What are you all up to
Comments
-
We have seen three houses that we like. However, for the first one we were told the day after we viewed that two others were having a bidding contest for it. We were then told someone had offered way over the asking price for the second one we had viewed. We asked to view the third two days after it went on the market and were told that the viewing list was so long already they had closed the viewings. We thought it might be difficult but, well we will just keep trying. It didn’t used to be like this years ago.
0 -
Not only will existing beneficiaries have to pay it back but those people joining the electricity grid as new customers at any time during the 5 years after it starts will have to pay £40 per year. As far as I am aware it will act as some sort of automatic levy. I don't think you can refuse it either.
Wonder what those ant-vaxxers will make of having choice denied them ?
0 -
Thank you very much, Oneputt, I truly enjoyed watching that when I could have been reading my latest bedtime " Rebus " story before lights out !!
I reckon the engineer / driver could have saved a ton or six of coal if he had just pulled the ploughs himself ~~ Well be fair he was a B I G lad !! An amazing feat tho' and great to see that them there Yanks are just as potty over steam and such-like as is yours truly.
Once more ~~ Thank You Oneputt
1 -
I'm going to look into things more closely, at present my head is avoiding what's in store!
Debsc are you hoping to move locally? It doesn't sound easy but I hope the situation improves.
If we wanted to move there is nothing for sale here, which is very unusual. We had an influx of new people a year ago and everything has now gone quiet.
0 -
I'd guess that anti-vaxxer numbers will dwindle when they find they can't get to the fleshpots of Benidorm and Malaga.
0 -
We would really like to stay in the same village Brue but that looks doubtful but yes within a ten mile radius if possible. We have four booked to view our house, one from Yorkshire, Oxford, Bracknell and one local. So I think there lies the problem, so many folk wanting to move to Devon, especially now they can work from home, which isn’t a problem, except if they keep building it won’t be rural anymore. Much more of an issue is the second home buyers for holiday homes. Some of the villages are like ghost towns in winter. And very bad for the youngsters trying to buy homes.
0 -
We moved from a fixed tariff to a variable one some months back, no choice. A year ago our electricity was 13.92p/kwh and now 18.80p/kwh. Gas was 2.43p/kwh and now 3.58p/kwh so big increases and much more to come.
We only have an electric tariff. Our fixed rate finished in October and I was undecided what to do. The choices weren’t great and all in the wrong direction. In the end I opted for a 2 year fixed rate, at what seemed at the time the high rate of 19.45pkwh. However, given what we have learnt since, it looks like I was lucky. It’s going to be a big shock in Nov 2023 unless things change though.
0 -
Our fixed rate ended in October 2021, but fortunately i jumped in quick and spotted a 3 year fixed rate at 12.93pence per kw for the lecce and 4.17 pence per kw for the gas, the more i read about the price increases this seems to be a very good deal.
great day again, have to say we have had some remarable weather for Jan/Feb.
This monster is currently in Southampton docs, i saw her sail in but had left my phone at homeso no photo, lots about her in the news dread to think what would happen if she ever run aground in the deep water channel, could be another Tokyo Express, i think in 1997 she encountered rough seas off of Lands End some containers went overboard and millions of pieces of Lego ended up in the sea, you can still find pieces washed up on the shore today, but you have to be eagle eyed.
report said that all the goods in the containers were from China
1 -
Having read posts on here I read our meters and checked our tariff this morning, luckily we've fixed till July 23 (I had completely forgotten I'd opted for a two year fix but must have been reading the runes last year...
so I'm glad I did it.) E is 19.93 and G is 3.74. When I put the gas reading in this morning, words appeared "was I sure this was correct as the reading was high!" Unfortunately I'd got it right...another . However we've been paying too much via direct debit so this will help.That is a huge ship Rufs! I wonder what all the orders are?!
OH took our M/H into the garage this morning complete with screw in tyre, luckily it turned out to be a small length, so all ok and no charge.
0 -
Fixed rate deals are fine providing your supplier doesn't go broke!!! Interestingly some of the fixed rates are similar to my variable but mine will go up sooner
Went for my haircut this morning, booked via an App on my phone, so no waiting when I got there. Before I went I had a passing resemblance to Albert Einstein on a bad day!!!
Rufs, is that the ship some are complaining about because it gets in the way of their view? I would think it would be fascinating to look out on that ship especially if you could watch the containers being unloaded. I was born in Southampton and the docks are probably the only thing I miss.
David
0 -
"OH took our M/H into the garage this morning complete with screw in tyre, luckily it turned out to be a small length, so all ok and no charge."
had the mobile tyre guy round this morning to put 2 new tyres on the Sorento. Although the tread was quite good i had noticed some cracking around the wall area, tyres are 6 years old, he said they would have passed MOT muster but with an advisory. Off to Spain quite soon with caravan so glad I had them done.
