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Topic: Friday Five!  (Read 407901 times)

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Re: Friday Five!
« Reply #7215 on: August 01, 2019, 09:03:33 AM »
I did it!  Number 3 all over!  For £7.00!!! (Up yours, hair salon that used to charge me £25 for a trim!)  ;D


Waaahooo!!!!


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Re: Friday Five!
« Reply #7216 on: August 01, 2019, 09:56:52 AM »
I bet that feels really good!


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Re: Friday Five!
« Reply #7217 on: August 02, 2019, 08:20:52 AM »
Happy Friday, everybody!  It felt like a long slog getting here this week, but we're here now.

1.  My husband's day off was Wednesday this week (which means he has to work a half day tomorrow :( ), and I booked us in for haircuts.  When I phoned to make the appointments, I asked how much cash we should bring.  She said "it's £15 for the lady's cut, £8 for the gent, so £23."  !!!  If you saw what we were both presenting to her, you'd agree the prices were fair, but backwards.  My thin, fine bob should have been £8, and she rightly could have charged my husband £15 for his long and fluffy mop.

2.  Aldi have broken our hearts.  I actually wrote in negative feedback.  They either changed their supplier or their supplier changed their recipe for their egg custard tarts, and now they're inedible.  Even my British-to-the-core husband wanted to write in to complain!  They're that bad!  (I don't know if he did submit a complaint, but he expressed a desire to, so you know this is serious.)

3.  We are nearly finished putting in ducting for dust extraction around the workshop.   We made our blast gates out of plywood and melamine (manufactured ones cost around £30 each),  and then we made endcap signs to go on each one, with inlaid wenge lettering to indicate which machine it's for.   It was totally unnecessary, but we're quite pleased with ourselves, now.

4.  Ever since his birthday, my husband has been putting hot sauce on practically everything.  He loves all of the sauces I got for him except Da Bomb, and we knew/expected that one to be bad.  I think his favourite ones happen to be semi-local, from Wiltshire Chilli Farm, so that's lucky.  Resupply won't be too expensive.

5.  We had grilled steaks again on Wednesday, and they were amazing!  (That was actually an awesome day... long-overdue haircuts, a quick shop at Aldi, finished up the signs for our blast gates, some weeding and hedge trimming while my husband mowed the "lawn", then we enjoyed the garden and grilled some steaks, potatoes, and cherry tomatoes for dinner.)

Bonus: I still haven't won the lottery or any Premium Bond prize monies, but my husband has won £25 for the second month in a row.  At least one of us is winning something.  :P

Double bonus: I just realized Wednesday's activities might be why my neck hurt so bad yesterday.  I'll stop blaming the orthopaedist I saw in Little Rock in 2004. (He asked if I had neck pain, I said no, he said "you will."  When it finally started to happen a decade later, I blamed him because he called it.)
« Last Edit: August 02, 2019, 08:30:50 AM by jfkimberly »
9/1/2013 - "fiancée" (marriage) visa issued
4/6/2013 - married (certificate issued same-day)
5/6/2013 - FLR(M)#1 in person -- approved!
8/1/2016 - FLR(M)#2 by post -- approved!
8/5/2018 - ILR in person -- approved!
22/11/2018 - Citizenship (online, with NDRS+JCAP) -- approved!
14/12/2018 - I became a British citizen.  :)


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Re: Friday Five!
« Reply #7218 on: August 02, 2019, 10:12:11 AM »
Friday again? Hmmm....

1) Fuzz Aldrin, our new hamster, is still terrified of us. I have managed to get him to take a seed from me now and then, but the poor little thing is really very jumpy. I'm trying to keep life calm and slow around him, but I did have to finally vacuum the living room (where he lives) yesterday, and he's still in trauma. Poor little guy. This is a very young hamster. I'm thinking he may have been taken from his mum a bit early. Fortunately, I have a very large bag of sunflower seeds... and a lot of free time. Left KUSC classical station on the Roku on for him to kind of soothe out the noise coming from outside and around the house. Hope it helps. He jumps whenever a neighbor slams a door. Poor little guy.

2) The Daughter seems happier, now that she's working in a position that is not customer-facing at the shop. She can't decide if she wants to remain here or go "home". I have reminded her that she'll have to buy a car, deal with real heat, and find a job immediately that has good health insurance if she wants to bail out. So she's putting out job applications again, and will give it another year. Depending on how things go here, and there, and for her and with Brexit.

