What are you all up to
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Glad to hear MIL is getting out and about again WN
Its been a glorious sunny day here all day so we have spent it working in the garden and clearing out the garage currently sitting on the deck with a couple of burgers sizzling away on the Cadac. Weather has actually been good over the past week or so feels like spring has arrived at last.
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For mobile, we've been with 3 for quite a few years now, and find them quite good. At home we use Virgin Media, but am less happy with this - expensive for what we get, and we alway seem to have to talk the price down when the contract is up.
In the Evora, we have an Avtex Wi-Fi antenna. I have toyed with the idea of getting a Data card for it but not sure. I'de be interested to hear if anyone else has used this device, and how they've got on with it. Because we wouldn't use it all the time, I've been looking at IQ Go, which is specifically designed for caravan/ motorhomes. £20 a year, and then you just top up when you run out of data. I don't think there the data has a time limit. If I've understood correctly, you buy the data and can use it until it runs out (no expiry date), then you top up...
David
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Glad to hear better news about you MIL, Wherenext - glad she is managing to get to the craft group.......and sorry to hear about the car Millie - hope you manage to get it sorted soon.... hope the printer is behaving too. Our printer is the worse for wear, I'm afraid... so many misfeeds....
David
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Tda, pleased to read that you have got further on with your dispute with O2. Hope that your next venture with a phone company is much less traumatic!
More good news with your MIL getting out using her "Dolly Trolly" WN, after having managed with her pronged walking stick too.
Helen, we haven't stopped on the CC site there, but have stopped on the C&CC one in the past.Glad you enjoyed your time there.
It has been another fine sunny day by Loch Lomond, but a cold wind started to blow across the site in the late afternoon. Another walk for us today, this time from Milorrochy Bay to the forestry centre at Cashel. Site full again for the second night on the trot.
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Yes it was fine except for a couple of short hold ups due to road works. I did post a thanks to you when we got here, Francis but it must have vanished into the ether due to this unpredictable forum!!
Thanks once again.
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Lovely afternoon for us, only down M1 to Hardwick Hall, but at least it was a dry sunny day. Cold though. Lots of roadworks on M1, but no hold ups. They are finally putting in more refuge areas on the smart section, long overdue. All they have to do now is make sure the tech works and they can spot accidents.
Rather disappointed with Hardwick to be honest. It’s a fabulous building, but the interiors are rather boring. Relies heavily on the tapestries, and apparently the NT have spent £2 million pounds having them restored, but they are in the main devoid of colour, there’s not enough information about them, and the rooms were very dark, in some instances you couldn’t see anything without a torch. It needs a big coloured photo by each tapestry to give a better idea of how fabulous they must have once looked. The gardens were a huge disappointment as well, next to nothing in terms of colour, I counted two (yes, two) tulips. Probably rogue bulbs left in. £21 per person to get in unless a Member. Burton Agnes Hall and Gardens were much better.
We have been with VM/Telefonica since mid 2000’s, very reliable broadband, super fast, but you do have to grind out the best deals. Had VM mobiles as well, heavily discounted as part of package, but that ended last year with their merger with O2. I use a rolling monthly sim, no contract, 6gb for £7. I shall get my credits back, then looking at going with a different sim provider, one topping the deals via MSE. OH has had one for a year now, lots of data, he only pays £4 per month. Never had any problems.
