General Chat

Goodness Linda it is hassle upon hassle when you move these days. Technology was supposed to improve things but when we last moved 32 years ago we didn't have half the problems that people have now.

It is lovely and sunny here at the moment but very windy which is not pleasant for gardening. Having had the two men team here yesterday pressure washing two patios and redoing the wooden edging on three places, I have just spent half an hour in the garden, I cut the small piece of lawn that is left but it was well trodden by their big feet and, as it was already damp the grass is a bit flattened. Still I tidied it up. Then I went round the garden picking up my tools they had borrowed and not put away and discovered a bit behind the smaller patio where all the gunge has been swept by the water onto my slate hosta bed and that is also where they moved pots to and have not put them back. so an email has been sent to prepare them for what needs doing when they visit to finish off the patios with sand next week. They are very good and have done a lot of good things in the garden but they seem good at the hardware heavy stuff but not the more delicate jobs. they are self named (I think) landscapers but not plants men. Still they are willing and work well, don't take lots of breaks etc. And the garden is mich easier to manage now.

Hopefully your new house will be gradually coming together Linda.

I wonder where Florence is? And hope Joan is OK.

No one around?
We had quite a day out yesterday. OH had to go for his eye test, so we changed branch to the centre of Harrogate, luckily he didn’t need new glasses.

We went to a specialist key cutters and got another two keys for one of the garage doors, we had tried in a more ordinary place, but they could do them.

We then drove to a retail park about forty minutes away to spend a small fortune on lots of light fittings. To be fair because it was an outlet store, they were cheaper than they would have been. I also bought a complete set of new pans. My current ones are not compatible with induction hobs which we are going to have. That is sad because the old set had a twenty five year guarantee and I have only had them about twenty’s years :-D They are still going strong, so my sister is going to have them.

We then went to look at a large bathroom show room in Harrogate- talk about footballers wives- we decided that the silly prices were not for us. I think they decided that we were not their type either. So now we have contacted a local plumber to see if he can help. No one ever phones you back though when you leave messages.

I chased up the bathroom company yesterday as well as they haven’t sent their design yet. Apparently they were short of staff last week and have been at a trade show this week. All very well, but if they don’t get a move on, we will be looking elsewhere :-(

The most annoying thing for this morning is the council tax. There were several different district councils in North Yorkshire but in the middle of last year they were all amalgamated into one super authority. When we were moving I went in the new website and filled in the change of address form for the council tax. Even though they have amalgamated they are still working in their individual departments. We got an invoice for the new address to cover us from the day we moved in until the new tax year starts in April.They wouldn’t answer their phones, so we just paid it.
In the middle of last night, I suddenly realised that in effect we have already paid for this time at the old house because the bill was paid in ten instalments, so we should be getting a rebate. I rang up the old place and they answered straight away. I was amazed when she said that they have no record of us having moved. If I hadn’t realised come April they would have been taking payment by direct debit on the old house as well as the new one. The woman sorted it out and was very apologetic about the fact that the different council systems can’t “ talk” to each other

I hope everyone is well

Well, lunch was very nice, apart from the fact that OH was seduced by the scone of the day. He is boring and usually has soup, tea and a scone. As well as normal sultana scones, every day this place always has a different speciality scone. Today it was rhubarb and ginger, so he tried that, but wished he hadn’t :-S
We ordered the footstool, I had taken the paperwork for the original order, so it was very easy for them to find the details and match the leather and base to the sofas. The saleswoman was muttering away and said something about giving us a discount. When we looked she had taken off a managers discretionary discount of £178, which just shows how much mark up these posh furniture shops make. Even with that taken of, they will still be making a good profit. It will take eight to ten weeks to arrive as everything is custom made in Norway. I think the original sofas took twelve weeks.

We then went to a nursery to look for some evergreens to put in some planters which I have bought which have trellis up the back. It was quite a good place, a little family run business, but unfortunately they didn’t have what we wanted, but we will go back again. We bought the plants from Morrisons of all places., I had seen them yesterday, but needed to measure the size of the planter to make sure the pots would fit in it.

