OLD FREINDS AND NEW AT THE CAFE AVIE

We managed a lovely long lie in in spite of Pa's hospital appointment and our breakfast of piklets with maple syrup and cream was a merry meal, during which a nice young man appeared to finish the decorating. We asked him to join us for breakfast but he seemed a little shy and said that he did not want to intrude,

With breakfast over I baked the days bread and washed the dishes,a knock at the door proved to be a regular breakfast visitor for whom I had saved some of yesterdays potato cakes. With coffee on the go I asked to young decorator if he would like to join our other guest and he sniffed the air appreciatively and said that he would love to.

They ate heartily and finished of with some cookies both men were decorators by proffession and so they rattled away happily as they ate, and my son came down stairs to join them. There followed a spirited discussion on the short comings of the Government and a general critique on the arrant stupidity of our maintenance manager, they had a lot to talk about.

As they chatted I made another pot of coffee and labelled the latest batch of preserves then off they went back to their respective employment and I to mine.
Pa arrived home from the hospital with a good report, a rare event which made my day I made him a cup of tea and then set out pt delivery a loaf to a friend at the garden centre.

I always enjoy looking around especially at this time of year when the Christmas display is on. Each year I spend hours looking at all the lovely things, today They had the most amazing carved wooded tree lit from inside with tiny lights, it was beautifully made and I did so want to buy it,but we already have so many decorations that it would have been too self indulgent, I was good for once and resisted the temptation.

On my return home I turned the corner of the path at my usual speed and ran straight into a large can of paint...whoops! It had not been there when I left and it turned out that Pa had moved it to allow himself space to bring in the recycle boxes. I really must learn to slow down on the corner but you know what they say about women drivers... in my case it is all too true. We cleared up the mess by scraping up the gravel and sealing up the pebbles and paint in an old blood fish and bonemeal container and all seems to be well .

I popped the kettle on to make after noon tea and no sooner had the water hit the pot that another visitor arrived, I think this one has a crystal ball as he never fails to appear when I brew some Yorkshire tea, how else would he know. The decorator joined us and it was tea and biscuits all round after which the young man tidied up his paints and ladders and left for the day with a jar of elderberry jelly and a fresh cottage loaf, good workers are worth the looking after I always say.

Throughout the afternoon people drifted in and out, the teapot never had a chance to cool down and the cookie jar full this morning was down to the lastdozen or so.
I had done so much entertaining that have done precious little else all day and yet it has been a relaxed and happy day, what could be better than a house full of friends and after the strain of these last few weeks I welcome a break from routine.

The Café Avie was not quite finished for the day and a large toad in the hole with baked beans constituted our evening meal with a slice of apple cake for afters, a real taste of Autumn.

Tonight is Fright Night when we all huddle around the television in my bedroom eating jelly beans and watching a horror film or two. This is a long established tradition recently reinstated after a lapse of a couple of years due to the constraints of time. We decided that family time was much more important that the other things we had to do so break out the jelly beans and open the popcorn tonight we meet “The Mummy”....eeeeeeeek!

AUTOMATED ANSWERING SYSTEMS SUCK

It was a cheery group who sat down to a a breakfast of hot buttered potato cakes this morning.
My son had had a bloody awful night at work, and I had been kept awake by arthritic pain but were in a mood to enjoy ourselves and that is exactly what we did. After breakfast and with the dishes done I put the kettle on for coffee, my son went of to finish reorganising his library and Pa sat down to open his mail.

RED ALERT! RED ALERT! Pa had received a communication about his bank account. “So what?” I here you ask, as well you may. Why such consternation over such a trivial event?
Simply this Pa does not have an account with the branch who had written to him.

Well of course we all began to imagine that Pa was a victim of identity theft and the obvious thing to do was to call the bank in question, yes.......NO! You see the bank has an automated service which asks for your account number before it will put you through and as I said earlier Pa does not have an account with this bank.

After much messing about he used the old trick of hashing his way through the numerous questions. This has the effect of buggering up the automated system which then puts you through to ...A REAL PERSON......