Mechanic said he is seeing lots of cases where treads are very good but sidewall cracking, puts it down to the fact that lots of cars have stood around for almost 2 years doing very little mileage but sitting in the sun, always cover caravan wheels but never car, he did check rear wheels, again tread is excellent with very slight cracking, these tyres are 5 years old. All my tyres are mid range so damage is not a result of buying cheap tyres.
worth checking your sidewalls before touring with the caravan, one of mine had the start of a bulge but was on the inside so had not spotted it.
0 -
"Rufs, is that the ship some are complaining about because it gets in the way of their view? I would think it would be fascinating to look out on that ship especially if you could watch the containers being unloaded. I was born in Southampton and the docks are probably the only thing I miss."
Yes, this particular berth overlooks several houses and the occupants are complaining that it is blocking their light.
The ships that enter Southampton just get bigger and bigger but i love to see them gliding along the IOW shore, this is a picture of a Naval inshore patrol boat with a giant car transporter passing down her starboard side, she is at anchor, you could probably put the patrol boat inside the transporter.
1 -
I would be very pleased to be on your present tariffs David!
Does not seem reasonable that both fuels cost much more up here than down south, since it is also colder up here!
We had been planning a new boiler anyway, this one is almost 34 years old, so while still working fine, it must be very inefficient compared to the new ones. Just need to finish our bathroom works so we can get some space to evacuate part of the utility room so the engineer has enough elbow room.
OH reckons it will be at least another 2 months before it can happen, by which time we will be away on holiday, so probably mid May. Will get our engineer to book us in for then.
The house, being timber frame, is pretty well insulated. We had much more insulation put in when we had it built than was required, which turned out to be a wise decision.
We could put more insulation in the loft, but most of it is floored, and full of stuff, so that would be a massive job as we would need to empty everything out, take up all the flooring and add even more extra height to the joists to increase the thickness of the insulation. So that is not going to happen in our lifetime!!
It already goes as far out towards the eaves as possible, there does need to be some ventilation space left.
0 -
It has been a lovely sunny day here, though a cold wind, so, like TG, OH has been aiming to do the washing while the sun shines. 2 loads done and most of it dried, but the sun has gone now and it is raining......again!
I have made a start on refitting the bathroom units by trying to rebuild the plinth, but have to wait now for screws of the correct size from Screwfix. Meantime, OH has suggested I carry on with my garage tidying. ☹️
We will be at DD's tomorrow to look after the little people, so I am hoping to cut some wood for DD so that I can then repatriate my table saw, which I will need for cutting the fancy board for the front of the plinth. Thursday and Friday afternoons, DD is not working, so has promised to come up here to help me with the heavy stuff.
0 -
For the first time ever I was offered a ‘loyalty’ rate this year (Octopus customer for 3 years). Never been offered any reward for loyalty in the energy market. It was cheaper than their standard rate, but not sure about comparison with other suppliers as nobody seems interested in encouraging new customers.
Octopus Loyal 12m Fixed Rate - Unit price 25.96p per kWh, Standing charge 25.66p per day.
0 -
OH had his passport arrive today by DHL took 5 days to come and taken just under 3 weeks so he is pleased with that very different to his old one.
A glorious day here upto 16C this afternoon and all washing done and dried, even managed to have coffee and tea outside am and pm lovely could have dropped off to sleep with warm sunshine on my face, had a short walk down the road from us and saw two long tailed tits great to see.
Whilst hanging the washing saw a Bavaria motorhome go pass as some areas here are on half term. Another couple of days of warm weather and then back to cooler and showers heyho, off to see if everything ok at our friends house tomorrow and then having a drive about as I have found an area which is high up so I hope I can get some photos of the snowy Cantal mountains will post here if any come out ok.
0 -
Energy prices not uppermost in my mind 😉. However I did us a fixed deal last June with Eon, not sure 1 or 2 years. Was querying what would happen when we move, as we'd had an offer accepted on a house, not they it's the one we're now buying!.....
Well a lovely sunny gentle breeze day. A load of washing line dried by lunchtime. Dry dog walk through the woods 😀.
Naturally another week another house buying issue. Seems our buyers complex mortgage arrangements might now be being sorted...... I won't go into detail on public forum but what happened to the days of buying a house with a mortgage period? Who knows we just might exchange before my next birthday!
DEBSC I wish you luck on your journey into the madness that is house buying in this country. Viewing, selling, agreeing and holding it altogether........... our chain is just 4 existing houses with top of the chain buying new build and bottom of the chain not selling. Sounds soooo easy 😱
0 -
Well as a change of brain use I checked out our power contract. Seems because I thought we'd be gone in August I didn't sort new tariff until September. That was the impetus to find house in October 😉. Fixed it for 18 months so to March 2023 if we're still here! Electric 20.009p per kwh and gas 3.847p kwh both have daily standing charge 18p and 20p a day, cant remember the decimal points value. So not too bad, although we are exceeding our budget according to tge smart reader thingy - had new bits on tge smart meter as it had ceased to work and haven't put thingy away - guy needed it to reset.
