Well the gas man came yesterday around 11.15am. It was a cold dull and wet day, he was a very nice man and talkative, He did not stop at all. Firstly he covered all over the place with dust sheets and started to dismantle the old boiler. This was a heavy boiler about 40kg. He eventually managed to dismantle it, then went into the garage, fetched the new boiler. A Worcester Bosch supposed to be one of the best sorts around. He had such a lot to do, I asked him if he wished to have a cup of tea. He readily agreed, mind you he didn't stop at all. At one point I saw him coming in from his van with a round of bread in his hand. I had to grin. Well after several hours, he had more or less done what he could do for the day this included having the new boiler working. He then went on the computer. Not an exciting scene, bad connection, also very slow, while he was on the computer his supervisor called in to see how things were progressing. I told him he hadn't stopped at all. Eventually the supervisor went away but he told me he was O K as he was just a stand in. He then told me that he had started work at 7.30am. This was travelling from his home to his first job, he then told me he didn't expect to get home before 7.00pm. He certainly didn't make it home by then. He actually left mine at 6.30pm and it was to take him 90 minutes. He had arranged before he left, an electrician to call today before 9.00am and he would be here at 9.00am. When on his computer he had to put my other LPG appliances I had, a gas cooker and a gas fire. He then proceeded to check my fire. Bad news, it was not working properly. He suggested that he thought my liner where the fumes are supposed to go was blocked. He told me that almost certainly it would be cobwebs. He has told me what to do and was kind enough to leave a few smoke bombs. My friend will come and have a look to see what he can do. Suffice to say it will not be used again until it is safe to do so.
Today was just as different to yesterday, almost unbroken sunshine and very warm. I went out the front and started to clear a few weeds from my driveway, looking for the gasman who was the electrician. Yes it sounds funny but he does work for British Gas. Luckily I saw him and suggested where he parked his van as the gas man doing the fitting would be here and his van was a lot larger and I did not want him to be blocked in. This was about 8 45 when he arrived. It was not as straight forward as he though, so much so that it was almost 12.30pm when he left. Mind you I has very impressed with what he had done. In the meantime the gas man was going at it not stopping again. He told me that he was soaked to the skin when he got home, somewhere near 8 30pm. He went and checked everything too and made sure that all was working to his satisfaction. As with the electrician, everything had to be just so. To be honest, I am so pleased that I chose British Gas to install the appliance, yes I could have had it done cheaper, but certainly no where near as good. He eventually left me at about 1.15 pm. I now wait to see if my gas bill will be any cheaper. It certainly looks much nicer than the old one. It did me a good service though for around 12 years and was reliable. Well that's today over with. See what tomorrow brings. The forecast is not good. My friend is off to Newark. U.K . Something to do with Amaetur Radio and electronics. He taught Morse Code so goes to these shows generally once a year. Otherwise he would probably be here messing around with my fire. Will keep all who are interested informed. More soon.
Thursday, 30 September 2010
Tuesday, 28 September 2010
Just a short note
Today I had a delivery of the new Gas Central Heating Boiler. It is LPG and is supposed to be a very energy efficient one, I hope they are right because I had a letter from my supplier today informing me that prices had increased by 3p a litre. I am tied in with them until around June next year. Well I rang up and asked them to justify the increase so early, the usual waffle was spoken, he did not know what to say though when I informed him that on the web a price of less than 40p was guaranteed until the end of September. I was now being charged 49p. I informed him that it was almost certain that any increase would not bring the price to what I was now being charged. I guess I will be looking around for a new supplier next year.
Weather is supposed to be awful tomorrow, the gas men are due to start installing the new boiler, at least it is not as cold as it was at the week end. Will keep all informed. More soon.
Weather is supposed to be awful tomorrow, the gas men are due to start installing the new boiler, at least it is not as cold as it was at the week end. Will keep all informed. More soon.
Monday, 27 September 2010
Sad
Today is a sad day for me, I will not go into much detail only to say that a young friend is desperately ill and in a coma. Whether I will tell all I do not know, suffice to say that I am devastated, but life goes on.
My friend from near Chesterfield in U.K. rang me up the other day. We are best friends and keep regular in touch.
In the course of the conversation I mentioned my local friend had gone on a web site and noticed that there was an offer saying that they would install solar panels to a suitable property but any surplus energy sold to the National Grid would go to the suppliers. My friend immediately told me that his son had ordered solar panels, in fact he told me that the scaffolding was up ready to start installing the panels on Monday. He did not know exactly all of the information but said the total cost was I think £15,000.00p and that the company said he would be paid 40pence for each unit not required and sold back to the Grid. He also said that over a period of 10 years he should get a return of at least 6%. He also told me that 3 firms had come to give an estimate for the work and all of them offered deals. However my friend stated that his son decided not to accept any offers and just proceed with the fitting of the solar panels.
We both wait to see just how much energy it will produce. It will be interesting.
As for my Central Heating I was out but had a message left informing me that tomorrow the equipmentt will be delivered before 1.00pm. ready for work to begin on Wednesday. We will wait and see. More soon perhaps.
My friend from near Chesterfield in U.K. rang me up the other day. We are best friends and keep regular in touch.