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I had a look at some of the reviews for Hardwick Hall, and very surprised to see just how disappointed a lot of folks have been. It is a fabulous building, but it relies heavily upon the tapestries for internal interest, and yes, they are stunning, probably priceless in terms of historical ownership and cost to replace. But unlike the stunning Henry VIII one’s at Hampton Court, they are extremely faded (even after having £2 million pounds restoration) and it’s so dark inside the building, you need a torch to get around. Knole is like this as well. There’s a bit of a fine line between preserving something to the point of that being the most important factor, but then charging the public a not inconsiderable fee to try and view things. As Members, it’s just one rather mediocre visit for us, amongst a lot of much better ones. But it’s not a good enough experience to tempt non Members to join IMO. The scones were nice though😁
New sim arrived, got my calls and texts back……..but email packed in again😡 I consulted our tech wizard next door neighbour, rather than letting VM give me the run around, and between us, we seem to have sorted things. The underlying issue is VM are “retiring” an old email address, which just happens to be mine, so I have had to set up a piggy back system that allows me to keep my old email address, but using a new email address, new passwords, etc…. Bit to complicated for me, but think it’s ok now🤞🤞🤞🫣😬🫠😵💫
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It was a trip to the optician's for me this morning, change of prescription this time so new glasses ordered and came out alot poorer, ouch!! New frames are made of titanium, very light but very strong apparently, so I shouldn't break them. 🤔
OH has been tidying our small garden today, but it was a bit chilly, let's hope it warms up soon.
Glad you got phone and emails sorted Ttda, we've had a few problems with the Internet since they have been digging up the pavement for fibre optic cables, chap from open reach said he's been very busy.
Glad your trip is going well Nellie, We were up that way almost 12 months ago on our Scotland trip.
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Yay! A decent day, first in ages.
Out in the garden. Halfway through emptying a tonne bag of topsoil that's been awaiting attention since last September! Over ordered for turf laying. But having a lunch break - claiming the full hour today!
Planted 4 large pots/barrels with potatoes. They looked like aliens! Using said soil, topped up existing pots. Have done pots for morning glory, and sweetpeas. Did manage to put the latter in the last reasonable day. They are almost ready to train. Morning glory only sown recently as I'd forgotten them!
Will peel back the weed suppressant on vegatable raised beds and add as much as I can. Hopefully that'll clear it or leave a couple of wheelbarrows full that I can store in the garage to earth up potatoes.
Same supplier, in the village, but different source to our first tonne this time last year. Much better quality, fenland peat, certainly dark enough to be and sandy so I have high hopes.
Need to cut the treated grass, it's looking very green and long, it's had plenty of rain!
Been a busy couple of weeks - really enjoyed a 'dabble day' of craft. I WILL NOT take up quilling, but I did make a card with a sprig of lavender and a bee plus a gift tag with a butterfly. I shan't give them away. No one will appreciate the patience and effort they required 🤣🤣. Made a couple of waxed material food covers to add to my collection. Don't need to take that up as I now have plenty. My NZ ones have been rejuvenated, thanks to the day, and are now as good as they were 10 years ago! I also tried Tunisian crochet. Loved the texture of the work, nothing usable made, if I have time hanging I might well give it a go.
A trip to the optician. Thankfully no new prescription so little expense. Had the photo of the eye,more expensive than Vision Express advert says but great independent optician so I don't mind. Learned my dry eyes are worse, glands blocked. So lovely heated eye mask and different drops, these are actually gel.
Haircut, physio, blood tests for each, shopping, washing housework etc fitted in. When did I go to work?
Good to read Wherenext MIL progressing well.
Sadly forgotten others news to reply too 🤔. Need a power nap 😉, but it's good to read of folks activities.
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You have certainly been busy, B2. Hope that the new treatment solves you eye problem.
We have had another couple of fine days, but there have been a few very short hail showers. Yesterday prevalent the morning in Ballock Castle Country Park before going to Aldi in Alexandria to stock up with food before our move up to the Club's Clachan site at Killin today.
It was an easy drive to here with just one holdup on the Glen Ogle stretch. Both sites and the village are very quiet, with the Maragowan appearing to be be only 1/4 full, with perhaps 3x as many caravans as M/Hs, and here at Clachan there are only 14 units on, including 8 seasonal pitches with caravans on them, 2 of which are occupied, and of the 6 other units 2 are M/Hs..The site wardens were saying that it is not just here that the sites are quiet but ones such as Troutbeck are similar.
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Yesterday went well as we disappeared for a couple of hours to have lunch, locally, with my cousin and her OH. MiL promised to behave herself and did. It was great to do something normal.
