Book Bargain & Free Food Fun

 Thank you for all the very interesting comments on my last post about the NHS App.  I think it seems to work well in some situations but not for booking appointments which is the true sticking point.

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After all the heat of last week, it cooled slightly at the weekend and we had a little,  although not enough rain, certainly not enough to replenish the water butts.  It did feel a little bit fresher though and a little easier to sleep.

At the aptly named Wednesday Club yesterday, I browsed the donated books for sale and found the sequel to The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry.  Paperbacks are normally just 25p each but this one is in such perfect, unread condition that I put 50p in the honesty box.  I read the Harold Fry one about 6 or 7 years ago and enjoyed it, so I look forward to starting this one as soon as I have finished my current read 😀

Last Saturday, a get together with coffee and cake had been organised by the allotment committee.  I was stunned by the quality of the food.  There were lots of homemade cakes, freshly picked allotment strawberries, pots of hot water and jars of coffee to make yourself a hot drink. The lady who owns the village Chinese  takeaway brought hot food too.  I can vouch for the Veggie spring rolls and Spicy chips 🍟 😋 they were absolutely delicious 👍

It was great to have the opportunity to chat to fellow plot holders and it didn't cost anything to partake of the food or drink.   I was given a plate of cakes to bring home because there was so much.....

At one point we had a sprinkling of rain but it didn't last long and what's a little rain when you're having fun 🙃 

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The last few days have been spent paying bills and sorting out our Wills.  A final visit was paid to the solicitor on Monday to sign them ( and pay for them);  not cheap at £468 😱 but at least we now have peace of mind.  We already have Enduring Power of Attorney in place.

 The next task was visiting the building society to unlock the PIN on Graham's card because he stupidly tried a third time to enter his PIN when trying to draw some cash from the Post Office 🫣  I always tell him DON'T TRY MORE THAN TWICE !!!!  He often mis-remembers the number. Does he listen?....... no.....sigh......

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I think that's all the news for now....

Stay safe and well wherever you happen to be, 

Angie 💓 

PS Did you know it's official 'Picky Bits Day' tomorrow? (Friday) 😋

What will you be having?

A Waste of Time? and More Produce ....

 It was far too hot yesterday to do an awful lot.  We had both received text messages from the GPs surgery a couple of days before, inviting us to make appointments to see someone who would help us download the NHS app and show us how to use it.  OK...I'm game to try it but...a) I don't have data on when I'm not home and b) I can't get emails on my phone either, both of which would be required to make the app work.  In the end I  downloaded it and set it up at home, intending to ask relevant questions during the appointment.   Maybe I  can book appointments on the app? Ooh...an exciting prospect!😃 The answer?  No I can't,  so I'm not sure how it will help me.  I now have a new app on my phone which will probably be rarely used.  That's if I can remember my password when I need it 🤔  Ah, well, it filled half an hour of my day up........

Lunch was quiche and salad using homegrown beetroot and cucumber, with addition of a few naughty chips cooked in the airfryer....

In the afternoon we popped to the nurseries for a small bag of bonsai compost then home again to get cool.  At 7pm, when the sun had gone in, we decided to go and give the allotment a good soaking.  No rain is forecast until at least Sunday and everything is so dry.  I harvested all the broad beans, some more rhubarb 😋 and a couple of heads of broccoli 🥦.....

 They are a decent size at 457g each.  I took one over to our new neighbours along with some broad beans.  Of course I stopped for a chat 😁

Baby, it's hot, hot, hot 🔥 🥵 

Thanks for popping in folks.  Do stay safe and well wherever you happen to be, 

Angie 💓 

Edit:

 PS just for Ana ....Broad beans look like this:

An Early July Treat Day....naughty but necessary :)

 This year we had made it our mission to have a day out as a treat once a month.  This month (June) we had the NEC visit so started planning for our July treat,  but we seem to have had so much bad news lately.   Firstly, my brother-in-law is struggling with end of life care.  He cannot swallow easily and chokes on his food and drink (what little he can manage) The family are visiting him but waiting for the inevitable......

