So that's decided

 Thanks for comments regarding dog insurance.  I went on a couple of comparison websites, found one insurance that was extremely cheap, suspiciously so - it was less than half the price we're paying now.  I looked at the policy Ts&Cs first.....ha, quickly found the reason why it's so cheap - the excess payable (with Betty's age given as the reason) was huge, 3x the amount of our current excess.  Plus we would also have to pay 20% of any claims on top of the excess.  I then checked reviews of the company - 5* for setting up the policy and ease of use of the website, but only 1 or 2* for conduct of claims - they're apparently extremely slow in processing them and frequently mislay documents or information you send them.  They're also a relatively newish company, only been in existence around 7 years, and I've never heard of them.  So that's a big fat NO!  The next few cheapest policies weren't that much cheaper than what we pay now, and would most likely rise a lot in the 2nd year.  And they all have bigger excesses, due no doubt to Betty's now senior age.  So I've decided to cancel the policy and not take out another one.  I'll set up a monthly standing order to go into the savings account, it'll be an amount equal to what the insurance firm are requesting from the 1 January.  I'll also pay extra amounts into the account whenever I have money spare.  Now I've made the decision, it feels like a weight off my mind.  I'll start the standing order straight away, to give us a bit of a head start before our current insurance expires on 31 Dec.

It was drizzly, very dull and very cold with a bitter strong wind yesterday, today is forecast to be much better, even a bit of sunshine and the wind has dropped.  Just as well as we're off to the Victorian Christmas fair and craft stalls this morning, we'll get there just before opening time.  I need a little top up shop of fresh stuff afterwards. 

Tomorrow I'm getting the tree out, so the Christmas music will go on too!  I've seen photos on social media of the town's Christmas lights switch on yesterday, and there's a local street that do a load of decorations and lights on their houses, to raise money (by donations) for the local air ambulance charity, so I might persuade husband to take us out for a look one evening.  Speaking of husband, his toes are less black and blue and more rosy red and deep pink now, and he says they hurt less, so on the mend.

No broken bones for husband, and what to do if Betty has broken bones!

 Husband decided yesterday afternoon he'd like to go to the Minor Injuries unit at the little local community hospital, it's just 5 mins drive away - his toes were getting more painful and he was concerned that the pins he'd had put in his toes/feet during an operation a few years ago might have been dislodged.  I agreed it was a good idea, so we went.  We've had occasion to go there a couple of times before and have been impressed at how quick and efficient they are.  Husband was called in just 5 minutes after we arrived - I went in with him.  It's nurse-practitioner led, a lovely friendly and very humorous nurse asked lots of questions, examined his toes and feet and said he needed an x-ray.  Once again, the waiting time was very short - we barely had time to sit back down in the waiting area before he was called for the x-ray.  Called back in by the nurse within another 10 minutes after the x-ray - no broken bones, the pins hadn't moved, so it was just soft tissue damage in those 3 toes.  She told him (jokingly and winking at me!) he was not to do any gardening, hoovering, running, walking up and down the high street Christmas shopping 😂😂 (as if!!), but to sit and put his feet up for around 8 weeks (no change there then!! 😉😂😂).  She did say she was kidding, but added that he - and I - should keep an eye on his toes and come back if there was any spreading redness or other signs of infection or worsening pain.  I'm sure he'll be fine.  

I've just had the renewal for Betty's pet insurance, it's due for renewal on 1 January.  I knew it would have gone up - she's now in the Senior Dog category and that bumps the price up quite a lot.  However, I was unprepared for the rise of 52% in the premium.  Betty's insurance is already very expensive - around two thirds more than friends/family who have common and popular terriers or spaniels pay.  It's due to her specific mix of breeds - she's half Shar Pei, half English Bulldog, both of which breeds have known health problems.  Although, ironically, she's never had any of those particular problems, but does have recurring ear infections and always will have.  It's not that we can't afford the payment - we can, especially now we don't have the costs associated with the caravan.....I just begrudge paying such a huge jump in the premium.  We've had the same insurers for some years now - changing insurers usually means existing health problems won't be covered.  And all pet insurers seem to give a big discount for the first year, just to draw you in, but then whack it up significantly the next year.  I'd found in the past that some firms won't insure Betty at all, because of her specific mixed breeds, so was happy to stick with the one that does.  However, I'm now thinking I might end this insurance - for a start, the level of cover we have for her is no longer adequate, given the massive rise in vet fees - if she had a major problem requiring x-rays, scans, operations and in-patient stays, we would currently have to pay out more than the sum she's insured for.  If I increase the level of cover, then obviously the premium will be even higher, quite significantly I should think.

