Moving on

Cherryfudge

I think I need to look into modern alternatives to the traditional cooker, there are clearly lots of options, though I need to be reassured that I can cook a Christmas cake and some pizzas!

It's been hot today - 29C this afternoon and I believe it's hotter elsewhere. We made the ice cream first thing so that it would be sufficiently frozen by lunch time then DH and I took the children down to the swings and on to the library, calling in for ice lollies on the way back. It was lunch time by then and we all needed to keep a bit cooler and better hydrated.

Most of us spent the afternoon indoors - the home made ice cream was tried with interest and initial exclamations of pleasure, then the children decided they didn't want any more so we left it for their parents!

The only one who wanted to be out of doors was the youngest who was mostly in the shade of a large parasol, watering things. She loves that.

DH remembered last minute that he had a meeting this evening, so we've rescheduled the solar panel interview.

Not much spent, though I called in to A1di for mascarpone first thing and came away with croissants, scones and Belgian buns as well. DH's new SIM has arrived, but not the separate letter with instructions, so we have definitely missed our chance to pay less this month. At least it should soon be cancelled. It's interesting that his current provider rang him as soon as he requested a PAC code, to try to talk him into staying. Mine didn't try at all!

This evening I've been working on rotas and planning for the next term or so with the pre-schoolers. I have more of an idea which way it's going but there's more still to do.

Laura_Elsewhere

check your ice cream maker can be left running- ours has a maximum of 40minutes and then starts trying to kill itself, making clicks and other strange noises!!

Mum's new oven is almost the same size as their old cooker's main oven, and it is literally just an electric oven when you aren't using the other settings, so it would definitely bake your Christmas cake!

Baileys_Babe

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82045738#Comment_82045738

Ours is similar, 40ish minutes mixing then put the ice-cream in the freezer, can be in the ice cream maker bowl, but we usually decant it to another container or the bowl can be cleaned and refrozen ready for the next batch 🍨

Cherryfudge

I took the ice cream out of the machine after about twenty minutes and transferred it to a freeze-able container, but I didn't know that about not leaving it running, so thanks. Part of the reason for taking it out was that the machine is really loud when running, otherwise I might have forgotten it.

Cherryfudge

Another meltingly hot day, at least it was out of doors. 29C again. DH and I decided against our planned outing, though the moors will probably be cooler than home. However, they may also be jam-packed with grockels. The hobby car would cope well with the trip but we would probably get sunburned, while the other car doesn't like heat and leaks fluid till we let it go home.

So, home we stayed. I helped DH set his phone up with the cheaper company: we decided we are going to cut our losses even though the money has just gone out for the more expensive tariff. At least we now can't forget to transfer to the new provider.

We've been rather limited in things to do, but DH has done some more work on the bench and I've got a structure in place for the Autumn kids' sessions and sent emails to various people about it. Sitting in the same place all morning has brought on a bit of sciatica, coupled with an achy back (not sure why), so I've been a bit less than lively. DH's heart rate has sped up and he's been short of breath at one point, which may both be due to the heat.

I got myself out in the afternoon to pick up my two V1nted parcels (a watch strap and some shoes). The second parcel was at a supermarket so I had a look for bargains - three peppers at 20p each and a bag of parsnips for 15p. I also saw the poor plant stands outside: the 3" pots at the tops were dried out so I moved what I could reach of them into the shade, then bought a sweet pepper plant for £1 and a tomato (Moneymaker) for 90p. The pepper was so dry that the scales thought the wrong item was on them, but both plants revived fully once they had water.

The strawberries are ripening and the raspberries and gooseberries are coming along, while the courgette plant has flowers well on the way. I feel like Barbara Goode! Well, minus the mud and livestock.

I only had two hours at work as I'd intended to go to my church group this evening, but I was headachy and have a long day tomorrow so I stayed at home and finally sent in May's time sheets instead. I'm scheming how to cope with the bus ride and walk in the heat, but those will be over before the afternoon.

Cherryfudge

Another hot day - the highest I noticed around here was 27C, but I was fine travelling to work despite my concerns. The bus had all the windows open which made a big difference, then I didn't hang around the shops but went straight to work. Then the person in charge nipped out and bought cherry Magnums for us all, which were delicious.

Lots of sun cream, a floaty dress and a baseball cap proved a good arsenal.

My evening work (I changed out of the floaty dress) was tiring and for some reason the back ache and a bit of sciatica came back. I was glad to finishe and DH gave me a lift home. I was dozing on the sofa to rest my back, but I think I need sleep now.

Spent about £1.60 to get change for the bus, and my change fell on some that someone had left at the till, so I gained about 20p. The whole cash experience is a rarity apart from car boot sales nowadays but it always used to be like that: breaking into a note so I'd have change, scooping up the coins the till spits out, etc. Pre-pandemic it was the norm.

Cherryfudge

We were woken at 6.20 this morning by the sound of heavy rain: the first such on the new roof. I've yet to discover whether the acoustics of the roof have changed or the rain was somehow different. I got back to sleep for a while but was up in time to beat DH at W0rdle before he went to work. We had heavy showers and proper thunder and lightening for about three hours.

DD doesn't work on Fridays and had some errands locally so she suggested we meet up for coffee, which ended up being at my house as I'd said I'd wait in for a medical delivery for DH. I did a quick tidy up and washed my hair. It was good seeing DD and DGD: our paths haven't crossed for a few weeks and they had a holiday to tell me about. I also surprised them with DD's old rocking horse and a bag of memory-loaded clothes of hers which we'd found in the loft. She's taken the clothes back but isn't sure if they can find room for the horse.

