We have a new Barbecue!
11 June 2008
Finally after saying last year that we needed a new barbecue we finally bought a new one yesterday. Taking recommendations from other gas bbq owners we opted for one ourselves having previously had charcoal ones. We bought on like this form B & Q and on Monday I set about putting it together! Jim was busy working (or so he said) and left me pretty much to it apart from giving me his precious screw driver and pliers to borrow.
Putting it together took me a good 3 hours with a few minor mistakes ie screwing things the wrong way round thanks to difficult to interpret instructions! The physical aspect of putting it together was easy. I needed help to put the top on, but otherwise could manage. It was the pictures and usual ambiguous instructions that had me scratching my head from time to time, but nothing too taxing that a bit of good luck or trial and error couldn’t sort out.
I did ask Jim to check the connecting of the switches as I feared that a wire in the wrong place may be disastrous, but I needn’t have worried; the instructions were clear on that bit and I’d got it right! Once everything was OK’d and the gas connected I had to try it out. It was meant to be an early fathers day present for Jim and an accompaniment to one of his birthday presents; a barbecue set like this one, but of course it was me who had to have a go first! Lighting the grill is simple. No waiting for charcoal to set alight and waiting for it burn. It was a quick 5 minute wait before we were ready to go. The food cooked as it did on the old charcoal barbie and tasted just as good. The heating rack at the back kept everything warm until we were ready to eat. I don’t know why we didn’t get on last year!
To help protect our barbecue we bought a barbecue cover.
Is it really just about winning?
10 March 2008
Both boys play football for a local club. It’s just children’s football and they both enjoy it. However, one boy plays for a team with the attitude of we have to win, whereas the other boy began as a new team a few seasons ago and a 17 - 0 thrashing was sadly not uncommon. The team isn’t on the receiving end of such score lines now, but a win is a rare and special occurrence still. His team gives everyone a game no matter how skilled they are and each player is equally valued. The other team is entirely different and wins more than it loses and generally the strongest team starts. Both styles have their merits and I have to say months of watching your son lose is a little disheartening and of course it’s good to see them win. Read more
How to lose a day…
4 March 2008
For some time I have been meaning to organise our photos. Since the age of the digital camera our pictures stay on the computer and that is sad. When the boys were younger I used to get the film developed and then the photos went in to albums. I love looking back. It’s the story of our lives in pictures. Yesterday i decided to print off our photos. I was shocked to see that these photos go back 5 or 6 years, so you can imagine how many there are and how long this is going to take!
On Sunday I bought one scrapbook. How silly of me. I clearly need 10 or 20! I realised this as I started going through each folder. I have picked out a selection to go in the scrapbook, but it still took me Sunday afternoon and all of yesterday to get them printed off and in order. I still have to actually put them in to albums. It’s a daunting task and one I wont be repeating! In future I’ll be printing the pictures off as we take them as this is going to take over my life! I desperately want to scrapbook our wedding, so may be as this a recent event I should start here…
Plastic Poison?
28 February 2008
It’s been reported today that Marks and Spencer will be charging customers for their plastic bags in the food department. There’s some debate about the fairness of this, but I say good on them! We see plastic carrier bags dished out too freely in my opinion.
I got on my soap box about this not too long ago. I was so fed up of having my nan’s shopping shoved in to the damn things when I took her shopping despite us having our own reusable bags. I know that the checkout staff were trying to be helpful, but I didn’t and don’t want their bags! I had to ask them each week to stop as we had our own bags and I felt ungrateful and rude in doing this. I didn’t mean to be either, but nor did I want 5 or 6 Asda bags. So I wrote to them and they replied saying that they do attempt to encourage customers to recycle; this wasn’t apparent as each week bags were ripped off the stand for me to use, but in fairness since the complaint it isn’t quite so bad. Double this with my nan announcing the very next week that she was getting short of plastic bags so could I use some to pack her shopping! She’s nearly 86, so I feel that trying to convert her into an eco-warrior might not be successful, but I did try!
Seriously though, I hope more supermarkets follow M&S’s lead. If there was a price to pay for the bags I’m sure that it would encourage more people to reuse them or buy the ‘bags for life’ that I think most supermarkets have . Something has to be done to stop the landfills being filled with the reported 13 million plastic bags a year that we currently use.
A new Category
21 February 2008
I spend quite a lot of time on here editing and writing articles. When I’m not here I’m being Jim’s PA; a tongue in cheek job title, which Jim once used when I’d made a venue booking for the Company’s Christmas do! In reality I am a buyer ie I search for the best deal for company purchases, secretary ie I answer the phone and take messages and I keep our websites up to date ie I do what I originally said I did; sit here typing! In my spare time I do the cooking, cleaning etc and all that’s required to keep this house ticking over.
I do have a lot of quiet time and it’s during this time that I get to muse over things; things to do or things in the news or just generally random thoughts. Hoovering this morning I had the idea to add my ramblings to Our Little Shop, so here it is… Read more
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