House and Home

Moving House – My 14 Tips for survival and sanity

January 11, 2021

Moving house is recognised as being very stressful

Moving house is recognised as a very stressful event this describes how I coped. Myself and Mr Fitz had lived in the same house for 30 years, following my retirement we decided it was the right time to move and could use some of my pension pot to fund it. I am going to share with you my hints and tips for moving house.

If you have read my bio and earlier posts you will know that I took retirement from the NHS in July 2015 at the age of 55. I wanted to enjoy life rather than continue in the throws of tiredness and lack of sleep that my career was turning my life into. I took early retirement. That was 4 years ago and never for a moment do I regret that decision. It is the 5 year anniversary of our house move and I thought I would share with you my hints and tips for a stress free house move.

As well as the decision to retire Mr Fitz and I also decided to move house. We had lived in the same house for 30 years, since we got married.

We approached the move with much trepidation – 2 of the main questions we asked ourselves were:

Where to move to?
What if we didn’t like our new home.

This was a huge decision for us after so many years of happiness in our previous home. I won’t dwell on why we decided to move, however in a nutshell the area was declining rapidly and we felt that house prices would soon plummet because of this, and secondly and more importantly I could invest some of my pension pot into bricks and mortar, rather than it stagnating in the bank.

Once we made the decision to put the house on the market and an Agent had been selected to act on our behalf we then started to look seriously at properties we liked. I have to say I had become an almost obsessive browser of www.rightmove.co.uk since December 2014.

The act of selling and moving house is not without it’s trauma – we immediately had viewings and in fact had 16 in total before we agreed a sale at a much reduced price, we had lost a sale at a slightly more increased price somewhere along the way due to confusion between ourselves and our agent – allegedly!

Having people view your much loved property is an experience in itself. 3 generations of a family would regularly come and browse, politely express interest, ask if we could sell privately without the use of agents and then disappear into the sunset. One viewer thrust her young baby into her husbands arms, demanded that he stand outside in the front garden then charged through the house. As she was leaving she then admitted she wasn’t selling her home or moving house at present she just wanted to see what houses in this area looked like! Blooming cheek…..

In the meantime whilst starting our serious search, we had looked at a couple of new builds. One was the last on available on an established estate and had been sold the day before we made an enquiry. We then looked at a new build on a development on the early stages of development . We loved the show home and wanted to commit to buy a plot. We were informed by the representative that she didn’t know when any more of the show home models would be built, how much they would be and we were asked to purchase a house that didn’t have a show home anywhere in the area. We left to consider our options, feeling very demoralised and frustrated – we naiively thought that buying a new build would be easy. When discussing this with family – my nephew, who himself has previously owned a new build said we may have had a lucky escape and he would never buy a new build again. Well his words have stayed with me as he was so correct. In fact very few more have been built on the development and it looks a forgotten site. So glad we didn’t get what we thought we wanted at the time. I am a great believer in Fate and this reinforces my beliefs.

Following this unsuccessful viewing my husband tried to cheer me up and suggested we have a drive around a few local areas for inspiration, rather than using the website. He drove around the areas I had been thinking of but nothing inspired us enough. He then drove to a different area, still close by and drove through an estate that is around 20 years old that we remembered being built and really liked at that time. I hadn’t considered this. It’s a little off the beaten track, away from Manchester Metrolink routes and only one daytime direct bus route. However, it was love at first sight. It was the isolation that we fell for – horses in fields and farmland surrounding the Estate. Bliss – just what we wanted.

So this answered our first question – Where to move to?

Whilst our sale was progressing I ‘stalked the estate’ I knew every property that was for sale – many sold very quickly. We had decided to purchase a detached property – our first. There was one house we really liked and I had my heart set on it – but one evening logging onto my saved properties on the aforesaid web site I saw the dreaded ‘Sold Subject To Contract’ message on the property listing. I was crushed yet again, there were another couple of detached houses in our price range for sale but not as nice as this, the garden aspect was a big want for us. We had lived with a sunny house and garden all these years and did not want to sacrifice this on moving house.

However, fate played it’s hand again and the next day another detached property came onto the market, and all things considered it was probably better than the one I originally set my heart on, in the fact that the garden was much better and had a south facing aspect.

In a nutshell we successfully made an offer and bought this property.

PIN FOR LATER

As for advice about anyone moving house here are my tips for a smoother, preparation and reducing stress are:

