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Showing posts with label chitter chatter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chitter chatter. Show all posts

Saturday, May 27, 2017

Saturday summary

Hello. We've had a couple of downpours today, not as much as those down south though. I was outside painting the garage doors, and had to hurriedly retreat indoors as the heavens opened. The job might get finished in a few days, I have a short attention span so I am doing it a bit at a time. Pity I haven't got enough of the same colour paint to do the whole lot, never mind, no one else will have doors like mine. 
The car was loaded up this morning, cat litter is flippin heavy, my poor springs. The Focus Estate is a good workhorse. A local cat litter factory has a clear out every so often and offers the cat rescues round here the old stock which they can't sell for one reason or another. Some of it is contaminated, a mixture of two or more different varieties, this happens when the packing machines change over from one to the other. Some of it is old stock which the customer no longer requires. Before they dump it in landfill they tell us to come and collect what we want. The men this morning were very helpful, getting it out with the forklift truck and helping us load it into the cars. It's good of them to offer it to the rescues first before it gets chucked, saves us a lot of money. 
I went to town this afternoon, needed to stock up on nuts and seeds for my breakfast cereals. Aldi for the nuts, Holland and Barrett for the seeds. While I was there I had a look at the new exhibition in the Arts Centre. Some amazing Lego models, I'll post some pictures soon.

I have decided to get rid of my motorcycle gear, I'm never going to ride a bike again so not much point in hanging on to them. I have a leather jacket and trousers, boots, helmet, and full waterproof suit. There's a couple of bike shops and a training centre on the way to town that might be able to make use of them, but they were closed today so I'll have to go back another time.

I am beginning to feel a bit out of touch with the pop world, it's all moved on since I was a teenager screaming at the Beatles. There is a big outdoor Radio1 pop concert on over the border in Yorkshire this weekend, and I've never heard of any of the performers. I hadn't heard of Ariana until this week. I have no idea who these up and coming young stars are.

Soon the pop festivals start, and I have to admit I have never been to one. The only festival I have been to is a truck festival. I can't see the point in being trapped in a crowd peering at some dots leaping about on a stage. You can look at the big screen but you might as well watch it at home in the comfort of your arm chair. Nope, I don't fancy that at all. Years ago I did see The Rolling Stones at Stafford, I was lucky enough to be at the front, and The Kinks and The Honeycombs at our local  dance hall, quite a small venue. Years later I saw Meatloaf at the NEC and Cher at Sheffield. That's about it, never been to a pop festival.

The sky looks very angry, looks like another storm is brewing. The cats are in and I am going to watch something on yooootoooob, so I'll sign off. Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip

Thursday, January 26, 2017

Works both ways

Hello. It's chuffin cold outside, freezing cold in fact. I went out to do my walk and came straight back in to change into a thicker, heavier jacket with a hood. Three miles and one hour later and I was back. It would have been 50 minutes later, but I stopped to talk to Ken and Jade dog. She was a bit mucky on her back, I expect she is happy now that she can roll about and run free in the fields. 
This was last night's dinner, and I had exactly the same for today's lunch. Piping hot Quorn and vegetable mild curry, very tasty. Another portion left for dinner later. The fridge is bare, not much left in the freezer, and only a few tins and packets. I have to go to town tomorrow so I will pick up some more supplies while I am there. 
Have you noticed that this time of the year is like being in a void. The space between New Year and Easter is a bit of a no mans land. It's all a bit dead and flat. I feel like something ought to be happening, but not sure what. I keep busy, but it's getting a bit samey. I need a project.

It seems I am mentioned in a newspaper article in The Times today, about frugal living. I can just about make out the text on my Twitter feed, it's a mishmash of what's already been in print in various other newspapers. I don't tweet very much, mainly follow people I am interested in. Mainly people I have met, or who I would like to meet.

I was just thinking the other day, that I have never been on a protest march. I can't think of a cause that I feel so strongly about that would tempt me to join in. I have never liked being in a big crowd of people, and have only been to a couple of big star concerts. Cher at Sheffield was good, and Meatloaf at Birmingham was good.

Thinking back to how I was treated as a lorry driver in the 70's and 80's, I felt the best way I would survive was to knuckle down and quietly get on with my job. I always felt I was equal to men, I just happened to be in a different body. Times were tough, the men didn't want me there, but I stuck it out because I felt no matter what I looked like, I was equal to them.

