Nothing much

Update on my Sister's Daughter. Mother and Son doing fine.
 As for me, here nothing much has happened lately. Yesterday morning and this morning if anyone was up early enough would have seen a sharp ground frost. It was sharp enough to kill a few Grapevine  side shoots. I did, however take my dwarf French beans into the greenhouse where everything in there was fine. It was only those grapevine shoots that touched the glass that were caught by the frost.
 I was out in the garden pottering about when the new Neighbour called  over and asked me if I knew anyone who would like a greenhouse frame. He told me his Wife no longer wanted it. I was not surprised as she told me last year she had nothing much out of her greenhouse. I did tell him my mate would be calling a little later and I would ask him. One bit of news he did give me was that the filling station at the other end of the village sold red diesel for 99p a litre. I was thankful as I needed some so I waited for my mate to arrive and asked him to get me a couple of litres of red diesel.
 I have never had this happen before but while I was waiting  for my mate to get back, this van pulled into the layby, not satisfied at just parking, decided to stop right outside my driveway blocking my entrance. I had to go out to him and ask him to move, my mate in the meantime had got back and was waiting to get in to my drive.
 I told him about the greenhouse minus any glass. As it happened the Neighbour was out in the front garden so we asked to see the item. He readily agreed and my mate gave it a cursory look  and told him that he would have it. This didn't surprise me as I expected him to take it. The Man then told my mate he would have all the items inside removed ready for him to dismantle the greenhouse.
 My mate was successful in getting my double socket to work once again so I am happy for that. It is not nice having the main light on each evening when it gets dark.
The weather, although being a little on the chilly side has been mainly dry with plenty of sunshine, let us hope that it stays like this for the Easter period. More soon.

Can you trust NHS?

I will let you who read this blog decide, I have my thoughts about it.
 My Sister told me recently that her Daughter(my Niece) was going through a tricky time with her pregnancy and then informed me that she did not have a lot of warning from going into labour to giving birth.
 I can't swear by this next piece but I am sure my Sister told me that if her Daughter ordered an ambulance to take her to Hospital and she did not give birth, she would then be charged and have to make her own way home. As I mentioned, I can not be sure about that.
 Now to put one in the picture My Sister lives in Grantham, her Daughter lives a few miles away in the next village. My Sister has been taking her to Boston on a regular basis to see that all is progressing O.K.  Grantham Maternity Ward was closed some time ago and now they have to go to Boston. I guess about 30 miles away, on Lincolnshire's winding roads with of course farm tractors being an added hazard.
Well my Niece went into labour, when she rang the Hospital she was informed that an Ambulance would NOT be available for between 2 and 4 hours.
 By now she was well into labour so my Sister rang 999. They were put in touch with the Emergency Centre. Talking my Sister and my Niece's Husband through the proceedure they delivered the baby themselves.
 Typical, as they had just finished the Ambulance arrived.
 The Ambulance then took my Niece to Pilgrim Hospital in Boston where she was checked and her Placenta was made to come.
 The birth took place about 11.15am. My Sister then informed me that it took the rest of the day to get the paperwork completed and she managed to get home at 10.30pm. She said it was a traumatic time. I bet it was.
 Typical of me I suppose. I mailed back to her suggesting that she take a Crash Course on Midwifery. He He.
Joking apart though I think it is a disgrace. I wonder if anyone else agrees with me. More soon.

Sowing runner beans

I went over to Grantham  the last week in March. I told my Brother-in Law that this year we would not sow the runner beans so early this year. He readily agreed with me and I suggested the middle of April would be plenty early enough.
 Last week end a mailed my Sister, they have just gone online so are finding it a bit heavy going. They too have Windows 8 which is not easy, too many apps.
 Well when she replied to me she told me her Husband had set his runner beans. I just couldn't believe it. The old saying was that Good Friday was the time to set the New Potato seeds. Mind you since he set the beans it has not been so good.  Yesterday though I did sow a few carrot seeds.
 My Cherry and Plum trees are well into blossom.

This photo was taken just over a week ago. Some blossom is now well over the top. My Pear tree is laden with blossom but the Apple trees are still in bud. I just hope we don't have any late frosts, nothing we can do about it.  

