Ha ha!

We are making progress! The new external hard drive appeared 'as if by magic' today (well actually via my daft postman who still wont come into the garden if he knows the dogs out - lol.

So I have plugged it in, checked it all works hunky dory and now don't think I want to put anything on that one either in case I drop the bugger... hmmm quandary that one.

So other than that, I have been a productive bunny once again. Trawled the jobs websites, applying for yet another 6 jobs of which I will probably not even get a sodding courteous email to say "sorry, no thanks". Also trundled through the first part of an on-line application which is 'testing' my capabilities. Not that I mind these things but even if I am not suitable, will I get any feedback after the event as to maybe why I don't get the job? I bloody doubt it.

Other odd events of the day - 'his nibs' has turned up this evening requesting to 'borrow' my bath, all very well as long as he returns it :) No, just seems odd I normally only see him on Wednesday & Sunday nights so am wondering as to why he's hiding here all of a sudden.
I'm sure at some point he will tell me - but I doubt that as well.

Oh such an optimist this evening!
Probably due to preparing for yet another JSA sodding meeting tomorrow morning... brace yourselves tracksuit gang, incoming!

Fuck it, I'm going to bed.

It died a good death

After about a week of desperatly trying to recover stuff from the somewhat buggered external hard drive last night it finally gave up the ghost.

Fortunately I had managed to copy all that was really important from it (namely Dad photos and such like) but finally had to give up and format it with the remaining crap on it. This in itself has surprised me as the once 160gb drive seems to have now decided to only be a 90GB one, not that I am likely to trust it after its wee trauma.

The new one as ordered on eBay still hasn't arrived as yet but this will give me time to do what I do best - anally organise everything into categories and such guff (there must be someone out there who could use an anal computer filing type person?!?!)

I am actually quite impressed at just how long the little thing hung in there before it completely went tits. Could have lost a lot more than what I did. In fact gave me a good reason to ditch a load of tat too which in all fairness I should have deleted long ago anyway.

On the plans for the day, A couple have just been to buy my old 3 piece suite... I have managed to 'cram' all of my spare duvets and pillows "into" the new sofa beds which has cured the storage problem from when I had them stuffed behind one of the chairs lol and also puffed up the sofas to a squidgy consistency lol

So now I will stop, have a cup of tea and contemplate hoovering the living room now that I can get into it again!

It's all go, I'm already knackered and its only 10AM!

That'll teach me for being cheerful.

Evidently I have found out that one of the other residents in my quiet, 'arse end of nowhere' cul de sac is for want of a better word - a complete cunt.

The reason for this blatant name calling? This morning I received a letter from the local council, with reference to the fence I put up t'out front' ohhh, 8 months ago? Actually to call this a fence is a blatant lie. It's actually 6' trellis of which 3 panels of the thing are on the very front of my boundary. So to say that this was a light blocking eyesore would just be taking the piss. It was just to replace the original hedge (which I would like to point out was actually 8' high) that I just got fed up with having to trim being the lazy sod that I am. And the reason I picked trellis was to be able to grow such things as honeysuckle to look pretty, smell nice during summer and still let some light through. Awwww.

So the letter, which of course is very polite and states "It has been brought to our attention" In other words some nice neighbour has pretty much grassed me up - that the trellis/fence is over the permitted 1m height and anything over this would require planning permission. I have two options. I could telephone them and request to put in an application for said fence, or I could just cut the bugger down to 1m high. To save the the whole bollocks of trying to get the council to do anything in a hurry, I have chosen the latter and just trotted off with my trusty circular saw and lopped the top off.

It's actually really handy as I had intended on doing something similar round the back to piss off next door and now I have some extra trellis to get me started! Yay!

So I have two possible culprits of said 'cunt' ;

First contender is the person who lives at No 1 and my reason for being suspicious of them is in the last week they have also ripped their hedge out and replaced it with a fence 'ironically' just around 1m high... hmmm did they intend on a nice high one then get scuppered when asking the council the rules? A very high possibility me thinks.

