General Chat

That’s great news Mandy; very pleased for you both.

That's brilliant Colin will be home today Mandy! I bet he'll be pleased to be back and so will you! I bet Max will be beside himself! :-D I must admit I preferred my old button phone. This swipe one I have now, seems to swipe itself and won't stay on long.

Mel that would be great to get the trees sorted and really good for them too if they can use them on their logburners. I imagine it will be easier mowing too without as many twigs falling. We have the Warburtons seeded and I have the small lighter wholemeal loaf. They sent me a white one this time as a sub so that went back.

OH has gone to a match tonight looking like the Michelin Man with all his layers on! I'm not sure it's a good idea, having just gone in the conservatory and felt how bitterly cold it is in there. I suppose he's only half an hour away, but it's if your car won't start and you have to wait for the breakdown people. Still I suppose if he's warm enough to stand out at a match, he's warm enough to wait as well. :-S

That's brilliant Colin will be home today Mandy! I bet he'll be pleased to be back and so will you! I bet Max will be beside himself! :-D I must admit I preferred my old button phone. This swipe one I have now, seems to swipe itself and won't stay on long.

Mel that would be great to get the trees sorted and really good for them too if they can use them on their logburners. I imagine it will be easier mowing too without as many twigs falling. We have the Warburtons seeded and I have the small lighter wholemeal loaf. They sent me a white one this time as a sub so that went back.

OH has gone to a match tonight looking like the Michelin Man with all his layers on! I'm not sure it's a good idea, having just gone in the conservatory and felt how bitterly cold it is in there. I suppose he's only half an hour away, but it's if your car won't start and you have to wait for the breakdown people. Still I suppose if he's warm enough to stand out at a match, he's warm enough to wait as well. :-S

As long as he doesn’t say it is too cold to go shopping Ann.

Good morning all. A relly hard frost last night. the roof tops and tops of fences and sheds were so white I thought at first it was snow, but nothing at ground level.0 degrees here now and very dull with heavy cloud cover. Luckily no plans to go out today and still lots to do on my ever growing list.
Had home insurance renewal. My LV insurance is already high compared to some but I accepted that last year as it covers such a lot and we/I have been with them for a very long time as son was a long serving manager with them until he retired when we lost the 'family' discount.
But this year it is a 75% increase so is way above what is said is the national average. I have never used Compare the market so am reluctant to do so, nervous I will make a wrong decision and really fed up that I have to. T always dealt with this side of things, even though I dealt with general finance. It is all made worse because everything seems to be by phone which I can't do. so feeling a bit down by the situation now.

Morning all,

About the same here I think Anng we have a heavy frost and pc says its 1 degree light rain and snow. Its very cloudy and so dull this morning it makes you feel like going back to bed. Had a bad night got up for the loo and it was dark, could I go back to sleep then I did'nt like the heavy cover on the bed as I had slung my toweling robe at the bottom so that was flung aside then I got hot feet so they were in and out of the covers and in the end I had to take my bed socks off still could'nt drop ff. I had watched that program about the two little boys swopped at birth and watched all the series and I think it may have upset me to think something like that could happen.

Anyway I havcve to get the dustbins done today and out tonight as they come so very early in the morning if I don't get them out tonight they won't go for a fortnight. They hav'nt been since before Christmas sso I have two sacks.

Morning All,

A heavy frost here too! He wouldn't do that AnnG in case he missed out on something nice to eat! :-D. I always use the Moneysupermarket comparison site which is easy to use and you can do it all online. You just choose from a list after checking what they cover.

Kitchen needs me......BBL

Its just started snowing here.

Done a wash but its all inside and Emma called for eggs and we had a nice long chat.

Afternoon all,
Very sharp frost here this morning ,everywhere was so white it did look like we'd had snow ,its thawed a bit now ,we saw the sun for about an hour but now it's clouded over .
Anng son usually sorts our insurances for us and he uses compare the market ,just puts in the information and that then brings up all the companies and the prices so you can scroll through and pick the one you think is best for you ,it usually has a check list so you can see what they are offering , it must be a bit daunting having to do it on your own ,would cynth come in and help you ,two heads better than one ,and if you do pick one and change your mind you do have ten or fourteen days to cancel .
You'll notice the difference in prices but we usually go with a company we've heard of there's lots we don't know ,we've gone with Halifax, Sainsbury, Tescos etc .

