Fingers crossed, she is only 2 or 3.. Sweet dreams yogi I think it's hilarious how saint has changed his avi

Good morning everyone

 

Cold here in Gloucester with fog and frost on the cars - I think there's blue sky above.

 

Good morning everyone, very cold here too but I think it's due to turn milder in the week.  Good news as I am being firm with what heating I use.  With the prices going up so much I am determined not to end up paying more than I have to to the bloomin energy companies.

 

Sounds like Keira and Harvey had a good day and it's nice to see her getting back to normal. 

 

I like Johnny Ball so much that I would like him to stay in a bit longer but I thought Michael Vaughan was hilariously bad and the guy from Westlife is just rubbish so far.  Not to mention Jerry Hall who seemed stuck to Anton like a burr to a blanket

Good morning everyone. Damp and dismal weather today, no frost up here, El..

Squiggle, your comment re Jerry Hall made me lol. I agree with you about the cricketer, he was really bad.

Summer, I've just seen Saint's new avi!

Good afternoon I'm using my new iPhone! it's very light, and slimmer, I like it I did panic a little after I'd activated my news in card, the old one deactivated and then the new phone wouldn't connect to iTunes a simple iTunes update was needed and then the restoration of my phone was able to process.. All the while I was tense in case it didn't work and I'd be left without a phone. I was very relieved when it all worked I understood the paragraph from yesterday quite easily El I hope you're enjoying your relaxing weekend and your cookies I've never tried them but I might just do so now. I absolutely love their bran & seed muffins! Good to see skylark back how is granddaughter now? Squiggle, I hope you're enjoying your weekend too, I think we have similar opinions on the current strictly cast I wonder if darloboy will return with his spoiler threads?! Yogi I'm pleased you're laundry dragon wasn't huge I've been doing a few loads myself today, I actually like laundry lol

I have a question that I hope our El-cyclopedia might be able to answer; Why do pine cones open & close with the warm/wet weather?

A Google search gives this as the answer :

"There are actually male and female pine cones," said Betsy Read, a biology professor at Cal State San Marcos. "The female pine cone is the one we are most familiar with that opens and closes. The opening and closing of the cone is part of the life cycle of the pine."

The male pine cone, which is small and bumpy, produces pollen. Wind-blown pollen falls on a female pine cone on either the same tree or another tree. Over the course of a few years, seeds develop under the scales of the female cone. The female pine cone opens when the seeds are mature and the conditions are right.

"The reason why the pine cones open when it's warm and dry is because that's a more favorable condition for the seed dispersal and germination," Read said.

Wet and cold weather would prevent the seeds, which are often winged, from spreading far enough from the tree to find a place to grow. Seedlings also wouldn't last long in winter rain or snow.

After a pine cone falls from the tree, it can still open and close. The scales open when dry because their outer halves shrink more than their inner halves, and they pull away from the cone. When wet, the scales swell shut.

Thank you El I didn't know they had male & females! It seems I have been collecting the female cones then... I had noticed they vary in colour & shape, depending on what kind of tree they grow on

I have conifers in my garden which shed cones, I will have to look at them with fresh eyes, do I have boy cones or girl cones - what a confusing place this world is, curiouser and curiouser all the time

Lol I hope it's both squiggle I'll be adding some to my this year Lordy, I know Downton is a drama, but it really was dramatic tonight!

Good morning everyone

 

It's been raining here though stopped now. Looks like it will be a mainly cloudy day and more rain later on.

We had a massive shower earlier but I have managed to dodge 'em so far I've been down to the village shop for bread, emptied the rain water into the pond and had my brekkie.  Such a glamorous life I lead

 

Hope everyone manages to dodge the showers - they were talking about Christmas preparations in the shop this morning Summer, was it too early or not, someone had done all their Christmas shopping already.

Good morning everyone. Frosty with sunshine this morning. Summer, I have a couple of episodes of Downton to catch up on - I'll save them until I'm doing the ironing as they will help to relieve the boredom.

Morning the radio keeps saying its showery & cold here this morning but its sunny and rather mild lol Ooh squiggle, I think it's too early to put the tree up but definitely not too early to start buying gifts etc I actually haven't bought any yet, I'd better get cracking! I like to have mine wrapped & ready to go by the 1st December. Same with cards- I should start buying stamps too.. Did the conversation make you feel festive?! I had to fight the urge to put Xmas songs on last night Yogi, I really think you should do your ironing as soon as possible it's very important so it erm.. Doesn't crease etc etc

I already have one gift ready to wrap Summer   I was given a really beautiful glass decorated frame years ago and it takes 5 x 7 but I wasn't sure what to use it for because the pictures I have are usually bigger.  Then I was talking to a dear Christian friend a while ago about the phrase Let Go and Let God and we both liked it so much to keep us going through trying times - she is in a lot of pain at the moment.  So I went online and found a lovely image of it, I printed it up on glossy photo paper at 5 x 7 and popped it into the frame.  It looks beautiful and I am very pleased with it.  I am sourcing a beautiful gift bag to pop it into as well.  The frame is so pretty and very heavy - with a sort of art deco flower alongside the photo image.

That's a really thoughtful gift Squiggle I think your friend will love it

Squiggle, that's a lovely thought

 

In my post today was a letter from our friends HMRC (the Inland Revenue). They are looking into the the tax affairs of someone claiming they haven't declared a source of employment income.

 

This is someone who I have had no contact with for 4 years and presumably has filed their own tax returns since or another agent has. So I rang HMRC to tell them this and am sending a letter to the person along with a copy of the HMRC letter.

 

Obviously if the person wants my assistance I would help but would charge them at a premium rate which I think is reasonable of me.

