Sky Packages and deals for Christmas

I don't know what we would do without Sky at Christmas, there's just so much to choose from with a Sky package compared to for example Freeview. The latest offers from Sky in the run up to Christmas are really fantastic.

Sky are offering Free Sky+ Box offer on Movies and Sports Packs until 21st December
This is an offer for new Sky customers only - so no use for our family but great for anyone who is getting Sky for the first time. According to Sky this package includes a Free Sky+ box when you join with Sky Sport or Sky Movie pack (single)
£30 standard set up
• £25 M&S voucher - online exclusive!
• This deal is also available when you purchase broadband and talk (with premium)
To see more details check out the package with Sky sports here the package with Sky Movies is here

Sky are also doing a Free Sky+ box (worth £49) with Broadband, TV and Calls Offer. This offer is available until December 9th 2010 and includes Free up to 20Mb Broadband Everyday Lite with Sky TV and Sky Talk for under £20 a month. Free evening and weekend UK landline calls, and a £25 M&S voucher when you join Sky TV online

Prince William should be next King

It was lovely to hear that Prince William is finally to marry his sweetheart Kate Middleton. Their relationship does seem to be a real one - unlike some Royal marriages!

I read a few cynical comments that suggest that this marriage has been announced just now simply to keep our minds off the financial hard times that the country is going through. Sorry but I don't think that can be true - the timing of the marriage seems quite natural to me.

The other big discussion is about the type of wedding they should have - a full scale state wedding with all it's pomp and circumstance or a more downsized version to match the times?

For me there is no question about it - I think they should go for the full scale wedding - lets see a real full blown British royal wedding and show them all how it's done. The tourists will go wild for it - and lets be honest so will most of us. I just can't see why anyone would want a cheap wedding for a future king.

And talking of that it seems that most of us Brits want Prince William to be the next King and not his father Charles. For some people the whole Charles Diana Camilla thing didn't do Charles any favours and they would like to see his son get the throne rather than him. I agree with this. What do you think?

Sir Allan Sugar insults Kirstie Allsop

Sir Allan Sugar can be a very blunt man and people who go on his show the Apprentice I guess know more or less what they are in for. Generally though he just makes comments about peoples business skills. In his latest how though he was really rude to TV presenter Kirsty Allsop and told her that she needed to go on a diet.

Now maybe Sir Allan Sugar doesn't know much about women but the one thing you don't do is tel them so bluntly that they need to go on a diet - and certainly not on a TV show that will be watched by millions of people. Sir Allan isn't much to write home about himself in the looks department - in fact he's got a face that looks like a face that looks like its made of badly crumpled paper - but clearly it has never stopped him getting ahead in business.

Allsop is a beautiful woman and doesn't need to take that sort of talk from Sir Allan Sugar - she should have told him that if she needs a diet then he badly needs a face lift !

Gordon ramsay in the soup

I watch a lot of television cooking programmes hosted by different chefs - it's one of my favourite types of TV programme. Gordon Ramsay though has never been my favourite TV chef. he's just to course and foul mouthed for my liking. If Gordon Ramsay is like that at home then I really don't know how his wife puts up with him.

Gordon Ramsay hit the papers this week when he published an open letter to his mother-in-law. Now I know some men seem to find their mothers-in -law a bit daunting but I bet few have had to resort to communicating with them using an open letter printed in a newspaper. Why Gordon Ramsay chose this approach to trying to deal with a family issue is beyond me - it's really very strange.

The issue seems to be that his father-in-law was the CEO of Ramsay's company and according to Ramsay he had been making a mess of it ( I'm sure Ramsay would describe it as a F*ing mess). So he fired him. This appears to have resulted in threats from the in-laws about breaking of contact. Ramsay's letter was hardly what conciliatory and he has now followed it up by sacking more members of his wife's family.

I feel sorry for Mrs Ramsay in all this - she seems as if she must be stuck in the middle. I wonder ho much of this she'll stand for before she starts laying down some rules both to her family and her husband. No more open letters is one rule you should go for girl.

iphone SIM only plan

I came across a good deal from Vodafone today for anyone who already has an iPhone but isnt happy with their current tariff. It's a Sim only deal that includes 600 minutes of calls, unlimited texts a 1 GB data allowance and a flexible 30 day agreement all for only £25 per month.

