Blowing in the Winds of Change

NoOneAround

Just popping in to say hello Robin
Don't blame you for avoiding all the tax return period! I do the same avoiding all the mums at school at exam time :rotfl:
NOA
x

*Robin*

Hello MSEers, :hello:

Oh dear, Muggins was in a funny mood yesterday..
Sorry Dansmam, and everyone.

Didn't mean Musketeer was ejected by the park guardian; I took him out because he was close to going over threshold - getting too excited and forgetting the rules..

An on-lead walk along the beach was a delightful way to enjoy sunset at the end of a beautiful, warm sunny day.
It was a bit [STRIKE]manic[/STRIKE] [STRIKE]chaotic[/STRIKE] more speedy than was quite comfortable tbh, because M and G haven't walked together for a while and I made the mistake of trying a new lead configuration. G desperately needs a new harness, but is still growing and is a shape which has no [STRIKE]cheap[/STRIKE] economical commercial options..
£60 for something that will last three months if it survives Mister Extreme-Chewer's jaws during moments of boredom?
..Don't think so - might see if I can modify one of the other old harnesses for him. :think:

When we rolled up last night, there were already twenty nine other vans parked on the fairground, behind the beach. It's a huge space so everyone had plenty of room, but we ended up at the town end which I usually avoid.

:mad: Just lost the whole of the second half of this post:
"MoneySavingExpert took too long to reply" :mad: so let's press submit before the first half vanishes into the cyberdoldrums too!

kazwookie

I'm glad you have a warm sunny day' it is freezing here!

Dansmam

Hi Robin - looks as though you!!!8217;ve beaten the cyberdoldrums. I!!!8217;ll borrow that word if I may! You are right - it!!!8217;s a ruddy Apple product. I was trying to include some rather good dog emojis I!!!8217;ve grown fond of. Picked the wrong day for it! No apology required - I rather resent being in thrall to the Apple monster so emoji-gate is my just desserts. There may be an unintended pun in there...Chilly as heck here - hope you!!!8217;re beautifully snug with the dogs in the van x
Edited to apologise for unwisely continuing to put !!!8216; apostrophes where they traditionally should be

*Robin*

Hello MSE People, :hello:

NoOneAround wrote: »

Just popping in to say hello Robin
Don't blame you for avoiding all the tax return period! I do the same avoiding all the mums at school at exam time :rotfl:

Oh gosh - yes, ha that's one period of m' life am rather quite glad is over, NOA.

kazwookie wrote:

I'm glad you have a warm sunny day' it is freezing here!

Kazwookie, Am sorry, I only mentioned the weather because it was such an unseasonably fine day for February. Was not intending to appear boastful of m' situation - would it be better if I didn't refer to such things? Of course for me, spending winters in a warmer climate is a form of self-preservation. When it's below freezing all my symptoms are exacerbated - effectively I become completely brain-fogged and bed-bound which is to be avoided given that I don't have a team of carers.. Yes, it's a disadvantage of not claiming disability benefits, but on the other hand if I did claim, leaving the country in order to keep as well as possible would not be permitted. It's a very unfair trap, and I do realise how lucky I am to have the choice.

Dansmam - not going to quote your last post! :rotfl: iph0ne emojis don't seem to appear on non-App!e technology anyway though, so I'll never see the pictures you wanted to show us..

Am still waiting for the gas connector pipe - now know that it was sent via RM who use a hopeless courier in Spain; one that never delivers outside city limits. The postage fee was more than the most expensive reliable courier charges, so it didn't occur to me to check the company who sold me the thing were not using RM.. I now know they bumped up the p&p to increase their own profits. <sigh>

On our final day at the beach I broke m' run of NSDs by indulging in lunch at a restaurant; yummy fried Camembert and salad which I really enjoyed (£8.00 including a glass of fresh orange juice).
Stopped to pick up supplies on the way back to DH's cottages; £45 in the supermarket and £70 on dog food and a new Serest0 collar for GrandPup. It's been a bit of a shock how much the dog meat bill has increased now am feeding G as well - he eats more than double the amount which keeps Musketeer happy! :cool:

Since then it's been a spendy time; turned out I couldn't modify any of the old harnesses for G so ordered him an adult one which I can adjust to fit. Realised CD's old lead was at the point of breaking so added a new one to my River list, and then decided a couple of extra enrichment toys would also be a good idea - designed for extreme chewers which hopefully will stop G destroying M's expensive K9 c0nnectables (G's set that I gave him after his accident have long since gone in the bin). Total bill £102. <gulp>

Then the house insurances came up for renewal: Buildings, contents, landlords, emergency and legal cover - £650 for both UK properties. <gulp again> _pale_

So that's me broke once more after propping up the bills account here. Situation normal, lol! :rotfl:

please-let-me-be-lucky

Keep telling us about the sun - I long for the days it arrives (and stays!) here. That said, I managed to get my bedding [STRIKE]dried[/STRIKE] less damp outside today :T. First time this year I’ve pegged out, as it was bright and breezy.

Camembert sounds delicious Xx

Sun_Addict

Glad grandpup is safely back with you Robin. At least you know how to handle him and he'll be well looked after. He sounds like the canine equivalent of my grandson

*Robin*

Hello MSE Moneysavers, :hello:

Gosh. It's been a month since I had enough spare brain to write coherently.. Whoops.

Grandpup soaked up all my energy while he was with us (went home six days ago). Do love him, but keeping two young dogs happy while living in a camper-van was certainly a challenge! Still, a bit of Granny-discipline has done him the world of good - just hope his owners keep up training him now - if they do, he'll be a great dog when he reaches maturity. Made me realise just how far Musketeer has come since Gardener delivered him - wild and scared - almost a year ago.

Meanwhile the Winds of Change have been blowing an icy hooley through Yours Truly's knickers..
The Nest got burgled.
Still not sure exactly what was stolen because the toe-rags made such a terrible mess and we're queueing for the attention of the finger-print expert so can't really get the place tidied up yet. The telly has gone, all my gold jewellery [I think] and some odd stuff like my spare e-cig liquids and half a box of cigarette papers (the latter they are welcome to as I no longer smoke). Most upsetting was the damage the thieves did with an axe - and sheer vandalism; kicking in some of the panels of my favourite family heirloom (which presumably was too large for them to take).

Still, when all's said and done, it's just "stuff". Think we know who one of the lowlives is - someone I gave a chance to last year - but will leave it in the hands of the police - and karma - to punish him.

Dansmam - the gas connectors were finally delivered after thirty-five days in transit. They work - van is now running on a Spanish bottle.
Discovered the reason for the high price of postage was that G@slow sent these parts in a box large enough to put a full-sized family cooker in! The pipe and regulator would easily have fitted into a box 30 x 30 x 10cms - have not yet worked up enough indignation to protest about that..

The rain has arrived, and plenty of it! Lots of problems with electricity at DH's cottages; in the end Dear Dour Neighbour disconnected the annex which stopped the power shorting out every two minutes (literally!). All needs rewiring, for which am currently awaiting a quote.

Not spent much since writing last, as had no funds available; luckily m' favourite part-time neighbours don't mind me using veg from their garden which would otherwise be wasted, and the freezers were both full when I last posted so M, G and I have been slowly eating our way through the stocks. Did put £28 worth of fuel in the van, but have been cut off from the outside world since our local river flooded so haven't been anywhere since.

Knit_Witch

Sorry to hear about the Nest - hope the police nick the thieving toe-rags!

Sun_Addict

Oh Robin

Sorry to hear the bad news about the burglary. I know how angry you must feel having been burgled twice myself. Really hope the police catch the thieving b........s