Or there is contender no 2, who in all fairness I ALWAYS slap on my 'guilty' list because he just is a cunt anyway - and a two faced one at that.
This is my immediate next door neighbour. Annoying thing about this bloke is his wife is really nice, so why she puts up with this whinging tosser for I'll never know. And the reason I'm thinking it could possibly be be him is that bloke will moan about anything as long as he has a hole in his arse.
I really do actually secretly hope it was him because "as by instructions in the letter" I have only reduced the FRONT bit down to 1m and the bit which could possibly have annoyed 'him next door, is still quite happily at 6' high and does not come under the rules and regulations... heh heh. Slap that up your arse sideways.

Either way it placed quite a dent in my day of "STILL transferring stuff from the ronnied hard drive" with all these shenanigans and also riled me up quite a bit. I will however have a giggle as next week I am going to our first neighbourhood residents meeting and i for one will not even mention the fence, and if anyone does ask I will just say that it was blocking the sun out of my front windows so needed to be trimmed.... see what the thick shits make of that stupid answer.

So now, back to the relentless transfer of which I am maybe 1/2 way through now? Well if i learn one thing this week its don't drop your bloody hard drive on the floor but am ever grateful its hasn't completely bollocksed up and lost everything.

Ohhhh new things.... well newish

This whole Freecycle/cheapcycle is getting even more addictive.

Today I am replacing my 3 piece suite (3 seater sofa and 2 chairs) with two 3 seater sofa beds (well 3 seater if you have an arse the size of a small gnat)

Not that I have paid for a sofa in my life, always managed to either have someone feel sorry for me and donate one or if I remember correctly Mum & Dad bought the first one for me when I moved in here (oh dear god it was an ugly moose of a thing but very functional.)

Not to break the tradition I am once again getting a second hand one BUT FREE! and the only bad point was if I didn't managed to wangle a friend (on this occasion my old boss) with a big van it would have been two trips on the roof rack of the poor little old scenic. Car was saved, HP came through with a 7.5 tonne truck - with a tail lift... bargain.

The reason for the change was rather random but made aware to me when Widge came to visit a few months back. If on the rare occasions I have visitors, nine times out of ten due to being out in the arse end of nowhere they stay over because of either distance or drinking. That's all very well and good but because I I feel guilty trying to make them sleep on my futon sofa bed in the spare room as, to be honest it's the dogs bed for when I am on the computer.
That and the fact because its a futon bloody rock hard!

So with this in mind and the fact that Widgey has dodgy joints I let her have my nice comfy bed for her stay and I slept on the main sofa, no, even I would bother with that futon!

So on seeing the advert for two metal action sofa beds decided to pop round yesterday to have a look. They really are perfect for the size of my living room, also the fact they have removable covers so I can make myself a new set in whatever fabric I desire - superb!

So today, I am meeting said HP with truck to go and collect them! hoorah!
Doubt I will be quite as excited as I was with my new fridge freezer but then they are not here yet... give me time :)

Trauma, tears and a right ole' panic of two days.

As daft as it sounds I have had an emotional rollercoaster of a couple of days all due to me being a complete idiot.

I managed to knock my external hard drive off the shelf and as things do after being bounced on the bloody floor it went into meltdown mode. Not long after I joined it.

I spent hours trying to get the main PC to recognise it (nope) then tried my hardest to get the laptop to help me in my rather upsetting quest.

The reason for my utter panic was this WAS my backup of pretty much everything and like a tit hadn't gotten round to putting a lot of it onto CD yet.

Whilst my little old laptop was chugging whirring and farting doing a chk disk on it, I kept thinking to myself what was actually on the bloody thing and getting very tearful. Not only all the pictures of Dad, family and nutty dog but ridiculous stuff like my current CV of which I really couldn't be arsed to re-do again...

