Frustating times.

Why do large companies insist on making life difficult. I ordered broadband for my mother just over a month ago, she has still not received the modem. I have made several phone calls and sent several emails and eventually lost my temper and told them to cancel the order this was the reply:

Thank you for your email. We apologise for the delay in the response.

Unfortunately we are not able to cancel an entire contract due to the failure of Royal Mail to deliver the equipment package.

I rang them to try to make them understand that it was their customer service at fault but all they would do was insist that they send another modem. I give them until Friday....

I then decided that I would check my bank account as I was sure that it needed money moving. I have a 7 digit security number but the stupid system was asking me for the 8th digit, I tried 3 times and, of course locked it. Telephone again, eventually after several numbers and the music was told that nobody could unlock it or even look at it except at the branch and I would need ID. Luckily the bank was empty and it was easy to do but what a palaver.

Next was the dentist who had put a temporary filling in 5 weeks ago. He asked how it was and I said fine, no discomfort, no pain and I didn't look forward to the full filling. I couldn't believe it when he said that in that case as it looked good and firm he couldn't see any point in maybe causing me pain and discomfort so we could just forget it until it was a problem. (I thought nhs dentists got paid by piecework). What a lovely man.

I was so pleased by that I rushed to the allotment, dug up some beetroot took them home, cooked them and had a delicious beetroot sandwich. The perfect end to a rubbish day.

Tomorrow

She says she will definitely go tomorrow. She will have to, there is no food left in the freezer now.

Thanet life

Well, I see that Eastcliff Richard is in for an exciting weekend but mine is even better, there are so many things to do in Thanet. My daughter and I did a stall at the church fete this afternoon and tomorrow she is doing a bootfair which I have to help with ( I can't wait). But she has promised to move up to London tomorrow afternoon so at least I can manage a few hours on the allotment and might even come back for the second half of the England match.

An exciting weekend

What a lot of activity in Thanet this weekend.

I walked around Minster open Gardens on both Saturday and Sunday. It is the best opportunity to be nosey and either praise or criticise what other people do to their gardens ( always praise to their face ,of course!). Funnily enough it is nearly always the smaller gardens that are more creative and interesting, I only saw one very large one that was good but he had split it into several areas so that one could never see it all at the same time. There is nothing exciting about a vast expanse of lawn with shrubs around the edge. I must get some Sisyrinchium, they were everywhere but so pretty.

And then there was Cliffsend Garden Club Summer Show, which was unfortunately not very well attended and it is such a shame when so much work goes into staging these shows.

My sister is staying with me for a few days and for some bizarre reason got bored with gardens, so I dropped her and my daughter off in Broadstairs so that they could do girlie things like hairdressers and shopping. That meant going past the airport several times and there were a lot of planes around. Watching the Red Arrows land and park is a beautiful sight. The back-up team stands to attention as soon as they land and the parking sequence is perfectly timed like a dance.

Half way

Well the rest of a nearly full packet of Qualcast mower blades and gallons of perspiration later, I deserve this cup of tea. It really is too hot out there still.




The blue border is beginning to come good now though









Anyone know where the best place to buy replacement blades is?

Heat

I went to the allotment early yesterday (I will never get there as early as the retired gentlemen though). But I stayed too long and although I arrived home before midday I still got burnt. My daughter was just thinking of getting up at that time, along with prize headache, so she missed out again (her idea of a tan will never materialise as it was then too hot to go out).

I invited guests for dinner last night and had already bought a joint but cooking it with accompaniments involved me running from the kitchen after every 10 minutes and splashing myself with cold water. But it was lovely to sit in the garden all evening chatting and imbibing even if this morning I had the headache. At least the numbers still added up at work this morning.

It has nearly cooled down enough for me to go and tackle the front lawn now(once the Archers has finished). It is about 2 foot high as it is full of spring bulbs that can't be mowed until June so it may be a bit every day this week.

Links

Well, after the honour of being added to Thanet Blog List I decided to try adding it as a link. I got very hot and bothered and had to have several tries but got there in the end. I think it might be the only one, even though I enjoy most of the other bloggers. Skin of Stars said I had to "get down and dirty with the code" but I think I will just get dirty with my compost instead, it's easier.


And anyway why do I keep going on about my loud and brash summer gladioli when the dainty, little late sping flowering Gladiolus byzantinus has suddenly produced it's pretty deep magenta flowers with the onset of this lovely weather we are having.

Yesterday, when I got back from work, I suggested to my daughter that we go back to the allotment. I knew that I might be pushing my luck and I was right, so I took her to the station as she felt London was calling for a couple of days. She might be back for the weekend so I will try again then.

Amazing

Well, it really is amazing how far those gladioli bulbs pinged. I am finding them in the strangest of places one was perfectly placed in the middle of a hosta (or should that be an hosta).

What is even more amazing is that I persuaded my daughter to come and help me dig my allotment. The idea of exercise to get fit and a suntan at the same time were the promise. And when the courgette plants (which were screaming to get out of their pots) went in she was so delighted at the idea that she has promised to come again.