1 GB of data is a generous allowance and woudl allow up to around 10,000 emails/web pages or about ,000 minutes of streaming video. Apparently the deal also includes a 1GB monthly allowance to BT Premium Openzone Wi-Fi hotspots. This seems like avery good deal particularly as the contract is a short term one were you are only committed to a 30 day sin up period. Vodafone has great coverage right across the UK so this is a deal that lots of people should be able to benefit form. Details of the Vodafone SIM only deal are here.

Shopping done it's Christmas Eve Broadband

Well I have finished the Christmas Shopping and I'm all set for Christmas eve.

We had a nice homemade ream of chicken soup when we came in wth crusty bread. It was really warming after trudging through the cold snow streets. We have a large turkey and a brand new roasting try for the occassion. The wines in - it was going for 3 bottles for £10.

The tree is looking a treat with the lights and the presents.

This year my own best present will be if everything goes well and everyone enjoys the meal. I've tried to come up with a nice menu that everyone will love.

I'm now getting onto the internet by mobile broadband from our laptop for the past year or so and it's great. It will mean we can take a laptop anywhere we want and be reasonably sure of having access to our email and blogs or to use Google for searching for stuff and so on.

I know people who have mobile broadband who found that unfortunately there are still lots of places where the Mobile Boradband signal isn't as string as it might be. So hubby decided that when we ordered the mobile usb dongle we should also get a long range signal booster for Broadband dongles with a CRC9 USB Modem connector What a difference it's made, I know others haven't had the best signal round here bt i'm now getting a great signal.

Talking about signals I wonder if I put on my sexy underwear tonight if I'll get lucky with hubby? Silly question!!

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Quiet Night In

Well were having a quiet night in and up to - not much. I am enjoying it though. It's nice to chill and just enjoy a do nothing in particular night. We watched a film earlier and James Brown is just on. He is a great singer for his age - he must be - what? 70 maybe? His voice is still really good. Checking some blogs and sites just now I read that Amanda Knox has been found guilty of murder by an Italian court - can't say that I am surprised either.

The other thing that caught my eye was the stuff about the climate change emails and if it's going to cause problems when they meet at Copenhagen. I hope it doesn't because I would quite like my grandkids not to have to deal with our mess.

My friend brought her little baby girl round earlier for a visit. Shes a cute little baby and still only three weeks old. I like having a baby in the house now and then.

Christmas is nearly here

It's the same for me every year. Around September I start thinking that I must make an earlier start on getting ready for Christmas than I did last year. You know, start buying presents much earlier so that I am not rushed, start planning our Christmas and Boxing day meals much earlier so that I am organised in plenty of time. Then BANG! I look at the calendar again and November has already gone and we are into December and I have still barely started.

Of course I am not half as bad as Hubby is. It's a man woman thing I guess. I think I'm rushed if I haven't started by about now but he leaves it and leaves it then about two or three days before Christmas he goes on a mad rush and buys all his presents at once. It's not a fair world though because he of course doesn't have to think about how everyone is going to be fed over the Christmas period - I do. He doesn't have to think about all the small presents that we need to get for nieces and nephews etc - oh no that's left to me.

I tell you he better get me a wonderful present this year and a great big bunch of flowers and be very nice to me!

Passing on some online discount info

One of my pleasures in life is getting a bargain and the internet is a wonderful thing for picking up things cheaper than you can buy them on the highstreet. many companies offer discounts for online purchases and as we approach Christmas I like to keeep an eye out for online bargains. Someone sent me these discounts recently so Im posting them up here in case they are of use to anyone else.

CD Wow do - well er CDs and things ( surprise surprise) and Extreme Pie do stuff for younger people who are into Extreme sports style clothing and related stuff.
Anyway here are the discounts. You just click the link and the website will open in a new window. if theres a discount it will be revealed on the link you clicked.

Ill be posting more of these online Discounts and Discount codes as soon as I can.