In the course of the conversation I mentioned my local friend had gone on a web site and noticed that there was an offer saying that they would install solar panels to a suitable property but any surplus energy sold to the National Grid would go to the suppliers. My friend immediately told me that his son had ordered solar panels, in fact he told me that the scaffolding was up ready to start installing the panels on Monday. He did not know exactly all of the information but said the total cost was I think £15,000.00p and that the company said he would be paid 40pence for each unit not required and sold back to the Grid. He also said that over a period of 10 years he should get a return of at least 6%. He also told me that 3 firms had come to give an estimate for the work and all of them offered deals. However my friend stated that his son decided not to accept any offers and just proceed with the fitting of the solar panels.
We both wait to see just how much energy it will produce. It will be interesting.
As for my Central Heating I was out but had a message left informing me that tomorrow the equipmentt will be delivered before 1.00pm. ready for work to begin on Wednesday. We will wait and see. More soon perhaps.
Friday, 24 September 2010
Not a lot
I do not have much to say today, I guess I am like the weather. It has been very poor today, early heavy rain and increasing cold northerly winds. My friend was going to visit me on his new motorbike but the weather was just too bad. Next week I have the gas men in fitting my new energy efficient boiler so he will have to wait a little longer to show me it. I am looking forward to seeing it though. Just seeing it, at my age will not be riding pillion though.
Now an update on my shares ( securities on the stock market) Those who have read all of my boring site will know all the shares I have bought. I did however sell my shares in Severn Trent. Well I have again maximised my portfolio with the purchase of shares in Legal and General so I am once again fully laden. Mind you this last week or so has been a little bumpy, but as I informed all my main intention was to purchase them for their income. I must admit though Legal and General shares are as much for an increase in share value as much as income. The income is somewhere near 4% per annum so not too bad at all.
Did not go out in the garden today, only to pick a few carrots for our meal. We had potatoes carrots and marrow with a couple of chicken drumsticks. I thoroughly enjoyed them. I left them cooking for a while longer than normal as somebody was on ICQ talking to me.
I guess that is all for now. More soon.
Now an update on my shares ( securities on the stock market) Those who have read all of my boring site will know all the shares I have bought. I did however sell my shares in Severn Trent. Well I have again maximised my portfolio with the purchase of shares in Legal and General so I am once again fully laden. Mind you this last week or so has been a little bumpy, but as I informed all my main intention was to purchase them for their income. I must admit though Legal and General shares are as much for an increase in share value as much as income. The income is somewhere near 4% per annum so not too bad at all.
Did not go out in the garden today, only to pick a few carrots for our meal. We had potatoes carrots and marrow with a couple of chicken drumsticks. I thoroughly enjoyed them. I left them cooking for a while longer than normal as somebody was on ICQ talking to me.
I guess that is all for now. More soon.
Wednesday, 22 September 2010
Golf
This is perfectlt true. I was looking at some old stuff and came across a golf card. This was the first time I played golf.
It all came about like this, I had a young man working for me for several years, I even started baking and selling bread rolls to keep him working all the year round. Well he decided to leave but told me that he found someone else who wanted his job. I however decided to close the bakery side and close for the winter months just concentrating on the restaurant side but still doing bread rolls for the restaurant.
I had become great friends with a man who had recently moved to the seaside and was in business too. Well we were together when a salesman who sold catering food came in. On finding out that I had closed the bakery side he stated that I would now have time to go and play golf. My friend stated that he had played golf and had been a member of a golf club at Shirland in Derbyshire. With that the salesman said to us that he would get us an application card, get it proposed and seconded. All we had to do was fill in our names and addresses and he would then pick up the application forms, hand them in and we would become members.
This was just before May and when May Bank Holiday had gone my friend suggested that we go to the golf club. I readily agreed and we duly went to the golf club. Funnily enough I had lived in the area for over 15 years and did not know where to golf course was. He had lived here around 1 year and knew where it was. We arrived there and my friend was showing me how to hold a golf club and how to swing . He had all the equipment well there was a shout from a young lad who turned out to be the golf professional. He stated that the practice area was not where we were and pointed out where it was. My friend stated we had not come to practice but to join. On hearing this he informed us that you could not just join like that. On hearing from my friend that we had the application forms filled and sent in by this salesman, he went straight to the secretary's office, came back and asked if we had any money. My friend had his cheque book so he paid for mine as well plus enough for me to get sufficient gear to start playing. That is half a set. We found out later that the salesman was actually a committee member.
Well by now the time was just after 11.00am and we started to practice, it started off being a lovely dull morning but the sun started to break through the clouds so that by noon there was not a cloud to be seen and hardly any wind at all. About 12.30pm the salesman came over to us. He was pleased that we had joined and told us that he would show us the golf course after he had a pint of beer.
Now I must tell you that although I had worked every day I did not go out and walk at all. After about 20 minutes he came and showed us the locker room made sure that we had a scorecard. He then said to me that I should put on my card"For handicap purposes". I did this and he took my card.
I do not know if you will believe me but my scores were as follows. First hole 11 second 6 third 10 fourth 9 fifth 8 sixth 13 seventh 8 eighth 12 nineth 14. Out in 91 Inward nine as follows. Tenth 8 eleventh 13 twelth 10 thirteenth 9 fourteenth 14 fifteenth 10 sixteenth 14 seventeenth 8 eighteenth 9. Inward 9 totalling 95. A grand total of 186 for a full round. It must be remembered that until that day, I had never picked up a golf club or had any idea of golf at all. I can tell you this though, I was completely shattered and to this day don't know how I managed to cover the last 2 holes. but could not wait to get out on the course again.