Be organised – I had a project book in which I documented conversations with everyone I spoke to by telephone regarding services etc. I documented names, dates and times of conversations. These were useful when things that were promised weren’t delivered. And I did have to refer to these notes on more than one occasion!
All contact with solicitors and Estate Agents were via email or telephone conversations were confirmed with an email and filed in folders in my Email. Despite keeping records we did encounter communication problems with our chosen agent.
Plan ahead – make contact with service providers well in advance e.g Sky. BT, Utilities.
Use the internet – my best friend, to research how to do things, there is a wealth of information out there which I successfully utilised
From my internet research I found a very useful tip regarding packing. I allocated each room in the new house a colour. Boxes were labelled with tags of that colour and were also numbered. On removal day I used blu tack to fix a corresponding tag on room doors and my fabulous removal men duly obliged and set boxes down in correct rooms.
As I packed each numbered box I listed its contents on a template I had made on my PC. This was invaluable at the other end when trying to find things! Especially when we decided to nip out for a pub lunch on our second day in the house and my husband asked the question “do you know where my tan leather shoes are?” I could duly oblige and locate them in a jiffy
I used the impending move as an ideal time to renegotiate my Sky, phone and internet contracts. I was able to get discounts on all 3. I used the argument that as I was moving it was a good time to maybe change my provider. It worked with all 3!
There is a lot of negative press around Solicitors but I have to say ours was exceptional. Kept us updated with any new information, always available to answer any queries and didn’t provide us with a hefty bill.
You hear people say that you must pester your agent and solicitor all the time to keep the process moving. Having now had the experience of a house move – I echo these sentiments entirely. My best friend was my smart phone so that I could fire off emails to all concerned whilst I was out and about and on the go. I did try to keep some humour in my messages so as not to alienate anyone. However, I do think my agents must have dreaded logging in each morning to see what my latest daily email contained. It was necessary though as my buyer was very slow at moving the purchase along, despite paying lip service that he was very keen and wanted to move in as soon possible, he kept raising issues that slowed the process down. Gentle pressure on my agent was vital – I don’t think we would have completed yet if I hadn’t. So the message I’m sending to you is – Be Persistent, Firm, and Humorous!
Our move was arranged for 4th December – not the run up to Christmas I’d imagined in July when I finished full time work, I envisioned baking foodie presents and cakes for friends, all presents and cards wrapped early – not having everything boxed up before and after the move. I’m posting a photo of my Christmas prep!
My kitchen was only just fully functional the week before Christmas due to storage issues! I had hoped to have completed the move by the end of October. Ah well there’s always next year.
On the day of the move as well as the colour coding of my boxes I kept a few vital supplies with me. I would recommend doing the same. I had a bag of supplies I needed which I will break down and then I kept certain items in the car, so they didn’t get thrown into the back of the removal van.
Contents in my bag for the day, not including my handbag, were:
- Kettle
- Milk
- Tea, coffee, sugar and cordial
- Mugs for us and removal men.
- Biscuits – one friend advised me to provide good quality biscuits – always go down well with the removal boys!
- Passports and wallet’s
- Black bin liners
- All purpose polish and dusters and washing up liquid.
- Soap
- Loo roll
- Hand sanitiser
- Hand and tea towels
- Blu tack
- Room planner, coloured post it notes, sharpie pen
- Paracetamol
- Pen, Project book
- Laptop with charger
- Mobile phone charger
Objects in the car:
- My dog’s ashes! (strange I know) I plan to bury them in my new garden. These were precious to me and I did not want them lost or damaged.You’ll see from an earlier post that I had only recently had to have him put to sleep.
- Our duvet and pillows – this would keep them clean and ready to be put straight back on the bed – the day is extremely tiring and you want a minimum of fuss once in.
- I also packed a small travel bag with items necessary for an overnight stay in a hotel – clean underwear, nightwear, change of clothing for both of us and toiletries. Again so that there was no rooting around in boxes, no matter how well labelled they are, to be able to get to bed and start again the next day. Also if the dreaded worse happens and you hit a snag on the day that stops you moving in to your new property – and Yes! unfortunately that can happen, at least if you have to find a hotel or beg a bed at a friend or relative, you have what you need immediately to hand.

Needless to say the move went well, our removal company and the men who came were very helpful, they even helped me reconnect my Sky TV box! We did have a blip and a delay when the funds for our purchase seemed to get lost within the electronic banking system did not arrive at our vendors for solicitors for a couple of hours. This was a nervy time – my Removal men sat in the van outside our new property and were given cups of tea by one of our lovely new neighbours and my husband and myself were sat in a pub close to the vendors Estate agent awaiting the go ahead. A very long hour and a half! I have to admit I was close to meltdown, but it all happened eventually and our move was complete. We moved our belongings in and then took a 5 minute walk to our local for a meal and a couple of glasses of much needed beer and wine. We were exhausted. The pub landlord sold us a couple of bottles of beer to take out and even provided a bottle opener as that was the one item I wasn’t sure where it was! We encountered so much friendly assistance in various ways that day and are so thankful for it taking the stress out of moving house.

To answer our initial second question -What if we didn’t like our new home?

Not a problem we absolutely love it! and manged to get it the lounge and bedroom fully set up and cosy for Christmas. I had booked measurement for blinds prior to our move – I cannot reiterate enough that preparation in advance is so important. This reduced delays and allowed the settling in period to be reduced to a minimum.

My husband – King of his new Castle

Festive finishing touches – presents under the tree

I didn’t know I could love a house and it’s surroundings so much. So, after all the hard work and occasional pain – we are in and gradually getting fully settled. I will write again about storage and organisation methods that I have used in a future post.

I mentioned bringing my dogs ashes with me JenReviews has posted a fabulous piece containing 22 steps for a stress free move for your dog

I welcome any comments or stories you have about your experiences of selling, buying and moving house.

Feel free to contact me by email: earlyretirementrocks@gmail.com

Product Review – Serious Readers Alex Light is it worth it?

September 3, 2020

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post and we received this lamp for free to review. This does not prejudice or affect my review. All opinions are honest and our own.

I was approached by Serious Readers to trial one of their products. You may have read some of my earlier posts including ways to keep healthy over 50 and that I am always looking at ways to combat changes in normal function as my body increase in years and find ways to minimise the impact.

I am updating the original post to confirm that I have been using this lamp continually for over a year now and still find it to be fabulous and I note it is getting promoted more on TV. In the current climate of staying home and people are concentrating on original hobbies or taking up new ones, I still highly recommend this to optimise your lighting.

One change that I have noticed is in my eyesight. I have always worn contact lenses for astigmatism but in recent years I have noticed changes in my ability to see in poor quality light. This has caused me to be unable to wear them in low light and have been wearing varifocal glasses, which provide a much sharper image. However, I still note there is a difference in subdued lighting, and I love to have table lamps on in the evening instead of the full room light. I love the cosy ambiance these provide.

When reading or trying to complete a crossword I already struggle and either have to put the large room ceiling light on (The big light as Peter Kay calls it!) or use supplementary light from the torch on my mobile phone.

