Hello at Christmas

Happy Christmas to you all.

May God bless you with peace and joy at this wonderful time of the year.

Sunday in England

During the night, very softly, a white blanket covered our area and by the time we were up and about, there was transport chaos in the land!

Some folks love it, in my younger days the children and I were out at first light, using socks folded as mittens on our hands and having the most fun....

...... now it is beautiful to look at from behind the windows.


After breakfast we decided that today would be a good day to try out the Slow Cooker, swapped for a Toasted Sandwich Maker with our DDN.
The meat and vegetables were layered up and the heat switched on.

The snow was still snowing, folks were out shovelling and taking photos .... me?  


I'm in the craft room making a few more Christmas cards, setting my own challenge.  A few sheets of card and some peel offs ......

Quite pleased with the results.

It's almost dark now and still snowing, PJ's sister (who lives near London) rang to see if we were OK  - she has only rain ..... so far ....

Along the road out front

Had to include these trees out the back!

We are the 'lucky ones', I think we are about 8inches deep now but my pantry is full of tinned goods and so long as the power stays on we will be fine.   

The new back door to my kitchen may not be fitted this week though!!

Testing for a Christmas Meal

Our Craft Group plans to have its Christmas Lunch at an Italian Restaurant so I persuaded PJ to try out the restaurant and see what the food was like.
I booked the table and when we arrived we were the first customers of the evening, but were shown to a table laid for two.
We ordered our drinks and then made a selection from the Menu, starters of Ananas con Pesce and Prosciutto E Melone.  
The Pineapple was served inside a fresh pineapple with a beautiful Rose Marie sauce over Prawns - delish!

The Parma Ham was a large slice and laid over slices of Melon, with Strawberries as decoration.

Our Main Courses were of a goodly size, Risotto Con Pollo E Vegetali - chunks of chicken, vegetables in a Tomato and Wine Sauce and Pizza Funghi E Tonno - lots of vegetables and Tuna.

We didn't have room for a dessert so just finished with a latte.

The restaurant itself was set out the same as all Italian Restaurants in Italy, beautiful linen tablecloths and serviettes, tiled floors, the only difference being Andrea Bocelli playing in the background!!! 
It's usually Zucchero!
On our trip to Vegas, back in the day, the fountains at the Balagio Hotel opposite were 'dancing' to Andrea singing Con Te Partiro ......... soppy but so lovely to hear it being played in this restaurant ....... on this night.

Wonderful evening, wonderful food, going back again - definitely!

Afternoon Cream Tea

This was a special treat, much later than expected due to commitments, but Sunday was the day!!!
DD1 and I drove out into the Shropshire countryside, traffic on the motorway slowed us down for a short while but then, we were off, and into the country lanes and sunshine ......

We arrived at Norbury Wharf in the sunshine although the sky was leaden.  As we crossed the bridge from the pub carpark to the Junction, the views were really promising and we began to get quite excited.  
The junction itself is really pretty and there are boats moored up along wither side of the canal.
We collected our tickets, had a cup of coffee in the cafe cum shop and moved down to the quayside.  
Our narrowboat soon appeared from under the bridge, turned itself round and then replenished with the the teas.  

We watched in amazement as a handful of ducks scurried out of the way of the turning boat ..... the ducks won!!!

Inside the boat we sat in a 'twosome' and were served with our cream teas. 
Something I don't drink is tea but it was not a problem to swap for a cup of coffee. 
Our cream tea was delicious, just what I was looking forward for.


We nattered and looked at the view, watching the changing colours of the bushes and then .....

as the boat turned round for the return journey .... 

we noticed that the bank on this side was more natural, had ancient jetties, and the occasional concrete block - which to us indicated that once this bank had been lined the same as the other side.


We slowly motored back to the Junction and, dashing through the pouring rain (!), went into the shop for a good browse of the wonderful selection of souvenirs.   I was treated to new teatowels (very reasonably priced!!) and a few toys were bought for Little Soldier ..... and a few Christmas presents fell into the basket!!!

The rain had stopped by the time we went back to the car so we had a very pleasant journey home.

Remember the guttering?

Well, we are still flooding, still putting out saucepans to catch the drips and still unable to use our lounge.  We are still complaining to Adams Askey and still being ignored!!!
For your delectation .....

The view from the left window

The view from the right window.  Rain pouring over the guttering and onto our roof!

Perhaps one day.......

Badar's Wedding

We shared our car with the neighbours, we couldn't get the car seat out so they had close fellowship in the back!
It was a dark and dismal evening but we found the hall, situated over on the north side of town - not somewhere most of us had been.
Once inside it was beautiful, like stepping into another world.


