What are you all up to
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It's not bad, quite tasty, and a nice crisp crust. Nice to have something different now and again, even better when free! The "fancy" breads are rather expensive to use all the time.
However, we do mainly make our own bread as we have a breadmaker, so have not tried any from other supermarkets to compare. Breadmaker comes on holiday in the caravan too.
At home we make both white bread for toast and various types of wholemeal for sandwiches, buying 16kg sacks of flour. We also make sourdough from scratch occasionally, but when we go away we take or buy sourdough bread mixes to use for all purposes to save lugging so many ingredients with us, and everyone likes the sourdough loaves. Excellent for toast.
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Apparently supermarket sourdough is not real sourdough, it’s named sourfaux as it has too many other unnecessary ingredients in order to make it last. I’ve been lucky enough to find a wonderful artisan baker in a local village and their sourdough is far and away so much better than the supermarket stuff, which as you say, I have never found nice.
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Thanks for the info, I will get one next time I am in Lidl and try it. We have cut down a lot on bread to try and eat healthier, eating salad with a couple of small crackers instead (my son is disabled and lives with me) but will try the sourdough bread with some soup. We don't eat enough bread for it to be worth my while to make it.
I hope that you opp goes OK. These days I think that they try and get you in and processed ASAP, which is often better than staying in for a number of days and it will be good to get it over with, before the weather improves and you have a chance to go away.
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Well I moulsey has had a better result from his sunset 🌇
Here we had a bright, dry started.Couple of short showers. Then HEAVY shower. I watched the puddles deepen and join from the car before I headed out when it lessened a bit. By the time I walked back, it was all across the road and quite deep.
Poor garden help, dressed in all in one waterproofs. Is making progress. Block paving has had a de-weed too 😀. He got the plant in the ground, don't have to worry about watering in! Pruning and clear up as much as possible. Then its putting in the pots of bulbs. The reason i like a border i can reach without standing on the soil. Very pleased with our winter/spring garden. This time last year tge hard landscaping was just about finished
The 3 cornered leek 😡😡😡has pushed through some new turf but considering the large area infested with the stuff it's not much. We've decided to dig the turf up and dispose, another good pick over 😡. Then replace the turf when we do the last remaining turf area as soon as frost risk passed.
🤞it's brightened again and not raining at the moment.
Last time I trust the red sky at night rhyme....
Hope others aren't suffering in the rain which seems to be countrywide.
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Our really good local bakers, which had been there for many years, was taken over by an unpleasant man who ran it down, then shut it suddenly (something which he is very well known for) and I don't think that we actually have an independent bakers anywhere local now, at all. I know the real sourdough bread is lovely, but they didn't sell it for very long (it was very expensive) and they stopped selling it when it was taken over.
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Raining again, here today - just a bit fed-up of all this rain!! Managed to do a bit more cleaning inside the car yesterday, between the showers! Lovely sunset photos Moulsey..
Having to change our practice venue for tonight. The last time we used this venue it was like parking in a paddling pool.... fingers crossed that the rain stops to give the paddling pool time to drain away before tonight... Got my socks wet last time!! 🙂
David
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Sunny here today....meantime. Doubt it will last.
OH has rearranged the caravan service, so it will be done before our first trip out. The day is not ideal, but we will manage. Next thing will be to empty and check the van in readiness, better do that this weekend.
We got some new Lidl coupons, so another free loaf! Also a free chocolate brownie. OH saw the article on the news a while back about the court case with Lidl and the sourdough, noticed they had renamed some of their loaves.
Our local Lidl is small so choice is limited in the bakery section, so we have never bothered much with this Lidl Plus thing, but a huge new store opened last year near DD, so we are now using that more when we do a bigger shop.
I think I will be in the hospital for one night after my op, hopefully the early start will mean I get dealt with early on too. It is a fairly new hospital, all single rooms, OH says the beds are comfortable, she had a one night stay last year.
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Not too long ago. someone mentioned cancelling their landline. I am with Plusnet for my landline and broadband and pay around 7.30 a month for my mobile phone calls and 3 gigs of data. Plusnet are cancelling their mobile service very shortly so I was thinking of cancelling my landline at the same time (and perhaps signing up with somone else for broadband). Does cancelling a landline have any affect on any services such as broadband and what broadband provider do people recommend?
