What are you all up to
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Nellie, how do you find the airfryer for baking? I have a Bake setting but have not tried baking cakes yet. I still use the oven mainly on Sundays when we have the half price electricity.
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Good to read your grandson slept well Bakers2, we are babysitting our Grand-daughter over May BH but we are staying over at our sons house, like your grandson she hasn't slept over anywhere different yet.
I also miss Brue's Post's on CT. Wishing her all the best if she ever looks in.
Visited our elderly neighbour in hospital yesterday, she looked really well, but unfortunately her memory is now really bad and they have decided she can't carry on living at home so it looks like she will be going to a care home.
We haven't had much rain although it's been very windy, washing has dried outside. OH is still in the process of cleaning the outside of the caravan, inbetween doing various other jobs he gets roped into doing for neighbours 🙄
Went to our retail park today, we are getting a "Go Outdoors " which opens next week, right next to Mountain Warehouse, will be interesting as they sell very similar things.
Good to read the cows are out Goldie they must be very happy after being inside over the winter.
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An afternoon in Exeter for us and it chucked it down all the time. We did have a nice lunch in John Lewis and a little shopping done. We took our granddaughter to Exeter station to meet her friend who had travelled there from the midlands, they then went to stay with another friend at her parents house, then they will travel back to uni together. I sort of feel that they have all been staying here as every time I walked into a room it felt as though they were there too, they were on granddaughters phone on snapchat or similar, had to watch what I did and said but lovely to hear them gossiping and giggling, think that keeps granddaughters spirits up. They had a history lesson on Sunday, OH has turned one of our bedrooms into his music room, he and granddaughter were showing them his vinyl collection from the 50s onwards, seems they were impressed. Then they saw a photo in the bedroom of OHs grandad at 18 in army uniform. OH told them that in the 1st world war he was gassed, captured and sent to work in the salt mines by the Germans. This probably actually saved his life though. Again the girls were interested and impressed, nice that the young can take an interest.
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Helen, we just have a basic airfrier, so no special settings, and OH just sets it initially at 12 mins at 190. She test the cake and then adjusts time depending on consistency. One thing that we have found is that the cakes rise even better than in the oven!!
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Good to read that you have been able to let you cows out, Goldie, and I bet that they are pleased to out in the fields too.
Should anyone be in contact with Brue, please will they too pass on my best wishes.
Enjoy your stay at Putts Corner, David, it has been a while since we were last there.
Another day of mixed weather here at home, although the wind has dropped. Unfortunately it rained in the middle of the afternoon which curtailed my usual pre-dinner walk.
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What a horrendous day weather wise. Heavy rain again. Fed up with it.
Busy at home today as another physio visit to MiL followed quickly by a visit to instal an emergency call system so we'll feel better knowing MiL can press her call button in an emergency if we're both out and responders will contact us or one of 2 neighbours who have agreed to help out in an emergency if we can't get home quick enough. Hopefully it will just be wasted insurance and not used but one never knows.
We used to be a responder for a neighbour and know its reliable as we were called out a couple of times.
Cooking for tonight on at present as well.
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"What a horrendous day weather wise. Heavy rain again. Fed up with it."
You have my sympathy WN - we are, as well! Got home yesterday afternoon after cutting our holiday short by a couple of days - just got fed up with the constant rain and mud everywhere. Today started off wet again but has dried up for the time being. Just finished giving the inside of the van it's usual deep clean and Ros has been driving the washing machine since about 6 am!
Thursday and Friday are forecast to be dry (I hope that materialises) so those two days are earmarked for tackling the somewhat muddy awning. Fortunately, Thule make all the mud skirts and lower part of the awning out of heavy duty PVC, so it shouldn't take too much cleaning.
Good to hear about the cows being let out Goldie - I bet they're a lot happier know. We had to smile - the other day we passed a couple of pig farms alongside the A64 - the pigs were snuffling about, absolutely blathered in mud, looking as happy as anything!! This weather obviously suits them, if not us
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We cracked on lovely yesterday, it was warm and sunny right up to around 4pm, so we got lots done outside. I finished up with a run to local tip, then half hour in greenhouse, so a very nice day. Even managed lunch sat on our garden swing. Bucketing it down now though, so can’t replant hellebores, etc… into Mum’s garden. Another day off tomorrow, but forecast is dire, so a trip out to Castleton planned.