Decided I was going to get stuck into the power washing and cleaning of the back garden flags when I returned from my morning stroll. Just got started when we had a 3 hour power cut. Carried on doing a manual job of clearing moss and weeds and some gardening at the front.
We fortunately still have a gas hob and a whistling kettle so were not unduly bothered at lunch. I did actually attach the Calor in the caravan just in case as I need to cook something in the oven but back on now. Seems it covered a wide area. As we are down as having a vulnerable person we received regular updates from Scottish Power.
Hope the change in treatment works B2.
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Youngest son came to cut my hedge today, he also did the next door neighbours as well as its the same type of hedge, bless him. It's interesting as you get older watching the energy with which younger people tackle jobs like this. It would have probably taken me the best part of half a day but within an hour it was done! So having established how quickly a non professional gardener can do the job I and still trying to work out in my mind how I was quoted £150 for it to be done by a professional hedge cutter. Had it been nearer the £100 mark I might well have gone with it but £150 seemed excessive?
David
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We have decided relaying our Sun terrace is too much for us. We made a start, raised a few paving slabs, but it’s not a task either of us is keen to do, and we could tell apathy and finding other things to prioritise was happening. So I contacted person who laid Mum’s paved area a few years ago, and boy have prices shot up. However, it will all be done in a couple of days, so we shall let someone else do the task. I love gardening, even quite heavy digging, but hard landscaping is something else. Will order a load of bark and pebbles alongside slabs. That will keep us busy.
Managed a couple of hours in garden today, not overly cold at first, but has dropped chilly now. I am still playing catch up with some things, mainly because of weather, but also having to spend so much time away from home. Have lit stove now, me and hound taking it easy, OH is up in attic pounding around Crete virtually on his bike🚴♂️
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2nd day of high energy!!!
Not caused by the weather, dull grey and chilly. Slight frost this morning im reliably informed. Yesterday, the school field was white at 0530, it had gone by 0730 when I got up, but we had a lovely bright day.
Tidied the garage, mainly because we wanted to find the pump for the water feature. Succeeded, so that means it needs setting up at this house. One job always leads to another!
Actually lifted the garden table out, not the chairs - they're easier to handle and it's not been warm enough to need them. Even a cuppa on the bench has been pushing it whilst gardening. I think we're going to rearrange outdoor seating this year and store the bench from the back garden but leave the bench in the vegetable garden, nice and enclosed tidy hole there too 😀 and the one by the front door where we can watch cul du sac activity 😉.
Since OH performed with heart attack, bypass and stroke we've used 'trades' rather than DIY. Prices/charges vary greatly. I prefer recommendation but that isn't always possible. We inherited a very tall hedge, about 15 feet, at the back of our house. Neighbours behind and a couple or 3 feet lower than us so very private back garden. Naturally trimming it is beyond both of us 🤣🤣. Had a couple of quotes, almost identical, in our first year £250 ish this also included a trim of the evergreen hedge at the front. Not as tall or as long. Last year our garden help did both, took about the same time and then continued gardening for the rest of the day. He doesn't charge as much either! Yes trimmings cleared away both times.
Actually it's nice to be able to pay someone else to do the big jobs, but not as satisfying. But far less tiring 🤣😃.
The lighter evenings are very welcome, but some warmth would make them usable. Sitting watching the activity from the lounge we have noticed a distinct lack of bats this year. There's an odd one some evenings, I'm hoping it's the cool weather meaning they're staying hibernating longer? I've seen one swallow,I presume they're staying where its warmer and likely to be more insect activity.
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Margaret's wait for a hip injection has taken a step forward. Originally she went to an appointment with a private physio (paid for by the NHS) who diagnosed locked hip syndrome, this was probably back in March. He agreed that a steroid injection would be done and she would hear in due course. Several weeks after she rang to check on progress, apparently she was 171 on the list! Role forward to yesterday and she decided to ring again as time was going on. Asked if there was any progress and had she moved up the list. Voice on the phone said can you come on 4th May which was a bit of a shock, even more so as its a Saturday! So progress at last. I hope it works as she has been in pain for months and both me and the boys have been saying why not have it done privately but she has insisted that the NHS should pay! Still no news on my knee x-rays but in may case a bit more difficult to know where to chase!