I've discussed it with husband - not that it was very helpful, he doesn't really understand and gets confused by it all, so it's down to me really.....he did say he's happy for me to make my own mind up.  I'm considering ending her insurance altogether and setting up a standing order to pay a fixed sum each month into a dedicated savings account for Betty's costs, paying in extra when I can.  This account would purely be to cover the cost if she has an accident or a significant health problem such as cancer or heart trouble, etc, I wouldn't take any money out of it for her annual vaccination or regular vet fees for her ear troubles and worming/flea/tick meds, the cost of which comes out of our regular budget.  The only problem would be if I cancel the insurance and she gets ill in the very near future - I wouldn't have saved enough in the new account to cover the costs.  It's a bit of a conundrum.  I know of some people (a relative and a friend) who set up GoFundMe accounts to try and cover the costs of unexpected vets bills - I wouldn't feel comfortable doing that, you're asking strangers to contribute towards the costs of your pet, which doesn't sit well with me, it's our responsibility not anyone else's.

I might have a look at some comparison websites over the next couple of days and make a decision then.

Black toes, mince pies and a missing CD

 Husband's toes (the three middle ones) are black, purple and blue this morning - he still insists he hasn't broken them (although quite how he'd know for sure I don't know) but says they are quite sore.  He's also adamant he doesn't need to see the GP.  I don't think they do anything much nowadays even if you have broken a toe....don't they just strap them up?  I will of course keep an eye on them.  It is making him more careful when he gets up out of his chair or off the bed - taking a bit of time to stabilise himself in order not to fall or stumble into anything, which is a good thing.

It was very frosty when we got up this morning, looking almost like a light dusting of snow, but the sun is out and has got rid of the frost.  It's still very cold though, I'm very grateful for our lovely warm house.  How any rough sleepers manage to survive in this weather I don't know.  

I had some of my homemade sweet pastry left, so have this morning made some more mince pies to use it up - I could have frozen it, I suppose.  I didn't really enjoy making them though, all the faffing about and clearing up afterwards....so have decided it's the last time I'll be making mince pies myself.  It's not like we eat loads of them anyway, or have a constant stream of visitors to feed them to.  In any case, we can buy pretty decent ones in the shops now, and there are always mince pie reviews in the papers or on social media, so we know which ones to buy.....or more importantly, avoid!

I'd bought a couple of Christmas music CDs in a charity shop last week - I do have quite a few but they're still packed away in a box somewhere!  I got one by Rod Stewart, who I've always liked, and a double CD of assorted Christmas songs by original artists - the first CD all upbeat songs to sing and dance to, like Slade and Mariah Carey and my favourite Fairytale of New York, the 2nd one all slower, more gentle and traditional songs like Silent Night and Driving Home for Christmas (this one sung by Michael Ball rather than Chris Rea).  Well, upon opening the double CD, I discovered the 1st one was missing - only the 2nd one in the box....somebody obviously liked the happy party-type songs and not the more traditional ones, so kept that and gave the box with only the 2nd CD to the charity shop!  Unless someone nicked the 1st CD....😒  Pity, but I do like the 2nd CD still, and shan't be taking it back to the shop for a refund.....it only cost £1.50 and it serves me right for not opening the box and checking before I bought it!  I played the CDs whilst I was making the mince pies this morning, it's my first lot of Christmas music this year - and it's not even December yet (ooh, what a rebel! 😂).

Thank you for all the comments about the Yumove tablets for Betty, I hadn't thought to check if they're sold anywhere else, as the friend who told us about them said she bought them from Amazon.  Obviously, now I know that pet shops and vets sell them, along with buying them direct from the company.  I'll use all the pet glucosamine/chondroitin tabs I got in the supermarket first and see how Betty gets on with them before I decide whether to buy the Yumove (which are a lot more expensive than the supermarket ones).  She's only had them for 2 days so far, it'll be another couple of weeks or so I guess before we can see any improvement in her stiffness.  She doesn't appear to be suffering all the time, it's only occasionally that it's noticeable.  She is sleeping a lot more nowadays, but I guess that's as much to do with the cold weather and the heating being on as it is to do with her age.

