground bumble bee nests that puppy very interested in. She was brill in the car, but OH did have to sit in the back again after a short test, its early days. Once home She met neighbour and her dog, she in my arms, roll on Wednesday, all good until 2 delightful hounds came down on opposite pavement, giving it some welly, but reassured her and pretty calm.
Now sitting in the garden enjoying the sun before remaking the bed - I'll use the the bedding straight off the line so will smell wonderful tonight!
Almost feels like a normal week coming up, got guy coming about motorised valve Monday morning then I have to go to the bank after, hope town isn't mad with shops opening, timing could have been better but couldn't fit it in last week and they closed on Saturday! I'll grab a few other bits like birthday card for son and DIL if it looks ok but if not they'll have to have ones from my diminishing stock.Wednesday puppy has socialising with her sugar daddy, Thursday Friday we' ll go to mums while block paving being done.
Son and DIL were coming Saturday, decided on fish and chip collection for dinner and stuff from our supplies for lunch. All change, now coming Sunday - no fish and chips so checking out take aways! Was miffed but son said last minute decision to scatter his FIL ashes on what would have been his birthday Saturday so thought I'd better stay stum! Will meet them and granddog with puppy at mums, neutral territory but accidental, so they can decide what they'd like, if any, from the house so we can divvy up as fairly as possible. Not sure when neice and nephew will make it and our daughter certainly wont!
Closing for now, to read rest of posts, fingers crossed. Stay safe. Maybe by Tuesday CT will be normal well I can dream.......
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DavidKlyne thanks for the pension link, I'll read it soon.
I too am like Mrs WN and have had the goalposts moved twice! or more bluntly they've stolen 6 years of MY pension, that I & MY Employers paid into for paying out at when I reached 60 years of age. I wonder if a private company or investment changed the rules how they would have faired?? Very angry but won't use an emoji. Also wonder if it were men, yes some have had their goalposts moved but not by as much......... what would have happen??
I refuse to work and pay HMG any tax since hitting 60 - just my little protest - I wonder if they've noticed hahaha
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Thank you DavidK. We got out our paperwork and have done our sums and it appears I only get about 54% of OH's pension so I think a claim might be going in. It won't be a huge sum but I think it is better in my pocket than theirs. We shall see how we get on. (don't hold your breath!) Apologies to all those affected by the moving of the pension goalposts but I was one of the last few lucky women to be able to retire and get my state pension aged 60. There are some advantages to being old!
Sounds like some. like us, have had some nice garden meet ups with family and friends. I might venture forth to Dunelm tomorrow as I washed the curtains in our daughter's old bedroom today and some of the curtain hooks had gone brittle and broke so I need some new ones.
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Up at 07.15 today to join the queue at Lidl for cordless garden tools......need not have worried, we were first, joined by 3 more just before 08.00, but they were not interested in the tools.
Found everything required, these were for DD, then she rang to say she had secured the Cordless mower, batteries and charger, so we only had to get the hedge trimmer, so put the rest back, added our own shopping and went home for an early breakfast.
DD was saying that she hoped she had the correct stuff as it was in plain boxes rather than the ones shown in the Lidl leaflet, which we thought odd as the ones in our Lidl were in the coloured boxes.
A couple of hours later she came on Skype to relate that on opening the boxes (2 batteries +1 rapid charger) she had found the coloured boxes inside, only problem was that each battery box actually contained 6 batteries, so she now had 12 batteries, and the charger box held 4 chargers!!
Each item cost £20, so she had paid £60 and received £320 of goods. And she saw at least 3 other customers who had bought the same as her while she was there.
She rang their customer service to alert them to the fact that the staff had obviously not opened the outer boxes , and that the checkout person had not realised, then took them all back other than the ones she had paid for. The managed was aghast as it transpired that nobody had noticed that the boxes had not been unpacked until 45 minutes after opening, so they will have lost a lot on that if the others do not return the excess items!
Someone will be in trouble!
I did ask her if she had not thought the boxes were rather large for what she was buying, but she reckoned she just thought the were very well packed!
