both xx

Emptybox

sounds like the mild weather didn't last long then. It was real frosty here too this morning.

A nice portion of your hot stew is just what you needed then.

Gosh your Sainsburys are taking them time doing their Argos bit.

That is good you have the temporary cleaning reprieve. No point in doing any at all now till he comes.

Addaprin...now that is a funny name. And "acet"  too.

Thanks for the tax info, yes of course the tax year doesn't finish till April. The tax office wasted no time sending a form asking for details of who is dealing with mum's estate. Am glad to hear the tax amount is taken off investments before payout as I can't stand dealing with tax office!

Hicky

glad you had a nice day so was able to get a few jobs done in the garden.

I am sure you will enjoy your salted cod when you get round to eating it.

Gosh can't believe they actually sold you those train tickets. Shocking that is! When i checked your journey when you were on your way back, it showed on the national rail site that train wasn't running. I seem to remember a picture of a bus for part of the journey. Obviously meaning passengers have to use the road, but on a bus too that didn't exist! 

Keep an eye open for those free food samples if you are going to Costco. We went earliesh one morning, and they offerred free coffe/tea, and a nice piece of choccy oatcake.

We too get amazon deliveries on a Sunday. Maybe the less populated areas don't get them?

Fed up trying to sort mum's paperwork out...I rang the electric and they don't agree with the meter reading. So had to go back to the block of flats, took us ages to work out, but there were 2 different types of readings, damn nuisance.

So now I have to ring them again...

I phoned about mum's life insurance, all these damn phone calls, press this and that, then our operators are busy, then answer all these quuestions, then we will send you another form!

But as I said I may as well be doing something whilst I wait for the executor to be sorted, rather than wait to pass it on to the solicitor.

I rang about our electric, they left me hanging on, then cut me off!

Took dog a walk down seafront it was nice and sunny, but a cool breeze.

Undertaker says mum's ashes are ready to collect, but can't face getting them yet. I might wait till the carers can come with me.

Sausage, mash, carrtots, peas for tea, Linday Mcartney veggie ones for me, daugther isn't a veggie so she had ordinary ones but likes my veggie ones too, so had one of them. The veggie ones are real tasty she said.

Watching Trauma tonight. Cant' decide if I like it or not, a bit far fetched I think.

Goodnight both xxx

Evening both.
Not too bad day here. Some sunshine but very cold.

Hicky. Your brekkie sounds good, as does those Lemon Shortbread Thins.
Hope you enjoy your salted cod.
That's good that you could get on in the garden anyway. I thought of doing something, but I'll wait till the snow is away I think.
Yes it's ironic that you can travel all round the world without hassle, but the system in your own country lets you down.

You must be one of Amazon's best customers?
I used to get deliveries on a Sunday, but my last few things from Amazon have all come with the postie, and of course he doesn't come on a Sunday. Even though I've got Amazon Prime, so am supposed to get next day delivery, the last few deliveries have all taken 2 or 3 days to come.
I think they must be reeling back on the next day stuff for rural areas to save cost.

Mollie. Don't take my word on the tax thing. It might just be that you'll have a tax return to fill in for your Mum, depending on the complexity of her affairs. With us the solicitor dealt with all that again. I think he came to some arrangement with HMRC that a tax return wasn't needed, as all the tax stuff was straightforward.
Just make sure you're not doing all the work, and then having to pay the solicitor for doing very little.

Yes it's a great nuisance having to deal with all this phoning and form filling at a time you want to be grieving.
I remember picking up my Dad's ashes from the undertaker in my work van, and telling the undertaker that I didn't think my Dad would object to riding in it one last time.
We buried them in the garden in the same place my Mum's ashes had been buried 6 years previously. Under a rose bush.

I've tried Linda McCartney veggie sausages before. They are very tasty, but taste more like stuffing than actual meat. I like to have vegetarian stuff every now and again though.

I swithered over whether to watch that 'Trauma' thing, but in the end plumped for 'Collateral', the police thing on BBC2 with Carey Mulligan. It was very good; looking forward to the next episode. :cool;

Evening Both.

Didn't notice at first that the page has changed, didn't see any new posts so checked the page numbers, it's not made very obvious is it.

Not a nice day here, 5c max, light rain, sun maybe later, winds of 20 dropping to 10 tonight, the only good news it seems is that over the next 10 days it#s slowly gets warmer.

Stayed in today as nothing is that important outside, had bacon and black pudding on toast for brekkie and made a crab sandwich midday, just had a container of Tomato rice from the freezer, added a couple more tomatoes and a chopped up chilli, got too much stuff in freezer so got to make some room.

Ordered some more stuff, dried coriander leaf, a spice pack of Fenugreek, curry leaves and chillies, also 6 sachets of natural yoghurt, dried mint leaves, Biryani mix, Biryani Masala and coriander leaves

Mollie, I'm so excited having the salt cod that i want to keep it a bit longer before i start on it, i think i will get 4 meals out of it with it being 500 gm.

Whether Amazon deliver on a Sunday depends from whom the item is being bought from, Amazon only hold so many items and millions are delivered direct from the supplier which means that they dispatch the item themselves, only if it from the Amazon store can they deliver and the contract drivers work so many days a week and they probably volunteer to work Sunday.

Sorting your mums paperwork sure sounds a nightmare, you can only do your best, it's going to take some time.

Emptybox, we only had a few mm of snow some time ago, it lasted a few hours, we seldom get any here with it being so close to the sea, on 3 sides.

Can't remember if i told you about the first pack of salt cod i ordered from Amazon, they said they couldn't deliver to my address, i notified the seller so they were aware of the problem, no idea why that was, i picked the one i got from another buyer, the company from which Amazon wouldn't deliver said i could order direct from them, but as i had all ready got some it will have to wait.

I did have Amazon Prime once but so many deliveries don't fall in the right category and it was a waste of money.

Hi Hicky.
Very cold here today, only a couple of degrees above zero.
Went to the dentist this morning, and it was snowing quite heavily on my way there. It had turned to rain for my journey home, so I suppose that was an improvement?

Didn't need anything done. While I was in the chair being worked on by the hygenist, all the power went out. Turned out there was a plumber working in the building, and he'd done something to trip a fuse. They got it sorted in about 5 minutes, but I just had to sit in the chair waiting.

Seems you had some nice meals anyway, even if you couldn't get out.
Sounds like you've got some curry making planned, with that list of things you've ordered?
I've never tried salt cod. It doesn't sound all that appealing to me.

That was strange that Amazon (or the Amazon seller?) said they couldn't deliver to your address? Is that cos they couldn't find it? Or do they just refuse to deliver to the Wirral?
I have Amazon Prime mainly for my Amazon TV box, and for listening to Prime Music sometimes. The free delivery is just a bonus for me.

Think I'll watch 'Shetland' tonight.

both xxx

Emptybox

oh my goodness fancy the power going whilst you were in the dentist chair! But good job it wasn't for too long and that you didn't need too much done.

Thanks for the hint re the tax and the solicitor, you are right, think i will leave him to deal with HMRC. I will just do the more straightforward stuff like sending out the death certifciate to finance places. Trouble is it just doesn't seem to end up being straight forward though!

I put in for mum's deposit to be returned as the landlady agreed to repay it all as we left the flat in A1 condition, but the bank refused it as the account was frozen. But they told me I need to request a cheque now, and dps say I need a form to fill in for this! But they said they had not had it credited it back yet so won't send the form out. Now I can see why it takes some solicitors a while to sort this. And her private pension want a death certificate but say I need to ring the bank to check they have not returned the pension payment they paid in! Another thing I could leave to the solicitor, but as exectuor still not sorted, I may as well do it to save time. Soicitor is chasing executor up Thursday if the solicitor named in the will hasn't renounced by then. 

That's nice you buried both your parents ashes in the garden under the rose bush. We decided we'd make a heart shape in the sand by where mum used to love to go for icec cream, then wait for the tide to come in and wash them away.

Maybe I should of watched Collateral? Trauma was not that good.

HIcky

nice and sunny here too but the wind was very cold.

That is good if you can get 4 meals out of your salt fish, I know how you enjoy it. That sounds odd how they couldn't deliver your first delivery of it.

We have amazon prime now, but only because son has the free student one for 6 months. I noticed the smaller things do come with the postie, so maybe Emptybox has not been getting Sunday deliveries as he has only had items small enough to come with the postie?

Me and daughter had coffee and cake in Dunelm today, we love their cakes, our fave is the pineapple one, with a nice slice of pineapple on it.

Went to pick up some posh saucepans from an auction OH found. There was a lot of stuff from costco, these pans had been slightly used, so think they must of used them to demonstrate, as we have seen the same ones in Costco. You could see they had hardly been used.

Goodnight both xxx

Morning Mollie.
Snowing here today. Only light so far.

