Stavertongirl
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Posts posted by Stavertongirl
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Noticed on that Manfred Mann clip of If You Gotta go that they faded out “stay all night” each time?
I can remember my Dad wasn’t impressed with the Stones Lets Spend The Night Together when I first got the record.-
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Know the feeling Benjamin, can still smell someone smoking a ciggie from a long way away. They smell so good, I really miss it. Still on my vape but have cut down the nicotine content of the liquid now so I’m in the middle of the range. Will be starting to mix with the next lower one soon to get ready to drop again.
Sometimes think will just get a pack and just have one, but I know it would start me off again, anyway they are so flipping expensive now don’t know how anyone can afford the habit. -
As I have written on here before I had a lot of problems with the house I brought in Nottingham. The previous owner thought he was a DIYer but unfortunately he wasn’t. Everything looked good on the surface but as my nana would say it was all fur coat and no knickers.
I am invigilating exams again (such joy) so was going to get my floorboards on the landing sorted, they are a bit like the Himalay, you could build a rollercoaster on them, and then hopefully get a bit of decorating done. But, isn’t there always a but, I had a leak under my sink which needed sorting so my handyman nipped in to do it. Unfortunately my stop tap has completely seized up so it can’t be turned off. He managed to sort the leak out but I need my stop tap changing.
Unfortunately this will involve taking out a corner base unit and propping up the worktop (it’s never easy is it) so he can get to the stop tap and pipe work. I am also on a shared pipe so the water will be turned off for 3 other properties while he is doing it. (Big sigh) Obviously it needs doing so the floorboards and decorating will have to be put off for a while.
Now this is the third time something like this has happened, The first time was when I had to replace all the guttering round the house as it was pulling away from the front of the house threatening to take my neighbours with it, so the money I had saved up plus a bit more went on this. The second time was when I had to have guttering put round my side room as there was no guttering round it and it was getting really damp, even the loo rolls in the downstairs toilet were damp! It was starting to leak on the seal between the roof and the house as well. So once again the money I had saved up went on this. So once again no decorating.
There was then a lull and I actually managed to get my front room decorated! It is a really dark room and had been painted a blue/grey colour which made it even worse.I am now starting to think my house is doing it on purpose once it knows I have some money saved up. Don’t get me wrong it has a friendly feel and I am quite happy here. It is very convenient for shops, vet etc., the neighbours are lovely and it is a quiet area.
But it keeps doing this to me, perhaps it is making the most of me as it knows I will get these things done when they crop up, the routine maintenance was a bit lax to say the least before I moved here.
I am getting to the point where every time my handyman comes to do something for me I need counselling as I am wondering what the house will decide needs doing first! -
I have always gone to Bilborough Library, never been to the one in Nottingham city. My Dad used to take me there when he went and we were all encouraged to read. My dad had a lot of books, can remember reading Three Men & A Boat amongst others. We also had a lot of the classics like Black Beauty (which I didn’t like), Moby Dick and after a teacher at primary school (Miss Walton) read The Lion, Witch & The Wardrobe my Dad got us the full set.
I go to the Bilborough Library now to borrow books, I have a kindle but it isn’t the same reading a book on that. I also attend a book club there and 2 other social type “knit & natter” clubs. After the announced closure of the 3 or 4 libraries the Librarians there gave us all the website information to give our opinions on these closures.
They also said that Bilborough will be in the bottom 5 for books taken out when these are closed so could be in danger of being closed if more are selected. it is so well used, there are a lot of other clubs that use it (I once went in and there were 3 “ninjas” all dressed in black robes complete with the biggest swords I have ever seen in one of the rooms practising their ninjaing, very impressive
). There is also a food bank once a week as well as computers, whenever a I go in there are always people using them.
As with the other libraries it would be a great loss to a lot of people if it did ever close.-
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We had solar panels on our house in Doncaster. We didn’t buy them, it was from a company who “leased” your roof for 25 years, can’t remember the name. We got to use the electric that came from them and the company got the money from the government. They did all the maintenance, etc and after the 25 years they either removed them or you could keep them. When we sold the house the lease was transferred to the new owner.
After we had them I had to give the electric company a meter reading for my bill and noticed that the meter was going backwards, very fast I might add. Did a double take and it definitely was with the electric going back to the grid I presumed. Took my reading and shut the meter box fast. Checked again the next day and the reading was less than the day before much to my horror. Told my husband to switch everything on to try and use the electric. We managed through the summer, although at one point the electric board estimated a bill and I had to give another meter reading which was way lower having hardly used any. It didn’t do it as much in winter but kept our bills down a bit.
The next summer it started doing it again so I rang the electric board to tell them that I had “just” noticed it, they said it happened with some meters and came out and changed it. To be honest it didn’t seem to make much difference to our bills after that, possibly if there was a way to store the excess that might have. Don’t think I would bother with them again.-
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Just heard from my friend in Doncaster. Her mum had to be rushed into hospital on Friday with a possible stroke. Tested negative when she went in, luckily it wasn’t a stroke as they had to wait 7 hours for an ambulance. Came out on Monday positive for covoid.
