Recipe of the week – Chicken wraps

Extremely quick and so easy to make.

Serves 2

• Cooked chicken (as much or as little as you like)
• 1 green pepper, de-seeded and cut into thin strips
• 1 red pepper, de-seeded and cut into thin strips
• 1 onion (white or red), cut into thin strips
• Schwartz Fajita Powder
• Teaspoon of oil
• 4 wraps

Heat the oil in a large frying over a medium heat. Put the chicken, peppers and onions into the pan and turn the heat up to medium high.

Cook for seven/10 minutes minutes, stirring occasionally. One minutes before the end of cooking shake over the Fajita powder. You’ll need about a dessert spoonful.

Heat the wraps in a microwave according to the instructions on the packet.

Spoon the mix into a warmed bowl and serve.

NHS time

I had an appointment yesterday at 6.30pm to see my GP. It was just a review of some new painkillers I’d been taken.

The phone rang at five past six. It was the doctors surgery.

“Hi Marie. You have an appointment with Dr Blake today at 6.30pm”.

“That’s correct”, I replied.

“Unfortunately Dr Blake is running an hour and a half late”.

The surgery closes at 7.30pm.

“I can give you an appointment for Friday morning at 10.10am”.

“I’m sorry but that’s no good”, I said.

“Ok, how about ten to seven this evening….”

Try working that one out !!!!!!!!!

Recipe of the week – Tangy lemon sponge cake

This cake is made in the same way as the ‘jam sponge, with a twist’.

The eggs, still in their shells, are weighed and whatever it says on the scales, you weigh out that amount of flour, butter and sugar.

So for a two egg cake mix if the two eggs weigh 4 and ¾ oz’s measure out 4 and ¾ oz’s of self-raising flour, caster sugar and butter/margarine. No matter what the eggs weigh always use the same weight for the flour, sugar and butter/margarine.

• Two eggs
• Self-raising flour
• Caster sugar
• Butter/margarine
• 1 level tea-spoon of baking powder
• 1 lemon, grated
• Lemon curd
• 4 table-spoons of icing sugar
• Juice of one lemon or Jiff lemon juice

Line two 7 inch/18cm round cake tin with baking parchment or non-stick liners (Lakeland sell them and they’re brilliant).

Pre-heat oven to 180º c/Gas Mk 4. Fan oven 160ºc

Weigh the eggs, still in their shells remember and whatever the eggs weigh, that’s the amount you’ll need for the flour, sugar and butter/margarine.

Put the sugar, butter/margarine and grated lemon into a bowl. Sift the flour along with the baking power into the bowl then add the two eggs.

Beat well until everything is combined and the mixture is smooth – to the point that it will drop off the spoon when you tap it against the side of the bowl.

Pour the mixture into the cake tins, trying to get the same amount in each tin (I weigh them to make sure). Make a slight well in the centre of each cake. This will stop the centre from rising too much.

Bake for 20 – 25 minutes. Try not to open the oven door during the cooking as this can stop the cakes from rising. If you think that they may be browning too much only open the door when you are past half way into the cooking time.

To check to see if the cakes are cook gently press the surface of the cake you’re your finger. If it springs back it’s cooked. You can also test it by using a skewer (or knitting needle or a piece of spaghetti). Pierce the centre of the cake and if it come out clean then it’s done.

Once the cakes are cool spread the lemon curd over one of the cakes. Try not to get the lemon curd too close to the edge as it will spread naturally to the edge when the other one is put on top of it.

Take the other cake and carefully put it on top off the lemon curd layer.

Sift the icing sugar into a bowl to get rid of any lumps. Add a little of the lemon juice or Jiff lemon juice and mix together carefully until the icing is slightly runny but is still quite thick in consistency.

Pour the icing into the centre of the cake and spread it out to the edges. Don’t worry if the icing runs over the sides. Wait until the icing has set before cutting into it.

All the weights are in ‘old money’. If you want them in Metric, you’ll have to convert it yourself….