Sounds very complicated with the deposit for your Mum's flat. Can the landlady not just pay it out to you, rather than your Mum's bank account (which as you say, will now be frozen). Or does it still come down to you not being an executor? If you are going to deal with this stuff yourself you might have to open a special bank account to collect the money into.
Yes, the executor situation really needs to be sorted out soon, or everything will grind to a halt.

That sounds a lovely idea, to make a heart in the sand, and let the waves take her ashes away.
You'll have to time it right with the tide though.

Glad you enjoyed your pineapple cakes (don't think I've tried that).
That's good if you got a bargain on a set of usually expensive pans.

Evening Both.

Not nice here today, rain for most of it, coldish at 3 to 7c winds of 20 to 40, gales of 40+ tomorrow as well, didn't bother with the garden.

O/H decide we could go for brekkie, we were going to go to Costco as well but after she visited the loo in the garden centre she changed her mind so will go another day.

For tea i heated some food that was over from the meal last night, added some chopped up lamb that was left from Sunday, added a chopped up chilli as well.

My centre punch set got delivered, and oh dear, i realise now that when i ordered a jar of ginger & garlic paste on Amazon it was a double, with each jar being 1kg, i have taken 1 jar out to my manshed so o/h doesn't see it, and with the other when i open it will have to freeze the contents, have seen a video on how to do it by creating small heaps with a spoon and when they freeze put into a bag.

Am going to see o/h if i can order a chest freezer as it's impossible to carry on with this vertical shelving type, i can't do what i used to do with my old chest freezer.

Mollie. I have divided the saltfish piece into 3 as they looked a bit small at 4, have put a piece in water and o/h doesn't want any.

Watched a video from Grandpa of him making Chicken Fried Rice, wow, incredible what he does with a few pans a knife and a little help, i wrote the recipe down and when more of the spices i have ordered arrive i will be making it, problem is, making it in small quantities, i could easy make it for 30 or more people if i had the same utensils and a few bricks.

Those pans could be returns they would probably send them to auction.

Emptybox, Yes, the plumber must have tripped the circuit breaker, not good happening in a dentists though.

There is something about salt cod, it's very popular in so many countries, this not being one of them, i have always had it, it's not so easy to get now, but Birkenhead market has plenty.

It is still available online, the one that wouldn't deliver didn't know that so i don't really know why it said on the Amazon site when i went to process it, just a little note box was highlighted saying they couldn't deliver to that address.

This is the one i couldn't get, the one in the top left of the page for 500g is the one i bought in the end, i tried to buy the first one about 4 times and they all failed. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Shetl...accala/dp/B014DV3LVQ

Hi Hicky.
Pity you got rain. My snow turned to rain pretty quickly as well.
Nice that you went out for brekkie. Making good use of leftovers for tea I see.

Bit of a blunder ordering those huge jars of paste? But I think you got away with it.
Yes, I think you definitely need more freezer space for all your food.
I see that salt cod comes from Shetland. It's probably a delicacy there?

Watched Kirsty and Phil, and then £1 Houses: Britain's Cheapest Street.
That was in a run down district in Liverpool.

both

Emptybox

must still be very cold there then if you had a bit of snow then.

Rang again about the deposit and this time they said they don't want to send a cheque, but will need me to supply a bank account number for me to pay it into as I was the one who set it up. So you are right, looks like I will need a separate account, even though it seems unfair that my OH and son spent days and days of hard work cleaning and clearing all the furniture in the flat in order to get any of the deposit back, and then a lot of it goes to my brother who as usual did nothing! He hadn't even visited mum or me since December 2016. Oh well, that's family life for you. But I have to follow the law very carefully as the flat was in her name.  I can't even remember now if mum or i paid the deposit as it was years ago.  

Yes I hope the solciitor can get this executor situation sorted soon, else I can't pass anything to him at all till that is done, and all mum's post carries on coming to me.

True we will have to look at tide times to get the ashes thing right. It is nice and quiet too right now as it is out of season.

Hicky

horrible wet day here too today.

At least you didn't waste food left over from last night.

at you hiding that jar in your manshed so your OH doesn't see it. 

I guess that making food for 30 would only be usefull if you had 30 coming. But you never know when that skill might come in usefull.

I see on the link the salt cod seller is newly launched so maybe they haven't worked out delivery well yet? 

Had to work on mum's paperwork again , lucky son did all our company vat, so posted that along with some of mums' post too, then went for coffee and cake again with daughter at Dunelm. We shared the toffee cheesecake today, very nice but not as nice as the pineapple. I leave daughter there then as she likes to do her studies in a cafe.

Son had an exam and was in panic mode thinking he had failed but he got 74%, so he can relax now with it being half term next week.

We are off to see mum's sisters tomorrow, and will stay till Friday.

Will call in here if the hotel wifi is up to it.

Watched Trauma tonight, did enjoy it, but rather an odd story.

Goodnight both xxx

Evening Both.

It started as a normal day, quite nice with 7c expected and sun all day, one forecast said gales of 40 mph but when i went out at 8 am to see if it was fit to put the wheelie bin out there was hardly any wind so i put it out.

I was sitting in the shed after brekkie, which was fried sliced potatoes with sausage and bacon with beans over it.

While sitting in the shed checking through the seed packets i have o/h came in form visiting he mum, she said we are off to Costco so quickly got ready.

On the way i mentioned that i had found a lovely freezer to help sort the freezer problem out, it is from AO.com and is a Fridgemaster MCF139_WH so while in Costco i picked up a big pack of chicken breasts and a pack of Stewing steak, she said you haven't got the freezer, i said thats soon sorted, when i got home i ordered it, it comes tomorrow.

She had bought a big pack of live mussels and a side of what she thought was salmon, but turned out to be Trout, the checkout girl mentioned it but we took it anyway, we had all the cockles then the trout, quite a lot as well.

I got more oil capsules with Omega 3 but the Glucosomine/Condruitin tablets have been stopped so we had to get some other ones which are darn expensive.

I have got the area in the garage ready for the freezer, they are taking the packing with them, i will sort the indoor freezer out to see what can go outside.

I suppose i could just keep 1 of each pack inside and the rest outside which will help a lot in the main freezer, it also means we can buy bigger packs which makes Costco so much more worthwhile.

Just remembered i got a big bag of frozen raw king prawns, to make my new curry dishes.

We got a big bag of the 3ply toilet rolls and a big bag of the kitchen towels, we didn't need them though as there are tons in the garage.

I seem to be sleeping better, only got up once in the night last night.

Mollie, With the big jar of ginger/garlic paste, i want to put it into small amounts and freeze it, something i can do in a chest freezer as it has the room.

Have been changing the water on the salt cod, will be ready for the morning now.

It's handy having your son do the company vat, and nice going for a coffee with daughter, it's good to have a break from the norm.

That was ok for your lad 74% isn't too bad at all.

It should be nice seeing your mums sister, most places have Wifi now, not all are free though.

Emptybox, I ordered and received a 6 pack of Yoghurt making sachets, on reading the packs i realised it needs a Yoghurt making kit so i'v had to order one of those, i also ordered a freezer thermometer because freezers don't have them usually.

Oh, Supervet on now, what a feller, he has 200 staff working with him, unbelievable.

Yes, i did see the 1kg on the pack online but thought it was probably 2 x 500g jars, too late now, but one jar is in the garage until i can find a new home for it.

Many moons ago when we had the lads with us we did buy big packs of food etc, also a lot of salt cod, and i made tons of curries, they all loved them and it's easier to make for 4 of you.

I didn't watch the program with the £1 houses, i saw on the tv a reporter talking to 3 ladies that had bought them at one time, and they said about the terrible condition when they got them, there used to be an awful lot like that in Liverpool, it's just a few miles away from me, i have to go over to Liverpool for Costco.

Evening both.
Wet overnight, but a mostly dry day with some sunshine this afternoon.
All the lying snow has gone again now.

Went to that funeral this morning (my Dad's friend). Quite a nice crematorium. Just one chapel, but room for 100 people. Most importantly I found where the toilet was.

Mollie. Yes you'll have to be careful to do everything by the book in your dealings with your Mum's estate.
That's good that it'll be quiet on the beach when you deal with the ashes. Less chance of sandcastle building kids getting involved inadvertently.

Clever to get your son trained up to do the VAT.
Is that the one that passed his exam? Well done him anyway.
Pity the toffee cheesecake wasn't up to the standard of the pineapple one.
Hope you can pop in while visiting your Mum's sisters.

Hicky. That's good that the forecasted wind didn't show up.
Hope the chest freezer you've ordered solves your food storage problems.
Trout can be every bit as good as salmon anyway, so not a bad mistake to make.

I take these Sainsburys glucosomine and cod liver oil tablets. Not too expensive.
https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/cod-liver-oil---glucosamine-x30
Are these repeats of Supervet that you are watching? Because I can't see it on CH4?

The £1 houses were in a triangle of houses that had been empty for years. They were in a terrible state, and the buyers had to spend up to £65,000 to get them up to scratch.