After about 6 hours the laptop finally came up with the goods and once again computers were seeing the bloody thing but because its still not really very happy its taking an age to transfer stuff over onto the main computer again (which I am still doing today file by file)

Then, just in case that wasn't enough, because the hard drive does keep locking on occasion I do have to keep re-booting said main desktop PC and this morning when I did - typed in the windows password and it wouldn't accept it! As hard as I tried it was not having a bar of it. Figured it could possibly be the keyboard not playing the game so jumped into the loft to get a spare to try. 6 bloody keyboards up there and is one of the a USB connected one? Nope.
Did I have one of those little converter things? Nope.I was getting really miffed by now.

I decided to try to "break into" the main computer by bypassing the password option. Finally found a way to get round it by booting up the laptop and getting info from a very kind 'geek' on the web... hoorah, at least I was back in and had removed the password completly.

Just to test it was the bloody keyboard - opened a word document and tried typing the alphabet. Not only was the caps lock reversing everything but it wasn't letting me type any numbers at all not even when trying that back to front as well... OK proof the keyboard has had one too many bits of tobacco dropped into it.

Toddled off into the local staples store (its the closest and I really didn't fancy going right into the city) bought a new keyboard (bargain (£6.99) and also spotted a couple of other bits and bobs that would be handy.

Home again and I now have a working keyboard (well one that doesnt actually type how I think) and again I am file by file transferring stuff off the hard drive onto the main PC.

I would say that I have had a good day but I would be a fucking liar if I said that.

The week that was... bloody hard work!

I would say that after returning home Friday I managed to sit back, rest a little bit and regain any sort of body strength after the week working at big sisters. No such bloody luck.

We returned late Friday night, managed to wind some cod and chips into us, well needed they were, then even on arriving home I unpacked and got the first load in the washing machine ready to hang it out in the morning. Blimey.

So then the morning came and I wasn't very impressed as my first night back in my nice big comfy bed was ruined buy some really horrible nightmares, two of which woke me up... grrrr

Even so, I hung out the washing, slapped in the second load and made a concious effort to make sure I put everything away quick smart so as not to be tripping over crap all day. Then toddled off into the garden to see what a week away would have killed in the veggie patch and green house. Hmmm not too bad. The greenhouse was due cutting down and back so did all that, then tended to some baby beetroot & carrots by re-planting slightly more spread out in the gaps to allow it to get bigger than "baby sized".

Then, feeling productive decided that I really should cut the grass seeing as it was at that length that makes the poor old petrol mower splutter like a bastard - phew! Just where is all this energy coming from? Then... just to top it off started filling up the boiler house near the front door with firewood from the bottom shed ready for winter woodburner. Had a quick chat with next door neighbours whilst pottering about then in for the evening for a rest. Did manage to get to sleep earlier due to being tired but knew I was getting up early this morning for the "Mumsie would like to - today" stint.

Crafty sod my Mum sometimes bless her (I can see where I get it from now lol) Today was supposed to be a trip to Aldi as they were selling some CCTV cameras (yep, I will be putting those up at some point too) But seeing as I could also do with some stuff figured it would be handy. But on returning back to hers was cunningly roped into moving the freezer into the shed, pulling down the old cupboards cleaning gaps then fitting new units (of which two we needed to go to Wickes to get?!?!?! hmmmm sneaky old bugger.

It was all sorted though, as for payment I was fed which isn't ever a bad thing :)

Now home again I have realised I have a wonderful appointment with the job centre again tomorrow...urgh now that I will need some serious energy to stop me turning brain dead within 5 minutes of walking in the door.

And just to make it that much worse... 'His nibs' is still away at training for another week...
Mutter mutter

I am sooo knackered

Well we have just had day three of "death to the garden" down in Banbury. Big sister not only now has trellis around the garden on the wall, hardly any bloody plants left and to be honest a huge garden from what it started out as. On the plus side however it does seem to have cured my insomnia spell I was a tadge troubled with. So bloody knackered of an evening since being here I have pretty much been fast asleep but 10pm every night. Cant be bad!

