A quick thanks

And THIS is why I have missed blogging. Tuesday was a pain-in-the-derrière day but having kind friends who wish you well and provide a smile and a bit of support can make all the difference. Those comments - don't under-estimate how much difference they make until you need them yourself: thank you to everyone.

The most urgent problem to solve was the online banking situation, and this time I "only" waited 45 minutes to get through. My call was picked up at Santander by the nicest young woman who was so kind and sympathetic I nearly burst into tears of relief. I don’t do tears :-) Just as I had suspected setting up a new payee and immediately trying to pay them a five-figure sum is exactly what their fraud detection systems are set up to stop. I learned a lot during that phone call about how endemic banking scams are at present.

The problems were quickly fixed and the dealership have confirmed that they received the money almost instantly.

After lunch I drove 2 miles down to the garage who have always looked after the Forester. Without examining the car they agree that it is a hell of a co-incidence for these problems to have just happened on their own, it sounds ‘electrical’ rather than any real problem with my brakes and so on, and they will ring later when they have a diagnosis. Then, as it was raining, one of their lads drove me home. Lovely service from this company, I have been going to them for 15 years and I bought the Subaru from one of their other branches.


The rest of the day . . . well to be honest I am not sure what the heck happened to the rest of Wednesday. I was so mentally tired from all the shenanigans that I just putzed around to wind down the clock until I could legitimately go to bed!




There are no photos of my desk strewn with paper, and I do not like blog posts that have no pictures, hence the image above 😊.

The last couple of days have brought home just how much our lives are at the mercy of things which most of us cannot fix on our own. Banking and so many other vital services are almost completely online these days (we have accounts at two different banks, and no longer any branches within easy travelling distance so it's battle with a call centre or nothing). When I learnt to drive many decades ago my friend's dad taught me how to do basic maintenance on my elderly car and in my twenties I could service it myself - these cars require a computer just to diagnose their ailments. One definition of progress is "development towards an improved or more advanced condition". Sometimes I am not sure, although I certainly would hate to do without the internet, blogs, and you lot!
Thanks again. 💋 👩‍❤️‍👩


10.30am update: Hurrah and Happy Day. The lovely garage have rung - Subaru is absolutely fine, they cleared the faults, took it for three test drives and everything is working as it should. My suspicion that I was over-zealous with the pressure washer and got water where it should not be is believed to have been the culprit. Bill for that peace of mind is £25 + VAT.

Priceless!!


(picture August 2015. It was a lot warmer that summer than it has been so far this year ☹️)

You couldn't make it up

I have not yet had a chance to tell you how serendipitously this new van came into my life. But for now, just believe me when I say it was unexpected, and almost unbelievable. And I have given thanks to The Goddess every day since.

Until yesterday, when She decided that I was having things a little too easy.

Excuse the language but yesterday was a bugger of a day. I appreciate that no-one died, no-one received a terminal diagnosis, but I went through a cascade of problems and today is most likely to be completely taken over trying to untangle what I can:


* First thing I went out in the Subaru (which I need to sell ASAP because its value is a significant part of affording the new vehicle) and I was confronted with numerous screaming flashing warnings which I have never seen before. I hope they are nothing more than water somewhere it should not be because I washed it on Monday, and used the pressure washer on the wheels. These happened when I was stationery, there were others:






* Later it turned out NOT to be plain sailing to get insurance for the new van.

* Much of the afternoon was spent waiting on the phone to my dratted bank who refused to transfer money for the new van, and locked me out of all my online accounts for my own security. I hung on for over an hour until I gave up. In that hour I folded and put away all the laundry, emptied the dishwasher, called the motorhome dealer from another phone to explain what the hell was going on so that she could listen to Santander's stupid damn messages with me, and got a headache. A very big, unnecessary and painful headache.

I did not get the banking sorted and have that exciting experience to go through again this morning.





So in one day I possibly have multiple faults on a car I need to sell, a future hiccup when I renew the insurance, and no new van next week unless I can pay for it. You couldn't bloomin' well make it up. I know these are First World Problems: I am not being bombed out of my home, my daughter is not being denied the termination of an ectopic pregnancy which will kill her, I am not having to choose between heating and eating. But I've still got the headache . . . 🤯  🤯  🤯

The world has gone completely mad, and there are things happening which I never thought I would see in our lifetime. It makes me feel both incredibly guilty for getting a new van because so many have so little, and at the same time more determined to do things like this whilst I can - because who knows what could happen to any of us in the future?

Hello 😉 and welcome to a new blog

I blogged (almost) continually from 2008 - 2021 but the time was right to give it all up at the end of last year.

However I never gave up my love of the blogging world: it is where I have met some wonderful people who are now real friends - I will never forget how many of those friends held me up in my darkest days, and it is where I have learned so much. I missed it. I missed being an active part of a lovely community.

But I had had enough of sharing the endless work renovating this house and creating a garden, it really was time to stop.


Since then my Blogger Profile said:

I'm still here, but I have lost any desire to blog. Shame really, because since 2008 sharing the house, the garden, the dogs, the fabric and goodness knows what else gave me such pleasure, created some wonderful connections.

But since Daisy's death, followed by Covid I just have not had the heart for it. I had thought I might start up again, until Putin decided to start a war with Europe. Best I just keep my head down for a while, and visit with - and comment on - everyone else's.


I need to rewrite it 🙂



I still miss my darling Daisy-dog more than is probably healthy (so do not be surprised if much loved pictures of her appear in seemingly random places without warning 💚 🤭 🐾), I still cannot believe that more has not been done to halt Putin's attack on all of us (not just Ukraine) and don't get me started on bloody politicians and their inability to fix anything closer to home either. The wonderfully articulate wordsmith Shanna Trenholm recently gifted me with the most perfect description for those upon whom I heap derision: megalomaniac narcissistic authoritarians.

But I digress and life has to move on. If I am not prepared to take the occasional risk, try new things, maybe change a little then I might as well just settle down in front of the fire with a good book, a rug over my knees and never move again.

Nothing is forever, even if at the time of making a commitment you think it might be. There are a few changes around here and I am ready to start blogging again to both create a record for myself and share some of my next adventure with those of you kind enough to stop by.

I honestly cannot say whether this will be a long-term project, or if it will fizzle out after a few months, but for now, here is a taster of what is to come (as if the blog title was not enough of a clue!)