Good morning everyone lt is dismal and drizzling here.
The builders are plastering the kitchen and utility room this morning, so we will have to go out for lunch- what a hardship :-D. We did have lunch out yesterday as well, but that was Morrisons cafe, so that doesn’t count.
Today we are going to look at a plumbers showroom which has a bathroom display. We need to find a new toilet and vanity unit for the downstairs cloakroom as the current ones need to come out before the new flooring goes in in a couple of weeks. All the bathrooms need redoing, but they are a little bit further down the list. At the moment they are all a very fetching peach colour :-(

We are going to a very nice furniture shop which has an excellent cafe, quite posh food, but we are worth it :-D
A couple of years ago we treated ourselves to two new Stressless sofas, but didn’t buy a foot stool as it would have been in the way all the time. Here there is room, so I am going to gulp at the ridiculous cost and order one so I can get my feet up high. At the moment I only have a little cane topped stool which is too low.

Joan, I always consider a trip to the supermarket a joy not a chore as its when I meet lots of people haven't seen for awhile and we get to blether awhile. My daffies are not quite out yet and yes I hope the wind doesn't bash them here too.

One of my friends has offered to give me a day out soon to town. So love it when we do a "road trip". No pressure of time either. We wander, browse, have lunch somewhere and lastly do the shopping. A change of scenery is always a morale booster.

This Friday my neighbour is taking me to a charity bingo a few miles away . Love bingo and its for a good cause too so whats not to like.

better go as I can here my phone ringing..

Morning girls. A dry day for us but rathe dull & chilly.
from the windows I can see lot's of Daffies almost ready to bloom, hoping the wind doesn't get up & flatten them which is what usually happens.

The Snowdrips have been lovely, still flowering well & many of what were just clumps are now touching each other & making a nice white carpet.
My hubby loved Snowdrops as well & always looked forward to seeing them come up each year, sadly he didn't get to see them this year.

No plans for doing anything in particular today, just a general tidy round but to be honest the house doesn't need it.
Shopping day tomorrow which will get me out of the house for a wee while.

Joan.

Morning all.

Another lovely bright sunny day but still very breezy.

Names, that's a good idea for Joan re a knitting group maybe in the future? I know its still too soon just now but further down the line.

I'm staying put today and not venturing anywhere!

Hoping everyone well today and hope you have the sunshine.

Florence in the hebrides

Joan, unless you were going back to an old group it is probably too early for you to join something entirely new. But it might be worth looking to see if there is a craft or knit & sew group to join when you are ready.

Hello Linda, good to hear from you. Crikey, you really do have it all going on at once don't you.

Re your bed, when I bought a new bed, although it was firm but comfy, i decided to put the old duvet on top of the mattress and that made it very much more comfy and in the winter very warm.

Was busy this afternoon as home alone and cleaned all the window sils in my bedroom, bathroom etc. Was beg to see little bits of green along the seals but its all gone now. Stripped off my bed too so a job well done. Gutted out a few drawers too and found some bits for the charity shop.

Now ready to re start another family tree that hasn't been looked at for 2 years so plenty to keep me occupied for awhile.

Ann hope you got back safely and all went ok?

Coffee time now and then see what's on the tv.

I am glad that your grandson is on the mend Joan and that you have found someone to sort your problem out Florence. It makes such a difference when you get through to a sensible person.

I am still battling away on my list of address change, but am almost there. The renovations are continuing, the builder didn’t come until lunchtime today, but he plastered the main bedroom and en-suite ceilings this afternoon. They will be dry enough in a couple of days to move back into. We have been in one of the spare bedrooms for the last two nights. The first night was dreadful because the bed is rock hard and I couldn’t sleep. OH likes it, but I like my nice soft mattress Last night, I took our King size duvet and folded it to make three layers which I slept on. It was lovely and soft, so I had a good night.

