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[Pam]

Jim wrote: "I remember when I was just in my teens going up to the Island of Rhum and seeing a buzzard and being told how amazingly rare they were.
A couple weeks ago as I was out walking locally I could hear ..."

That's great Jim.

[Jim]

Pam wrote: "That's great Jim...."

yes it was a bit special

[Lynne (Tigger's Mum)]

Good morning all, what always amazes me is the sight of a couple of crows seeing a buzzard off. There’s quite a few buzzards in West Wales and a lot of crows, I’d always thought a buzzard would be the superior bird.
Lovely morning here forecast is high 20’s. the man and his dog are out early. They’ll be back soon now the school run is finished. It’s impossible to get down the street and into the garage safely. If you think U.K. school runs are bad - French ones are manic. Not generalising or exaggerating (much) they can drive fast in straight lines. Reversing, parking parallel, hairpin bends and there’s a lot of them here - just forget it.

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Have been having problems with my Sky channels this week, I know TalkTalk are making changes that I don’t like, so this prompted me to look at it, as my contract is up for renewal in Nov. Turns out as I’ve never had Sky, I can get Sky + Broadband for £39, which is what I’m paying TalkTalk, but I pay an extra £2.99 (which has just gone up and is going up again next month) for NowTV to get extra content, and I can pay Sky £43 for Sky + Broadband + Netflix, which seems a really good price. Have been doing an online chat with TalkTalk to see if I can get my channels back before I cancel it all next month, they claim no issues and I have to pay £40 for an engineer, so think I’ll muddle through and change . Slightly hesitant to change broadband though, but quite a bit more to keep it and just change TV. VetUK and Zooplus deliveries have arrived, driver wasn’t overly impressed mind! I couldn’t the lift the Zooplus one, they packed it all in one box and it must be over 20kg.

[Alicia]

You have the MOST leverage right now, with both your old and your potential new company.

So if the current supplier isn't making any effort, I'd switch.

You may find that when you give them notice, all of a sudden they are far more interested in talking to you without a charge, and offering you some deals (or not), but they are taking you for granted because most subscribers don't want the bother of changing. So they don't follow through.

I get rather annoyed at companies that take me for granted.

Good luck with your decision.

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Morning all, was wide awake before 6am, typical on a Sat! There is a Food Fayre today in the local town, which I normally avoid, but am tempted, especially as my filling fell out the other day and the dentist can't see me because I'm not in pain, so suggested a temporary filling kit, which I would need to go to Boots for, so might as well go into town, get it from boots, go to the food fayre and then maybe check out a couple of charity shops for that last book! Hoping to be back for 2, as the coffee shop round the corner got a new syrup in yesterday, rhubarb, which they say is amazing in hot choc, I just didn't notice before they shut.

I do Alicia, I contemplated ringing current provider and seeing if they would offer me a deal, but realised that the reason I'm changing is that I don't like the change they are making to the TV element, and if they offer me a deal, it would trigger an 18 month contract. I realised yesterday that the deal ends on 29th September, so I don't know whether to cancel TalkTalk and pay the early termination charge or wait till Black Fri and hope Sky are doing the same kind of deals they did last year.

[Alicia]

Is the other company doing something different that you prefer about the TV? 18 months is a long time to be unhappy.

My guess is that all companies are going to be having a lot of deals until this pandemic is under control and everyone is safely back to school and work, so you may hope for something at the time you want it. The world used to be a little more predictable.

