Winter Chat

The other day I spent a good couple of hours looking around Ikea on line as I wanted a unit to fit beside my bed.

I decided on a cube one.  Chose the narrow 4 cube one and then chose an extra shelf to go inside one cube and a couple of drawer sets to go inside two of the other cubes.  All that only came to £55.

I then took the time to go through registering on the site only to find they wanted £39 to deliver those few bits.

There was no way I was going to bump up the cost to £94 so I left it.

But.............  Jess is now going to run me over to Ikea Southampton today to buy and collect it all.  Ok, it's gonna cost me to buy us both lunch while we are out but I'd rather spend that money on lunch for Jess and I and have an afternoon out, than allow myself to be conned by Ikea for a massive delivery fee.

Peeing with rain again outside here too again.

Dogs are such lovely company and I would imagine being able to babysit one and then hand him back is nice.

I had my shopping delivered a couple of days ago.  I hate buying from Tescos but I hate even more having to go out and physically get it in this cold weather.

For us it was hammering out of the sky, but the days are seeming to get slightly warmer.

I had a lovely afternoon out with Jess at Ikea yesterday.  I got my units with no problem along with a few other bits that I didn't know I wanted until I saw them.

Both Jess and Adam came back later in the evening to put the unit together for me and after they had gone I spent some time organising a few bits.  The extra unit has taken a little weight off of other bits of storage so was a good buy.

Today I am going to play at making some filofax dividers for one of my mini filos.  That should keep me out of mischief.

Glad you got the units (and a few other "essentials") and lovely of them to put them together so quickly for you.

I have my car back. It will be a while before we're completely certain but after a lot of short journeys and two of several hundred miles everything is looking good. The head gasket is sealed, he's fitted a new thermostat and housing, completely changed the oil and coolant and replaced the oil filter. Total cost to me £138 so I'm delighted. Isn't free labour wonderful? :D

Hey it has been awhile since I visited so wanted to say hi. How are you all doing?

Great news re the car only costing £138.  So pleased for you Wendy.

I feel for you having to suffer the snow Geru.  Thank goodness we haven't really had any.  Apart from that one single day of it.

Yeah, I very much like Ikea stuff Susan.  It's a reasonable price and decent quality.  I just hate the price they charge for delivery.

I really, really must do some housework today before I start playing.  The flat is a mess.

Hi Becky.

Hi Everyone.

Sandy, How wonderful that your sweet Jess took you to IKEA.
And then she and Adam came back and put things together for you!
She is a gem.

Wendy, 
Sounds like a great repair job was done on your car.
I always feel so fortunate when I have people in my life
that care and help when help is needed.

Geru, 
I hope you survive the cold!
Can you turn up the thermostat where you live?
I have 3 blankets on my side of the bed right now.
My husband only has one.
I get cold when I'm tired or sleeping.
My body temp always seems to go way down
and I need lots of blankets in the winter.

I had my granddaughters over on Saturday night.
They kept me busy all evening.

My daughter, Rachel, has a new foster dog.
His name is Cooper.
He was newly adjusting to her home
and seemed sweet.
But was a little nervous and pooped
in her kitchen.
She calmly cleaned it up.
Her husband, John, is calling the dog,
Pooper, instead of Cooper.

Hope everyone has a good rest of the day!

Wow, its snowing , snowing , snowing, -1c, feels like -3c,  and the wind was bad yesterday, today is a bit better , but still heavy duty . with more snow coming tonight and in the days to come . We have not had winter here for years  . I did venture out during the snowing , just made it home before the side walks covered over again . They are sanding the roads right now .

 I do not have any Ikea stuff, but my son has lots , and he likes some of there things There is no Ikea place close to me anyways .I need to get some housework done too, vacuum and dust for sure  ,hope you found time to gets your's all done Sandy .

yes Kerri, I can turn up the thermostat , all the way up , and it is still cold in here when that wind blows over 40km ph , fire place gets turned on then  ,think I have a cold of some sort too. Had that bad toothache, which is gone , cold sore getting better but still lingering on ..OH yes , Hope Cooper will soon get over the nervousness ... lol .    

Have a nice day everyone .

Popping on early to wish Geru a very Happy Birthday.

I hope you have a really great one.

xx

Happy Birthday Geru. I hope it warms up for you.

I'm definitely lucky when it comes to the car. I'll be testing it for myself for the first time today. Not going far but visiting my brother later. Between being ill for a couple of weeks and then having no car I haven't seen him for a month. He'd come to my house but there's absolutely nowhere to park his mobility scooter and with steep steps into my backyard it's just not practical. I haven't been feeling very sociable anyway.

Awwww. I hope Cooper settles in and starts to relax soon Kerri. Poor thing getting stuck with a name like Pooper but it was funny.

Thank you for the birthday wishes Sandy and Wendy . 

Weather is unreal for us  here , good amount of snow,several inches . Wind has died down some which helps a lot . I see shovelling going on , must not miss the chance to get to the store before more comes along . as it says . 

see you later .  

Hope you have been having a good day Geru.

I've just been looking at some images of snowy areas over on Twitter that people have been posting of where they are.  Beautiful but cold they all look.

Bummer about your brother not being able to get to your's Wendy 'cause of no parking for scooter.

I woke up to a broken fridge/freezer this morning.  All freezer food has to be chucked and the fridge stuff will only last a couple of days.  Of course I now have to go buy a new one urgently.

I didn't get any sleep last night for some reason so have slept a lot today and the most active thing I have done is take the dog for a walk.