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You are correct DK, it can be found in bodily fluids.
I am totally with you about not using communal facilities, hence why we would stick to CLs for the future. And yes, once back on the road we would take full responsibility for keeping ourselves safe. I hope that the Club is giving guidance to CL owners, rather than strict instructions, it could be very difficult for some if they have to spend the day wiping a tap or rinsing a cep point. Has to be a two way contract between owners and visitors, duty of care but also abide by personal responsibility’s as well, not easy.
Spent all day cleaning and polishing inside our motorhome. We raided her early for some little gems such as antibacterial wipes, loo rolls, etc.... so a good time to clean out all the cupboards, do some restocking. Everything seems fine, she’s all decked up now, sadly with no where to go at the moment. Maybe a nice day out, not too far is required.......somewhere nice and quiet, off the beaten track. Bit of a walk, back for a meal, then head home. 😁
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Hope you manage to have a day out with the M/H TDA, we were surprised how tired we got packing up the van for a day out!
As for shared facilities on sites we'll avoid them as much as we can.
Strange about state pensions, I get more than OH and I was lucky to get mine at the right time.
Hope all those cordless tools work well KJ, we had similar for a while but the charges didn't last long enough for what we had to do. Back to petrol and electric now (after extra outside points were added.)
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Milliehull good luck with your claim. Well done David's son and thanks for sharing.
Gosh KjNelln someone probably is for the high jump. When I started to read your post I thought, they'll be very early! Then I remembered your subday trading hours are normal unlike ours being shorter!
Told our daughter, via text, we met family in the garden, she said oh can you meet up now? I tried to tell her and realised just what a mishmash we have........... told her things not the same in each country of the union, and still think I got it wrong cos I said all UK could have cleaner and nanny ??? That grandparents can't see look after their grandchildren but could be taught by someone else's grandparent or looked after as a 'minded' child. It just got more and more bizarre. I told her we were making our own judgement call winking emoji.
Think I'm quite jealous of you folk planning days out or trips. Defo use own facilities and CL sites if we could join in. I do hope the club are not putting off more CL 's
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We're the opposite Ttda.
We packed the caravan in case one of us needed to isolate so there's a bit to come out before any packing needs to be done. We'll not be counting our chickens just yet though and leave it as is until we're ready to tour.
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Oneput, don't know if this will apply to you when you take your van for service, but our mobile service guy said, when I booked our van in, that he had been instructed that he could only work on caravans that have been unoccupied for 3 days prior to the service and they had to left unoccupied for 3 days after the service. I know that he does a lot of static vans and just wonder if the rules only applies to then and not tourers.
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You are correct DK, it can be found in bodily fluids.
I know it's not a very nice thing to speak about but I wonder if it's one aspect of spread that has not been fully taken into account in hospitals and care homes, at least initially?
David
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Belated happy birthday Richard, and to any others I might have missed during the last few days of repeated SEs.
Another hot sunny day but still a gentle breeze to take the edge off the high temperature. Flyte and I managed about 10 mils today all told but spread over 3 walks so far.
Not good news about those CL's not opening, I wonder how many others will be of a like mind? With so many caravanners saying that they are thinking of using CL's instead of club site I can see a problem arising in trying to get a pitch on one's chosen site.
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I tried out a similar hedge trimmer belonging to the in-laws, and it seemed to be fine. Quite tiring using a hedge trimmer on a taller hedge when you are not used to it, and they have a lot of hedge, so the rest while the battery re-charges will be welcome! They are buying it and we will be able to borrow it to trim our neighbour's Leylandii once a year.
Lawn mower uses 2 batteries so should be OK for their purpose. They have about 400sq.m. of grass at present, but once they get round to putting down some paving and steps, and making a new border, there will be a fair bit less.
SIL is not into gardening, likes to have the grass but does not like having to cut it. We gave them our good Flymo as we no longer have any grass, but he cannot handle the cable, not sure why, and wanted a petrol mower as his uncle suggested it. DD refused to get a petrol one, so the cordless option is a compromise.
