Compare The Market Helping The Elderly #GreatBritishSwitch

The cold is just starting to come to us now , I know this as I have just started wearing my bobble hat so it must mean it is getting colder. I feel the cold really badly , I have changed changed my energy supplier to another company so as to get a cheaper tariff. My Father in law is coming up to 82 and his partner she must be coming up to 88 and she is a strong willed lady, they enjoyed their coach holidays to Scotland and watching their soap opera on television. When they do  have their soap operas on however then you mustn't ring them or if you happen to be visiting then you must stay quiet, and they have the fire on so they are warm and cosy. So we made sure we got to my Father in Laws before the soaps were on , on one of our regular visits and we told them of our energy switch over and we discovered that that they could save money . 

Comparethemarket.com are particularly keen to encourage elderly people to think about how much they could save – research suggests that around 90% of those aged 65 and over have NEVER tried to switch energy supplier, despite the fact that a typical household can save up to £350 a year by switching energy suppliers. Having swapped ourselves we have saved £200 ,money  that is in my pocket now and no long frittered away with another energy company.

My father law is ecstatic that he has saved money , so long was he set in his ways , he always asks us things like "How is your job going ?" Is the car still going" which makes us chuckle as we wouldn't have been visiting him if the car wasn't going. My father in law has saved £220 , which is going straight to you guessed it a coach trip. Now if we. Now if we can only get him into the smartphone modern way then I'm sure he'd be converting the other pensioners on his trips out ! 

It is very important to look after the elderly they did and do so much for us , now is the time for us to do something for them and helping them save money is just one of the many things we can do this winter. Also encourage your elderly relatives and friends once they have switched to taken advantage of making sure that those savings do not fly out of an poorly insulated house, see how you can also help them keep their house warm.




In fact the other day I was talking to a lady in her fifties at a bus stop after our bus was delayed for an hour , she had sadly lost her husband recently. She was doing her best to keep her herself busy and was taking advice was age uk , one of the pieces of advice was about changing energy supplier. This courageous lady visits elderly people herself from her church while doing her up most to save them money where she could.


When you first go to Compare the market you come across this friendly screen with Oleg the baby meerkat , most of us have seen the adverts.

It doesn't matter if you don't have your bill you are still able to work out your savings by entering how big your house is, how many people live there etc.

It then asks you for email address

After you have entered this it shows you the prices.

Help spread the world with the #GreatBritishSwitch. Join The Great British Switch on Thunderclap and show your support.


Help keep the elderly warm this winter with the #GreatBritishSwitch from 14th – 16th November. For every switch this weekend comparethemarket.com will donate £5 to Friends of the Elderly


Disclosure: I have been given a fee for writing this but also money is being donated to Friends of the Elderly on my behalf.

#Blogfest the Review

The Good

I won a #blogfest ticket which is the  Mumsnet , they describe themselves as the sweary one that eat biscuits and your reputation does tend to come before you somewhat. From what I had heard last year was it was somewhat contraversial the equilvant of a rock star throwing a TV out of the window. Now I don't want the issue was but this year it was like going to a rather WI meeting only I wish I had, had the noddles and not the beef.], which was pardon my French bloody awful.

I didn't walk into this blog event and burst into tears feeling overhwhelmed , no did I come back from it feeling like I had lost my head , yes my frame of mind is different now.

Friends.

Friends is what matter.

Yes., I saw people there that gave me a glance of disdain and it is magnified because you are in a bloggers fish bowl for the want of a better phrase.


The Good

• I found my friends and what friends they are , I really do need friends when I come to these events to giggle with , discuss and feel human again.

• I felt I was lost in my feelings till I came but I found solace in my friends @mummygadgetgeek @messedupmum @beautwins @placticrosairies @snowingindoors  ( keeper of the scones) @dearmummy <<< super new friend.

The Bad 

The back turning on myself , the contrived hellos of some bloggers lost as they listened to other people about me.

C'est la vie I care not a nuns knickers.

The Good

The think bomb session was amazing for me and I really wish that 'some' cliquey bloggers could take this to heart and not make this scene like school sometimes but as ever I take the rough with the smooth.

I felt a little out of sorts on the self esteem table but I spoke , not quite sure I got what I wanted to get across . I was amazed and humbled by people like Charlotte Taylor who goes out of her way to talk to people and always has time for you.

When I first came into blogging I had my toe in many worlds , I was a new and exciting pet to behold for s, as blogging went on my obvious shinyness wore off for some Also my depression really kicked put my feelings out of kilter, and reactions to me in some cases were very serious ( and a dew know of this ) but in balance I can not stress enough that no one knows what battles we are truly fighting either them or my selves.

Coming to #blogfest I had good friends that put me in good balance before I got there and they understood that I need care and compassion , it is the ripple affect as I will go onto help many people myself.