When we had finished the round, the salesman suggested that the card would not be used for handicap purposes. I readily agreed. This was by far the highest score I ever attained. I did improve over the next few years. So much so that I managed to get down to a single figure handicap golfer.
I was telling a fellow golfer in the clubhouse who was bemoaning his bad round of golf. I told him that my first round was 186 and that I had managed to get down to a single figure golfer. Well the stewardess, who did the work voluntarily heard me say this, she told a friend that she was going to take up golf, this was because I had started so badly but had improved so much. She did join and although did not get down to single figures played well to her handicap and enjoyed the game. That is what the game of golf is all about really.
Somebody asked me what I saw in golf. I just said to him that when you were young and you asked your Mother if you could go out and play and she said yes. You were so excited, well that is the feeling I get every time I go to play golf. Hope I have not bored anybody. More soon.
It all came about like this, I had a young man working for me for several years, I even started baking and selling bread rolls to keep him working all the year round. Well he decided to leave but told me that he found someone else who wanted his job. I however decided to close the bakery side and close for the winter months just concentrating on the restaurant side but still doing bread rolls for the restaurant.
I had become great friends with a man who had recently moved to the seaside and was in business too. Well we were together when a salesman who sold catering food came in. On finding out that I had closed the bakery side he stated that I would now have time to go and play golf. My friend stated that he had played golf and had been a member of a golf club at Shirland in Derbyshire. With that the salesman said to us that he would get us an application card, get it proposed and seconded. All we had to do was fill in our names and addresses and he would then pick up the application forms, hand them in and we would become members.
This was just before May and when May Bank Holiday had gone my friend suggested that we go to the golf club. I readily agreed and we duly went to the golf club. Funnily enough I had lived in the area for over 15 years and did not know where to golf course was. He had lived here around 1 year and knew where it was. We arrived there and my friend was showing me how to hold a golf club and how to swing . He had all the equipment well there was a shout from a young lad who turned out to be the golf professional. He stated that the practice area was not where we were and pointed out where it was. My friend stated we had not come to practice but to join. On hearing this he informed us that you could not just join like that. On hearing from my friend that we had the application forms filled and sent in by this salesman, he went straight to the secretary's office, came back and asked if we had any money. My friend had his cheque book so he paid for mine as well plus enough for me to get sufficient gear to start playing. That is half a set. We found out later that the salesman was actually a committee member.
Well by now the time was just after 11.00am and we started to practice, it started off being a lovely dull morning but the sun started to break through the clouds so that by noon there was not a cloud to be seen and hardly any wind at all. About 12.30pm the salesman came over to us. He was pleased that we had joined and told us that he would show us the golf course after he had a pint of beer.
Now I must tell you that although I had worked every day I did not go out and walk at all. After about 20 minutes he came and showed us the locker room made sure that we had a scorecard. He then said to me that I should put on my card"For handicap purposes". I did this and he took my card.
I do not know if you will believe me but my scores were as follows. First hole 11 second 6 third 10 fourth 9 fifth 8 sixth 13 seventh 8 eighth 12 nineth 14. Out in 91 Inward nine as follows. Tenth 8 eleventh 13 twelth 10 thirteenth 9 fourteenth 14 fifteenth 10 sixteenth 14 seventeenth 8 eighteenth 9. Inward 9 totalling 95. A grand total of 186 for a full round. It must be remembered that until that day, I had never picked up a golf club or had any idea of golf at all. I can tell you this though, I was completely shattered and to this day don't know how I managed to cover the last 2 holes. but could not wait to get out on the course again.
When we had finished the round, the salesman suggested that the card would not be used for handicap purposes. I readily agreed. This was by far the highest score I ever attained. I did improve over the next few years. So much so that I managed to get down to a single figure handicap golfer.
I was telling a fellow golfer in the clubhouse who was bemoaning his bad round of golf. I told him that my first round was 186 and that I had managed to get down to a single figure golfer. Well the stewardess, who did the work voluntarily heard me say this, she told a friend that she was going to take up golf, this was because I had started so badly but had improved so much. She did join and although did not get down to single figures played well to her handicap and enjoyed the game. That is what the game of golf is all about really.
Somebody asked me what I saw in golf. I just said to him that when you were young and you asked your Mother if you could go out and play and she said yes. You were so excited, well that is the feeling I get every time I go to play golf. Hope I have not bored anybody. More soon.
Tuesday, 21 September 2010
Wonderful day weather wise
I could not believe just how warm it has been today. Even now at dusk it is almost 19c. Unfortunately the runner beans suffered the very cold week end and if the weather stays this way, I will get more beans in about a week. Unfortunately, tomorrow is the last nice day forecast. As we all know it is the autumn equinox when the hours of daylight and darkness are the same. From tomorrow onwards it brings winter nearer. Back to the weather, after tomorrow which is supposed to be similar to today, Thursday is going to be dull and rainy and on Friday a cold northerly wind takes over and the week end is going to be cold. Don't know yet if any frosts are forecast. Hope not though.
My neighbour called and gave me 6 new laid eggs, she then told me she had been to the beach, about 2 km away. A little more than a mile. She told me there were lots of people there. I was surprised and told her so as around here it is generally known as a summer only holiday area and when the children are not at school, then it is busy, weather permitting.
