WARNING - TYPOS MAY ABOUND, I LACK THE ENERGY TO EDIT THIS MORNING

 

I suppose it had to happen eventually. I put it off for as long as I could but last week I found myself forced into it. 

Yes. I bought an upright BAGLESS vacuum cleaner. Despite my collected allergies meaning a bagged vacuum with super-HEPA filters is the recommended purchase, I finally bought a bagless vacuum cleaner.

I had to. The upright bagged brand and model I need (and can afford, who is minted enough to slash out close to £500 on a vacuum cleaner, who?!) is reviewed as 5* for performance and -5 for being able to find replacement bags, belts, and filters. 

 

I surrender. After over 50 years of being the chief vacuum wielder (and oh yes let's not forget mopping and scrubbing the hard floors also being my daily), I had to give in and purchase a bagless. Still, I'm not completely stupid - rather than splash out over £100 on a vacuum of dubious performance, I chose a 'seller refurbished' British model - £45 for one listed as 'like new with all attachments'. If I discovered it to be a useless 'flog-on' item of regret at least I'd only wasted £45.

Sigh.

Still, it could be worse in a way - thanks to the bloody pandemic I have plenty of 'one use' face masks and vinyl gloves and mob caps to protect me when emptying the dust cup and washing the filter. See, silver linings (she sez with a rolled eye in sarcastic tones). 

So, yesterday afternoon the nice Hermes lady courier brought my bagless upright and my husband and I unboxed it carefully. Right, looked good out of the box - very clean and not a scratch on it. The bristles on the attachments and roller clean of accumulated dust and grime. 

I fired it up not expecting much - after all, the only reason I went looking for an upright was owing to my ageing back complaints over the use of the cylinder (canister to my American based readers). My carpets looked reasonably clean as I'd just vacuumed the day before.

Oh. Dear. My carpets haven't looked that clean in three years (when we took possession of the cottage and had the carpets cleaned first thing before moving anything into the house). I had to empty the dust cup twice yesterday afternoon - and wonder of wonders I didn't even need to don the PPE to accomplish the emptying and cleaning of filter and dust cup when I was finished vacuuming. 

 

So when/if this seller refurbished Bush British designed bagless upright vacuum packs in, I will not hesitate to buy another, this time brand spanking new. 

 

Christmas shopping is done, yesterday we retrieved one of the Christmas trees and lights from the shed. The Pantry of Doom is fully stocked as are both freezers - spoilt for choice, we can dine on either a big fat hen or a huge beef joint for Christmas Lunch and yes ma'am we do have plenty of frozen button sprouts, cranberry sauce, and even tinned green beans - about the only fresh we'll have to hope we can find Christmas week is potatoes. Oh, and apples for the pie. I finally found a source for pumpkin puree so we'll be having a pumpkin pie as well. 

 

I try to buy ahead every year - in January I start scouring the 'Net for stocking fillers and gifts, by September I'm ordering the next year diaries and Bible Verse A Day mini-calendar. By the first week of November I'm usually fully able to claim 'Christmas, done and dusted!' and all that is left is the sewing-crafting and making sure the Christmas Tree goes up Thanksgiving Night (yeppers, we do Thanksgiving in this house including decking the halls whilst a Christmas movie runs in the background). This year I wasn't the rarity on that score (pre-planning and stocking up early), I was the norm - stock shortages has everyone trying to fill pantries and freezers and Santa Sacks ahead of time in an effort to thwart the shortages.

 

Yesterday last-minute shoppers were granted something of a reprieve on the announcement British turkey farmers had managed to find enough seasonal help to ensure any table wanting a Christmas Turkey would be able to find one in their supermarket or local butcher. However, in a whisper the news presenter suggested shoppers buy now if they really want to ensure Christmas Lunch doesn't resemble something like was seen during The War Years. 

 

As it is 'only Paul and me' for Christmas Lunch, I usually do a chicken with the traditional turkey trimmings. A big one, of course, usually ordered from the local butcher. Not this year, sadly. He has retired, the shop is closed. Never again will we feast on his lovely beef olives and other delicious offerings. I've heard rumours there is a new butcher (in a different shop as they chose not to purchase Mr Bertram's) and I will have a wander around the square to give it a look-in. But I will miss our butcher and for now we're buying our meat from Morrisons - excellent quality (except the beef mince which will never compare to Bertram's!). 

Ah, for last year! We enjoyed grilled sirloin from the butcher instead of our usual chicken, and I do mean we enjoyed - it was a wonderful festive change and one we'll repeat, perhaps Christmas 2022. Other years for a change we've had stuffed pork medallions but the 'animal right activists' had been able to stop the normal castration of male piglets destined for the abattoir (and my dinner table!) - so pork the past few years has come with an utterly horrific boar taint so foul I had to replace a microwave when the stench from making boar tainted streaky bacon in it would simply not come out no matter how many Pyrex jugs of straight vinegar I boiled in it!

 

On the happiest note of 2021, we have a new grandson:) Fox and his new wife were safely delivered of a braw wee lad 1st October - I say safely as she was hypertensive PLUS Covid positive when sent to hospital two weeks early by her obstetrician. She and Fox were kept in isolation both receiving some sort of intravenous drip (yes, my beloved son also had the virus and suffered worse than his wife - but came through it without need for ICU, thank-you God and all the saints and angels), the moment the baby was delivered he was whisked to a specialty infant ICU owing to a high heart rate and fever. 

 

My newest lad is fine now, no complications and is home making normal progress according to the paediatrician, Mum is likewise doing well as is Fox (who looks utterly exhausted in every photo sent; she looks like every new natural-born mum, tired but over the moon with Mum joy:). I won't lie, Paul and I were in the grip of a well-controlled frantic until everyone was clear of the virus, home from hospital, and successive well baby checks showed the wee man as having no after-affect of the virus.

 

Late autumn is closing fast, winter really is coming and it looks as though this winter will be 'interesting' with long freezes and plenty of snow pack. Good. Bring it. I have a sledge I want to try out, and maybe a deep freeze will keep the miscreants unable to get out and terrorise the populace.

 

Homegrown yobs throwing fireworks at emergency responders on call-outs is bad enough but the taxi bomb at a Liverpool at 1059hrs Remembrance Sunday morning shocked us all to the core. The bomber has been identified as a muslim false convert to Christianity (done to allay worries the Syrian 'refugee' should be on the watch list), and the overriding concern is this horror combined with the equally horrific murder by yet another muslim of MP David Amess a few weeks ago is the beginning of sleeper cell acts of terror in the run-up to Christmas. 

 

And last week close to 2000 'dinghy people', mostly (as Lawrence Fox termed it during an interview last night on GBN) 'military aged males' swarmed into Britain via the Channel...

We NEED a harsh savage winter 2021-22. We need it for so very many reasons but most of all to slow the terrorists and dinghy people invasion.