David
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I heard a tale from someone that they decided use the company scheme to go private but they'll still have to pay for certain items.
They were floored (polite word used) to discover that one of the "extras" was paying for an Anaesthetist! I kid you not. What next? The electricity used? The Operating table, charged per hour?
B2 - If I were a bat I'd be hibernating! OH has me down as a Long Eared one.
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I think fortunately for things like knee and hip steroid injections most places work on a menu basis so you usually have a clear idea how much the cost would be before you commit. Margaret's hip saga has been going on over a year and when the doctor was sending her for a scan she suggested to Margaret that she might want to consider having it done as a private patient as it would be quicker. Fortunately that appointment came through quite quickly, its everything else that has been slow. I think the problem we seem to have is that you see a whole series of doctors and you don't get the complete follow through you need. I can perfectly understand why some are willing to dig into their savings (if they are lucky enough to have them?) to pay for operations like hip and knee.
David
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On the subject of going private rather than the NHS. As some maybe aware from my previous posts our daughter was suffering badly with her back/hip. She had a big op on the NHS many years ago which went well. A few years ago she was again in great pain, she researched her symptoms and concluded the initial problem, the op, time, etc had damaged her back and also this time her hip. 2 Drs at our local hospital disagreed and sent her for physio, neither physios would touch her saying it would cause more damage. She was just being sent in circles for 3 years. She was in dreadful pain, on higher and higher doses of morphine etc couldn’t do her job, working with problem youngsters, and virtually bed bound. We paid for a private specialist appointment. Within 20 minutes he diagnosed what she suspected all along. Told it could be another 3 year wait for an op on the NHS her daughters crowd funded for her and we topped up the rest for the specialist to do her operation. 1 year later - she is out of the wheelchair, just walking with sticks, no painkillers, she can’t return to her old profession yet but she is working at the moment full time as a receptionist. The specialist said her recovery may take 2 years as she was left too long. So from being almost bed bound, in a wheelchair, unable to work and doped up on morphine, she is now working, laughing and being with her kids. Worth every penny of our savings, thank goodness we could do it. I’m afraid, between our daughter and our granddaughters problems sadly I have little faith in the NHS. Although I do believe it’s a postcode lottery and Devon doesn’t do very well at all.
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I feel for those who need urgent medical help, and/or living in pain.
My own thoughts are that our NHS system, at its inception (coming out a huge global conflict, country on its knees, hugely in debt to the US, cities desperately in need of rebuilding, etc..) is the most positive step the UK ever took. It enabled very ordinary people to have access to decent, ongoing health care, giving us a healthier more active and therefore productive workforce, able to rebuild the country and go on to have in the main, longer, fitter lifestyles with improved infant mortality rates. Many of us, unless very rich, are products of this NHS.
Today? It’s a sense of despair in many ways that this absolute treasure isn’t receiving the careful management, proper targeted and administered funding, required staff levels and ongoing future planning it should receive. It’s used as a punch bag by political parties, bypassed by the rich who can afford to pay out vast sums to look after themselves, abused by too large a percentage of those who lack the will or understanding not to succumb to smoking, drugs, alcohol, violence, high sugar intake etc… that requires ongoing treatment via A&E. Medical research and application is vastly superior to what it was back in the 1950’s, and many folks are now living into extreme old age, but there hasn’t been any joined up thinking for years, linking this with the kind of care required, not just for the elderly, but those who have survived previously unsurvivable conditions and accidents. Wards are full of elderly people waiting to go back home with no back up and they yo yo back and forth in and out of hospital on a regular basis until something eventually gets them. Care homes are about a few reaping big profits, no matter how kind or caring underpaid staff are, and that’s if families can afford to use a care home. The care you might get is a geographic lottery, as we have found out trying to access a variety of care and drugs/support aid for our own family. Funding related, and it depends on Clinical Commissioning for a particular area.