People don’t always realise that as they age, less and less light gets through to
the retina making it harder to see detail and read in comfort. This is why the people at Serious Readers, created a range of high performance reading lights using bespoke Daylight Wavelength Technology™ to allow people to see with amazing clarity and true
colour. They claim “We bring the natural light close to the daylight our eyes are built to use”

In my career as a neonatal nurse I have used similar lights to enable me to perform intricate procedures, such as venous cannulation on neonates, and I found them to be invaluable.

When I was approached by Serious Readers to trial one of their Alex lights I was more than happy to do so.

About Serious Readers

The company’s literature states that recent research shows that poor quality light not only causes eyestrain but can also damage eyes and interfere with your sleep. Too much short wave-length blue light poses a risk to the highly sensitive retina.

The absence of a harmful blue light spike in their technology eradicates the risk of damage to the retina and minimises disturbance to our body clocks. The Serious design, with a stay put flexible arm and rotating swivel joints mean the light can be set up just in the right position for you, so it takes the strain not you. Our sight dominates our sensory perception and we can’t help ourselves but subconsciously adjust our posture and strain to try and see clearly.

The Alex light is suitable for:

Reading books
Reading larger publications, (magazines, newspapers)
Hobbies involving colour (artwork, needlework)

Our opinion on the Serious Reader Alex Light

I say ‘our’ opinion because although the product was sent to me to review, my husband uses it the most and absolutely loves it! He’s hogging it daily for reading his newspaper, he has been constantly complaining that news print is getting smaller!

The Serious Reader Alex Light comes as either a floor lamp or a table lamp, their is also a choice of colours. We chose a floor standing model in white. It looks neat and sleek, taking up little floor space.

The lamp arrived in a very large cardboard box, almost as tall as me! Once the box was opened I was delighted to find that it did not require any assembly – always a huge bonus.

Serious Readers Floor Lamp arrived ready assembled and well packaged

A feature I liked was a cord holder – a rubber case where excess flex can be wrapped round and secured to reduce any trip hazard and unsightly wires.

The head of the lamp is very small but hugely powerful. Our living room has 2 sofa’s and myself and Mr Fitz sit on one each most of the time. The lamp is so powerful that we can change the angle to suit whichever one of us wishes to use it without moving the lamp.

I have been able to complete crosswords easily without resorting to the torch from my mobile and Mr Fitz has been able to read comfortably without squinting and bringing the newspaper up to his face. I was going to relocate the lamp after this trial up to my home office but it is staying put in the living room as John is such a fan of it too.

Evaluation

At around £299 the floor lamp appears expensive but if like us you are suffering with reduced vision in poor quality lighting, it is worth the price in our opinion. There was nothing we didn’t like about it. If you have an elderly relative who has given up hobbies due to the inability to see what they are doing, this would make an ideal gift, it could restore their enjoyment in leisure activities they once loved. In fact any family or friend over 60 who complains of “newsprint shrinking” or “lightbulbs not being what they were” please tell them about this fabulous product.

If you wish to see the light in action please check out my video review on YouTube

Growing Tomatos – tips to ripen green tomato’s

August 12, 2020

Growing tomato’s in a pot is one of the things I decided to try when I started my square foot gardening plot. You may have read that during the early part of lockdown when we were staying home Mr Fitz and myself spent a lot of time catching up with jobs in the garden. I decided to create a small vegetable patch using one small flower bed using the square foot gardening technique plus I used pots for herbs, potato’s and tomato’s.

I have never grown vegetables before but soon became hooked. I love inspecting my little patch of crops daily looking for my seeds sprouting and then increasing in size. The thrill of seeing my crops turn into recognisable vegetables is fascinating. I have savoy cabbage, beetroot, peas, mangetout, peppers, shallots, radishes and lettuce as well as herbs growing.

PIN FOR LATER!

My pride though have been my tomato plants. We bought them from a local small garden centre when it reopened. We planted 2 types Gardeners Delight and Moneymaker. We had a large pot that had been tucked away at the back of the garden waiting to be used for something. It was perfect for the job along with an obelisk trellis that we discovered in the bushes in the back flower bed. A remnant from the previous owner. Mr Fitz had a good chop down of shrubs climbers when he discovered it. It was oxidising and I revamped it with some metallic paint left over from when I repainted our metal gates – another lockdown task.

When the plants were first planted in a tub on the patio

The tomato plants have been thriving and now I have a healthy crop, however they are still green with little or no sign of ripening. It has to be said that I live in Manchester and we have had a terrible summer – no sunshine for weeks just rain and grey skies. Far from ideal for growing tomato’s. This made me research tips to promote ripening.

I looked at a few gardening sites on line and of course my beloved Youtube. A couple of tips to be used when all else fails is to cut into the root, cut off the branches and hang upside down in a garage or shed – being upside down the nutrients would travel down from the root end into the tomato. Or the the green tomatoes could be picked and placed in a cardboard box in newspaper or a paper bag with an apple or a bananas, as these fruits release ethylene which would enhance ripening.

These were a little extreme for me at this point as its still only the start of August and I’m still clinging on to the hope that we will hit a heatwave with lots of sun!

Yellow tomato flowers promising new fruit

The simplest solution that I found was to cut down all the excess foliage and branches to encourage all the nutrients to go to the growing tomato’s and to also allow more sunlight onto the fruit. This seemed my best option at this stage. Before doing this I had huge bushy plants almost as tall as myself. By the time I had finished I was left with thin straggly looking ones! But the beauty was that all the tomato’s were visible. I’ve counted around 50!

I set to with my secateurs and cut off all branches without any flowers or tomato’s. The small clusters of yellow flowers are the start of new fruit. Although my research has taught me that flowers that are not turning into tomato’s at this stage could also be removed as they may not grow or ripen before the temperatures drop – however being an eternal optimist I have left them for now in the hope of increasing my yield of growing tomato’s.

Pruning lots of foliage

I have posted photographs of my plants before and after pruning – a total contrast and I now wait and watch in gleeful anticipation for my green tomato’s to turn into plump red ones.