Colin had a good night he was glad to get into his own bed,hospital rang this morning with a curtesy call to see how he was .

It's great that Colin had a good night and probably a lot more rest at home. Onwards and upwards now to a full recovery for him.

Yes, we have used the comparison sites too for home insurance, after our quotes soared to unacceptable levels. Daughter has then sometimes contacted them to be sure that we are saying 'Yes' or ' No' correctly to questions they might ask. One for us was
'Have you always lived in UK apart from holidays abroad?'
We have lived overseas on job postings, but were told we would be considered still as UK residents, so it's always worth checking if something is not quite straight forward to make sure there are no loopholes that mean you're not covered.

We have a big problem with some firms not accepting us at all, because we are technically in what the Government have determined is a flood-risk area. It's never flooded since Roman times !
Doesn't stop extensive housing projects constructing more properties though :-| :-0
Some firms want to know how far away is the nearest tree, but we have that measured a few years ago, so can quote that now.

Bitterly cold here with a heavy frost last night. Snow / sleet expected any time soon :-0

Phew, I nearly burnt the onions for the gravy! If I lived nearer I would show you how and help you do it AnnG. Maybe your daughter could do it for you instead this time and then show you how next time they come? I've always done it since before we moved here for things like the car and house insurance. Like Mandy, I don't go for the cheapest and pick a name I know but that is at the cheaper end. Something I must do is get OH to run through doing his tax return with me. If anything should make him unable to do it, it would be a headache for me to sort it out and do.

Those hospital beds aren't that comfy after a while so Colin would have loved being back in his own bed as you say Mandy and it was good the hospital rang to make sure he's ok.

Mel I was convinced I'd be colder last night and like you I put my fluffy dressing gown along the bottom of the bed so I could pull it over me in the night if I needed to. I didn't in the end but I've left it there for tonight which is supposed to be cold as well. That was nice you got to have a chat with Emma. I always have a picture of her in my mind in the dungarees with daisies on now!

There was ice on the patio when I went out to the garage freezer so we've both decided to stay in today. OH has had one council online meeting this morning and needs to sort out for a meeting tomorrow where he is on a panel. It's only in the village so not far to go.

Well as our friend Jane would say, better get my skates on now!

Mandy Cynth doesn't do any of her finance at all herself, she has a friend that does it with her. Daughter would do it if she lived nearer or even son

I do know that I am with a company that are a bit more expensive but I have gone through their 'how we arrive at the price' and I think that even if I got a comparison that is cheaper, once I got it adjusted to everything I am covered for and they did various checks it would not be far off. I know we are in what is believed to be a flood risk area (after all all of Gloucester was affected by floods in 2007 and we are only about 9 miles from Tewkesbury which always floods. Not that I am likely to be flooded here but, with all the new builds, who knows how the drains are affected. I think I am also affected by age and single occupancy which is considered more risk. and also the fact of the break ins in the area due to (and some of this goes back a fair way) I am very close to a large ex council, now housing benefit etc estate with a bad reputation for drugs etc. If I was desperate for money I might look at cutting some of the things I am covered for but, as it is I will probably just accept it. In my view, life is too short (and it is beginning to look even shorter with each passing year) to waste time worrying about these things. I can well do without the stress.

My sister has just told me that a second cousin of ours has died just after his 69th birthday. How sad. We had not heard from him for a while, he married a Malaysian girl and they lived in Brunei. As I say life is too short. He had not been ill, Heart failure.

Sorry to hear about your second cousin Anng. Had he famiuly? As to the subject of the house insurance I have been with my company for 15 years so they told me last time I renewed. He said he had never seen anyone stay so long with his company. It comes up on my birthday so I don't forget that one and I am paying just about as much as I did in the last few years so its easier for me to just pay the premuim and its out of the way.

Still snowing here and the flakes have gotten much bigger but the grounds wet so its not settling yet.

I have just corned th chickens and taken up two bags of rubbish for the nbin men tomorrow as they come about 6.30am.

Mel he has a sister but I have never had contact with her. His parents, my cousin and her husband who I was quite close too died several years ago (they were a lot older than me. I was in contact with him because he had researched our family tree and we kept each other updated. I wonder if all his research will be lost now as he was not living in england.

If your happy with the insurance then stick with who you know Anng its not worth all the agro and worry as you say life's to short .
Sorry to hear about your second cousin passing away ,it will be a shame if all the family history is lost .