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Can't help you vbfg as we need a landline for MiL who finds mobiles are alien creatures. We're fairly stuck for broadband operators due to location and suffered intermittent problems for years. However we upgraded at the end of last year to EE (like Plusnet part of BT) to fibre and, touch wood, the service is more reliable. Other providers networks just don't reach us or drop out at the first hint of poor weather.
OH has only her 2nd.full day off today but the rain put paid to any idea of a day out so she decided we should get stuck into a Spring Clean. I wish we'd gone out.
Did get a chance to try out the new to us Kärcher Small window vac.( small as in machine not windows!). Very impressed, especially as we got it half price through a promo with Martin Lewis' website.Good luck with the Op Kj.
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We have been with Virgin Media (now Virgin/O2) for years. So we have BB, mobile phones, they gave us a free landline (not used, unplugged) and you can add TV options as well if you want, although we don’t. VM BB is super fast and reliable, you can chose different packages, at different prices, link in free phone sims, all sorts of options. It’s not the cheapest (particularly if coming from Plusnet, which is good, I chose this for Mum’s house), but you can drill them down to some very good deals, if you persevere, and go straight to “want to disconnect” rather than listening to some overseas gabble. It here that they can make decisions for you. Our experience on the whole with VM has been good. I did a bit of work for a friend at her house, and she had Sky, which frankly I found dire. No experience of BT, or other providers. All depends what you want really, we wanted speed and reliability. Good luck with it all👍
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OH went to fetch his paper this morning and got caught in the very heavy downpour that Bakers2 mentioned. He hadn't worn his wet weather coat so looked like a drowned rat when he got home. He was soaked right through to his skin so had to have a complete change of clothes. To add insult to injury the paper shop had a note on the door saying 'closed until further notice' so he didn't get his paper either. Not his day apparently 😲!
Our son in N.Ireland loves making bread from scatch. He says he finds it relaxing. He often makes soda bread for breakfast. It is very good.
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Planned a good long walk today but it has bucketed down most of the day. Our garden is waterlogged. As OH can’t walk far at all I usually walk alone. I recently cleared out the garage to make room to pull down and extend my walking machine that I haven’t been able to use for quite a while. Really need some exercise after a winter on the sofa. With Status Quo helping me along, I find I exercise much quicker while listening to them, I’ve managed some time walking on the machine this morning and then the exercise bike this afternoon. OH just said maybe stop now.. I think he meant the Quo not me 😊 Maybe I’ve just about burnt off enough calories for a GnT before dinner.
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Vbf
It is perfectly possible to have broadband only, it has to be either FTTC or FTTP, without having a landline. In fact Plusnet should be able to provide that if you prefer. I am certainly not ready to loose my landline for a couple of reasons. Firstly we have an easy number and more importantly, Margaret, who has some hearing problems prefers the landline handset. At least the mobile signal has improved near where we live so that is not an issue.
All this is going to be complicated within the next year or so by the ending of phone services by copper wire and moving over to VOIP via a fibre connection. Apparently Plusnet are not offering this service so we will probably change back to BT so that we can retain our landline number. We can, at the moment, only get FTTC (fibre to the cabinet) so we are limited to about 34 mbps which is fine for most things. There is third party high speed full fibre available to us if we need it and it seems that BT are going to install high speed fibre along our road (in fact the cable is already in as I saw them do it!) How long it is before they set it up I have no idea at the moment but have registered my interest.
David
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After a six hour flight and leaving Manchester in the pouring rain we are once again at Cape Verde. Lovely and hot at 28C but it was 30 yesterday. Private pool, mini bar including four bottles of various spirits (replaced every 2 days, soft drinks and beer is almost instant) and 24/7 all inclusive. Here for two weeks. This place even beats a club site. Just sleeping, eating, drinking, sunbathing, but not necessarily in that order. I might even find time to look on CT.
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With all this rain I am beginning to wonder if I don't prefer snow and ice!!!
Margaret's driving licence is up for the usual three yearly renewal. Because she uses insulin she has to complete a more detailed medical questionnaire. She had to mention she had had her cataract operation. This has meant she has had to have a special eye test on her peripheral vision. The DVLA pay for this and they list where you can have it done. We went to the nearest option at Specsavers in Bletchley. Apparently all was well and hopefully it means Margaret will retain her driving licence.
