Harvest Supper

The FH and I have had a lovely evening at the chapel Harvest Supper with UJ and loads of other folk from the chapel and the surrounding areas.  We have raised £401 for the chapel, and had a good time to boot!  From the shopping for the food, to the organisation of the room, to making up a quiz and supporting the FH to run the auction of produce, it has been one thing after another today, and I am shattered!  Off to bed to dream about the interviews for a new teacher in the morning - hopefully the last new appointment for some time, if they all stay put for a while now!

Aldi voucher news

Just read on the Aldi Facebook page that there will be a £5 off when you spend £40 in Aldi voucher available in the Daily Mirror on Thursday this week.  I have noticed that these vouchers are often valid for a week [slightly longer than the Lidl ones] so if I can organise myself to pick up a paper on Thursday, I will have a voucher for my stock-up trip to Aldi next week.  Bargain, and no catches, and only a reasonable spend required: just what I like!

Having a laugh!

That's what I think someone at that big supermarket you all know I don't like must be doing!  Sitting on my bed in Aberystwyth Friday night, I idly opened the post that the postie had given me as we were leaving here in the morning: a catalogue from The Book People [straight in the bin to avoid temptation] and a letter from Tesco.  I didn't think too much about it as I sometimes get a wee bundle of "personalised" vouchers in the post, so that was what I imagined I had got then.

No.  No such luck.  What I had got was just ridiculous!  An offer for a voucher of £60 off a £110 shop, when I did shopping totalling £110 each week for the next four weeks......words failed me then, and they are only flowing now because I have looked into this!  Even the "reward" shop at the end when I spend the voucher would cost me at least £50...

On the FB page for that shop, there has been quite some feedback, so they should be in no doubt as to what folk think about it all.  To add insult to injury, in a manner of speaking, we haven't all been sent the same offer: some people are reporting having to spend £130 a week for the period to get a £70 voucher, others £80 to get £40 and one person even reports her offer is to spend £150/week to get £75 back......how do they think ordinary people are going to afford to commit these sorts of amounts to one shop in a month?!

Morrison's, on the other hand, have a system of vouchers, where anyone who spends £40 will get a voucher, and one is supposed to collect vouchers from nine different weeks between 7th October and 9th December in order to qualify for a £40 voucher.  The voucher will be collectable in store between 16th and 31st December and must be spent in the same period, and no change will be given.  There does not seem to be a minimum spend, but obviously, if you spend less than £40, you will lose out.

This is a much more sustainable and reasonable scheme, and one in which I would definitely participate if I lived closer to a Morrison's, as £40 each week would be sensible and within reason for us.  Go, Morrison's!

However, since I do not have the luxury of easy access to Morrison's, nor do I wish to spend stupid amounts in that other emporium, I shall be wending my way to Lidl this week for the few bits and pieces we need......good prices all the time with no daft gimmicks.  Probably make a trip to an Aldi next week, as it will be half term, and I shall be doing a stock-up shop.

(image at the top from dailymail.co.uk and at the bottom from telegraph.co.uk)

Did you get an offer from that supermarket?  Are you tempted?  Are you participating in the Morrison's voucher scheme?  

A Special Sunday

Well, it kicked off with a rather long lie-in - it was 10am before I woke up this morning and then I had to dash straight out in my wellies and feed the poor chooks!

The morning passed by in a blur of washing, talking with UJ, chatting with the family about the weekend, having some lunch, and then, as we were chatting again after lunch, I suddenly looked at my watch and realised it was time to get to church, for the Harvest Festival service.  I had prepared the service for the FH and another chap to deliver, but the FH thought I should do his part since I was back, and the other chap didn't turn up until 15 minutes into the service, so I just carried on!

It was a lovely service, with the village brass band playing for the hymns, and having a slot in the middle of the service to play their own selection - It's Raining Men, Love Story, something from How to Train Your Dragon and then Born Free to round it off - they were magnificent and we were very proud of them all!