Yesterday, we had someone come to give us a quote for new French doors to replace the very old sliding aluminium ones which have been in since the house was built. We also had the burglar alarm man because the patio doors have two sensors on them. One for if someone breaks the glass and one for if the doors are opened. The sensors will need taking off when eventually we get new doors, but more urgently the wires will be in the way of the new flooring. So we are going to have a wall sensor instead.

This weekend we need to go and have a buying binge for new light fittings. There is only one ceiling light in the house which will be used again, we need new ones everywhere else . I have seen some on line which I like and are quite reasonable. That particular company has an outlet shop on a shopping outlet park not too far from here, so we will go and look.

I need to chase up the kitchen designer tomorrow because he said it would take him a week to week and a half to do his design and that time is up tomorrow. We are spending a fortune on the house, but we knew that we would. The price we payed for it reflected the fact that it needed modernising.

Hi Florence, well that's good news for you, you must be very reileved.

I have done my letters, all done by hand, only 6 to do but sad ones to inform those concerned about my loss of Jack, difficult to do but had to be done as they wouldn't have seen the his death announcement in the newspapers.

There might well be some cluubs for the OAPs etc, but i'm not able to go to things like that, I don't live close enough to the town or the village..& I would have to ask daughter to take me there & back every time.
I am not one for socialising in that way, both Jack & I were never ones for that sort of thing, never went into pubs either, we were more that happy with just each others company.

My main hobby is my Crosstitching which gives me a lot of pleasure, I can & do knit but not as often as I used to when the children & grandchildren were babies/toddlers.
Just waiting for the weather to get warmer then I can spend some time in the garden, patiently waiting for our Swallows to return, even though it will sadden me to think Jack isn't going to see their return this year.

Joan.

Good morning all looking in.
Lovely sunny day but pretty chilly and very breezy. I was going take a short walk around to look at all my pots and get some fresh air but really it far too windy and I might fall over .

So I have a good result. I was given another number for emergencies and so decided to phone it. The lovely lady said she could help me and so she did.

Neither of the grants are repayable as both outside 10 years. she said the original conditions were recently changed so nothing is repayable, She will email me later today confirming this information and that she will inform the Land Registry to remove the charges against the property.

So relieved and how lucky was I to get such a helpful lady who not only knew what she was doing but dealt with my enquiry on the spot and didn't say she would look into it and tel me back. My faith in Customer services has been restored. :-D

So as soon as I get her email, I can them email sol together with the other info i had to get and hopefully this will get us another steep closer to completion.

Joan, so glad your grandson has gone home and hopefully will be back to full health very soon. I still write a few letters although not by hand. I type them on the computer as much quicker and then email one to Australia as no cost and quicker.
But it does pass the time.
Have you got any other hobbies other than your cross stitch? I have a friend whose granny crochets blankets for different care home where she lives. Friends donate balls of wool for her to use. The blankets are put to good use and the granny feels appreciated plus it keeps her busy in the evenings.

Are there any social groups nearby you could join for senior citizens like a lunch club once a week? Just a thought.

My geraniums are really growing so fast, I cant believe the growth speed. Is this normal? Also i trimmed off all the dead leaves off my Amaryllis but now, a green shoot is growing again but not sure if this means it will flower again before xmas. I had stopped watering it as thought like most bulbs, they are dormant until the next season? Anyway I have given it some water and shall see what happens.

Not sure what to do this afternoon as I have already vacuumed the whole house and swept floors, all the paperwork now completed too. Maybe go through some drawers in my bedroom as haven't done that in awhile!

Ann, hope your journey went smoothly and you got on ok today.

Shall look in later

Florence in the hebrides

Good morning, hope you get your reply phone calls today Florence.

Just to clarify. Today is a trip (by bus) to Cheltenham hospital to the medical photography department. there I will have a photo taken of the BCC on my nose. This will be sent eventually the the Dermatology consultant so they can see the size of the problem. the photo takes the place of what used to be a preliminary visit to Dermatology. I then will have to wait for the actual appointment to remove the BCC. I have had many of the blessed things removed before including one on my cheek (face). It is the injections that hurt as it is well numbed. But this time I am concerned by the position of the op more than the op itself.