At least tomorrow will be nice and warm, that is good for me as I go for a blood test so I can wear just a light top saving me from getting half undressed when I go to the treatment room.
Will be pleased when I get my new central heating boiler fitted. I hope it is nice and warm when they do it as it will take 2 days. It is at the end of the month.
Just a little note on my garden. Well fuchsias really. Last year near the end of September my Italian friend gave me some cuttings. I nurtured them , kept most of them indoors during the cold winter we had, planted them out early this year, it has been such a disappointing year. I think I had originally took 24 cuttings with the plants. To be honest, the ones that have done best are the ones that die off completely then grow each year. Mind you, they have been poor. It is only now that there are a few of the cuttings that may have the odd flower on but several just died. I think it was the extreme hot and dry early May and June. Most will have forgotten that by now. I will soon start to dig them up and once again try to save them for another year. Oh well another topic soon.
My neighbour called and gave me 6 new laid eggs, she then told me she had been to the beach, about 2 km away. A little more than a mile. She told me there were lots of people there. I was surprised and told her so as around here it is generally known as a summer only holiday area and when the children are not at school, then it is busy, weather permitting.
At least tomorrow will be nice and warm, that is good for me as I go for a blood test so I can wear just a light top saving me from getting half undressed when I go to the treatment room.
Will be pleased when I get my new central heating boiler fitted. I hope it is nice and warm when they do it as it will take 2 days. It is at the end of the month.
Just a little note on my garden. Well fuchsias really. Last year near the end of September my Italian friend gave me some cuttings. I nurtured them , kept most of them indoors during the cold winter we had, planted them out early this year, it has been such a disappointing year. I think I had originally took 24 cuttings with the plants. To be honest, the ones that have done best are the ones that die off completely then grow each year. Mind you, they have been poor. It is only now that there are a few of the cuttings that may have the odd flower on but several just died. I think it was the extreme hot and dry early May and June. Most will have forgotten that by now. I will soon start to dig them up and once again try to save them for another year. Oh well another topic soon.
Monday, 20 September 2010
True Story
Today I write something different.
I thought about this story while I was in bed. It happened when I was in buisness. It was around 1971. I had not been in business too long and I had a cafe/ snack bar which I later turned into a restaurant. s well as the local youths visiting me in the winter months a few local elder people also used my place. One such man was a beachcomber, he was an unkempt man in his late 50s. He told me that he would fill my freezer of fish for me for the coming season. I, to be honest would never have had anything from him as I did not fancy eating anything that he had touched. It is said that his place was the dirtiest place around. Anyway, he told me this about the fish. It was cod that he was talking about. To be honest I just didn't believe him. Coming from the midlands I just never expected it possible to catch fish at the seaside. I had the shock of my life when one day in late winter, he entered the cafe with a hessian sack and produced 2 of the largest fish I had seen. One was over a metre long and the other one was almost as long. I had no idea what they were only to notice that they had huge heads. He told me that they were cod. He then proceeded to give me information about how his records over the last 15 years had noticed that each year, catches were getting less and the size was also getting smaller. I asked him how he caught them and he told me that he and some of the old timers would bait lines. What they did was have an anchor and a long line with several offshoots and these lines were baited with I think ragworms which were dug for in the sand. When the tide was out they would check to see if any fish were on the lines rebait and then wait for the next low tide. He then asked me to go down and he would show me how it was done.
It was many months later when I eventually did go down to see him. It was on Christmas Day. It was the only day I had off. Anyway my dog which was a Jack Russell was friends with the beachcombers dog which was an Alsatian. My dog rarely made friend but these two got on very well. So he told me the time to go down and I duly did. Being Christmas we were the only people on the beach. He started to check to see if he had caught anything. Yes he had, a nice cod about 2 kilos. He just left it on the beach and then started to bait the lines again. My dog then started to take the worms off, I shouted to him and he stopped. Then he did something incredible, he cocked his leg and peed over the cod. I was hoping and praying that the beachcomber would not turn round. Thank goodness he didn't. Naturally his Alsatian who was called Lucky went to do the same just as the beachcomber turned round. He gave the Alsatian the biggest kick up the backside, turned to me and told me he had never done that before and couldn't understand why. I dare not tell him. Anyway he just washed the cod in sea water, finished baiting and we started to walk up the beach. Two people were walking on the sea front and noticed his fish, asked him if it was for sale, so they had the fish that my dog had initiated. I don't suppose for one minute it made any difference, but that was a true episode. It was I guess around 1972 Christmas Day. It seems now though that there are very few cod caught that way now. More's the pity. The bechcomber also caught crabs in May time. Often he called into mine for a cup of tea and several crabs would be crawling all over the place. Those were the days. More soon.
I thought about this story while I was in bed. It happened when I was in buisness. It was around 1971. I had not been in business too long and I had a cafe/ snack bar which I later turned into a restaurant. s well as the local youths visiting me in the winter months a few local elder people also used my place. One such man was a beachcomber, he was an unkempt man in his late 50s. He told me that he would fill my freezer of fish for me for the coming season. I, to be honest would never have had anything from him as I did not fancy eating anything that he had touched. It is said that his place was the dirtiest place around. Anyway, he told me this about the fish. It was cod that he was talking about. To be honest I just didn't believe him. Coming from the midlands I just never expected it possible to catch fish at the seaside. I had the shock of my life when one day in late winter, he entered the cafe with a hessian sack and produced 2 of the largest fish I had seen. One was over a metre long and the other one was almost as long. I had no idea what they were only to notice that they had huge heads. He told me that they were cod. He then proceeded to give me information about how his records over the last 15 years had noticed that each year, catches were getting less and the size was also getting smaller. I asked him how he caught them and he told me that he and some of the old timers would bait lines. What they did was have an anchor and a long line with several offshoots and these lines were baited with I think ragworms which were dug for in the sand. When the tide was out they would check to see if any fish were on the lines rebait and then wait for the next low tide. He then asked me to go down and he would show me how it was done.