My straggly plants post pruning to allow ripening

I will update you in a future post as to what happens next.

Are you a dab hand at growing tomato’s? If so do you have any advice to offer? What do you do at this stage – I do not have a greenhouse.

Thanks for popping by today

Turning 60 – celebrating with Covid 19 Restrictions

July 31, 2020

Turning 60 makes me sound really old and I cannot believe I am this age. Last week I reached this milestone and celebrated turning 60. How I celebrated was very different to how I had planned.

After I retired from nursing and we moved into this house we inherited a fabulous large garden. It has a big lawn space and a large patio space, perfect for entertaining. My initial plan was to hold an afternoon garden party for my immediate family, my husbands and few close friends. The guest list would have been around 35 and would fit comfortably in the area with room for the little ones to run around and play. However these plans were obviously curtailed by the Governments Guidelines to help control and contain the spread of Covid19.

I may earn money from the companies mentioned in this post as I am an affiliate. This does not incur any cost to you and I only recommend companies and products that I use and trust

Turning 60

My plans for celebrating then meant I could just have my immediate family around in the garden. This then posed it’s own problem as the weather in Manchester has been dreadful for most of the month – grey skies and so much rain, in fact leading up to my birthday it rained every day.

Mr Fitz and myself usually have a holiday or trip away to celebrate a BIG birthday. I have wanted to visit Oxford for ages and we had booked a stay in a Hotel for this month much earlier in the year. However we had cancelled this due to the uncertainty and because we planned to travel by Rail and this was not something we were ready to do yet.

Therefore we decided to have a mini break much closer to home and Mr Fitz treated us to a night’s stay at Hotel Gotham Manchester and a meal in the hotel’s Honey Restaurant. I’ll write a full review of this in my next post. All I will say here is that we had a wonderful time and is something we are considering doing again for our 35th Wedding Anniversary at the end of September.

Hotel Gotham

British Weather

As you may know I live in Manchester UK and I love living here. However this summer we seem to be getting more rainy days then other area’s. Despite me posting that it’s a myth about it always raining in Manchester, conditions are making me doubt this! I see social media photographs from friends and fellow bloggers around the country and they look to be enjoying being outside in sunshine. I have been looking forward to turning 60 and enjoying muted celebrations but have been so anxious that the rain would stay away.

The weather was dry when we travelled to Manchester and I didn’t take a coat but the minute we had checked in Hotel Gotham then ventured outside for a bit of shopping it started raining. My freshly styled hair started to flop. My fine menopausal hair does not tolerate any moisture well at all.

For my garden celebration I had my poor family on standby as to whether my little gathering would go ahead. I had to hold it outside for Social Distancing reasons and for enjoyment. I have 5 boisterous great nieces and nephews who love to run around and play. More so at the moment as they have been apart during lockdown. Anyway thankfully the forecast was dry and I decided to proceed.

We had a gazebo on standby and is probably an essential for any UK garden

I bought a selection of inexpensive garden games to lay out on the lawn for the little ones to play with and keep them entertained

Garden Games Snakes and Ladders

Flamingo Ringo Garden Games

Snakes and Ladders

Flamingo Ringo

A Twister style game

We also had a few other games that we all enjoyed

Rory’s Story Cubes by Asmodee Games

Rory’s Story Cubes Asmodee Gamesj

Dobble Card Game

And no get together would be complete without a Pinata – as adults we love watching them squeal with delight trying to release the sweeties

The rain stayed away and we had a lovely afternoon, a much needed get together as we had suffered the loss of my brother only about 6 weeks before lockdown and we had been apart since then.

Even though it was to celebrate me turning 60 I made the emphasis for my great niece and nephews as we are all happy to watch them play and be happy.

I put on a simple spread to meet everyone’s needs, my Sister in Law follows a Gluten Free diet and some of the little ones can be a bit picky but also love nothing more than cucumber and tomatoes! So there was finger food and hot food selection of chilli or chicken curry, in case it was a bit chilly and something warm was required.

I made an activity out of serving ice cream – I made an ice cream station and everyone got to have a vanilla ice cream in a dish or a cone and could decorate it themselves. I provided an assortment of sprinkles and toppings including fabulous sauce, including unicorn shimmer and bubblegum flavour and other fantastic flavours from the Skinny Sauce Company. This was a big it with the little ones and the adults!

Ice cream fun

So here I am at 60 , and all my working life I expected on turning 60 to collect my Pension and bus pass at this age, but sadly due to changes in legislation and local authority guidelines that was bot to be. I can however receive free prescriptions, which thankfully I don’t need regularly and I look forward to a Bowel Cancer screening kit in the post! Happy Days!

Have you had a celebration or milestone occasion during lockdown, what did you do to celebrate? Did you still manage to have a great time?

Anyway thanks for popping by today and come back to see my full review of our night in Hotel Gotham Manchester.

Pet Bereavement and a lasting keepsake

June 3, 2020

Pet Bereavement hits as hard as the loss of a loved one. This is how I coped with the loss of my Border Terrier and the lasting keepsake I had made. I have been married for 30 years and for 29 of those years I have owned dogs. Firstly a lovable Westie, Paddy, who lived until he was 15. And until a month ago a beautiful Border Terrier called Murphy who died aged 14.

On both occasions we had to make the agonising decision to ‘put them to sleep’ or euthanasia. With Paddy, we had to make the decision in an emergency and the end of his life was fraught, a crisis. I remember just standing sobbing, I never held him in his final moments. Following his death and whilst preparing for my next puppy I read a chapter on Pet Bereavement in a breed book which said that when it came to the final goodbye, it was better a day too soon than a day too late. Those words have always stuck with me.

When I got my beloved Border Terrier my heart melted, he was the most adorable, loving puppy and I always vowed that his beautiful, sweet life would not end in a crisis.

