Doodle

Hi Sue, Just thought that I'd let you know that our papers arrived today and were posted on the 2nd as they said with the correct address so I have to eat humble pie! Hope yours arrive shortly. Mrs KG

Thanks, I contacted Teignbridge to ask if they'd been posted only to receive a very apologetic reply that having confirmed they had received the forms (a confirmation email to say the scanned forms were acceptable some weeks ago) they could not find them and that we would need to resend by 12 noon to be in the 2 June batch to be sent out. I duly did this and got a scanned letter reply by email (addressed correctly) that stated the address in the body of the letter that the forms are being sent to - guess what, yep, incorrect address - I doubt we will be able to cast our vote at this rate - and I thought it was only france that made such c*** ups! Mrs KG

and for the first time I visited a Districentre a few weeks ago and was amazed at the amount of 'stuff' ie bins, cushions, coconut mats, nick-nacks etc etc etc that had the Union flag on them. It was like wandering along Carnaby St in the 70s although better quality then I think. That said there is quite a lot of it in Hyper U as well. Mrs KG

Judith, when did you receive your forms? We've not had ours yet so maybe I need to chase. Thanks Mrs KG

Ditto, ice on the windows, warm water bottles on the pipes in the bathroom, woolly jumpers and several of them on top of each other. Bedsocks and a wooly hat as I had bronchitis as a child. I used to get sent off with a little round flat metal can to get parafin from the local shop for the little parafin heater that we had in the hallway, and then sent off to the post office to get some 'tanners' for the meters - gosh you've brought back memories and really we were only in this situation because my dad died when I was 10 and so my mum worked nights (SRN) as it paid more and we took in six students as we lived near to a university. I too watched last night's programme and it amazed me how cold these ladies said they were and IMO not surprising as they didn't look as though they were wearing much and not what I would call warm clothes. I had no sympathy for the lady that was about to get a pay meter installed as she had received several letters from her supplier over 11 months for unpaid bills and not once had she bothered to contact them by phone or letter. Now let's see a programmed that shows the plight of some of the really poor OAPs. Mrs KG

Hello Nick, No at the time around 15 + years ago I did not know about the changes. I worked as a PA to the Finance Director of a large life insurance company & the OH also worked in the finance industry and so fortunately paid into private pension funds for many years and was given very good up to date advice re pensions private & state. We also asked for a state pension statement/forecast so that we could plan ahead for early retirement so that we might live reasonably on our pots and I agree with you that everyone should ask for a pension statement. I was just fed up with the government/IDS 'fiddling' around with the state pension yet again and so decided to do something totally out of my character and that was to write to IDS to make the point. Maybe my sympathy is for you as I think I may come out with more per week than perhaps you will that's if the Brexit doesn't give the government another reason to have a fiddle ! - I want to insert the 11th icon in here but i can't for some reason Wink or pull my tongue out at you!

Hello all, well I think this is a very interesting topic and so I thought that I'd add my tuppence! If you haven't the time or inclination to read all of the letter via email that I sent to IDS a couple of years ago then do read the bit at the bottom as it may just make you giggle a little maybe we should trust what search engines tell us! Mrs KG Private Office to The Rt Hon Iain Duncan Smith MP
Tel: 0207 340 4000 (switchboard)
Fax: 0203 267 5091 
Email: ministers@dwp.gsi.gov.uk Hello IDS, Having never written to an MP before I now find that the time has come to let off some steam! Has the government thought the pensions changes through thoroughly? How can anyone make plans for retirement when in the last few years the following changes to receiving the OAP have taken place. THE 1ST CHANGE TO AFFECT MY STATE PENSION I was born in May 1955 ie one month late in order to collect my pension at 60 a loss of 5 years. Your pension statement explained - July 2009 Part of the Department for Work and Pensions - page 11 "The first change is that the age at which women reach State Pension age will gradually increase to 65 the same as for men. This increase will happen in stages between 2010 and 2020, and will affect you if you are a woman born on or after 6 April 1950 but before 6 April 1955. If you are a woman born on or after 6 April 1955 but before 6 April 1959, your State Pension age will be 65." THE 2ND CHANGE TO AFFECT MY STATE PENSION I now loose another year, a loss of 6 years in total Pension age will increase to 66 Equality Impact Assessment January 2011 http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/when-the-pension-age-will-change.pdf "As a result of these changes, women born from 6 April 1953 to 5 April 1960 and men born from 6 December 1953 to 5 April 1960 will have a higher State Pension age than if no change to the current timetable was made." 3RD CHANGE TO AFFECT MY STATE PENSION https://www.gov.uk/state-pension/eligibility "To get the full basic State Pension you need 30 years worth of contributions or credits. These are your ‘qualifying years’. If you have fewer than 30 years your State Pension will be less than £107.45 per week." I breathe a sigh of relief as I have worked full time since I was 15 and stopped working at 51.5 years as my husband took early retirement at that point. 4TH CHANGE TO AFFECT MY STATE PENSION - Jan 2013 "People will have to make 35 years' worth of National Insurance contributions to qualify for the more generous weekly retirement payments from 2017, up from 30 years now. At the moment, an individual begins to build up state pension entitlement after one year of NI contributions, but under the new system this will be increased to 10 years. The minimum state pension will be £41 a week in today's money, based on 10 years of NI contributions". I take back my sigh of relief as I now need 35 years worth of contributions. I now find I am short of 35 years by 2.5 years. So, at the moment the government has gained six years of not having to pay for my OAP. Plus the government is going to pay me less due to me having worked full time for 36.5 years approx but as the first 4 years do not count (started work aged 15) I have not achieved the 35 years now needed. PS I don't know whether my husband will contact you separately as he now finds he will have to wait an extra year to collect his OAP and having thought that working 33 years from the age of 19 he would collect a full state pension he finds that is now WRONG ! So the government is doing quite well out of this household. We have never had children so therefore have not collected any benefits from the state in this respect. PS as a somewhat amusing end to my gripe, I did a search for Ian Duncan Smith on the link below and was rather bemused to the suggestion on the search site 'did you mean' 'Ian Redundancy Smith' !!!!! http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/search/apachesolr_search/ian%20duncan%20smith?filters=tid%3A1165 You'll be getting my vote every time !! Kind regards,