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Well, that ended up a long and tiring day! Food fayre wasn't that good, but have agreed to go to the next one - was chatting to one of the stall holders who I've been going to for years and he said that they had only had half the stall holders turn up, but he's told them they need to give it double the amount of time they would in a new location, that's how bad the reputation of my local town is!! Even though they have just revamped part of it with a new shopping centre, it's dire, made worse by the fact that most of the shops in the new shopping centre have just moved from the other shopping centre, so we have 3 part empty ones! Didn't get a book, but did buy a film I could have sworn I owned but couldn't find when I wanted to watch it for 50p. Got home for 2pm, so went to the coffee shop, as soon as I walked in the owner said I know what you've come for! I said kind of, and told her what I wanted, I text her after I'd drunk it to say it was amazing and needs to be on the menu, so she was making one for herself! Neighbour asked me to take her lodger to B & M and Tesco after tea, I spent a fortune in Tesco, we only go every 3 months or so, it's always pricey as they sell things I can't get anywhere else. Loads of housework to do today, neighbour was on about getting takeaway Sunday lunch, might agree, saves me cooking and it would be nice to eat at her house again. Downside is I've just noticed the café has kept the 20% discount if you collect, so I'm torn which one I want food from!

Yeah, currently I have the option of taping and watching at my leisure, they are taking that option away in favour of streaming (although I wonder if it isn't their choice!) ,which means I can't wait till the series ends and binge, I'd have to watch some week by week. I've looked at last Black Friday deals (the week after my contract ends) and the new provider always does one, was chatting to my neighbour about it last night and said that as long as it is similar to what they are currently offering, I'll be happy, I don't need the really good one they did last Black Friday. I'd be very surprised if they don't do it again this year, especially as you say, places are offering deals on things like broadband and TV because of the pandemic.

[Jud]

Hello!!

Gareth's work finally got him his own laptop so now I can actually use mine! How is everyone? I'm completely out of the loop.

I start nursing in a couple of weeks and can't decide if I should drop to part time hours at work or quit completely and just do bank shifts as and when suits me. Both kids are now at school, well nursery for Nathan and P2 for Kitty. They love it.

I hope everyone is keeping safe, I miss you all!

[Jim]

Glad to see things are working out for you Jud

[M.T.]

Jud wrote: "Hello!!

Gareth's work finally got him his own laptop so now I can actually use mine! How is everyone? I'm completely out of the loop.

I start nursing in a couple of weeks and can't decide if I sh..."

Hellooo Jud, glad all is well and that you are getting a bit of time, and lap top to yourself!

Everyone ... back is still a bit iffy but a lot better. Have stayed here while the boys play golf. To my delight the sun is out and I'm just going to go sit out and do some editing.

Cheers

MTM

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Glad things are working out well for you Jud, can't believe how old the kids have got!!

[Alicia]

Glad your back is better, Mary. It was 107F here today (42C); in LA there was a place with 117F (47C) today.

Husband went for a walk. Not too long, but said it wasn't THAT bad because the humidity is low. Also, the air quality is bad again with the wind from the north bringing smoke and ash.

[Lynne (Tigger's Mum)]

It’s just nice here. 25 ish. There’s usually a bit of breeze as we are 550 metres above sea level. We’ve got a new routine and Husband takes Billy his morning walk very early to avoid the heat. That means I go and get the bread and his croissants. It was fatal this morning. The baker had a little muesli loaf with raisins cranberries nuts and other seeds. It was also warm, just baked and it sang to me. So I ate it. All of it..
hi Jud, hope the new careers go well.

[Jim]

Just feeding heifers in the rain :-)

[Rosemary (grooving with the Picts)]

Jim I am hearing that to the tune of Flowers in the Rain by the Move...

Hi Jud! *waves*

I do that sort of thing quite often Lynne. Freshly baked comestibles are the best temptation :D

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Well, today was the first day I’ve needed the alarm, it was a struggle to get up! Very stiff today, so glad I’m working from home! Raining again today

Ooh, that muesli loaf sounds lovely Lynne. It’s one of the downsides of our Lidl, they bake things in store.

[M.T.]

I’m just standing feeding heifers in the rain watching the garden grow ... etc.

Morning all. Done some writing, the cleaner’s been now I have admin to attend to.