Click to see Discount Code
Sign up to CD WOW! and receive a £1 voucher, valid on purchases across the site.
Offer Starts : 2009-06-14
Offer Ends : 2014-12-31

Click to see Discount Code
Sign up to CD WOW! and receive a £1 voucher valid for purchases across the site.
Offer Starts : 2009-06-14
Offer Ends : 2014-12-31

Click to see Discount Code
Sign up to CD WOW! and receive a £1 voucher, valid on purchases across the site.
Offer Starts : 2009-06-14
Offer Ends : 2014-12-14

Click to see Discount Code
£10 Off when you spend £80 or More with Extreme Pie
Offer Starts : 2009-08-04
Offer Ends : 2009-12-31

I do love my blog really

Has it really been that long since I updated my blog? Things have been so busy in recent months that I hadn't realised that the last time I posted here was in February. Oh my poor poor blog! How neglected it must be feeling. I am surprised it's still talking to me because if I was in it's shoes I certainly wouldn't speak to me again for a long long time. I would expect me to make a long groveling apology and then be very very nice to me by making regular posts and even spellchecking them before I post them.

Luckily my blog is not the sulky kind and as soon as I opened it up it just went "oh hello, where have you been then? " It never uttered a word of recrimination for my lack of blogging. It just seemed please to see me.
So I am going to be nicer to my blog. I'm going to make sure that even if there are lots of other things happening for me that I drop by at least once a week and leave a little post for it. Because I do love my blog really you know - even if I dont show it sometimes.

Gadgets for home - wine

One of the great joys of web shopping is that I come across things for the house or the garden that often aren't seen in the high street shops. I really love gadgets for the kitchen and I am always on the look out for kitchen and home shopping websites that have stylish and innovative products.

There is a UK site I recently came across called www.objekts.co.uk that sells "Trendy, Funky Cool" products that has a great range of stylish Kitchen products, as well as decor products and outdoor barbecue products.

I love sites that have a mix of quality branded products with down to earth classic products and this has a great range at competitive prices. Check out the Alessi and Eva Solo Coffee and Tea products ranges for example.

My partner and I are wine lovers and I love wine accessories. We are not wine snobs you understand but we both enjoy a glass ( or two!) of wine regularly. One of the products I found on this site is, I think, exclusive to them because I certainly haven't seen it anywhere else.

It's called a Spinwine Wine aerator / purifier It's like a wine pourer - but with a twist! Red Wine is always best if it is served not only at around room temperature but also if it has been allowed to "taken some air" and breathe. Doing this before you drink it helps to make the wine more palatable and soften it. The oxygen in the air slightly oxidises the wine and helps to improve the taste. What is interesting about this gadget is that it does this as you pour the wine!

Oh well, enough for now, we have friends coming round tonight so I better get on with things.

Blogging Medical Complaints

I just read a funny list of medical conditions that Bloggers suffer from over on one of the blogs I read regularly. Like some of the others who left comments there I think I have had one or two of those medical illnesses that are associated with blogging. I guess the one I suffer from most is Blogstipation - I have great ideas for posts but never seem to be able to get them out. I wonder of there is a blog laxitive you can take to get the posts moving!

RBS Bank Shares what if they go lower?

Royal Bank of Scotland shares today closed at 11.60. that's pence . not pounds. This got me thinking, if they go any lower then what happens? Clearly there is almost no shareholder value left in this bank. It's become essentially a penny share and in effect that flags that this is a worthless company.

Are we on the verge of seeing this bank effectively nationalised? The only other option is to continue to pump millions into a company that the market clearly sees as valueless. It can't simply be allowed to collapse completely because there are people who still have accounts with RBS, there are decent mortgage payers, people with savings etc etc who cant be allowed to get swept away as this institution collapses.

Letting it collapse would also run the risk that it would trigger a series of runs on other banks and we would be back were we were late last year. It seems that RBS may yet join Northern Rock as a taxpayer owned company.

Watching DVD's with the kids

We had a nice night watching DVD's last night. I finally saw Mama Mia and what a great film it was! It's a bit of a film for the girls I guess so I don't suppose my other half will ever want to get round to watching it unless I plonk him down and force him! He's more into typical men's films like war films and stuff. Fortunately we both like sci fi so at least we have something we both like watching.

So I watched Mama Mia and he made himself scarce while it was on but then he came back through when it was finished and we watched Cloverfield. It's been out for a while now but neither of us had seen it yet. I thought it was really good and quite scary. There weren't many glimpses of the beasts but what there was was well done. Like a lot of films it has pinched the idea from the Blair Witch project of having one of the particpants filming the action which makes it seem all the more real.