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So got up this morning feeling like one of the walking dead. Did another test just to be sure it was a cold, it is. We have taken Jj out for a good long walk, taking a copious supply of hankies along with his ball, poo bags etc.
Now ensconced on the settee, gas fire on, with my hankies, Vaseline for my nose, a library book and blanket for a quiet afternoon whilst Jj has a sleep.I had dark chocolate with almonds last nite and watched a Stephen King film, tonight it is fruit and nut and will listen to one of my podcasts. Hopefully by tomorrow I will be back in the land of the living.
Wonder if this is how man flu feels? -
After having done 2 (stressful) weeks of mock exam invigilating dishing out tissues to a few snotty sneezing pupils I can now confirm that I do not have covid (after a couple of very uncomfortable negatives) just their flipping cold! Just hope they are all recovered before we start again in May for the proper exams.
Me? I am going to curl up on the settee, feel sorry for myself and eat chocolate
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I applaud all those who are volunteering to help Ukrainians who have fled the war in their country. I am not in a position to help in that way but have donated what I can to help a bit.
Whilst not insinuating this will happen, I can remember when Doncaster volunteered to take in Kossavan refugees from the fighting there, housing them in what was once the barracks for the former RAF Finningley. They were warmly welcomed and donations were made to help them. We were told as soon as the war there was over they would all return. However actually none of them did, and there were quite a few, and they ended up being moved into council houses as they became vacant. This then caused quite a lot of resentment from Doncaster residents who felt they had been taken advantage of. There was an enclave down the road from me and it wasn’t good to be honest.
I am not saying we shouldn’t help however we can and only time will tell what is going to happen as every situation can play out differently. I just hope the fighting will end quickly and am in awe of the Ukrainian resistance against a bigger assailant. Hopefully this will signal the end of Putin and just hope if that is so the “devil you know isn’t better than the one you don’t”.
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Cakewalk was at Goose Fair the year before covoid started. We walked past it.
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I applied to have a water meter fitted on prompting from a relative. When the Severn Trent man came out to have a look he found I couldn't have one fitted as the water pipe from the mains serves 4 properties and there wasn’t enough pipe in the house near the stop tap to fit one.
I got a letter from Severn Trent about a week later saying as I was the only one living in the house and couldn’t have a water meter they were putting me on the “single occupancy tariff”. It has saved me around £200 a year (which no doubt the energy price rise will now eat up). The price is the estimate they provided if I had had a water meter fitted.
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The new broadband is now up and running. Installation didn’t take too long nearly 2 hours rather than the 3 stated. Bit of a blip when it was first switched on to boot up (look at me being technical) and it was taking ages. Engineer switched it off and back on again, still nothing. Made a phone call about it and then realised he hadn’t plugged it into the wall socket!
Of course it had a new password so everything had to be reset, don’t know why they can’t let you have the same password to connect with your network. You don’t realise how many “gadgets” you have until you have to do something like this. Most went quite smoothly, but Alexa was awkward (as usual) and the Sky on demand instructions I had were out of date but have muddled through and am up and running again now.
So am going to have a shower, have a pizza and then settle down on the settee and listen to one of my favourite podcasts whilst Jj is in his cave bed eating his lamb spaghett (he’s just had a good run on the field and a game of footie in the back garden) and I will be eating chocolate.-
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Today I am having my broadband changed to fibre (whatever that is - it is going to take a visit from Openreach to change line and the Sky engineer).
So I have been moving furniture and rugs about.So far Jj has:
1. Kept dropping his ball on the rug whilst I was rolling it up so I had to keep throwing it to get him out the way.
2. Sat on the armchair whilst I was trying to move it. It is a recliner so it weighs a bit anyway. Made him get off and it then became a game of on and off.3. Moved settee out a bit and then got a txt so stopped to see who it was from, went back to the settee and he was stuck behind it so had to rescue him and then rescue his split antler.
4. Continued to move settee, See 2 above.
5. Settee and chairs are now in the middle of the room with a little gap between. New game race along settee, jump gap to chair turn and repeat.
6. Moved sideboard, a piece of paper fell off he grabbed it and I had to chase him round the house to get it back before he ripped it up.7. He can now get to the window - it has loads of nose marks on it now with a couple of licks for good measure.
8. Had to rescue him from the blind.9. Moved his cave bed into the passage ready to put it in the kitchen so he will be able to go in it whilst the work is being done. He has tried to drag it back into the front room, can’t get it through the door so is now lying on it in the doorway glaring at me. Finally got said he’d into kitchen and where he is totally ignoring it.
10. Spotted himself in tv screen and barked at reflection, then asked it to play.
11. Put his toy box (I know, I know) in the kitchen which It is now being checked over to make sure everything is there.
Front room now ready for the work to be done, I’m having a cup of tea and a choccy biscuit, Jj is fast asleep on a chair in the kitchen. He’s had such a busy morning.
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I have a poodle mix, heard them aptly described as a “vortex of frantic joy” which describes mine exactly. Everything is exciting from morning to night, he has such a joy of living, wish I had half his energy. He certainly keeps us on our toes. They are classed as mixed breeds here, mongrels are more a “Heinz 57” mixture and yes they are very expensive here as well (lockdown pushed all dog prices through the roof) but worth every penny.