Tonight I watched Animals with Cameras, then Married at first Sight, then Critical Surgery: Saving Lives.

Evening Emptybox.

Better today at 8.2c sunny with medium 16 wind.

Had my saltfish this morning, very nice, had it with fried spuds, bacon and eggs, for tea i'm just having sandwiches with the fresh bread, tinned Tongue.

The Freezer arrived at 9.30 but he had rang me to say.

Had another 7 parcels arrive as well.

Have messed up with a couple, thought that Coriander herb dried leaf and Coriander Leaves would be different, wrong, and with them being dried you get an awful lot, the bag of coconut milk powder is rather big, and didn't realise that 50g of some leaves could be so many, still got a couple of delivery's to come yet, won't be long.

Had to leave the freezer for 4 hours to settle before i powered it up, had it on, now put some stuff in, with have to make a list like on the house freezer, bagged the new chicken breasts and bagged the new braising steak, thats in the new freezer, tomorrow i'll get some of my stuff out of the big freezer to put in the new one to make some room.

O/H got my shopping list although she was off today, i offered to go with her, but she probably thought it could be more expensive, she was right of course.

I watch the Supervet on Channel More4 but they are on their 10th series and the one i'm watching is a couple of series behind as tonight is (S8EP1) but it's shown on C5, BBC1, BBC2, Netflix, E4 and More4, i know he has 200 staff.

http://www.thesupervet.com

http://www.thesupervet.com/the-show/

Glad you found the toilet ok, would hate you to put the fire out.

Yes, the trout was very nice, in fact it was probably nicer than the Salmon, maybe because it's milder tasting.

£65,000 seems a lot of money, but when you think of what you end up with it will be well worth it, one person i saw a while back said hers was 4 beds.

I saw Animals with camera's and Critical Surgery, wow, some clever people eh.

Hope Mollie enjoying her time at her Mums Sisters.

both

Emptybox

hope it is milder up there now, it certainly was here today.

Was it a long journey for you to the funeral? Such a nuisance with your condition means you have to make sure you find a toilet. Good job you located it easy though. Did you get to go for some food after or just go to the crem?

I am getting forms asking where to put mum's money, even though officially just over half of it is mine, do I have to put it all into a separate account for the solicitor to split up? Or eg some is in NS and I, so can i just leave my half in there, and solicitor does final calculations? I think you said your dads just all went into one account though, then solicitor split it with you and your brother? All so confusing. But the good news is the solicitor said he has me as sole executor now and the other solicitor didn't even have to renounce as his company is not trading now.  

Hicky

Glad to see you are making good use of your freezer.

Oh dear at you messing up your order again, but I guess it is best you seem to be getting too much, rather than not enough.

I had to at you admitting if you went with OH to get the food shop, it would be more expensive.

Gosh I never realised supervet had 200 staff!

I found it quite hard going to see mum's sisters for the 1st time since I lost mum as both of them look so alike her and I hadn't seen them since the funeral.

Also OH had to swerve to avoid this car on really busy roundabout who suddenly cut him up, so we hit the kerb, then had to get new tyre the next morning. Cost us £200 because tracking had gone too! Good job we were in RAC as he came and put tyre on for OH to get to garage. (his spare had gone flat!).

On a nice note, my cousin's wife had just had a baby who was just a week old, so I cuddled the cutie for about 2 hours.

Looking forward to watching Joan Mcdonald and her crusing at 9 today.

I think she is great.

Goodnight both xxx

Evening.
Not bad day here. Sunny but still bitter in the wind.

Hicky. Glad your freezer came OK. Probably best that it arrived early, if it had to  sit for 4 hours before you could start filling it.
Glad you enjoyed your salt fish brekkie.
Pity you messed up the quantities of herbs somewhat.

Yes, I always need to know where the nearest toilet is.  Depends on how the symptoms are though. On a good day I can go for hours in between. But on a bad day, especially in cold weather, I can barely last an hour.
Can be quite limiting on what I can do.

Yes, I suppose even if you have to pay £65,000 you are still ending up with a bargain house. But it was in a horrible neighbourhood with shootings and crime and vandalism etc.

Mollie. That's good that you are now sole executor. Will make things easier.
I guess it's up to you where the money goes, but for the sake of transparency I would have thought it best to all go into one account, before it gets divided out to the beneficiaries (even though you are the main one). But I don't think it matters if you open it or you use the solicitors client account.
As I said, we left that all to the solicitor anyway. Probably better to consult him as to what's best.
I didn't think banks and building societies etc were supposed to release money until you'd been granted probate anyway? Or has that already happened?

The funeral was half an hour's drive away, so not too bad. much better than having to go to Edinburgh anyway.
No I didn't go to the tea afterwards. I waited in line to give my sympathy to the widow, but i don't think she remembered who I was, so probably wasn't much point. But the deceased had been a good pal to my Dad, so that's mainly why I went.

That's a pity that you had to buy a new tyre and pay for correcting the tracking (still sounds expensive?) just because of another idiot. Wonder how the spare went flat?
But at least you got to cuddle a baby for a couple of hours. Must admit, I'd have wanted to hand it back after a couple of seconds.

Yes Jane McDonald was great. Wish she hadn't tried to sing the Bjork song at the end though.

Evening Both.

Nice today really, 8c and sunny, forecast said 12 wind but had none, have been doing some jobs in the garden and sorting out what can go in the chest freezer, i want to just keep a few things in the big freezer, have made a new list for the chest freezer content and don't need one on the other freezer, have taken all the packs of raw meat etc and all the tubs of food, curries etc.

Had Fried hash browns, sausage, mushrooms and beans, for tea i made a concoction of sliced up scallops, with a pack of shrimps, heated a pack of egg fried rice and made a cup of chip shop curry.

Mollie, I have got loads of small plastic containers, the ones that the crap comes in from Sainsbury's, they are airtight and i have the unit that makes the labels so have labelled 11 of them and will fill them in the next few days, i have been reading up on freezing some of the veg i want to freeze, such as carrot, cauliflower, celery and maybe onion, i might be able to get the veg already cut and frozen if i could get to the shop.

I will have to keep the main stock of spices in this big container in the garage and keep the tubs with the spices in in the same cupboard that has all the spice jars in, the big spice bags can be used as refills for the jars.

I might have misheard what they said about Supervet, on looking at his website i can only find 21 surgeons, 12 radiographers, 24 nurses, 9 rehab staf and some receptionists, of course they are open 24 hrs so they must have at least 2 shifts on, but maybe it was 100 not 200 not sure now.

You were lucky you didn't crash on that roundabout, the car may have been expecting you to turn left with it using the second lane, roundabouts can be very dangerous if they don't have lane markings, i had the same problem once when i turned left from the second lane and the person in the 1st lane didn't they went straight on so i hit them, but the road had lane markings and they were in the lane that was turning left so i sent the photo's i took of the lane marking boards and the road markings to the insurance company so i won the case.

Good job you were in the RAC at least you got sorted, don't the garage check your spare tyre air pressure when you get a service?

That was nice, cuddling a 2 week old baby is lovely. 

Emptybox, I can see that your symptoms must limit your life at the moment, how do you see the future, are you going to get advice from a specialist or leave it, the problem is, if it packs up and can't go it is a big problem, thats what kept happening to me after the first op when the anaesthetics caused the prostrate to close up.

Just watched Supervet again, looking forward to The Voice at 8pm.

I have blossom coming on the Lizzy plum tree, it is an early one but not effected by frost,

I still can't get the blades off my leaf shredder so i am going to try usung my strimmer as i have read they can do the job.

both xxx

Emptybox

hope the spag bol went down well tonight. Did you have your beer with it too?

Yes your condition is so upredictable, it must be really annoying not knowing how long you can go without needing to locate a toilet.

Thanks, yes I think are right, I need to be carefull so one account would be best for the executor stuff. Mum had bits of cash in different places so most are under the upper limit needing probate, so are asking now where they need to send the cash. The investments have over the limit so they want probate first. I think probate can't be done until I have all these final accounts in. So still a bit of a way to go yet.

That is good the funeral was not too far away as I did remember you said you had to go to Edinburgh for your dads. Why did you have to go that far for your dads? Or did you choose it as it was between you and your brothers homes?

We didn't do the line up thing for mum's funeral as there was only around 20 of us and me and the carers all said we found the line up thing a bit awkward. But I knew there were only 2 people from the day centre who couldn't go to the pub after, so it was a bit different.

HIcky

you do sound very organised with your freezer and labelling, which is good.

Lucky you won the case when you had an accident. That is a good point, OH does get the car serviced,so it looked like they never checked the spare though! This island we were on is huge and very busy and full of potholes, so I bet they have a lot of accidents on it.

It was expensive because the car is a 7 seater, and when they put the car up, they said it was best to replace one of the other tyres as well and the tracking had to be done.

I too enjoyed watching the Voice.

Good job the blossom isn't affected by the frosts because they reckon it is going to get cold again. It was cool here this morning, but warmed up as the day went on.