The entrance hall was decorated with a table of tropical fruits - ideas here for future parties?
Inside it was all satin drapes, fairy lights, silver and brightness.
The place was huge, we reckoned it seated about 800 and each table seated twelve, beautifully laid out.  Magnificent chandeliers hing from the ceiling, large table centre pieces filled with white roses and fairy lights.......magical.
We entered the hall between two large brightly lit pillars and walked along a red carpeted walkway.  We were the first to arrive so had lots of chance to view the fashions, meet some of the folks and invite other neighbours to sit at 'our' table.

Badar and Farzana made a grand entrance along the carpet and down to the front of the hall onto the stage to sit on a silver sofa.  The majority of the men were in western dress but all of the women were in costume - such gorgeous materials, some have to be seen to be believed.


Farzana looked petrified but Badar, as always, takes it all in his stride.  He has always been so laid back, just like his father!  I couldn't get a good photo of the bride's dress, it was like shades of cream and palest green, with a embroidered veil.

As soon as they were seated the food was served, so many platters, so we had a little of each and then helped ourselves to seconds of that which we liked.  The food was delicious and I found out later all cooked by Mrs Khan and friends!!

with Naan, Green Salad, Dahl, and other side dishes.

Enough food to feed an army and all of it wonderful.




This is carrot 'cake' with creamed rice.  It's absolutely delicious!


We all had a cup of Pink Tea and toasted the Happy Couple.  We found our hosts and thanked them for inviting us and giving us such wonderful food.

The next day there was a knock at the front door and the young lady standing there presented us with a large platter of various meats and a large bag of rice!!! We feasted all over again......
I made a Thank You card for when I returned the plate and was treated to a look at Hira's Wedding photos (daughter), she has been married three years now and has a son.   
I have been promised a cd of the wedding photos so that I can up date this Blog.......

Let me tell you a story about some Guttering .... part III

On the Tuesday we received a phone call from one of our neighbours to tell us that the scaffolders were in our garden!!!?
We rushed back home and sure enough ..... there they were, dismantling the scaffolding.  When I asked how they were going to remove the pieces they said they would take it down the side of the house to the front.  I said that if they damaged the garage roof they would have to pay for a new one. They then realised that there is no side access!!! 
We cleared a way through the house for them and they removed the metalwork.  They were very apologetic, once again - they thought that Adams Askey had informed us of their arrival etc, etc.  The only good thing about this whole episode has been the scaffolders  .... .

That's that then!!

John from Adams Askey turned up on Wednesday morning as we were getting ready to leave .... wanted his cheque. 
I showed him the work - the 'new' piece was now hanging off - and gave him a letter stating our case and informed him that we were not happy and wanted the work completed.  He said he would hand in the letter, get someone out to finish the work and in the meantime could he have his cheque!  We agreed, telling him we were paying under protest and he left.
We phoned a couple of days later but he wasn't available.
A new roofer guy turned up on the Monday - now the 20th March - and agreed it was a bad job, he fixed the fascia by joining it with a bracket.  It looks better but I am still not happy as I would prefer the join to be in the middle of the work ....... maybe it's me!  PJ said he would confirm about having the end stop added to the guttering and give him a ring.  The guy left without completing the work.
I am now very depressed as I am very stressed out about this whole thing.  I phone the office but can only speak to Liam who does not really give me any advice as (I now find out) he is in Finance and nothing to do with the work.  I break down and end the call. 
John does not phone me back.

I phone the company again and leave a message - I will have to get another company in to finish the work and Adams Askey will have to give them the money we have paid to have this work carried out.

There has been no further contact between Adams Askey and us.

This whole episode has been a dreadful experience, nothing like the last job that they completed for us.  Had we known that this company is so bad we would never have asked them onto our property......  
Not a Company I would ever recommend........ and have since found out that no-one else recommends them!!!

Let me tell you a story about some guttering .....part II

New Fence.  Smart!

We had a busy day on the Saturday, putting up a new fence after Storm Doris hit the week before and then we were going out at 17.00hrs for a late Valentine Meal with Vintage Trains.
At 16.00hrs scaffolders turned up to erect the scaffolding .......

Scaffolding up all across the back
 of the house

After a lot of discussion, mainly because we did not know anything about this - the scaffolding company thought that Adams Askey had informed us - but, as we were about to learn, they never contact their customers to ask if all is ok? ....like.... is there access?.... is someone in the house?.....is it convenient?

We arranged for the scaffolders to erect the frame, they promised to be gone by 17.00hrs so ...... true to their word they were finished by 16.50hrs, really pleasant guys who worked without stopping, or damage to our property.  All bodes well.

Small portion that causes the problem

The photos are not great but I hope they help to show the work involved.                                                           

Goodbye trouble........