Happy Birthday, Geru!!

Hope you have a lovely birthday! 

What I meant re can you turn the thermostat up,
is that we once lived in a building where the heat
was centrally regulated. 
Heat was free (included in what we paid)
so they didn't want it crank up high.

Also, when my husband was in the TCU,
he was cold and we turned the thermostat
all the way up.
It was still cold. (For him. He needs it very warm.)
One of the nurses told me that
the thermostats in the individual rooms
really don't do anything.
The heat is centrally controlled.

But if you pay your own heat bill,
they probably don't care how high you crank it.
If you don't pay the heat bill yourself,
you may want to ask about it.

Ouch! Having to buy a new appliance unexpectedly always hurts. Can you not claim on your insurance for the contents Sandy?

Wet and dreary again here but I'm staying home today so I'm not too bothered. Had a busy couple of days so a quiet one will be welcome. Plenty to catch up on if I can work up the enthusiasm.

My heating also comes in with my rent Kerri and they are totally incharge of how often it comes on and how long it stays on.  I bought a small oil filled radiator to stand in the corner of the room which I then use to boost the heat in the cold times.  That of course I  have to pay for the running of seperately in my electricity bill.  But it's a good set up for me.

I don't have household insurance Wendy for the simple reason I got fed up with paying for it for over 50 years and never made one single claim.  There wasn't much in the freezer anyway as I barely use it, and the fridge was virtually empty as well as I am due to put in a new shopping list.

The only problem is having to pay out more money to buy a new one and also be without a fridge until I can get another one delivered.  If I order one right this minute the earliest they can deliver is 22nd of Feb.

Charlie today is enquiring of the other chaps if they have one left behind in any of the flats they are clearing out.  It seems that the fridges and freezers are the main thing left behind when a flat becomes empty.  If he can find one for me today I will order a new one from Currys.  I don't mind buying a new fridge but I do mind waiting for delivery for one.  Although I have an idea that Charlie might offer to collect one from Currys for me.  Pay and Collect sort of thing on line.

If I have to buy one I've decided to buy an under the counter fridge instead of a fridge/freezer because I barely use the freezer but Charlie will then extend the counter surface and add a new wall cabinet for me.  I need that more than I need a freezer.

I have to go and put my prescription in today.  I'm going to do that right after I post this and get it over and done with.

Ok, Charlie came earlier to remove my old fridge/freezer and Argos are delivering me an under the counter fridge at no charge for delivery on Friday.  The larder fridge cost £110.

Charlie is then going to change the counter top on that side and put a longer one now that there is no tall fridge/freezer there.  He is also going to put my microwave on the wall above that counter and hopefully will be able to put either a short cuboard or a couple of shelves above that.

Hi everyone.

Sandy, 
How wonderful that Charlie is so helpful!
Sounds like everything will work out fine.

The roads were clean on the way to work this morning.
I was thankful for that after all the snow we got yesterday.

Hope everyone has a peaceful rest of the day.

That sounds great Sandy. Getting one on Friday means you'll hardly miss it. A good price too. Charlie is definitely worth his weight in gold. Just getting rid of your old one for you has saved you a lot of hassle and it sounds like he's going to improve the practicality of your kitchen for you as well. Every cloud and all that.

Hi Kerri. Glad getting to work was easier for you today. It's actually supposed to get to 12C here today (warmest day of the year so far) and we have some sunny spells. The forecast is for it to be mild this week and then turn very cold again.

Just dropping in quick like ,got things that need to get done .Been hearing from my family that they are  all covered in ice and snow , they all live in the East of Canada


Weather still messy here,but slowly they are getting around to getting te side streets cleared , not  snowing here right now ,but more is forecast .  3c , so it has warmed up . 

Have read all the post's, Sandy......I am very envious of Charlie... lol ,he is a God sent for all you folks in that complex . Sorry about the Fridge happening , bummer for sure . 

Kerri:   Heat  and hot water is included in the rent here, thermostat goes up to 90F , but don't think it works right.But then  ....the wind blows like crazy here at times,  winter does not come to often . I have a corner on the outside wall  ,that I can use to keep things cool  , brrrrr.   have a fire place ,that I use when I am really cold  (electric is not included here ), so use it sparingly,and  it makes a bit of a rattling noise .

Wendy: sounds like you are warming up now , hope your feeling better. 

I don't envy anyone all that snow, especially as it looks like our spring is well on it's way even though it's still only the middle of February.

Yup, Charlie is certainly a little gem.

They delivered my fridge and although it's not part of their job they did put it insitu for me and took away all the packaging.  Two lovely chaps.  So Charlie simply came in for a break and a cup of tea.

Charlie will be along next week sometime to put in the new counter top and put the microwave on the wall. 

Today is Margarets birthday so I am now just about to get showered and dressed and pop along ther to give her a birthday pressie and card.  Then I need to do shopping on line.

Good to hear it all went well Sandy.

Yep Spring has sprung here too. Sunny spells and 12C. I hope it stays and we've seen the back of Winter. It is early though so I'm not holding my breath.

Had another car problem last night. I tell you it's jinxed! Turned out the crank shaft had gone so it wouldn't start. While the AA bloke was looking he also found the oil pressure gauge was leaking a bit too. Luckily he had both parts on the van and replaced both for me. Another £94 but he checked the diagnostics and nothing else showed up so fingers crossed that's the end of car bills for a while. Except I have to pay the tax on it this month still. Another £155 to the government.