Diary summary week ending 28th November

[louisa maud]

Viktoria
Did  surprisingly  well at the  bazaar,  the weather was  bright and crisp but further up the road abit  was  windy, my stall  "£1 stall, everyone a winner"  did  very  well, I  have  a  children's  one and an adults  one,  throughout the year I  buy things, reduced  but  are  worth  more than £1, I have  soft toys with  a  price tag of £3.99, I  didn't pay  that but it is an attraction,  adults  stall I  generally  but a  bottle  of  wine and  bucks fizz or something like  that, my adults stall completely  sold  out but I  had some  children's ones left, took out the sweets and the  rest  will go back in a  box in the  loft for  next year, we  did  better than  we expected
It  was  really  nice to  see locals  we  hadn't  seen since  March  last year, several said they  have  got to the  point where they  cannot   be bothered to go
out, they made  the  effort today and enjoyed it, all on  all a  good day despite the  hard  work

LM

[Viktoria]

Good, I loved the White Elephant Stall, but usually got stuck in the cafe.
It did not bother me to tell people who came into church (where  there was a lovely cafe, all home made stuff , several people with their food hygiene qualifications etc ),with food bought outside!
Fish  and
 chips, jacket potatoes etc!
I used to say I’m sorry but we only have a food licence for food prepared on these premises by people with food hygiene qualifications .
They would come in,monopolise a table for ages ,leave the wrappings etc  and  not even buy a cup of tea.!

I was civil  of course , but they prevented other people who had bought our food from sitting down as we were so busy,
When serving on the  junk stall I drove a hard bargain with  dealers who used
to swoop,thinking to get good stuff very cheaply .

Oh but some mucky beggars ,a spoon in the sugar bowls on the little tables
and a tray full at the serving  point ,,ignored those even when we said there are spoons here - but oh gosh, stirred their tea  and  put the wet spoon in the sugar bowl.
Could not understand if we were at the pay point handling money we could not handle food ,we used tongs and wore gloves etc when we were serving food.
Nor could we allow them to handle food at all,not until it was their  plate and paid  for.

But it was a pleasant afternoon after all the work that had gone into it .
I have been in church until late at night setting up the Christmas fair.
My OH came down  at nearly midnight ,thinking I was ill or something .
He did not do night driving ,advanced cataracts and medication.
There were drunks in the gardens ,and I know I was daft to stay so long but
so many of our dwindling group were by then not capable ,but had done  their  share for years.
Hope we can do them again some day.
Glad you did well.
Viktoria.

[River Tyne Lass]

Just quick as my hands are freezing without my mits on .. Thank you for the kinds words .. 
I am on my way on first bus for 12 hour shift today.  I left the house ten minutes earlier to allow for walking more slowly on ice.  Roof tiles are lying dotted here and there as I walked up street.  It is bitterly cold and windows aren't open on the bus today.  I worried that the bus might not turn up because of bad weather but it has.  Quite a few on and all of us dressed warmly for the freezing weather.  Oh, I do really appreciate a face covering today, it is keeping my face that much warmer.

..Just to add, that thankfully there are no homeless sleeping out at the bus station today.  I have been walking about to keep warm as it will be a few minutes yet before second bus arrives.
There is a sign up at Haymarket metro recording no trains yesterday and an overhead tannoy message saying no metro trains this morning because of storm damage and that they will keep passengers updated. 

[Mowsehowse]

Sounds horrendous weather all round the country, and I think Torbay got off fairly lightly, though there was a metal panel on the roof of the library building, (opposite the bus station,) flapping wildly as we passed by yesterday.
If that actually detached and flew off I dread to think of the carnage it could cause.
I asked for the council to be alerted, but I doubt anyone could get up there in those conditions so I don't know what, if anything, was done to mitigate the problem.
Much calmer here today.