After she'd gone, I finished up the chickpea tikka for lunch then had a phone call from the place I'd contacted about solar (henceforth 'Company A'), who have identified a 'suitable' company for us (Company B'). We had what I think is the usual conversation about type of property, whether we are considering a battery, etc. and she told me I would be contacted soon by Company B. There was one thing bothering me throughout this, which is that just after I first contacted Company A, I'd had a call from what I'll now call Company C, the company I spoke to the other day. I'd assumed they were contacting us in response to my enquiry - but they are a different lot of people from the ones Company A went on to talk about. So how did company C get our details? I started to ask this but at that moment the person from company A sent through a confirmatory text and we were cut off. Then company B rang so I've arranged an appointment with them later the same afternoon as company C.

Looking at my phone after the calls, I noticed there's a facility to screen unfamiliar calls, which I thought could be useful so I switched it on.

I gave up on puzzling about this and sat down with my book for some relaxation, which, in view of the heat, was probably a good move. A call came through for DH on the landline so I redirected them to his mobile, and his medicines were delivered and signed for. Then it was time to get ready to go out.

Going out involved work uniform so I wouldn't have to make an extra journey, sun cream, sun hat, sun glasses, water bottle, banana, crisps (keep those electrolytes happy), church key, work fob, house key, sticking plaster where my trainers have rubbed (I've just got rid of the ancient pair that didn't matter if they got bleach on)… and I discovered an item of post had come for DD, of all people, so I fetched the address book and readdressed it. I was even orderly enough to put the address book back.

By this time I really needed to be getting out of the door, but where was my phone? Couldn't find it. Went to ring it from the housephone and realised the housephone number isn't in my contacts so the call screening won't let the call through unless I manually allow it - which would be fine, if I knew where the phone was. I eventually found it, folded into the address book.

I've now put the landline number into my contacts. 😁

The heat when I stepped out of the door was something else. Yes, I made it down to church and did the cleaning in a hurry. When I came out it was was still hot (31C), too hot to jog to work so I just walked as fast as I could - and the rain started. Good job I had a sun hat to keep the worst off me, and it was so warm that I dried out in no time.

I had three hours at work, and received a text from DH to say his phone call had been to say he'd missed an Occupational Health appointment. He'd been waiting for the reminder text but of course he's just changed mobile company and it looks as though it was lost in the few hours of transition.

We were under instructions at work - apparently from very high up - not to work fast or risk overexerting ourselves due to the heat. We even had permission to use the water coolers! When I said that I did that anyway, it was explained to me that policy had changed and each department now pays for its own coolers so we aren't supposed to use them. I don't think I'm in trouble, as my manager isn't one to make a fuss over that sort of thing and in the past I would have been in the right. I also pointed out that my badge covers me for my other job (same employer) so I can still get a drink in their department! It's a bit worrying though, that cleaning staff aren't given access to the same quality drinking water as other employees, just because this department doesn't have their own coolers.

The storm had given way to a perfectly blue sky by the time work finished but I was really glad of DH giving me a lift home again. There's still some backache and sore feet, so I lay down and read for most of the rest of the evening. Nothing spent today but a lot fitted in.

A nice little episode to finish the day off: there were two young hedgehogs on the lawn this evening. They seemed quite lively so I think they were just enjoying the damp. I've seen a much larger hedgehog in that area a few weeks ago so there may be more around.

rtandon27

@Cherryfudge - that is a shocking way to treat employees! Don't employers have an obligation to provide potable drinking water? Are they infering that the departments pass out a hat - doesn't it still actually come from the company budget and not from the employeees themselves? Sounds like a discriminatory rule to me!

Cherryfudge

I probably didn't make it very clear, @rtandon27 - we can get tap water, it's the nice cold stuff from the chilled dispenser that we don't get. The tap water is mostly only token cold as there are such a lot of pipes for it to run through, but I know it must be tested as littles stickers have appeared in numerous places stating that such and such is a testing point. They know about legionella and are taking precautions!

However, I still think it's unfair that some of the most physically active employees aren't getting the same quality of water as most office staff.

Cherryfudge

I will admit to a predominantly lazy day today. We could have gone to the church's day at the beach but I felt I needed a quiet day and DH declined to go without me. As it was, even though the temperature has dropped (27C), I think a whole day out and about would have been stressful. DH is still in the grip of terrible hay fever and his heart rate is still high (quite probably as a result of the heat).

We went to the afternoon car boot sale instead of our usual one: it was busy and very hot, which took the edge off it as a pleasurable experience, but I found a couple of books, a tiny china spaniel, some hand cream in a pump dispenser and a mug with DS1's name on it - all at 50p each. The books are from the Abbey Girl series and I think I have both already so I may try to sell them on. However, they smell very smokey, so I'll have to reflect that in the price. There may be a collector somewhere who is okay with the smell and wants those volumes.

I managed to leave my water bottle in the kitchen so we went to the garden centre for a cold drink afterwards. It's nicer than our local garden centre and the drinks are better, too. Then there was a surprise as they've invested in a couple of robots that drift round with people's orders! Ours was delivered by a human, but we filmed one of the robots to send to the family.

Back at home, we both collapsed for an hour or so, which restored us. I got DH to water the rose he bought the other week, and left the hose out for me to do the other plants later, but we suddenly had a terrific downpour and thunder, so that didn't happen.

This evening I've sorted through some receipts, updated my timesheets and prepared most of the children's activity for tomorrow. I think the rain has brought the temperature down, but it's still warm outside.