It was many months later when I eventually did go down to see him. It was on Christmas Day. It was the only day I had off. Anyway my dog which was a Jack Russell was friends with the beachcombers dog which was an Alsatian. My dog rarely made friend but these two got on very well. So he told me the time to go down and I duly did. Being Christmas we were the only people on the beach. He started to check to see if he had caught anything. Yes he had, a nice cod about 2 kilos. He just left it on the beach and then started to bait the lines again. My dog then started to take the worms off, I shouted to him and he stopped. Then he did something incredible, he cocked his leg and peed over the cod. I was hoping and praying that the beachcomber would not turn round. Thank goodness he didn't. Naturally his Alsatian who was called Lucky went to do the same just as the beachcomber turned round. He gave the Alsatian the biggest kick up the backside, turned to me and told me he had never done that before and couldn't understand why. I dare not tell him. Anyway he just washed the cod in sea water, finished baiting and we started to walk up the beach. Two people were walking on the sea front and noticed his fish, asked him if it was for sale, so they had the fish that my dog had initiated. I don't suppose for one minute it made any difference, but that was a true episode. It was I guess around 1972 Christmas Day. It seems now though that there are very few cod caught that way now. More's the pity. The bechcomber also caught crabs in May time. Often he called into mine for a cup of tea and several crabs would be crawling all over the place. Those were the days. More soon.
Thursday, 16 September 2010
Hospital and other things
As promised I now show photo of marrow. I did not mention it but the postman who is a nice young man told me that he gets his marrows ripe. they will store then for some time. He then uses the inside, not as I and most do as a vegetable either steaming or boiling but as a roast round any joint of meat. I remarked to him that the outer skin would be very hard, he told me he uses a carving knife. I suggested that he might use a bread knife as it has a serrated edge. I don't think I will try this new method though.
Now to other things. I duly went to hospital today as an outpatient. My appointment was for 8.30am. I have never been there before that early. Anyway I got there at 8.20am. To my surprise the place was locked up and in darkness. I saw a nurse go in the side door so I asked her what time the outpatients department opened. She told me 8.30am. I then informed her that my appointment was for that time. She just told me that perhaps they would open a little early. No hope. At precicely 8.30 a worker opened the door and I then booked in. I did not have to wait long to see my consultant. I was a little disappointed with the outcome but that is life.
When I left hospital about 9.00am I went to see my Italian friend. He showed me his garden and greenhouse. I was a little surprised to see that his grapes were a little larger than mine although they are the same strain. Mind you his vine is so much thicker than mine. I hope that I will have a better year with them next year. They are getting sweeter though. My Italian friend informed me that in October they are at their best. I will wait and see. On leaving I went to see my friend at the Kiosk. He had only just arrived and for the 2 preceeding days had not bothered to open. I did not stay there long. I did take him some runner beans though. I told him that the forecast was not good for the afternoon. It was not and from noon time there were regular heavy showers.
When I arrived home, I went and watered the greenhouse and polytunnel, noticed that some tomatoes were ready, picked some, also a few beetroot a bunch of grapes and with some runner beans took them round next door. They were pleased but I suggested that this might be the last of the produce for the year. We will wait and see. More soon.
Tuesday, 14 September 2010
Nothing much
Over the last few days, nothing much has happened, I think this is mainly due to the weather, although I must admit I do not go out much at all.
I do feel guilty though about not visiting my friends who took over my old business in 1998. They still keep in contact so I must make an effort to travel to see them. I may kill 2 birds with one stone as I have to go to hospital on Thursday morning. I will call to see my Italian friend on the way back and may take a small detour to see the friends at the kiosk.
My American friend has wrote on his blog that they have had plenty of rain. It is not just in the USA it is here too. Windy to go with it but to be honest it has been nice and mild.
Still getting plenty of runner beans, also tomatoes are still ripening well. I have picked a marrow this afternoon will post a photo of it another time. It weighed just over 2 kilos almost 4 1/2 lbs. Must admit I have not done as well with the marrows, like many other veg this year, it has been a frustrating season. My leeks though look well and my sprouting broccoli which I have protected from the cabbage white butterflies look well too.
Gave my neighbour a bunch of grapes on Saturday, she was impressed with them or so she said, my neighbour the other side has yet to be given some. Must admit though they are getting nice and sweet.
Finally for now, I think I mentioned it before but I had a self setter tomato plant in my polytunnel. I just let it grow and really neglected it for ages. I eventually started to water it when I saw flowers on the plant. Now the tomatoes are nice and large, some are beginning to ripen, the only downside is that the plant, which I never staked has collapsed. I will though get tomatoes off it. Will keep all informed. More soon.