We went to costco again to get a bit of shopping, even bread/milk is a lot cheaper there, and of course we got plenty of free food samples too.

Goodnight both xxx

Gosh nearly forgot...we had an earthquake and the whole house shook!

Daughter on the top floor saw her whole room including tv shaking, son was lying on his bed and it really shook, I was on sofa and thought the dog was behind it and scratching herself and knocking it till I realised she was sitting in front of me! You could hear it too. People went out on the street to see what was happening.

Turns out we were very close to the epicentre, and it was the strongest in Wales for 100 years!

So weird it was.

Anyone else notice it?

Evening both.
Not bad day here.
Went to Lidl again and got most of my weekly shop. Annoyingly again there were a few things they just don't have, so will have to go to Sainsburys again.

Mollie. I heard about the earthquake on the news and was going to ask you about it. Think the epicentre was near Swansea. Must have been scary? Good job no damage was done.
No sign of it all the way up here.

Yes, spag bol and beer tonight. Very nice.
Didn't realise only larger investments needed probate, but as I said, there's a slightly different system in Scotland called 'confirmation'. Mind you, I don't know how that works either.
The crematorium near Melrose was only built 4 or 5 years ago, so wasn't there when my Dad died, so at the time Edinburgh was the closest unfortunately.

I hate big busy roundabouts as well. There's one on my way South, when I visit my Uncle, and I always seem to end up going round twice, because the road I want to go down is blocked by a lorry or something. Think I'll see if I can avoid it next time I come down.

Hicky. That's good that you could get into the garden, and are beginning to sort your new freezer out.
Fortunate that you had photos to prove that you weren't at fault, when you had your roundabout accident.
That's nice that you've got blossom coming on your plum tree already.

I don't want to exaggerate my symptoms. Most of the time the medication keeps them at bay, but sometimes they flair up. For the last couple of weeks I've been having quite a few days with mild symptoms, but not as bad as when I was first diagnosed. Hopefully they won't ever get bad enough to need an op, but you never know.
You were lucky, because sometimes that op can lead to permanent incontinence, so i wouldn't want to have it unless completely necessary.
But you were having great problems with catheters I remember, so there wasn't much choice.

Watched a lot of the Olympics today.
Great that Lizzy Yarnold got a gold.
Pity that Elise Christie crashed out of the skating again.
But seems to me she is a very scrappy skater, and gets too close to others and her arms are all over the place fending people off and impeding them, and she puts her hands on the ice in front of others blades, so no wonder she often comes a cropper? Hope she's not hurt though.

Missed The Voice this evening. I watched Casuality then that Troy thing instead.

Evening Both.

Not bad today, 7.2c sunny as well as some cloud, dry with light 9 winds.

Just had a burger for brekkie with onions.

Sorted my spices out, filled the small plastic containers, about 13 i think, the contents for 2 of those not arrived yet.

Had an idea as well, it came to me that the black tubing 13mm internal dia is 16 outside so i drilled a hole in the clay where one of the posts for the fruit cage will go, the bit, which is 19mm drilled the hole 18" deep and i put a piece of the plastic pipe in to keep the hole open and show where the post will be, i should be able to make all the holes now and just put a 2" tube in till i need the cage.

Took one of my curries from the chest freezer for tea, made a egg fried rice, put some Lime Pickle in the curry, very nice anyway.

Have decided i need 5 lots of frozen veg, to save buying the fresh veg and freezing it, anyway, i need Onions, Peas, Peppers, Carrots and Cauliflower Florets, will have to see how i am going to get them, maybe i can order from Iceland.

Mollie, If you replace a tyre then it has to match the one on the other side as you can't have odd tyres front or rear, probably why you needed the 2, also the car will drive better when both are new.

I never got any free food from Costco because o/h seemed to be in a hurry, she has to stay close to a loo like Emptybox, 

I saw an earthquake mentioned in the online news but didn't see where it was.

Wow, that could have been nasty, good job it was not too big anyway.

Emptybox, I understand what you say about the symptoms, but things don't tend to stay the same, hope it doesn't get worse, not sure why the TURP op should make you incontinent as there are 2 sort of valves which have to open/close for the urine to pass, the prostate being one, but the second which is the pelvic floor needs a bit of retraining, well thats what they said, it only takes a day of so for that, it's all down to clenching to train the muscles.

The problem with the catheter was because of my bladder lining which has like ulcers or something and they release skin and the tiny bits of skin was blocking the catheter so it didn't work so had to keep calling them out to change it, when i took 1 to bits to see where it was blocked i couldn't believe how small the the passage way was it was about the thickness of a needle so anything in the water at all would stop the flow.

I like the Curling, but so hard to win.

DOI now anyway.

Hi Hicky.
It's been a damp day here, but quite mild. Up to about 8 degrees this afternoon.

Went to Sainsburys. They have now opened their little Argos section. Can't see that they've got much space for stock, so quite likely you'd need to order stuff first. Might be useful? But I'd rather they just left the store as it was.

That was a bright idea for making the holes for your fruit cage.
Perhaps the TURP is not as bad as a full prostate op, but the danger is if they damage nerves and muscles, then you have problems later.

I love the Curling, could watch it all day, but the British (Scottish) men and women don't really seem to be on form this time, for some reason.
Watching Posh Pawn just now, then will watch Endeavour. And am recording 'The First Brit: Secrets of the 10,000 Year Old Man', about the Cheddar Man.

both

Emptybox

shame you couldn't get all you wanted in lidl, but I do find Lidl produce good and of course a lot cheaper than other supermarkets.

Did you go and get your papers and go to sainsburys today?

Yes I think any savings/investments over £50k have to have probate, or this other legal Grant thing before funds are released.

Swansea is not far from here, and we heard as well as felt the earthquake. Very odd it was. I read it was something to do with the rocks moving round in the area below, it was in the valleys just out of Swansea. 

Good idea to avoid a big roundabout when you go to your uncle, as we found out!

Yes let's hope your symptoms stay fairly mild so you can avoid an op. As you say HIcky had no choice but to have the op as he was having such bad problems, but it is always best to avoid an op if you can manage without.

Hicky

glad you had a good idea of how to sort your tubing out.

Burger again for brekkie I see.

I usually enjoy toast and marmite for brekkie, so am not adventurous as you.

Might be  good idea to order your veg from Iceland. They have quite a good selection. I know you can go in the shop and choose what you want, then they deliver it to your house for free.

That makes sense what you say about the tyres then, kwik fit said it could be dangerous not to replace the other tyre as it would of been well worn compared to the new one. As the car is a 7 seater, the tyres for it arent' cheap.

If you don't go on weekends to costco, it doesn't usually take a minute to grab hold of free food samples. The trouble is, if you are like us, we are usually tempted then to buy stuff we didn't intend to, as we liked the samples.  There are toilets in costco too.

Dull day, bit of drizzle, but otherwise ok and not too wet.

Been trying to catch up with the washing today, cooked coly cheese for tea, as I really like that.
Went to sainsburys and got a bit of food shopping today, and bought a nice blue top with butterflies on it, in the 25% off sainsburys clothes. Its good to enjoy a bit of  retail therapy.

Enjoying watching DOI now, I liked Camila Cabello performing with those professionals, the professionals are brilliant.

I have to collect mum's ashes tomorrow,  not looking forward to it, but need to get it out the way to move forward.

One of the carers are coming to keep my company as son is real busy in rehearsals for their latest musical. The carer will distract me by talking about the extremely dishy undertaker. All the girls in the florist fancied him too.

think I will watch Dragons Den after the skating.

Goodnight both xxx

Evening Both.

Not too bad today, 7.2c cloudy with rain, but didn''t see any, winds are 9.6.

2 more parcels came, a small thermostat for the chest freezer, and the last 2 spice packs a Masala mix and the Mint leaf.

Didn't realise if the freezer is on -18 it is a 2 Star, if 20 or under it is a 3 Star, so that is what i will set it to, and the big one in the bungalow was on -19, just changed it to -20.

I've ordered a bag of Rice Flour as one of the recipes uses it, also un out of Post-its so ordered them and a spice shaker as it's hard to sprinkle the spices over the pan, and i've ordered a jar of whole green chillies.

Watched another Grandpa video earlier, he was making a meal using hard boiled egg whites, never saw what happened to the yokes, it was interesting, have written it down anyway, but for tea i made the recipe for the meal with hard boiled whole eggs, used 5 eggs, left a bit so might finish that off for brekkie.

I made a freezer tray for freezing usable amounts of the ginger/garlic paste as once opened you need to do something with it, i used a plastic tray the the chicken breasts came in just cut off some of the side so it sits on top of the freezer basket, might do that tomorrow as o/h will be at work all morning with this new time change.

I have a bit of a problem getting the veg online because they have a price limit for delivery of £25 and the veg would only be about £9 and it's quite a way to go by taxi to the Iceland store.