Murphy was a ‘people’dog – this term was described to me by one of the Vets we saw through his lifetime. He developed digestive problems around the age of one and used to have attacks of severe abdominal pain and then blood in his stools. This was finally diagnosed as Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), after a history was taken about his habits and personality. Where, Paddy would happily play and roam around the garden on his own for hours, Murphy just wanted to be with me or my husband and attacks were brought on by separation anxiety or by some stressful occurrence. He was scared of cats! and one attack followed a cat hissing and scratching him when out walking. He could be a real drama queen! He always had to eat a prescription diet and occasional steroid treatment. I never though for a while that he would live to an old age, but he did! Once myself and my husband were at home a lot more due to changes in jobs, this settled down. The relationship between you and your dog is priceless. Sue has written a piece about how dogs communicate with us which is a really good read.

However,in the past 12 months he started to decline gradually with lack of mobility and change of habits -he began to slowly lose his spark. I took him for regular Veterinary check up’s and I chose to take him to the same vet in the practice, a wonderful caring lady called Lynne. In June when it seemed clear to me that time really was catching up with him, we had a chat and came to a mutual agreement that once he was not able to manage the stairs and was living mostly in one room of the house e.g. he had no quality in his life we would say goodbye. Murphy always followed us everywhere and slept with us,if he couldn’t do any of these things he was just existing.

Finally at the end of September we knew the time had come – he was looking unhappy and his bones and joints looked to be really troubling him.

Leading up to this I knew I wanted a keepsake to remember him by. I didn’t have anything like that from Paddy, I wasn’t an internet user when he passed over so had no awareness of what was available, if anything in 2001. I searched for Pet Bereavement keepsakes as well as consider his sensitive disposal. Paddy was buried in our garden by my husband, as I have said earlier, somewhere he loved. This time around this was not going to be an option, aside from the fact he didn’t like to be alone outside, we are in the process of selling our home and moving.

Pet keepsake

The particular company I used does not appear to still be trading but this one is very similar and provides the same service. I had a silver charm made of Murphy’s paw print which I now have attached by a jump ring to a Links of London bracelet. You are sent a kit which comprises of a special cloth and paper, with which you take a paw print. Once you return it a rubber stamp is made that then stamps into the charm. I had this made in advance once I knew he was ailing as I didn’t want to have to do this in a crisis.

My finished charm is beautiful – the print looks so like Murphy’s paw -I know those pads anywhere! I received the original stamp back in case I should lose the charm and need to have a new one made. Now that he has gone, I am so glad I had this done. I treasure it.

Rossendale Pet Crematorium

As Murphy’s condition was declining I planned what I would do with his body. I rang the Crematorium office and discussed options. Again, I received great understanding and advice, when my voice was cracking with emotion, they were very empathetic. My husband and myself decided we would have him cremated and have his ashes to return to us to take to our new home. I was informed that collection days at our vets were early on a Tuesday and a Friday morning. This then meant if I was planning the end of his life I wanted it to be on a Monday or a Thursday afternoon, so that he would not be lying alone in the Vets for too long.

When the fateful day came, it was on a Monday, in fact our 30th Wedding Anniversary! Not the way we planned to spend the day, but on that day it was all about his needs not ours. I won’t go in to too much detail, apart from the fact that this time I hugged and kissed him till the end, as it’s still very painful to us. I still shed a tear every day. However, the service from my Veterinary practice, particularly Lynne and Rossendale Pet Crematorium was excellent. His ashes were delivered back to the surgery on Friday and I brought his remains back home. Inside the box was a printed copy of a beautiful and apt poem that is displayed on their website.

If it should be

If it should be I grow frail and weak,
And pain should wake me from my sleep,
Then you must do what must be done,
For this last battle can’t be won.
You will be sad, I understand,
Don’t let your grief then stay your hand,
For this day more than all the rest
Your love and friendship stand the test.
We’ve had so many happy years,
What is to come will hold no fears,
You’ll not want me to suffer, so,
When the time comes, please let me go,
I know in time you too will see,
It is kindness you do to me,
Although my tail it’s last has waved,
From pain and suffering I’ve been saved,
Do not grieve that it should be you,
Who has to decide this thing to do,
We’ve been so close, we two, these years,
Don’t let your heart hold any tears.

Anyone who has been through the loss of a much loved pet knows how raw and painful this is. It’s losing a member of the family, in fact I lost my best, most loyal friend.

http://www.rossendalepetcrem.co.uk

Also if you wish to contact me about anything in this post or share memories of your beloved pet I would love to hear from you

The Mrs Hinch effect is positive in my opinion

June 3, 2020

The Mrs Hinch effect is positive in my opinion – a bold statement but continue reading and I’ll explain why

The Mrs Hinch effect

I’m writing this from an age perspective, meaning reflecting on previous times in my life I can compare to the current times of the Mrs Hinch effect. In case any of you don’t know Mrs Hinch is a successsful influencer who shares her passion for cleaning and keeping her house sparkling and tidy.

My mother was houseproud to a point but it was more about the old trend of “keeping up with the Jones’s” – you could say that was an earlier version of the Mrs Hinch effect. In my mum’s case it was more about having the latest on trend decor, clothes, furnishings or accessories. Her cleaning routine was not always her main priority. As someone who can always find positives in any situation at least I developed a good immune system!

As times moved on there was a time when there were many TV programmes showing you how to decorate and revamp your home, the emphasis was on doing it but not on maintaining it.

My habits

When I was working full time as a senior Neonatal Nurse, working long unsocial shifts I was often too tired and exhausted to do any more than the basics of cleaning that was needed to keep my house tidy.

Since retirement I have become a bit of a cleaning freak. With my new found freedom I watch hours of youtube vloggers who share their tips for keeping a clean and tidy decluttered home. I adopt some of their hints and tips – but don’t get me wrong my house is nice but in no way a show home like some of theirs. The Mrs Hinch effect has gradually crept in, I think I was a bit later than many discovering her. However, she appears to be one of the most famous and influential.