David and Goliath

One of the exercises I do at the gym is boxing. Normally it’s with Paul or Scott my personal trainers. However this morning Scott wasn’t in and Paul had to see to an induction, so John was asked if he would like to be my partner.

As I do boxing at home John is used to being my sparing partner so he was quite happy to help.

We were half way through our boxing session in the Kinesis room when a guy came into the room to do some weight training. We got chatting to him and he explained that he was a body builder.

I told him I was impressed with the amount of weights that he was lifting and he replied that he was impressed with my boxing.

“Come and be my sparing partner”, I asked him.
“Ok”, he said, so John handed him the sparing gloves.

After fifteen seconds of me punching the gloves I could see he was finding it uncomfortable.

“Are you ok”, I asked.
“Fine”, he lied.

Another fifteen seconds of me punching the gloves and his face was showing signs of distress.

“Are you sure you’re ok”, I asked, “if it’s hurting I can stop”.
“No, carry on”, he said, through gritted teeth.

A couple more seconds later.
“How long do you normally do this for”, he winced.
“Two minutes”, I said.
The pain on his face said it all….
“I can stop after one minute if you like”, I said.
“Yes pleased”, he pleaded.

“Ten seconds to go”, said John, who was watching the clock.
I always save the best till last so was really hitting the gloves hard.

“Stop”, said John.

“I can’t move my shoulders”, cried the bodybuilder, “my muscles have seized up”.

John had to help take off his gloves as he was in so much pain.

“For being such a small person you really have got some power in those arms of yours”, he said.

It just goes to show that whilst he may have huge muscles and can lift really heavy weights, I can out punch him any day !!!!

A grovelling apology

Back in May when we went on our cruise we experienced Heathrow Airport’s ‘special assistance’ service.

John briefly mentioned some of the problems we’d had in May 20th blog ‘A tale of three airports’. However that wasn’t the end of it. You can read a full account of the farce in ‘Our cruise – part 1’ and ‘Our cruise – part 3’ over on my Joint Journal blog (just click on the link at the side of the page).

I sent a Customer from Hell letter to Heathrow’s customer service manager and received a holding ‘we are looking into your complaint and will get back to you within seven day’s’ letter.

Seven days came and no reply. 14 days came and no reply. 21 days came and no reply. I think you can see where this is going…..

What with one thing and another I’d forgotten about it. It was only when I was sorting through some old correspondences in December that I saw the letter.

I must have been in a bad mood because otherwise I would have just shredded the letter and marked it down as ‘good Heathrow’s customer service’. Instead I did a bit of digging on the internet and found out that the ‘special assistance’ service was operated by a private company.

A letter, enclosing a copy of my original letter and the one I’d received from Heathrow, was sent to the chairman – in Atlanta, America.

As I’d sent the letter on 7th December I wasn’t expecting a reply, if any, until the new year. At 4.45pm on Friday 23rd December I received a phone call from the general manager of Heathrow’s ‘special assistance’ service regarding the letter I’d sent to their chairman.

Boy was he grovelling !!!!!

He assured me that when we next travel our experience of their ‘special assistance’ will be better than last time, and as a way of an apology he would be sending me some flowers.

The flowers duly arrived and they were lovely.

A good job well done by the Customer from Hell…..

Marie

Boxing day

One of the very first things Christina, my physio, got me to do when I recently attend the neuro-physiotherapy department was to do some boxing.

Not only does it tone up muscles but it’s great for the cardiovascular system as it gets your heart pumping which helps towards loosing weight.

I took to boxing like a duck takes to water. I love it !!!!!!!

Scott my personal trainer at the gym has incorporated boxing into my exercise programme so he’s been teaching me different boxing techniques.

I’m the first to admit I hate exercising. However boxing doesn’t feel like exercising. Two of my favourite games on the wii are the boxing and the sword fighting. I must learn to do some warm up games first though as my muscles ache for days after having a good fighting session...

