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dear diary ~ just witterings and a ScrapHappy contribution

As usual we have had a full on week at our house and despite sitting down a few times to write this post – it hasn’t happened until today, and then with a few interuptions.

Last week I had a dental appointment where two of my molar teeth that were problematic needed attention – upper left and lower right molars.  The right hand one had almost lost all the surrounding tooth of a large amalgam filling I had when I was 12 years old – so the filling has lasted well, but not the tooth!  I opted for a repair and it was easy done not requiring any anaesthetic.  I always opt for no anaesthetic unless the dentist knows he might hit a nerve.

The other was a tooth that had become sensitive at some point last year and the previous work done had not cured the problem.  My new dentist at the practice took a different approach to his predecessor and drilled out the original filling and refilled – sadly this has still not cured the problem and eating has been difficult.  I went back on Wednesday and he has now coated the tooth with a liquid resin of some kind, but I am not sure this has even done anything.  I will see what happens tomorrow.

Last Saturday we had a trip up to see my mum.  Working out the best time to visit is proving a bit hard because my sister has just been away for 10 days and next Monday she is going away for 20 days.  Living so far away means I have to spread out our visits evenly to cover the time and I know she will want me to go on Easter Sunday.

It was a lovely day and we pushed her down to the park, she had her toasted teacake and a coffee, then a quick skirt around the perimeter of the park and back to her apartment just in time for the next carer’s visit. We said our goodbyes and then went down the road to Northallerton to have a bite to eat and then see my sister and her husband in their yearly village pantomime – ‘Ali Baba and the 40 thieves’. 

My sister was Ali and her husband a dame – they had borrowed a camel from a local theatre group, which was a hit with the children.  All our grandchildren went, Sweetie just couldn’t stop laughing- she loved it and would like to be part of it next year.  Like all good amateur village pantos, lines are forgotten, props fall apart and the actors can’t help laughing as things go unexpectedly wrong!  It was a good night but we didn’t get home until 1o’clock in the morning and I rarely go to bed so late these days.

So it was no surprise that it took me all day to recover – what a good job it was Mothering Sunday and I could take it easy.  I had some lovely cards and flowers and a visit from one daughter with Master Freddie and Baby Chocolate (who carried the large bouquet and ran with it to grandad); we had to persuade him it was intended for me.

I had a nice quiet day and got out my sewing machine to do some mending.  I felt very pleased with myself after I had mended a tiny hole in some underpants for DH, which although were not new, were not that old either.  I also had the hem to resew on a pair of pyjama shorts for him – annoyingly, the overlocking had started to unravel.

Whilst I had my machine out I decided to make the cushion that has been waiting since last year.  I had some leftover blue checked fabric (from making a long seat pad for the outdoor seat) and a cot pillow pad from a duvet set my daughter no longer needs.  I hate wasting things and it has made a very nice cushion. As it is all washable there was no need to make the cushion cover removable so after placing the pad inside and hand stitching the opening I ran a row of stitching all around the edge.   

My next project on the list is to cover the three round cushion pads from Ikea that fit the 3 of the round wooden Ikea stools. I bought 3 reduced soft grey cord square cushion covers in Sainsbury’s (which was cheaper than buying the fabric I needed from off the roll in the local fabric shop). The covers have zips on too so I will be able to reuse these on my altered version. We use the stools a lot when we have visitors, they are stackable but a bit hard to sit on for long periods without a cushion pad.

I am still on with the finances, whizzing through a load of shredding as I clear out old papers and scan the important items onto the computer. It is a long and boring job but will ultimately be worthwhile. On Tuesday we had a trip over the hill to Uppermill to the solicitors to have our wills updated. Another of those financial jobs that has been on the list for a while. It is amazing how so many things have changed since we made ours over 10 years ago and some of it is not relevant now. Once the draft arrives in my inbox it will be another task to check over.

The next financial job on the list is again with the solicitor to make an LPA for each of us for both finances and health and welfare. We know how important these documents are having dealt with both DH’s elderly mum and now mine. Unfortunately, mum doesn’t have a helath and welfare LPA so any decisions about her future care can be made for her by the council or the courts (and if the courts have to get involved it is at great expense – I know this as I dealt with the court bills at work for these type of clients). Mum’s future has still not been decided, the social worker did the assessment and has not got back to us yet.

We need to fit in our passport applications too as they are going up in price I believe in April, DH has just received the driving licence renewal form to complete and return and we are expecting our car back today and then it will need to go for a service and MOT. It was booked in for that last Monday but of course the garage couldn’t do it because it was having the clutch replaced.

