Hoooooraaayy!!! The scaffolding has finally been dismantled from all around the cottages, now I've actually got light coming in through the windows. How nice!!!

I started Monday morning designing a logo for my neice's new business while listening to the Jeremy Vine program on radio 2. He had a Mr Herman on there who was being plagued by these infernal PPI claims calls and he became so fed up with them that he decided to record them all. When he asked them to stop they just kept coming so he finally told them that if he gets just one more annoying call he will bill them £10 per minute for all his wasted time. Well, you guessed it, he got another call and was put on hold for nineteen and a half minutes. The company said there was no record of Mr Herman's number in its database or that of any of its partner companies. But Mr Herman had recorded the phone calls. So, stepping up his consumer assertiveness another gear, he filed a case in the small claims court.

And that seemed to do the trick and the case was settled before it went to court.

AAC, the company which had called Mr Herman on behalf of PPI Claimline, paid him £195 for his time and electricity, as well as his £25 court costs. I just love hearing stories like this!!

The frozen shoulder seems to have subsided this morning but I'm still concerned about going straight back to the gym and wrecking it again so I'll see how it is for the next few days.

This week I intend to make the 5 window boxes that a friend of mine has ordered, also crack on with the second painting and make some caramelised Carrot chutney. So that should keep me out of mischief.

Another grotty day today. The weather forecast said, "sunny intervals and 20% chance of rain, so, I put all my washing out and hey! guess what?...It bloody rained!! If I had a 20% chance of winning the lottery, it wouldn't happen!!

I guess I'll do a bit of housework and then go up the pub a bit later for some company and solace.

God! Reading this, I'm starting to sound more like Victor Meldrew every day!

I finally got my electric bills sorted out with my supplier. It turns out they've been taking around £40-£60/month too much for the last year so I'm in for a rebate. Hooray!! at least something has gone right this week. Plus I sold 5 bottles of my Apple, Cider & Sage sauce at the pub last night. Think I'll take some of the Beetroot & Ginger chutney to the pub today and see if I have any luck with that.

Wow! as I'm typing this the sun has returned and it looks quite nice out for a while.

Yesterday I finally decided to call the doctor regarding my painful shoulder...I woke up last saturday morning and couldn't move my left shoulder, I thought, "oh great! I've just joined the gym and now I'm going to have to give it a rest for a while. Well. by Monday it almost felt fit enough to put my body through its gym paces again, but woe! after working out monday I couldn't move on Tuesday. I struggled through the day and managed to get some anaesthetic at the pub that evening!! By Wednesday I just had to call the doc. She thinks its a frozen shoulder which can take anything from 2 months - 6 months to get better and in some cases can take several years so I'm a bit depressed that I can't go to the gym now, but maybe I can still do the aerobics.

Today I've been making Apple, Cider & Sage Sauce for bottling, I made 16 - 250ml bottles. The hardest chore was peeling 6lbs of Bramley apples

 Cook apples, Cider and sage leaves

 Cook apples till soft

 Blend apples and sage leaf mixture

 Waterbath sterilising for long shelf life

16 jars all labelled up

Its a lot of work for £32 return but very satisfying

A morning of laboriously cutting out labels and labelling all the chutneys I made last week, Beetroot Chutney, Caramelised Onion Chutney and Green Tomato Chutney. All ready for the market.

Its been a very hot and sweaty week in the kitchen, chopping loads and loads of onions, peppers, apples, beetroots and tomatoes but the chutneys are all very tasty and will be ready in 4 weeks time.

Next week I'm making 24 bottles of Apple, Cider & Sage sauce thats pourable and very tasty. Also some delicious Vinaigrette.

A restful day

Had a relaxing day today just tying up a few loose ends and sourcing some stuff on the internet.

NEW GYM:

Went for a tour of the LA Fitness Gym this morning and was very impressed with it so decided to join  as soon as my membership ends at the old one on 15th Nov. I even save £10/month! Wah-hey!

After dinner met up with my 3 cousins at the Horseshoes and shot on down to Tunbridge Wells to see the Marty Wilde concert. Yes I know!...you have to be old to remember him. I must admit I was a bit doubtful as to whether I'd enjoy it but I'm happy to admit, it was a great evening of good old rock and roll!! Eden Kane was there along with Mike Berry and Roxanne Wilde ( Marty's very pretty young daughter). When it was over we all went to a little Italian restaurant for a bite to eat and a glass of wine.
What a lovely evening!!!

Marty Wilde

Eden Kane

Mike Berry

When I got home last night I noticed the dog had himself a wonderful evening shredding up my raincoat that was hanging on the back door. Needless to say he's in seriously bad books right now!!

Terry - the culprit!!

Must be more productive tomorrow!

My first post as a retired designer

Since living on my own for over 2 years now, I thought I'd put some of my activities and thoughts down in a blog. If it only serves to motivate me each day to ensure I stay productive in my pursuits then so be it, or if it should inspire any reader to have a go at one of my activities then that has served a purpose in someone else's life too.

Today, I started off well by going to the gym and then finding out that they are closing down in 3 weeks, so I was a little upset about that but I can understand their reasons and it now looks like I'll be joining a new gym in 3 weeks, this time with a pool!

I came back from the gym and made the roofers cups of tea. God! They're costing me a fortune in tea bags but working out in this awful weather I certainly don't envy them. They're on the last bits now so hopefully this god awful scaffold will be gone soon!

I made some new posters for the pub, ensuring my evening's drink coffers. Then I made all the labels for my chutneys on the computer. Also found a great recipe for Apple, Cider and Sage sauce that I'll be sure to make within the next few days.

My Beetroot and Ginger chutney I made this week (25 jars of it!)