Santa brought the wii boxing to life as one of my presents was a boxing set comprising of jab pads, a pair of boxing gloves and a three foot punch bag.

Yesterday John set up ‘Mr Punch’ (my punch bag) so I can start punching the living day lights out of our ‘boxing list’. Whenever I’ve been boxing at either the physio or the gym I was told to think about someone I hate and imagine I’m hitting them.

To be included in the ‘boxing list’ hall of fame the person has had to actually done something to cause us grief. For example top of the list is Gordon Brown MP. If it hadn’t been for him making private pensions completely worthless John would have been able to retire from work two years ago.

So instead of imagining hitting someone, I’ve printed off photo’s of those in the ‘boxing list’ so they will be put on Mr Punch and I can hit them for real.

Time to give Gordon Brown a good thrashing !!!!!!!

Recipe of the week – Pasta bake

This is quick and easy supper dish. The crisps give it a lovely crunchy topping. You can of course make it without the crisps if you are counting the calories.

Serves 2

4oz Penne pasta

3 rashers of bacon (any kind will do), de-rined

½ pint of cheese sauce

2 packets of salted crisps, squashed into bits

Half a teaspoon of dried or fresh herbs (any kind will do as long as it’s not overpowering)

Black pepper (to taste)

Cook the pasta in boiling water for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile grill the bacon then cut into small pieces. Don’t switch the grill off.

Add the bacon, herbs and black pepper into the cheese sauce.

Drain the cooked pasta and add it to the cheese sauce.

Pour the pasta mix into warmed individual ovenproof dishes then top with the crisps.

Grill under a medium heat until the crisps are golden brown.

Alternative toppings

Sliced tomatoes: arrange over the top of the pasta and grill until tomatoes are hot.

Breadcrumbs: take 1oz of breadcrumbs and sprinkle over the top of the pasta. Grill until golden brown.

All the weights are in ‘old money’. If you want them in Metric, you’ll have to convert it yourself….

Seeing double

Further to my last blog guess what turned up on Wednesday – my cards from the former US Presidents….

Then what should arrive in the post on Thursday but yet another set of cards !!!!

As this is our last blog before the big day John and myself wish you all a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Marie

PS the ‘recipe of the week’ will return on Boxing day (or December 26^th for those reading this who are not from the UK).

No show cards

Whenever Morrison’s haven’t had any greeting cards which I like (which is most of the time) I’ve had them specially printed by one of the on-line card companies – you’ll have seen them advertised on TV.

Given the cost of cards in places like Morrisons or WHSmiths, the cost of ordering a card from one of these companies is about the same. Plus you can make them personal, which is what I like.

Having checked Morrison’s for Christmas cards – as usual nothing – both John and myself ordered cards on Sunday 4^th December. John from one company and mine from a company who’s name is a former US President.

John’s arrived on Tuesday 6^th, but mine didn’t. No worries I thought as it’s the time of year when the post is going to be delayed.

After the post had come on Wednesday 7^th I gave them a ring. They were sent out yesterday, said the little woman. The good old ‘it was sent out yesterday’... Which really meant ‘we’ve done nothing so better get it sorted today’. I was assured they would be here Thursday or Friday at the latest.

Friday’s post came and went and no cards. Time for the Customer from Hell. I always give then one chance to put things right then out she comes.

“They were sent out yesterday”, said the little woman.

“If it was sent out ‘yesterday’ how come I was told that on Wednesday”, I replied.

She thought for a while. “It looks like there’s been a computer problem”.

Another saying from the book of excuses….

“I’ll get they re-printed today and you should get them on Monday”.

“Are you sure”, I quizzed.

“Yes. You will have them on Monday”.

Monday’s post came and went and still no cards.

The Customer from Hell was beginning to get more than a little annoyed.

“They have been dispatched”, snapped the little woman, “however you rang after our next day cut-off time so they will be here tomorrow”.

“They better”, I said, “otherwise I will not be happy if I have to ring you again”.

