OLD FOR NEW

SUNDAY
Meet up with our good friend Charlie who lived on the same little street with us at Holmfirth and who  also helped us to move out of the cottage and in to our van he also helped us with the top soil for the garden .We meet up at the Fountain Inn at Ingbirchworth Reservoir we had steak pie chips an peas and a pint of cider i won't  have more than a pint when driving.

Helen has been buying cushions for the sofa and dried flowers and lampshades and a canvas picture for the spare bedroom wall which is all looking good .
We are swapping some Mexican pine furniture which is getting to look dated we are trading in for a older mahogany dresser it is on sale for £125 it sort of goes with the writing bureau , we are giving up a two draw side board a tv cabinet with glass door and two chest of drawers plus we are also being given £65 in cash , so we are quite happy.

MONDAY
Went to Trinity shopping centre at Wakefield for the first time this afternoon bought a ceramic cat and another cushion .
George our ginger tom cat was out last night and never showed up this morning come two o clock there was still no sign i checked the out buildings he had been locked in one since last night sorry George .

I also paid mine and Helen's mobile phone bill which was over £200 for both of our outstanding bills.

The dark oak dining room dresser arrived this afternoon it was heavy the drawers are all green felted and dovetailed the doors are proper glass leaded solid wood no veneers .
 We swapped the agreed items and we was also paid  the money as promised .
we bought a led strip light to go under the top plinth its a mega 2w it is fine i had to remove the wall light and wire the new light in place after i had drilled a hole through the dresser to pass the wire through.The light is above the plate in the centre .

Got hold of the tax people today this time i was only waiting twenty five minutes a record i was told my claim had been processed and the cheque is being sent to my bank why they cant do a bacs transfer is beyond me seeing that they have my full bank details , the amount was more than what i was expecting and i should have it in my account in the next fortnight .

Tonight we went to the Red Kite another vintage Inn at Durkar Denby Dale Road a few miles from home  , i had the burger Helen the lamb we had a bit of a wait but the food was the usual standard its our first visit to this inn and it did not disappoint .

JD

I have been given a set of aluminium two tier ladders which has saved me a good sixty quid or more which is a good thing  ,and they are long enough for me to reach above the height of the guttering which is what i wanted .I will clean all the dead leaves twigs and plant life from the recess of the metal guttering over the next two days.

I need to pay my phone bill i have been suspended from making calls i can receive but not call out or use 3g services.

I am hoping that tax office have received my tax rebate form i will check with them Monday to see if they have received it if i can believe what they say .

The little black cat's eyes are improving and George has been more friendly towards her which is a good result Pip is no problem what so ever a dog excepts the intrusion of a cat better than another cats does weird .

Creosoted more fence panels i have about four left to do i bought another 5litres of the brown stuff don't think i will have enough.

There is a radio programme about the last ten weeks of James Dean life it is being aired next week at ten o clock on Wednesday i very much hop i get to listen to it i put this picture below of the late great actor as wallpaper on my iPhone and iPad .I am intrigued by his myth and the legend of him as well as the fact that  he was one cool dude.
The radio broadcast is being aired on the day James Dean died 30th of September 1955  60 years ago age 24 .

ONE MORE RAINY MONDAY

Its a boring Monday and to make it worse it is raining and to make it even worse i don't have to go to work .

Helen has two reading booked in this week Tuesday and Thursday which will help buy food and gas the car .

Updated my iPhone and iPad mini to ISO9 .

We are going out later this afternoon it won't be far we might go to one of the garden centres that has a farm food shop to get something for tea .We did go and we bought a mince beef  and onion pie for tea along with some cabbage and new potatoes , and for desert a Apple cake and a packet of instant custard lazy i know  .

Another three days at work and four days off be nice to do a three day a week every week i wish well be great in the summer and be even greater if i still got the same wage .

The little black cat is ok she hides under chairs or she is a sleep on your bed she does not like being picked up , but she will come to you when she is called and she will let you stroke her .George hide under our bed for three weeks when we was in the cottage and only came out for food which we use to leave on the stairs for him .

Listening to - One Republic and The Script .

ANOTHER ONE GONE

SATURDAY
messed around in the garden weeded the soil w are going to be using for the veggie patch i also dug the soil over . moved the rotary clothes dryer and planted a tree all good fun least the sun was out and i had my iPod on so it was all chilled .

SUNDAY
Bought some more creosote to finish the neighbours fence he is in Turkey at the moment and  it was agreed if i did our side i would do his side as well  he will come back of holiday to a newly stained fence i do  hope he's bought me a nice present from his holiday or he will reimburse me for the cost of the creosote apparently he is loaded .