Good moring to you all.
A bright dry day for us today so far but it is a bit windy so that's spoiling things & stopping me venturing outside.

Our grandson was sent home around tea-time yesterday, the swelling had reduced & the scan showed an "infected" Lymph node, they said it was quite common after having a cold, they weren't worried about it & said he AB he was sent home with should put things right.

I am going to write some letters today so that should help me pass some time, there's only so much cleaning etc that can be done each day.

Florence i do hope that you won't have any money to pay back, after all it was your mum that qualified for the grants, I can't say I like that clause, it's new one on me !!

I hope everyone is well, enjoy the day.

Joan.

Sorry to hear about your g/son Joan I hope he is home soon. Always something to worry about isn't there.

Hopefully you will get the answers soon Florence so the sale of the flat will go through with no problems. It does look like you won't have to pay the grant money back.
I did that soap overload once and the suds were everywhere . Not good at all .

All the best with your op tomorrow Ann. good to get these things sorted asap ..

Raining again here now but did manage to get my washing dry outside this morning.

Take care all

Ginnie.

I have relooked at the local council site and for the disability grant, it says repayable only if within 10 years. Both grants are now out with the 10 years so I don't understand it. But until I can get through to someone, I cant deal with it. No one has tel me back since I left a message!

EDF have tf to a new system and i couldn't log in to the electricity acc for the flat.
I eventually got through and explained and was told, we tf to a new system but are having problems! I will send you a link to change your password. Hmm still waiting for that too.

Bit of a non-productive day really and haven't managed to tick off all my things to do except pay the last instalment of the c tax for the year.

Joan so sorry to hear about your wee grandson. I was going to say it sounded like mumps? Here's hoping the AB will get to the bottom of the problem soon and he will recover and go home. Such a worry when they are young.

Sadly these forms do take ages to complete. They never make anyone's life easy at difficult times. I'm sure your daughter checked it thoroughly so hopefully will get sorted soon.

Sorry Ann, got the day wrong! I suspect under a local. Freeze the area and cut it out? I had a stye once that got infected and was like an aniseed ball under my eyelid. They flipped my eyelid, injected to freeze and removed it. All I can politely say is Ouch! But in 5 minutes, it was all sorted. So here's hoping your visit tomorrow goes well for you.

Daughter left another pile of washing grr, she's away until Wed.

On Sunday, she decided to wash her single fleece duvet. Before i knew it, there was soap suds coming out of the machine and spreading over the lino grrrr Used 4 towels to mop it up and stop soap from spreading out.
Just like before, she put too much liquid in the machine. The fleece duvet cover really absorbs the soap and creates so much you really only need a tiny amount.

Took 3 washes, 3 spins and a final rinse, spin & drain to get rid of the suds. To say, i was not a a happy bunny doesn't cut it and daughter got the sharp end of my tongue as this is now the 2nd time she let this happen.

Just as well she has gone away today, far away from the washing machine!

The time is moving so fast cant believe it neary 3.30 already.

Off to hang out some washing for the last time today :-D

It does seem as if it is outside of the repayment time Florence so you may be OK.

My hospital appointment is tomorrow. I don't thinkthere is any doubt about whether or not they can remove the BCC, If it is left there is the chance it could become malignant. It is how they will remove it that concerns me really.

Hello to everyone.
Florence what a worry for you, but, could it be that any repayment could mean within a certain time limit, though I don't know for certain I have never heard of anyone having to repay any home improvement grants !

Yes our house is in joint names & even without a will from hubby the various things have gone through quite quickly, but his private Royal Mail pension has not.
I received the claim forms today (it's like a book) & our daughter came over to look through them, we discovered from the letter with them that the claim can be done on-line but ONLY by filling in the paper forms first & then sending to the relevant people via an email !

My daughter arrived at 10-45 am & it took her until 1-45 pm to fill it all in & then submit everything, 3 hours ! unbelievable, & my hubby always told me it would be simple enough to make a claim should anything happen to him !
I am just hoping that the claim is in order & we haven't missed out anything, I'm not sure I could face further questions, I could never have managed to make the claim on my own !