Cheers

MTM

[Jim]

I resemble that song :-)

At least with the wet. There again, at least it's still mild. Other than that spent my time hassling the telephone people and trying to get caught up with stuff

[Jim]

Oh and for M.T.M

A canal boat chase, art is going to have to run to keep up with life :-)

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/ne...

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Not as stiff today, but was hard to get up again, and the clocks haven’t even changed yet! Just did half a day in the office, as I couldn’t change today’s sit down and I’m having training tomorrow afternoon, didn’t want to do 3 full days in the office again! We’ve had a shuffle round, was a bit of a shock when I walked in, we’ve had a move round since I was here last Thu, luckily I’m not being moved!

[Alicia]

Desley (Cat fosterer) wrote: "Not as stiff today, but was hard to get up again, and the clocks haven’t even changed yet! Just did half a day in the office, as I couldn’t change today’s sit down and I’m having training tomorrow ..."

Good thing you don't have to move. Moving is so disruptive.

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Urgh, really struggling to wake up in the morning this week, working from home in the afternoon isn’t that much fun, Lucy was a nightmare, hopefully working from home in the morning then going in for the afternoon will be better, at least she’s spent most of the morning fast asleep on my bed. First time I’ll have been in the office on a Wed. Was miserable yesterday evening, went from really humid to rain, seems to be dry now. Fingers crossed training isn’t too bad this afternoon.

Yes, it’s bad enough that my colleague is moving from her side of the desk to mine (she sits diagonally from me now) and we are going to have to do some tidying to fit the other people in

[Alicia]

California fires are making it impossible to go outside, so the pool was canceled today. The entrance road is covered with ash, but inside is okay - except the light is weird.

One day at a time. Middle son in Colorado got snow, oldest daughter in San Francisco shares even worse orange skies.

Global climate change deniers, come visit.

[M.T.]

Jim wrote: "Oh and for M.T.M

A canal boat chase, art is going to have to run to keep up with life :-)

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/ne..."

Mwahahahrgh! That’s golden! Mine have had their souped so it does 11 miles an hour because I thought four was a bit too slow.

Thanks for the laugh.

Cheers

MTM

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Well, it was quite nice working from home in the morning and going in in the afternoon, I didn’t have to rush as much getting ready, downside was that I felt guilty going in, as though people would think I’d been skiving all morning (felt bad going home at lunch as well)! Training only lasted half an hour, an irony is that they have set up an account on the web based portal, but when I asked where we get the information to input on the portal, it’s’ a shared inbox I don’t have access to, and we save it on a spreadsheet in case of internet issues and that is stored somewhere I don’t have access to either, so will have to request access or I can’t help! Colleague is now moving opposite me (which is where she wanted to go), so that will be better except I have to stand up to have a conversation with her, can’t quite see over the screens! Overcast here, and a bit depressing reading of the potential new measures, we were hoping that we could at least celebrate one birthday this year, but that’s not looking likely. Got to pick my prescription up tonight, it was ready on Tue, but I go to the co-op on a Thu and am trying to merge trips as much as possible to limit mask wearing.

Sorry you were unable to go in the pool Alicia, some of the pics I’ve seen look absolutely dreadful.

[Alicia]

I'm more worried about the people affected by the fires - they are legion. We didn't need any more Biblical plagues this year.

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Overcast again, nipping to retail park after work and food shopping. Not sure what to do this weekend, can’t go out for birthday drinks now, was wondering whether to have a mooch round a local market town, but as the numbers are rapidly increasing, not sure whether that would be a wise idea (plus I’ve been naughty and bought loads of DVD’s this week, so not sure I need the temptation of a market and charity shops – but that last book would be nice)

Yes, this year has felt like one disaster after another.

[Jim]

It's certainly not been a good year Desley

Now then, pick your brains with regard to cats

I was watching Billy through a window and he was patting the leaves of a nettle (it was dying so wouldn't have stung him) and then went and chewed a leaf
Is this normal?

