EH - Essex > Hebrides...the next step of the adventure?

greent

girlatplay said:

Oh Gloucestershire.  My grandparents lived there.  I loved going there as a child, every summer.

It's my home county - I'm rather fond of it myself - I love the fact that at the end of our cul-de-sac is a  canal path and the other side of the canal is just fields and more fields and more fields... and 10 mins walk sees you in 'proper' countryside - and 15-20 mins drive (at the right time of day!) sees you parked in the city centre. Hedgehogs, partridge, foxes and an occasional badger visit our garden. The fields over the canal have wildlife-a-plenty. Lots of green spaces and hills - and the most beautiful cathedral ever (ok - I'm biased!) 💜😁

girlatplay

greent said:

girlatplay said:

Oh Gloucestershire.  My grandparents lived there.  I loved going there as a child, every summer.

It's my home county - I'm rather fond of it myself - I love the fact that at the end of our cul-de-sac is a  canal path and the other side of the canal is just fields and more fields and more fields... and 10 mins walk sees you in 'proper' countryside - and 15-20 mins drive (at the right time of day!) sees you parked in the city centre. Hedgehogs, partridge, foxes and an occasional badger visit our garden. The fields over the canal have wildlife-a-plenty. Lots of green spaces and hills - and the most beautiful cathedral ever (ok - I'm biased!) 💜😁

My grandparents lived near the canal, about a 5-10 minute walk down the road.  There was a children's soft play centre we used to take my DD to when she was little.  I didn't even know the canal existed until I was an adult.  I have so many brilliant memories.

milann

Good news on getting the car back. 

🤞the new energy company performs better than the last for you.🤞

EssexHebridean

Hey all - loving the chat about Gloucestershire - MrEH and I spent a long weekend there last year to use some accommodation I had booked for the airshow that got cancelled and loved it - we'd definitely like to go back and see more of the area! 

Still stupidly busy at this end with beer festival stuff although there is an end in sight - well sort of - albeit the "end" will be heading to site for first thing Friday morning and then getting stuck in to all the setup side of things at the venue. It definitely feels like it's whizzing towards us dangerously fast now! 

Made it to the gym on Friday morning so need to update my signature - I was hoping to go again tonight too but then realised it really doesn't suit my working pattern this week so will have to give that a miss. It'll be after the beer festival now the next time I make it there I think - although the festival is a workout in itself with heavy casks to be moved about particularly during setup - here's hoping I can remember how to do everything after so long! Think I'm going to actually go for a run tonight while waiting for MrEH - that will make a nice change! 

Shopping done at the weekend and so much for planning a light week spend wise - £62 odd! there were some storecupboardy bits there, and some other odds and ends that were bought in anticipation of price rises. Also some more increases noted - the multi pack of crisps we buy is now £3.70 - that's a 70p increase inside a handful of months. Milk now at £1.45 for a 4pt bottle - pretty sure that's another 10p increase. it is getting daft - we're fine to cope with it but I truly feel for those for whom a 10p increase makes a difference to whether they then need to drop something else from their weekly shop.  I decided to make meals easier for this week by buying a good sized chicken so that was roasted yesterday - while the oven was on I threw in a tray of baby tomatoes and chopped peppers and that made three tubs two of which have been frozen - I'll try and recreate the pasta salad for tonight I think using the other, plus some of the chicken. 

Electricity switch should be tomorrow so I'll have to make sure I read meters ahead of that - will also throw through every scrap of washing I can find tonight ahead of the increased prices too I think!

savingholmes

Ouch to grocery bills rising - but I bought some beef slices at the weekend and it had gone up 45p. I'm grateful I can cope with it but worried about my DS and others who can't. He and his house mates already don't use the heating... how much more can people like that cut back??