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I’m the same with privet it really sets my hay fever off, hate the smell of the flowers. I have a privet hedge that grows above my 6’ fence at the bottom of my garden. Last year my neighbour cut it back so that it stopped overhanging my bird table and then those that owned the house cut it right back. Notice it is appearing over my fence again at the moment along with the ivy that is pushing through the fence panels, it is a constant battle with that as well.
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Just taken Jj out for his morning walk on the park. The fog is quite thick in some places. I must say I always find it quite eerie when you can hear footsteps and not see who it is. Reminds me of an old film, think it was a Hitchcock one, where there was a thick fog and you could hear footsteps as someone was being followed perhaps someone will know the title? Or was it a Jack the Ripper one?
Anyway didn’t go to the end of the field on the park, kept in site of the path and gate and kept Jj on his flexI lead so he could still have a run around, he had a bit of a limp yesterday after jumping around after a ball, so we could beat a hasty retreat if needed as a I couldn’t see if anyone was at the bottom of the field.
It was freezing, my face was frozen, glad to get back and have a hot drink. Just about thawed out now and a Jj is pleased he has got his coat off.
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Squelchy dog walk
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Exhausted yes - bored no time!
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Our with a Jj this morning, temperature was -3. Takes ages to get to the park as every blade of grass, hedge, weed etc has to be well sniffed and we are doing more heel training, which slipped a bit whilst he was ill, which involves turning round when he pulls on the lead so sometimes we get nowhere fast. Finally made it to the park and there was no-one on there (if they had any sense they would still be tucked up in bed) so was able to let him off for a run. It was frosty so that had to be thoroughly investigated, by this time my fingers were starting to go dead and I couldn’t feel my face, but he was having a good time.
Finally managed to get him toileted and made it round the perimeter of the park back to the gates, got him back on lead when a french bulldog + owner came through the gates, this caused much excitement, he thinks every dog wants to play with him but he can be a bit “full on” , not aggressive just very enthusiastic. So I had a 2 legged dog, he can walk on his back legs like a performing poodle!
Walk back like the one going, everything well sniffed again, walked a lot better so we were back a bit quicker. Hot tea for me and meat for him, sat down to enjoy my tea and he was in front of me with his ball. I hadn’t thawed out from the walk so we played fetch in the kitchen which luckily is long as the dining room was added to it to make 1 long room. Played with him until he had enough and then gave him his split antler to chew on for a couple of minutes peace to finish my (now lukewarm) tea. Standing in front of me wanting me to hold it whilst he chewed it. At this point I gave up on my tea.He is now fast asleep on his back with his legs in the air on his chair with the occasional gentle snore.
Peace for an hour or so, then off we go again although looking at the weather think the park might be given a miss. I am informed by other owners of the same breed that they do calm down a bit by about 18 months old so just 8 more months to go
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Hope you feel better soon Colly0410.
I was supposed to be invigilating exams at the school for the next 2 weeks, but under the present circumstances am not doing them. Shame as a I do enjoy doing it, just hope things will have settled down by March when the next lot are due.-
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Goodness this brought back some memories, remembered it as soon as a I heard the first few notes. Good times.
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My mum was very good at giving a “clip around the ear hole”, never did us any harm. The worst thing was “You can tell your Dad what you have done when he comes home”, He very rarely shouted, spoke very quietly when he was angry, that was when you knew not to go any further.
However if you wanted anything the best time to ask him was after he had had his tea and was sat in his armchair smoking his pipe. Never ask for anything before he had eaten!
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Just seen a description of a spaniel on a twitter video of dogs at a Dogs Trust picking their Christmas toys (it is worth a watch) as a “vortex of frantic joy”. As an owner of a young spaniel cross I can concur that is an apt description of my boy
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Glad to hear your husband had no ill effects from his fall NonnaB, apart from a thorough dog wash!
Just had an email from my energy provider to say I have got the warm home grant so £140 has been credited to my account which will pay next months bill and some of the month after. A good day just got better.-
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Coronavirus
in Owt' Abaaht Nowt !
Posted
After giving it a lot of thought I am invigilating the exams again this year. I did check with the school I go to about wearing a mask and they were quite happy for me to do this. Some of the kids are still wearing them as well. There is some sniffling and sneezing among those sitting the exams but it is hay fever season, I have had to use my spray, so hopefully it is nothing catching.
It is good to get back to a bit of normality (is that a word) whilst still being careful. I wear a mask in shops (my choice - it’s up to you what you do which is no concern of mine), the cafe we go to we have always sat outside (even in winter with a blanket!) as we usually go there halfway thru our dog walk so that is no different for us.
It is a personal choice for each of us, I don’t criticise anyone for their decisions on mask wearing etc and don’t expect anyone to do the same to me. It is something we are going to have to live with for the foreseeable future (in fact it seems never ending to be honest), so I will have the jabs when recommended, do the tests whilst I am in the school and do what I can to keep myself, family and friends safe.
All I ask is keep your distance, don’t stand on my shoulder in queues and don’t ask to pet my dog!