Thanks Chancer that now makes sense of that conversation. Mrs KG edit sorry for the double entry - not sure what I did/didn't do!!

Thanks Chancer that makes a great deal of sense of that conversation. Mrs KG

What does the french expression 'pigeon' actually mean. I was trying to explain to a french lady that someone had been 'taken for a ride' to which she drew a finger across her forehead and said the phrase was 'je ne suis pas un pigeon' or at least I think that's what she said. Could someone enlighten me please. Thanks, Mrs KG

Just wanted to thank you all for your info. I did use bison fute as suggested and of course my map book setting off very early. Journey took 3+ hours instead of two but we saw hardly any traffic and had a very pleasant journey using all the 'D' roads. We even had time to have a pizza in Pleurtuit, & a very quick visit to St Lunaire for some lovely sea air before putting her on the plane! Came home via the usual route and all was as normal. Mrs KG

I have to get my mother to the airport at Pleurtuit tomorrow (23rd). Leaving from near Lassay Les Chateaux. I will leave early morning just in case we get stuck somewhere (have to be at the airport for 3:30pm) Anyone know what roads are due to be blocked by the farmers on route to the airport? Or if someone can point me in the direction of a site on the internet for info I would be grateful. I will take the scenic route for most of the journey in the hope of missing out the main blockades. I don't have satnav! I use the good old map book! Mrs KG

Hi, Thanks for that. I looked it up and as they don't appear to harm the trees they can carry on crimping! Mrs KG

Hi all, My lilacs look like someone has nipped in during the night with pinking scissors and pinked every leaf edge - quite unbelievable even if pretty! Anyone know who the culprit might be? thanks, Mrs KG

Thanks for the much appreciated info CK. I have to take the car as I have to collect a weighty item 63kg, Chris

Hi all, I have to go to Jersey for the day with the car sometime during the next 3 weeks (not visited previously). Just wondering if anyone has done a day trip at this time of year and which ferry company did you use and any recommendations would be helpful. Thanks Chris

Thanks andyh4 for the info and I have now changed my password. Chris

I have just received the same notification and wondered if like you and GG that it was a scam and so have also done nothing. Chris

A friend just sent me this link and wow I think it's just brilliant. http://www.nzwide.com/swanlake.htm Chris

[quote user="woolybanana"]Apparently, Nigella's cakes go better with a little white powder on them![/quote] Surely not talc?

Definately prawn cocktail even if it does smack of the 70s as we love it. No idea what the main will be yet. The usual cheese board. For pudd there will definately be a Nigella's spruced up vanilla cake. I wanted to make it last year having seen her Christmas TV programme but guess lots of others felt the same way as the shops had sold out of the pans. Managed to get one from Amazon last April! Was a bit apprehensive of whether it would come out of the tin complete or whether it might be turned into a bread and butter pudding, however I tried it out last week and it just plopped onto the plate in tact - result! There will also be Nigella's Nutella Hazelnut Cheesecake - absolutely delicious, easy to make and it can be frozen so I'll make that in advance. and...I have just discovered Laiterie Les Secrets Fraise & Chantilly sorbet ice cream - ahhhh lovely lovely - can you tell I have a very sweet tooth? oh and not forgetting plenty of booze! Happy Christmas everyone....................

I've just made some of these for UK visitors and some french neighbours - they all loved them (so did I) and so I had to confess to them that it wasn't a recipe I'd made up and had to hand them the recipe book with pens and paper - do try them as they are not difficlut to make and I think the next best thing to an english bacon and egg sarnie! http://eatlittlebird.com/2012/04/19/croque-madame-muffins/

[quote user="Gengulphus"]There is a clip of his Petit Pâté de Porc des Cévennes (with chestnuts, etc.) here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bpgr3W59xE8&list=PL75979A2D1505E454&index=31 (But I don't have a television  -  so I can't tell if it is the same thing… )[/quote] That's the one - thank you although it's taken from the TV series and he doesn't give measurements but I can probably work it out from watching the clip although I usually mess up with guess work !!

[quote user="Pierre ZFP"]Do you know which episode it was? Some of the recipes can be found here but they're quite old http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/programmes/b00mx9xb [/quote] Thanks, but I have checked and it's not on their site.

Wednesday evening I watched Masterchef The Professionals and saw Michel Roux jr make a french pork pie with apple and chestnuts and a british salad cream as one of the tests for the chefs. It looked lovely and I wonder if anyone on the forum knows where I can find the recipe for both items. I've googled but can't come up with anything except his venison pie. I can't remember all of the ingredients and he purposely didn't give any quantities. Thanks.