Our son is still in pain with a bowel condition after his appendectomy and is awaiting further investigations in Oz which should take place in another week or so....

And now my younger brother has had an MRI scan for lung cancer and is waiting for the results which could take up to 4 weeks.....

We thought "why wait for our next treat? It could be one of us next" so yesterday (Tuesday) when we awoke to a beautiful sunny day, we decided to blow the budget and visit the Black Country Living Museum again.  It's only about half an hour away so not too stressful for Gray. 

It was not exactly cheap at £25.95 each so £51.90 plus £3.95 parking fee but admission does come with an annual return pass for free so we can come back again and again over the next 12 months.....

There is now so much to see because the site has grown such a lot over the years.....

We took a packed lunch and ate our salmon salad sandwiches sitting in the sun.....

Followed by a drink in The Elephant and Castle pub;  half a bitter for Gray and a Babycham for me.....😊

This is one of the more recent acquisitions: built around (I think) the  1920's .......

....with the external walls made of metal construction.  Boy, it kept in the heat today.  It would have been sweltering in Summer and icy cold in Winter.....

Golly, mum had one of these cisterns in my childhood home.  She used it right up to 2008! Fortunately, the Izal toilet paper bit the dust long before, in favour of Andrex!

Lots of familiar items......

Candlewick bedspreads were all the rage in the 1950's.  I remember that mum had a yellow one 😀......

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We really enjoyed the day and it took my mind off my worries for a few hours.  I know we have overspent this month but we didn't break into the savings as the admission costs came out of Graham's discretionary spending,  I paid for parking (£3.95) and the drinks (£6.00) out of mine, and we intend to make full use of the free returns.  I think we'll go again in July....

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Thanks for popping in,  Do stay safe and well wherever you happen to be,

Angie 💗

Strawberry Thief and Yummy Stuff

Now that our veg plants are doing well after the recent rainy spell, I'm getting excited!  We are beginning to harvest:

Broad beans

Brocolli

Cucumbers (mini)

Baby potatoes

Radishes 

Beetroot 

and

more Rhubarb than we can eat

The tomatoes and peppers in our little greenhouse have fruit on them now too.  We did have some gooseberries on the bushes at the allotment (proof below) .... but they have vanished 🫣 as have a fair number of strawberries. Animal or human thieves?  We have no idea 🤔

How are your gardens doing? Any harvests yet?

Thanks so much for popping in.  Stay safe and well wherever you happen to be,

Angie 💗

Random Acts of Kindness

 I do try to help people whenever I can and today, whilst trying to park in the village, I got the opportunity to help several people.  The dratted machine on the car park often plays up and the instructions for use are far from clear.  Today it threw a wobbly when people tried to pay by card.  It just didn't want to know and displayed an error message every time.  I ended up helping several people to pay with cash and one elderly chap (listen to me aged 75!) only had a card on him so I paid his £1.60 due for an hour's parking out of the change in my glovebox.  

I did notice that he was parked next to me in a stonking new car with a private number plate so I hope he will 'pay it forward' and help someone else 🤔

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I dropped another batch of cards into the Hospice shop too; 126 so far. There were just 5 left again.  Now that I feel a little better, I can crack on and make more for them.  The manageress says that customers are now coming in asking for them specially👍

 Thanks so much for popping in.  Stay safe and well wherever you happen to be,

Angie 💓

On GP's and NEC Adventure!

 Thank you so much, all of you who left a comment on my last post.  It seems you are all struggling with the same issues with regard to seeing a GP too.  Did the surgery get back to me on Tuesday?  Of course they bloomin' didn't.....not a peep out of them.....

Out of frustration, I went on to their Facebook page (I hate Facebook but wanted to check out their information regarding the new system) and left a comment about my non-appointments.  I was polite, didn't rant, but stated that the new system doesn't seem to work.  The next day, Wednesday, I received a text in the afternoon giving me an appointment with an ANP (Advanced Nurse Practitioner) at 4.45pm that day 👀Wow!