Pa told the REAL PERSON what had occurred and voiced his fears as to being a victim of identity theft. The REAL PERSON told him that he would have to take the letter to his nearest branch,Pa told the REAL PERSON again that he did not have a branch. Once again he was told to take it to his nearest branch. Pa asked the REAL PERSON if he could check if there really was a bank account in his name and was told to.......Take it to his nearest branch. Pa asked if this was the best that The REAL PERSON could do and was told yet again that it could be sorted out at his nearest branch. Since the REAL PERSON had and even smaller range of answers that the automated system poor Pa was still in the dark and now faced a long trek in to Town.

My son wizard that he is solved the problem at once. He too hashed his way through the daft questions and when he was connected with a REAL PERSON explained that Pa was handicapped and drove straight through all the “Take it to your local branch ”routine to reach there truth. Pa it seems many moons ago had an account with a small bank that has since been taken over by the branch which contacted him and so he does indeed now have a savings account with this bank after all. Why then could not the robotic REAL PERSON who answered the first call have bloody well said so for Gods sake.

If there is on thing I detest more that and automated system it is a twit on the other end of the line who's training only permits him to repeat parrot fashion a couple of daft phrases.
You can imagine them when they arrive home after a day at work.

Wife..”Did go have a good day dear.​”
REAL PERSON. You will have to call your nearest branch and ask them.

Wife: “Fancy an early night dear?”
REAL PERSON : “You will have to call your nearest branch about that madam.

APRICOT COOKIES

Yesterday I tried out a new cookie recipe on some real experts, my son;s work colleagues and I confess to being a little nervous, thankfully they went down well with those lovely people and a number have even asked for the recipe so here goes

4oz butter
2 oz caster sugar
4 oz flour
2 oz soft dried apricots chopped
apricot jam

Beat the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy then stir in the apricots and the flour.
Roll on to walnut sized balls and place on a greased baking tray leaving about two inches around each one. Make a well in the middle using the handle of a wooden spoon dipped in water. You may have to jiggle it about a little if the handle is small and be sure not to go through to the bottom. spoon a little jam in to the holes, I found a coffee spoon worked best and then carefully press down with a fork dipped in hot water. It is best to press around the jam not on it or the jam squirts out.

Bake at 175 o C for about fifteen to twenty minutes, allow to cool for a couple of minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool. Good luck. Love Avie x.
Oh yes, thanks Liam for you kind compliment on the cookies, I am so glad you liked them. I have another new kind to try next shift which I hope you will enjoy.

I have spent the day attempting to get back to normal but some how I still have the galloping horses in my tummy and a crowd of thoughts prevented me from sleeping last night until around four in the morning. Even so it was nice to know that we are safe in our home again and I felt overwhelmingly happy every time I though about it, I made some coffee and ate a couple of cookies at two and then watched a film until at last I fell asleep. I had not realised just how worried and unhappy I had been until it finally sank in to my befuddles brain that it was over.

I made a big batch of chutney this afternoon with Jan's tomatoes it turned out well and I shall send you some jars next shift.

I am so looking forward to next week, our first for a long time without the threat of losing our home, this place is so very dear to us all, and I am like a happy snail in my little shell.
Next week we shall revel in our new found peace and each others company in Avie,s small world.

Just one more thing Homme de plume, thank to for caring so much about my battles, it is good to have someone cheering me on, and please write some more your blog is amazing.

QUIET VICTORY

So many things have happened this week that it has seemed preternaturally long, the fights with the decorators and the head gardener ,the meeting and its aftermath seem to have happened a long time ago and to someone else. I am overwhelmed by a feeling of unreality which coupled with a tiredness such as I have not felt since the morning my son was born makes me feel that I could sleep for a week.

Today I tried to forget all that has happened but details keep flooding back, it seems impossible to push them away. I went about my usual chores, the bread making, breakfast and then I made a large batch of potato cakes for breakfast on Monday.
Still feeling tired to death I decided to clean the oven, a poxy old job at the best of times, yet although I felt happy with the result my mind still whirled until I felt giddy. Although we cannot now be thrown out of our house by the estate but we are still fighting to keep them from building on the kitchen garden, so I had best pull myself together, pronto!