My kitchen

Why I think it is positive

I think the Mrs Hinch effect is positive as it has created a whole movement of house proud people who are cleaning away merrily. Yes there is still an element of competitiveness and showing off but if it promotes good habits and cleanliness then that is a big yes in my mind. It was horrible growing up as a child with an untidy house that you didn’t want your friends to see.

Possibly there was a time in society where house cleaning and tidyness was low on the agenda of many people who were depressed, anxious and dissatisfied with their lives. The cleaning movement can provide purpose to a persons day and can introduce structure and habits. I’ve certainly found having a good cleaning routine has helped me through this period of lockdown during the coronavirus outbreak.

Helping with anxiety

Mrs Hinch states that she began cleaning to help her deal with anxiety issues and it helped her mood. As I have bought into the Mrs Hinch effect I agree cleaning does help my mood. I have posted before about how the menopause has affected my life, one side effect has been a degree of anxiety that I haven’t suffered with before. Cleaning and decluttering really does make you feel better. It’s so satisfying and occupies you to stop you worrying or overthinking anything. Plus you have a great sense of pride at seeing your home looking good. I found a video on youtube where a psychotherapist has described why cleaning and tidying does help with anxiety.

a cupboard containing cleaning products demonstrating the Mrs Hinch effect

The Mrs Hinch effect – My bathroom cleaning products

Just as a side note many of the products recommended and used by those who have bought into the Mrs Hinch effect have been around for years and were used by my own mum, they’ve just been revamped and rebranded – 2 such are Zoflora and Stardrops. I’m fascinated to see them being touted as the best thing ever as if they’ve just been discovered, I’m sure the company’s are too with their increase in popularity and revenue. This gives me an idea for a new post – my favourite products!

There are many Facebook groups sharing ideasI am a member of one called We Love Mrs Hinch – if its something you’re interested in I suggest you join in and take a peek as there are many posts by members of how they have decorated or cleaned. Inspirational and the positive thing is that unlike my mum’s day when keeping up with your neighbours was costly – buying the latest decor. These days the Mrs Hinch effect is positive in that many people do fabulous things on a budget from bargain stores like B&M bargains. This reduces the pressure of cost, in fact it’s often the opposite how to improve your home as cheaply as possible.

Thanks for popping by, let me know what you think of the cleaning craze and the Mrs Hinch effect are you a follower or do you find it irritating. I love to read your comments.

Easy fruit scones – Mary Berry Recipe

May 31, 2020

I have been baking a lot during lockdown and after a few failures I searched for an easy fruit scone recipe and came across one from Mary Berry.

You may have read my earlier post about how I’ve been reducing food waste during lockdown and that I enjoy cooking my own meals from scratch.

My mum was a fabulous baker making delicious scones in minutes as well as fabulous steamed puddings. I envied how quickly she could throw ingredients together to make such delicious goodies. She taught me a lot about cooking and at school, (many moons ago), Domestic Science as it was called then was my favourite subject and one of my best!

I think I’m quite a good cook but whenever I make a batch of scones they never rise as much as I would like and just don’t taste as good as shop bought ones. Mr Fitz likes a scone and even better when they are freshly baked form the oven and still warm. Now he’s retired I decided I would search for a new recipe or technique which would improve the taste of my scones. I have many cook books but decided to Google for a recipe for easy fruit scones.

I found one from Mary Berry and I love it. It is a quick easy fruit scone recipe and I’ve used it several times now and each time they come out exactly how I want them to be. In fact during a video chat amongst a group of friends the weekend before last, one of my friends who also has baked for many years commented that she too had been baking more but her scones were not as she would like. I pointed her in the direction of the Mary Berry recipe and she too has rejoiced at how lovely they are.

Therefore I felt I wanted to share this recipe for easy fruit scones with my readers.

Mary Berry’s fruit scones

Cooking Time 10 minutes Makes 10 scones

Ingredients

75g (2 1⁄2 oz) butter, chilled and cut into cubes, plus extra for greasing
350g (12oz) self-raising flour, plus extra for dusting
1 1⁄2 tsp baking powder
30g (1oz) caster sugar
75g (2 1⁄2oz) sultanas
About 150ml (5fl oz) milk
2 large eggs, beaten

Method

Preheat the oven to 220°C (fan 200°C/425°F/Gas 7). Lightly grease a large baking sheet.

Put the flour and baking powder into a large chilled mixing bowl. Add the cubes of butter, keeping all the ingredients as cold as possible.

Rub in lightly and quickly with your fingertips until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs. Add the sugar and sultanas.

Pour 100ml (31⁄2fl oz) of the milk and all but 2 tablespoons of the beaten egg into the flour mixture.

Mix together with a round-bladed knife to a soft, but not too sticky dough, adding a bit more milk if needed to mop up any dry bits of mixture in the bottom of the bowl.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface, lightly knead just a few times only until gathered together, then gently roll and pat out to form a rectangle about 2cm (3⁄4in) deep.

Cut out as many rounds as possible from the first rolling with a 6cm (21⁄2in) cutter (a plain cutter is easier to use than a fluted one) and lay them on the baking sheet, spaced slightly apart.

Gather the trimmings, then roll and cut out again. Repeat until you have 10 scones.

Brush the tops of the scones with the reserved egg. Bake for about 10 minutes, or until risen and golden.

Remove and cool on a wire rack.

Per serving

Calories: 238
Saturated fat: 5g
Unsaturated fat: 4g
Sodium: 275mg

Fruit scones on a baking tray before cooking

Brushed with egg before baking

They are delicious easy fruit scones in fact I have baked another batch this afternoon, and we enjoyed them sat in the garden still warm with butter that was melting. We had run out of jam and to be honest we usually just prefer them with butter alone.

