Tales from The Shire

beanielou

LOvely PB news 

Fortune_Smiles

Cheery_Daff said:

Ooh, I know Thurstaston well, site of many a school raft-building trip (and apparently my nephew was conceived there! 😮😂)

Yay for a premium bonds win!

It's a good choice for a dog owner Cheery.  It's dog friendly all year round but I was worried about the sand getting too hot for FDawg to walk on.  The Trail and Country Park gave other options if that was the case.

Like you, we've been lucky with the Premium Bonds this year.  Sorry to trump you this month though 😆

Fortune x

Fortune_Smiles

greent said:

Whoop to the PB win

Sorry to hear about Mr F's health issues x

savingholmes said:

Great news on the win. Lovely to get time out seeing places too

Thanks guys - nice to have a little good luck.

Fortune x

Fortune_Smiles

beanielou said:

LOvely PB news 

Thanks Beanie - yes, lovely to have a little windfall 🍀

Fortune x

Fortune_Smiles

Where did the Summer go?

We have had some beastly weather here. It's been hopeless trying to get any gardening done.  I've been concentrating on getting out in the world instead.

Yesterday I met up with my Writing Group.  Only three of us could make it and the others could only stay for an hour, but it was lovely to sit and have a coffee and a chat.  I popped into the book shop and spent the book token I recently got through CP surveys.  Also got my worn out watch strap replaced.  I decided to stop by M&S on a whim and was just in time to pick up some yellow stickered bargains - lots of BBQ stuff.  I'd been thinking about inviting some friends over for a BBQ when the weather improves so now I have the makings of it 😁  Costs were £7.80 for parking and the coffee shop which I'll meet from my personal funds and £15 for groceries which I'll charge to the fun budget.

Today I went out again (I know!  There's no stopping me now 😁)  Had to battle my way out of the hamlet as the water company are laying a new pipe along the lane and much of the road is closed or blocked with vehicles and plastic barriers.  Eventually got to the garage who reset my service light and completed the service book which they didn't do at the time of service.  They were also supposed to replace the long-awaited locking wheel nut key they lost at the same time.  There is a very long, very boring saga about wheel nut keys which I will not go into here but suffice to say they have a history of breaking and losing them and then lying about it.  There is a new manager at the garage who had taken over dealing with the issue.  He said all the right things but his tone and manner were the rudest I've ever encountered!  I was so amazed by his passive aggression skills that I laughed out loud.  It was like being in an episode of Fawlty Towers 😆 and I still don't have a wheel nut key.

As I was in the area I picked up FDawg's routine treatments from the vets then stopped off at another garage to talk to them about their services - plenty more fish in the sea 🐟.

Had a quick catch up call with the WI president.  We have our first meeting on Monday in the town park - I am praying for better weather 🙏🌞  Then made a call to the water company just to make sure were are going to be able to get out of our lane whilst the work is going on.  Spoke to an absolutely delightful lady who restored my faith in customer service 😁

Yesterday's lunch was a wholewheat bagel with cream cheese and chilli poached salmon.  Today's was Sweetheart Cabbage Soup with cheese topped baps from my M&S haul.  Supper both nights was One-pan Thai Green Salmon which is fast becoming a favourite recipe.  I nipped out between showers to harvest the raspberries.  There are enough now to start freezing them.

Mr F is off on a business trip tomorrow 😲  Just in the UK but he'll be away for a night which will feel very strange.  He's packing now 😥

My new adventures are wearing me out so it's an early bath for me tonight plus Mr F wants to leave at silly o'clock in the morning to beat the traffic.

Hope all is well out there

Fortune x

beanielou

What is it about garages!!!

Cheery_Daff

Crikey Fortune! Your garage sounds like a right shower. I confess I sent ours in for a service last week without making sure I located the wheelnut key... and the garage couldn't find it. I got them to knock them ALL off and replace them with non locking ones - they are nothing but trouble in my opinion! Although in my case it's usually me losing the key, not the garage 😁

It must be a day for being trapped - we too have been trapped in by drainage people (not roadworks, just vans parked in our lane for the whole day). They did move when we wanted to get out, but in the meantime hampered the postie and two delivery vans as they weren't actually with their vehicles when they all turned up. What a faff!

Glad you've been out and about and had some socialising time though,how lovely 😊

badmemory

There does seem to be a bit of a thing about those wheelnut keys.  A couple of years ago I got a flat tyre & called out the AA.  I was quite pleasantly surprised when at the end he had me watch him replace the key & then had me sign to say he had done that.  I had to change a tyre a couple of months ago & the guy doing it handed me the key with a comment about me knowing I still had it.  Whoops it still isn't back in its correct home.  My to do list is getting longer by the day!

Fortune_Smiles

beanielou said:

What is it about garages!!!

I know!  Ours were very good to start with but, since we bought my new-to-me car from them they've been rubbish.  I would have stopped going to them ages ago except they have been sorting out issues of their making.

Fortune x

Fortune_Smiles

Cheery_Daff said:

Crikey Fortune! Your garage sounds like a right shower. I confess I sent ours in for a service last week without making sure I located the wheelnut key... and the garage couldn't find it. I got them to knock them ALL off and replace them with non locking ones - they are nothing but trouble in my opinion! Although in my case it's usually me losing the key, not the garage 😁

It must be a day for being trapped - we too have been trapped in by drainage people (not roadworks, just vans parked in our lane for the whole day). They did move when we wanted to get out, but in the meantime hampered the postie and two delivery vans as they weren't actually with their vehicles when they all turned up. What a faff!

Glad you've been out and about and had some socialising time though,how lovely 😊

They definitely are a right shower Cheery 😆  They originally broke the key trying to get the wheel nuts off and told me they'd sourced another one.  I now know that isn't possible as for obvious security reasons you can't just go and get one from the shops - you have to order them and that takes two weeks.  This time they lost the key and told us they couldn't get a new key because the wheel nuts were not factory fitted but after market and they didn't know the make.  So we figured out that they must have had to knock off our original expensive factory fitted wheel nuts and put cheap after market ones on when they broke the key previously.  The car is an expensive make so I've asked them to fit what we had originally.  The new garage I've found is a specialist so should be able to tell me if we've had the right product fitted.

I'm usually quite relaxed if mistakes are made or things go wrong - we're all human after all and most things can be put right.  It's the lying I won't have.  One lie and the relationship is over as far as I'm concerned.

Fortune x