On Monday when my son begins his week off we shall have a quiet celebration to mark our victory and then I must begin to organise the meeting between our M.P. and the locals which is taking place in mid November, to further our save the garden campaign ...no rest for the wicked you see!

The one thing of which I am sure is that this episode shows that one person can take on a great organisation and beat them at their own game. I advise anyone who is the victim of a bully at work or at school to stand up for your self and make a fuss. If you work for an unreasonable employer who asks too much for too little...and these days there are a lot of them about.....remember that without people like you making money for them they are nothing, it is a fair bet that they could get rid of most of the management and no one would notice! You are important. Stand together, make a noise,work to rule, whatever it takes to make them listen. Stay within the law and you cannot go wrong.

My battle with Pa's employer has now caused others who have suffered as we have to take courage and speak out and at last things are beginning to change. I just wish that they had joined us at the beginning , things would have been dealt with much sooner had they done so I am certain.

Pa went out to buy seed for our garden birds this after noon and returned with a bunch of the most beautiful fresias I have ever seen and all mixed with gypsophilla and asparagus fern. I have them in my bedroom and very fine they look too.

With new made bread being available I made a rich leek and potato soup with chicken stock to give extra flavour, so warming now that the weather has turned chilly, I had hoped to make and apple cake but ran out of time, oh well, there is always tomorrow, I hope.

THE BATTLE OF AVIES COTTAGE IS WON

We won,we won and I still cannot believe it, after all this time and after so much heart ache we won.
Today I received a letter from the head of H.R. Informing me that all my requests were to be met. We are to receive apologies from both the Estate Manager and the Maintenance Manager our shrubbery is not to be touched and we shall not lose our home.

Great was the rejoicing when the news came through and many the visitors who came with congratulations throughout the afternoon,it has been a wonderful day for us.

This means of course that there will be no future trouble as should any one step out of line again we have their admissions that they have been harassing us for some years and will have no leg to stand on in court. Oh how I hope that they will leave us alone now to get on with our lives.

Weather this will have any baring of the estates plans for our orchard and kitchen garden I cannot say but is it very likely that they will not wish to cause us any more upset so we have hope. We also have our Member of Parliament and several Of our Local Councillors coming to a meeting about that very subject in mid November so watch this space.

Baking this afternoon was tricky as the guests came and went eating the cookies as fast I they left the oven. However I did eventually get h=ahead and now have plenty of cookies in the tins. Today I tried a new recipe , the cookies contain chopped apricots and each has a little well of apricot jam in the middle. Judging by the way in which our guests devoured them I should say n they they are pretty good. The real cookie experts, my son's work colleagues will try them over the weekend, I hope the like them.

I tried out the cookie recipe I was given recently and I must say they were delicious and I shall definitely be making a batch for the cracker tin this Christmas as they are perfect for cheese.
I should like to thank Jan for the wonderful bag of tomatoes , both plum tomatoes and beef tomatoes were most welcome. I am making another batch of chutney over the weekend and they will be a fine addition to the mixture. Thanks again Jan I shall be sure and send you a jar of the chutney.

For now though I feel very tired, as it someone sneaked up behind me and cut the strings!
Tomorrow perhaps I shall begin to believe in our victory, now I just want to sleep for a week.
Before I do I give you a toast ladies and gentlemen .So perish all our enemies!

A RAGING CALM

After the turmoil of the past few weeks today has been unbelievably quiet and stressed as I was from yesterdays fracas I decided to give myself an easy day. Bread was needed but that is quite a pleasant task and afterwards Pa and I had our breakfast of pancakes together in perfect peace.

Ni ether of us felt much like work and so Pa played around with his computer for a while and I went out for a ride in the fresh air. I visited the garden centre and today the Christmas display did not seem so odd as it had in the sweltering heat of last week. Although it is by no means finished the decorations on sale are some of the best I have seen there in years and for once the prices seemed reasonable too. I could not resist a sweet little garland of cream wooden hearts and stars for Just £3.99 ans two larger hearts in the same material foe £2.99, these are for my bedroom.

