Friday Five!

1. Partner is leaving a much hated job after 15 years. Today the madness ends. Hooray!
2. There’s a birthday coming up in a few days. I’m baking something I’ve never made before. I just went shopping for ingredients. Wish me luck.
3. I like going into London on Fridays, as some of the museums are open later than usual. Didn’t go today though.
4. Am anticipating the weekend, as we’re going to Scotney Castle. Look it up, it’s fab.
5. Hungry.

JKF - A woodburner! Oh, I'm SO envious.  That's the one thing we didn't get in this flat (other than a gas-fired hob) that I really wanted. I am a pyromaniac at heart, and really, in the drab and dreary days having a cheery fire on takes the damp out of the room and is just pleasant.

That was something that surprised me here. I see all of these lovely old buildings, all the smokestacks, and no smoke. Rightmove shows all these fantastic houses with the big fireplaces. That apparently can't be used because they are polluting and this is a pollution control area!  I guess they have the chimney police out there, watching us all? 

PB and Nan, I'm so so envious of your sunshine.  It's been a dreary rain here all day.

Definitely no sun anymore. Like I said, 3 solid weeks of heavy rain  and raining all weekend  Sun was shining for a few hours, but now turning rubbish.   

This is my first time joining in on this thread. Lovely to see all the cool things you people are up to!!

• I'm from St. Louis and have been waking up at 1 am to watch the Stanley Cup finals. My whole family are diehard Blues fans so this is a big year for us! It's the only thing that's really made me miss home since I moved over in December. Can't wait for Sunday night!!
• I had a really frustrating experience with a job interview last week (they didn't contact me to tell me the outcome of my interview...I had to call them). But I just got invited for an interview next week to work at the library in the next town over. As a bookworm, I would love it! I also dropped off an application to work at the Waterstones in town. Fingers crossed!
• This morning was my 4th time volunteering at my local Citizens Advice Bureau and there was a volunteer appreciation lunch at Wetherspoons after. It's been great for my confidence to get back out in the world and have something set in my schedule. I was really nervous to start but I've been enjoying it a lot. It was quite slow this morning so I had 2 cups of tea and worked on some crossword puzzles!
• My mother in law and her dog are coming up for a visit next week. Luckily we get along VERY well and I'm looking forward to it but it'll be tight quarters having an extra person + a dog in our little flat...
• Booked flights back to the US for Christmas this week! It'll be the first time ever that my husband will be coming to the US for the holidays and the only time I'll see my family this year (except my parents, who are coming over later this month).

This is my first time joining in on this thread. Lovely to see all the cool things you people are up to!!

• I'm from St. Louis and have been waking up at 1 am to watch the Stanley Cup finals. My whole family are diehard Blues fans so this is a big year for us! It's the only thing that's really made me miss home since I moved over in December. Can't wait for Sunday night!!

Gonna have to look the other way for this one....


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Welcome to Friday Five, elee27!  Good luck with your library interview, and I hope you are selected for an interview at Waterstone's!  But, really, I hope you get the library job.  Being a bookworm, the library job will mean more take-home pay (as opposed to take-home books instead of wages!).

Nan, we haven't had a boiler since we moved in at the end of 2016, so we've been relying on electric heaters.  We have a far infrared heating panel in the bedroom (plus another electric heater if the infrared isn't enough on the coldest of days), and a couple of small fan heaters (£15-20 at Argo's type things) in other parts of the house.  The woodburner is a long time coming.  And, sadly, since the exterior render still hasn't been redone, we won't be installing the stove this year.  We just bought it because it was the one we ultimately want, and it was about 66% off retail.  So now we will have a big cold cast-iron box with a window in it, but still no heat. 

Sorry about your short-lived sun, PB. 

Gonna have to look the other way for this one....

😂😂 Boston has enough championships, spread the wealth!

My mother in law and her dog are coming up for a visit next week

Starts googling mother-in-law jokes…

Luckily we get along VERY well and I'm looking forward to it.

Oh well.

It’s funny (though not ha ha funny) how visits, particularly at close quarters, can test one's good nature even when guests are close friends and relatives.

OK, I gave in and googled anyway. This are possibly the least bad that immediately came up in a search for mothers-in-law and dogs:

A guy brings his dog into the vet and says, "Could you please cut my dog's tail off?"  The vet examines the tail and says, "There is nothing wrong.  Why would you want this done?"  The man replies, "My MIL is coming to visit, and I don't want anything in the house to make her think that she is welcome!"

[laugh track]

My mother-in-law was so mean she blinded herself just to get a free dog

[groan]

Woohoo!  Fun to see some new joiners to the Friday Five!

Ha ha ksand, literally right before reading this, my colleague was all, "you should get a Revolut card".

My Revolut card arrived today .

However, I just went onto the online Secure Chat with my US bank because I had sent a message yesterday morning asking for a new debit card and they hadn't replied yet... and when the chat agent looked up my card for me, she said the card team managed to solve the issue I was having with the card and it should be working fine now!

I just tried it, and the transaction I was trying the other day has now gone through - which means I'll be able to use the card in California after all .

Nan, we haven't had a boiler since we moved in at the end of 2016, so we've been relying on electric heaters.  We have a far infrared heating panel in the bedroom (plus another electric heater if the infrared isn't enough on the coldest of days), and a couple of small fan heaters (£15-20 at Argo's type things) in other parts of the house.  The woodburner is a long time coming.  And, sadly, since the exterior render still hasn't been redone, we won't be installing the stove this year.  We just bought it because it was the one we ultimately want, and it was about 66% off retail.  So now we will have a big cold cast-iron box with a window in it, but still no heat. 

Soon, then. You'll have it soon!~ 

Boston has enough championships, spread the wealth!

I’m not sure Chara is really going to let that happen... he’s been an absolute beast ‍


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we’re going to Scotney Castle. Look it up, it’s fab.

I've been there, it was really great.  If I remember correctly, there were actual hop fields you could walk through and plenty of beer. 

Enjoy your trip

Boston has enough championships, spread the wealth!

A congratulations is in order I think...


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A congratulations is in order I think...


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Thank youuuuuu! It was such an exciting series The 3rd period was the longest 20 minutes of my life. 😂