Good news for tomorrow, we will be spending the day actually pottering about out and about in Banbury. Seems there are many photogenic places to me to wander about with ones wee digital camera to get a bit of 'training' in for. Daft really. I brought all my diploma paperwork with me to plod through in the quiet moments. However all the quiet moments spent here so far have just been spent sleeping in! Talking of sleeping, I'm just about to once again do a quick job check then toddle off to bed again due to hardly being able to keep my eyes open!

All go still here at Horsley hall.

Productive day at Horsley manor....

It's always a given that when Mum & I visit anywhere my sisters living we end up absolutely hacking the garden to bits. Today was no exception. Not only is the garden now seeming like its 4 metres wider than it was but the pond has been cleaned out, pump sorted and fountain all working good and proper and the best bit, I have cunning managed to 'use' all the bloody blocks my mother wanted to take with her back home in the pond so it wont be until we are about to load the car when she notices they have vanished... Well I'm just thinking about my fuel economy in the car on the way home. Can you imagine how much it would weigh down my poor little scenic to the chunk of a bloody tank? Sod that for a packet of peanuts.

So now we've finished for the day, have 15 sodding bags of garden green tat to take down the tip. I'm pretty sure there are some other little odd jobs waiting in the wings for me to do before we eventually go back home later on in the week. I did within 5 min's of my trip back from widge's yesterday repair the gate so you could actually shut the sodding thing and level up the fridge as that would have just driven me mental if not.

Talking of my trip. It was a right giggle. Not only did I have the absolute raging shout at everyone on the M25 due to no one wanting to use the fucking inside lane. Made me wonder how they are working this idea of using the hard shoulder on some roads seeing currently people are that bloody thick they wont even use the inside lane they have already.

But that aside, I had a riot there. Laughed so much my cheeks were aching by the time I dragged my drunk arse to bed. Got to meet Lurch, a prime lad of which made me smile because the pair of them are so well suited. Also got to see this new improved jazzed up black fish tank with (must be said) the smallest fish I have ever seen in my life! But very funky all the same. Then of course there was Tig - who is pretty much the absolute spit of my old cat Drac (less the fact Drac was a long haired tabby) Also seeming to share his whole 'do or die' attitude to anyone's hand getting anywhere near him.

Only one problem with such a busy weekend, I'm now absolutely bloody shattered. My backs bleeding killing me due to driving and now being head down in the worlds deepest pond today. Worst part though - I'M BLOODY STARVING and the tea has only just been started.... I think I might waste away before it gets here :(

So before I vanish down a drain, Thank you to Widge and Lurch for putting up with me :) Hope I wasn't too much of a pain in the arse for you....

Being 'aloof'

Well so far my 'travels' have gone well. Mumsie Banks and I scooted down to big sisters in Oxfordshire yesterday, granted had a weeny bit of a detour, as we passed 'his nibs' in truck going the other way so rang him warning of the big arsed queue he was about to get stuck in heading home. In return he warned me about a 12 mile stationary tailback on the A14 so we toddled off via Luton instead... handy that.

Nice to be down here again, mad Labrador has settled in much better this time and did; bless her cottons sleep like a baby without me having to sleep on the floor with her. Wine was consumed - Head is now somewhat sore ready for me to get ones arse ready for the 'part two' of my journey down to widge's for a social call dan' sarth.

So this is a bit of a hungover - tired arsed effort today I suppose. But will no doubt be a tadge perkier later when I get to finally meet cat, fish and lurch.... cant wait! You can just see what's going to happen. More alcohol no doubt and a cunning plan afoot with regards to our game plan for MPH 08 in November....Pretty sure no one will be safe :)

Updates on more later.....as and when I can get near a computer again!

Ha ha! It's working!

Evidently my somewhat better mood has finally started to take effect. Ok so it didn't actually kick in until this afternoon but it did in the end kick in none the less.

Bearing in mind I bought a complete house alarm set up, errrrrr about two years ago, you would have thought that by now the thing would have at least made it out of the box. No such luck. That is until today! Yay! I finally decided that the bugger is going up then promptly realised all my tools and drill were round Mumsie Banks' still after rewiring her shed the other day... pah!
So bundled the labrador into the car and we toddled into Norwich again to go get them. Little bit too much like effort here if you ask me!

