What are you all up to
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Not seen much of the 'real' stuff, brue, just some sleety rain which dissolves in the puddles on landing, thank 'Evans.
Watched the "Winterwatch" programme on BBC t'other night and I'm still sh-sh-shivering 'cos I remember being moved, temporarily, from working in a nice warm telephone exchange, back outside to help support the maintenance linemen ( we all shivered together !! ) That was punishment for being very, very junior !! At least at that stage I was not on 'Call-out' nor was I in an area where STEEL poles were being tried out ~~ chappie at Stafford, I recall, had to be rescued from the top of one of them by the Fire Brigade 'cos he had frozen to the tinware !!
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Heavy wet snow here for most of the day with a bitterly cold wind. I think it might have turned to just heavy rain now. Did my good deed for the day today. A friend who is shielding wanted some Cathedral Christmas cards and calendar so I said I would fetch them for her and I will leave them on her doorstep sometime over the weekend. At least we will be able to wave to each through the window.
Not a lot to report this week. Had a nice walk with son on Sunday. He is now in tier 3 so I won't be able to see him for a while. I am getting fed up with this now as I can't see our other son in NI either
. I do know I am not the only one who can't see their families. OH and I have our arms ready and prepped for the vaccine.Oh goodness brue, I don't like the sound of your elderly neighbours' christmas plans. Fancy their family letting them do that. I get annoyed with our family when they say we should keep ourselves safe but at least I know they have our best interests at heart. TDA I could quite fancy a ride out in your car - it sounds wonderful. I hope your Mum had a good afternoon. Nellie I am glad you have your appointment sorted out. I do hope it goes well. I fully agree with all the comments about people who do not look after their pets. Some people seem to think they are just a plaything
I was talking to our hairdresser yesterday about it as her elderly dog died a couple of months ago and she would like to get another dog but the rescue centres don't seem to have any at the moment. We agreed that sadly there will be a sudden influx of unwanted puppies/dogs when the virus is under control and people have to go back to work.0 -
So sorry to hear your Care Home news TG, it’s very worrying, but they know a lot more about the virus now, so let’s hope your MIL unit can stay isolated. Hard for the staff as well, their daily routines must be a nightmare on starting and finishing shift.
Mum’s had a good day, just keeps her occupied for a few hours, breaks the routine, and she loves seeing the dog. The traffic was horrendous this afternoon though, and signs of snow around here. Some cars had a couple of inches on top, and some of paths were slushy.
I don’t think some families have got to grips with sorting out elderly relatives and Covid at all to be honest. Others have done a marvellous job.
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Sorry TG I meant to say that I am sorry to hear about your MIL's care home. You must be concerned. Hopefully they can keep her area of the care home isolated
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Thanks all for the good wishes for MIL, she keeps in good spirits and likes being in the home so we don't have to worry on that account. The home say they have got extra staff to help with some of theirs having to isolate. We can't of course go and she her just now, not sure what is happening over Christmas on that account I wouldn't expect it to change.
TDA you day with your Mum sounds lovely, its good that she likes to go out still in the car.
MillieH, I know how you must be feeling but hopefully not long now until you can see your children and their families, the end is in sight.
We've had a very wet afternoon the wind picked up at one point but seems to have settled again. No snow here still even if it does snow the ground is far to wet to let it settle. I'd rather have snow than rain but only because I don't have to go out for a few days
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We woke to snow here yesterday but only a light covering, mainly ice on the cars. This morning it was whiter up here, but down in town it had all melted by 10am.
Got some woodwork done at DD’s before an early lunch, then had to go along to the hospital for a check-up blood test. OH came too, just as well as the car parks were full, so she had to drop me off and go elsewhere to wait.
Clinic was not busy, so as I was early, I was in and out again before my appointment time.
More woodwork and playing with Callum in the afternoon.
We will be back there tomorrow to look after Callum while Mummy gets on with the painting
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TG I hope all the extra staff that they have recruited in the care home have been tested. I think that might have been the problem in the past. Hopefully they have learnt from that. Nice to know that your MIL is happy and settled there.
Our Christmas decs are up and Christmas cards all written and posted 😊
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I hope that all of you, as well as your relatives, are fit and well as well as looking forward to the Christmas and New Year Celebrations, C19 not withstanding
.Not done any cards yet, might start on Sunday if it's another soggy day or I'll do a CY and put a good few miles on the clock to keep the ducky in trim.
