Quit..rest ..restart . Diary no.3

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  • Tackled some of the clutter in the bedroom. Should hopefully, have it completed today . I have a cupboard in the kitchen which now hosts for the moment, the bedding used for guests and myself.
    It means I put those 2 boxes fr the dyson products I bought last year under the bed. Gotta take my printer/ scanner out of the box and see if it can be located into the music room .

    Woke up this morning with slightly less pain in the shoulder/ neck area. I had a really good session in the gym.

    James called me this morning . He will be sending me quotes for my kitchen over the weekend .

    Found loads of loose change , and am deciding what to do with it.
    As I do not drive , I am thinking of asking the vet nearby whether they have a charity that they use who would accept loads of loose change. TBH , when I was up against it financially and going to work with coin bags full of 20p pieces I was actually counting it all and putting the correct amount into the different denominations required by the bank. I cannot be bothered now and think it would be more beneficial to a decent animal charity .

    Took some euros to the local post office . Alas they only accept notes and no coins . They can go to the vets if they want them as well.

    Feeling better today with the nice sunshine .
  • harz99
    harz99 Posts: 3,615
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    Don't be daft AC, see this site for coin exchange machines in supermarkets near to you, giving money away is so not MSE!


    http://www.coinstar.co.uk/coinmachine
  • lessonlearned
    lessonlearned Posts: 13,337
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    edited 24 February 2018 at 4:46PM
    I am back.....

    Had a great time........quite an adventure. Great weather - considering it was the rain forest we saw very little rain. And of course the Caribbean was lovely. The Amazon was hot, sticky and very humid as I expected. Lots of insects but got away with just 3 mozzie bites.

    also some lovely flowers and plants and plenty of wildlife, lots of colourful birds.

    Good to see you making such good progress AC. You are doing really well and making great strides with your fitness.

    Have to agree with Harz.....as usual......are you my twin:rotfl: AC if you cannot be bothered to bag up your money for the bank then at least coinstar it.

    I think some charities do accept foreign coins but not sure which ones. If you find out do let us know. I have loads to get rid of. Seems a shame not to put them to good use. But I do keep sterling loose change for myself. I bag it up and put it towards Christmas.

    I did come back with some currency. Quite a lot of dollars which I did pay back into my account because I doubt that I will be going to either the states or the Caribbean for a while. I am keeping the euros, there was not that many left and I will probably pop over to either Belgium or Spain in the near future. I have a few paper Reals but they are not worth cashing in. Brazilian money is like monopoly money, especially since their most recent economic crisis, their currency is almost worthless. Good for tourists though, sterling goes a looooong way.

    Well what can I say about the Amazon.......it really is worth seeing. Pretty much as I expected, but bigger. It is vast. We travelled 1000miles along the river and still only got as far as Manaus. Larger ships cannot go any further because they cannot go under the huge bridge which spans the river. It would be interesting to head further inland. Maybe one day.

    I would love to see more of Brazil, maybe Rio de Janeiro next time. And of course not forgetting some of the rest of South America, Argentina, Peru Venezuela etc.

    One day hopefully I can visit my daughter in laws parents in Venezuela but apparently it is not advisable at the moment. Pity because Peru and the upper reaches of the Amazon are only just next door.

    Anyway for now I am happy to be home. I have got lots planned for the summer, not least of which will be awaiting my first grandchild. It is boy by the way. Wahoo.
  • Another good place for foreign currency is Ebay. I help in a charity shop and we sell any we get as a job lot.

    Your holiday sounds wonderful lesson learned.
  • Hello fraserbooks. Thanks for that :)
    Welcome back LL:) Glad you had a great time in the Amazon.
    Congrats on being a granny too :j
    Did you see any alligators or lizards up close? Slimy toads do not count as we have all dealt with many of those in our lifetime on many occasions :)
    Welcome back to the beast from the east. Not a boxer, but the cold snap that is supposed to be coming our way .

    So, I felt picked up and in better frame of mind over the weekend .
    I played my heaviest bass guitar yesterday and for some strange reason my neck/ shoulder pain does not seem as bad .