NHS deserves so much more than to be something as part of an election soundbite. It should transgress, rise above political dogma, and be given the planning, future proofing and funding that we all deserve, across all the political spectrum. I for one wouldn’t want to think that my relatives won’t benefit from all I have had, merely because they don’t earn enough.
Not intended as a politically biased statement in any way, I hold allegiance to no one party. Just a hope that something so important to all of us can be recognised and more valued.😕
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Throwing it down with rain here along with strong winds. Not very good for our district scouts to walk along the sea front for their annual St George’s day parade.
I have had over 5 years of first hand experience of the NHS, my latest was taking my brother for a pre op on Friday. The front line staff were again wonderful. But the shenanigans of managers and their expenditure on non essentials really wind me up
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From a great day out yesterday at the open air museum at Beamish and if anyone is staying in the area (North East) then it's a great day out. You can't see all the places in one day but the ticket includes visits for one year. A good tip if like me you're of a certain age past 60 then a single ticket is £21.25 but if you buy the 'friend of Beamish' senior couple's ticket it's £49 but then you get 10% off all food and drink/shop prices. We easily made up the extra!
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I can perfectly understand why some are willing to dig into their savings (if they are lucky enough to have them?) to pay for operations like hip and knee.
David, my Mother-in-law needed a knee replacing about 10 years ago when she was about 80. Her reasoning was that if she waited another 4 years, timeframe given to her, for the NHS to do it then her general health and fitness may have declined to such an extent that she wouldn't make full use of it. She was fit and healthy and wanted to maintain her lifestyle. She went private, did all of the exercises and enjoyed another 10 years of good health. We told her not to bother saving her money for us. Both her and her husband worked hard so deserved to enjoy the fruits. I bet your children would say the same to you.
Beautiful day here with just Simpson type clouds breaking the sunshine. Caught up with pressure washing the patio at the rear. Can only do about 2 hours at a time before tiredness kicks in. Half done.
Got a message late Friday to have more bloods taken. Tony Hancock really would have something to complain about.
If you understood that you really are getting on.For me the biggest improvement in NHS would be to scrap the trusts so everyone in the UK had the same chance of getting treatment. No Postcode Lottery! Then get the care service sorted out plus make people see their GPs first without thinking of bypassing them to go straight to A&E.
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We are due off On a10 day break in a couple of weeks we couldn’t decide where to go but now settled on County Durham so booked a site there this morning looking forward to it as it’s an area we have been to but not really stayed too long.
Francis, you're either there or about to go. I was looking through a diary that I kept and came across our last visit to County Durham. I made a note of a few places that weren't open then, one of them being renovated. You seem like the sort of person that might enjoy working engines and pumps etc so here's a couple of websites that might interest you. I'm not sure whether opening days for them would fit in with your plans but there's always next time:
https://www.teescottage.co.uk/visit-us
https://www.head-of-steam.co.uk
Hope you enjoy yourselves.
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But I disagree with that outburst from Ttda about the NHS failing. Not here it isn’t
Within this one family in the two years one has had urgent treatment for a malignant melanoma which could have been a killer, and has had regular very thorough follow up checks. A 25 year old was rushed to intensive care for sudden onset diabetes,. two older ones have been cared for after strokes, and two cataract operations were done promptly without fuss, My daughter had life saving neuro surgery at midnight for a bleed in her spinal column. my wife had pulmonary embolism sorted out after an in patient stay and the NHS has just given me hearing aids valued at £1200.
Those who moan and complain should stop.
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This is a good read for anyone interested
https://assets.kingsfund.org.uk/f/256914/x/0ab966500b/rise_decline_nhs_england_2000-20_2023.pdf
coincidentally, there’s an article on the Guardian website about how many people are now having private healthcare carried out. I can fully understand why people consider private when in a lot of pain, life on hold. But not everyone can sadly.
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