So home again at approx 17:30 and off we go, setting all the little bits up connecting it to the main control unit and thinking I'll just get it working inside for starters then fix everything up properly tomorrow morning. Hmmmm after setting up said control panel it then stated to me that the "tamper switch" on the siren box would need turning off every hour if it wasnt actually 'fitted' where it was going... Bugger me, so off up a ladder she toddles, drill in hand and said siren was dutifully fitted and checked to be working. Excellent.
Then I thought I could get away with putting up the PIR detectors inside seeing as it was still quite early and the next door neighbours were out and the drilling shouldnt piss them off (like I really care) done.... hmmm thinking might as well slap the door sensors on now as well... done as well. So thinking that would be it for the night, then decided to actually screw the fronts onto the PIR sensors just to make sure they were up, fitted and out of the way so I couldnt lose the buggers overnight. With the slightest whiff of that going in and before i could fart let alone get the screw into the bottom of it the bloody things going off, loud as you like... shit!
Quickly went to panel and reset it. So then at least I knew what was coming for the second one, and once again slapped it up and ran like a loon back to the panel to shut the bugger up once again... all up and running again now though.

On the plus side I know it works which is good, granted I will leave it until tomorrow to properly test it setting timers and such like; but one thing that did miff me off ever so slightly was, did even one of my neighbours on hearing an alarm go off, rush out to make sure I wasnt being burgled? Did they buggery. Useless gits.

Right, if I see anyone trying to break into theirs in future I will advise said thief to where they keep all their valubles etc...

heh

I never would have thought it,

But today, with something as simple as seeing my Dad's memorial bench, there in the local park and just how pleased my Mum was with it seems to have lifted me out of the whole chunk of shite I have been feeling for some time.

It's funny really, many noticeable things have happened since he died, like my Mum's new found courage, in well, everything. The ability for me to actually be able to love and respect my sister for who she is and also the fact that even though I loved the old cantankerous old sod to bits and think about him every day, it isn't going to bring him back and I now need to stop moping about like a twat and really get on with it.

Daft as it sounds, the bench has really helped. Not only is it a place where I can now just go, watch the world go by and reflect should I need to but also the fact that it was bought, installed by and will be there thanks to the other cantankerous old sods who we both worked with and came through with the nicest gesture I could ever imagine. The best part is they managed to get it in before what would have been Mum & Dads 40th wedding anniversary (10th Sept) For that I want to thank them with all my heart.

So to all those who made it happen: Martyn, Mike, Smurf, Darren to mention just a few I will be forever grateful. I for one really appreciate your efforts. In particular Martyn for helping me through it all too.

Thank you to everyone who has helped me recently, be it close by or from a far - it doesn't matter, just knowing you are there has done me the world of good.

Hmmmmmmm

I'm feeling positively quite 'chipper' this morning... not really sure why but hey ho, gonna role with it!

So plan for the day - well what's left of it? Finishing the the washing/drying is certainly a must due to getting low on pants which is always a bad idea. Will finish off my first assignment on my course then await the hungover 'his nibs' for dinner.

Very proud of him at the moment, he's passing all of his scout training courses getting 100% (right little smart arse this one) Only problem with that though means he will sod off to some remote arse end of nowhere next year being shot at by nutters, which doesn't really install confidence in me. Yes he might be bloody good at the job but it would be just my luck the loon gets used as a decoy and doesn't come home again. Not going to think too much about that one though, or trying not to.

Other than that I decided I will try to restrict my current on-line addiction to poker - not for real cash here, just the silly ones on the social network ones, as those do seem to be wasting a lot of this jobless day which is sad in itself. Worst part is, I can now multi-task and browse job sites as well as play poker. How wrong is that!

Ok need to go water the greenhouse which in itself is utterly daft seeing as its been pissing down out there for ages. No good, I will have to invent some sort of watering system to save me having to do it.

