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Hello, Elle!
Young ones have different expectations than my generation.
So the flat is being done to a good spec before she moves in.
Do you ever watch "Homes under the Hammer"?
Some horrors on the market there!
But, they sell, and the new owners do a great job on them.
I received a Waterstones gift voucher at Christmastime.
Three not very exciting books on the way, whose titles escape me, but one is an Australian true crime one.
Waterstone's website is not up to much, In my opinion.
Thank goodness for Amazon!

Hi elle

Your post about your house reminds me of mine. I get rather fed up with hearing beefs about how we had it so good! It is true in a way, of course, but nevertheless I had no cooker for 6 months and then got one from a second-hand warehouse, have never had a new washing machine and our TVs were discarded ones my husband repaired. Nothing wrong with any of that.
The hall and stairway was painted bright orange and the tiny kitchen dark blue and green, but I had to wait until we could afford paint and paper. Can still remember that dreadful "tango" colour! This isn't a complaint, we were lucky to get a house at all. The mortgage was half my husband's salary when our eldest was born; I have to admit that inflation soon altered that.
I am aware that today's youngsters have to find a huge deposit and many in the SE may never own their own home, at least until their parents die.

Hi, Rusty!
I was in no way decrying the fact that your granddaughter's flat is able to be "done up" before she moves in!
I hope you do not think that I was?
I am very happy indeed that it should be so for her!
I was simply reminded of the situation we were once in! and in fact we lived like that for several years until we saved the money to do some of the repairs.
I remember there being conditions to the mortgage whereby some major jobs had to be effected before we were granted the money, and those obviously had to have immediate priority.
I'd like to be able to say that we now live in a perfect house....but it is a very old Victorian villa, and constantly needs something else doing to it!
Now, I have never tried buying books from Waterstones online...but I like wandering into the shop and "browsing" through all the new books..........
and chatting to other potential customers about their choices!
Has your package arrived?




Hello, Ros!
I was merely wandering down memory lane ...not meaning to spark a comparison between our day and now.......
I think some one wrote a comedy script about our house and we wandered into it by mistake!
When we took possession, there was so much rubbish left everywhere , all over the floors.........we collected seven large dustbin bags full from the lounge alone!
And there was a dead Christmas tree in the lounge ( we moved in in March!) and a piano!
We still have the piano!
All the skirting boards downstairs were missing!
I still have visions of someone burning them in the middle of the room for warmth!

Hello, Elle!
I did not think for a second that you were decrying anything!
Not at all!
When I started out we had a shared toilet with a neighbour and certainly no bathroom!
The Good Old Days ?!!!
My son just got stuck in to bringing the flat up to date and we knew tradesmen to help.
She has been lucky, in that respect!
Waterstones shops are fine to visit, unlike their website!
My parcel (superbly wrapped) has just arrived.
So I am going to head out for a dander.
It is a cracker of a day here!

Hi, Rusty!
We have been out for a walk, too.
It is great day here as well, and slightly warmer than this morning.
We have hit a high of 4C this afternoon!
A trifle muddy though now that the frost has melted.
You are lucky to have had a Waterstones' voucher for Christmas!
I did not receive any vouchers this year , although I did get a pile of books themselves from my husband.
I am working my way through them!
I like having vouchers/ money in my Amazon account as then I do not feel "guilty" when I order books!
It is like having a "free pass"!

Good evening, Elle!
Fine here, 6 degrees.
It is unusual for us to be warmer than the South East.
Maybe the volcano?
I agree regarding Amazon gift card vouchers.
i still have a positive balance.
How are you and new TV getting on?
Do you need a manual or are you managing?
My son was here earlier and gone home now.

Hi, Rusty!
We are in for another frosty night and early morning,
Already all the cars in the street are covered in white.
All the lakes were still frozen when I paid a second visit to the park this afternoon.
It is very picturesque!
The TV and I are doing fine... but yes, a manual would be nice.
I am sure there are a lot of things I could be doing with knowing.
My daughter is going to hunt and see if she can unearth the original booklet...other wise I shall see if I can download the instructions......but wish to avoid this very tedious and usually lengthy task if at all possible!
Meanwhile I am coping well.....
I can safely say that the new TV set is a success!
I like it!
How was your son? Is everyone well?
Did he bring you any "goodies"?
The friend that came from Benfleet to visit was telling me all about a new butcher near her, who sold "complete meals".
He sounds similar to your son's butcher...
She is delighted with them - it saves her cooking!

Hello, Elle!
There are TV manuals on eBay but they are not cheap, so not a good option.
Hopefully you won't need one.
No goodies for me tonight, but I gave my son a ginger cake.
ASDA had no Madeira today!
There are several butchers around here who sell meals.
And they are good.
I agree with your Benfleet friend about the no cooking!i
i watched Homes under the Hammer and one man bid on behalf of his daughter and got the house.
I forget where it was, but it had a train station and was the last/final station from London that you could go to, using an Oyster card.
That was a plus for his daughter.
Now, Elle, what is an Oyster card?
You do quite a bit of travelling down there and I suspect you will know?

Hi Rusty
An oyster card is a prepaid piece of plastic which gives much cheaper access to transport, especially the Underground, than if you buy tickets. You just lay the card on the pad near the barrier, which opens, and again when you leave and the right amount is debited from the card. It is very quick. I don't travel to London often these days but when I did, I rarely put more than £10 credit on my card, because I once had one stolen.
You can also out credit on via the internet. Cool, eh?

Good morning, Rosalind!
Thank you for the explanation!
A traveller buys an Oyster card rather than tickets?
Is that it?
And it covers tubes, buses, trains etc?
Sounds like a good idea.
Especially if you can top up using Internet.
Most regular travellers will have one, I imagine?
Now, what about the poor person who arrives at the station with no credit on the Oyster card?
Surely they would not be turned away?
Have they a system in place for that?
Sorry about the questions!
Oyster cards are new to me.
And why Oyster?