Enjoy your final run up to the festival. Sounds like you enjoy it.

foxgloves

Hi EH, Yes, you are right about some of these price rises..I think we tend to hear the latest UK inflation rate & in our heads, we kind of think things have gone up by this amount. Of course a weekly trot around any supermarket shows that this is very much NOT the case with very many products. Just one example from our latest grocery shop......I like plain Skyr & I usually get through 2 of the standard pots of it a week. When Mr F was picking up most of our weekly groceries on his way home from work during 1st lockdown, a pot of this brand of Skyr cost £1. If it was on offer, it might be 2 for £1.80 or something like that. Then it started creeping up & £1 per pot became a much rarer offer price. Well, we looked on Friday & it is now priced at £2.20 each!! That's a huge increase. Needless to say, I chose an own-brand Greek-style one instead because there are price rises & then there's taking the p*ss. Noticing it on so many things now. Greengrocer stall on our market - fab produce & generally good prices but it's noticeable how 5 big peaches cost £2 last summer but are now £3, ditto nectarines, their lovely big oranges, etc. 
I'm glad I've had a resurgence of thrift this past couple of weeks -I think I'm channelling my Nana!
You are busy with that beer festival. We used to love the annual one in our town.but seem to have got out of the habit of going. Must put that right next year.
F x

milann

Life is sounding busy in preparation for the beer festival…..I know you’re working but it also sounds very sociable. Have fun 👍

greent

Eh - If you do come to Glos some time and want to explore, let me know and I'll suggest some places

I use tr3x solid fat for my bread and roll making - was 65p/ box last year, 90p at the start of this year and £1 in Sains 2 months ago - yesterday I noticed it was £1.50 - a crazy rise!!

EssexHebridean

Eek to some of those price rises. Reminded me about the big pots of Ye0 V@lley or similar yogs too - those used to pretty much always be available for £1 a pot on offer - now the cheapest they ever are is £1.20 which is a lumpy old increase isn't it. Items like that - fair enough, you need a degree of financial privilege to be buying them in the first place I accept, but even allowing for that, someone who perhaps buys 5 of those a week for their family "because they like them, and can afford it" is still now adding an extra £1 a week to their bill just in that single spend. 

I reckon this will be my last visit here pre-beer festival now - we'll be getting stuck into it on site from tomorrow! Scary, exciting but at least this time having access to the vehicle booking in system means we can at least be reassured that the beer we have ordered will indeed be making its way to the venue, so that is a help! 

Our GEUK energy switch went through on Tuesday as they said it would so - halleluiah - we're no longer Util5h1tty warehouse customers. Can't remember whether I posted last week about the discovery that I'd been paying for breakdown cover for the wrong car for the past three years as Axa managed to not put through the change of details back in March 2019 when I changed cars....anyway, they have indeed now as they said they would refunded me the last three year's breakdown policy premiums so I am very happy indeed with that. In addition my renewal for the normal car insurance has come through from them with just a £3 uplift on last year - again, I'll be staying put. I'm not usually a "recommender" but Axa I genuinely would - they're usually fantastic, and when they get things wrong, they're happy to admit it, and put it right. I also need to renew our home contents insurance - it renews mid august and ideally I'd do it before we head off to the festival but I'm actually going to sit tight this time round and see where the renewal lands up - for various reasons I'd prefer to leave that with the current provider too, but we'll see where they pitch it. I have done one comparison which shows me roughly where I should expect to see their price, and I have my own idea in mind of the most I'm prepared to pay. 

I need to think about transferring some spending money about to make sure I have enough in my spends account ready for drinks etc for the next few days. Once we open to the public spending is literally limited to food (probably from the nearby supermarkets) for lunches, and a meal from the staff canteen in the evening - that's subsidised though so £5.50 gets you a main course - puddings always used to be £1.50 but no idea where that will be pitched this year. We'll nip into one or other supermarket at some stage in the next few days and buy odds and ends, plus some goodies to contribute for the team desk in our office to. I'll need to factor in the cost of the hotel at the end but we will be claiming the majority of that back with just a small amount over to pay ourselves, and it will go onto the credit card anyway. Tonight, and through to Monday evening though there will be meals and beers out - much socialising with our team and others, many of whom we've not actually seen for the past few years so that will be fab. 

Cheery_Daff

Ooh, have a lovely time! Excellent news about the breakdown refund!