Home Insurance

Last year we paid just over 86 pounds for building and contents insurance and I was determined to keep the cost for this year down too.

Home insurance has risen quite a bit this year and our old insurer had increased the premium by close to 90 pounds. We have not made a claim the entire time we have been here so I thought that that was a bit steep.

Off to Moneysaving expert website to see which order they recommended the comparison websites be searched and then when I had found a good price off to Topcashback and Quidco to see if I could get any money off. Result, I managed to get new home insurance for just over 87 pounds with better cover than last year, so I was well pleased.

Checking all the comparison websites and all the insurers who do not appear on these sites is a touch tedious and as usual led to an increase in the number of calls from insurers promising to 'beat your renewal quote' but the never can !

However, the whole process took under 2 hours and saved pounds, definitely a good hourly rate for a little bit of work and I don't have to think about again until next year. Now for the car insurance !

Blackberry Jam

It always surprises me when I see blackberries ripe in August but there were lots close to home when we got back so after picking the blueberries in the garden and using them to make muffins, we went off to pick blackberries. There were so many we easily filled a bowl and will after go back as the sun is shining and I'm sure more will ripen quickly.

We picked more than 2 lbs and I used them to make this simple jam.

Blackberry Jam

1kg berries

1kg sugar

2 tbsps lemon juice

Slowly warm the berries and sugar until all the sugar is dissolved then bring to a rolling boil and boil for 20 minutes until setting point is reached. Leave to cool for 5 minutes to re-distribute the berries then pot into sterilised jars.

Yum Yum !

Another nice surprise !

Another nice surprise on our return home was the arrival of this quarter's Tesco vouchers. We don't shop much there but use the Tesco bank credit card and pay the balance off every month so we can get the points on purchases elsewhere. I realised that with the new points and the ones I had, I could get a free magazine subscription. As we like magazines so much, getting a free subscription is a good way for us to use the vouchers. I've already got a subscription to National Geographic, which we all enjoy and Kitchen Garden magazine, which comes with free seeds, so even better !

This time I chose Prima as it often has good craft and baking ideas coming up to Christmas and I have a whole folder of ideas saved from previous years, it also comes with a free dressmaking pattern for subscribers so that it is extra value too ! Lovely to get a treat for free !

Surprises !

Still rather tired after all that travelling but cannot complain as we were upgraded to the premium cabin so we could all sit together on a very full flight ! Master and Mr Shoestring took full advantage of the meals service on offer but as a result got no sleep on the overnight flight and are jolly tired !

One of the first things we did on our return was to open up all the post and discover that in our absence they had been to read the newly accessible water meter and discovered that they owed us 130 pounds ! Our monthly bill will also go down by a third, so a lovely surprise !

The second lovely surprise was that it has been a sunny start to Summer and the solar panels have earned us another 210 pounds !

Then there were several freebies in the post, the blackberries are ripe and the hotel in Toronto which overcharged us has refunded us the full amount. So all in all a lovely set of surprises to return to. Not to forget Miss Shoestring prepared a surprise as well and has completely re-designed the games room !

Great ! It's lovely to come home after a holiday and not get that 'let-down' feeling !

The other lovely feeling is that I know how this computer works and can see the screen when I'm typing so there should be fewer strange spellings now !

Home again

Normal service will resume after jet lag !

Kingston Ontario

Last beautiful stop before flying ho.e tonight. The city is where Lake Ontario meets the St Lawrence
Certainly rilovelynd we have a lake view ! Couple of small niggles when we arrived the bed for Master Shoestring had not been made up and they charged double the room rate to my debit card promising to refund what we don't spend when we. Check out , why do h o tells always do this ?

Packing light

Now it is time to pack up for the return journey I'm again thankful that we are travelling with hand baggage only. Packing 3 t shirts a pair of trousers and a skirt and a cardigan is not. Very much work. I so took  swimsuit and a pair of pyjAmas. I wear a blouse, another pair of trousers and a fleece. I cArry a lightweight raincoat and a small rucksack with medicines and toiletries. That plus 3 pAirs of pants and socks have been fine for 3 weeks. You always need less than you think !