Oh, My Days!

  I’ve just had a very traumatic experience doing an online Marks and Spencer's shop. Well, not traumatic in the grand scheme of what’s currently happening on the planet, but traumatic in my small world given I’ve otherwise had a very nice day.  Back to M&S. My mum kindly gave me an M&S gift card for my birthday which was almost four months ago now. It’s been sitting and staring at me ever since and today I thought, ‘Just spend it!’ Now, I had a traumatic experience in Boots the Chemist yesterday when, to my horror, my usual body moisturiser - Soap and Glory - was £9.99 a pot BUT if I had a Boots Advantage card, it would be £6.67. This is part of a growing trend in British shops where large discounts are offered to the consumer as long as they sign up to a data theft card, sorry, I mean, customer loyalty card. And because I am becoming belligerent and non-conformist as I approach my elder years, I now refuse to play this data harvesting game. I also think it is grossly...

  This, ladies and gentlemen, is Fort Orange. It was constructed by a group of us industrious cousins back in the mid-70s (I am guessing 1976-77) from a stonking great pile of wooden crates used, if I remember rightly, to transport glass bottles. You know, the kind you used to be able to return for a few pennies so they could be reused. Oh yes, we recycled back in the day. It’s not a new thing. We called it ‘waste not, want not.’ Anyway, we had access to several hundred of these crates and we built a massive, well, fort from them. And it was named Fort Orange because it was orange. Inside it had rooms, staircases and corridors and, thinking back, it was probably a bit of a death trap. But Health and Safety hadn’t been invented back then and children were encouraged to have outdoor fun and be creative which generally involved a frisson of danger. I am pleased to report no-one was injured in either the making or the subsequent fun and games of Fort Orange. Happy days!  From left...

  Trotted off to the dentist yesterday for my rescheduled check up, only to find the practice closed with a notice in the window saying, ‘We moved on 3rd February to…’ and then the new address. Well, thanks for telling me THAT, I thought. However, because I am a responsible person and I hate being late for anything, I had an extra fifteen minutes spare before my appointment started and the new address was only a brisk five minute walk away, so I still arrived ahead of time. Listening to the receptionists talking, it sounds like a lot of patients have pitched up at the old practice building which suggests to me that the texts they said they sent detailing the new practice information either a) didn’t arrive or b) were never sent in the first place.  Ah well. My dentist was running behind with his schedule anyway, so it didn’t really matter.  His opening gambit as I settled into the chair was, ‘What brings you here today?’  What was THAT supposed to mean? Didn’t he kno...

 Busy week ahead for me. Three birthdays are imminent - my daughter, my mum and a friend - so I am knee deep in wrapping paper and organising the posting of two lots of cards and gifts in order to have them arrive in good time, given that the current vagaries of the Royal Mail delivery service means they could turn up on schedule or they could turn up sometime in May. You have to factor in these considerations these days. It's all a bit sad, really. Fortunately, because Heather lives half an hour up the road, I know her card and gift will turn up on her actual birthday. I am a reliable postal person. I have a check-up at the dentist. I should have had this check up three weeks ago, only the day before the appointment - after I had suffered the usual shower of text reminders that I had an appointment, do NOT forget your appointment etc etc blah, blah, blah - the surgery sent me a message saying they sadly had to cancel my appointment and could I reschedule, because the dentist was o...

  My car insurance is due at the end of this month. A couple of weeks ago, I received a renewal email from my current insurance company for the sum of £152 for the coming year. This was actually £4 cheaper than last year's premium which is a minor miracle in itself, what with rocketing prices of everything these days. However, the renewal notice implied that last year I paid £181 which makes this year's premium £29 cheaper than last year's except it isn't because they were wrong about last year's premium and I was right because I checked my records which are VERY thorough and accurate. I don't know from where they got the figure of £181. Out of a hat, I imagine.  Anyway, because I hold no loyalty to any specific insurance companies, because they don't show any loyalty to their customers in return, I immediately set about checking the comparison websites to see what premium I could achieve this year, which turned out to be a very satisfying £117 which is £35 ...

 Climbing the stairs carrying a mug of tea in one hand, a hot water bottle and an iPad in the other, with a cat on the stair in front of me and a dog on the stair behind me. What could POSSIBLY go wrong?? Nothing, as it happens. Sorry to disappoint, especially given my history of ‘on the stairs’ incidents.  It was the festival of Imbolc this weekend just gone. Half way point between the Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox which means lighter and brighter days are definitely on the way. I celebrated by opening all the house windows to allow a nice breeze to blow through all the rooms, and by taking the Shark Hydrovac for its maiden voyage. After a slow start - ‘Where’s the water? Why isn’t the water working?’ - the machine soon got going and I can award it a big tick and gold star. It’s very easy to use and I am pleased with its cleaning abilities. Bravo me for biting the bullet and making the purchase.  This weekend also saw me acting the role of ‘The Fairy Dogmother!’ A c...