    Just made it in time for the personal training session . The delivery from m &s is a day early , and I left my home 10 mins later than usual. So, after being slowly tortured , I got home and tried my new jeans on . After 7/8 mins the black pair fits. The blue denim ones were more of a struggle . 10-12 mins later , the fit me..just.
    So it seems I have gone from a totally fat, overblown bar steward to a slightly slimmer one .The day that these 2 pairs of jeans are hanging from my backside is when I should really invest in a bottle of champagne and celebrate . In my case it would be hoegaarden .

    Got estimate from James. Baring in mind i am having him for a five day week , plus he will be repairing pipe/ changing floorboards possibly as well it will probably be around £2, 400. This means the kitchen is totally transformed with new doors, plinth etc. In theory , it also means it is the last thing needing to be done in the flat for a very long time fingers crossed .
    I have this week left to sort out excessive mess of clutter in bedroom and dust the place from top to bottom. Need to,keep momentum going..
  • Hello fraserbooks. Thanks for that :)
    Welcome back LL:) Glad you had a great time in the Amazon.
    Congrats on being a granny too :j
    Did you see any alligators or lizards up close? Slimy toads do not count as we have all dealt with many of those in our lifetime on many occasions :)
    Welcome back to the beast from the east. Not a boxer, but the cold snap that is supposed to be coming our way .

    So, I felt picked up and in better frame of mind over the weekend .
    I played my heaviest bass guitar yesterday and for some strange reason my neck/ shoulder pain does not seem as bad .

    Just made it in time for the personal training session . The delivery from m &s is a day early , and I left my home 10 mins later than usual. So, after being slowly tortured , I got home and tried my new jeans on . After 7/8 mins the black pair fits. The blue denim ones were more of a struggle . 10-12 mins later , the fit me..just.
    So it seems I have gone from a totally fat, overblown bar steward to a slightly slimmer one .The day that these 2 pairs of jeans are hanging from my backside is when I should really invest in a bottle of champagne and celebrate . In my case it would be hoegaarden .

    Got estimate from James. Baring in mind i am having him for a five day week , plus he will be repairing pipe/ changing floorboards possibly as well it will probably be around £2, 400. This means the kitchen is totally transformed with new doors, plinth etc. In theory , it also means it is the last thing needing to be done in the flat for a very long time fingers crossed .
    I have this week left to sort out excessive mess of clutter in bedroom and dust the place from top to bottom. Need to,keep momentum going..


    Hi AC, that sounds quite a bit for the kitchen when you're not having total new units or appliances?
  • Hi Anna :) Initially yes, but I am paying for James Labor etc.
    It could be less than that, I am thinking worse case scenario. I am sticking by him , as if I left it all till later then the price would go up plus I would have the fun of trying to find another builder etc.
    I will let you all know the total bill of course. He should be starting next Monday , and finish on Friday .
  • lessonlearned
    lessonlearned Posts: 13,337
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    edited 26 February 2018 at 4:37PM
    AC. What exactly are you having done in the kitchen.

    Assuming £200 per day labour costs - that still leaves £1400 for materials. I agree sounds a bit steep. Does this include worktop, tiles, new tap etc or is it just doors and plinths.

    I have decided to have a big push now and finish off all the little odd bits and pieces so rang my builder and plumber this morning. Want to get it all done by summer if possible.

    Very cold here, little flurry of snow but it looks more like ice or hailstones than nice soft fluffy snow.

    Ps yes saw caymans........sort of alligator, and lots of various kinds of lizards, some nice colourful birds and the trees and flowers were stunning. Some of the insects were pretty impressive too.lol. Ooh and pink dolphins.
  • Job is for cabinets/ drawers/ cornice / plumbing work behind the units / repairing damaged flooring under the units.
    I do have an itemised costing from howdens vi a James but too much to print . I will explain more etc as things progress
  • Howdens are good. We will be using them for our new kitchen. Best time to order doors, cupboards, worktops etc is October when their sale is on. My DD and her husband did that last year and we will be doing the same this year or next. Before you commit maybe ask about that.

    Your holiday sounds great LL and wonderful news re grandson. We are expecting our second granddaughter this May.
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