Tomorrow I have to go once again to have my B.P checked, to be honest I expect it still to be high, still nothing we can do about that so I must not worry at all. I will see what tomorrow brings More soon.                          

What weather

These last few days have been awful. dull foggy and those dreaded easterly winds so  it is cold too.
 Yesterday I had a new split Consumer board. As I have had the old one since I have been here I could not grumble. It had to be done as I was having my inverter moved from the loft into a cupboard next to where the meter is fitted.
 They arrived around 9.00am and after showing them all I decided to have a bonfire burning what rubbish I had. I was pleased as it was bitter cold out so the heat was most welcome.
 About an hour and a half later I went back inside. I was told that the inverter had just been re-sited and they were waiting to see if all was well. It takes around 5 to 10 minutes before it starts to generate electricity once the power has been turned off.
 As soon as it was found to be working properly it was time to turn off the electric, remove the old consumer unit and start to prepare to fit the new unit which is a little larger than the old one. Working in a confined space was not easy, I did go out a few times just to make sure that the bonfire was burning well. In fact by the time they had left, all that remained were a few ashes which can be spread on the garden.
 The men worked non stop and were very pleasant indeed. There was very little mess and they told me they would hoover up when they had done. I told them that they would do no such thing and I would hoover up when they left.
 I had planned that day that my main meal was going to be smoked haddock so I had no cause to have my saucepans on the cooker.
 One of the guys working only wanted a glass of water, well to be honest I think he had 3. The other guy, the boss made himself a cup of tea, then he had water.
 The job went well but he did inform me that sometimes there would be a fault because theses new Consumer Units were more sensitive and would trip the fuse at the drop of a hat.
 Well everything went well but when we came to check everything, I was in the T.V. room checking my standard lamp and I told him that I thought I saw a flash. He immediately came and looked at the wiring and told me that this was the problem. I thought that was that. He checked everything else and told me he was satisfied and if any fuse blew it would be because the appliance I was using was faulty and not the Consumer unit.
 They left soon after 2.00pm. I immediately cooked my smoked haddock. To be honest I was absolutely worn out and all I had done was watch.
 I had a little sleep and later I thought that the fault might be a double socket. I thought I would turn on my oil filled radiator. Sure enough everything went off. I can't see too good, that is being kind as I really have very poor eyesight. I went and looked at the unit. switched everything to the way I thought it should be and sure enough we once again had power.
 Incidentally I have just had my medication delivered, I thought that they had forgotten me, anyway that is a relief.
 I will now go and check all of my medication. More soon.

Fixed Electric price

On Friday I had an e-mail from energyhelpline offering a fixed price for electricity for 2 years. It is not the first time they have contacted me as I have used them before.
 About 6 months ago they promoted an offer but when I put my details in the Company informed me that as I was on a fixed tariff they could not beat the deal I was on and advised me to stay as I was.
  This time I put my details in and sure enough the offer they gave me was a better deal than the one I was currently on. This deal ceases the last day of August anyway.
 When all relevant details were inserted they confirmed that I could save around £50+ a year plus a £20 cash back. This would be credited to my account about 2 months after I have been with the new provider. Incidentally the provider is called First Utility. As I can only have one fuel as I unfortunately do not have access to Town Gas. Anyone who takes out both gas and electricity would receive £40 cash back.
 Well I decided to proceed and signed up for the new deal, incidentally is only available until 12st. April and the fixed term is from April 16th. 2014 until April 16th. 2016.
 On Saturday morning I rung my mate up and told him to go on to that site as I was sure it was a good deal and would probably save him about £200 a year.
 Yesterday afternoon he rung me and informed me that he had checked all online and agreed that this was a good deal and he had signed up for the 2 year fixed deal and then told me he would save around £140 a year plus the £40 cash back. I told him I was thrilled to bits that he had done the deal. I then told him to immediately go to his Partner and get her to sign up for this deal. I know I don't care much for her but I would never do anything to stop her from saving money.
 What my mate's Partner doesn't  know is that it was me who told my mate about the great deal that was going around on Solar installation. I insisted that he told her that it was a cracking deal and that she would earn around the same amount of money as I get each year for about 1/2 the cost of mine.
 My mate told me he explained all to her and it was up to her to make her mind up.
 Thank goodness she made the correct decision, probably with a little help from my mate. I am sure she will investigate this offer further and if it is advantageous then I am sure she will also proceed.
 Anyone who reads this blog is welcome to go to energyhelpline and check what is on offer, before the 21st. April this year and I am sure that they will not be disappointed. I think the offer is called First Utility Isave Fixed v16th. April 2016. More soon.