Self Saucing Chocolate Pudding

Self saucing pudding, I saw them on the Great British Bake off with great awe, I couldn't do that could I ? surely not. I was utterly amazed how it works after all, it is like be a wizard in the kitchen

Ingredients

• 150g self raising flour
• 165g caster sugar
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 125ml milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract/ or to make it different try an orange flavouring which would work really well with the cocoa.

• 30g butter melted
• 150g dark brown soft sugar
• 1 egg 
• 4 tablespoons of a good quality cocoa powder
• 425ml hot water

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C. 


Grease an rectangular  ovenproof baking dish. Sift flour and cocoa into a large bowl. 

Stir in sugar.



Mix the butter, milk and egg in a jug, add the vanilla.

Next slowly  add to flour mixture, whisking until well combined and smooth. Spoon into baking dish. Smooth top with the back of a metal spoon.





Slowly pour  boiling water over the back of a large metal spoon to cover pudding.( This is the magic part ) 


Place dish onto a baking tray. Bake for 35  minutes or slightly less if you have a fan assisted oven  or until pudding bounces back when pressed gently in centre. 

Serve hot  in little ramekins with clotted  cream.

Disclosure : I kindly was provided with a gift card from Tesco in order to purchase some home ware items and ingredients. All recipes and thought, words and opinions are my own.

Please do adapt this recipe as you see fit.

Thinking Out My Suitcase #flying100

Thinking out my suitcase ,I have so many travel wishes and wishes translate not only into places but the experience before and after you travel. It is true to say my touches of indulgence into this foray have been mainly before we have gone to Florida as a family. These include stopping the night before after parking the car up so we are there for the super early start.

Also booking into the airport lounge and surprinsly this is as not as expensive as you think , the airline you book with will be able to help you ., yes there are some some expensive ones out there aimed at those of a VIP status but you can have this for a fraction of the price you just won't get that Indian head massage. The frame of mind you are in before you travel is very important as you can have a long flight before you , and the more relaxed you are the less irksome the idiosyncrasies  of travel will be.

When travelling back to the UK once from Cairo my Egyptian rep disappeared with our passports as we were standing in the check in line , I cannot stress in a country like Egypt how unnerving this was at the time. We got our passports back he had to get something stamped, Egypt is a country where things and people work in mysterious ways.

Food is another essential before you travel depending on the length of your flight and whether you are getting meals , it never hurts to stock up on permitted snacks, please do check that those you are buying will be allowed through customs.



Flying allows me to feel , to know and to create memories.

It allows me to feel the moment .


Moments as a family than when I close my eyes I can see the images , I photograph moments but you can't always capture the moment. you can paint the picture with your words.




When we went to Egypt I was immediately struck by the dustiness of Cairo and the moment we stepped inside the taxi it was madcap , like a chase scene out of Indian Jones , it is a wonder how their traffic system works. Hustle bustle , jostling and shoving but oh my the sights , and sounds that since upon the eyes the air of mystery that hangs by the swaying pall trees. And when you are in the pool , the soft Turkish delight of the glow slides behind the pyramids taking the ancient pharaohs mysteries with the them for one more day.

I want to show my son the colours of Petra , yes I am inspired by Indiana Jones and The Last crusade, I'll let you into a secret some of my best holidays have been inspired by the world of film. New York was inspired by Home Alone in York , along with Night at the Museum. Cario inspired by the first Indiana Jones and Raiders of the last Ark and soon I will be going to Washington DC inspired by so many films that I think I would wear my fingers typing them all out!

New York I do miss you and i want to come back , We celebrated my first Thanksgiving there at the New York Palace hotel which appeared on Richard Grants hotel program no less, I want to be handed a warm hot chocolate again as we enter in from the cold of New York, New York has its own special brand of coldness, that is not all that unpleasant , you just need to warm yourself once in a while, perhaps with a legendary New York hotdog from one of the well regulated stands.

Respect to be shown one day again at freedom Towers when we go.

New York we are coming again for you one day:

Don't forget us .

So good we are coming twice : you can hold me to that.

This post is an entry for the #Flying100 Family Holiday Challenge, celebrating how flying allows us to make memories and ‘be there’, in association with #Flying100. Find out more at http://bit.ly/flying100.

Despite all

Despite all.

Being faced with husband and possible redundancy , life ticks , life ticks in very an unfair way. This is news, I have just heard not what I want to hear not what I need to hear but hear it I have. This is not the first time it has happened and it won't be the last time.

I am buoyant but it is a false buoyancy what will be will be.

If I can earn extra pennies in the mean time then I will try my utmost.

You can imagine how I feel you can imagine how my husband feels.

Damn I knew I should have made the self saucing pudding yesterday , everyone needs cake when they are down.


And I am just on the recovery from depression so I am hoping it won't spiral round back to me and also I am hoping my husband won't suffer.

Worse still it is my sons GCSE year , Christmas is coming up.

Life sucks.

Life can be good and the dust will settle and for no I am just little sad for my family.

Despite all.

I can still manage a smile for you all.