Pooch has been for his annual booster, plus monthly injection, plus other drugs. That would have funded a week away in a cottage😱 Vet fees are scandalous at the moment. I saw a newspaper headline where some folks are taking their pets overseas for treatment. I think there’s something happening in Parliament about it as well. We’ve always had fantastic vets for all our animals, but these big hedge funds are buying them up and it’s hard now outside of really rural areas to find an independent vet, most are part of a small number of groups. I bet a lot of animals are suffering because owners cannot afford bills any more. Don’t blame the vets, it’s typical of how Britain is run nowadays😡
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Good to hear that the emergency call system has been installed, WN. It should provided all of you with some peace of mind enabling you to get out a bit more.
Pleased to hear that you got home ok, Richard. Now the hard work comes with the cleaning of the car, caravan and awning.
Yet another day of mixed weather, being very wet this morning and then when the rain stopped we had some of the highest winds of the winter. It was refuse day and for some reason the cart didn't arrive to empty the recycling bins, so because of the wind blowing over many of the bins the streets are littered with plastic bottles, cardboard packaging and cans!!
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Despite my nightly slug hunt with a torch and dispatching very, very many each time, today I have had to dig up the four young plants that I planted out last week, two of them were clematis. The slugs have stripped them all bare, even though I surrounded the plants with grit and eggshells. I’ve put them back into the pots they came in and put them just outside the back door where I can keep a better eye on them until hopefully they green up again. I read there are 20,000 slugs in the average garden, with this wet weather I think there must actually be millions in ours, I’ve just been out and they seem to be hanging on every plant.
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We had a nice day on Monday so I spent it in the garden, thankfully the hard work had been done in March so it was just grass to be cut (first time this year for the back garden) second time for the front, edges strimmed then a hoe over of all the beds. My Hellebores have decided to flower after complaining weeks ago that they don't. Yesterday was mixed and today it has just been raining all day. Forecast for the next few days looks to be dry, I won't say good because I don't think it will be warm but dry will suffice for now.
Bins, we have been given yet another bin by our local council, huge big thing with a grey lid. This is for plastics and cans. It will take all plastics soft and hard so that is good, no longer having to collect them up and take to Tesco. The council have also informed residents that they can obtain an elastic strap which clips to the bin and fastens down the lid with a clip over the rim. Excellent piece of kit and its free to collect from various local places. We have 2 of them one for the 'plastics' bin and one for the 'paper/cardboard' bin. hopefully we won't have a repeat of the lids being blown open and plastic everywhere like before, same as NTH has experienced.
Rivers are all full and fields yet again flooded due to the very heavy rain of yesterday and Monday overnight. We didn't thankfully experience any roads being flooded. Still quite chilly here so heating is still on all day. Just had our 'Fits' reading for Jan - end of March was surprised at £250 not bad considering the weather we've had.
Slowly getting things don't on the van ready for our spring trip, if it stops raining we could give it a good wash and polish before the off.
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"Just had our 'Fits' reading for Jan - end of March was surprised at £250 not bad considering the weather we've had"
Wow! that is not bad for Scotland, i submitted our reading and our previous supplier SSE used to pay within a few days, but they no longer do domestic stuff so we had to move to OVO, it takes them almost 3 months to pay out, they claim they cannot pay until they receive the money from the Government
I could work it out from the meter reading but who cares it is what it is and i will eventually get some money well right now we have rain, however, not complaining we have had a glorious few days all be it very blustery, i have cut our grass 4 times so far this year and it looks as though i will have to do some shrub trimming before we depart in May, however, the blossom is looking really good even after the storms and i notice our apple tree has lots of blossom just waiting to bloom, lets hope we dont get any late frosts.