3) I ordered quite a bit from the WholeFoods place online this week, and it's due in later this morning via the post. I also ordered a half-dozen Kilner storage jars to put a lot of it in (I prefer to store dry foods in glass), thinking they would not be coming in until next week, but they are also showing as due to be delivered shortly in the Post. I also bought a needlework frame that was not supposed to be delivered until late next week. Same thing - it's showing as due to be delivered today, but by Yodel. So we were going to nick out for lunch after the postman came with the food and jars, but now we don't know when Yodel will come so it's almost a sure bet that if we both leave to have lunch out, Yodel will show up when nobody is home. Regardless of when we are out.  ::)  The Yodel website just says due to be delivered today, not when. If I go out for my lunch, which I've wanted to all week, it'll seal it - he'll show up while I'm out and it'll be days to get the thing redelivered.  ::) I may chance that as I need to get out of the house.

4) We grilled out on Wednesday, with the little Weber kettle grill we brought with us. Cooked up a lot of the meat that had been in the freezer for a while. Marinated the chicken in lemon and orange juice, with some spices, and marinated the beef steaks in Claude's Brisket marinade.  Had been out there for a while, lovely weather, neighbors all at work, breeze blowing such that the BBQ's smoke was not blowing into the building or over our neighbor's washing... all going well. Was blue skies when we set up. Clouds came up suddenly and we had to abort the  mission, although the beef was done, the fajitas (onions, peppers, spices, chicken slivers) had gotten some smoke, and the chicken was 3/4 done.  Dumped the coals in a bucket of water, brought everything else inside to finish up cooking on my cast-iron frying pan. That was really tasty, and we now have cooked meat enough to last for many meals, in the freezer, as salad toppings or in stir fry. SO glad we brought the Weber grill.  ;D Note to self - next time get beef that is less lean if it's going to be grilled. Need to have at least a little fat on it to grill properly (to get a char without overcooking it).

5) Did a pantry stock-check and we are full up. Am SO glad we brought over all the Peerless flavored coffees from the States. The flavored coffees here are... mediocre at best. Also found we'd brought a bag of Hawaiian coffee beans (I'd forgotten about that). That stuff is really good sipping coffee. But don't want to open up too many different bags, to keep it all fresh longer. Am working on a cup of chocolate hazelnut now that is just divine.  ;D

Another week of hopefully decent weather. Can't travel this week, but maybe next week.  ;D

Hope everyone has a good weekend!


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Re: Friday Five!
« Reply #7219 on: August 02, 2019, 10:21:14 AM »
On mobile at work so not able to read other posts easily so hope everybody has a good weekend planned and that it's off to a good start!

1. Today is my anniversary. 6 years. I honestly didn't think he remembered until I mentioned it last night at nearly midnight (when I realised the date lol), but he just told me that he thought we could go somewhere special for dinner so he booked a table at a nice restaurant on monday! I am surprised and dead impressed as I did NOT see that coming! I definitely do not give him the credit he deserves sometimes...

2. The conundrum is, do we stick with pizza friday?? This nice place, if we decide to definitely go, might not do the best pizzas. Do  we skip pizza Friday or swap it with another day?! Lol the toughest choice I've had so far today.

3. New job is going brilliantly. I'm already going to be travelling as well. Up to silverstone monday, staying overnight in shropshire, then a kickoff meeting in Shropshire and home Tuesday night. Ik exhausted just thinking about it.

4. Need to take a trip to IKEA and COSTCO to check out bed options (I'm more thrilled than my husband for sure lol). My sister, BIL, and their 2 kids are visiting on the 19th until the 25th and we were supposed to have moved by now. We were putting off buying extra beds until we moved because it's more to physically move, but we are out of time so trying to weigh options of what will be best.

5. There is a light at the end of the house tunnel though....told were still on track to move in early September. Its been pushed too many times before so I'm keeping my fingers crossed this time it sticks because it sounds promising this time. Bit late but rather late than never (and if it pushes out another month we need to consider moving out to keep our buyers).

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My, how time flies....

* Married in the US and applied for first spousal visa August 2013
* Moved to the UK on said visa October 2013
* FLR(M) applied for  May 2016. Biometrics requested June 2016. Approval given July 2016.
* ILR applied for January 2019 (using priority processing). Approved February 2019.
* Citizenship applied for May  2019
* Citizenship approved on July 4th 2019
* Ceremony conducted on August 28th 2019

'Mommy, Wow! I'm a legit Brit now!'