Thursday is our usual shopping day so arrival at Waitrose was delayed so we had lunch in the cafe. As were were doing our shopping and thinking about what we would have tonight I spied a rotisserie chicken for .49p , yes .49p, what a bargain. I think they have strict rules on how long they can be left on display after cooking and I think we were in the right place at the right time - for a change! The salad bits to go with it cost more!
David
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We have had a much better day than most by the sounds of it, with sunshine this afternoon, but it was rather chilly. I even managed to get the car washed. Checked out the replacement microwave in the caravan,and it seemed to work fine, thankfully.
Just now we have had a heavy shower of what sounded like hailstones!!
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Hardly like to type this incase I'm tempting fate
It's not raining, there's a big yellow thing in the sky making it quite bright. Should I be afraid?
I'm risking a dog walk without full waterproofs 🤞
Dog and OH being taken to be shorn, my turn next week. So going into the library/archives and a whizz, literally to buy sewing thread in the haberdashery. Breaks my half I can't spend long in either.i know the dog will be at least 2 hours, not so sure about OH, but won't complain if he has a long wait.
Enjoy your day folks
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We did away with our landline recently, it was only used to receive nuisance calls!
We also moved from Plusnet broadband as we were dissatisfied with the speed and reliability, and are now on 3 home broadband. (£20 per month) We do have a very good 3 signal here.
For mobiles, I have moved from 3 to Lebara (Vodaphone) to be on a different network, while OH is on Smarty (3). Both are rolling monthly contracts, I have 30gb data, OH has 50gb, so we can use that while away in the caravan. In total all 3 contracts will come to £32 per month for the first year, though the first 3 months of the broadband are free, so not yet paying for that .
Deals sourced via MSE.
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Bakers2 had to look up up 3 corner leek as not sure what it was anyway soon as I saw pictures and read about it and to find a very evasive plant but interesting to read that you can cook and eat it as it belongs to the onion family and now remember seeing it many years ago in a garden in Devon.
Well it has gone damp and windy here although the wind not as bad as Northern France has had and about 90,000 households there with out electricity due to the storm, also a lot cooler than it has been for a couple of weeks so glad that outside chores are done but more to do and will wait until a dry warmer period to do more in the garden.
Have a good weekend folks.
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We got rid of both landline and broadband last September, we were at the end of our contract and due to go away for almost 3 months.
We have mobile phone monthly contracts, OH has Lebara and I have Smarty. We have recently gone with NOW for broadband £20 a month, it's good and fast much better than Plusnet was. We also have a new TP link router for going away, with a SIM card that we can load when needed, full roaming and it's on the EE network.
Been another dry day today, not so much sun but at least it was dry. I can now see areas of blue sky.
Carpets in the van have all been washed and now drying on the line. We took up the originals as they were far to light in colour and put down some runners we bought in Dunelm. They are rubber backed so grip the floor of the van nicely and don't move. The best thing is you can throw them in the washer when they need it. Being darker colours and striped they don't show the dirt as much.
WN, good news on MILs health, I'm sure you will be happy to have back home again once the time is right.
Dentist for me this morning, just a check up. The dentist did a scale and clean as well. The Scottish government in their wisdom have decided that twice yearly checks are no longer required. Only 1 a year now but the dentist has said that she is happy to see me every 6 mths for a scale and clean. Very happy with that. I left my previous dentist due to the ever increasing cost of Denplan and private costs. I was paying £33 a month but getting nothing done other than inspection and hygienist every 6 mths. My teeth and gums are good so I decided to find an NHS dentist, luckily I found one. The difference is inspections are free, in Scotland, scale and clean £15.60. Compare that to £33 a month denplan or private costs £75 for dental inspection and £65 for hygienist. Is there any wonder dentists are leaving the profession.
Have a good weekend all.
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So much for that old "Red sky at night" twaddle!
Our last two days were almost continuously wet.
We're back home now - it was a nice break in an area not too far from home but just spoilt by the weather which meant walking just about anywhere was wet and muddy underfoot. Good job the cottage had a tiled floor throughout, cleaning would have been a nightmare otherwise.
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What are we up to? Preparing for a rugby action packed weekend. Shopping just done with drinks, nibbles and meals all purchased and prepared. My obligatory only worn when England play shirt washed and ironed. Oh, the excitement builds.