Just to make sure I actually had some cards to give I went on to another card site and ordered some more cards. If the former US President’s came then I’d put one lot away for next year.

Tuesday’s post came and you guessed it, no cards. I decided to give them one more day just on the very slim chance that they had been delayed by the Christmas post.

Wednesday’s post came and went. Yep, no cards.

“‘Former US President. Can I help”, said the little woman.

“Can I speak to your manager please as I have a lot of shouting to do and you’re not paid enough to be shouted at”.

“Can I help”, said the ‘manager’ (I’ve no evidence it was one as she never said who she was. It could have been the cleaner for all I know…..)

I explained what had happened and told her in no uncertain terms that I was not a happy bunny.

“I can understand why you are not happy Madam”, she said, “however the cards were sent out ‘yesterday’”.

“Yesterday”, I repeated, “I’ve had enough. I want a refund”.

“Certainly Madam. I will arrange that now for you”, she said quickly, which makes me suspect that I wasn’t the first to complain, “on Thursday you’ll also receive your cards, which you can have free of charge from us”.

Thursday came and went, so did Friday, Saturday, Monday and today. Still no cards….

Whilst all this is both amusing and annoying, what would have happened if I had asked for cards to be sent straight to the recipients. I would have had no way of knowing they had not being delivered.

Naughty !!!!!

Marie

Recipe of the week – Jam sponge, with a twist

A wonderful, light, yet simple cake that is so delicious.

Here’s where the twist is. Instead of the usual two egg, 4oz mix of flour, butter and sugar that is traditional for a sandwich cake, this recipe is slightly different. The eggs, still in their shells, are weighed and whatever it says on the scales, you weigh out that amount of flour, butter and sugar.

For example, the two eggs – still in their shells – weigh 4 and ¾ oz’s. Measure out 4 and ¾ oz’s of self-raising flour, caster sugar and butter/margarine. No matter what the eggs weigh, always use the same weight for the flour, sugar and butter.

• Two eggs
• Self-raising flour
• Caster sugar
• Butter/margarine
• 1 level tea-spoon of baking powder
• Jam (strawberry, raspberry, any kind you like)
• Icing sugar

Line two 7 inch/18cm round cake tin with baking parchment or non-stick liners (Lakeland sell them and they’re brilliant).

Pre-heat oven to 180º c/Gas Mk 4. Fan oven 160ºc

Weigh the eggs, still in their shells. Whatever the eggs weigh, that’s the amount you’ll need for the flour, sugar and butter/margarine.

Put the sugar and butter/margarine into a bowl. Sift the flour along with the baking power into a bowl, then add the two eggs.

Beat well until everything is combined and mixture is smooth, to the point that it will drop off your spoon.

Pour the mixture into the cake tins, trying to get the same amount in each tin (I weigh them to make sure). Make a slight well in the centre of each cake. This will stop the centre from rising too much.

Bake for 20 – 25 minutes. Try not to open the oven door during the cooking as this can stop the cakes from rising. If you think that they make be browning too much, only open the door when you are past half way in the cooking time.

To check to see if the cakes are cook, gently press the surface of the cake with a finger. If it springs back it’s cooked. You can also test it by using a skewer (or knitting needle or a piece of spaghetti). Piece the centre of the cake. If it come out clean then it’s done.

Once the cakes are cool, spread the jam over one of the cakes. You can use as much or as little as you like. Try not to get the jam too close to the edge as it will spread naturally to the edge when the other one is put on top of it.

Take the other cake and carefully put it on top off the jam layer. Finally sift the icing sugar over the top of the cake.

This cake can easily be made bigger. If you wish to use three eggs then simply weigh them as before.

All the weights are in ‘old money’. If you want them in Metric, you’ll have to convert it yourself….

Recipe of the week – Common spice cake

Apologies for being a bit late putting up the recipe of the week, only we spent the weekend putting up the Christmas decorations.

Anyway, here’s a lovely crumbly cake which is delicious eaten when warm. It makes a great alternative the traditional Christmas cake.