Just heard on the Supervet program, it is 200 staff he has, including 42 surgeons, wow.

Mollie, I think it's the law that the front pair or the rear pair must be the same make/type of tyre, also to have one side new and the other worn would be dangerous as the car could swerve when braking as the worn one wouldn't stop as well as the new one.

I enjoyed DOI as well, Jake is good isn't he?

Thats nice, one of the carers going with you to collect the ashes, it has to be done, not very pleasant though.

Hope you are not distracted by the dishy undertaker.

Emptybox, It's strange them opening an Argos in the Sainsbury's here as they have a big shop next door, i thought they would close the big one, not yet though.

The damage to nerves or muscles while operating down there would certainly make it a life changer, mind you a lot of fellers have to have the prostate out because it's not good, not sure if that leaves them incontinent.

Like you, i love the curling, probably because i watch the indoor bowls as well, as you say, some of ours aren't as good as i'd like but they have to use standard stones and they are all different, and the ice varies as well as do other factors.

I enjoy Post Pawn as well, always worth watching.

both xxx

Emptybox

that is good it is mild again, all helps save on the fuel.

Argos opened at last then, ours too doesn't take up a lot of room, but as you say, it looks like you have to order stuff in first if you need it there. I was surprised that the argos bit also deals with the Sainsburys online returns, as I bought a dress online, and Sainsburys directed me to Argos to take it back.

Hicky

hope you enjoy your grandpa menu for brekkie.

Yes I had heard Iceland is a minimum of £25 for delivery, so that is a shame if you don't need that much.

Gosh 42 vets,... Supevets surgery is a lot bigger than I imagined.

That makes sense then why you have to replace 2 tyres if a worn tyre would perform badly next to a new one.

Yes Jake is brilliant on DOI, and he seems to enjoy it too.

I was surprised how mild it was here today, I even shed the coat, I heard on the news that Cardiff was mildest in the country as it reached 14.2 degrees. I wonder if it was down to the shock of that earthquake!

I did find it hard collecting the ashes, I decided not to focus on the bag on the table with them in,   but just signed the form to say I had taken them, and just kept concentrating on how I had to tell underaker how the florist had been useless! (and thinking how dishy that undertaker was to take my mind of it!),   He saw me and the carer out of the door and he carried it to the door, then I gave it to her, as I couldn't face bringing it home. She was pleased to have it, as she said she'd talk to it, and we are arranging a date to meet with the other carer on the beach to scatter it.

Now the other upsetting thing I have to do, is to go to day centre to take them a card and a big tin of biccies i got them, as they were lovely to mum. I have to return these hand knitted hand muffs that are made for people with dementia, as mum had 5 of them, They stitch things like buttons and ribbons in for them to fiddle with. But think I will put it off a day and go to Cardiff shopping instead tomorrow, son is on half term and needs some new trainers and t shirts.

Looking forward to watching Collateral at 9pm. After Emptybox said it was good, I watched it on catch up, you were right, it was good.

Goodnight both xxx

Hi both.
Drizzly and dull here and still mild, but due to get colder from now I think.

Hicky. Glad some of your things came. A nuisance that you can't just go to the shops when you want, and have to order everything in.

Just had a look at my freezer. I see there is a little dial on it, and it's set to 3. Hadn't noticed that before. There's also a little button beside the dial. No idea what that does?  (I'll see if I can find the manual)
Hope you enjoyed your hard boiled egg recipe.

Fairly sure there's no law about having matching tyres, and it's not an MoT condition. You could have 4 completely different tyres as long as the tread on them was over the legal limit. But it is good practice to have roughly matching pairs.

The Women Curlers did better today. I enjoyed watching their match.

Mollie. Glad you enjoyed Collateral. It was good again tonight.
That's good that it was so mild for you, that you could discard your coat. Doubt it had anything to do with the earthquake though?

I think the Argos section in Sainsburys also deals with all the Ebay click and collect orders, as there used to be a terminal next to the Sainsburys cafe, but that's gone, and there's an Ebay sign in the Argos bit.
The nearest big Argos is in Galashiels (about 20 miles away). Doubt that's going to close.

 Sorry to hear you found it hard to pick up the ashes, and had to give them to the carer for safe keeping. Must have been very difficult for you.
Nice of you to give something to the day centre.
Enjoy your shopping trip tomorrow.

Good Evening Both.

Not bad today here, 7.5c with 6.8 hours of sun and winds of 15, but thats ok.

Didn't have the rest of the egg meal i made yesterday, saved it for tea, just had a bacon and black pudding sandwich.

The problem with the frozen veg solved itself, i had the 5 items on a list and as o/h was going out to work at 9.15 this morning i asked her is they had those veg items in the shop, well, she took the list with her, and when she came back at 2pm she had all the veg on the list, which was Cauliflower Floret, sliced peppers, peas garden, carrots baby, onions sliced so very happy.

I have enough stuff now to make quite a few of the meals that i watched on those videos, wrote another one down last night, it was Paneer Butter Masala, Paneer is a non melting cheese, but i can substitute that for any type of meat but it would need cooking separately. 

Did some work in the garden, I tried using the garden wheelie bin as a leaf pulveriser container using the garden strimmer, but it ran out of cord which is a 2 cord spinner so i have rethreaded it with new cord, it just happens that the cord i bout 100m of for the vine supports etc is the right size for the strimmer.

For tea i had the rest of the egg meal, made a egg fried rice with onion and mushrooms, very nice and nothing got wasted.

Made, or am making 1kg of Yogurt using the new Yogurt maker and kits of powder, simple really but it doesn't freeze well, i will see what it is like at 10pm and then put it in the fridge, i bought 6 packs of plain and the kit came with a banana pack.

Mollie, Looking further into the use of different tyres on the same axle, because of the need to have all the tyres characteristics matching like speed symbol, load rating, profile, tyre size, tread pattern etc you can't just use any old tyre, it is advised to use the same Brand as well then you know they should match.

https://www.continental-tyres....-3-0/tirelexikon-3-4

I thought you would find it hard collecting the ashes, but it's done now, scattering them will be another hurdle though.

Yes, it will be hard going to the day centre now, but they will appreciate you going and also getting the hand muffs back, how nice stitching buttons etc in for the wearer to occupy their mind.

I need a nice big WOK, threw the last one away as everything started sticking, i see a nice cheap one, it's Carbon Steel but says not for Induction, but under a similar one a buyer said they bought one for Induction and it's fine so i might ring the company up.

Emptybox, Yes, i believe we will be in the grip of the weather which is being blown over here from Russia, -8 and it will stay bad for 2 weeks.

You say ou have a dial on your freezer, if it's set to 3 what other numbers are there, as a 3 would be the best temperature for a fridge setting 3 deg.

It is unlikely it would mean a 3 star rating, but without knowing what the freezer or fridge is i can't tell.

I find it strange that so little is checked on the MOT about the tyres, so much controls the handling of the car, of course the tread is one but if the tyres don't match and have differing tread patterns even, they will handle and react differently in wet weather and breaking

I thought the law had been changed, very strange they only check certain things on the tyres.

I saw a little of the curling, but would need to know when they are on and i only saw a quick glance that came up early on.

both xx

Emptybox

did you manage to find your freezer manual?

I haven't even noticed if there is a dial on mine.

Our grass along with lots of daisies is starting to grow again, so won't be long I expect now until your early spring customers contact you.

Hicky

that is handy your OH was able to get hold of all the veg you needed.

I expect you will enjoy making all those recipes now.

That was handy you could use the vine cord for the strimmer, so it didn't hold you up.

Hope your yogurt comes out well.

Thanks for the tyre link, very interesting how it is safest that they match. So at least I know OH didn't waste money when he replaced the 2 tyres at the same time.

Yes I think it is so nice of the elderly ladies to knit the muffs for dementia people. When dementia people can't talk, they do like to have something to fiddle with all the time, so these muffs were a simpe but effective thing for her and others there.

Hope you find a decent wok.

Our new pans OH got in the auction are used, so some of the non stick is worn off, but most are in good condition , at least it has given us chance to try a real good make.

They are called Circulon... this is the set we got, OH paid £70 for them. We like them so much we would probably replace the most worn pan with the same.

https://www.costco.co.uk/view/...et-in-bronze-1986008

I am very pleased with them.

This is the wok they do,.....expensive I think compared to others maybe?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Circu..._product_top?ie=UTF8

Went to Cardiff today, son needed a few new t shirts, got some for £2.50 each in Primark.

Got 2 more letters off today for mum stuff, and I forgot to take the death cetficate with me to Cardiff today to stop her credit card, which was the main reason I went!
Oh well at least I helped son find some bargain t shirts for Uni.And I got a flowery spring blouse in the sale reduced from £24 to £10.

Spring was definately in the air, the sun was warm again today, so got plenty of washing dry.

Wonder if they are right and we are due some cold weather?

It may only be in parts of the country.

