It was a miserable start this morning, raining and dull, so I stayed indoors and got on with a bit of sewing. I haven't been very productive just lately, making the most of the sunshine, outdoors in the garden and gallivanting off out and about. I'm making some more bags, because they are easy to do, and I still have some strong fabric left which needs using up.
This afternoon it brightened up a bit so I went a walkabout around the village. We have a very nice caravan site here, and there are often people about that I haven't seen before. I came across two ladies walking their dogs and stopped to chat, they live not far from my home town, that was a coincidence. They asked me about the footpaths, so I was able to tell them where the nice walks are.
What's hapenning with the sunflowers? Here they are, the biggest one is 11inches tall. I have been keeping them indoors at night, if anyone spots them through the front window they will think I am growing illegal substances, ha ha. I take them outside in the sun in the mornings. It was a bit windy one day and they got a bit bendy, so I moved them to a sheltered spot. I am not sure at which point I should stick some canes in for support.
They are in quite big pots but the roots are not showing at the bottom yet. I have nowhere to plant them in the ground, so if they need a sunny spot I will have to put them in bigger pots on the decking against the side of the garage. I'll give them a few more days before I transplant them.
My lunch today was one chopped onion and five sliced mushrooms, cooked in a little oil, with a dollop of garlic puree and a splodge of wholegrain mustard. Added to that was some cream cheese, and just before serving I stired in two teaspoons of plain yogurt. Eaten on a bed of raw spinach.
Another bill I have recently paid is the quarterly gas and electric combined. There was a slight increase there due to the very cold weather we had earlier in the year. British Gas compare year on year, and include the figures for the same period a year ago. My gas consumption this time went up because I put the central heating on a few times, but my electricity went down. It pays to be careful, and the more they bump up the cost, the more careful I will have to be.
I had a phone call yesterday from Orange, I have my home phone and broadband from them. I am on quite a good package, because I limit my phone calls to off peak times, or should do. Sometimes I sneak in an odd one or two here and there in the daytime, and accept that I will be paying for them. Anyway, they have noticed that my monthly bill has crept up a bit and have offered me another package to include unlimited phone calls whatever time I make them. Of course they will charge me quite a bit more for that, which I thought was too much. The sales lady seemed a bit peeved when I said I didn't want it. She couldn't grasp the idea that if I wanted to keep my bills low, all I had to do was to stop phoning during the day. This is the exact same reason why I will not go onto an all inclusive package on my mobile phone, I prefer PAYG. I don't want to spend hours on the phone, landline or mobile, and I certainly don't want to pay more for the privilege.
Well that's about it, we've had a lot of rain tonight, bucketing it down, I hope it's all gone by tomorrow. If not, more sewing I think. Toodle pip.
You`ve really done well with your bills this year. I agree with your phone use. We also have a good package for TV and phone use. I wouldn`t give in to those sales people and their persuasive talk either. Good on you for sticking to your conviction. Your sunflowers will need some support fairly soon. Tie them to bamboo canes when they get a little taller. They should look nice being planted out in large pots, but will need steady watering then. Could you send me some rain down south? My garden could do with it, and it would save me having to cart the watering can out.
ReplyDeleteI wish my water bills were that low. Here in the US it is done differently and I pay $52 a month for the base rate for water & sewage. I never go over it but even though I am careful with water, it never goes down either. They also charge for sewer by how much water you use, not how much actually goes down the drain.
ReplyDeleteHi Ilona, i wish my water bill was as 'reasonable' as yours, mine's over £300p.a. but the phone is a cause for concern. There are usually some 0870 type numbers itemised that i don't recognise, but with working nights the phone is off the hook during the day and the bill is less. I hope that the telesales calls aren't charging me although that would explain why they try to keep you talking.
ReplyDeleteDave.
Hi pretty sunflowers, looking forward to when the flowers appear, they make me smile. Telesales used to phone constantly at our old home we used to hang up straight away. We moved about 6 months ago and the calls have started again. My oh and I decided to cancel the extra we pay for unlimited telephone calls during the day because now we live close to family, we just decided we did not need it. That has motivated them to start calling again. My oh said don't you understand we want to reduce our bill not add other stuff to make it higher, they did not understand! We will continue to hang up when they call.
ReplyDeleteAnd the bank their telesales calls where a real pain, in the end I had to go to the bank and explain that they had become a pain calling everyday for weeks on end. They said they would take us off the telesales list! Now we get the odd call. What a ramble! To be honest if we do not know the number, or its withheld we do not answer land line or our one pay as you go phone! phew..Ginny x