• 8oz self-raising flour
• ½ teaspoon of ground mix spice
• 3oz margarine or butter
• 4oz soft brown sugar
• 4oz raisins
• 4oz sultanas
• 2oz mixed peel, chopped
• 2oz glace cherries, chopped
• 1 large egg, beaten
• ¼ pint of milk

Pre-heat oven to 180º c/Gas Mk 4. Fan oven 160ºc

Line a 7 inch/18cm round cake tin with baking parchment.

Sift the flour and mix spice together into a bowl. Rub in the margarine or butter.

Add the sugar, raisins, sultanas, mix peel and cherries to the bowl.

Next add the beaten egg and enough of the milk so that the mixture drops from a wooden spoon when shaken.

Pour into the tin and bake in the oven for 1 hour, or until a skewer comes out clean.

Leave it in the tin for five minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool.

All the weights are in ‘old money’. If you want them in Metric, you’ll have to convert it yourself….

Recipe of the week – One cup malt loaf

No complicated measuring required to make this. All you need is a cup or a mug. Just make sure you use the same one throughout.

A cup or mug of the following:

• All Bran (or supermarket’s equivalent. Please don’t use bran flakes as the texture isn’t the same.)
• Milk
• Caster sugar (use slightly less than a cupful if you want to make it less sweet)
• Sultanas or raisins
• Self-raising flour – sifted

Oven: 180º c/Gas Mk 4. Fan oven 160ºc

Line a 1lb loaf tin with baking parchment or non-stick liner (Lakeland sell them and they’re brilliant).

Start the day before you intend to make the loaf.

Put all the ingredients except the flour into a bowl and mix well. Cover with a tea-towel and leave overnight.

Stir in the flour, making sure you scrape the sides of the bowls thoroughly, and pour the batter into the loaf tin.

Bake for 1 ½ hours.

Please soak the bowl as soon as you’ve finished with it as the mix sets like concrete if left !!!!

Recipe of the week – Honey and lemon chicken drumsticks

These drumsticks are lovely and lemony and so easy to do. They are great for party food as the quantities can easily be doubled, tripled or to however many you need.

Serves 4

• 8 chicken drumsticks, skin on
• Seasoned plain flour
• 2 tablespoons of honey
• Grated rind and juice of 3 large lemons
• Oil for frying

Pre-heat oven to 180º c/Gas Mk 4. Fan oven 160ºc.

Toss the chicken onto a plate of seasoned flour then shake off any excess flour. Fry the pieces until well browned on all sides. This should take about 10 minutes.

Lay the chicken singularly into a roasting tin, drizzle with the honey and sprinkle with the lemon rind. Pour the lemon juice into the tin and bake for 35 – 40 minutes until chicken is thoroughly cooked.

Recipe of the week – Sticky chicken drumsticks

Wonderfully sticky, yummy and great party food as the servings can be easily doubled, tripled. Plus they’re so easy to make…

Serves 4

• 8 chicken drumsticks, skin on
• 2 tablespoons of soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon of honey
• 1 teaspoon of tomato puree

Heat oven to 200º c/Gas Mk 6. Fan oven 180ºc.

Make three slashes in each of the drumsticks. Put the soy sauce, honey and puree into a large sealable freezer bag and squish the freezer bag to mix everything together.

Put the drumsticks inside the bag and thoroughly squish them around the mix.

Leave to marinate for 30 minutes at room temperature or overnight in the fridge.

If the chicken has been in the fridge marinating, remove it from the fridge half an hour before you intend to cook it, to allow it to get to room temperature.

Put the chicken into a roasting tin and cook for 35 minutes, turning occasionally, until the chicken is wonderfully sticky and cooked through.

Recipe of the week – Chilled lemon tart

A beautifully creamy tart that is so easy to make.

• 3oz margarine or butter
• 8oz crushed digestive or ginger biscuits
• ½ pint of double cream
• Large tin of condensed milk (218g)
• Grated rind and juice of 3 large lemons

Serves 6 – 8

Melt the margarine/butter in a pan or microwave then stir in the crushed biscuits.