Edit meant to say radio4 money box had something on the £200 'loan' which I need to listen to again. It seems you can't opt out and a move 😱😱 appeared complicated 😂, I listened to it as I went to bed on BBC Sounds, but fear I may have lost myself before the end....
0 -
All half term plans now up in the air, DIL has now had her PCR result, positive. Our son is still testing negative and tonight has to travel up to Newcastle for work until Thursday. He was then coming up to us on Friday and we were going to collect his teens from school for them all to stay here for 9 days. This morning we had another chat and said it might be better if he doesn't come up just incase he tests positive in the coming days. Having dodged it for the last 2 years we don't want it now. So we have 2 teens to entertain on our own now. 😲
Weather a mixed bag today but we had sun for a good part of it 😊
Since lowering the temp on our bathroom underfloor heating we have saved 3 kw a day on our electric yet the bathroom is still nice and warm, I only dropped it by 2 degs. Thankfully our 1952 bungalow isn't large, it has cavity wall insulation and good loft insulation but with concrete floors we do suffer with cold feet at times 😅 we have new windows getting fitted at the end of March, these are 31 years old. Still good and working OK but new ones should be better. Not a lot else we can do.
0 -
Oh good luck, I'm sure you're very resourceful and will give them a good time. Of course there's always the electronic 'babysitters' I hope you've got a good WiFi speed and allowance 😉. Sad that you won't see you son but I think that's a very sensible decision.
Sorry to hear your DIL has tested positive - is she the one who hasn't been vaccinated?
Hope it's a little warmer when your new windows are fitted
0 -
Has been a miserably wet day here all day, although not particularly cold. I was able to pick up OH's prescription while she was in the hairdressers, and made an appointment to get our glasses checked later in the week, as we are having problems with our new ones. Then onto the dentist for me......seems I have a cracked molar, so treatment to take place after my 6 monthly checkup and hygienists visit in a fortnight time.
0 -
Reading the posts regarding boiler, our 25 year old boiler had to go last week as spare parts no longer available. Had a new one fitted and it's connected to the Hive and internet which is fun to use although I'm not sure why two stage authentication (code sent to a mobile phone) is needed to change the temperature by a few degrees? but I manged to switch that off. We really noticed a difference in the house being warmer with the new one.
The heating is on about 15 hours a day on weekdays at 20C and with the Hive you can now see how the hourly temperature changes and during the night it dips to a chilly 17.4C!
0 -
Kjell, we are thinking of visiting the CL at Kirkentilock, Barbeth Farm, do you know if there is enough in the area to keep us occupied for 5 nights there?
0 -
Thanks, WiFi speed and allowance no problem, they both have access to Netflix and Disney+ grandson also has his 'games' so along as I feed him he will be fine lol. Granddaughter should have revision to do but doing it is another thing, she will be happy with her phone a mirror and makeup😂😂 I'm just not used to having other people to consider. We've become quite boring these last few years, restricting where we go and what we do.
Yes DIL is the one who refuses vaccination, kids are not done either. Son is done just waiting for his booster, that's why he's not at home isolating he has to carry on going into work as long as he is negative. He is away now for a few days so I hope he is OK.
I'm hoping it's warmer by end of March too, I'm already planning to plug in the caravan and spend the day in there anyway 😁
Hope things keep moving along for your move. It will be nice to get moved then have the Spring and Summer to look forward to in your new home.
0 -
CS
We have had the Hive system for the last 2/3 years since we had our new Combi boiler installed. I have had emails about the two stage authentication but have so far ignored them. Like you I can't see the sense. Its an excellent system and we often use it from the van to increase the temperature at home on the day we leave the site so we arrive to a warm house. Its also good to be able to remotely monitor the temperature at home so in a sudden cold snap you can change the settings remotely.
David
1 -
We were offered Hive but declined it although boiler problems can be accessed by British Gas...ha ha, they have been distinctly absent in their service schedule. We are waiting for them to arrive late Feb but don't hold out much hope! They did phone us once to say the boiler had stopped working but we already knew that sitting in a darkened house with a power cut.
TG inspite of Covid I hope you enjoy seeing the grandchildren, hope your son keeps well.
It's very mild here today, I've been out in the garden doing a few jobs.
Like Nellie and OH I need to get to the optician with my new glasses they were ok at first but the fit has totally gone. I chose solid frames, now back to wearing my lighter framed ones which at least fit, though well worn and wrong prescription...
0