When I attended, the ANP was kind, respectful and actually listened to what I was saying.  She examined my ear and said that, although she couldn't see the eardrum, it was perfectly possible that I have an inner ear infection.  She prescribed antibiotics 👍I'm on the second day of tablets and already feeling a bit better.

Yesterday, I went back to their Facebook page and noticed that the surgery had read my comment and apologised.  Is that how I got my appointment then?  Maybe it pays to complain nicely......

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I was so glad to be seen by someone at last because we had our Gardeners World Live/ Good Food Show tickets for yesterday and I couldn't have gone there with a pounding headache.  

The journey on the M6 was horrendous; so much traffic and the speed down to 40mph in many places.  We got there after a 90 minute journey and headed straight to Gardeners World Live before the rain set in, as it was all outdoors.  There was so much to spend money on! although we didn't......just stored up ideas for later 😀

Monty Don was there although we couldn't get close.....

The bee garden was my absolute favourite.  It was a lovely mix of veg and flowers and there was an actual working beehive on site ......

I left Gray there perusing the gardening tools and suchlike and visited the Good Food Show nearby.  So much to see....and taste!

They had mounds of street food which was very expensive (£14.99 for Scampi and chips, £6 for a tray of chips £8 for a hotdog special 😖)  but I went to the Food Forum where I could sit and eat my HM sandwiches and watch the celebrity chefs being interviewed.   I bought a can of delicious ice cold Rose Lemonade for £2 from a lovely friendly vendor, who gave me a taste first, and really enjoyed my picnic on a very comfy padded bench seat 😋

The only other thing I bought was a bag of cinnamon rolls for £2 to take home (after tasting a sample first, of course 😊) but came away with a few ideas to spice up my cooking.

By 2.30pm we were both shattered as well as full and took the courtesy bus back to the carpark as it was pouring with rain.  I had pre-paid for parking @£8 and I'm so glad I did because the cost would have been... £18.95 😟

It took another 90 minutes for the drive home in the rain.  Gray's neck was killing him by then due to the concentration required to drive safely, and my headache had returned, so we were glad to be home. Ready prepared meals were the order of the day and we both slept like logs last night.

I don't think we will ever be going to the NEC again but we both enjoyed our June treat.  Now what can we do in July?

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Speaking of complaining nicely...the renewal for the insurance on my washing machine came in last week.  It will increase next month from £6.99 per mth to £7.99 which is £12 per year extra.  I rang them this morning to query if they could reduce it back down to £6.99 as I have never called them out.  We compromised at £7.10 per mth therefore a saving of £10.68 a year.  It all helps, doesn't it......

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Thanks for popping in and do stay safe and well wherever you happen to be,

Angie 💗

How the hell do you get help for health issues?

 I've had a niggling headache for well over a week and at the weekend it escalated to a real humdinger.   No amount of paracetamol nor Ibuprofen, nor both combined have even taken the edge off, so I did what the surgery dictates and went to the pharmacy for help.  I have tinnitus anyway but the ringing has got worse affecting my hearing on my left ear.  The pain now radiates down the left side of my face from temple to jaw.  I think I have an ear infection.  The pharmacist can give antibiotics to patients...yes! but only if you are aged 1 to 17 😭 so they told me to visit the surgery and fill out an appointment request form.  I tootled off to the surgery only to be told I have to do it online.  I lied and said I was unable to do that so the receptionist completed the online form on my behalf at 11.15am.  I was told to wait for a phone call.  At 4.20pm I received a text message saying that there were no appointments available today and to complete an online form at 8am tomorrow and I  would be triaged for an appointment.

  What are the chances tomorrow do you think?

 Meanwhile,  I'm popping pills like there's no tomorrow and I'm looking forward to yet another sleepless night....

What the f**k is happening to this country 😳  Sorry to swear folks but I feel dreadful 😢 

Take care of yourselves,

Angie❤️