DH actually wants to get the car back to check the tyres, lights and windscreen wipers before booking another MOT and sevicing slot at the garage. He can easily change the lights and windscreen wipers himself – we always keep spares – the tyres are cheaper to buy from ATS and are guaranteed.

So the bills are mounting up and we will have to be very careful with our spending for a few weeks and limit any unecessary purchases in other places.

After carefully saving all year to be able to use my pension contribution allowance that attracts tax relief until I am 75 I found out yesterday that my application form posted at the end of February, to make another contribution into my People’s Pension, has not been received by them. That in itself is worrying as the form I sent has my personal details, signature and bank details on it. I got in touch with them this morning and it turns out the information I was given a few times in earlier years that I had to submit this application form each time I make a contribution is incorrect. Someone gave me misinformation – even after I queried it in 2023 because I thought it was odd. I made the transfer of money straight away yesterday morning but I am told the deadline is today (earlier than previous years because of Easter) and it might not be allocated in time to be included in this tax year so I would lose £420 in the government’s tax relief contribution and in effect free money because of their incompetence. I have complained of course.

Once all these items have been dealt with I will give a huge sigh of relief.

Well I have bored everyone enough now and it is lunchtime. It has taken me all week to get this post done – I hope to be quicker next time.

Thank you for reading and I will be back soon.

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seasons ~ hibernation over…

The end of another month that has gone like lightening for me. I feel like I went to sleep at the end of January and have woken up in March.

There is a definite feeling now when I go outdoors that everything is slowly waking up. We are much slower to rouse here than in most of the country at an elevated 700′ (the Pennine moors above us are around 1480′). Amidst this continuous rain and drizzle we have had a few dry days – not enough to go out into the garden for any length of time, but here and there I spy signs of emerging shoots and the little buds on the trees are starting to grow and unfurl. The nights are drawing out and the mornings are becoming lighter so much earlier.

And occasionally we have sunshine streaming through the sides of our blinds.

My hibernation period is definitely over, spring is here and I am raring to go.

Let the spring cleaning and clearing out begin.

Yesterday I had to wait in for a parcel so I thought it was a good idea to clean the kitchen / dining room and sweep away the cobwebs (literally!).

I used the long handled duster to reach around the the top of the walls and wiped down all the tops and fronts of the cupboards. The china cupboard gleams again after thoroughly cleaning the glass with white vinegar, the worksurfaces are clear of those bits and bobs that accumulate and even the chair legs, the lampshade and the radiator have had a wipe over.

After cleaning the floor – I am still an old fashioned down on my knees girl to wash the floor – I decided not to make a start on the insides of the cupboards as these may need a declutter and I was all out of decision making by lunchtime, but the kitchen and dining room felt fresh and clean.

I have been trying to keep my ‘3 item’ task list going and it is helping me to get some of those small, stubborn jobs completed. Often they are just little jobs that hardly take any time at all and when they are done I wonder why it has taken me so long to do them. This week I had an old clip frame to drop off at the village charity shop, two pictures to put back on the dining room wall and my pension contribution request form to complete and post to the People’s Pension. I did all three in one day.

Now all three have been given a generous tick in my planner I can choose my next three. I am not always able to set and complete them daily or even weekly as it very much depends on what the task is, but so far I have managed to keep them rolling along.

My next 3 items are:-

  • List my old pattern grading books for sale on Ebay
  • Shred the remaining old receipts
  • Finish labelling the photo box tab dividers

Originally, last month was going to be about improving our diet and fitness levels, but I decided I really needed to continue with the paperwork and budget.

February was a short month and was interupted with our holiday and then the week we were back at home was exceptionally busy. I had to travel up to mum’s for her social services assessment, have my MRI scan in Leeds, visit our new dentist to discuss the dental treatment I require and then our car broke down big time only 3 miles from home when we had two of the grandchildren in the back for a day out (the day out became a disappointing wait for the recovery vehicle to take us back home).

So not a lot of the financial overhaul got done and I find myself at the beginning of another month and there are still a number of financial things I need to address –

  • a new passport each
  • updating our wills
  • making an LPA each
  • using any remaining ISA allowance before the end of this tax year
  • making another pension contribution
  • setting the spending budget

Quite a list.

I have made a start on the pension contribution.

You might be wondering why I am making pension contributions when I am retired….I will explain. (For those of you reading from across the pond and in far away countries this will perhaps not mean very much to you).