Watched the 100 year old drivers, very interesting...now watching A and E, which is very tonight with the guy who has lost 4 fingers! I really can't watch parts of this tonight.

Goodnight both xxx

Evening both.
Sunny here and still quite mild.
My grass hasn't started to grow yet, but it's always later up here.
Did some cleaning in the house. Probably getting my guests at the weekend, but they haven't confirmed yet, but I'll have to get the place clean anyway.

Haven't looked oput the freezer manual yet. The dial goes from 1 to 4, presumably 4 is the coldest setting? The button has a sort of snowflake icon next to it. Perhaps it is a defrost button? Not going to push it till I find out.
The freezer has 3 stars on the inside of the door, so I imagine that means it's rated 3 stars.

I recently put two new front tyres on the van, so they match, but the two rear ones don't. Don't think the tread patterns matter that much, unless it was a performance car. It passed the MoT last year anyway.

Hicky. That's good that your OH was able to get you the veg you need to try out these recipes.
Good idea using the strimmer to pulverise the leaves in the wheelie bin. But yeah, it would probably use up the cord quickly, bashing against the side of the bin.
Hope your home made yogurt turns out well.
Both the men and women curlers did well today. Pity Elise Christie failed at the speed skating again.

Mollie. Those look like good pans.
That's good that you got some bargain T-shirts and a blouse in the sales. Pity you forgot to take the copy of the death certificate with you though.
Must be quite warm down there, if you could get washing dried. Was very windy here.

I watched Shetland the 24 Hrs in A&E on +1. Yes the fellow who lost the fingers wa difficult to watch.

Evening Both.

Not bad here today, 6.2c dry but only 3 hrs of sun, winds 6.2.

Had bacon, black pudding and baked beans on toast for brekkie.

Used a cup cake baking tray to cover with cling-film and put ginger/garlic paste in each of the cup sections, maybe 15, they are in the freezer now, hope they freeze and then i can put them into plastic bags.

Didn't do anything in the garden, had a delivery of the spice shaker and my pack of Post-it note pads.

Decided to make the Prawn Biryani the same as the Grandpa video, wow, he calls it quick and easy, well it took me hours, i will have to re-watch the video and rewrite the recipe as the way i have it makes it quite hard to follow, i have everything on it and it tasted lovely, never had a real meal made with the actual spices, strange thing is, he doesn't just use the spices once in the recipe but twice, also green chillies go in twice and so do onions, it calls for Yogurt as well.

My fresh Yogurt turned out fine, this batch was just plain and it made a Kilo, it says it will keep for 2 weeks anyway.

Of course the meal ended up enough for 2 so i will freeze a tub of it, not wasting it.

I was looking at a Wok on the Procook site, they do make lovely stuff, had stuff off them before, but the cheap Carbon Steel Wok for £12 says  for all hobs except Induction, but the 2 Wok set underneath them has a review that says his Carbon Steel Wok works perfect on his Induction hob, i rang the company to check, i showed her the review, also when i google Carbon Steel it says it if fine for Induction, the girl said she would ring me back when she gets it checked out.

Have ordered repeat prescription online from the new Medical Centre, they have 5 Doctors and some Nurses, will have to see how it goes.  

Mollie, Yes, the vine support cord fitted the strimmer as it is strimmer cord, it's just far cheaper than buying vine cord.

The Yogurt turned out fine, it makes so much, wow, but this is plain as i wanted it for the meals really.

I looked at the links, those fine are good, i don't think the non stick is good enough on most, it doesn't last long, that Wok is too expensive, wow.

Oh dear, forgetting the death certificate was a nuisance, can't be helped, just means another trip i suppose.

Thats a good price for the shirts, you don't need expensive ones do you.

The forecasters have been saying that it looks like we are in for a really bad 2 weeks, the weather pattern has altered and we could get the winds from Russia which is bad news as they have -8c.

Emptybox, Is the machine with the 1 to 4 setting just a freezer with no fridge as part of the unit? if the freezer is 3 Star then why would it have a setting with those numbers as 1 to 4 is a temperature for a fridge, 1c to 4c, the fridge should be on 3c and it should be between 0 and 5 which is 1 to 4, but you need to see the manual to check what it is for, but don't alter it till you know.

Differing tread patterns on the tyres may effect driving in the rain etc, as the ability to hold the road will be different from 1 tyre to the other, thats why you should really have, really think that we should have 2 sets of tyres, a Winter set which we put on from Autumn and a Summer set that gets put on say Spring as Winter tyres have special rubber for the Winter as it's stays soft under 7c and the tread is deeper and wider to get rid of water to stop aquaplaning and the wide treads collect snow which helps braking and control.

I am only happy in a car if it is a 4x4 with a Dash Cam front and rear and Winter Tyres, that gives me confidence on the road, any less and i feel vulnerable.

I find it hard to catch the Curlers on tv, i will see tomorrow as it's the women's semi of final.

I can't watch someone losing or having lost fingers, not my thing, too squeamish.

both xxx

Emptybox

That is good you stll have the good weather, we did too. So lots more washing dried.

Hope it is this weekend the guests come so it coincides with your house clean. From what you say, I think it is a waste of time me reading our dials on the freezer, as I won't understand what they mean!

Went to bank and took the death certificate I forgot yesterday.

Getting closer now to hand it all over to the solicitor as the final statement  figures are gradually arriving. The electric meter reading was a nightmare, I have had 4 bills so far! One was a final biill, two others different bills all different amounts and one other was welcoming my mum as a new customer!     Luckily OH had taken  a photo of the reading when we handed the keys in with the againt. And as for HMRC , useless. They sent a letter of condolance to the person dealing with her estate one week, then 2 weeks later, sent a letter with her new tax code starting April 2018!   I am not touching them, will leave them to the solicitor!

Hicky

Glad you too got the good weather.

Good idea to use the cup cake thing to freeze your paste in.

Pity the prawn biruyani was so difficult to make. Good job you enjoyed it though. HOpefully next time you should find it easier.

Hope your prescription turns up ok.

I didn't realise home made yogurt lasted as long as 2 weeks.

Yes I think those £2.50 shirts are just as good as the more expensive ones. Primark is full of family clothes that are cheap, but the quality of stuff I have had from there has always been good.

Went back to mum's bank with the paperwork, absolutely hate going to banks telling them mum died and showing them death certificate.  But think I have done nearly all I need to with visiting banks for now.
I was too stressed after to go to day centre today though.
So went to dunelm cafe with daughter for coffee and cake instead, which was much needed and enjoyed.
Nice day so got 5 washloads out and dried.

Watched the GP show, am now watching the £1 house.

Goodnight both xxx

Evening both.
Slight frost this morning, but a sunny day and warm in the sun.
Did some more cleaning and ironing, and went into town to collect my prescription.

The Women are through to the Curling semi-finals, and their semi final match is on Friday.
The Men's team have unfortunately been knocked out, so won't be in tomorrow's semi finals which are  at 11am.

Have now looked at the freezer manual.
It's an upright Beko freezer only.
The dial just sets the temperature, 4 being the coldest and 1 being the least cold. It's been on 3 since it was bought, so I'll just leave it.
The button is a 'fast freeze' button for if you put a lot of fresh food in at once, or for after you've defrosted it, to get it down to the correct temp quickly.
Needless to say, as I'd never noticed it before, I've never used it even though I've defrosted several times.

Hicky. Hope your ginger and garlic cupcakes freeze OK.
Glad your Biryani was delicious, even though it took a long time. I'm sure it'll be quicker the next time you make it, now you are familiar with the recipe.
That would be good if the bargain wok turned out to be suitable for an induction hob.

Hope your prescriptions all work out from the new practice. I don't know how ordering your prescriptions online works? Fairly sure my practice doesn't do it, but I never even thought of it.
Mind you I just get my prescription issued every month from the pharmacy. They send me a text when it's ready. I haven't seen the doctor for over 2 years.

I don't think I could be bothered changing tyres twice a year. Not to mention the expense of it. I used to do it with my old Mercedes years ago, but it was nothing but a faff.

Mollie. Still don't know about the visitors. My Brother has been away on business until tonight, so he might phone me tomorrow if he is coming. Think he had to see if he could rearrange an MoT for his motorbike, which was due to be on Saturday.

That'll be a relief, when you hand over all this financial stuff for the solicitor to deal with it.
No surprise that the Electric company and HMRC are incompetent. Yes, let the solicitor deal with their shambles.
Pity you felt too stressed to go and visit your Mum's care home. No hurry though.

I watched the GP show and the £1 house as well. :cool;

Evening Both. :

Not bad here but too cold to work outside, 5c dry with 2.9 hours of sun, winds of 10.

So i mainly stayed indoors, although i get a text from Amazon saying Hermes tried to deliver a parcel, no note left, went online to Hermes to see what happened, did online chat and told them i didn't know they were delivering as Amazon didn't tell me who was the courier, i told her that Amazon leave goods in the porch but don't tell the couriers, anyway they will redeliver tomorrow.