Millie, dont forget what I said about the postal charges going up, like decorations, on Jan 1st -- stock up before they put up the "Sold Out" signs
Stay warm , dry and safe everybody, please
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Needed to go shopping today ,car Batt flat again after a week of inactivity off to Halfords when i got enough charge in to start car
They checked Batt and their tester advised it needed changing as only 60% after 13mile blast up the A1 to the "first garden city"? as we say they learnt how it should be done when they built ours
so new batt then a Lidl ,Iceland and Pets at Home shop before not good trip back home as rain and spray with thikos doing over seventy and some without any lights on
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Pleased to hear that " Your Problems Are Over Now , Sir "
But, JVB, don't forget to keep it topped up 'cos nothing ruins a battery faster than sitting discharged for any length of time -- it's all due to those tiny individual drains that modern vehicles come with !!
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Decided to cheer myself up a bit and book the much sought after & famous CT Essex CL in 2021
...nearly sorted. Just got to hope we have had our jabs and are good to go! Now got to test the Christmas lights so they're ready for the big switch on tonight...even neighbours who don't usually bother have put some up and someone has put some around our elderly neighbours porch too which I know they'll enjoy.
Raining just now and very cold.
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Our new battery on Jeep, bought in April has been playing up. Got it tested.......yep, cream crackered. OH took it back forca new one yesterday, no problem getting it swopped. Seems fine now, 🤞
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It was faulty ABM, been playing up for a few weeks. We took Jeep to a Motor electrical specialist, thought something might be shorting out, but nothing found, then MOT garage mentioned it, so we took battery back. No quibbling, got us a replacement free of charge next day. Can’t ask for better service really.
Incidentally, we had Jeep serviced as well. They couldn’t change one filter, which would have come from Italy. Apparently there are now lots of shipping containers full of such bits for all sorts of cars, stuck either cannot get into Ports, or stuck for one reason or another elsewhere. We use a local trusted garage for all our servicing needs (rather than paying a dealer triple money🤨). Dealers might have a few more bits on shelf at the moment, but post January, expect issues we were told🤷♀️
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This is a possible wider spread problem. We had a new battery back in April/May. Fortunately still OK but we can go a week without using the car. Probably one of the advantages of an electric car?
David
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Yes, suspect lack of use in modern cars with lots of electronics, alarms etc... are a factor. Our Jeep clicks and whirrs a good half hour after key is out of ignition as it “goes to sleep”. Needs a huge punch to kick it into life as well from cold. But ours was playing up after a good run out, up hill and down dale for 50 miles or so, which was definitely not right. It was a faulty battery, shop tested it as well and accepted responsibility. Just one of those things really, but inconvenient.
(Had it been electric, we probably wouldn’t have dared do 50 miles😂. A cold, dark day, lights on, heater on, music playing, up on Moors......recipe for disaster at the moment)
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Much better day today, sun and cloud a good bit warmer as well.
Went into town this morning to try and find a DVD and CD we are after, can't find it anywhere so have had to buy it online, and they wonder why the high streets are closing down.
Off out for a walk shortly while the sun is still out.
We had to change the battery on my car after it went dead. We had left the car for 2 weeks, shouldn't have been a problem normally. Got a new battery and found out that the stop/start on the car now works perfect. It had been a bit temperamental, seems if battery not up to scratch it affects it, who knew
I've been following a group on FB about overseas travel and the problems they are having getting the PCR test that some countries now require. Spain and the Canaries require a PCR if coming from a RED zone, UK is currently a RED zone.
The test has to be done 72 hours before the time of your arrival at your destination airport. The problem is getting the tests done in the UK, it varies in price from £99 - £300. Antigen tests are not accepted it has to be the full PCR ones and you cannot use the NHS as they do not provide you with a fit to fly certificate ( not right to use them anyway for travel)
Folk have paid out a lot of money for these test then been left sat at the airport waiting for the results to come through, some have missed flights/holidays etc as tests not returned in time.
Some have had the tests done at great cost and then had their flights cancelled less that 48hrs before the flight was due to leave. This means they have lost their holiday (they get a refund for that) but airport parking no refund, test costs no refund, insurance refusing to pay out for tests that have been paid for.
What a shambles, can't see the Government doing anything about it as they don't want folk to travel. Once folk start getting the vaccine it will only get worse if they don't come up with something (like the old vaccination card) you can use to allow you to travel. What a mess this is all becoming just as we thought the end was in sight.
Just to say the folk travelling are going to countries in the travel corridor but each country has different rules for entry.
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JVB. That's what the little generator does in our EV, a clever design now dropped. We can keep going whatever the situation which is why we like our EV.
Just heard the covid vac has been delayed for the frontline medic in our family. Carehomes are taking absolute priority. I'll be interested to hear when it does reach her.