Or have we a catch with unusual tastes :-)

[Lynne (Tigger's Mum)]

Don’t know about cats and nettles I know goats love them once they’ve been knocked down and wilted.
I had a spaniel who often bit the electric fences! If it zapped her she turned round and bit it. Often. Never learned.
Those fires are terrifying. I’ve just seen some news reports of fireworks being set deliberately. It seems to me there’s madness and evil hand in hand.
Beautiful day here. It’s forecast for a little heatwave next week.

[Rosemary (grooving with the Picts)]

Perhaps he just like the sensation Jim. Like a hot curry!

Feeling a little stabby this morning as the downstairs weirdos have got the workmen back in to demolish their kitchen and it sounds like they're in our house at the moment. This is after three days of a new stone fireplace being fitted (and of course, the perfectly nice one that was already there being demolished).

Currently debating whether we should take up freeform jazz drumming or clog dancing as a new hobby. It's good to learn new skills :D

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Had a bad night sleep, so am tired and headachy. Definitely not going to the local market town, I was hoping to go for a walk as it's a nice day, but not sure I have the energy for that either. might just have to go for a hot choc later and have a lazy day.

Not heard of cats eating nettles Jim, they normally stick to grass, but Lucy does eat random stalks. Sorry that the neighbours workmen are getting on your nerves R!

[Jim]

Rosemary (grooving with the Picts) wrote: "Perhaps he just like the sensation Jim. Like a hot curry!

Feeling a little stabby this morning as the downstairs weirdos have got the workmen back in to demolish their kitchen and it sounds like t..."

Do they have Alexa?

Drop round to see the works in progress and when nobody is about, say, "Alexa, play horror film theme music at 2am in the morning" :-)

[Jim]

Lynne (Tigger's Mum) wrote: "Don’t know about cats and nettles I know goats love them once they’ve been knocked down and wilted.
I had a spaniel who often bit the electric fences! If it zapped her she turned round and bit it...."

I do like the idea that they're the cat equivalent of a curry :-)

I've seen dairy heifers eat thistles once they've been mown. They start with the cut end and eat them from bottom to top, that way the thorns obviously point the wrong way :-)

[M.T.]

Rosemary (grooving with the Picts) wrote: "Perhaps he just like the sensation Jim. Like a hot curry!

Feeling a little stabby this morning as the downstairs weirdos have got the workmen back in to demolish their kitchen and it sounds like t..."

Clog dancing ... and perhaps the Euphonium or the bagpipes late at night? And Jim's suggestion is a good one. McMini did that endlessly with ours but just setting alarms and suddenly you'd hear it going off.

[Jud]

Hello again!

Glad to see it's the same old antics in here :o)

I have stopped watching the news this year, but I had heard of bad fires in CA again.

Got my last shift at work tonight, I handed in my notice during the week and the manager has said that I need to work a week's notice but my classes start on Monday so I won't be able to work. I think I'll just leave a note for my unit manager saying "Sorry but I won't be back". I'll try and see if I can get one of the other girls to cover for me.

We have an alexa, I think I would die of fright if horror music started playing during the night, even if I was the one to set it.

[Rosemary (grooving with the Picts)]

Loving the excellent Alexa suggestion Jim. Sadly I don't think they're the sort to have one. Euphonium and bagpipes it is then!

[Alicia]

I vote for clog dancing. You can do quite a lot of that while learning, and it is good exercise to boot.

[Jim]

Bagpipes have the advantage of being traditional in Scotland.
The other alternative is to tape a building site and play back to them at volume so you get the floor to vibrate :-)

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Morning all, was quite pleased I stayed local yesterday, popped into a charity shop that only opened on Tue, they had two boxed sets of the Inspector Morse series, I was torn, so went home and was telling my neighbour about it, she told me to go back and get it (surprising, as she normally points out I don't need more!), I picked one that actually had an extra book, RRP was £94, they were only charging £7! Then she suggested I went and got the other one as a present for neighbour who shares the same birthday as me. Hers only had the full 13, but it is more traditional, that RRP was £90, but still only £7! Did treat myself to a rhubarb hot choc and party ring blondie, I saved the blondie for after I'd done some chores and was using indoor reading spot to finish my book, so a nice day. Was slightly worried when I was at neighbours and the postie brought my post to her house though!! Supposed to be a nice day, but overcast, have stripped the bed in the hope it will dry.