I had a tin of tomatoes with a couple of long sausages for brekkie.

Put the frozen lumps of ginger/garlic into a freezer bag, 12 in all, also put the meal left over from last night in the freezer.

Was going to make one of the meals that need quite a lot of cooking oil but haven't got enough, and i only use Groundnut oil so might have to get another oil for doing the meal, one was the fried Cauliflower Florets and another one.

I checked online and my repeat prescription had been accepted so i rang the pharmacy, it is ready to be picked up, will ask o/h to pick it up tomorrow.

Got to do my shopping list, not a lot i'll be needing now really.

Made a sort of pudding with some of the Yogurt, added some jam and a small tin of peach slices without the syrup from the tin, it was ok.

On the back of my recipes i am writing the main ingredients so i can get them ready for making the meal later then i get all the spices together from the cupboard, if they need to be spread over chicken etc i will put them into the shaker, used it last night, very good, i spread the spices over the prawns.

It's certainly authentic using all these spices like this, so lovely.

for tea i had a Venison Steak that was in the old freezer, put spices as advised online and had onions with it and baked spuds, not bad at all.

Mollie, I rewrote the recipe for the Prawn Biryani as when i watched the video again, i kept rewinding to see which container was being used, he has a big deep one and a shallow one which on watching it a few times i could see what was going in what, i thought originally he was cooking the rice in a pot as usual but he isn't he is cooking the rice in one of the pans with other spices etc he had cooked earlier so i understand now.

It's hard to believe that the Electric board and hmrc so get things so mixed up, what on earth is going on, it's crazy.

Don't blame you for going to the cafe for a break, coffee and cake can't be bad.

Emptybox,  Hope the girls do good tomorrow, they are very good, can't say the same for the boys, from what i saw they weren't playing very well.

It's good that you have the freezer manual, a strange range of setting for a freezer, 1 to 4, as you say, leave it, probably the best setting, but the temperature in the freezer is controlled by the temperature outside the freezer, it probably alters the efficiency of it, yes the quick freeze could be handy, once you know it's there, it's probably on a timer, maybe not, if it has a light then it won't turn itself back to normal.

The company never rang me back about the Wok, strange.

The prescription/doc appointments are through the https://patient.emisaccess.co.uk site, you sign in originally using the data given from the medical centre, i used it at the other medical centre for ordering repeat stuff as you can't ring up now, you must be able to get automatic repeats, we can't it's month by month now, can't even order through the pharmacy like before.

 If the tyres are changed twice a year, the Winter ones last as you aren't using them for the Summer, and the Summer ones last as you aren't using them in the Winter, so Summer Apr/May/Jun/July/Aug/Sep/Oct Winter Tyres Nov/Dec/Jan/Feb/Mar so you don't really lose anything as the 2 sets just last the same as 2 sets anyway and to get them changed you just ring the mobile tyre service and they will come and change them over, simple really, and a lot safer to do it that way.

both xxx

Emptybox

hopefully your cleaning will last till next week if your brother doesn't come this weekend.

I don't think our freezer needs to defrost. Hope not, as I have never done it.

Hicky

glad you are making good use of your freezer.

That is so annoying when the say they tried to deliver and you had no note or anything.

HOpefully you will get the byrani recipe right next time now you have reread the recipe.

Our docs does the online prescription and appointments thing too. I had to go in with a form and ID before they would process it though.

Shame they never rang back about the wok.

Went with son to get some trainers as he has had his for ages, easier to get him stuff whilst he is off uni, as he hates shopping.

Lovely day again , got plenty of washing dried, the wind was a bit chilly though.

Goodnight both xxx

Evening both.
Foggy and frosty this morning, but brightened up later.
Did more cleaning (hoovering), and watched the Olympics.
Looking forward to the Women's Curling tomorrow.

My visitors aren't coming this weekend seemingly. I got a FB message from my SiL. Might not be for a couple of weeks now? Oh well. The place needed cleaning anyway, and I'll probably not need to do as much before they actually come.

Not sure if my GP does the online service? The doctor has never mentioned it. The pharmacy just seem to automatically give me the tablets every month anyway. Not sure if they check with the doc every now and again as to whether they are still suitable?
Perhaps the system in Scotland is different, with the prescription being free?

Hicky. Pity about the mix up with your Hermes delivery.
You're certainly very methodical with those recipes.
Venison steak? Very posh.

I think the Quick Freeze button on the freezer has to be turned off manually after a few hours. There's an amber light for it on the panel.
As I said, I used to do the tyre change routine with my old Mercedes, up until about 10 years ago, but I got fed up with it.
Didn't know you could get a mobile tyre change service?
I had the winter tyres on the original steel wheels, and the summer tyres on the alloy rims, so just changed the wheels over myself. Still an annoying job though.

Mollie. I guess some freezers stop ice from forming automatically? Mine seems to need defrosting every year, as the ice builds up and stops the shelves sliding out properly. Nearly needing done again TBH.
Glad you got a nice day and got plenty of washing dried.
Hope son liked his new trainers.

Watched Police Interceptors, then Married at First Sight, then Critical Surgery: Saving Lives then 24 hrs in Police Custody. Not a bad telly night.

Evening Both.

A pretty cool day here, a max of 5c but 4.7 hours of sun, winds being 13.

Stayed un as too cold to be working out, and it's going to stay cold for the next 7 days anyway.

I have a weather test plastic dish about 1 ft across on the decking where i can see it from the Utility part of the kitchen, it has water in it so i can see if it's raining etc, and it had ice on it.

Just had 2 fried eggs this morning with fresh bread, my shopping came, lovely.

I copied another recipe down from a video, i have 18 now and decided to make the Crispy Cauliflower one, i was doing fine until half way through, i should have removed the fried cauliflower because i carried on with the next section, but i didn't, so i was adding all the next section of spices etc onto the cauliflower in the pan, when i should have added it after all the spices were in and fried, couldn't go back so carried on, anyway, i ate it all, quite a lot though but very tasty.

A lot of work but if you want to make your own meals it's the penalty you have to make.

My jar of chopped green chillies came today, the driver didn't mention he had been yesterday or not, they are always in a hurry.

Had a message left on the phone from dhl saying we owe money for a parcel that came and it has got some costs and vat, maybe import duty or something, will have to look online.

My Rice Flour didn't come or the 2mm screws might come tomorrow.

Just had an email from hmrc saying my tax code has changed, and it could be due to 

• a job
• your pay
• your company benefits such as a company car
• your pension.

I had an letter this morning stating what my state pension will be from April.

Mollie, Yes, it's handy ordering the repeat prescription online, o/h picked the meds up this morning before she came home.

Good idea getting Son trainers while he is off, most lads hate shopping i imagine.

strange them no ringing back about the Wok, i might ring them and see why not, it's not ideal using big frying pans instead.

Yes, to sign up for the online serves you need to fill in forms and provide 2 types of ID in person.

To defrost freezers you just need a container to hold the bags of frozen food untill the job is done, normally you turn off the freezer, empty it and place containers of hot water inside but you need to check how to collect the water from the ice as it defrosts, on my new one it has a screw cap in the side at the bottom to drain the water, I think my big American freezer is automatic, haven't seen any ice. 

Emptybox, such a shame the Women's curlers lost, but the other team was just so good, and watching a bit of the other semi, it's going to be a good final, Korea are unbelievable.

Now you know your visitors are not coming this weekend i would go round and put all the dust back were it was.

The system in Scotland must be different because automatic supple of repeat prescriptions has been stopped here, only a few months ago now.

I got the Venison steak when doing a bit of shopping at a Farm Shop, wouldn't bother again as it's like Kangaroo etc, unless there's nothing else why bother, i just cooked it to get rid out of the freezer really.

Just type Mobile Tyre Service into Google and you get loads of pages, of course they will supply tyres etc but they wouldn't turn down any work so they have the facility to change tyres and balance them etc.

I agree, it would be easier with the tyres being on their own wheels, good idea, a lot easier and you can usually pick a set of steel rims up cheap enough.

My chest freezer does say defrost it when the ice is 4mm thick, but i do love chest freezers.

Watching Supervet at the mo.

I see they are looking for programs to replace BB if they scrap it, the ratings are so bad now, gone down from 5m when it started to 1.2m.

Hi Hicky.
Frosty here first thing, and then a dull cold day.
Went to Lidl again. My shop cost less than £30, and I'm sure it would have been nearly £50 at Sainsburys.

That's a good idea having a weather test dish. I always look at the flat roof at the back as it's got a metal skin on it, so shows any rain drops. Plus it dries up very fast as well when the rain has stopped. I can look out at it from the landing window.

Pity your cauliflower recipe didn't quite go to plan, but I'm sure it was nice anyway. And pity the venison wasn't up to much.
That's a bit of a blow, owing more money on a parcel. Make sure it's genuine before paying anything.