Our youngest daughter (in Lanark) phoned me yesterday to tell me our grandson age 6yrs was in hospital, he had woken during the night with 1/2 of his face swollen & was admitted, the DR seemed to think he had an infected Lymph node & would need IV antibiotics & scan of his neck.

Eventually a Cannula was fitted & he had 1 dose of antibiotics, he was due the scan sometime today & it would depend on what it showed as to whether he would need another dose of AB.
Daughter stayed at the hospital last night & she might have to spend another night there, grandson seems well enough but for the swelling he is happy & eating !
Always something to have to deal with.

Another nice day here, dry & sunny but still a bit on the chilly side.

Joan.

That condition of your mum's grant sounds very unfair, Florence.

On a Google search, I see that if the property is sold within 10 years of the Coldbuster grant being given, then the owner (or landlord if the grant was to a tenant) does have to repay it.

"COLDBUSTER GRANTS
Currently there is a repayment condition attached to Coldbuster Grants given under the local scheme where the application is from an owner-occupier. The South West London Housing Sub Region attach a condition in respect of the Universal Coldbuster Scheme for South West London whereby if a grant is given to an owner-occupier or a private tenant and the property is sold within 10 years of the completion of the works, then the grant is repayable. In the case of a grant given to a private tenant on this Scheme the grant is repayable by the landlord and it is proposed that a similar condition should also apply in respect of applications from private tenants for new enquiries under the local Scheme."


But your mum got her Coldbuster grant in 2010, so that clause shouldn't apply - assuming that all councils have the same rules.

The same seems to apply to Disability Grants - though again, maybe different areas have different rules:

Do disabled facilities grants have to be repaid?
Not usually, but if you are a homeowner and you have a grant of more than £5,000 you may be asked to repay some of it if you move within 10 years. Check the conditions with your local authority.
https://www.foundations.uk.com/library/dfg-faq/


But I'm sure you've looked into all that!

Afternoon all

Sunny & bright day but quite cold in the wind, however it is dry and good for the washing. Yesterday, managed to get all the towels dry and they didn't blow away lol

So just when you think you are nearly there with selling your property, something else crops up to keep you back grrr

I was sent an email with loads of attachments from sol. A copy of the search shows when my dear mum got a disability grant to have the bath removed and a shower put in in 2013 and another grant to have new central heating put in through something called Coldbusters in 2010. These grants were given by local council.

So upon reading the search info, it says, if the property is sold, then the grants have to be repaid in full???? My mum was reg disabled and on pension credit. They checked her bank and at the time had less than 3K so she met the criteria.

At no time was she told that if she sold the flat, then both grants would have to be paid back. So now we shall have to pay them back around £8600.

I have tried to speak to someone today but all I got was a recorded message saying due to sickness and staff shortages, there is no one to take your call, please leave a message! So one more thing to keep us from completing but in anycase, its our problem not the buyers but they need written confirmation from the council they we will be repaying it on completion of sale.

Anyway shall try phoning again tomorrow and hopefully get it sorted.

Ann I hope you got on ok at the hospital. Are they able to remove the thing on your nose? Sounds very painful and in an awkward position too.

Joan, so glad you posted as was a bit worried, you might be unwell.

I hope your son managed to get through to the Royal Mail Pensions Dept today and get that sorted. You said there was no will so i'm guessing your house is in joint names? But now you need to consider making a will yourself so if anything happens to you, your estate can be dealt with more easily.

All these things take time, but as you said, you have dealt with most things now so nearly all sorted. You may now qualify for Pension Credit, just a thought to look into.

Hope your snow has gone. We def dont have any over this way and dont want any either.....Spring is here and winter has gone hopefully.

I finally finished my friends family tree and daughter took it today to post it for me. So that's another one complete .

Well I need some lunch and a coffee as not eaten yet.

Hope everyone else looking in is ok.

Florence in the hebrides