Flying solo

*Robin*

Well today improved after my earlier post, thank goodness; daft dogs took me for a pleasant walk, I picked up all the windfall apples in the garden, waged war on some thistles that had popped up in the rose bed while I wasn't looking, and caught up with the washing.
Which is better than I thought I'd manage.

The week's statistics:
No Spend Days: 5
No pain-meds Days: 2
Weight: +1/2kg
Shopping Spends: £61 :eek: **
+ Fuel: £25 (with discount voucher)

** Includes £10 supplies to take to the cottage, £13 gift, £3 on flowers (half for me half for DH's grave). And an extravagance I probably should not have indulged; £6 for a silicon oven tray. Justified the purchase with the thought of future savings in not having to use aluminium foil on all my old metal pans when baking anything. Very poisonous business, aluminium mining - I always feel guilty using foil.

Had an email purporting to be from HMRC, saying I'm due a tax rebate. Looks genuine, but I've also had two letters from HMRC recently saying I owe them lots of money. So I did not click on the link, just in case - will 'phone them and ask what's going on (that'll be another 0845 call ).

fallenwiccan

HMRC will never email to say you have a tax refund, they only deal by post.

HeadAboveWater

Tough going *Robin* but hope each day gets a wee bit easier than the day before

Check out saynoto0870 for an alternative number for HMRC. And whichever number you call they should be able to transfer you through to the correct department.

Silicone oven tray - that is such a good idea. I detest trying to clean our oven trays. Will keep an eye out for a bargain

Hope today is a good start to a great week for you

*Robin*

Hello Diary, welcome to fallenwiccan and lovely to see you, HAW.

fallenwiccan wrote: »

HMRC will never email to say you have a tax refund, they only deal by post.

..You are absolutely right! I ended up having to talk to three different HMRC 'helplines' - ALL 0845 numbers with NO geographic alternative according to SayNoTo.. - and they were all very interested in that email. They want me to forward it to them without opening it - if someone could tell me how to do that with a Hotmail email I'd appreciate it, as I just can't see how to do it. (I'm not prepared to 'phone 0845 again to find out from them! - If they want that email so badly, why didn't they tell me how to do it while they had me on the 'phone, all three of them?). As usual, all three advisers on the 0845 numbers refused to call me back.

I have arranged to repay the money I owe HMRC in monthly instalments over three years, which I wasn't keen on but appears to be the only option as I can't afford to pay it all at once. But they are not charging me interest, which I'm grateful for.

Needless to say, I am not due a tax refund from HMRC.

HeadAboveWater wrote:

Silicone oven tray - that is such a good idea. I detest trying to clean our oven trays. Will keep an eye out for a bargain

On offer in Ald! this week. ..I'm rather impressed - burnt food just rinses off; no scrubbing, no damaging the non-stick surface.. The tray is slightly bendy which means two hands are required to get it out of the oven rather than just grabbing one corner as with a metal tray, but that won't take long to get used to.

I lost 24 hours to another really vicious migraine which took three different meds including two of the strongest pills to get rid of. Still very wobbly - poor daft dogs will not get a run today - but I dare not; need two walking sticks to get between bed, table, kitchen and bathroom, and have not yet managed to eat anything.
A few months ago DH would have taken them for a walk, leaving me to sleep it off. Now the dogs must miss out - tried calling DS4 but his bike lights have been stolen so he can't come and do it. Poor dogs - they'll have to make do with a game in the garden which will give them a chance to bounce about a bit but isn't a real substitute for getting out on a proper walk - so it goes.

Tomorrow I've got a hospital appointment so dared not let the migraine run it's course - would cost me £250 to cancel plus lose another week, and I am very concious of how close my date for leaving this house is.

With that in mind I did some chasing yesterday before having to retreat to bed; hopefully had some success with the Probate Office who found DH's papers which had been misfiled, and they've promised I'll hear from them by the end of the week.

The bank have sent two letters; one is the missing card, and the other a cheque. Yet another mistake; when I took in DH's death certificate to close his CC account, I asked how much the balance was and paid it off there and then. Now they've sent me a cheque for the same amount - what is going on?