At least i have tomorrow off work then Friday and the following Monday it is also payday Friday three more payments to my sister , and i will be five hundred pounds a month better off cant wait , hopefully my tax form i filled out and sent will be getting processed this time around fingers crossed , Well thats another weekend gone .

MINNIE MO

No work today no work on Monday either it was quite warm and sunny throughout the day .

We went to the vets today yo get Minnie's eyes sorted out we was in and saw the veterinarian nurse for a total of  five minutes she administered some eye drops and gave us the tube of antibiotic drops to care on the treatment we went to reception to pay it came to a grand total of  £42 the drops i reckon would not have cost a fiver so £37 for five minutes work is £444 a hour nice work if you are qualified.

Went to get some chicken thighs chorizo and two large bag of thick cut  frozen chips oven  and herb tortilla wraps that is me sorted for the next three to four days .

Reset the lawn mower blade on the Flymo  lawnmower to re cut the grass it was having its second cut i did this in the sun whilst listening to tunes  on my iPod classic .

Went to the Reindeer pub with Ken and Sharon our friends from across the way  it is near to were we live and you can see the mining museum from the back doors i had three pints of cider not had three pints to drink in ages .two more pints would have been pushing it .

NOT ON FORM

Back to work today then i have  four days off i am blessed better than the weather , the water butts were full again it takes a good twenty minutes to empty the both of them .

The new cat Suki is ok with Pip our dog but our cat George is hissing when ever he sees her but it is early days yet,

Playing Stick Hero on my  iPad and phone you have to put planks down to move on plank  too long and you fall off ,if it's  too short you also  fall off get it right length and you move on sounds boring but it is quite addictive .

Contacted the tax office after again waiting another forty minutes for my call to be put through to an advisor , she then told me there was no record of my form application ever  being submitted for my pension tax rebate , bull shit. I was told it had been received weeks ago and my cheques should have been sent out last  week ago so who's kidding who ,  i have no other choice but to resubmit another application form i have been told this time it will take thirty days to process well heres counting .


                                 pictures are just random ones taken over last couple of days

The new cat Minnie is doing fine George is still hissing at her but has not gone for her he is just being vocal , he is just protecting his home .

SUKI

We discovered a new farm shop on the way to Keighley bought some chilli burgers potatoes and cider also a Rolo cake and carrot cake and double cream , plus a chicken and ham and leek pie hope it tastes as good as it looks ,

We have adopted a all black cat Helen wants to call her Suki  we guess that she is about a year old she looks in very good health  she had been abandon  when she was pregnant and went to a foster home ,  if she can fit in with George and Pip then all should be good . if she does not than we have problems its hard living in a van for space saying that she is now  in the spare bedroom on a double  bed laid on a cosy blanket cuddle up to the radiator purring away totally chilled out.

In the first few hours with us she has had water and food and cat biscuits and is not stressed out to be in our home.

She as yet to meet George the ginger tom and Pip our Jack Russell i cant see Pip being a issue it is George that might kick off if he does not like his new Queen , she is neutered , micro chipped , wormed and de flead.

The weather today was very warm with loads of sun shining through my twin sister called with her husband Alan its the first time Alan has been to see us i think he approved .

Tomorrow i have a day annual leave hoping the weather is as good i want a chilled out day whether i get one i cant say fingers crossed .

FIVE OFF

Picked my repaired dentures i thought i had to pay for them i also thought i was getting a new set seeing that i had a mould done but the owns given to me was same as the old so i am guessing these are to put me on until  the new ones are made , well that's my excuse and i am sticking to it .

Took out a built in unit out of the can it was stapled in to place from the outside which made it difficult to remove i had to saw it out ,  i also had an electrical socket to relocate this was so we could fit our writing bureau in the alcove at the left hand side of the fire surround .

I am off work Saturday , Sunday as always but I am  also off this Monday and  i am also of the following Friday then the following Monday again and then the following Friday again then one more following Monday five days in total so much better than having five days all in  a row .

Eating -  Indian chicken curry with poppadoms and bahjees , rice and nan.

Watching -  "Southpaw' and 'The Rise Of The Krays".

Listening to -  "The Libertines " Anthems for a doomed youth.

STILL NOT OUT OF THE WOODS

I broke my denture plate that holds two front  teeth on it ,  breaking  clean in half at least i was at home and not dining out  , the thing is that  i now have to re-register at the dentist that did the plate way back in 2010 which is annoying me . All i want is the plate fixing i don't want any other dental work at this time other than this , i don't want a check up or a clean just fix my denture please . But even before they do anything they are wanting twenty quid for a check up that i don't want , all i want is my plate fixing so don't wind me up .
If all fails i will try and fix it myself  with either super glue or a denture repair kit .