When I retired from my job in 2018 the workplace pension scheme had only just been implemented at the company I worked for. The workplace pension is like a private pension where the employee and employer both pay a percentage of your monthly earnings into the scheme. As it had only been running for just over a year it had only accumulated the grand total of £390 on leaving work! So small I almost forgot about it. It would never have given me a pension and being such a small amount I decided to just leave it in the fund as I was able to manage adequately on the state pension.

After a year I noticed it had grown to £490 and then I found out that you are able to continue paying a maximum of £2880 a year into these funds until age 75. Of course, my employer had ceased to pay into it when I left, however, the money I have contributed myself since then is growing steadily and has become quite a nice little nest egg which I could draw on should I need it in future.

The advantage of making these contributions is that the government also contribute. If you pay in £2880, they give you £720, which makes it up to £3,600. Where else these days could you get £720 interest on £2880 worth of savings. It is one of the best decisions I have ever made and I always make sure we save as much as we can to do this each year. Knowing how much my mum’s care costs are it seems prudent to try and save towards our own future care costs, should we need them.

The down side is that you cannot just deposit this money into the fund without completing the form on the People’s Pension website and waiting for them to give the go ahead. Still for a free £720 a year it is well worth the hassle and a better return than the present interest on an ISA savings account.

Isn’t the first rule of budgeting to put money aside for savings first, then spend the rest?

Once the savings have been siphoned off, planning how to spend the monthly income wisely needs a lot of consideration. Some of the household bills we pay now are increasing year on year such as council tax, water charges, utilities, broadband and insurances – all things we need to pay and have little control over. You cannot shop around for the best council tax or water deal!

Reducing the bills can be a bit of a full time occupation these days and DH is in charge of researching the best insurance, utilities and broadband.

He does a great job. We don’t necessarily always go with the cheapest, often it is the best value and he always looks at their customer service record for problem sorting. He will ring up and haggle too if need be. Sometimes it works and we don’t have to keep swapping and changing companies just in order to pay less.

Where we can we aim to cut down on water use and heating, though this long cold winter, and the very dry summer last year has already made that difficult. We placed metallic sheets behind the radiators, used draught stoppers on the doors and have 2 water butts in the garden (but they soon ran out before we had any serious rain). Still there is always room for improvement.

After we have put some money into savings and paid the bills the residual income has to stretch to cover our food, clothes, gifts, medical and health, hobbies, leisure, travel, xmas and holidays.

Often it is a stretch, but cutting back on waste, overspending and impulse buying can save more money than just taking advantage of offers or coupons, especially if those offers are for something you hadn’t thought of buying in the first place! The internet is a very tempting place full of sales and discounts that land in your inbox and it is so easy to add on a few extra items to get free postage.

As my word for the year is restore and reset I am taking the time to overhaul our spending habits, identifying the waste and overspending and looking at what works well for us.

I have a pantry full of food, a craft room full of craft supplies, a greenhouse full of empty pots and packets of seeds and a wardrobe full of clothes all waiting to be used. I do need to take stock, reduce the waste and make better use of what we already have – so using up and turning what I already have into something usable is high on the list. Selling some unwanted items might be on the cards too.

I will no doubt be sharing more on my progress in future posts.

Thank you for reading, back soon x

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meandering ~ Old All Saints Church, Skelton-in-Cleveland

By the time we left Guisborough on the Thursday afternoon the light was going but I so wanted to stop on the way back to Saltburn and see this Grade 2 listed church. I had a glimpse of it earlier as we passed through Skelton, hidden from the road by trees like a burried treasure.

We drove down the little lane and parked outside the neighbouring cottages. All seemed quite sleepy and so still and peaceful – a little corner of heaven.

Once again I could not believe that these notices on graveyard gates are necessary…who in their right mind would let their dog foul in a graveyard.

There is only a grassy path leading to this Georgian church, the old graves stand like a guard of honour to the right hand side and little mounds of snowdrops have naturalised here and there.

I knew we were in for a treat when we saw this window beside the entrance. It is like something time forgot.

The whole place had vases of mainly dried flowers dotted around on dust laden window sills with a sprinkling of pine cones or seedheads, but a hint that someone is caring for this redundant church. I hope my photos do it justice, the light levels were so low making the pictures grainy but I have not adjusted them as it adds to the atmosphere that we experienced…quietly we crept around feeling like an intrusion.

Like many of these old churches, there has been rebuilding and additions over the years and the version you see here took place in 1785, replacing an earlier medieval building. The first thing that strikes you is the flat plastered ceiling running the whole length of the church and the beautiful rose coloured plaster of the walls. Quite often in churches you would find a vaulted ceiling and this flat ceiling feels quite out of place and very low, cutting through the windows up in the gallery.