People often asked me what it was like to do a mans job. My answer was always the same, it isn't a mans job, it's anybodies job. Other drivers would ask me, what does your husband think of you driving a lorry? My reply, what does your wife think of you driving a lorry? Years later they eventually got it, and the questions stopped.

Life is unfair for everyone at one time or another. I remember going to London to appear on a chat show on TV. It was a live discussion on a new course offered by Shell, the oil people, to train women to drive trucks and get their licence. I felt this was positive discrimination and unfair. If they were offering free courses for women, they should offer the same amount of free courses to men. In my eyes, equality works both ways.

Anyway, I'd better wrap this up. I need to get off this computer and do something else.

Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip

Saturday, January 21, 2017

Homebird

Hello. What a change in the weather again, no two days the same. Damp and drizzly and overcast. I did the Jade dog walk this morning, and was glad to get back into my comfortable house. After lunch I finished off the six bags I started the other day. The fabric is not bright and jazzy, but when I saw it at the Scrapstore I thought that will do nicely for bags. 
I was thinking the other day that I haven't been out in the evening for ages, except for the WI talk I did the other night. Can't remember the last time I got my glad rags on and painted the town red. I think town centres are to be avoided at night, they seem to be geared up for boozy youngsters partying. I am too old for that sort of thing. My social life is virtually nil.
I shall be going out next Saturday night however, been invited to a birthday party at a pub in the next village. My good friend Helen is celebrating her 50th, it will make a nice change. I won't be stopping long though, about an hour will be fine. There is a band and as you know I can't cope with noise, I also won't drink, have to drive home. 
Nope, not much socializing happening here at the moment. My nights are spent in my comfortable living room, on my super comfortable second hand sofa, the whole suite cost me all of £50 from my friend who emigrated. A brilliant buy. Reading a book, listening to the radio, or watching something on yooootoooob, just me and my kitties. Trouble is, I put my feet up, and it doesn't take long for me to drop off to sleep. Reading always makes me drowsy. 
Bugsy has a choice of dinner as usual. Now what shall I eat first, Felix or Gourmet Gold. A quick lick of both and he goes for the milk. It's a good job he has, I've ground the tablet to a powder and mixed it in. I started by giving him the tablet whole but it was so stressful for both of us, it's easier to dissolve it in a drink. You should have seen him earlier on today, he scoffed every bit of his food. I reckon I will come downstairs in the morning and most of this will be gone. Only two more tablets left for tomorrow, then we'll see how he goes on after his medication has finished.

Right, time for relaxing on the sofa. Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon
Toodle pip.

Monday, January 2, 2017

Eight years old today.

Well hello, how are you, welcome, come on in. We have a little celebration going on, the 2nd of January is the anniversary of the very first blog post, eight years ago, so Happy Birthday blog. 
After an operation when I was 59 I had 12 weeks off to recover, and when I was ready to go back to work, they announced they were closing the depot. I didn't have a job to go back to. And so I became unemployed. I didn't have much money because I had been reducing my hours at work, which reduced my pay. I had also been living on a pittance, my JSA had been reduced because I was receiving a little bit of insurance money. Those were hard times, but some of it was of my making because I scaled back the driving. It was just unfortunate that I had to take sick leave for a while. 
So this blog was started in the January, and I survived on little money until my 60th birthday in May. It was a big sigh of relief when my pension kicked in. Things are much improved now, my thriftyness and penny pinching has helped me to pay off my mortgage, change my car twice, and have holidays and days out. Now I am ticking over nicely living within my means, and happy with my lot.  
I think I have had all the mileage updates for the 2016 walking challenge. Counting up, 21 people have passed the 1000 mile mark. I think that's bloomin great, you should all be proud of yourselves. Some of you have come very close to it, also a great achievement, and a lot of you have done so well by sticking with it. As I always say, having a go and doing what you can, is better than sitting on your bum and doing nothing. So well done everyone. 
The challenge was not a competition, not a race, but I've picked out two names at random for a prize. So step forward Helen D and Vicki. Big cheer. Send me your addresses and I'll send you a little surprise in the post. 
Up to now there are 50 names on the list for 2017. Wouldn't it be good if we could get half of them to the 1000 mile mark. It would be chuffin great. 25 people fitter than when they started at the beginning. I know December is a long way off, but as you can see, it is achievable Good luck everyone. 
Right, what's next. My lunch yesterday. Not much food left in the fridge. A spud in the microwave, grated cheese, a tomato, and sliced beetroot. A nice simple cheap meal. 
 The other day I made this, enough for two days of lunch and dinner. Two smallish onions chopped, handful of Quorn pieces, carrots, Brussels Sprouts, frozen broad beans, sweetcorn, and frozen cranberries. Start it off with a slug of oil, add water and splash of fruit juice. Curry powder, turmeric, vegetable granules, coriander, Danish blue cheese, and cream cheese. Simmer till veg is soft, add water if needed.

