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Hey.....hello Sylvs....welcome home.. :-D


Thank you for the fried bread Dea...but I've gained a couple of pounds since December :-( Not surprising really what with Christmas and everything....


14lbs of potatoes a day???? You sure about that Dea....? :-S :-S


Your comment about listening to the radio programme has made me think about how much I used to love Saturday night theatre on the radio. We would all sit down and listen, and I'm sure it helped to improve my imaginative powers.... :-D


Watching Midsome Murders....only 2 bodies so far - probably 3 more to come! lol


See you tomorrow......

A stone of spuds a day :-0

Are you sure that was per person or was it a family?

We Irish like our spuds :-) :-) :-) :-)


Mornin all~~~~~~~~~~~

Kettle is on, Im off for a shower as teaching today

Good morning all :-)

Boiled eggs and toast soldiers today............. help yourselves, <3

Also available:

Porridge, cereals, fresh fruits and yoghurts.

Bacon, sausages, tomatoes, mushrooms, fried bread.

Danish Pastries and croissants.

See you all later,

Dea Xxx

I have just checked on google about those potatoes...........

I know that is what the woman said - she was a Food Historian from Ireland.

There are many articles which agree with her statement - this is just one reference:

"Potatoes were the exclusive source of Vitamin C for the Irish pesantry, with the average adult eating 12-14 lbs of potatoes per day prior to the destruction of the crop due to blight in successive years, beginning in 1845."

The above was taken from an article here:

http://irishamerica.com/2013/05/mass-burials-at-kilkenny-union/

Apart from eating all that food every day, how on earth did they manage to get it all home to cook? :-S

Considering that many families were quite large and there wouldn't be any cars about, just imagine the weight of all that shopping :-0 :-(

Dea Xxx

Good morning everyone.... :-D


Ooooh! Toast soldiers Dea....haven't had those for yonks. Thanks you. <3


An amazing amount of potatoes eaten by the Irish....all cooked in a variety of ways probably. :-S


So glad that the poor folk in Somerset are going to get some help at long last. Must be awful to be cut off like that. Mind you, compared to what is going on in some parts of the world.....then I guess we are very fortunate.


Quick browse and then see what we are up to today......~~~~

Winter has arrived, it has just this minute started snowing here. Now where did I put that sledge?

The snow is here! :-(

Dea x

We had snow too..........not settled

Just got the quote through for new windows and doors, it's half the price we were quoted from another firm

They are local, make and fit all their windows and came through recommendation from two students of mine

Now................how to pay for them! Checked the loan rates with various companies but am thinking of selling some shares and paying cash

I HATE borrowing money

Don’t talk to me about the ‘big’ double glazing companies. :-|

We’ve recently had a new front door and porch window replaced. We’d already got a quote from a local company when a young lad knocked on the door canvassing. As he said he got paid for referrals, and it was a county based company anyway, I agreed.

We told the Salesman exactly what we wanted but he still spent nearly 2 hours going through his spiel even after we’d repeated that we didn't want a window that opens!

Eventually he worked out a quote, double the local company’s. After ‘taking to the manager’ he knocked off a thousand, but it still didn’t match it.
A couple of months later (we take our time over things like that!!!) a letter comes in under-cutting the local company by £50.

If they can’t play straight from the get-go, they aren't having our custom. :-| :-|

NB - the local company gives a fantastic after-sales service. last year the bathroom window handle came off in me 'hand. As it was still covered by 'FENSA', JIm was round within 10 minutes and fitted a new one. Even if it wasn't still covered, I rather think they'd have done their best at a minimal cost to rectify it.

Det

I had a quote from a company, quite big here in the north (good reputation but
expensive) but the other, near quote was from Saf # Sty#e

What a load of old HARD sell from the latter

Rip offs

hi all
xxx


rainy here ............. but the cold weather is coming, again




s
xx

Snow? Not here thank goodness....... :-D


I've been thinking about new windows but they sound horribly expensive :-(


I'm with DET on this one.......either be upfront and honest or don't bother calling!!


Jonesey, just you be careful on that sledge of yours.......you know how you feel the cold these days......;-)


Went round a camping type shop this morning......we don't go camping obviously, but OH fancied a look round. I nearly had to give him gas and air when he saw the prices of some of the clothes........he couldn't get over anyone paying £200+ for a walking jacket.....hahahahaha......he really needs to get out more!


Quick browse and then bed I think.........night night.......xx

No chance of sledging I'm afraid as the snow only fell for about 10 minutes. Mind you it was that large fluffy type of snowflakes that were falling gracefully from the sky.