Today was the day.....

...that I:

1, Didn't bother getting dressed. Lazy bastard.
2, Drank far to much tea - so much so, in fact this last one is giving me caffeine jitters!
3, Figured that if I want to get a decent job, I am going to have to lie like my life depends on it and just blag it!
4, Applied for over 6 jobs. One of which being a grounds maintenance 'personie' type thing which could well have me out there cutting bloody grass of all things.
5, Received two phone calls, both of which made me laugh my tits off but also made me feel even more shite as these friends do at least have jobs.
6, Eaten yet more of those bloody addictive paprika pringles - probably under the impression in my mind that if I eat them all, they will be gone and then I cant 'keep' eating them.
7, Responded to an on-line newspaper column with so much more detail than normal, due to having far too much time sitting on my arse and using a computer. (also added a part about a Citroen CV being a 'clit' car - explanation being "Clit car - every cunts got one")
8, Smoked far too much due to still feeling shite thanks to 'girly problems' Pah.
9, Didn't go to the postbox with my two letters (oh come on - I didn't get dressed and it is absolutely pissing down out there)
10, Decided that - to keep me out of trouble - I will AutoCAD myself up a plan of the veggie patch for next year to allow me to decide exactly what's going where etc, and what else I need to build as well, unless I find something else more stimulating to do instead like catch up with emails I have neglected.

So all in all, I have pretty much been a tired git today and considering my 'face like a smacked arse' I seem to be harbouring probably not a bad thing that I am being my usual hermit-like self and saying sod it to the world. As to be honest - I don't think the world could cope with me like this.

(That and my hair looks really silly today as well.)

Soooooo tired (be warned this might be a long'un due to wine kicking in)

I suppose today has been good in the grand scheme of things, unfortunately its also means I am bleeding knackered, covered in plaster dust and general muck, in need of a bath and pretty much full on Ronnied all round really.

Reason being? After yesterdays visit to Mumsie Banks and dropping off all the electrical 'bits and bobs' for the improvement of her shed from 'full of tat hole' to 'actually quite useful chunk of undercover land, I noticed that on her face there was this itching to make a start and get things done type attitude going on. Personally I think this is wonderful. It's showing that my mum is proving just how clever she is at doing stuff herself these days after dad's demise, and two her confidence is coming on in leaps and bounds from the 'socially incontinent Muppet' who wouldn't even make a phone call for herself in past years. I for one am very proud of how far she has come.

This however, has quite a few few drawbacks for me... but I'm getting her even more trained these days ;) Now I just KNOW Dad is out there somewhere, looking down on us since he's gone, just laughing his tits off at me because, on many an occasion we had this 'conversation' with reference too (and always out of earshot of) Mum and her amazing ability to want to use everyone else's minds and brains in the past for things relating to her - yet if she didn't like the opinion you gave, you were always wrong in her book... This REALLY used to drive my Dad round the twist and very rightly so!

However, over the past (lets say 4 or 5 years) when dad was still alive, both him and myself did a weeny bit of "mind training" with the old Mumsie Banks and to be honest, she has faired really well out of it. Not only do I now get asked "could you" instead of "YOU WILL" but everything that I do for her I now get thanks and appreciation, which in itself brings her rewards as I will do anything for my Mum but really do appreciate being asked nicely... that's all. Is that not too much to ask?

So, getting back to the "I'm obviously going to be going off on tangents tonight" point. Today I pretty much rewired her 'brick' shed for her. I state 'Brick' as there are technically 3 sheds here but one is semi in disguise as a greenhouse... well ish.

The shed I sorted out the other week was Dads shed. This was the wooden Hidey hole right down the bottom of the garden, full of Tim Taylor style "power" type things and - if I am honest an alarming amount of plumbing tat...

The greenhouse shed... this also has tools in it but a shed I haven't managed to sort through just yet.... but give me time. Then there is the Brick shed. This is the closest one to the house and not only has a washing machine and tumble dryer but WILL in the next week or two also take the upright freezer that has been sitting in the conservatory for (yes - technically another shed) 4 years.