[louisa maud]

It  is  a beautiful  day  today, chilly  but the  sun is out, obviously in  some  parts  of  Essex   we  missed the really awful weather  some  have  had,

Going  back  to  yesterday's  bazaar we  were on  limited  stalls due to restrictions so  no  white  elephant  stall, someone  commented  that they 
like  a  rummage but  we  had  to obey instructions, we  have  so  much "stuff' we  are  hoping to have  some sort of fayre where  we  can  sell the lot off quite cheaply , someone  said  "everything a £1"  but  I  know  there  is  a  box of very  good China  brand new mugs and  I  would rather  buy them  myself than flog them  for  just a pound,  we  shall see  but that  will  be about Easter  time

Enjoy  your day  everyone

LM

[Viktoria]

Band concert was lovely, well attended.
It was very funny when they played “ Fairy Tale of New York”,they played with glissando notes and we who knew it could not stop laughing as we could visualise Shaun McGowan ,sans teeth, slurring his way through it !
“Y’know warra mean”!
I have not been in church for almost two years ,I felt a bit overwhelmed by   how lovely it is.O.K Victorian Gothic, but some lovely stonework ,carved oak
and our Altar Piece is a warm cream colour with ,very strangely ,a real likeness of the usual depiction of Jesus  with a crown of thorns.
Just veining in the marble but so like a monochrome painting .
The aChristmas tree was up,well the big one ,looking a bit bare but that is the one for the bauble service.
People are welcome ,all who want to be there ,don’t have to be regular attenders, and baubles are brought with names  attached - people  walk to the tree as their loved one’s names are read out and hang a bauble on it,with name(s) attached,it gives great comfort to people at a family time when loved ones are so missed.
The church is packed, usually.
So good to be back.

The band played a miscellany of music from American Civil war times ,mostly Confederate tunes,including one seldom heard ,” All my trials Lord,soon be over”.
I imagine it was sung by people in slavery, I heard it years ago probably fifty plus.
Joan Baez sang it.

Freezing snow now ,might be worse in the morning.
No gritting done as yet !
Thanks for your news everyone.

My second son is delighted with the new baby. His wife did not want children
but he always played with his niece and nephew ,never forgets presents etc.
He laughed at Flash Harry,last week when they brought fish and chips ,I had set the table with his small cutlery, he took one look,said nothing and put it back in the drawer and got full sized stuff out.!

Well must go to Bury to get a Belgian form signed by The Mayor, to prove I am still alive etc ,for my Belgian pension .
That will be reassuring!
See how the weather is tomorrow,.
Cheerio folks .
A nice cuppa after washing up and watch Antiques Roadshow.
Viktoria.

[candleflame]

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Well must go to Bury to get a Belgian form signed by The Mayor, to prove I am still alive etc ,for my Belgian pension .
That will be reassuring!

Viktoria.

I wonder if every mayor in the country knows they have to sign forms like that? Do they specify a mayor or can other folk sign to say you’re alive, a bit like the range of folk who can affirm passport photos. (Just curious as I’ve never lived abroad. )

[KGarrad]

I had to do the same for both my Dutch Pension and my UK State pension.
Used a "Bank official" - aka a bank employee

[Viktoria]

It is “The Leader The Council”.which is the Mayor .
The reason is because The Federal Pension Service in Belgium is notified by the local authorities about any change of address,marital status,change of Nationality ,death,,things that might change your entitlement or the amount of pension.
There is no automatic service like that between the U.K. and Belgium so we who get a pension must send the info ourselves,but verification is needed so that is why the Leader of the Council ,ie The Mayor ,must sign the return form so we are not cheating and claiming what we have - through changes - become ineligible to claim.
It is just that since Brexit nothing comes in English now, my son is still fluent in Flemish ,and for complicated forms etc that is vital.
They forget my Dad was up to his knees in muck and bullets for them!

An annoying complication is  their  tax year is January to December,.ours April to April, they want all my income in Euros and the rate of exchange  of every payment so they can see if I exceed their ceiling .
So each month when my ,for example ,works pension is in the bank I have to find the exchange rate on that day ,note it and that goes  on the yearly return to the Belgian Pensions service ,together with my State widow’s pension etc.
 But a reduced British pension of twelve years is more than made up by the twelve years contributions to the Belgian equivalent of National Insurance.
Bank statements are not so frequent any more and to back track to get the exact rate of exchange is no mean feat in itself .
I used to get a Chaps form for the Belgian one but they do not come anymore .
 
Men in Belgium who did National Service get credited with payments and can afford to retire with full pension rights years before men and now women can here .

I have had a good day today it was Monday ,all day!
 Look after yourselves , we might have testing times ahead and that is not a sick pun!
Cheerio.Viktoria.