I cooked plenty of wholemeal pasta, enough for three meals, and the fourth portion was a topping on a microwaved spud. I didn't bother freezing it, kept it in the fridge, and microwaved it before eating. My goodness it was ever so tasty. I will need to go shopping at some point this week, seems like ages since I last went to the shops. Not much left in the fridge.

Find the cat. Heidi has a new hidey hole, ha ha. Isn't it funny, just when you think they have found the ideal place, they move on to somewhere else.

That's it, all blogged out, nowt else left to say. Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip

Thursday, December 22, 2016

An ordinary day in the life of me

Hello. I've been doing a bit of running around today, not literally running, but doing jobs that had to be done. The car needed an MOT test, so I booked it online last night with Halfords Autocentre, and delivered it at 9am this morning. Their place is close to town so I came home on the bus and left it there because they were busy. Halfords is the cheapest place I have found at £30.

Next was a dog walk, I'll have to take a picture of Jade. She is easy to walk, though I think she is a bit confused that we don't walk the same route that Ken walks her. He lets her off the lead to run through fields, that's ok because he has been walking her for over a year, but I will be keeping her on the lead. We will be walking around the village on tarmac. I don't want to be paddling through mud.

Back home for lunch, a big salad, and some sewing to pass the time while I wait for the car to be done. I rang them at 3pm and they said, yes, its' ready, so I caught the 3.30 bus back to town. I don't normally go to the bus station, no need to, but I was disappointed that it looked so scruffy. Literally rubbish everywhere. Visitors must think we are a mucky lot. The bus driver put his foot down a bit, seemed to drive ever so fast. Or maybe my driving is getting slower so I notice it more.

I then had to go to the vet's to pickup some tablets for Heidi, it's at the other end of town. Traffic was busy  so I diverted around the queue's and went through some country lanes, and now the car is all dirty again.

Dinner tonight was a pile of steamed vegetables, drizzled with toasted sesame seed oil. Someone said they like seeing pictures of my meals, but the steamed vegetables look much the same. I had brocolli, potatoes, carrots, fine french beans, and mangetout peas. Did you know that Aldi's super six this week are only 19p. I believe all the supermarkets have cheap veg, now is the time to buy plenty. Skip the meat, just have the veg.

This is my latest work in progress. Lots of hand stitching. It's not a big picture, this is the sea. Above it will be the sand, then the sky at the top. The darker blue is the nearest shade to the real thing, difficult to get the true colours when using flash.


Right, I'll get off, evenings are taken up with mostly cat cuddles, they all want my attention. Bugsy has been a bit picky with his food, but if I prod it around in his bowl he will eat some. He wants to eat, but grumbles about what I serve up. Sometimes his head is in the bowl as I am emptying a pouch into it.

Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip

Saturday, April 23, 2016

Let's have a catch up

Hello and Good Morning. Let's have a catch up. I feel as if I have been away, though I am still here. Some of my posts are chatty every day stuff, like a diary, but every so often I feel the need to write an article about something that is bugging me. I don't want my blog to turn into another magazine full of articles, and I don't want it to be full of banal chit chat, so you get a bit of everything. Today we'll catch up, it's the weekend, so chill. 
There's been a lot going on in the media this week, it was such a shock to hear of Victoria Wood's passing, I don't think anyone saw that coming. Wasn't she just brilliant and talented. I am pleased that her family managed to keep it all out of the press until the last minute. I hate it when news breaks of someone's terminal illness and the press picks it all to bits even before the person has gone. For goodness sake, someone is ill, we don't need pictures of them slipping slowly into oblivion, let's have some respect for the families. Rant over.
The pictures of the Royal Family were lovely, I like that we have a Royal Family and not a President. I have every respect for the Queen, she stepped into her role at a young age, and has given her whole life to her family and her duties. A late Happy Birthday your Majesty. 
The pictures of Catherine and William in India were charming. Her dresses were fabulous, and they  both looked happy despite the endless photocalls. They cope with this intrusion very well. As usual there has been a lot of trolls at large slagging them off in the press, I hope they don't read the venomous bile spouted forth in their direction. I don't care how much money they have, or how much they cost the country. They give great value for money bringing in millions of tourists from all over the world. Who would step into their shoes and give their life to their jobs? I certainly wouldn't, I value my freedom.  
Look what I invented. I have two watering cans, found in a skip, (house clearance), but they had no sprinklers on them. I need to sprinkle water onto my flower beds, so I found two small plastic bottles that fit the spouts exactly. 
Cut some small holes in the bottom and bingo, sprinklers. Works a treat.


My breakfast this morning. Bran Flakes, nuts, dried fruits, and seeds. Strawberries on a yellow sticker which I found yesterday after calling in at the small Tesco on my way back from the council dump. Grapes I bought a week ago from the big Tesco, also yellow sticker, still fine. Value soya milk and a couple of spoons of Value yogurt. Deeelishus.

I was in Home Bargains the other day, stocking up on pet food, when I was asked by a young girl if she had seen me on the television. Oooh, I was spotted, ha ha. I think it was the pink sun visor which gave it away. She saw me on the Jo Brand documentary. I had a  lovely chat with her, she doesn't walk a lot, but she loves drumming.

Talking of television, reader John has alerted me to the fact that Rip off Britain starts a new series on Monday, this is the programme I did the filming for in December. Seems such a long time ago now. The programme goes out each weekday on BBC 1 at around 9am, repeated the following morning early, over eight days. I have had a look through the Radio Times schedule. It doesn't give much information for forthcoming programmes but it does say they are investigating sell by dates on Tuesday the 3rd of May. So I think that might be the one. I will keep a look out for anything in the TV magazines leading up to that date. If anyone sees anything, can they please let us know so we can all watch.

It's looking like another nice day, so I'm going to get off this computer and do something else. Thanks for popping in, I hope your weekend is good. We'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip

Monday, February 22, 2016

Gifts in the post

Hello. I'm back, feeling refreshed after my day off. Glad you liked the comedy clip, where would we be without a titter now and again. I had a lovely surprise today, the postman brought me not one, but two parcels. Ooooh, just like Christmas. Inside I found a selection of haberdashery and crafting type goodies. Fabric, beads, and suchlike. Thank you so much to the two kind readers who sent them. I am dead chuffed. 
I went to Crafty Club this morning, numbers were a bit low but we had a good old chinwag. I took a new project I am working on. It's going to be a picture, not sure how it will develop. It's 11 inches by 14 inches, so not very big. There's going to be some trees in it, all hand stitched.

I've been trying to make a video this afternoon, but made a right pigs ear out of it. It's not easy with only one pair of hands. I realized why it wasn't working so I'll have another go tomorrow.

A phone interview was booked to take place yesterday with ABC Radio Australia, but they didn't ring me. I had an email today from them, it was an important piece of news which threw everything out of kilter, so my piece was put on hold. They will contact me with a new date. I am expecting a phone call tonight just after 10pm from BBC Radio Ulster, must remember to stay awake, ha ha.

I'm taking little Poppy dog a walk tomorrow, her mummy has an appointment at the hospital. I still haven't bought a new phone yet, that's the next job to do. Our new pop up Post Office doesn't do car tax, so I'll make a trip to the next village and visit their Post Office. If I time it to go at 4.45pm then I can pop in the little Tesco and the Co op, and check for any reductions. Please don't tell me to do it online, I don't do anything financial on the computer, I would rather pay cash over the counter.

I think I'll catch up with The Midwives now, or should I do three miles next, or maybe I should close my eyes for half an hour so I'm refreshed for the phone call later. Perhaps leave The Midwives for another day, do the walk, then close my eyes for a rest. Yes, that's a better plan.

Thanks for popping in. Catch up soon. Toodle pip
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