The stairlift company originally had it booked in for installation on Wednesday, but then they rang and offered us a £50 discount if they were able to install it today, so of course I said, "Yes!" Rather have £50 in our pocket than theirs....We have had a busy day, but since the EFG is at home, we could manage it.
The FH had his INR checked, and then we saw the doctor, who said that our visit made his day because he confessed that he wasn't entirely sure that the FH would get through the collapse the other week.....nothing like being honest, is there?! Anyway, the doctor is a lovely chap and we had a good chat.
This afternoon, whilst the stairlift was still under construction, a salesman from a bathroom company came to talk about a low-entry shower. He's likely to keep talking - the flipping quotation was over £6K. I could do a lot of bed baths for £6K so I think we will keep looking at that in the meantime.
Tonight the FH and I are off to our "country retreat" [UJ's house] to be ready for our early start at Papworth in the morning, and UJ is probably on his way over here right now, so I shall have to go and pack our bag.
Hope you are enjoying the gloriously sunny day we have had today, and I'll see you all tomorrow xx
Monday, 30 June 2014
Sunday, 29 June 2014
Solid Sunday
I've done loads today, and I know I will need to find time for a nap sometime this week - rather like the 2 hours I had on a heap of quilts on the sitting room floor on Saturday afternoon! Now that there is no sofa, I just laid down, and snoozed....
The EFG and the FH went with UJ to see Uncle P this afternoon, and then UJ stayed for tea with us when they got back.
The YFG accompanied me to take a service in the north of the circuit, but she declined coming in to the worship and sat in the car in the car park at the rear of the chapel, reading her book. There were several downpours and she says it was a wee bit chilly out there, so when I went out to her after the service, she was wrapped up in my hoodie. It was lovely to share worship here again as this is a particularly lively chapel. We had a chap on drums, one on euphonium and two ladies - one playing the organ and one on the piano, playing perfectly in sync!
After that, the YFG and I went to Aldi to spend the required £45 in order to redeem the £5 voucher from the Mirror this week - hope you got one if you needed one this week! I have stocked up on lots of toiletries and tinned goods this time as some of the stocks were running a bit low in those areas.
We spent the afternoon doing an extra gymnastics session with some girls who are entering a competition soon, and then we came home to make lasagne for tea. We had time for a cup of tea and a wee break to relax before we got all the shopping put away and sorted out before the others returned home.
And tonight - a big sorting out of this month's receipts and spending records....washing, washing up, and some tidying. Off to bed now - the YFG starts her work experience tomorrow for two weeks and I am the taxi to get her there each day, so I have to be up and at it, ready to go out at 8.30am each morning.
The EFG and the FH went with UJ to see Uncle P this afternoon, and then UJ stayed for tea with us when they got back.
The YFG accompanied me to take a service in the north of the circuit, but she declined coming in to the worship and sat in the car in the car park at the rear of the chapel, reading her book. There were several downpours and she says it was a wee bit chilly out there, so when I went out to her after the service, she was wrapped up in my hoodie. It was lovely to share worship here again as this is a particularly lively chapel. We had a chap on drums, one on euphonium and two ladies - one playing the organ and one on the piano, playing perfectly in sync!
After that, the YFG and I went to Aldi to spend the required £45 in order to redeem the £5 voucher from the Mirror this week - hope you got one if you needed one this week! I have stocked up on lots of toiletries and tinned goods this time as some of the stocks were running a bit low in those areas.
We spent the afternoon doing an extra gymnastics session with some girls who are entering a competition soon, and then we came home to make lasagne for tea. We had time for a cup of tea and a wee break to relax before we got all the shopping put away and sorted out before the others returned home.
And tonight - a big sorting out of this month's receipts and spending records....washing, washing up, and some tidying. Off to bed now - the YFG starts her work experience tomorrow for two weeks and I am the taxi to get her there each day, so I have to be up and at it, ready to go out at 8.30am each morning.
Friday, 27 June 2014
Jack and Jill
Jack and Jill went up the hill and hills are a particular problem here - stairs in this case. There aren't a lot of actual hills in the Fens, although I have heard of a village in a particularly flat area which has a Mountain Rescue team - I think it is an excuse to get together in the pub on a regular basis......