I didn’t spot any lighting or heating pipes so I am presuming there is neither. The old wooden pews are the box type with rows of little carved wooden doors.

The rather grand pulpit is set to the side of the aisle, adorned with a frill of lace and opposite is a raised room off to one side which would have seated the well to do family of Skelton Castle and housed a welcoming warm fire in the fireplace. What a difference wealth meant in those days.

There is a large expanse before the alter and this side door is left open presumably to allow a little more light to flood into the place, revealing all the plaques of bible texts and tributes that adorn the walls.

The gallery is reached by a simple but narrow wooden staircase at the back of the church.

On the widow sill at the top of the staircase we found this rather gorgeous ‘crown’ of coloured glass – a Round Community Lantern. I am sure it is a most beautiful sight once lit.

Round the back of the church you can see Skelton Castle through the railings.

The grounds surrounding the church are shrouded with mature trees and the old graves stones seem to march on into the woodlands – just beyond this point is a sharp drop down to the beck…I was almost expecting to see a mass of tangled graves lying in the valley below as if they had marched right over the face of the banking.

I hope the occupants of nos 1 & 2 Church Lane do not mind I sneaked in this little photo of their charming abodes. The light had just been switched on and it looked so warm and welcoming inside the cottage as cottages do. I wonder if they are the Friends referred to in the notice and the ones that keep this old church from being forgotten forever.

I expect though there are no weddings, christenings or even funerals taking place here now, but a candlelit carol service at Christmas would be so magical.

Once we were back on the road it was a short drive into Saltburn and as dusk was settling in the place began to light up and an opportune time for taking more photographs.

The Pier was empty now – though we noticed from our apartment window that many brave souls have been walking up and down all week no matter what the weather. It had become bitterly cold and the tide was coming in quickly with waves crashing about underneath the structure.

We eventually headed back to the warmth of the apartment and a very welcome hot drink.

I covered our trip to Kirkleatham Museum in my last post. Saturday was our last day in Saltburn. We packed the car and left just after 10am and met the owners who were about to go in to clean. It was dry, calm, sunny and the although there was snow on the surrounding hills and passing cars it was by far the warmest day since we visited my mum the Sunday before. We did not want to waste this change in the weather just travelling home so we decided to stop en route at Nunnington Hall.

We happened to have a free National Trust voucher as well as a flask of soup and sandwiches. Nunnington Hall is yet another fascinating place…but that is certainly another post.

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed the photos. Our week in Saltburn was a much needed break and despite the weather we saw some fascinating things and learnt a lot about life in the the local area. I have no doubt we will be booking this apartment and visiting Saltburn again.

Back soon x

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meandering ~ Staithes to Runswick Bay

Oh my goodness, we have been back from our holiday now for over a week, and what a dreadful week last week was, not a brilliant home coming.

I had this post about our little trip out to Staithes and Runswick Bay almost complete but never had the chance to proof read and make it live. So before I report on the horrors of last week I will take you back to the holiday week.

The weather over the week got far worse rather than better, so we had to choose our trips out carefully. Sketching was impossible, even from the car, as there was no let up in the rain. On the Wednesday we stayed in the apartment, DH did a lovely little sketch from a photograph whilst I did some writing for the blog post.

Below for anyone interested are a few photos and commentary of our day out on the Tuesday to Staithes and Runswick Bay.

We woke up to more drizzle on the Tuesday morning, but there was little wind which makes a big difference by the sea, so we wrapped up made a flask of soup and a few sandwiches and set off to explore Staithes.

For those who have never been it is the birthplace of Captain Cook and the old village, centred around the harbour, is down a long steep hill.

Only residents parking is allowed down at the harbour but parking at the top is more than adequate in the winter and free until the season begins in March.

The hill down to the harbour is not for whimps, neither going down or coming back up, but a sturdy handrail is provided to keep you upright. Once down into the village the footing is easier although there are cobbles to negotiate on the roadway. There is a mass of higgledy-piggledy housing clinging for dear life to the hillside, plenty of steps and nooks and crannies…and here and there you come across a narrow ginnel feeding its way through between the houses like a maze.

We questioned whether the houses in front would have been built after the houses behind or vice-versa. Did someone come along and build in front and block your view or did they squeeze in behind? Some of the cottages are almost completely hidden, tucked well behind with no view at all.