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I have been thinking about getting a cordless hedge trimmer as the corded one I have is old and heavy and things would certainly be easier without the cord. I am almost getting to the point now where I seriously think about getting someone in to cut the hedge for me but will try a cordless trimmer first!
David
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DD has a lot of hedge, some shared, some just theirs. Last year we paid our garden man to cut all the hedges, but the co-owner of the shared hedges never offered to contribute. Garden man did a good job, so the longest shared bit, which is about 30m long, down the side of the driveway, is only now recovering.
There is a second shared bit about 6-7m long out front, then their sole bit which is about 25m long, so a lot to cut. They borrowed a hedge trimmer and did the short shared bit, then gave in got our man out to do both sided of their long hedge.
So the cordless trimmer is supposedly so they can give the hedges a quick trim every so often, though I can foresee a repeat of this year with our man still being called in to do a good trim once a year,
The Lidl trimmer is under £25 for the bare machine, and uses the same batteries as the mower they also bought, so that makes it worth a try.
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"Sorry but this just beggars belief to be honest. By all means ask CL owners to provide a disinfectant spray at taps, but surely visitors need to take the appropriate personal steps themselves."
Totally agree ttda - it's just a question of using common sense, which seems to be in short supply with some organisations.
We had confirmation, yesterday, in respect of our bookings for July and August - subject to the government allowing sites to open. We are not travelling far from home and will be going, first, to our favourite CS near Malton where the owners have taken the decision to close their toilet block ( so no tent campers). That will mean a max of five vans in 2 acres. I will use a doubler tap for the water - so we can be plumbed in and no need to handle that more than once. Only the loo and waste water to empty and rubber gloves will take care of that.
The second site is fully serviced (High Breame at Flamborough) and their toilet block will also be closed so I don't see that we will be putting either ourselves or anyone else at increased risk on either site.
Yes - we will be no more than an hour from home - but who cares - it will just be wonderful to get away and have a different set of surroundings for a while
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richardandros and takethedogalong what sensible posts!
I feel sorry for campers and 'day vans', maybe they could have a toilet tent and porta-potty arrangement and then they're sorted too. After all for years the industry has built Van's with facilities NOW is definitely the time to use them!
I was 5 before we had a indoor bathroom and toilet, apparently I fell in the privvie aged about 3 can't recall it, still here to tell the tale, laughing face. My dad's family, rented, but lived in the same house for 200 years, they didn't have a flush toilet or indoor facilities until the late 1970s. My nan sold her house with only an outdoor loo, ashes and paper too!, in the late 1960s so to me quite recently. We have now become very squeamish about some natural bodily functions, and dare I say over curious about others which folk will happily pay to view if they can't find it free online!, at least there is a CDP on site no-one asks you to dig a hole first!
Let's hope CL's and CS's are able to open and be sensible so folks can enjoy a change of scenery. So jealous of those that can with their Van's.
We are going to have to learn to live with this virus, or others of a similar type, as our forefathers did before us - the economy etc needs that to happen too if we are to enjoy any sort of life in the future. We could carry on as we are, stay alive, fingers crossed, for years and it might seem like centuries! We need balance and risk assessment, mostly our own, with some guidance possibly, and get on with LIVING.
Lecture over. Stay safe
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Gosh that's a lot of hedge and grass! Especially if one doesn't like doing it ;-0. As with everything, you do in life you need to cut your cloth accordingly that's budgets, gardens, DIY etc etc.
If it were me I'd factor in the budget for hedge trimming at least once a year and possibly get someone to mow regularly, lots of folk our way offer grass cutting at reasonable rates - some teenagers looking for pocket money. There are I believe robot grass cutters, not sure about hedges!
Me I'd pick the jobs I enjoy and out source those I dont!
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We get help in once a year for the hedges, petrol trimmers used. OH does light trims but plugs in on a long cable, previous cordless just weren't robust enough. The farmer helps out with a very long shared run! Cordless are good for smaller gardens and we'll be so pleased to see our twice monthly garden help return soon! Good luck with those hedges, they are growing well this year.
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I was too late to remove my boring post, I did ask myself why I was posting about hedges at 10 am on a Monday morning!