Igamogam wrote:

Give the banks hell :mad:

My frustration with that particular bank is increasing - even though they have paid me some compensation for the card muck-up, I think I will have to complain again. Dragon-Manager's reaction when I was trying to discuss their policy of pressurising vulnerable people to take large loans, was not acceptable.
I am tempted to refer my experience to one of the consumer rights organisations - but maybe I'll wait to see what other mistakes they have clocked up by the time Probate is sorted out.

please-let-me-be-lucky

Well done on all those NSDs!! And you more than deserved the oven tray Xx

Igamogam

On offer in Ald! this week. ..I'm rather impressed - burnt food just rinses off; no scrubbing, no damaging the non-stick surface.. The tray is slightly bendy which means two hands are required to get it out of the oven rather than just grabbing one corner as with a metal tray, but that won't take long to get used to.

You may well have thought of this but if not ............I put my silicone baking stuff onto a baking sheet - gets round the wobbly thing both going in oven and coming out

HeadAboveWater

We don't have Aldi in NI Will have to shop about for that one...

Igamogam wrote: »

I put my silicone baking stuff onto a baking sheet - gets round the wobbly thing both going in oven and coming out

Ah ha!

fallenwiccan

Thanks for the welcome I might have to get myself to finding my nearest aldi, I've been meaning to since I moved in March *oops*

*Robin*

Hello Diary, Good [STRIKE]Morning[/STRIKE] Afternoon MSE Friends, :happyhear

Do you know, I really enjoy waking up the day after a migraine finishes and the drugs are out of my system.. There is such a feeling of lightness, I can practically hear those little grey cells bangin' together.

..Whether I use this gift wisely is another matter; just realised I've spent the last [STRIKE]hour[/STRIKE] two hours reading diaries - cannot help checking the date of recent entries and thinking "DH was alive then, that was the day we.. [whatever happened]" - which really is a bit of a downer.

So - slapped wrist, Robin - I've updated my 'things to do today' list and will get busy soon/after breakfast (yes, running very late today - always happens "the day after").
A couple of people tried to call me when I was in the depths; I can remember answering the 'phone just to stop the noise but have no idea now who was calling and am certain I wasn't coherent.. So I'd better get in touch with the likely candidates and reassure them that they do not have to book me a place at the home for the terminally confuzzled. Well, not just yet anyway.

Igamogam wrote: »

You may well have thought of this but if not ............I put my silicone baking stuff onto a baking sheet - gets round the wobbly thing both going in oven and coming out

Aha - that was a very well-timed comment, Igamogam - no I hadn't thought of that but have now rescued the best-fitting [STRIKE]kna[/STRIKE] rusty old tin from the metal recycling, to use as a base; so thanks for the idea! :T

HeadAboveWater wrote:

We don't have Aldi in NI Will have to shop about for that one...

Oh that's a shame, they are definitely in the South:
http://www.aldi.ie/
I know Lidl encourage people to write in and ask them to open a branch locally, suggesting suitable sites - they even pay the facilitator (in areas that don't have an Aldi yet). Wouldn't be at all surprised to hear Aldi have a similar scheme - I'll ask the manager of my local Aldi later, as their website doesn't appear to say.

The post has just arrived - oops, I made a mistake by only sending DH's actual Will to the Probate Office, rather than stapling it back into the plastic folder the solicitor sent me. Guess which bank's employee kindly dismantled it for me, handing back the folder and saying "this should go in your records" ..?
..So I had no idea the solicitor's covering letter was supposed to be part of the Will. Live and learn, eh? That's just become Number One on today's list - will cost another £6 to ensure it gets to the Probate Office this week, but I reckon that's a justified expense.

Having been interrupted by the 'phone, I now see it's taken me so long to type that the morning has gone - time I got moving!

*Robin*

fallenwiccan wrote: »

Thanks for the welcome I might have to get myself to finding my nearest aldi, I've been meaning to since I moved in March *oops*

:wave: Here you go:
http://www.aldi.co.uk/
..Local shop locator in a little box on the right hand side.

(Sorry for such a short reply - simply must get out of this chair and on with the day! ).