When I defrost the freezer I either put the food into the fridge, or if there's not enough room I put it into an old chest freezer that isn't working. It keeps it insulated anyway. 
There's a silly arrangement with a fold out rubber spout at the bottom of the freezer, where you are supposed to put a tray to catch the water, but it doesn't really work, and I always get drips, so have to put newspaper down in the back kitchen to soak it up.

Yes the Swedish curlers were very good, but Eve Muirhead made a few bad shots as well. Never mind though, as they've still got a chance of a Bronze tomorrow. The same as they got 4 years ago (there's only one new member on the team since then).

Been watching the 3 hour programme on the 'Old Grey Whistle Test' on BBC4.
I used to love that programme when I was a teenager.

both xxx

Emptybox

shame your visitors aren't coming this week,, hope the cleaing you have done holds up till they do come.

Yes my freezer must defrost automatically, as I have never seen ice on it.

It is one of those that fold open down the middle, American type one. I didn't go for one with a drinks dispenser though as I thought it would be fiddly to keep changing it.

Glad to see you have joined the Lidl fan club, it is so incredibly cheap compared to other supermarkets, but quality of their stuff is real good with lots of local produce on offer. I alos like the different stuff each week that they sell down the middle aisles. Did you pick up one of  their weekly leaflets, as I noticed next week they are selling garden eqpuipment?  I sent OH there to get some essentials this morning. He managed to get a nice bottle of wine, good quality but about £2 a bottle cheaper than the other supermarkets. I like their clothes too, my lads have had a few really warm fleeces from there too.

Enjoy your beer and spag bol tonight.

Hicky

it must be cold if your weather test dish has ice on it.

It feels cold in the wind here too but lovely in the sun.

Pity about your caulifower not going quite right, but as you say, if you want to make your own recipes, these things do happen. But I think home made stuff always tastes the best. I like cauliflower cheese, but I do cheat a bit, I boil the coly then mix together a packet of cheese sauce instead of making my own, then I grate cheese on top, and pop it in the oven, so it does't take long.

Wonder if it was your son that has sent the parcel if it has import duty?

Gosh more correspondance from HMRC! Hope they sort it for you ok this time.

Such a shame if they scrap BB, as ok figures aren't as high as they were, but 1.5million is sitll pretty high and surely it doesn't cost much to produce it? I will really miss it if it goes.

Went with my neighbour and friend to see son's musiclal yesterday. It was very good, and I'm going again tonight with OH as I like musicals.

No wonder he is tired at the end of the day with doing 2 shows, dancing and singing involved. At least he enjoys it though. And at show end they all go to a nice hotel bar for a drink and snacks provided by the director, so I don't expect he will get to bed till the early hours tonight.

I didn't watch anything last night as I was out at theatre, so will catch up on Corrie, gosh forgot to record Jane and her cruising and I love that, so hope it is on catch up. Did you remember to watch her Emptybox?

I have made an appointment to go and see solicitor on Wednesday afternoon so I can pass all the paperwork over to him, I think I have sent most who need it the death certificate, so have made a good start.

Haven't touched the HMRC stuff though. He can deal with them!

Have a good day both, a wonderful sunny day here to dry my washing as it is also a bit windy. A cold wind, but doesn't matter as it will still dry the sheets well. xxx

Evening Both.

A cold start to the day, but rising to 5c later, dry with 6.8 hours of sun, winds of 12.

Had a quick walk round the garden, no point in doing any work outside, decided to have a day without too much spice as i don't know if it's that good for me, too much i mean.

Had hash browns sausage and beans for brekkie with baked spuds belly pork and gravy for tea, put a little chilli turmeric and paprika in the gravy to give it a bit more taste.

A pity the last shot in the ladies curling failed, but thats the chance you take.

My Rice Flour came today, am thinking of getting some Paneer cheese so i can make the (Paneer Butter Masala) but of course i could use other stuff rather than that, but Paneer doesn't melt when heated, it is only cheap in the shop but if i order online i have to pay £12 to get it delivered as it has to stay refrigerated. 

Mollie, I think i overcooked the cauliflower, i probably should have just blanched it, will know next time.

That was nice, going to see your sons musical, yes, a lot of shows have a get together afterwards, glad he's enjoying it.

I recorded Jane but was watching those 5 on the canals, crazy bunch.

It must have been the last parcel we got, which was the big case, we had 2 cases though, one from the USA and one from Australia, i put the code given me by DHL and it came up with the costs i owe and how to pay, customs probably thought we were importing goods we had bought as we put returned goods on the listing as we didn't know what to put, it must have been some uk charges as we had paid DHL for the delivery, but a computer kept ringing the house every morning with all the details so thought it best to pay, they emailed a receipt anyway.

Emptybox, Yes, Lidl stuff with be cheaper but we found that most of the food was unknown makes and o/h won't buy them, she likes to know who is making the food or were it is coming from.

A fold out tube to empy any water from the freezer while defrosting sounds good, i have seen a screw lid on mine, will have to look to see if there is a bit of pipe, i have got the freezer standing on some planks so it is off the floor so it will be easy to clean it out as i can put a tray under the drain hole.

Such a shame the last stone curled didn't make the grade, heartbreaking for the team, if she had been good enough she could have tried to draw the last stone to the spot but it would have to be perfect, thats the problem.

Ah well, watched Supervet, i can watch Jane then later The Voice.

Evening both.
No frost here, and a nice sunny day. A bit colder tonight though.

Yes, very bad luck for the girls in the Curling. Unfortunately Eve wasn't on form, or she'd have made that last shot.

Better result in the rugby though?

Mollie. I wouldn't say I'd joined the Lidl fan club as such. I like the prices, but don't really like shopping there. My one is too small and overcrowded. Plus I agree with Hicky a bit. Some of the stuff is really good, but it puts me off a bit that they use all those made up names for the produce, to make it sound like it comes from farms etc. But I guess all the supermarkets do that.
I've found a really nice dark chocolate there though, and i can get my Saturday beer cheaper than at Sainsburys

Didn't see any leaflets about gardening stuff, so thanks for the heads up. Don't think there's anything I need just now though. I'll probably be needing to buy a mower soon, but I won't find it at Lidl.
I always have a look in the centre aisle, just to see if there's anything interesting.

That's good that your son's musical is doing well.
Yes, it is a long day for him, but nice that they get drinks and snacks afterwards.
That's good that you are going to be able to hand over the legal stuff to do with your Mum's estate over to the solicitor.
No I didn't see Jane McDonald this week. I must have been watching something else.

Hicky.  Yes, too much spicy food isn't good for the prostate, so I try not to have too much. It might not help you either.
That's good that your flour came. I've never heard of Paneer cheese, but i just looked it up.
Hope you didn't have to pay too much for the customs on your suitcase? 
That's a good idea, having your freezer raised, so it can be drained when needed. Mine is just on small feet, so I can't get a tray underneath it, so it always makes a mess when defrosting it.

Didn't watch The Voice again this week. Watched Casualty and then Troy.

Evening Emptybox.

The days are getting longer ok, cold though, 4.9c max, dry sun for 8.2 hours, cold winds of 12.

Didn't stay out for long, no point, might as well wait for it to get warmer, it will all keep, had 3 fried eggs on toast for brekkie, was going to have either ribeye steak of make a chicken meal, decided to use up a kit i have of chicken tikka masala so i did that, it was ok, had it with a pack of vegetable rice.

Will have to make a list of the jobs i have to do in the garden, have got a while yet so no hurry.

I looked on the web to see what hmrc were on about, it is because they will change my tax code but hard to tell which year they are talking about because what i paid in January 2018 was for the year 2016/17 so next Jan will be for 2017/18 and they shown me the tax code for 2018/19 but it must be this year i will have to pay another £68, it must be done by computer because on 2 pages the sums shown were different

I had some trouble with too much spice when i got back from Singapore because i started eating meals very hot with chilli but i have been eating hot dishes for over 60 years so it shouldn't bother me too much.

I hadn't heard of Paneer cheese either, but it was in a recipe, looking online you can get it in any supermarket, it is mainly used in Indian dishes as it doesn't melt with heat, i need it to make that Paneer dish.

 The cost of the customs and vat was £82, never found out what it was for, i had had 2 cases sent so not sure which one it was for really.

DOI on now, goody.

Evening Hicky.
No frost when I got up, but a very cold sunny day.
Went to Sainsburys this afternoon.
Watched the Olympics closing ceremony.

Don't think there'll be much chance of much gardening for you (or me) next week, if the forecasters are to be believed.
It seems the weather forecasters are revelling in this coming cold weather, because they know they'll be in the news.
I was watching one weather girl telling us about the dangers of the cold and possible disruption because of snow, and she was grinning and winking at the camera as she said it.

I wouldn't try and work out what HMRC are on about. If they haven't got a clue, there's not much chance of you fathoming it. Just be grateful if the price they ask is not too high.
That's quite a lot to have to pay on that suitcase.

Watched Endeavour earlier.