I do feel guilty though about not visiting my friends who took over my old business in 1998. They still keep in contact so I must make an effort to travel to see them. I may kill 2 birds with one stone as I have to go to hospital on Thursday morning. I will call to see my Italian friend on the way back and may take a small detour to see the friends at the kiosk.
My American friend has wrote on his blog that they have had plenty of rain. It is not just in the USA it is here too. Windy to go with it but to be honest it has been nice and mild.
Still getting plenty of runner beans, also tomatoes are still ripening well. I have picked a marrow this afternoon will post a photo of it another time. It weighed just over 2 kilos almost 4 1/2 lbs. Must admit I have not done as well with the marrows, like many other veg this year, it has been a frustrating season. My leeks though look well and my sprouting broccoli which I have protected from the cabbage white butterflies look well too.
Gave my neighbour a bunch of grapes on Saturday, she was impressed with them or so she said, my neighbour the other side has yet to be given some. Must admit though they are getting nice and sweet.
Finally for now, I think I mentioned it before but I had a self setter tomato plant in my polytunnel. I just let it grow and really neglected it for ages. I eventually started to water it when I saw flowers on the plant. Now the tomatoes are nice and large, some are beginning to ripen, the only downside is that the plant, which I never staked has collapsed. I will though get tomatoes off it. Will keep all informed. More soon.
Friday, 10 September 2010
A quickie
Yesterday my friend called to see me. Typical, also called was my Italian friend. The first thing he wanted to see was my grapes. I was quite surprised when he told me that they looked well and he was pleased how the vine had progressed. This has made me sure that the grapes will not be large at all. They will however get a lot sweeter as he told me that if left on the vine until late September or early October, they will get nice and sweet.
My friend was all ears as my Italian friend gave me 3 cuttings and I gave my friend one, I told him what to do but unfortunately did not follow my instructions fully. Thus making his vine a year behind mine. Next year he should have grapes on his vine.
Today to my surprise I had a delivery, yes a replacement remote control for my TV. This came out of the blue as I was informed that it would take between 7 and 10 days. Three cheers for Samsung. It was dispatched the same day I spoke to a guy called Max in Cairo. It is a little more modern and a lot easier to use.
Now to an update on my securities. Shares in other words. Anyone who reads regularly you will know that I went into the Stock Market and purchased share in some Companies. Well I must inform you that today I have sold all of my share in Severn Trent for a small profit. Well not that small really as I have only had them since 14th July this year. Well I have made about £700 profit. Now all I have at the present are Aviva, United Utilities, National Grid and Vodafone.. When I purchase more shares in another Company I will inform all.
Weather recently has not been good and today was no different, dull and rainy for most of the day but the good news is that it is not cold. Tomorrow is supposed to be only fair but Sunday should be better. We live in hopes. More soon.
My friend was all ears as my Italian friend gave me 3 cuttings and I gave my friend one, I told him what to do but unfortunately did not follow my instructions fully. Thus making his vine a year behind mine. Next year he should have grapes on his vine.
Today to my surprise I had a delivery, yes a replacement remote control for my TV. This came out of the blue as I was informed that it would take between 7 and 10 days. Three cheers for Samsung. It was dispatched the same day I spoke to a guy called Max in Cairo. It is a little more modern and a lot easier to use.
Now to an update on my securities. Shares in other words. Anyone who reads regularly you will know that I went into the Stock Market and purchased share in some Companies. Well I must inform you that today I have sold all of my share in Severn Trent for a small profit. Well not that small really as I have only had them since 14th July this year. Well I have made about £700 profit. Now all I have at the present are Aviva, United Utilities, National Grid and Vodafone.. When I purchase more shares in another Company I will inform all.
Weather recently has not been good and today was no different, dull and rainy for most of the day but the good news is that it is not cold. Tomorrow is supposed to be only fair but Sunday should be better. We live in hopes. More soon.
Wednesday, 8 September 2010
These potatoes were left in the polytunnel to ripen and what I have in the ground will be lifted and then should last me until the turn of the year.
I am not happy about the quality of the picture. This was taken about a week ago when I went to see my sister. I hope to take a better shot of the grapes later.
Now to other matters, yes we did get the heavy rain and gale force winds. It has incidentally made the runner beans grow like never before.
I do not know if I have mentioned it before but I have a LED TV. The main reason I bought it was for the economy as it uses less power than LCD TVs they in turn use less power than Plasma TVs. Back to the story. It is great when there is a golf, cricket or football as it is shown in actual movement. With a lot of LCD TVs they show like a blur or a trail not showing the ball until it starts to slow down.
My only gripe is the remote control. It is fully run like a computer. There is a pairing to get it started, this took ages to work but to be honest it has been working well, that is until yesterday. All of a sudden it just stopped working. I naturally thought it was the batteries. I changed them not once but twice, still no joy. I then tried to reset it by pressing the pairing button. Still nothing. Out comes the instruction book. It has over 100 pages and it is in very small print. Well I eventually found the help telephone number. I duly rung the number and to be honest, was not kept waiting long before I spoke to a guy called Max. He was very helpful but for anyone who has tried to ask for any help, they have a script and go through each stage. He asked me to confirm the serial number and product number. This took me ages, all Max kept saying was "Take your time". Eventually after every avenue was exhausted he then stated that he thought it best if another remote control unit would be forwarded to me. It would though take up to 14 days. I asked him where he was talking from. I would have never guessed where he would say but it turned out that he was speaking from Cairo in Egypt. Small world indeed! Incidentally the whole episode took about one hour of my time on the telephone. More soon.