This also brings up other things... Now that I have today placed all the sockets, switches and other electrical tat into their new correct places... I get the "so when will you next be here to":
Fill in the holes in the wall, put up the cupboards for me, move said freezer.
Ok ok ok - hang on there a mo Mum.

So this evening before I was able to come home again I was asked to take her to a couple of DIY stores for supplies... fair enough, this means she can get on with little bits and bobs over the weekend whilst I sit here and cry....lol - but hey - at least I am home now and enjoying the peace and quiet.

I am very tired. I am also now in need of a bath and probably a life which isn't quite so, well, I dunno.

Was going to have a moan about a few other things like 'his nibs', other peoples driving, the fact that paprika pringles are addictive, ex boyfriends and their ability to be complete knobs right now, me not having another job yet, my auntie christ still being the most obnoxious person alive and women's problems....

Can you see the pattern forming here? And to spell it out for any testicular clad readers...
yes, my period has kicked in with a vengeance and I'm talking complete and utter bollocks.

knuff said... time for bed zebedeee.

Should have stayed in bed....

I swear to gawd today that if I hadn't laughed, I would have cried.

Not only did I get "complete twat of the year award" for arranging my new car insurance policy a whole month too soon... but also heard an entire conversation from the daft woman in the job centre which didn't exist & of which she was also having a "blonde day from hell" judging by the rather frantic phone call I got from her two hours later when she managed to 'lose me' on the system thanks to a weeny bit of a cock up on her part.

On the plus side though, the day did improve dramatically in the afternoon when I took my poor dilapidated old Labrador for her annual jabs and check up. I really was dreading this, because since the last time vet man had seen her she has gained two more lumps and some sort of bony growth on her front leg. Not to mention the weird skin problem on her tail and the ear infection. Poor little bugger.

However tonight she is much happier even if my wallet is a tadge lighter. She has the ('scuse the pun) dogs bollocks ear drops, a set of anti-inflammatory horse pills, which put mine for my knee to shame and a diagnosis that the lumps and bumps two of which are fatty will be ok and the leg thing isn't causing her any grief at the moment so just keep an eye on it.

I really was starting to think she was just about on the way out but seems she's going to hang in there for a while yet and if it means I have to keep her on tablets to stop her getting uncomfortable for a while longer, i'll be very happy with that and so be it.

Dreading the day when that tail does stop wagging and I have to say thats enough now, no more.

I’ve even amazed myself with my bargain hunting!

Being me, and if I am honest very ‘good with my money’ (in other words “Tight as a gnats chuff”) You would expect me to find myself a good and proper bargain, in replacing the fridge freezer.

The old one is still working and it has done well, bless it but is now starting to make those sorts of noises which you can just about tolerate but if sleeping on my sofa (as I did last night) the bloody thing drives you more nuts than 'his nibs' with the noise. Maybe it’s just me not being able to cope with low frequency noises but either way I knew I would need to replace the thing soon.

So recently, as an add on the this freecycle website I am a member of I have joined “cheapcycle” which in all honesty will also help me sell off the rest of the tat I have instead of faffing with ebay fees…

So imagine my utter delight when Saturday Morning an advert for a fridge freezer appeared on there. Now normally I probably would'nt have replied but for some reason sent one back asking for the dimensions figuring it was bloody pointless getting one that was smaller than what I already had.

The lass emailed me back with not only complete dimensions but two photos as well… and to say I fell in love with this thing from the outset is an understatement.

Not only does it stand just under 2 metres tall its silver!!! Woof!

Myself and 'his nibs' went to collect it in the “converted to a van” scenic and toddled it home here in the worlds WORST thunder storm…. But its in now and working and its ohhhh so quiet!

Sad to say, I have fallen for a fridge freezer but I think I have, hook line and somewhat chilly sinker.

And the bargain amount this huge beast of an item cost?

£25…. wow