AnneMarriott

The opposite is also irritating: "The invitation is for John and I". As you say, no-one would say, "The invitation is for I".

Same here. I still wake up in a cold sweat remembering the agony of trying to sort out problems with our bills.

Poor grammar. Contestant on a quiz show, apparently a university graduate in English and drama, claims to be a writer and when asked what she has written, says "I have wrote a play". Is it just me who wants to throw a cushion at the television?

Gangs of teenage schoolkids cavorting about in the supermarket without a mask between them. No member of staff attempting to do anything about it. Several adults guilty too (not cavorting). There's a limit to the number of glares I can muster in one shopping trip.

Done. What a good idea to set up a facility for a monthly donation!

Seriously?

Tuesday 22nd Sept 7 - 9 am Oz Ballet Cinderella, as far as I can see.

No problem with us - Sky Arts is on Channel 11 where it should be and the TV guide shows the programmes so we can set to record as usual. Hope you can get this sorted - it's a nuisance since the dance programmes all seem to be early in the morning.

Well at last! I have now rescheduled our recordings for the second time after a successful retuning. I've set to record Australian Ballet on Tuesday 22nd 7am - 9 am (for anyone who has missed it) as a trial. fingers crossed. Apart from that I haven't seen anything of interest. And I hope Alison's right, that Rhapsody and 2 pigeons will reappear some time.

We've had the same disappointing experience - and managed to clear our recording schedule!

My goodness - that puts my little spat with Corgi Homeplan in its place! What an awful set of problems. It's the time, effort and stress trying to deal with it all that's the worst part. My sympathies.

Update. To my surprise and delight a gas engineer came and serviced our boiler yesterday, on time, just as promised. Not only that, we had a call from Corgi Homeplan to check that he had turned up, and an email feedback request. Late in the day, but all very welcome.

...and who could blame her?

Can I include Corgi Homeplan here - even though not once have they mentioned the virus? I have a policy with them for boiler maintenance, part of which is an annual service. Last year it took place in May. This year in early July the boiler switched itself off. Bruce went through a rigmarole of trouble-shooting and got it going again. I started ringing Corgi to request a service. Here we are two months and numerous phone calls later - still no service. Each time I ring I'm told an engineer will contact me within 24/48 hours. Never happened. To rub salt into the wound Corgi emailed me a couple of weeks ago, with an identical follow-up letter, saying that the boiler service was now due, an engineer had been trying to contact me without success, so would I ring (the usual number) to arrange an appointment. I did so. Usual story. I rang again, this time being patched through to an engineer who undertook to come on Monday, 7th September and carry out the service. He rang on Monday morning - unable to come after all but would ring the next day to rebook. Guess what? I rang Corgi. This time the apologies had progressed from basic through deep and were now profound. The call centre lady promised to call me back personally. Guess what again. I am so cross I could spit! I tried to ease my feelings by sending an indignant email complaining bitterly and demanding a refund of part of the not-inconsiderable cost of the policy. Imagine my pleasure when I got an email back promising a reply within 72 hours. Still waiting.

Me too!

As a vegetarian I find neighbours' barbecues just as bad!

Vets - and not for the first time. I recently had my cat's blood and urine tested because of excessive drinking and weight loss. Because the results revealed nothing untoward, I was persuaded to agree to a heart scan and blood pressure measurement because of an existing heart murmur. Well I claimed on the insurance for the first set of investigations but the vet has seen fit to link the two sets of investigations together for insurance purposes under the general heading of "heart murmur". Needless to say anything connected to heart murmur is excluded from our insurance policy because it was an existing condition when we rescued the cat in the first place. So I claimed a modest amount for investigations that were (as far as I know) unrelated to the heart murmur, but the vet has apparently submitted two claims for the same investigations at the same cost with two different reference numbers. When I rang the practice to ask for clarification I was told that the vet was away so I would need to discuss it with her next week. I only hope my cat doesn't have an accident and break a leg - doubtless the vet will claim that the accident only occurred because the heart murmur slowed down her reflexes. Not happy!

Yes, a whippet bitch called Bluebell. She's described as "blue with white trim" which rather makes her sound like a Ford Anglia. She's four months old and is now allowed out in public, showing a keen interest in anything that moves at more than snail speed - cue lots of recall training! Bruce is brave enough to take her and Freddie out together, Freddie off the lead.

I'm not a cricket fan but really enjoyed reading this. Thanks, Janet!

Sparkling wit as well as wonderful photography!

I've never seen a little grebe close up - there used to be several scurrying in and out of the reeds at the water's edge here but I haven't seen one for ages. I had no idea how colourful they are! I envy you the egret - wonderful pitcture! Again, there were a pair here but I haven't seen them since last year.

By coincidence I also had a good birdy walk this morning (5 am - it's a good time to see wildlife!). A kingfisher, a heron, a pair of Egyptian geese flying along the river, a grebe (there's another plus two chicks somewhere, I hope) a solitary moorhen, usually so timid but today pootling happily around under the footbridge, and the coot family, parents and two chicks, now almost as big as the adults, who all came flying when they saw me on the bridge, hoping for food. No ducks or swans, oddly and the swifts have all gone. I heard a skylark too, such a lovely sound. Recently there has been a lot of activity of the fox and deer kind, but not today. It's so nice going out early - lots of things to see and hear and little chance of my collie/whippet cross hounding a cyclist or jogger. He thinks a challenge - they're not so sure. Heaven help me when our whippet puppy is old enough to be lot off the lead - if ever!

Also done. Very interesting survey.

That's a shame. I started to watch this but didn't have the time and decided to leave it until later. Too late!

If it were me I definitely would be crying.