SKI-er or Sk-ater. We know how to enjoy ourselves

seven-day-weekend

pollypenny, how long have you been retired? My husband has Teachers' Pension and Incapacity Bnenefit, he had a tax form to fill in the first couple of years, but then they said he needn't fill in another one unless his circumstanes changed.

It may be because they don't know whether you have any other income. Try ringing them and see what they say.

margaretclare

Hello SKI-ers, and a very Happy Easter to all. Whatever it means to you, however you celebrate it.

Having been given good news by DH's consultant surgeon on Monday, we're now starting to plan enjoyable things to do once again and to look forward with pleasure. We've just been talking about another September holiday - an ideal time for us, kids back to school etc - but we want to visit other beautiful parts of our own country. Until there's some progress at our local small airport, which is only a short hop across the sea to Schiphol, a main hub, we're not going face the big airports again. Too far to walk, too much standing and waiting, too crowded etc.

Anyway, April is already taken care of. May - we're going out to dinner early May, the annual dinner of the photographic society that DH belongs to. Then we're invited to his cousin's grandson's bar mitzvah later in May. This will be something completely new to me - never been to one of those before. There are 2 separate occasions - well, luckily I have suitable clothes to wear. The Saturday, I'll wear the outfit I wore to my brother's wedding last year. Not sure where it is even - we should have had an invitation card weeks ago but some of the invitations appear to have gone astray, which is why his cousin phoned and asked us why we hadn't replied.

June - up to Brackenhurst for their annual Presentation (I give a small prize), a long weekend in Nottinghamshire, I want to go to Evensong again at Southwell Minster, and we may manage to get a bit further north because I've promised to go and eat Sunday dinner with my eldest GD. She cooks herself a Sunday meal every week in her flat and sometimes she invites her friends, sometimes not, but she always does it. When you hear so much about people who 'can't cook, not interested, never learned, don't want to learn' I think she's lovely.

September - we may get to the Lake District.

Merrywidow

My My margaretclare - you are really organised. I never seem to be able to plan a month in advance these days. Booked a holiday for last month and promptly mislaid my passport and had to cancel. Passport has now turned up thank goodness.

margaretclare

Hi MW, thanks for the kind words.

Well, we had a lovely Easter. Saturday we got the invitation card for the bar mitzvah, went to suss out where the synagogue is and parking etc. On the way we took off to see the Waltham Abbey Church. I've been wanting to go back there again to visit King Harold's grave, I'd been before but I hadn't been in the church. It's absolutely beautiful and it's one of those places that's full of 'atmosphere', gives you a prickle down the spine. I went to pay my respects at Harold's grave, someone had taken some flowers.

Sunday, after morning service at our own church, and our own minister who is so, so inspirational, we decided to go back to Waltham Abbey in the evening for Choral Evensong. What a fabulous choir, and their singing of the Hallelujah Chorus is one of the best I've ever heard. We enjoyed it so much.

Anyway, we've decided to just go to the Saturday morning service for the bar mitzvah (I've never been to one!) but not to the big party on the Sunday evening. Well, it's just too far away, and driving 50 miles home when it ends at midnight would be just too, too tiring. DH is quite uncomfortable sometimes sitting in a restaraunt, which this would be - he likes to be able to stretch his leg out and sometimes get up and move around to ease it.

donny-gal

Well I am organised up until September, when due back out here.
DG

Merrywidow

Okay...Okay....so I am dis-organised I think its the fact that my mother needs to see me at least once or twice a week or she gets grumpy. Really until she departs for more heavenly activities any long range planning is out of the question.

Still I have my little jaunts to Holland to see my nieces on a regular basis - that always cheers me up.:j

pollypenny

Hi, SDW. I retired at the end of 2007 school year, but did some supply up until last Christmas. You have given me some hope that they'll tail off. I'll try ringing too. Have the mother and father of a cold at present, so don't feel like a croaking conversation.

Glad things are looking up for you, margaretclare. MW, regular jaunts to Holland sound great. We've never been there in good weather.
Pol

seven-day-weekend

pollypenny, I think you'll find that it's because of your supply work that you have been sent a tax form, as the tax people won't know how much you have earned.

My husband gets his Teachers' pension and Incapacity Benefit, and no longer teaches at all so they know all of his sources of income.

donny-gal

When I was working I had to fill in the self-assessment form. When I finished I wrote to the tax office, stating the circumstances had changed and needed my tax code changed accordingly, their first response was to send me my original tax code, so I wrote back and worked out my allowances showing them what my tax code should be for that year and what my future simple earnings would be. This time they looked and send me a tax code within a couple of numbers of my estimate, and said, they would no longer send me a SA form:D.
DG

donny-gal

Bonsoir mes amis
Arrived safely at B!ziers around 17.30. Good journey odd spit of rain now and again but not long lasting, looked like some inland places were getting some heavy thunderstorms.

DH having a snooze as insisted he was OK driving all the way. Will find an eating place when he awakes.

Taking full advantage of free wi-fi.
DG