I'm slightly worried about the suggestions you are coming up with Jim!! Good luck Jud!

[M.T.]

Desley (Cat fosterer) wrote: "Morning all, was quite pleased I stayed local yesterday, popped into a charity shop that only opened on Tue, they had two boxed sets of the Inspector Morse series, I was torn, so went home and was ..."

Ah you know what they say Desley. Never cross a farmer!

Glad you had a good day.

Off metal detecting today with my new toy Hoping I find some exciting things!

Cheers

MTM

[Jim]

Only slightly worried Desley, we're slowly corrupting you :-)

[Rosemary (grooving with the Picts)]

Definitely want Jim on your side when plotting appropriate retributions :)

High 30s mph gusts today. Gonnae be exciting down at the beach hut this afternoon, but I don't like to miss a weekend day, especially when we're so close to the end of the season. At least it's dry or I'd be staying home!

[Jim]

Good luck with the day :-)

[Patti (baconater)]

Hello, my lovely friends!

We're in our new flat. Yay! Space to breathe without knocking elbows every time we move!
We still don't have our paperwork sorted, so I can't legally work and get paid. Boo!!!!
If anyone in the group has any pull with Spanish or Madrid authorities, please do let me know. Red tape in this country is astounding. All I wanna do is teach the lovely poppets here and be remunerated appropriately.
It shouldn't be this difficult.

[Jim]

Glad you've got somewhere nice. I hope that the Spanish authorities get their act together. My suspicion is that the usual delays will merely be explained away with a wave of the hand and the muttering of the word, "Covid" which will be held to explain everything without need of apology.

Well at least that's how it works here :-(

[Alicia]

Jim: Do you have some frustrating neighbors you couldn't get rid of in your background? You seem so good at this.

[Jim]

Alicia wrote: "Jim: Do you have some frustrating neighbors you couldn't get rid of in your background? You seem so good at this."

I've worked with some fascinating people over the years :-)

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Nice weather again today, need to drop my friend’s cat food off after work.

Was only thinking about you yesterday Patti. Glad you have a flat, fingers crossed for the checks so you can actually teach!

[Alicia]

Patti (baconater) wrote: "Hello, my lovely friends!

We're in our new flat. Yay! Space to breathe without knocking elbows every time we move!
We still don't have our paperwork sorted, so I can't legally work and get paid. ..."

For some reason, countries like the one you're in (and the Mexico I grew up in), and even some others like Russia (from what I read) consider GOVERNMENT jobs a sinecure, and a place to be from which two separate income streams, a paltry official one, and a more lucrative private one, can be derived.

So many things are so much easier if you know someone, and things can be speeded up if you make it worth someone's while. It has been that way for a long time, and it is hard to change, and every once in a while held up by someone who internally tries to swim upstream.

I was incapable of following the system; I escaped to the States of my birth. I NEVER managed to bribe a policeman, though I'm pretty sure I frustrated a couple who were looking for their 'mordida' (little bite) - because I had no clue how MUCH to offer, and didn't want to offend.

So I just played 'dumb blonde American' - in Spanish, even though I spoke Spanish like a native - and they'd finally get frustrated and let me go. They don't necessarily WANT to enforce the law, just to profit from it, and you're more trouble than you're worth if you don't know how to play along.

Plus you look as if you might know someone who could cause them problems.

Sorry to be such a cynic; be patient - or have the right kind of knowledge and friends. Eventually the system will kick out what it should have, most of the time.