Now more than ever do i need the cheque from the tax man which  i applied for my rebate way back when we moved in to the can on July the 18th , so please get your finger out of your arse HMRC  and get the cheque you owe me  to me pronto.
Till i pay my sister back we are struggling more than we was when we was living in the cottage although i am saving petrol money i am paying £150 a month more as well as an extra £75 a month in bills .

I have next Monday off  then the Friday after  off then the  following Monday and then the following Friday followed again by the following Monday which is five days better than taking a week off in one sweep , well i think so .

I think i need to buy some slippers i have not owned any since my childhood but the can contains Lino about eight foot wide walking across wearing just socks is cold on my feet so come winter i might have to invest in a pair of slippers scary thought .

Think will get myself a combined birthday and Christmas present i will buy myself something really nice for a change i will indulge and spoil myself for a change like others do.New headphones or camera or phone even maybe a new mac book or iPod who knows i will get the new Apple tv when it comes out after seeing it on the Apple event broadcast as well as the new iPad pro keyboard and Apple pencil  .

CANADA

Creosoted the fence panels on the length of the garden we did four panels we did not start until late afternoon we should finish them all off tomorrow if we get up early and buy some more creosote .

A old school friend that use to live in Leeds and was in my class at school for five years emigrated to Canada over  forty years ago called me yesterday  via Face book messenger phone app  , it is amazing what technology lets you do .When he first left the U.K we would write letters and became sort of pen pals , then as time went by we would send cassette tapes with messages on them send them to each other via air mail , tonight we was on the phone for nearly half a hour and it cost nothing amazing .

If we save up for the air flight there is a good chance he can put us up at his house which would be a holiday of a life time we can go next September which gives us a whole year to save up and get sorted .It would be the best holiday i would have ever had , plus the farthest destination i have ever travelled the length of flight would be a major pain but i put up with it to go to somewhere my Father was going to emigrate to back in the day but bottled out at the last minute .

My son called to see us this afternoon he liked our home unfortunately on the way home his car broke down he as only got it back recently after it was in the garage for a month he is not impressed .

Helen's son Liam called with his girlfriend this afternoon as well they too liked our van we went out for evening meal to the Foxglove .

TFIF ONCE MORE

Been buying food at the reduced section at the supermarket near to where i work .Yesterday i got two six packets of Cumberland sausages for 35p they needed cooking or freezing that day .The day before two steak and onion pasties for 20p , its a good way to shop i also got a sandwich in flat bread with chicken and water cress with smoked ham for £1.25 which should have cost £3.00 so until i get my tax back or its the end of November its what i need to do .

i am trying to book holiday at work making long weekends by having the Friday and moneys off over a period of three weeks using five days annual leave.

M1 is a joke three lanes going into one with another motorway joining it then we had to come of and join it further down at junction 40 adding a good half hour to my journey  home i had a sat nav otherwise i t would have took me ages to get home as the detour signs were nowhere to be seen fcuking typical.
Anyway its the weekend so i am happy and to boot Helen as baked a carrot cake which tastes out of this world .

Watching "Spike Island " A must for any Stone Roses fans out there .

REARRANGING

desperately need the Taxman to dig into his pocket  get his pen out and write me out a big fat cheque and post it out to me first class hopefully i will get it  in the next few days .
Roll on November when i will have finished paying my loan off to my sister , i might treat myself to a new Apple TV , I will also get Helen's Christmas present sorted out and purchased wrapped ready to go under the tree.

At least now it is midweek a sunny Wednesday which means its all down hill to the weekend if the weather is nice we will no doubt be cresting the rest of the fence panels that run up the side of the garden more joy at least once its done it will be good for a few years.
One of the vans is having a pitched roof fitted at a cost of £3500 who said vans are low maintenance .
The van below is one of the older cans on site but is still very modern inside fully doubled glazed and central heated .

Although i have limited funds a fiver in my pocket and three quid in the bank Helen is earning some cash so we won't starve tonight i am having jacket potato chili and cheese i also have two bottles of Koppaberg pear in the fridge so its not all doom and gloom and i am looking at the bigger picture it won't be this way forever which is a big relief , we might have enough to buy another couple bottles of creosote to continue doing the fencing running down the length of the garden which if it does not rain we will be doing this weekend.

We have rearrange the living room in the can the sofa is now in the bay window the chest in the middle of the room it does look better .We are also at the weekend taking out one of the fitted units at the side of the fire place to fit our writing desk in which we have not used since being at our house in Bramley over two years ago.