It reminded me of a day that I remembered from my youth. On that occasion the same type of snow fell for about an hour and at the end of that time it lay at least 6" deep. Freshly fallen snow transforms even the most dreary industrial landscape into a a beautiful scene. :-)

Mornin all~~~~~~


I agree Jonesey, it looks beautiful and quietens the noise BUT it is horrid!

Thinking about how to pay for the windows, I remembered that Eon have reduced my monthly DD from £131 to £50...........just trying to work out a budget and where to eek money from!

My mortgage lender are offering 2.9% with a fee on top of £99. Looked at a personal loan and they are around 4.5% but the repayments are only about £4 a month extra (same term) and I can get the money a lot quicker

Mortgage lender wants all the usual paperwork and it can take up to 8 weeks!

Finance does my ed in.............off to put the kettle on


Any money experts out there to advise?

Morning all.... :-D


Bacon barm cakes, eggy bread, cereal and lots of toast. Hope that will keep you going for a while Dea..... ;-)


Jonesey dear, I don't care if the snowflakes fall in formation....I just don't want them......ever...... :-(


Gins, can't help you with your query I'm afraid. I think it's because I was brought up in the "if you can't afford it, you go without it" kind of way.

We have always saved up if there was something we wanted. On the rare occasion, for something which has been fairly essential, and out of out budget range, we would pay for it over a matter of months as quickly as we could. We never use our overdraft either.

Just be careful......there are a lot of loan sharks out there........ :-(


Off to Tesco for daughter soon and then, hopefully, lunch out. See you later ~~~

Thank you Cynthia - that is delicious <3 <3

With regard to your financial quandry Ginns - I was brought up in exactly the same manner as Cynths. The only debt I ever had was the mortgage as I absolutely hate to owe money. I would rather do without...

If you are able to sell some shares to pay 'up front' then that is what I would do ;-)

Dea Xxx

Gin,

I obviously went to the same school as Cyn and Dea as I too have only ever borrowed money as a last resort to acquire something that I needed (Rather than just wanted). I have only once entered into a hire purchase agreement (To buy a car) and although I needed a mortgage (My largest mortgage £7,000) to be able to purchase my 1st, 2nd and 3rd homes I borrowed only exactly what I needed, resisting the temptation to borrow the maximum the lender was prepared to advance me. When in the late 1980's interest rates rose to high levels I paid off my outstanding mortgage quickly as it was costing me more in interest to have a mortgage than I was getting in interest on the more than enough money I had sitting in the bank to enable me to pay off the mortgage. Since then my dealings have always been by cash only whether I was buying a car or a house.

The reason for telling you that was to suggest that before you look to borrow funds from any source it is important to check that you actually need to do so. Interest rates are currently quite low for borrowers but obscenely low for investors meaning that if you do have some spare cash lying around earning 0.5 ~ 2.0% PA interest it is better to use that rather than to take out some form of loan at 3.0 ~ 4.9% PA interest. If it is possible for you and JB to do that then ensure that each month you put an amount equal to what would have been your monthly payment to the lender back into your deposit account and before you know it your balance will be restored. You will have new windows and cash, the money lender on the other hand won't be anywhere as near as comfortable as you and JB. :-D

I am always annoyed by something that happened when we took out our last mortgage (over 30 years ago).

We could afford to pay the amount required on what we borrowed (by being VERY frugal) but because the mortgage lender did not share our view, they agreed to give us the mortgage we wanted but we would have to pay 1% more for the priviledge - How does that work ??? :-S - They were charging us extra because they thought we couldn't afford the lower payments ??????????? :-S :-S

The rate at that time was already around 14% - 15% so when the rates started to fall we would never lower our premium and even, when we could, we paid a little more each month. - This meant that we paid off our mortgage some 9 years before we should have done................... Joy !!! :-D

After that, while we were still working, I used to put that same amount into savings each month which gave us our 'security' and paid for holidays and any extras which we wanted. - If you are used to managing without that sum of money each month, you don't miss it ! ;-)

I should follow Jonesey's very wise advice Ginns.

Dea x

I hate borrowing money too, JB is the same. We don't have any debt, except the mortgage, hence me being a bit iffy on borrowing

I have thought that because our investments are are rising higher than the savings/borrowing rate, it might be best to borrow and leave the investments to raise

We can always fall back on them if need be

We save a little cash each month, that pays for breaks and Christmas, so don't get into debt

Still thinking......................and open to suggestions



Just to add........... an hour ago I paid a huge VAT bill, a big PAYE bill and a Self assessment I don't want to think about

Jonesey? I didn't go to the school for naughty children, so it's only Dea that you can remember...... :-D :-D :-D :-D


A horrible grey day here with lots of rain but thankfully, we don't flood.


Still tussling with a friend's tree but have given up for the night now........and watching Jack and the Beanstalk......as you do!!!