This evening, I have finally had a chance to catch up on a few rows of my knitting, and I have watched Downton Abbey.  UJ has gone home, but he will be back to stay again overnight on Tuesday to come to the Harvest Supper and then the lunch club on Wednesday - he's almost moving in!  We do enjoy him being here, so it is a pleasure to have him stay more often.

I have no appointments until tomorrow afternoon, so I plan to catch up on some housework, and washing [there's always washing to do here!] and then I have a quiz to prepare for the Harvest Supper evening....anyone got any good questions?!

And here's the photo of the prom at Aberystwyth I have been promising - taken yesterday afternoon at about 4pm, just as we were leaving.  The hotel is in that row of houses on the left, and the sea is just the other side of the cars on the right.  Five of the houses are now Halls of Residence, and the noise on a Friday night was, well, as might be expected for a load of students, I suppose - loud!

Home again

I know, I know - we weren't supposed to come home until tomorrow, but when you have seen all you want to see, been to all the talks, driven round the town, seen the sea, and it is pouring down with rain, what else are you to do?!  We have had a busy early part of the day, at the uni by 9.45am and talking to lecturers, visiting labs, listening to talks, etc and collecting a bag full of paperwork and brochures.

By 2.30pm, after being caught in the rain, we were back in our hotel room, and the EFG was reading a magazine whilst she had a snack, and I was reading, sat on the bed with a cup of tea.  I idly suggested that I would be up for coming home, but she convinced me to stay another night, as planned, and then got on with some chemistry homework for an hour.  Just before 4pm, she said, "SHALL we go home?" and we started to gather our stuff!  We were on the road by 4.15pm, and home here by 9pm!

Yes, it would have been nice to enjoy another night in a hotel, relaxing, but actually, the reality to us both was that it was preferable to get home to our family and our own house!  We realised that staying another night would actually be a waste, and so we came home.....

We surprised the FH and the YFG, and UJ, but they were really pleased to see us, which was very rewarding!  The EFG was shattered, and in bed asleep shortly before 10pm.  I am about to nod off too.

There are no photos, as with the rain and miserable weather we had during the day, we didn't take any!  The weather cleared up when we were leaving, and I managed one shot of the prom where the hotel is, so I shall share that tomorrow.  We have both really enjoyed visiting Aberystwyth and it is a definite on her application list, along with Lincoln.....what the other three end up being remains to be seen.

We've arrived!

After a very long journey with multiple stops along the way, we made it!  Arriving in Aberystwyth at 5pm, we checked into the hotel, which is right on the promenade, and I am sure that the rooms at the front of the hotel will be able to hear the sea pounding on the wall of the prom all night!  We are at the back [in a standard, rather than superior] room, so we are looking out at the row of houses behind the hotel, but that isn't a big deal.  We have had a drive round the town, and been impressed with the shops we have seen - far more than I was expecting, and some posh ones, like Laura Ashley and Next, alongside the more down to earth kinds!

We found Morrison's, and had our tea there as it was very reasonable!  We have come back to the room now, and I am chatting to you, and catching up on your blogs, whilst the EFG does some homework.  Later on we are doing to watch a DVD, and read.  I have also brought my knitting so I can do a few rows whilst we watch the film.

We have a full day of talks and tours tomorrow, so we won't be late to bed, and I am tired as driving always makes me sleep well!  We have an appointment to ring  home at 9pm, and I have also had a word with my dad to let him know we arrived safely.

If the weather is halfway decent tomorrow, I shall take some photos to share, so watch this space!

Just hours to go

(image from tripadvisor.co.uk)

Watch out, Aberystwyth - we are on our way! The EFG and I will be leaving here in the morning, and hoping to arrive in the coastal town by late afternoon.

We will have wi-fi access in the hotel so I hope to keep blogging over the weekend, and sharing some photos with you all.  I'm not happy with the weather predictions for the journey tomorrow, as heavy rain is expected to hit us as we drive west, so I am glad I have a new set of tyres on the car!

I have just finished the ironing, have had a shower, and I am off now to pack a bag.

Hope you all have a good weekend xx