On Tuesday morning, Adams Askey turned up at 08.30hrs, just like that!  
Came to see what was needed, had a look then went off to Stirchley to fetch parts, will only be five minutes.  As they have just turned up I had to cancel my arrangements but PJ continued with his day.  About 10.30hrs, John called round to tell us that the roofers had to order the parts so would not be back today!!  Really!!  Good job you came and told us!!  

New Fascia board

We arranged for the work to be done on the Thursday but asked for a phonecall first, just so we know.

See the difference!

True to form, on Thursday the roofers turned up at 10.00hrs and started work, the old fascia came down, up went the new .....
...... the old was left hanging, not joined smoothly, about a two foot from our boundary.

Leaving it like that?

I asked why.  

"The plastic fascia pieces are not made to that length" .....!?!?!  

Gunged up 'finish'

So after much complaining and trying to make the roofer see how awful it looked, him telling me that is what the surveyor told them to do, me complaining a bit more, him phoning office, he eventually went off and bought some more pieces.  
The result was that he joined the new piece of fascia to the last piece and said that was the best he could do.  
About this point our neighbour came round to ask if he could give him a quote to do his guttering and after much conversation, the neighbour left.  The roofer then informed me that he could not complete the job because it would flood my neighbour's garden!  
Excuse me!  
We are paying for this job to be done and you are not going to complete it!!!!
They left.
I fumed.

Let me tell you a story about some guttering .....

Some years ago our guttering was damaged by a heavy downfall of snow and our back room was flooded out.  This happened while I was at work and, as you can imagine, came as quite a shock when I arrived home.  I arranged through the insurance company to have new guttering put in place and my back room furnishings replaced. The roofer duly came out and fitted new guttering, a really good job done.  After the next downpour my next door neighbour came round to tell me that she had flooded out in her back extension and it must be because of my guttering. 
I called out the roofer and he went up and had a look as he knew he had done a good job.  He couldn't understand what was happening but when he looked into it .... we were carrying the water from the other houses in the block!  As they have extended their kitchens they have removed the downpipes from their guttering and connected it to mine, but now my guttering had been repaired the water was backing up into their own guttering and dripping over.
Over the years, two of my neighbours have replaced their down pipes so that we are carrying only the other two neighbour's water.  Even though we have a smaller amount of water running along the guttering, it started to leak whenever we had a heavy downpour and over time the fascia started to rot causing that section of the guttering to drop ..... we flooded again.  This time we couldn't claim so while we saved our money to pay for new guttering and fascia we held discussions with our neighbours.  
We are blessed with good neighbours.  Both the neighbours were up for fixing their guttering so we didn't flood anymore, the next door neighbour even offered to pay for our damage to be rectified!  Good neighbours you see.
Eighteen months later we have enough money, we think, to pay for our guttering etc. to be repaired.  We notify the neighbours what will be happening, reminding them that past history may mean that their back rooms will flood.
All is in order, we contacted Adams Askey back in beginning of January (6th) to call in and give us a quote.  We are using this company because we used this company to make a repair to the garage roof after the police damaged it (another story!).  The workmanship was very good and the guys were polite, friendly .... perfect workers, couldn't be faulted on any level so back to the company we went.
We arranged for the first visit to be on the Monday (9th) evening.
John turned up a couple of hours early, but we were in and so we talked, John took notes etc. Quote was written out, deposit paid and we both agreed that we would let him know when work was to be started and then he left.
We now had to sort out when it would be convenient for the men to start the work.

For various reasons, which I wont go into here, we could not give the go ahead until 2nd March but when we rang it was agreed that work would start the next week.......

You have mail ......

... well, me actually!
I received an email from Creative Stamping on Wednesday to say that I had won a prize .... £50 to spend at Craft Stash.
I went into shock .. I have never won anything in my life!
I read and reread the email ...... then took a trip over to Craft Stash ...... one of my favourite stores..... and placed an order.
I placed everything I fancied into my basket and then whittled it down to £50 worth..... took me about two hours but what a wonderful two hours!
After I hit the checkout button I discovered that if the order went through before 15.00hrs it would be sorted that day .... it was now 15.17hrs..........
I received my prize THIS morning .. how's that for service?!?!
What an exciting three days ..... I am jumping up and down... frequently ....... big smile on my face ......

The prize ......

I chose three dies and four matching stamps plus some sentiment stamps.  

To be honest, I had lots of fancy stuff in my basket and then found the Island Blooms stamp. When I went in for further details, Craft Stash mentioned that the stamp co-ordinates with Sumatra Die so I had a look at that.  In the end I had sorted out three dies with matching stamps, and there's more yet if I decide to have birthday presents ......

Now I have to exercise self control as I have a busy day tomorrow but come Sunday..........

Slowly Vanishing ......