Got some professionals coming to clean the van on the 16th, feel very guilty about it, i am going to cut out my 1 can of beer per day to pay for it, well that is what i told my wife
might have to spend some time sat in the caravan 1600 - 1700 hrs daily.our treat for this month is a visit to the Tichfiled theatre to see Clamity Jane, organised by the Stroke club so quite looking forward to it, we only live a 10 minute drive from the theatre so all good, we sometimes go to the Mayflower in Southampton but it is expensive and car parking is a nightmare.
sorry so many folk have had horrendous weather over the Easter period and now have some very dirty caravans/MH's to clean, ours is not too bad except for the roof which is very green, so glad i made a hard standing some years back, our solar panels are also very green, too much rain, our window cleaner will clean these when he does the outside cladding some time in June.
remember
"yesterday is history
tomorrow is a mystery
today is the present, that is why we call it a gift"
enjoy
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No chance of us cutting our grass yet, can’t even step on it as so waterlogged. Photos in local paper of cars being flooded in large car park near the estuary with the storm and the spring tide. They have closed the road at a nearby beach due to flooding. I’ve got chippings waiting to be laid/spread on the garden paths but it really hasn’t stopped raining since Sunday. Pouring at the moment. At least one of the local caravan parks has decided to close their large touring field. I know Devon is a wet county but I cannot ever remember anything like this before in spring. Ironically I do remember in lockdown and at this time of year in spring the weather was so hot we were sunbathing in the garden, today we have had the heating on all day. The birds however, are just getting on with spring as usual here, the feeders are going down extremely slowly as they are busy nesting.
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we normally spend a month just outside Tavistock, September, hopefully things will have dried out by then, but last year we left 2 days early due to storms coming in and lots of rain, site has good hard standings but drainage is not great if weather is severe and the grass field used for tenting/ caravans/motorhomes can be a bit of a nightmare, hate having the awning up when the ground inside is all quelchy.
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Thank you Nellie, I will give it a try.
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Day started sunny, and did a food shop early, but rain arrived late morning. Completed payroll year end successfully at work, which was a relief.
OH has almost completed cleaning the caravan, he cleaned all the skylights and now only has the front to do, don't think I've ever seen it as clean. 🤔
I know what you mean about vets Ttda, the animal shelter in Cheltenham where Polly came from had there own vets, they did special rates for people who couldn't afford normal fees.
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Monday was a bright day, spring on its way? Filled my barrels and transplanted my sweetpeas into them. Tucked them in a sheltered corner. Good job - back to grey windy and damp Tuesday. Today started with a beautiful sunrise, soon to be more hazy.
Lovely walk over the fields which are actually drying out, only got mucky on the green land where there were a couple of new 'fords', leeching their water. I haven't walked that way since Christmas as it was very wet then!
Weather changed completely mid morning, grey, damp and quite a breeze now........
On the upside our treated grass areas are coming along nicely. One more week and I'll be moaning along with others about rain needing to stop! 😉
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Withdrawal symptons just hit !! I.o.W booked for ten days from Saturday .Just getting over the blown down gates& post disaster from January's return !! Gale force S.W 9 ,doing back in lifting out of way etc..( just one of three trials ,so far this year ) Time for chilling & relax me thinks !! .1
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Rufs said:- Got some professionals coming to clean the van on the 16th, feel very guilty about it, i am going to cut out my 1 can of beer per day to pay for it, well that is what i told my wife cool might have to spend some time sat in the caravan 1600 - 1700 hrs daily.
Not sure you should feel guilty about it. I should probably do the same! Given there has only been, at the very best, a marginal improvement in my knee problem I have been considering getting someone in the cut our front hedge, its about a metre high and about 20 metres in length. Thought I would get a quote especially as my brusher upper is having problems with her hip! I might have changed my mind as the quote I got was £150 and given that it needs at least two cuts a year I might have to struggle on!
Miraculously I have managed to book a face to face appointment with my doctor tomorrow morning at 8.00am. Don't know if he will still recognise me as I haven't seen him since before Covid!!! Most appointments at our surgery are either made by phone on the day or queuing up at the surgery at 8.00am. A very few appointments are put online to book and I imagine the 8.00am one is never taken up if relying on a phone or personal booking on the day?