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Re: Friday Five!
« Reply #7220 on: August 02, 2019, 11:51:51 AM »
I haven't posted in here in quite a while. I'm envious of those haircut prices! I'm ready to chop mine off again. For the first time in ages its long enough to go in a pony tail, and I hate it because it no longer air dries nicely into shape when down. So haircut is on the list to do sometime this month. Also, KoD, I'd make it pizza Saturday this week and take advantage of whatever the restaurant does best. :)

1. I decided a few weeks ago it was time to get a wheelchair. A new back injury has made me even more trapped at home, and I know things like this will just become more frequent as I get older. My limit for walking is about a half mile across a day, and if I do that in one go it takes 3-4 days to recover. If I do more than that it's 3-4 weeks. I've tried PT so many times, but it doesn't work because my muscles just don't gain strength properly now. They spasm, get scar tissue in the ligaments and tendons and go pffffft no. So now I am saving for one of these, the company will come give a demo closer to the time of purchase so I get the right one but they're all in the same price range. https://betterproductsfordisabled.com/collections/10j-series

2. Being far away when a loved one passes away sucks. My family has never been good at communicating, but I only hear from them if I call. When my grandma took a turn for the worse my mom finally admitted she had no clue how to call me, even though I've given instructions and suggestions of Skype and WhatsApp. Still crickets unless I call. But she is going to send me her tatting equipment so I'll have that piece of my Grandma with me.

3. My cat is adorable. Last night there was an injured fly walking around the floor. She sat following it intently, and then jumped in terror as it got too close to her. Some days she's a good attack cat, and others... She's afraid of a fly. She was very indignant when we put it outside and took away her entertainment, and pouted for a while.

4. Crochet keeps me sane. I've made some really pretty things over the last few months. I'm almost done with my "Phoenix" blanket and have decided I'm going to make one for my inlaws as well, I just need to pick the yarn. Its the most challenging pattern I've done with different stitches every row, and it's beautiful!

5. I'm really looking forward to getting a holiday soon. I was supposed to have a laparascopy at the end of August, but they decided for another issue I need to see another doctor that covers the same area and is more specialised... So now I'm back on the waiting list and that means the end of August is free! Now to decide where to go...



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« Last Edit: August 02, 2019, 12:55:10 PM by margo »


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Re: Friday Five!
« Reply #7221 on: August 02, 2019, 12:08:53 PM »
1.  I’m off work today and Monday.  We are attempting camping with kids for the first time.  Wish us luck!  Healthy and minimal rain is the hope!

2.  Camping on a farm (of course, you know me and animals) that’s on the sea!  Hoping it’s good!

3.  Last weekend our date day/night was adventurous.  We LOVED the scavenger hunt through London.  I would highly recommend it to anyone who is up for the challenge.  It was several hours and miles of walking but good fun.

4.  Aladdin was pretty well ruined by the crazy lady sitting next to me.  A full grown adult (30’s) in Jasmin fancy dress.  She sang along to all of the songs while gesticulating wildly with her hands.  Concert - go for it.  But this is the theatre.  Whatever happened to etiquette.  I’ve written to the theatre to complain.  I realise it’s bit their fault but this woman goes EVERY WEEK according to her.  She ruining it for those around her.  I got a nice letter back which made me happy that they acknowledged my concerns.

5.  We have no marshmallows or glo sticks!  No success in all the shops we’ve looked at.  Hoping the campsite shop pulls through for us!


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Re: Friday Five!
« Reply #7222 on: August 02, 2019, 12:39:06 PM »
KF, did you look in Aldi for marshmallows?  I have a bag that I only bought a couple of weeks ago... hrm... which, as I think about it now, puts us closer to the time between US Independence Day and Bastille Day (do French families do anything for that?  Jimbo, do you know?)  Glowsticks are a year-round Amazon thing.  Sadly, there's no time for that now.

I am so sorry there was an obnoxious woman next to you in the theatre.  I'm shocked they would let that happen.  It's not like it's Rocky Horror, where audience participation is expected.  Wow.

Margo, I tried to click your link but it brought me to the business's 404 page.

KoD, happy untimely bed-shopping.  But your reason for it is awesome!  I hope you have a wonderful time with your sister and her family!  Yay!

