Our New Life in Devon

                  Not Yet lol Finally started the Christmas shopping last week but having problems finding tins of biscuits! We always give tubs of chocolates and fancy Christmas picture tins of biscuits to the adult children but this year they are all in cardboard boxes. It's the same biscuits but once you open the box they need an airtight tin or container to stay fresh, which is why we've always bought tins. I've tried 3 supermarkets but no joy yet. Granddaughter sent me a picture of a necklace she would like for Xmas as I asked what she wanted. Cue, two and a half hours searching for one with a short chain as she's quite small for a 10 Yr old. Eventually found one almost the same with an adult choker chain 14" She saw it on YouTube so couldn't find the original shop lol. There were cheaper versions on Amazon but they had bad feedback for breaking in a week. Sold quite a few things this week on eBay which will help son and daughter. I alwa...

 Several parts of the country had snow yesterday but no such luck yet in South Devon. Have never had snow since we lived here, apart from a few flakes which disappeared almost as soon as it pitched a couple of years ago. South Gloucestershire had some, where we moved from, and granddaughter had fun playing snowballs in the park with her friends. I really love walking in freshly pitched ❄️ snow - there's something magical about it. OH lit the log fire the other day. First time this year and it was only lit 6 times last year. This house holds the heat as it has cavity wall insulation. First house we've had that has this, and it's really noticeably warmer. Anyway, he lit the fire and the room slowly started filling with smoke! Despite him assuring me it would soon clear it became worse. Much worse! I'm coughing worse. Both our smoke alarms went off in tandem, so we opened all the doors and windows and I sat shivering in the garden until it stopped lol. We let the fire go o...

 Decided to take the dog to the vet as she keeps limping on and off. Started 2 months ago just once a week, then ok. It's been gradually increasing but most of the time she's walking and running completely normally. She didn't limp at all at the vets and showed no sign of any discomfort at all - typical!! So they prescribed an anti inflammatory and pain medication liquid and will review in 2 weeks. Aren't vets expensive now - £60 to see the vet and £37 for a small bottle of meds! And if it gets worse it's a scan starting at £2k upwards. She is insured tg. On a plus side she's only limped once since - perhaps it was the manipulation examination of her legs that helped. Went to Morrisons as I'd seen online they had a special offer on the round plastic tubs of chocolates for £2. They were marked £6 when we got there. The catch is you have to spend £45 to get 1 tub at the special price of £2. Didn't say that online. So as we had already started scanning our ...

 We drove into town yesterday and started my - I mean our lol -  Xmas shopping. Bought all the special named cards for daughter, sons, OH, grandchildren, sisters, neighbours,     brother- in-law, and friends. Also 3 selection boxes for grandchildren, although the eldest is now 16 so maybe not for them next year. The cheaper Cadbury ones I normally buy seemed an awful lot smaller this year so I went for the larger size. OH calls it shrink-flation lol. Also picked up 2 boxes of sugared orange and lemon slices for £1 each in the £1 shop. Haven't seen them for years. Christmas won't be as easy this year as we won't be getting the WFA, which always was a big help with the bills, but we will manage OK. The 2 eldest grandchildren get cash which was their choice. Infact, the eldest said one year and I quote "Granny can I just have money this year and not all the crap' lololol. His mother the DIL was horrified but tbh I  was delighted at not having to traipse around...

 Went to daughter's house for Halloween which is what we do every year. It was really nice as granddaughter had a friend come to go trick or treat with her. Daughter went too just around the local streets. I'm sure granddaughter loves Halloween more than Xmas lol. Our son came for the evening, and we all went for a meal the next day before coming home. Only home for 2 nights and son came to visit as he had 2 days off. I think he'd like to live here really but there's very few jobs in his profession here, and almost no flat rentals available. Well 2 days after son went home I started getting text messages from the dentist cancelling my late November appointment and re-booking it for Saturday at 1pm. Then an hour later another text bringing it forward to 11.00. So back to daughter's home for last weekend again!! Had a quick check up, no treatment needed tg and next appointment is May 2025. Really wish I could find a NHS dentist here as 100miles is a long way, especial...

 Had everything arranged to attend a dental appointment near where we used to live and then they cancelled it! We normally stay with our daughter for a few nights and visit family at the same time as its 100 miles from where we live. I've kept the same dentist as its NHS and there's no NHS dentists here in Devon atm - or anywhere else for that matter.  They then sent me a text re-booking it but I can't stay with daughter the night before as 4 of her friends are staying over that night. It was for 9.30am so pretty much impossible with the M5 in rush hour, and they wouldn't see you if you're late. So now it will be the end of November. Ebay is very slow now for selling anything and prices are all quite low. I don't think there's much money about due to all the bills and shopping going up in price all the time. Only sold one puzzle for £2.50 in 2 weeks! Maybe I will try a car boot sale in the spring, which is what I was going to do when we moved here. Definitel...

 Back in April I bought a steam mop to sanitise the floors as the dogs caught Dysentry from drinking muddy water. Didn't use it very often as I did find it quite heavy to push. OH used it twice to clean the oven and hob. It was very good and got everything clean BUT.  Last week OH was cleaning the hob with it and the electric fused. We weren't sure if he had got too much steam in the oven and the oven had blown the fuse or it was the mop . Today I plugged in the mop to see if it worked and everything seemed OK. Then when I'd just finished the living room floor I smelt a faint burning smell. Touched the mop to put it away, empty the water tank etc and it was red hot. Not just the bottom where the pad is but the whole plastic casing and handle you use to convert to a small hand-held steamer. OH had a look and said that part was cool when he'd used it. It's dangerous as it could catch fire.  I've written to the supplier tonight to ask to return it for a refund. I w...