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Ttda, I think a lot of these companies keep very short amounts of replacement stock and it has been that way for some time. You may recall we had a brake pipe fault in February last year when we arrived in Harrogate from North Wales. The brake pipe had been nicked when the dealer did an MOT the week before. Anyway long story short, the garage in Harrogate couldn't get hold of a Hyundai brake fluid pipe in the whole of the UK. Not one single one. We would have to wait 3 weeks as they were on a container somewhere. Couldn't fit a generic one as the warranty would be invalidated. Through good fortune they managed to repair it until we got home and had a proper one fitted by the offending garage.
In addition the shelves in Tesco this week were down to their minimum and when we asked a friend who worked there about it she said the management couldn't get hold of stock from Europe. We're thinking of buying another freezer! Things can only get worse what with Christmas overbuying and Brexit looming.
Got the caravan home in the rain yesterday and moved it today to its normal spot. Got caught in a heavy sleet and hail storm halfway around and couldn't stop otherwise we would have blocked the road. Second shower for us of the day, a bit colder than the first. Seemed strange not having the unit to look at whilst it was away.
Must admit TG that we are waiting until autumn to travel abroad if at all so that the countries can sort out the travel arrangements properly. Might be a bit too soon at that.
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Yes, it’s going to get worse, before/if it gets better. As I say, we use an independent garage for our work, so we book car in, he looks at what we want, orders parts in for service ready and then away we go. But he couldn’t get this particular filter anywhere, so cleaned up one that was on, and said he’d do replacement next time car is in.
Sadly, I think we are in for total mayhem after 1st January. I sincerely hope I am mistaken. It won’t bother me if some food items aren’t available, but I just hope that medicines, veterinary meds and other essentials aren’t in short supply or held up. My big concern is animal welfare, I hope that the UK upholds very high standards of animal husbandry, food production and transportation. EU standards weren’t that good, but places like US, Australia and of course Asia/Middle East are utterly appalling compared to here. I think a Bill blocking live transportation overseas has just gone through, which is a big plus.
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We are not going to make any plans for overseas travel until at least 2022. In fact plans of any sort are going to be difficult what with brexit and covid. 'There maybe trouble ahead' as the saying goes.
How did the christmas lights switch on go brue?
This says it all about Christmas.
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Correct, JVB, they've found bird flu in some swans on the canal that we had a walk beside last a week in S Cumbria.
TG, we had to have a replacement battery for the Volvo earlier in the year and the guy who did it said it the automatic stop start didn't work it was because of a faulty battery, so yes I knew.
I saw yesterday on AOL that the US have already got vaccination cards for the virus, as a back up to an app that they intend to bring in which will carry proof of vaccination.0 -
Certainly difficult, if not impossible, to keep the wild birds free of avian flu. Driving down the A533 alongside the Trent & Mersey canal there are more mute swans than I'd care to shake a stick at, but folks are so pleased to see and feed them that 'social swan distancing' just ain't going to happen !!
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The switch on went very well Millie! We had a nearest to normality day yesterday, we saw our daughter and partner in the fresh air and then the socially distanced neighbours later on with lots of twinkling lights (and smiling faces!) Mulled wine and mince pies at arm's length. There are several new families and older couples who have moved in recently so at least they could see they have neighbours, even in the dark!
The frost is just fading this morning, dog walk next. 🐕
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Glad the lighting up went well Brue.
We had a brisk walk this morning in the light mizzle. "Called in" to see an elderly lady, 95 and still going, to see if she had her cards ready for delivery. She didn't but will soon. She doesn't understand that we can't come in for a cuppa yet knows about the virus.
For those who like astrological events then make a note to try to see Saturn and Jupiter later this month when they will look like double planets. Due to their alignment they will edge closer between 16-25th.December with 21st being the optimum time. The further north you live the harder it will be to see but the best time is supposed to be just after sunset and near the horizon looking south, I think. The report stated that the last time they were seen this close was nearly 800 years ago.
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Very cold here today woke up this morning to frost outside. Quite a productive day so far got the car washed it was badly needing it due to all the salt and grit on the roads around here. We then got our ‘main’ summer holiday booked for July/Aug a week at Hillhead in Brixham our favourite site then up to Hurn Lane CC near Burnham on Sea for 15 nights that’s an area we are looking forward to visiting again it’s been about 17 years since we were last in that area looking forward to visiting Cheddar Gorge again. Hoping that this year everything goes to plan and there is no need to cancel or re arrange fingers crossed. Not much planned this afternoon just watch the snooker probably.
hope everyone else has had a nice weekend
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