Press the biscuit mix into the base of a 8inch/20cm loose-bottomed tin. Chill for ½ hour.

If you don’t have a loose-bottomed tin, line the tin with baking parchment, allowing an overlap over the side of the tin so you can pull the tart out when it’s set.

Whisk the condensed milk and cream with the juice and rind of the lemons until thick. If you have an electric whisk it will only take a couple of minutes.

Spoon over the biscuit base. Chill until required.

This tart recipe is so versatile:

Instead of one big tart simply spoon the biscuit mix into six or eight individual glass dishes then top with the lemon mix.

You can also make a chilled lime tart by replacing the lemons with four limes.

How about a chocolate lime tart. Mix 1 oz of coco powder to the crushed digestive biscuits then decorate the top of the tart with grated chocolate.

All the weights are in ‘old money’. If you want them in Metric, you’ll have to convert it yourself….

At This Time Of Year

We're not so old in the Army List,
But we're not so young at our trade.
For we had the honour at Fontenoy
Of meeting the Guards' Brigade.
'Twas Lally, Dillon, Bulkeley, Clare,
And Lee that led us then,
And after a hundred and seventy years
We're fighting for France again!

From The Irish Guards by Rudyard Kipling

Coalition is the way of things in modern conflicts. It’s been 29 years since Britain fought a war alone, and more than a century to the one before that.

But fighting a war as part of a coalition can throw up some strange alliances. People traditionally thought of as “the enemy” can suddenly become allies and vice versa. Britain’s traditional enemy was always France, and yet in the two great wars of the 20^th Century France was our ally. Similarly we generally regarded Germany as an ally and yet …

For example :

The author JRR Tolkien (Lord of the Rings etc.) served as an officer in the Lancashire Fusiliers in 1916 and with his language skills he was often called on to question prisoners. He told of a conversation with a German soldier from the Hanoverian Regiment. The soldier pointed out the irony of how at the battle of Minden on 1759 his Hanoverians fought shoulder to shoulder with Tolkien’s Lancashires against the French.

And lets not forget that while British losses between 1914 and 1918 were 704,803 some of our allies (and enemies) losses were beyond comprehension.

Russia 1,811,000

France 1,397,800

Italy 651,000

Serbia 275,000

British Empire 251,900

Romania 250,000

USA 126,000

Belgium 58,637

Greece 26,000

Portugal 7,222

Japan 415

And from the Central Powers

Germany 2,050,697

Austria 1,100,000

Turkey 771,844

Bulgaria 87,500

I was reminded of this many years ago when I came across this war memorial in Venice. It commemorates the Italian soldiers who lost their lives fighting against the Austrians and Germans between 1915 and 1918. Note that Italy (and Japan too) fought with us in that conflict.

Recipe of the week - Sticky sausages

These are incredibly sticky and moreish. One is simply not enough….

Serves 10 – 12 people

• 2lb cocktail sausages – frozen ones are ideal
• 3 tablespoons of runny honey
• 5 tablespoons of hoisin sauce

Pre-heat oven to 200º c/Gas Mk 6. Fan oven 180ºc.

Combine everything into a bowl or large sealable freezer bag and leave to marinate for a couple of hours or overnight in the fridge.

Remove the marinated sausages from the fridge half an hour before you intend to cook it to allow it to get to room temperature.

Put the sausages onto a roasting tin which has been lined with foil (or use a disposable foil roasting tin) and cook for 35 – 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Allow to cool slightly before you try to eat them as they will be very hot !!!!

All the weights are in ‘old money’. If you want them in Metric, you’ll have to convert it yourself….

Recipe of the week – cheese sauce and garlic bread

I mentioned in last week ‘recipe of the week – lasagne’ that I had a short cut for cheese sauce. Here it is…

There’s a wonderful product on the market called ‘sauce flour’ which makes perfect cheese sauce every time. It’s made by a company called ‘Carr’s’ or Sainsbury’s do their own brand.