Fresh from the oven

But before I go I must answer the age old question if we do serve with jam and cream which way do I prefer? I’m a jam first then cream kind of a gal….

Try this recipe and let me know what you think. Do you have a tried and tested recipe for anything that you love – let me know in the comments if you do. Also please take a look at what I’ve been reading in lockdown

Keep staying safe.

Ring Tyre Inflator – Car Gadgets Product Review

May 15, 2020

Disclaimer – The car gadget I am reviewing was gifted to me – the Ring Tyre Inflator. However this has not influenced my review and opinion of the product. My review is completely impartial

This product, The Ring Tyre Inflator, was gifted to me for review prior to my brothers illness last year and this review has been delayed. The plus side to this though is that I have had quite a few opportunities to use it.

Owning a car is a great thing enabling travel in your own space, for convenience and making shopping easier. However I don’t know if you are like me but there are 2 maintenance tasks that I try and avoid – they are

Filling up with petrol
Putting air in the tyres.

I ma educated to Masters Level but putting air in tyres is a skill that has passed me by, I leave it to Mr Fitz. I’m a little ashamed of this as I like to be fully independent. And secretly I did worry that in an emergency I would be a little lost.

Therefore when I was offered the kind opportunity to try the Ring Tyre Inflator, I jumped at the chance.

The company provided me with excellent supporting information about the product

You may or may not be aware that under or over-inflated tyres can reduce the maneuverability of a vehicle, causing your tyres to wear more quickly. This will reduce the fuel efficiency of the vehicle, increasing both fuel costs and CO 2 emissions.

Not great.

But with a tyre inflator you can drive more safely on the roads and reduce costs, as better tyre care means fewer trips to the garage!

As you will see, the team here at Ring have worked hard on the new design of the RTC1000 to provide a large digital screen for easy reading; an LED light to make it simpler to inflate at night; a flat bottom to keep the product stable; dust cap valve holder to stop them rolling around while inflating and integrated storage for the cable and airline, to keep the product neat and tidy when not in use.

But, the inflator is about so much more than its appearance, it has top inflation speeds (0-35PSI in just 2 mins) to make tyre care easier and quicker; has a set auto stop to guarantee accurate inflation and the ability to store
the set pressure ready for next time you use it.

Powered from the in-car 12V socket, it has a long 3.5m cable to help reach tyres all around the vehicle, comes with storage case and three-piece adaptor kit, and includes spare valve caps and latex gloves.

So, with all that to take in, what do our experts say?

Lizzy Sebine, Tyre Care Product Manager at Ring, says: “As tyre care is a car maintenance essential for drivers, we want to make it as easy and quick as possible. Excellent inflation speeds are essential for a tyre inflator, but so is ease of use for the motorist. We’ve taken a fresh look at our design to make sure that it’s easy to see
results, illuminate the tyre and even to make sure dust caps don’t get lost during use.”
Carney continues: “Around 40% of traffic accidents in the UK that are caused by vehicle defects are tyre related. This shows that poor tyre maintenance is clearly leading to increased risk for drivers and their passengers. Plus, new MOT rules implemented in May 2018 state that a car can fail its MOT if the tyres are obviously underinflated. There has never been a better time for motorists to invest in tyre maintenance.”

So with this information to hand I went ahead and used the Ring Tyre Inflator at home on my car. It was so simple to use! Instructions were clear – you read the tyre pressure printed on your tyre and enter it into the machine and it then automatically inflates to the correct pressure. So, so easy.

The Ring Tyre Inflator is small, light and compact and now sits in the boot of my car.

This was a godsend when a couple of months ago I had gone to visit a family member and when getting in my car I noticed I had what looked like a flat tyre. I was able to get the Ring Tyre Inflator out of the boot and reinflate it. I was then able to safely get to a garage and have the tyre checked – there was in fact a screw embedded in the tyre and I was able to get a replacement fitted. This helped keep me safe on the road.

I would highly recommend this – it is so easy and convenient and could avoid having to call out your car rescue service, which can often mean a wait to be seen.

I would really like to thank Lucy for giving me this opportunity.

What are your hates about driving or any other maintenance job? I’d love to read your comments

An emotional day – How I celebrated VE Day 75 –

May 10, 2020

An emotional day is my reaction to the VE Day 75 years celebration. This is how I celebrated and spent the day.

What is VE Day

May 8th 1945 was the date the Allies celebrated the defeat of Nazi Germany and the end of Adolf Hitler’s Reich, formally recognising the end of the Second World War in Europe. This became known as VE (Victory in Europe) Day.

It was an emotional day for me for several reasons

My parents were very proud of their part in the War, my father saw active service as a soldier in the Army and was deployed overseas as part of the British Liberation army.
My mother was a volunteer fire warden and was a machinist sewing garments for the military.
They married during the war.
My parents, especially my mother loved to talk about life during the war and her experiences. She said it was horrible but the spirit of the nation and how everyone helped each other was amazing
My parents have passed away in 1976 and 2007.
I had one brother who was also very interested and proud in our family’s involvement, we also had uncles who proudly served in all the forces. Sadly my brother passed away in January this year, which is why my blog had been dormant for some time.
This means it was such an emotional day because I have none of my birth family unit left to share memories with. I felt a little lost, even though my husband is very supportive.

My parents Adeline and Norman

Throughout the day I would find myself weeping, many of the images and songs played reminded me of my family. My mother was a great singer and would often sing wartime songs.

How did I spend an emotional day in remembrance of VE Day 75

I had managed to obtain a string of Union Jack bunting from Amazon to string across the garage door and make a small display in our front bay window. Our avenue hadn’t planned any street celebrations and there was only our house and a couple of others that were decorated.