We've decided not to go to the town's Christmas fair and lights switch on tomorrow evening - it's forecast to be a bit drizzly, it'll be cold during the evening and will doubtless be very busy.  But we will go to the Victorian Christmas fair and craft stalls at the steam railway station on Saturday (it's on Sunday as well).  It opens at 10.00 and we'll get there for that time, before all the crowds turn up hopefully.  I'm looking forward to it, I'll enjoy the Christmassy atmosphere and looking at all the stalls, and want to buy a few gifts.  Husband can sit in the cafe (or even the car!) with a hot drink if he doesn't fancy looking around....he does make a big thing out of claiming to be a Grinch, but he doth protest too much!

Replies to comments and early morning drama

 Jane, the price of vet meds and treatments (and the consultation fees) seems to have gone through the roof this past year or two.  I did read somewhere that there is, or soon will be, an inquiry going on into vet fees - about time I'd say.

HH, ooh I like the sound of that cheese, onion, walnut and chutney pie!  That's one to make sometime - what a pity you and hubby can't have it now.

Sue - I'd heard about Yumove tabs, in fact a friend of ours had recommended them.  However, I then read somewhere that some of the ones sold on Amazon had been tested and found to be fake, causing illness and even a couple of deaths in dogs.  I don't know if they're sold anywhere else (pet shops or vets, e.g ?) - where do you get yours?  I guess a lot of things that are sold online could be suspect....how would anyone know?  I got the glucosamine & chondroitin tabs from the pet section in the supermarket.

Husband slipped off his bed this morning as he was getting up.....he was sat on the edge of the bed for a few seconds as I'd told him to, rather than getting straight up which results in him losing his balance.  Well, he was too much on the edge of the bed and just slid off, his elbows on the bed saved him from falling on the floor, which was good as I would have had a job getting him back up.  Unfortunately, he bashed his toes on the chest of drawers....I don't think he's broken them, they're just bruised.  He's not going to the gym though.  Life is.... let's say 'interesting' living with him!

It's a cold and drizzly start to the day, although the drizzle is easing off now and a bit of sunshine is forecast.....hopefully, we shall see.  The dog's fleece blankets more or less dried out on the line yesterday, I just finished them off in the airing cupboard overnight.  More washing to go out today but I doubt it'll dry significantly, so it'll be on the airer in the hall overnight.  I do miss my tumble dryer (it packed up after we'd already had it fixed 2 or 3 times), but not the cost of running it.  We're not going to get another one.

I shall be making the mince pies today, that'll be the last of the Christmas baking for the moment as the freezer is too full up!  We're having a frittata for dinner, using up the last of the Mediterranean veggies I roasted the other day.  There are some new potatoes and carrots in the veg box that need using up, so I'll roast them to have on the side.

Working through the list, and Christmas prep

 This morning it's lovely and sunny, I've washed all the dog's fleece blankets and they're out on the line, hopefully they'll dry.  I've just made about 2 dozen sausage rolls, they're done and out of the oven cooling off before freezing.  I saw a video of one of the TV cooks, Briony something or other, can't remember her surname, she's often the cook on one of the morning newsy programmes and also presents Escape to the Country sometimes.....not that I watch those programmes but husband's generally got them on.  Anyway, she made sausage rolls using wraps instead of pastry, claimed it was easier and quicker.  Well, personally, I didn't think it was any easier or quicker than using a bought sheet of readymade pastry, and the wraps didn't stick very well when rolling up, even with egg wash.  I'm sure they'll taste nice (I used wholemeal seeded wraps) but shan't bother again.....will stick with pastry!  I mixed good quality sausages (out of their skins, obviously) with some made up sage & onion stuffing....which is what Briony did.  However, I also mixed in a couple of dessertspoons of small chunk pickle and couple of handfuls of grated Cheddar, for added taste.  Smelt gorgeous when cooking.

Now I'm going to make sweet pastry for the mince pies, although I shan't make the pies until tomorrow as I have other things I need to do today.  I want to do a freezer inventory and meal plan, the freezer is pretty full so I need to plan meals using up frozen stuff - there are quite a few homemade ready meals so we shall be eating those to make space for Christmassy stuff to go in there.  Banking to do today, and sort out the airing cupboard.

Husband had roast lamb on Sunday (I had my homemade nut roast), lots of it left so he made himself a lamb curry yesterday using a jar of sauce and some added chopped veg.  Since I've stopped eating most meats, I've found I really don't like the smell of some meaty dishes, curry being one of them....oddly enough I no longer like the taste of curry either, even veggie ones.  There's still more lamb left, he wants a break from it today but will be having another lamb curry tomorrow - his choice - and Betty will have the rest of the lamb.