To make cheese sauce all you do is add one heaped tablespoon of the sauce flour and 1oz of cheese, chopped into small pieces or grated, to a pan with ½ pint of milk.

Whisk until the sauce comes to a boil. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for three minutes.

You can also make the sauce in the microwave. Measure out the milk into a microwavable jug then add the flour and cheese.

Cook on High, whisking every 30 seconds, until you get the consistency you require. It should take about 2 ½ - 3 minutes.

Garlic Bread

A really quick and easy way to make garlic bread

Serves 2

• 1 part baked baguette
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped or grated or pressed through a garlic press
• 1 dessertspoon of low fat spread
• ½ teaspoon of dried herbs (mix herbs are ideal)

Cook the baguettes as per their instructions. Allow to cool.

Pre-heat the grill to high.

Half the baguette then cut each piece horizontally.

In a small bowl add the low fat spread, garlic and the dried herbs. Mix well.

Spread the garlic ‘butter’ over the four baguette pieces.

Place under the grill until the garlic ‘butter’ has melted and the baguette is golden brown.

All the weights are in ‘old money’. If you want them in Metric, you’ll have to convert it yourself….

It’s gym Jim but not as we know it

This morning I did something which I never thought I’d ever do – I joined a gym !!!!!

A couple of months ago when I went to see my GP I explained that I was having problems with my weight. Because I’m not moving around as much I’m not burning off calories, so the excess weight was giving me a rather large spare tyre…..

“I know just the thing”, said Dr Blake, “I’ll arrange some neuo-physio for you and I’ll refer you onto the Sunderland Exercise Referral Programme”.

Twice a week I attend a hourly neuo-physio session with Christina at the Royal Hospital (full details will appear in the Joint Journal in the coming weeks) where she gives my abs, my cardio-vascular system and everything from the waist up a good workout.

The Referral Programme consists of fifteen weeks – with a personal trainer at a gym….

This morning ‘Scott’ my personal trainer handed me my gym membership card (again full details will appear in the Joint Journal in the coming weeks).

I can’t believe it – me a member of a gym !!!!!!

Marie

Daylight robbery

I got an email from our energy supplier E-off (name changed to protect the guilty !!) to say our latest bill was ready to view online.

I did and we were £176 in credit.

A couple of days later I received a letter from E-off to say that they had reviewed our monthly direct debit payments and were going to put our payment up from £76 a month to £106 a month.

I appreciate that energy companies have put up their prices recently, however wanting an extra £30 a month is not on. So I gave them a ring.

“I’m sorry Mrs Harper but the payment increase is not negotiable”, said the snotty little man.

“That’s never been the case in the past”, I replied.

He typed away on his computer, “I can reduce it down a little by £2 extra a month so you would be paying £104 instead”.

“There’s no way I’m paying that”, I said defiantly.

“You could do try and do something to reduce your energy consumption”, he said, patronisingly, “get a new boiler”.

“Got one”.

“Loft insulation”.

“Got it”.

“Turn down your boiler thermostat”.

“We have”.

“Get cavity walls fitted”.

“We can’t. There’s rubble between the bricks”.

“I’m afraid you’ve just lost yourself a customer”, I said, “if you insist that I have to pay an extra £30 a month then you leave me no choice but to change energy suppliers”.

No doubt he’ll have heard this all before, however I’m a person who does not do idle threats. I actually carry them out.

Half an hour later and we have saved £170 a year by switching to Scottish Power….

Later that day I got a telephone call. It was E-off.

“I understand Mrs Harper that you are switching energy suppliers to Scottish Power. Is that correct”.

“It is”.

“Could you tell me why you are doing so”.

I told him. He then started blabbering on about how competitive E-off were compared to Scottish Power.

"If that's the case how come I can save £170 by switching to them. I'm sorry but you have lost a customer. Please excuse me as I'm in the middle of eating my dinner. Good bye...."