The second stairlift man came yesterday, and gave us a bit of a ridiculous price for a contraption. Honestly, paying three times what I paid for my car for a seat on a rail to go upstairs seems really harsh to me. However, the FH had another wee episode after climbing the stairs on Wednesday evening, when I wasn't at home, and the EFG thinks he blacked out for a moment or two, so we can't wait on this any longer. We are having a stairlift fitted next Wednesday - for £900 less than yesterday's quote because a) the chap has offered us a lift with a motor that has had three month's use, and b) because I negotiated a little more off that what he was at first prepared to offer.
I had some good advice from ladies at the Craft Club this morning, who recommended that we go to the Citizen's Advice about what we might be entitled to as far as help goes in this and other things. I will look into that next week.
I had the lady here today who is my tutor for the Faith & Worship course, and we are still hoping to get the third big section done by the end of September, but we are both realistic and know that this depends on how things pan out. Kindly, she recognised that sorting things like stairlifts and baths out for the FH is taking up a lot of my time at present, and that needs to be the priority. She is a very good sort.
And, by the by, I've finished an OCC hat this morning, so I am off now to have a cup of tea and at least cast on the next one whilst the FH is watching Mock the Week. I'll tell you all about the bedsticks another time - I should think a few of you know what a bedstick is, but some of you might be as bemused as I was!!
The second stairlift man came yesterday, and gave us a bit of a ridiculous price for a contraption. Honestly, paying three times what I paid for my car for a seat on a rail to go upstairs seems really harsh to me. However, the FH had another wee episode after climbing the stairs on Wednesday evening, when I wasn't at home, and the EFG thinks he blacked out for a moment or two, so we can't wait on this any longer. We are having a stairlift fitted next Wednesday - for £900 less than yesterday's quote because a) the chap has offered us a lift with a motor that has had three month's use, and b) because I negotiated a little more off that what he was at first prepared to offer.
I had some good advice from ladies at the Craft Club this morning, who recommended that we go to the Citizen's Advice about what we might be entitled to as far as help goes in this and other things. I will look into that next week.
I had the lady here today who is my tutor for the Faith & Worship course, and we are still hoping to get the third big section done by the end of September, but we are both realistic and know that this depends on how things pan out. Kindly, she recognised that sorting things like stairlifts and baths out for the FH is taking up a lot of my time at present, and that needs to be the priority. She is a very good sort.
And, by the by, I've finished an OCC hat this morning, so I am off now to have a cup of tea and at least cast on the next one whilst the FH is watching Mock the Week. I'll tell you all about the bedsticks another time - I should think a few of you know what a bedstick is, but some of you might be as bemused as I was!!
Wednesday, 25 June 2014
Days like these
These are what we are striving for: sunny days, with plenty of time to do the things we want to enjoy, such as sitting in the sun by the back door with a cup of tea, picking raspberries straight from the garden and eating them, the FH pottering off to the lunch club with UJ, and then the YFG coming home from school and telling us about her day. The EFG is at home and pootled off on the bike down the village this morning for a haircut, and then came with me this afternoon when I went to deliver the FH's car to the garage for the MOT which was going to be done last Tuesday and got postponed. UJ followed us into town to bring us home - he is a really good support to me these days.
This used to be a bit of a moneysaving or frugal blog, recording our attempts to stay debt free and to get some coins in the coffers for potentially difficult times ahead - I haven't forgotten that those are my roots here, but I am working through some big changes in perspective at the moment, and hope you will stick with us here in the Fens whilst we come to terms with what's going on in our lives at the moment. If you've stuck with us this long, I applaud you, and thank you for your kindness xx
This used to be a bit of a moneysaving or frugal blog, recording our attempts to stay debt free and to get some coins in the coffers for potentially difficult times ahead - I haven't forgotten that those are my roots here, but I am working through some big changes in perspective at the moment, and hope you will stick with us here in the Fens whilst we come to terms with what's going on in our lives at the moment. If you've stuck with us this long, I applaud you, and thank you for your kindness xx
Monday, 23 June 2014
Learning to pace ourselves
I seem to get here less often these days but I know you will be understanding. Our lives have become a bit smaller and less outward looking these past couple of weeks - we seem to be hunkering down and drawing ourselves in a little more than we were. It feels like we are pulling together and spending more time in each other's company whilst we can - we are acutely aware that the EFG's time with us at home is limited now and she will be in Aberdeen in just 11 short weeks.