Every year we buy a few new ornaments, not only to replace damaged ones but to remind us of each Christmas that we are together. Very room in the house is decorated from the front door to the loo. We love Christmas. Some of the decorations on our tree were brought for me by my father when I was very young, I have never forgotten the excitement of opening the box to find twenty four beautiful shining glass baubles, I thought that they were wonderful. There are only three of them left now but I treasure them still and every year they appear in pride of place on the tree and are then packed oh so carefully away after Christmas.

How it rained last night, the noise was so loud that it woke me and I went all around the house closing the windows to prevent the rain from coming in. The wind raged through the trees stripping away the glorious golden leaves which stuck fast to the windows as I watched.

That has been the tenner of the day calm within and raging without as the wind increased during the afternoon. Windy weather always makes our little cat frisk about and become playful, she was to be seen chasing leaves in the garden and trying to catch the spiralling sycamore seeds as the whirled down in their hundreds from the trees. Exhausted at last she flopped down among the catnip for a nap in the sunshine and protected from the wind by our shrubbery.

I thought that sausages and mash would be appropriate for dinner and so it was, he Cumberland rings were juicy and the mashed potato warming on a chilly evening. We can again return to the autumn menus which we were enjoying before the hot spell, stews, pies and thick rich soups.

It has been a lovely day, no worries, no disturbances and no noise, it has been a long time since we had such a day. Now that the dry spell ha broken I planted a box of pansies in the front garden as a pledge to spring, by April they will, I hope make a fine show among the forget-me-nots and pulmonarias. I think I shall make cocoa tonight for Pa and I before we settle down for the night and perhaps puss will sleep on the bed again mow that the weather has turned colder. Winter has its pleasures too.

TAKING THE BULL BY THE......HORNS!

WOW! Our meeting with the head of Human Resources was a scorcher! I had prepared a statement laying out the basic details and listed my requirements, which put simply that we should in future be subjected to no more harassment.

My good friend who happen to be an expert in these matters having represented such illustrious establishments as The Dorchester Hotel arrived at eleven thirty dressed in a very smart suit, she really looked dangerous. We ran quickly through the statement and at high noon H.R arrived with unsurprisingly the Estate Manager in tow, the looks they gave each other when they saw my friend were worth the price of a ticket and when she sat down to take notes they were not at all happy.

The H.R. Lady said..can you believe it that she had forgotten her glasses...very professional...
we were all sure that they were in her enormous handbag the whole time , this meant that she could not read the statement.

The pair of them then began to shilly shally about all sorts of issues that were nothing to do with the point of there visit but I persisted in bringing them back to the point each time,.

Now since the whole reason that the estate has been harassing us for all of this time is to get us out of this house can you believe that almost her first words were would we consider moving....my friends pencil scratched away like mad.

They tried every way they could to break my resolve but I stick to my guns and insisted that the bulling stopped at once and that we were in future left in peace, I would I told them settle for no less, and that if we were to move to another property it would have to be very suitable before I would even consider it and in a good sate of repair. That went down like the Titanic!

They then went away to think about what to do having advised me that if we took the case to court we would find it both tiring and expensive by niw they were on the ropes. What they do not know is that we have anther friend in the legal profession who specialises in employment law, the other small detail is that Pa is a Trade Union member and they just love this sort of thing. I shall surprise them with these details should there be any more trouble.

After they left we all had a stiff drink and then I went off to the shops while Pa had a nap which he badly needed poor boy. I am very tired myself but I do feel that we have at least now nailed our colours to the mast and they know that we mean business.
We await the result with interest. One thing is certain I shall never be able to thank my dear friend enough for all that she has done for us, her presence was reassuring and reminded me to keep my temper and to stay calm. Her sound advice had been invaluable and today her presence stopped the Estate people from ganging up on me which I am sure was there intention as we had been told that H.R was coming to see us alone......nice try!

After all that the boys decided that I should take it easy for the rest of the day and fish and chips were ordered, I was very hungry a I had been far to wound up to eat breakfast this morning.

All in all I think we won this round, my friend was delighted with the meeting and thinks that we are well ahead at the moment. On thing is certain they had a much harder time of it than I, poor souls, I have never seen so many coconuts fall out of a monkey tree in my life . So now we wait, at least there will be no more disturbances this week and my son will be allowed to sleep at last.