Monday, 6 September 2010
Plenty of veg.
Well once again the week end has gone. It turned out to be nice but very very windy. I think I mentioned it but I was offered lots of plums. Typical, over the last few years I could not get many plums at all. To get ovet this about 6 years ago I bought my first plum tree. A couple of years later I bought another plum tree. This year my Early Laxton has been laden with fruit, so much so that today, I went and picked over 7lb of fruit that is more than 3 kilos. Also the runner beans have become so plentiful after the recent rains. I have given my neighbours all they require but still had lots left.
I decided to go to have my haircut today and as I went to the barbers I passed a fairly new fruit and veg shop. I have noticed it before and the produce always looked very fresh and nice. Anyway after having my hair cut, incidentally he only charged me £3. I was very surprised as it is generally £5. for adult and £3.50 for pensioners. Anyway when I left after about 45 minutes which I incidentally read about Wayne Rooney and the £1200 hooker, I called in to the veg shop and asked them if they would like some runner beans. They seemed to be nice and said yes but wanted to give me some money I of course refused. They then told me that the family had a smallholding in Old Leake. They showed me a few things and made a comment on the latest plums. They were dark. To be honest I thought they were Marjorie Seedlings but they seemed to think they were not English plums. I informed them that I would return tomorrow.
When travelling home I decided to pick a few plums and take them with the runner beans. I was surprised just how many and how quickly I picked the fruit. I then went back to town and pulled up on a double yellow line and went in and gave them the fruit and veg. To be honest, I did that for two reasons, firstly they were disappointed at the plums and secondly the weather for tonight and early tomorrow morning is not good. Very strong winds and heavy rain. That is my good deed for today. To be honest I would sooner give food away than throw it away, so I was very pleased. My friend will be here on Thursday so there will be none left after he has gone home. Then towards next week end next door will need some vegetables so things are good for tthis week. No need to worryabout getting rid of surplus vegetables. More soon.
I decided to go to have my haircut today and as I went to the barbers I passed a fairly new fruit and veg shop. I have noticed it before and the produce always looked very fresh and nice. Anyway after having my hair cut, incidentally he only charged me £3. I was very surprised as it is generally £5. for adult and £3.50 for pensioners. Anyway when I left after about 45 minutes which I incidentally read about Wayne Rooney and the £1200 hooker, I called in to the veg shop and asked them if they would like some runner beans. They seemed to be nice and said yes but wanted to give me some money I of course refused. They then told me that the family had a smallholding in Old Leake. They showed me a few things and made a comment on the latest plums. They were dark. To be honest I thought they were Marjorie Seedlings but they seemed to think they were not English plums. I informed them that I would return tomorrow.
When travelling home I decided to pick a few plums and take them with the runner beans. I was surprised just how many and how quickly I picked the fruit. I then went back to town and pulled up on a double yellow line and went in and gave them the fruit and veg. To be honest, I did that for two reasons, firstly they were disappointed at the plums and secondly the weather for tonight and early tomorrow morning is not good. Very strong winds and heavy rain. That is my good deed for today. To be honest I would sooner give food away than throw it away, so I was very pleased. My friend will be here on Thursday so there will be none left after he has gone home. Then towards next week end next door will need some vegetables so things are good for tthis week. No need to worryabout getting rid of surplus vegetables. More soon.
Friday, 3 September 2010
Money matters
I don't know if I mentioned it before but I live out in the country and we are not connected to the Gas network. We have the option of heating and cooking by either electricity, LPG or domestic heating oil. I chose LPG.
Last year as everyone knows winter arrived early and in November the LPG increased. It increased regular until in February this year the increase was from my original price to over 40%. When I had a top up in March. It was exactly 5 weeks to the day and the cost was just a few pence short of £250.00. Easy to work out that it was costing me £50 a week give a copper or two. I mailed them and told them I could not continue to spend over 50% of my weekly income on LPG just to heat my home also heat water and use it for cooking. All I really got was an excuse that there was a shortage of LPG and the cost would reduce as soon as possible. I just thought what a stupid thing to say. In other words, the cost of LPG will drop when nobody needs it. Unfortunately a tank of LPG will only last a few months at most. My tank holds 1400 litres and I use about 4000 litres a year. I thought something must be done to get the cost down somehow.
Today I took the first step by ordering a more efficient A rated boiler that is supposed to be 90% efficient, my old boiler is about 65 to 7o% efficient. Yes it will cost me around £1500 but hopefully I will save the first year about £300. I will monitor the situation but last winter gone by I spent around £1500 on LPG. I hope to spend a lot less this year. I also hope that the winter will be kinder to us all. Last winter was the coldest for about 80 years.
Update on my grapes. I went to Grantham as you know yesterday and took a couple of bunches to my sisters. They were quite sweet but looking at my diary, I noticed that my Italian friend bought me a bunch of grapes in mid September so I will leave them on the vine for a while longer. They should get a lot sweeter then hopefully. I am getting plenty of plums it is sods law, my neighbours daughter has a couple of plum trees and this morning there was a bag of plums left for me. I am stoning them, freezing them to use as stewed plums during the winter. I am just hoping I will have enough space to freeze my plums down too. It is funny but it always seems the way. Either feast or famine, still I will not complain.