 

I doubt if the person has deliberately omitted the income as they have had other employments in the same year and this is not the main one (I'm still shown as the agent and can look at the return on the HMRC website).

Tonight is the 25th anniversary of the Great Storm of 1987. I was due to attend a course in London on Friday the 16th so had travelled by train on Thursday 15th as otherwise I would have had to get up very early. I can't say I noticed anything particularly exceptional that evening or overnight. I went to the course in the morning in time for the 9 am start and I then heard what had happened as many of the people who who intending to be there either never turned up or drifted in during the course of the morning.

 

The major part of the storm affected the South East but did anyone else here remember being involved?

I do hope your ex customer has not landed himself in any trouble with HMRC EL.

 

As for the storm my husband was out delivering mail along with the whole of the sorting office in Ilford.  They had some horrendous near misses with a huge plate glass shop front blowing out right in front of my husband and metal street signs flying about. They got all the mail out though, I thought they deserved a medal.  A young friend working in the tea bar of BHS served a very thin slight lady who had almost been blown up into the air, I don't know whether she had tried to use an umbrella but she was in shock obviously.  We went over to Sevenoaks which was famous for having lost most of its famous oaks and the devastation of there was incredible.

Squiggle, my ex-client probably won't be in trouble with HMRC provided they deal promptly and truthfully with the letter. They may have to pay some interest as the payment of the tax would be late, but there's no indication in the letter I received that HMRC are looking for penalties. The tax return is for the year to 5 April 2011 which was due by 31 January 2012.

 

People who subsequently realise they have made a mistake can amend their tax return for that year themselves provided they do it by 31 January 2013 though they would have to pay some interest.

 

It must have been a seriously scary time for your husband and the others delievering the mail. I agree they deserved medals.

 

My mother told us many years ago about being told of a woman who had been walking along in extremely windy conditions which were so powerful that she was blown away into dust never to be seen again. Whether that is a true story though is somewhat questionable.

Squiggle, what a lovely gift, I'm sure your friend will love it Summer, the ironing is done and I watched Downton. Won't say any more as I don't want to spoil it for Squiggle and Skylark, in case they have yet to watch it. El, I remember the fallout after Michael Fish wrongly said there would not be a hurricane, but not much else. Managed to give the front lawn what I hope is the final cut of the year.*fingers crossed* Goodnight all, see you tomorrow

Good morning everyone

 

Rain overnight but dry now.  Forecast is for quite a windy day (but not like 25 years ago).

 

There have been some changes to the forum overnight with a couple of new features so I'll try to work out some details for everyone.

 

Good morning everyone. Weather is wet and cold this morning. I'll have a look round and see if I can spot the changes, El

Have a look at the top of the threads list and you will see that I've now posted some details.

ThanksEl The changes are not apparent on the iPad app, so your thread was very helpful

Yogi, I've just posted a little congrats on your wall

morning A wet & dull start here I'm on the iPhone app so can't see any changes- I will check out your thread though El are there any new smileys?! I fell asleep on the sofa last night, really early, which is why I didn't get back on the forum I feel good for it though, I must have needed it How is everyone this morning? Yogi I'm pleased you watched Downton! I'll keep any opinions to the Downton thread, I too wouldn't want to spoil anything for squiggle & skylark

No new smileys to report

Good morning everyone, very breezy here.  I feel like a little miser with my carefully stored episodes of Downton , then I can look forward to watching an episode a day.  Thank you for being so thoughtful about spoilers, it never spoils it for me but it might for Skylark.

 

Off for my flu jab soon - oh joy!

Squiggle, I hope the flu jab goes OK and there are no side effects

Thank you for congratulating me on my first wall posting.

Hope the flu jab goes okay, Squiggle. I need to make an appointment to get mine done, too.

I hope you feel better after your early night, Summer.

Hi all, not been around, been busy with the family. 
I dont know about this wall thing, i shall have a read up, back in a bit x 


Ah yes i see !
Hope all goes well with the flu jag squiggle x
I watched Downton on Sunday Summer, i was both  and  

Will try to be back later, son is off so will want the comp.  

Welcome back, Skylark.

 

This morning I had a phone call from someone trying to sell me an advertising slot in a new doctors surgery booklet.

This morning I had a phone call from someone trying to sell me an advertising slot in a local Indian restaurant's menu.

This afternoon I had a phone call from someone trying to sell me an advertising slot in the Gloucester Rugby Club's members handbook.

 

Me thinks my name has gone onto a database going around the country to agencies trying to sell advertising. I do sometimes get phone calls of this nature but I've never experienced this level before. I don't do any of this nature of advertising as I doubt if I would get any clients as a result. For my line of work, people make a decision they need an accountant and so look for one. They aren't likely to think of looking in any of the things I mentioned to find an accountant. They will ask someone or Google search or use Yell.

 

Sounds like you are in great demand, El.

Seriously though, these unsolicited marketing calls drive me round the twist.

And I've now had the 4th advertising call.

 

Are you registered with TPS, El? It doesn't filter out all the marketing calls but it does cut down the amount you receive. Or would TPS not be suitable for you because you are self-employed?

Yogi, I am registered with TPS but I don't think it would cover the marketing marketing calls I've been getting today as they are targeted at me as a business rather than personally. At least it's been quiet for the last half hour meaning I can get on with some work.

 

Hope you are not getting many phone calls El, how annoying. 

Was at the local shops earlier and Summer, you would love the new shop just opened up. Its called The Card Factory and its full of Christmas cards, novelty Christmas things etc. Its also incredibly cheap , i could hardly believe the low price of the things they have. 

Very cold here, got the heating on bbrrrrrr