There are a modest amount of shops, some we found open, even though it is out of season and hardly any tourists about. We dodged into the sweet shop cum deli for a hot chocolate (best I had tasted so during the week – rich, dark and not too sweet), of course it might also have been the fact that just holding the warm mug helped to get the blood flowing to my fingertips once again.

The whole village is full of cute cottages and like Runswick Bay you can imagine going in a door at the bottom and coming out three houses above you.

After a good wander around we started back up the steep unforgiving hill.

We decided to move the car round to Runswick Bay and sat in the little car park overlooking the sea to have our lunch. There was still drizzle here and quite a breeze, but that didn’t stop the washing going out on the line!

Runswick Bay is one of the prettiest fishing villages, with a series of white washed cottages with red pantile roofs all higgledy piggledy and climbing up into the hillside. It was once renowned as an artists colony and has an obvious wealth about it – quite a noticeable contrast to that of nearby Skinningrove.

It has known disaster in the past when in 1682 the original village was destroyed by a landslide and it is said that no villager died because they were all attending the wake of a man in the only surviving cottage! The village was rebuilt but it has always been in danger of further landslides so in 2018 there was £2.28 million pound award-winning coastal erosion protection scheme put in place to protect the village in future.

Both the beauty and the drawback of the place is that no cars are able to get close to the houses. There is a residents car park provided and I expect for visitors and full time residents alike all shopping and baggage has to be unloaded and walked to the house. Goodness knows how they manage with furniture and appliance deliveries and even worse should any building maintenance be required.

The tight knit walkways are fun to explore as you never know where you might pop out from along the maze of footpaths.

On the Thursday we visited Kirkleatham museum which is well worth a visit to see the story of the steel works that evolved in the area after the discovery of iron ore in the nearby Cleveland Hills in 1850.

It is a fascinating exhibiton – I was amazed to learn that Middlesborough, now a sprawling industrialised town, was once a tiny hamlet with a farming community of only 25 people. It was enlightening to discover how steel is made from the iron ore in the large blast furnances. Those steel framed structures of the plants that you see, comprising of sheds and towers and long runs of pipes resemble a long forgotten theme park. On the outskirts of Middlesborough these old steelworks at the Lackenby works stretch for miles like an industrial wasteland. I am presuming these buildings are still operational but it is hard to tell as there is such a feeling of desolation to the area.

In 1967 the British Steel Corporation was formed as a national company and re-privatised in 1988. Eventually, through its chequered history and demise it has ended up being owned I believe by the Chinese. I thought this sign was quite poignant.

My grandad, and many of my relatives worked in similar steelworks in Sheffield – it was a protected job during the war and he worked long hours and was always in danger of a bombing raid. My dad was a metalurgist and he often went to the power stations as part of his job though I have no idea what he actually did there, I only know he has notebooks full of mathematical equations. He always said inside those large concrete cooling towers they were the size of a football pitch.

There was also an exhibition of textiles in their temporary exhibition space at the museum with some rather lovely textiles on display. I did weaving many moons ago in the attic at the Ramsden Art School as part of my foundation course, and a couple of years later aquired my own table top loom that was going to be put in a skip. The problem with these large looms is that they take a lot of yarn and you require a skein winder. When we downsized from a four storey mill workers house to the house we are in now there was no room for the loom and it had to be sold.

Seeing these lovely exhibits has made me want to have a go again with just a tiny frame.

On the Friday afternoon we spent a couple of hours pottering around Guisborough – a bit of window shopping and a few minor purchases. On the way back, just as the light was going, we stopped to look around Skelton Old All Saints Church….but that is another post another day.

We are now catching up with ourselves after both our holiday and the eventful week we had last week, and given that this is a long enough post for anyone to read I will tell the tale another time.

Although I was trying to make our shopping stretch over two weeks I could not ignore all the items on offer at Sainsbury’s today, so I ended up spending far more that I had intended but I have a well stocked pantry to show for it. I can’t help noticing that some prices have leapt up again and even when on offer the offer now is dearer than it was the time before.

I have my audiolgy appointment tomorrow – I always dread it. The NHS hearing aids I was given are so hard to get used to they make the world seem a very loud place so I am tending not to wear them unless I have to. The audiologist is not impressed by my lack of progress – I know I should persevere but I have to be in the right frame of mind and this period of my life is rather stressful at the moment dealing with my mum seems to make my hearing worse.

You never know I might even manage a comment or two on the blogs I read. I do keep dibbing in and out as time allows but it was half term last week and blogging plus mum plus grandchildren do not sit well together…something has to give!

I will be back soon, thank you for reading. x

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