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I did a guided tour of the Cathedral this morning, the first time for 3 months. It was so lovely to be back and I remembered everything! I was so worried that I would forget things or would get tired and run out of steam but thankfully all was well. I had such a nice group of people and one of the guys was one of the firefighters on duty (in fact I think he said he was the first to arrive) on the night that we had the catastrophic fire in 2001. It was fascinating chatting to him. In fact when we got to the area where the fire started I handed over to him to tell the tale. My car went for it's MOT today but failed on emmisions. It is going to be retested next week after the guy has got the spare parts. He also mended the window washers so I think we are in for a bill of around £200. Hey ho it is what it is.
The day started off much colder but with a clear blue sky and sun! Unfortunately it has now completely spoiled itself and is teeming with rain.
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It’s not been a bad day here, but we are expecting -1c overnight. One more day at Mum’s, then Sunday we are off to the National Velodrome at Manchester for Nat Champs Finals. Chance to see some of the Olympic medal hopefuls, just not looking forward to drive across. Thankfully, we don’t have to cross the city this time, we will park up at the Etihad, then walk. Corporate catering greed seems to be the order of the day though, not allowed to to take any food or drink inside, only thing allowed is an empty water bottle that you can fill up inside. The track is at 28c inside, so very warm, will certainly need to drink. Apparently (what lies they tell) it’s to prevent anyone throwing food onto the tracks. Who knew that Cycling was the haunt of such vandals eh? I shall ask for a vegan food option suitable for someone with an allergy, and see what they come up with🤷♀️ I shall let rip on Trip Advisor as well if they don’t do such options, and if it’s overpriced pap.😡 No doubt we will be searched going in, always fun. Fellas get the brush down manually, females get the bleeping electronic ring.
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Milliehull sounds like a lovely tour. How wonderful to have a firefighter from that terrible night. Did you learn from him? Fingers crossed your car passes and the bill is modest.
I managed to dry towels outside 😀. Takes very little to make some folk happy 😊.
However as Milliehull says as dusk came we had a heavy shower and heavy, large hailstones. Covered the ground looking like snow. I expect we'll have a frost tonight. I was shocked at how much lying water there is around, even though I walk locally daily!
Successful shearing, both dog and OH look smart. I had success in both the library and haberdashery shop. Ran out of time to use the archives, I forgot they close for lunch...
RedKite I'm surprised you miss my rants about 3 cornered leek 🤐. Yes it's all supposed to be edible, not tried it. Too disgusted with its habits and I'd feel a turncoat if I liked it! Maybe it would be OK contained in a pot but I'm not enough of its friend to try. I have seen it for sale in a garden centre with no warning 😡. We had an area if about 8 x 12 foot invested with it.....
Takethedogalong have a good day out. There are so many places, cinemas etc I believe, that don't allow you to take in food or drink. My youngest granddaughter has multiple food allergies, my daughter preparers everything from scratch. As she lives in NZ I'm not up to speed but even fruit has to be watched.
We opted for a landline when we moved, mobile signal isn't great on either of our networks. That said the landline is VOIP and I'm not convinced it's an improvement. If I sit the opposite side of the double bed with the handset having a conversation it will bleep - to say to from base unit...... On our old system, old house, you could take down the garden!
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Fire at the Lidl distribution warehouse on the A1 today
I think the fire brigade might have been grateful for plentiful water supply. It just took a mere 15 hose lengths from water source to roof........
I presume they'll be a thorough investigation in due course. I've been an advocate of any new build having solar panels included in the plans. Now I'm wondering if it us a good idea 😱
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Yes I saw that on TV Bakers2. I also wondered about the solar panels on the roof. The aerial footage certainly looked as though the solar panels were the cause. I wonder whether there was a fault somewhere? In the meantime I wonder whether there will be a shortage of goods in the local Lidl stores
Yes I did learn a lot from the firefighter on my tour today. Hopefully lots more information that I can pass on to the visitors
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Well done with the guided tour, Millie, back in the groove for you!
Sounds like busy day B2. Shame about all the poor weather you seem to be having in yourv region.
Hope you have an easy drive over to M/C tda, and you enjoy your day out at the Cycling Championships.
It has been mostly sunny here at home but still quite chilly, ,although like last night we had a spot of rain late on. I was able to get the caravan cleaned and Bobby Dazzled between our regular dog walks. Looking forward to the rugby tomorrow.
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