Oh Mel if the temperature drops the snow might begin to lay ,you might wake up tomorrow with a covering of snow .

I think it should snow down on the south coast and might even get up as far as us ,but tomorrow should be sunnier then today .

Vera sorry I meant to say thank you for the email but I couldn't open it :-(

I do think the nights are pulling out a little even though its been a dull day it seems lighter tonight .

I’m glad Colin had a good night Mandy. Hospitals are noisy places even at night so I’m sure he will get more rest at home. Fingers crossed that he will soon be completely back to normal. I dug out that cheesecake recipe and emailed it to you yesterday.

Sorry to hear about your second cousin AnnG. It’s always sad to lose a family member. Comparison websites are OK and can save you money but there are downsides. If you’re comparing prices you need to be sure you are comparing like for like in what cover you are getting and how can you know about customer service and speed of dealing with claims etc? We have used them but for the last few years we have stuck with LV and have buildings, contents and car insurance with them. Our house insurance is reasonable but our car insurance went sky high in September, presumably because of our age. OH rang them and eventually they reduced the premium by £100. I know phone calls are difficult for you AnnG but perhaps you could email LV and ask why your premium is so high and if there’s any way of reducing it a bit.

Is it still snowing Mel? Have you got snow yet Gwyn? I saw on the weather forecast that some was expected along the coast in the south east. Has the flooding round your way subsided at all Annx? I think we’ve been lucky round here. There was only one lot of snow that cleared quite quickly and there’s been no serious floods. Today the wind has dropped and we even had some sun but it has been bitter cold. We popped to Sainsbury around 2 pm and I froze just walking from the end of the car park to the shop.

I’d better get my skates on too as I’ve got tonight’s meal to prepare and a few jobs to do. Stay warm and take care if you have to go out.

Mandy, just seen that you couldn’t open the email. I wonder why? Never mind, it will take me 2 minutes to print it out and pop it in the post to you. I’ll do it in the next day or two.

That's a shame about your cousin AnnG. I wonder how he recorded the FH as it would be a shame if it was lost like Mandy says. Mine's going to the Records Office here who told me they will have it. I agree it's best to stay with your insurance if it is going to cause you stress. Life is too short as you say, as proved with your cousin' untimely passing. I should change my email address or get a new one so I don't get all the scam emails after my provider's data was stolen, but the thought of changing my emails on so many sites now fills me with dread and so I don't get round to it. Has anyone ever changed their broadband provider? Ours is cheap anyway, or was, but they are so complicated with what their packages are. OH breaks out in a sweat at the thought and is convinced it would go wrong and we'd end up with no internet if we did it!

I'm concerned that they might start messing with the flood maps and just widen the areas out that they include for insurance risk. We are quite near the river but far enough for our insurance not to be increased now. We are so much higher than the river, most of the city would be covered if floods were to reach us, but if they just go by distance if they change things, who knows.

I hope we don't get snow Mel. I don't think we are due any at the moment hopefully. We still have the floods and roads closed only a couple of miles towards the city and all the access roads to one village are still closed because of floods.

The whole of our close only ever has one quite dimmed street light on now, so it's pitch dark as the main road lights are not on either. A few years ago it was like daylight a lot of the night and a huge light glow was over the city.

I enjoyed the Pottery Throwdown that's started again and wonder how Keith's chapel revonation is doing.

Vera I can see that we are thinking the same about comparison sites. We and now I used to have LV for two cars,buildings, contents and gravel insurance and they were always very good, very efficient. It was good too when we were able to have family discount via son being a manager with them for about 35 years. It was sad when he took early retirement as we lost that but they were very helpful with car and home insurance when T died. I do think that you get what you pay for to a certain extent and it would be awful to take out a very low cost insurance that didn’t pay out for a claim.
Mandy yes I have decided to stay with LV. Not sure daughter approves but it is my decision and she will accept that.

If only I could find an email address for LV I would do that, but I can’t Vera
Ann I hate having to change anything like email address etc.

I suspect that my cousin will have everything backed up somewhere. He was a very precise person and always passed info to me where it applied to my tree too.

Oh thank you Vera no hurry when ever you have time .

Ann I recorded the pottery throw down, I did read that they have done or are doing the next chapter of the Chapel renovation so something to look forward too .

I think its freezing again here the car looks quite white already.

They were just showing the fires in Los Angeles, all those properties gone and they should still get hurricane winds overnight so there will be lots more gone .