....green and pleasant land.
I have tried today to contact my local Council but I think they have the day off for the Local Elections.
I am incensed at yet more destruction of our locality.
Our Local Councillors' manifesto is 'The protection of our Bye Laws' to keep our green verges green....... but they are not in their office when they are needed.
We are watching the destruction of their green verges today ...... all for the sake of the great god motorised vehicle.
This young worker has been ordered to complete a run up to the front garden...... he is digging up the grass and laying slabs.  
The young couple who bought this house have already cleared all the frontage and block paved the lot.  All the water runs off and soaks into the grass verge so we are saved from more flooding out front.  But now it looks like our drains will work overtime  ....... and the folks next door to them have lost access to their driveway for the time being.  (He has now parked his van on the roadside grass verge ........)
  
I have been onto the Council for help but there is non available ..... so sinks our 'green and pleasant land' deeper into the concrete ...... and there is nothing we can do to conserve the greenness and the oxygen and the .....
....... so I rant and rage but feel so helpless.  
It is alright the government and councillors going on about preservation of our rights, greenhouse gases etc. but where are they when needed.
I shall contact my newly elected councillor tomorrow ..... watch this space!!

Easter Sunday morning going down .......

PJ was home for Easter which was the good news.
I would not have been able to manage without our girlies this past week.  DDC has come to the hospital with me, DDN's partner has fetched me over to the hospital and DDN has done my shopping and brought us home from the hospital.  
I have raised two treasures.  
Thank you so much girls.

The hospital visits have been a 'bit' traumatic - one has to know Heartlands Hospital to appreciate it - with all the walking.
 My drawn in line may not be very visible on this map but it's the best I can do at the moment.  From the entrance we had to walk round to and ascend on  the escalators then along to the corridor past the yellow wards.  The blue circle is what is commonly known as 'the dolphins' and most directions have these in them somewhere!  At the dolphins we turn right, then left and along another corridor to the lifts.  Up two floors and then along another corridor onto the ward and PJ was in the end bay ..... takes me 15mins....... that's twice a day ....
I was alright the first two days but really struggled on the third day.  On the fourth day, I needed to stop and before I had reached the dolphins I could go no further ..... a voice at my left elbow asked where I was going and then told me it was a 'hell've walk' so I had better hop in!  I turned round and it was a Porter with a wheel chair .... I told him he was an Angel from God.  He took me right up to PJ's bed, which was quite a shock for him!
PJ came out that day so there is no more walking marathons for me, my breathing is much easier and my knee rejoices!!  lol
The hospital staff were marvellous, friendly and fun, even the doctors!
PJ has to go back for a few more tests but we have Easter together which is good..... except .... 

We were woken up on Easter Sunday morning to the sound of drumming ..... I kid you not .... drums..... loud ....
Outside our next door neighbour's a band had gathered and was practising .... for the wedding up the road, just past the red van, we assumed.....
Eventually they moved off and then stood outside the house banging and blowing away.
When it was time for the groom to leave they preceded the cars stopping on our driveway to play very loudly while the wedding party drove past.  Very colourful.  Very joyous.  Very non-Christian on our Holy Day......


We had a lovely lamb meal, provided by our SILR and that was followed by a chocolate bunny or two ...... thank you for thinking of us and thanks to DDC for bringing both the lamb, vegetables and chocolate.

Mothering Sunday 2017

Thought you might like to see the flowers I received for Mothering Sunday.

I had a lovely lot this year... both girls brought a lovely selection which I had great pleasure in arranging.

There were pink, yellow and white chrysanths, roses, lilies and various greenery.
I ended up with these beauties ......


Here I selected the pink and white chrysanths with a background of some bright blue flowers- names unknown.

The roses from two bouquets and zinnias from another two formed this arrangement.

Having run out of Oasis blocks I had to place the rest of the flowers in vases.

I only have one decent vase - blue glass with gold trim, I think it was PJ's mother's vase.

The second vase was a 'silly' present from DDN many years ago, which 'surfaced' just before Christmas.  It is a flat pack vase - honest, that's the name on the bag -  and it opened out into a very tall vase - perfect for today's flowers.

Postal Delivery!

This is an unbelievable story!  

It happened though, honestly!

We took delivery today of two extremely large boxes, very unexpected but accepted anyhow as a delivery was expected .... just not a large box ..... or two...


You can see how large the box is - the top is level with my shoulders!!

Each box is stuffed full of paper and as we pulled out all this paper  ....

..... we found that the paper was only 12 inches wide and there was miles of it!   

That's what it seemed like anyway!





Here are the contents of the first box..........
..... yes! we were a bit astounded as well.

In these days of saving on packaging ....

...  the cardboard is a very good quality, we are hoping to recycle if we can .............

.... and here is the other box ........

nuf sed!!!