Nan, some hamsters are just skittish.  I had a dwarf hamster that wasn't skittish; he was super aggressive.  My sister picked him out for me.  There was an open-topped tank in the pet store with all the small animals in it, and my sister went around flicking all the standing-up hamsters, knocking them over one by one.  When she went to flick 'mine,' he attacked her, so she bought him and gave him to me.  I loved him, though.  I had a leather glove I'd put on any time I needed to reach into his cage.  Eventually, I learned that he was just territorial, and I got to where I could put my hand in front of the cage opening, and he'd climb into my hand, and then I could handle him just fine.  I amazed my sister the first time she came over while I was holding him with my bare hands.
9/1/2013 - "fiancée" (marriage) visa issued
4/6/2013 - married (certificate issued same-day)
5/6/2013 - FLR(M)#1 in person -- approved!
8/1/2016 - FLR(M)#2 by post -- approved!
8/5/2018 - ILR in person -- approved!
22/11/2018 - Citizenship (online, with NDRS+JCAP) -- approved!
14/12/2018 - I became a British citizen.  :)


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Re: Friday Five!
« Reply #7223 on: August 02, 2019, 12:55:56 PM »
I think I edited the link, not sure why it did that! It worked on FB. :)

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Re: Friday Five!
« Reply #7224 on: August 02, 2019, 01:17:18 PM »
What difference does the + (plus) designation give it, besides a higher price?
9/1/2013 - "fiancée" (marriage) visa issued
4/6/2013 - married (certificate issued same-day)
5/6/2013 - FLR(M)#1 in person -- approved!
8/1/2016 - FLR(M)#2 by post -- approved!
8/5/2018 - ILR in person -- approved!
22/11/2018 - Citizenship (online, with NDRS+JCAP) -- approved!
14/12/2018 - I became a British citizen.  :)


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Re: Friday Five!
« Reply #7225 on: August 02, 2019, 02:02:54 PM »
What difference does the + (plus) designation give it, besides a higher price?
I think it has to do with customisation or battery, I'll have to actually sit in one and drive it to know exactly which to get, but I don't want a very heavy chair. This one is somewhat transportable and even has a case, so flying it can go in the case and no parts will be lost. My husband would be able to put it into the car boot, but I would probably get a small lift so I can do it myself.

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Re: Friday Five!
« Reply #7226 on: August 02, 2019, 02:10:03 PM »
26.5kg including batteries is too much for me.  I can't imagine it'd be easy without a lift.  I mean, if you need the chair, you probably need the lift to avoid injury.
9/1/2013 - "fiancée" (marriage) visa issued
4/6/2013 - married (certificate issued same-day)
5/6/2013 - FLR(M)#1 in person -- approved!
8/1/2016 - FLR(M)#2 by post -- approved!
8/5/2018 - ILR in person -- approved!
22/11/2018 - Citizenship (online, with NDRS+JCAP) -- approved!
14/12/2018 - I became a British citizen.  :)


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Re: Friday Five!
« Reply #7227 on: August 02, 2019, 02:41:24 PM »
26.5kg including batteries is too much for me.  I can't imagine it'd be easy without a lift.  I mean, if you need the chair, you probably need the lift to avoid injury.
I'd be getting ramps at a minimum, but I definitely wouldn't be able to lift it on my own. It would dislocate so many joints to try and carry something that heavy My husband is thankfully pretty strong!

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Re: Friday Five!
« Reply #7228 on: August 02, 2019, 02:59:09 PM »
Sorry JFKimberley, I have no idea if anyone celebrates Bastille day.  I doubt it, the French are not jingoistic.

A giant Tesco will certainly have marshmallows in either the American section or the candy section.  I'd think they will also have glow sticks as well in the party section.  Their own flashlights might be an alternative.

Take a kite as well!


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Re: Friday Five!
« Reply #7229 on: August 02, 2019, 03:58:17 PM »
Sorry JFKimberley, I have no idea if anyone celebrates Bastille day.  I doubt it, the French are not jingoistic.

A giant Tesco will certainly have marshmallows in either the American section or the candy section.  I'd think they will also have glow sticks as well in the party section.  Their own flashlights might be an alternative.

Take a kite as well!

I didn't think they did anything on an individual level (like, family picnics/BBQs).  But that doesn't mean Aldi/Lidl or UK-based shops wouldn't try to make it a Thing.  Officially, France observes it, though... I remember it being a thing when I was in Paris one year on the day.  I am pretty sure I remember fireworks.
9/1/2013 - "fiancée" (marriage) visa issued
4/6/2013 - married (certificate issued same-day)
5/6/2013 - FLR(M)#1 in person -- approved!
8/1/2016 - FLR(M)#2 by post -- approved!
8/5/2018 - ILR in person -- approved!
22/11/2018 - Citizenship (online, with NDRS+JCAP) -- approved!
14/12/2018 - I became a British citizen.  :)


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