David
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I'm really making ths same consideration, Rufs. I can keep the sides 'topped up' eith a dry wash, but the roof is another matter.... I keep putting it off... 🙂
Best of luck with the Drs appointment David. Hope ghey managecto sort you out.
David
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The day started off fine and we were able to get the van packed in the dry. It just started to rain as we were setting off and then rained on and off during the journey. Heavy rain as we passed Gretna but had just about stopped when we go to the site, so set up without getting wet. Since then we have had a couple of heavy rain showers, drizzle and mist, but it is dry at the moment so might just get our last walk in the dry. Many of the fields that we have passed on route look more like lakes!!
Helen, OH has also made cupcakes in the airfrier and we have taken cake ingredients with us to try. making some when we are away. Hope your cakes are a success.
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Thanks Nellie. We've stayed an extra night.... weather was poof this morning, and didn't fancy packing up in the rain. Forcast is better for tomorrow so we decided to stay.
Enjoy your trip up North. Do let us know how you're doing.... and fingers crossed that the weather gets a bit brighter...
David
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Not used to my day starting so early!!!! Just got back from the surgery, Doc sending me for X-rays on both knees to establish what next needs to be done. He also told me I could take the strong pain killers for longer, up to two to three weeks if needed to get rid of a stubborn inflammation. Off to Waitrose soon for the weekly shop.
David
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Helen posted this - Went to our retail park today, we are getting a "Go Outdoors " which opens next week, right next to Mountain Warehouse, will be interesting as they sell very similar things.
You should get some opening bargains Helen. First impressions count for a lot. I presume you have the Go Outdoors members card to get the "discount" i.e. the expected normal price elsewhere.
We took a trip down to the nearest Go Outdoors this morning, an old supermarket near Chester, mainly to get OH a new pair of shoes as her old ones suddenly sprung a leak. She likes Hi-Tec for general wear and they sell them. We took MiL complete with wheelchair for her first outing since her Stroke. We knew it wouldn't be busy and she loves clothes. Worked out well as she was able to push the chair around.
Also had some good news a couple of days ago as her application for a Blue Badge has been accepted and should be here soon. Physio visits now finished. It helped a lot having them call and also order any equipment needed.
We triusted the call button yesterday for a short walk out together even though it was raining hard. OH needed to get out for her own sanity. No problems.
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DK. It sounds as though your Waitrose is nearer than ours. For us it’s a 40 mile round trip - but they send a man with a van for £2 - and this week’s vouchers cover that small cost.. But it must worry the company managers that every delivery slot for Friday, Saturday and Sunday this weekend was available to me today. Is business bad?
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Good to hear that you've got the Blue Badge sorted WN - that should make life a lot easier for all of you.
The BBC weather forecast actually materialised today - so took the very muddy awning out into the back garden and gave it a scrub (literally). Fortunately, Thule have had the foresight to make the double mud skirt out of heavy duty PVC, plus the next band up is a material covered with a sort of PVC coating, so the mud came off easily and hasn't left a stain, In fact the awning is looking as good as new (which it nearly is!). Since we have laminate flooring in the hall, it's now spread out in there for the last bit of drying. Quite relieved that there's no lasting damage done.
Just got to tackle the carpet tomorrow!
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ET
The shop is always busy, or so it seems to us. BTW it's only 3 miles from where we live. I imagine most supermarkets that offer a delivery service maxed out their delivery service over Covid and have been adjusting ever since. We had deliveries for about 15 months but its probably been 18 months since we had the last one. I do see occasionally one of the delivery drivers working in the shop so I suppose there is a degree of flexibility. Obviously Waitrose in MK just delivers within the City and there are other branches nearby at Leighton Buzzard, Northampton, Towcester, Buckingham and Rushden which I image all have their own delivery service. Obviously where you live the Branch covers a much wider area which might make it more difficult to forecast day to day demand of their delivery services?
David
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Thule make great products Richard but they do come at a cost.Our bike carrier is Thule and is the best one we've ever had. Thinking of investing in a Thule tow ball mounted box to put the wheelchair in. Have to get out and about as this is something I want to actually see before buying it, if we do.
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