Finally my neighbour must have bought my refuse bins in off the driveway for me yesterday while I was away. It was nice because I live on the main A52 and the refusemen just leave the bins on the edge of the property generally blocking the driveway. This would have meant stopping on the main road to shift the offending bins. I will mention it to them when next I see them. It was good of them. More soon.
Last year as everyone knows winter arrived early and in November the LPG increased. It increased regular until in February this year the increase was from my original price to over 40%. When I had a top up in March. It was exactly 5 weeks to the day and the cost was just a few pence short of £250.00. Easy to work out that it was costing me £50 a week give a copper or two. I mailed them and told them I could not continue to spend over 50% of my weekly income on LPG just to heat my home also heat water and use it for cooking. All I really got was an excuse that there was a shortage of LPG and the cost would reduce as soon as possible. I just thought what a stupid thing to say. In other words, the cost of LPG will drop when nobody needs it. Unfortunately a tank of LPG will only last a few months at most. My tank holds 1400 litres and I use about 4000 litres a year. I thought something must be done to get the cost down somehow.
Today I took the first step by ordering a more efficient A rated boiler that is supposed to be 90% efficient, my old boiler is about 65 to 7o% efficient. Yes it will cost me around £1500 but hopefully I will save the first year about £300. I will monitor the situation but last winter gone by I spent around £1500 on LPG. I hope to spend a lot less this year. I also hope that the winter will be kinder to us all. Last winter was the coldest for about 80 years.
Update on my grapes. I went to Grantham as you know yesterday and took a couple of bunches to my sisters. They were quite sweet but looking at my diary, I noticed that my Italian friend bought me a bunch of grapes in mid September so I will leave them on the vine for a while longer. They should get a lot sweeter then hopefully. I am getting plenty of plums it is sods law, my neighbours daughter has a couple of plum trees and this morning there was a bag of plums left for me. I am stoning them, freezing them to use as stewed plums during the winter. I am just hoping I will have enough space to freeze my plums down too. It is funny but it always seems the way. Either feast or famine, still I will not complain.
Finally my neighbour must have bought my refuse bins in off the driveway for me yesterday while I was away. It was nice because I live on the main A52 and the refusemen just leave the bins on the edge of the property generally blocking the driveway. This would have meant stopping on the main road to shift the offending bins. I will mention it to them when next I see them. It was good of them. More soon.
Thursday, 2 September 2010
More usless things
Now in my last blog I mentioned that I had a Jack Russell dog and the same breed had attacked my neighbours chickens. What I did not mention to you was this. I had left my last place of work and had a Seafront Kiosk. My dog had recently died, anyway this young woman came in and we got talking. It was unusual to see a single young woman up there so I asked her what she did for a living. She informed me that she was a dog psychologist. She went on to say that the Afghanhound was the most stupid of all dogs but she managed to train them. I then informed her that I had once a dog that would test her skills. She asked me what sort of dog I had. When I told her a Jack Russell she immediately retorted that they were the most difficult dog to train as they had a mind of their own. I did tell this to my neighbour and told her that the owner really has to keep a wary eye on the dog. Better still I think, her partner should hurry up and get the gun.
Now to other matters. I have been in the process of purchasing a new car on the internet. About 2 months ago I told the man what colour car I wanted and sent another e-mail asking him to order car mats if none were fitted. Well a week ago I sent a reminder asking how the job was progressing as I had been informed that there would be a delay of up to 8 weeks. The reply was not what I expected. He told me that as I had not placed a firm order he had done nothing and asked if I still wished to proceed. I of course said yes. He then came back with news that was not good. The new car had increased by about 4% and the price for my car had decreased by 12.5%. I informed them not to bother. This is not the first time I have dealt with them, however I do think it will be the last.
More about money. Today, I went to Grantham to visit my sisters. As I had not been there for so long I had to get some petrol prior to leaving home. I went to the local garage and to my dismay saw the price of unleaded fuel was 1.20per litre. Diesel was a couple of pence more. I went and filled up at Asda in Grantham and to my surprise the cost was 10p a litre cheaper. here we are in the country, a vehicle is vital and we are charged a huge amount more for fuel. I wonder if the powers to be know just how much difference there is between the city or town life to the country village life. That is my gripe for now. More soon.
Now to other matters. I have been in the process of purchasing a new car on the internet. About 2 months ago I told the man what colour car I wanted and sent another e-mail asking him to order car mats if none were fitted. Well a week ago I sent a reminder asking how the job was progressing as I had been informed that there would be a delay of up to 8 weeks. The reply was not what I expected. He told me that as I had not placed a firm order he had done nothing and asked if I still wished to proceed. I of course said yes. He then came back with news that was not good. The new car had increased by about 4% and the price for my car had decreased by 12.5%. I informed them not to bother. This is not the first time I have dealt with them, however I do think it will be the last.
More about money. Today, I went to Grantham to visit my sisters. As I had not been there for so long I had to get some petrol prior to leaving home. I went to the local garage and to my dismay saw the price of unleaded fuel was 1.20per litre. Diesel was a couple of pence more. I went and filled up at Asda in Grantham and to my surprise the cost was 10p a litre cheaper. here we are in the country, a vehicle is vital and we are charged a huge amount more for fuel. I wonder if the powers to be know just how much difference there is between the city or town life to the country village life. That is my gripe for now. More soon.
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