I've just got Betty some glucosamine and chondroitin tabs - dog ones - as I've noticed she's starting to show some signs of stiffness....well, she is 8 now, which is definitely getting towards old age for her specific breed types.  She sometimes prefers to lie down to eat - on her stomach I mean, not flat out on her side!  I'm guessing she has some stiffness in her neck, so we now put her food bowl on top of a box so she doesn't have to bend her head right down or lie down to eat.  She also shows some hesitation now sometimes when she's about to jump up onto the bed or sofa.  Hopefully, the tabs will help her once she's been having them for a few weeks.  We all feel the effects of ageing don't we, whether human or animal!  Getting old is not for wimps!

Thank you for all the comments, and the emails from some of you who cannot make comments on here, for whatever reason.  Blogger seems to be a bit of law unto itself.

Soon be time to play Christmas music!

 We've had a fairly restful weekend - case of having to, with the awful weather.  Fortunately, it hasn't affected us much really, apart from the noise of the torrential rain and howling winds....no damage to our house and garden though, although our back door into the car port is now sticking and we can't open it easily.  Husband has taken the handle apart and sprayed inside with WD40, but it's not made much difference - perhaps the frame has swelled.  It can still be opened, with a bit of a struggle, and there's always the front door if we can't.  We almost never use the front door, as it happens.  The road that our little cul de sac opens into regularly floods during heavy rain - the rain runs off the hills just behind our properties and the little stream in that road quickly fills up and overflows, turning the road into a fast moving river.  Although this has happened several times now since we've lived here, the water has never yet come into our cul de sac, and neighbours say they don't remember it happening, which is good.  I hope all you readers are safe and well.  Ironically, up in Northampton there's a lot of flooding, very near to where my sis and PR live, but they're not affected by it.  The train station there is closed though, as the tracks are completely flooded.  There's a huge caravan park a mile or so down the road from where they live, that's been closed and evacuated due to flooding, it happens there regularly.  It's sunny here today and relatively warm - well, ish, although there have been a couple of quick but heavy showers and several nice big rainbows.  The one constant thing about our weather in this country is its inconsistency!

Husband went to the gym this morning, I ran a few errands in town.  The town is getting ready for the Victorian Christmas fair and lights switch on this weekend....the shops are staying open late on Friday evening, with Christmas market stalls in the high street and the lights being switched on at 7pm, I think.  Free parking all day in the town car parks too!  I doubt we'll go out to see the lights switch on, I expect the town will be very busy.  But the Victorian Christmas stalls and fair move down to the steam railway station over the weekend, we'll probably go to that, we'll get there early before the masses arrive, hopefully.  I do love hearing Christmas tunes, both traditional and modern pop - and singing along to them loudly....but only at home!! 😂  Partly because it annoys the Grinch - aka husband 😉

We heard last week that a member of our extended family has died, and my friend's lovely Mum died yesterday evening, which is sad as it's my friend's birthday today 😔.  The trouble with being our ages - 60s, 70s - is that most of our circle of friends and relatives are also that age or older, so it's inevitable that there'll be several of them passing away, sometimes in quick succession.  My Mum and her two sisters all died within a few months of each other, their remaining brother is bedridden in a care home and has already cheated death a few times, surviving against the odds when he'd had big health crises.  2 or 3 of my Mum's best friends all died around the same time, as well as another couple of extended family and friends.  In fact, for a while it seemed almost like barely a week went by without us hearing of yet another death.  Well, that's gloomy isn't it?!?!

On the plus side, my best friend came to visit on Friday afternoon, which was lovely.  We've known each other for....it must be getting on for 20 years.  We don't see nearly enough of each other, purely down to life circumstances, but it always makes me feel better when we do.

I want to make sausage rolls and mince pies for the freezer this week - it's good to have a few things like that in stock at Christmas, not only for us but for friends and neighbours too.  I'll also be getting on with painting or drawing my Christmas cards.  I'm posting less and less each year though, mainly because of the horrendous ever rising price of stamps.  At this rate it will soon be too expensive to post anything!

Burnout

 Thanks for all the comments, I'm sorry I haven't replied or commented on some of your blogs much recently.  Things have been stressful for a few weeks and I'm feeling burnt out, especially after this week.

Some of you have commented how well the trip up north went.  It wasn't all successful or good, I have just chosen not to mention the bad stuff.  As to PR realising he needs to go along with all the arrangements and plans to come - we all doubt he will....this isn't the first time we've arranged stuff for him by any means, and he's thrown a spanner in the works (or a full scale tantrum or refusal) a number of times.  So we're not expecting miracles, this is the way of things and has been for many years.