Losing it?

Oh Dear, today I went to Grantham to see my Sisters. before I went to see them I called at Morrison's. Amongst things I needed fresh yeast. I looked all over the place but could find nothing. Anyway I saw this woman in overalls and asked if she worked there. She told me that she did but worked in the kitchen but would help me. We both looked for a few minutes and I told her I would go to the bakery and ask for some fresh yeast there. The lady in the overalls went away and I asked this young assistant if she could help me as I was after some fresh yeast. She told me she would ask the Manager and within a few seconds the manager came out with a new 1kilo of yeast and asked me how much I would like. I showed her and she cut it there and then, off she went to weigh and package it. It is sods law but as she came back with the yeast the lady in the overalls came and handed me a packet of foil wrapped fresh yeast. The Manager reacted brilliantly and just told me that hers was much fresher so the overcalled lady took the foil wrapped yeast back. I was interested to see where she had got them from. I couldn't believe my eyes. They were on a shelf below where we both had been looking and there would be at least 15 packets of the stuff. I hurriedly shrunk away hoping no one would notice me.
 Earlier I went to the fish counter and bought a couple of small herrings and there also was a nice piece of smoked haddock. Like a fool I decided to get that as well. The herring cost 95p and the haddock £2.17. To think when we were children Saturday was fish and chip day. 4 pieces of cod and 6d of chips all for less than 5/- or those of a tender age 25p.
 I also filled up with diesel. Locally the price is 1.39 a litre at ASDA in Grantham it was 1.32.7  a big difference.
 I forgot to mention it but on Friday my best Pal called, yes it is that time of year again, the Camp Sites are once more open for the season.
 I just mentioned to him that in early April I may be a day without electricity. He told me that on April 1st he was going to be interviewed by an Historian at the National Trust. It was a lady and she informed my Pal that his name had been forwarded because he had lived at Hardwick Hall during the war.
 My Pal told me he was born there in what was the old stables which had been converted into the workers cottages. He told me he could remember all who lived there from when he was a young boy. So it seems as if his voice will be there for many years. It couldn't happen to a nicer guy. He told me that he also was a local Councillor in the days when it was voluntary and meetings were only in the evenings. He was so Chairman of the Allotment Society. Also for a time he was a School Governor and told me that some weeks he hardly saw his children.
 It will be interesting to know just how he got on when he calls next time. More soon.

Sleet

Yesterday when I rose early it was cold and a little frosty but it soon clouded over. In the afternoon it got as dark as night. We had heavy rain and as it hit the windows you could see a little sleet in it. The rain continued until early evening then started to clear up. Typical I thought as the forecast was a cold night, probably the coldest night od the winter so far.
 Sure enough this morning there was a sharp frost with ice all over the place. I did manage to cover up my plants up, those which needed to be covered and to be honest it looks as if I have got away with it.
 I noticed as I got up that the wind had changed to an easterly , I hope that old saying doesn't hold true, if so then the easterlies will be the dominant direction  for the next quarter, that is until the summer quarter.
 I saw my Postman friend this morning and he commented on the sharp frost and that we had just over 5mm of rain. I told him that there  was some sleet in the rain. He then told me that a friend of his had told him that while he was out yesterday he noticed quite a few roads with slush on them.
 Today was nice and sunny for most of the day but also a very cold wind, the forecast for the coming few days is not great, cold easterly winds, mainly dull with some rain. Still nothing we can do about that.
 I noticed this morning when I went in the greenhouse, my grape vine was beginning to grow. Must keep a keen eye on that because it would soon take over the area if I let it. More soon.