Main thing today is youngest grandson going back to school in the NE, aged 10 I'm hoping this goes well and the same for any of you who have youngsters returning just now.
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We loathe hedge trimming. Got a couple of very long runs of mixed, privet, hawthorn, holly, ivy, beech. Wicked job with all the thorns, and they are quite tall as well, 2 metres in places. We have tried every kind of hedge cutter going, manual, electric, cordless, petrol. I usually set to and do it by hand late Winter, cutting deep back into wood, OH then does tops. This usually takes us through into late Summer, by which time birds have done breeding, and we do a tidy up. However, down the years this is just getting harder, and it’s such a horrible task. So last January I got a gardening team in and they did it for us, lowering the hedges a good bit, and it’s been great. We are going to get them back in Autumn and they can do some more lowering. We dug out around twelve metres last year and put some new beech hedging in, that’s doing well now, much nicer to keep tidy (will be once it’s fully grown😁) If you have got something soft, like privet, and don’t mind cutting it every couple of weeks, most hedge cutters can cope, but it’s sure a lot nicer watching someone else do it😂
MH is on the starting blocks for a day out somewhere, but we are in no rush yet. I was expecting rain this morning, but it’s lovely here at the moment. Long may it last🤞😁
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Good Morning everybody ! Hope you are all recovered from that first mad charge into the shops this morning
Saw the fun & queue at Primark Birmingham and so, on the strength of that I'm still cowering behind my slide viewer 
.Birds eating away like billy-oh, young starlings , sparrows etc attacking seed feeders and slabs happily, with the more idle ( feral ) pigeons as well as blackbirds, robins etc sweeping up the spray past stuff, of which there is plenty to keep them well fed
.Sadly more work on my steam engine slides has arisen 'cos the latest edition of the Traction Engine Register is now available. So one more item to purchase on line & wait for and, on it's arrival It'll be me off for a day or six if there has been a superfluity of changes to catch up on
.Now the sun is breaking through in South Cheshire, so it's an open air lunch beckoning to Brian
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Had a walk into the local shopping centre as I had an opticians appointment within it, had to queue for 20 minutes just to get into the centre!
On my way back I found this sad caravan that has been dumped on the grounds of my local church. I say dumped but I suppose it might be waiting for a service?
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Looks like it needs divine intervention CS.
Air is a bit heavy here but sun keeps poking out and it was a nice relaxing walk this morning. Sorted out a cat scarer. Just hope it does the trick and keeps them away from dumping dead animals under the cars. Not the best thing first thing in the morning to find half eaten squirrels or pigeons. I'm assuming it's the same cat that left a couple of dead rats on the lawns a few weeks ago. Must be new to the area and we have some new houses not too far away from us.
Managed to get another slot for online delivery in 3 weeks for the heavy stuff. Saves Mrs WN time in the shop. She's thinking of taking MiL down late on today just to get her used to it.
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Corners, there have been a few 'dumped' caravans on the country roads around us in the last few weeks. One was set on fire got out of control and nearly took the woodland next to it
Hedges, we have 2 rather tall and long Leylandii hedges, OH has been cutting them both sides for the last 28 years. Always does them in August. 3 years ago though when he had a bad shoulder and couldn't manage them we got a 'chap' in to do them. A great job was done the first year, but last year he did them rather late and cut them back too much, result, we now have brown hedges
They look awful, back to OH doing them this year to try and sort them out. All done with an electric trimmer.Driveway just about completed, we both spend a long and tiring day yesterday raking back chippings and levelling the ground, digging up plants and back filling the soil, tamping down etc. More done this morning then a go over with the 'whacker' plate. All that's left to do now is to cement the pipe pieces in place for the gate securing levers to drop into. All the neighbours have been watching what we've been doing, some have made comments, mostly favourable
I've been out all morning helping but now back indoors to do some more masks. Need to pop down to the shop first to get some milk.
Hope this posts, it seem to behaving at the mo.
Looking up more CL's for a 10 - 14 day trip come the 15th July, in Scotland of course
not braving down south yet to busy. 0