A garage door decorated with union jack bunting

Our garage door

In the morning I looked through old photographs of my parents taken during wartime, some I had not seen before after they had recently been passed to me from my late brothers possessions. I was amazed at the resemblance to my nephew and nieces.

A black and white photo of a Britih army soldier from WW2

My dad Norman

I dressed up in Red white and blue

We watched the 2 minute silence at 11 am and I sobbed throughout.

An afternoon tea box with VE Day cupcakes and a loaf cake for Mr Fitz was delivered to the doorstep obeying social distancing rules. This was from a local cafe, my first order from them but certainly not my last as it was all delicious. The Lotus Biscoff Loaf cake was really indulgent!

My afternoon tea and Lotis Biscoff cake

Mr Fitz and myself sat in the garden with some beer and a bottle of Champagne and I enjoyed my afternoon tea.

Champagne to celebrate

Churchill’s speech declaring the end of the war in Europe was shown on TV in the afternoon at 3pm – following this someone in the immediate area then played wartime tunes on a trumpet. We couldn’t see him or her but both of us and our surrounding neighbours all clapped and cheered at the end of each song and naturally and predictably I shed a tear and sobbed.

A truly emotional day but one I was glad to be part of. During the day I thought about one of my cousins from my mothers side. He has none of his original family unit left either.

Spookily he telephoned me the following day to see how I was – we are not normally in regular contact as he was my brothers age, around 11 years older and my brother was his contact – they were very close. It appears we had both had the same thoughts about each other and we had a lovely chat and shared memories together. Very uplifting for both of us.

I had started to trace my family tree a couple of years ago using Ancestry.com but found the monthly fee an unnecessary outgoing. This weekend I have resumed my search using free sources – one being FamilySearch.org which is organised and maintained by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints – it is a worldwide source.

I spent nearly 2 hours searching last night and am hooked. I will let you know my progress at a later date.

Thanks for popping by and reading my account of an emotional day. How did you spend Bank Holiday Friday? Also let me know if you have traced your family tree – any hints or tips are gratefully appreciated.

Reduce waste food – forming new habits during lockdown

May 5, 2020

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The aim to reduce waste food is something we all should be mindful of. I try to form good habits but during our UK lock down I feel staying home has made me make an extra effort. After all you cannot just pop to the shops for an ingredient or something you fancy to eat that you don’t have at home.

You may have read an earlier post where I described my current favourite vloggers to watch. One of them Kerry Whelpdale shows how she batch cooks and makes tomato sauces as bases for pasta and soups out of leftover veg.

Also I am reminded of a demonstration I attended hosted by Hotpoint and Jamie Oliver in London in 2018 about reducing food waste. This was a competition prize won by my friend who invited me to go along as her guest. During our prize Jamie cooked some dishes for us to eat where he used up waste food.

So with both of these experiences in mind I decided to see what I could do personally to reduce food waste in our household. Also it has the double purpose of reducing our household spend something many people are looking to do during these difficult times.

Reduce Food Waste

As I said watching Kerry Whelpdale on Youtube I decided to follow her example and use up leftovers to make a pasta sauce. I have to explain that I have always cooked from scratch, even when I worked shifts as a busy nurse. We eat very little convenience foods. I have always found it easy to prepare and cook from scratch, dishes like bolognese, lasagne, curries etc are easily put together, especially with the help of my invaluable trust slow cooker. The base of my sauces are usually passatta and tin tomatoes with added herbs and spices.

My new method following Kerrys example is to cook any left over vegetables such as carrots, peppers, celery – including the leafy tops etc then add my tomato and passatta then use my hand blender to make a smoothish sauce. This helps reduce food waste and bulks out the sauce. By doing this I was able to make my usual amount of passatta and tin tomatoes make 3 portions of sauce instead of 1.

One of my usual habits to reduce food waste is to use every part of a roast chicken. I usually cook a roast chicken to eat as a traditional roast dinner, next day I use any leftover chicken meat to make a stir fry or a pasta and then use the carcass to make a stock for a soup.

So last week by using my new found method of making a pasta sauce and my habitual chicken habits this is what I created:

3 portions of Tomato sauce were turned into a chicken pasta meal, a base for a soup which I have frozen, and the base for my favourite meatball recipe which we ate yesterday.

A collage of chopped vegetables and tomatoes to make a pasta sauce to reduce waste food

Making the pasta sauce t

The chicken made us a roast, then I added leftover meat to the pasta sauce and with the carcass I made a delicious chicken and sweetcorn soup – no recipe I just added things instinctively!

A bowl of chicken and sweetcorn soup from leftovers to reduce waste food

Homemade chicken and sweetcorn soup

Next meal I made using leftovers and to reduce waste food was using some previously cooked leftover new potatoes and the uneaten surplus were frozen. I added half of these into my soup.

The remaining potatoes from the freezer were used to make a curry on Friday, we had a fresh uneaten cauliflower that needed to be ate. I made my own basic curry sauce and added the potatoes, chopped cauliflower and a tin of chick peas to the slow cooker. Using up store cupboard basics and leftovers it was delicious.

I estimate that for around £10-£12 we ate 5 delicious meals. Added to that I made my own bread to eat with the soup using my bread maker, the following evening we used the leftover bread for toast and ate cheesy beans! A super fast supper.

My homemade loaf

As Mr Fitz has taken early retirement I’m looking to carry on these good habits to save money and to reduce food waste. And talking about our visit to the Jamie Oliver demonstration lunch we were gifted a couple of reuseable silicone food storage bags.

I love them and use then to store leftovers. They stand up independently and can be used in the microwave and dishwasher. If you haven’t tried them yet I highly recommend them.

What do you do to reduce waste and save money? I’d love to hear from you and learn some new ideas and recipes

Stay home stay safe and keep washing your hands

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The Mrs Hinch effect

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Helping with anxiety

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Mary Berry’s fruit scones

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What is VE Day

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