We are making changes in all sorts of ways. The old three piece suite which we have sat upon daily for about 17 years is outside tonight, having been rained upon already, and is waiting for the council to come and pick it up tomorrow. It has to be "kerbside" by 7am so we got it outside whilst we had help here yesterday and then the girls and I have moved it to the front driveway this evening. I didn't fancy having to go out in the early morning to sort it out tomorrow. It does look a little like Steptoe's yard out there tonight but it will be gone tomorrow. The sitting room now looks a little like a bowling alley, as it has just two armchairs and a variety of odd other pieces of furniture left. Today the FH and I went with the EFG to a local furniture shop and chose a couple of new armchairs. I have paid a deposit and have about 6 weeks to gather together the remainder of the cash if I want to manage to buy them without damaging the savings balance........sounds like a wee challenge for me. We felt that we had had our money's worth out of the old suite and it was just plain worn out - there are ways of rejuvenating furniture like re-covering it and buying new cushions, but I looked into that a few years ago and the 8 new cushions [4 places each with a seat and back cushion] were going to cost a small fortune, and the recovering was not going to be economical either - and I took offence when I did have a rep here from a well-known recovering company [sounds like a stone fruit] and he said he thought that a certain kind of covers I was enquiring about were "out of my price bracket" off his own bat - that would be my decision to make, not his!!
The stairlift man was here last Thursday and yes, you were all right, and we can have one on our stairs. He gave me his quotation, and then told me to get a couple more because the company has a price match guarantee which means that if I can get a cheaper quote, we can benefit from the lower price but still get a really good quality stairlift. His company is backed by AgeUK, and used by a lot of local authorities, so it seems good. We're still mulling that one over...
The FH is pretty tired tonight because we have had a busy day - the wheelchair was delivered this morning and what with a ride around Sainsbury's and around the furniture shop, he's worn out with the heat we have endured here today. It has been just that little bit TOO hot!
We are making changes in all sorts of ways. The old three piece suite which we have sat upon daily for about 17 years is outside tonight, having been rained upon already, and is waiting for the council to come and pick it up tomorrow. It has to be "kerbside" by 7am so we got it outside whilst we had help here yesterday and then the girls and I have moved it to the front driveway this evening. I didn't fancy having to go out in the early morning to sort it out tomorrow. It does look a little like Steptoe's yard out there tonight but it will be gone tomorrow. The sitting room now looks a little like a bowling alley, as it has just two armchairs and a variety of odd other pieces of furniture left. Today the FH and I went with the EFG to a local furniture shop and chose a couple of new armchairs. I have paid a deposit and have about 6 weeks to gather together the remainder of the cash if I want to manage to buy them without damaging the savings balance........sounds like a wee challenge for me. We felt that we had had our money's worth out of the old suite and it was just plain worn out - there are ways of rejuvenating furniture like re-covering it and buying new cushions, but I looked into that a few years ago and the 8 new cushions [4 places each with a seat and back cushion] were going to cost a small fortune, and the recovering was not going to be economical either - and I took offence when I did have a rep here from a well-known recovering company [sounds like a stone fruit] and he said he thought that a certain kind of covers I was enquiring about were "out of my price bracket" off his own bat - that would be my decision to make, not his!!
The stairlift man was here last Thursday and yes, you were all right, and we can have one on our stairs. He gave me his quotation, and then told me to get a couple more because the company has a price match guarantee which means that if I can get a cheaper quote, we can benefit from the lower price but still get a really good quality stairlift. His company is backed by AgeUK, and used by a lot of local authorities, so it seems good. We're still mulling that one over...
The FH is pretty tired tonight because we have had a busy day - the wheelchair was delivered this morning and what with a ride around Sainsbury's and around the furniture shop, he's worn out with the heat we have endured here today. It has been just that little bit TOO hot!
Saturday, 21 June 2014
Real life
Real life - kind of precious these days, so we have been spending some time together, sitting in the sun with our feet up and resting! Just what the doctors have ordered, and what's good for the gander can't be bad for the goose, so I joined him for an hour. Then we came in and watched the posh frocks at Ascot as well!
Tomorrow I have to take a service in the village chapel, and we are hoping that the FH's cousin is coming over in the afternoon........more chatting :)
Hope you are all having a good weekend, and I plan to get around to having a mooch around your blogs tomorrow evening sometime so I can catch up. Now, sleep is on the plan xxx
Tomorrow I have to take a service in the village chapel, and we are hoping that the FH's cousin is coming over in the afternoon........more chatting :)
Hope you are all having a good weekend, and I plan to get around to having a mooch around your blogs tomorrow evening sometime so I can catch up. Now, sleep is on the plan xxx
Thursday, 19 June 2014
Better news indeed
He's home at last! I know he was only away for two nights but it feels like so much longer......Back tomorrow - thank you for all your support xx
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