I do like watching a good film together, it's a cosy thing if you know what I mean - even when we are watching a scary sci fi.

Prince Charles and Prince Harry Sooty and Paki

I can't really make up my mind if Prince Charles and Prince Harry are racist using the terms Sooty and Paki. A bit of me thinks that it's all a bit of a fuss about nothing. But then I suppose it depends on how the people from the Pakistani and Asian community feel about it that is most important.
I read one blog post that makes the point of asking how would Prince Charles or Prince Harry feel if derogatory racist terms were used for them as supposedly "friendly" terms of endearment. Would Prince Charles be happy to be called the white equivalent of Sooty - if his Asian friends referred to Prince Charles as a White Honkey? This is a good point. It's not so much how the term is meant it's more important how the term is perceived by the person being called the name.

Too Fat for Adoption

There is a news report on the BBC today about Leeds City Council refusing to allow a couple to be adopters because one of them is too fat. Apparently Damien and Charlotte Hall were told in a letter by the council that Mr Hall is too obese to be considered as an adopter and that he will only be considered when he loses weight.

It seems Mr Hall will have to bring his body mass index down below 40 before they will consider him. No doubt some of the press will have the usual field day with this and claim that the Council is interfering etc etc but I have to say that I think this is a very sensible decision. Far too many people seem to think that Adoption is there mainly for the benefit of adoptive parents. Well it isn't. Adoption is there mainly to benefit the children who are adopted and good for the council who put the needs of the child first. If this couple cant reasonably control their own weight what chance has any child who is given to them for adoption. Would they bring the child up with their own poor eating habits? Would the child be likely to end up being obese? Wouldn't Mr Hall be more likely to die young if he is obese?

There is terrible political correctness around about obesity sometimes I think. We tend not to call people obese unless we offend them. we don't like to call people fat we refer to them as large, or overweight or having a weight problem. Well I am sorry but obese is obese and fat is fat and we know the health problems that are linked to this. Who in their right mind would want to place a child for adoption with obese parents given the likelihood that this would result in the child suffering. This is a very sensible decision in my view.

What to do with savings as interest rates fall

It's bad enough that people who were responsible about their finances and who did not get themselves into unrealistic debt are being hit by the downturn.

Those with savings though are being hit really hard by the fall in the interest rates being paid on savings by the banks and building societies.
A report in the Telgraph reveals that the Buidling societies have already cut the rates on their savings accounts by more than the Bank of England has over the past year.
The Bank of England is due to announce it's latest move on interest rates on Thursday and there is a lot of speculation that rates willl be cut further to 1.5%. Some have speculated that we couuld reach teh pioint that we would see negative rates on savings accounts. Thsi would mean that savings would earn no interest at all and that we would in fact pay the banks and building societies to hold our money. Although this seems unlikely it is not impossible.

For anyone who has savings and a mortgage at the moment the only sensible thing to do seems to be to use the savings to pay off some of the capital owed on the mortage.
When rates and prices start rising again as they surely will then this will help provide some insulation against the rises.

2009 hopes and resolutions

I thought I would post my hopes and promises for 2009 and I can look back
on them later and see how they have worked out.

My hopes
1 I hope I have good health
2 I hope I am happy
3 I hope for these things for others.
My resolutions
1 I will be true to myself and others.
2 I will care for myself and those around me
3 I will look for and give happiness

Even if I don't manage this all the time then it is still something worth
doing.

January Sales

After a lovely Christmas at home with friends and family we finally decided to hit the January sales on Saturday. We don't normally make a big thing of the January Sales but this year the shops have been offering some really fantastic price reductions so it was difficult not to get caught up in the sales frenzy.

We have found that there were some great deals both on the high street and on the internet so we have managed to pick up some gifts for birthdays and so on ahead of time and saved ourselves quite a bit of cash I think.
Although all the news is still concentratiing on doom and gloom I generally am not finding that ordinary people are quite so pessimistic. Maybe everyone is just keeping a smile on their face and trying not to worry. Anyway here is to a happy and prosperous New Year.

BHS online Sale up to 60% savings

Ok here is a good one. The BHS Sale starting Christmas Eve they are offering up to 60% savings on many lines of women's children's and men's fashion and a range of home items. Knitwear , dresses and lighting are around 50% reduction and there is also around a 50% reduction on schoolwear which should be very welcome.
Apparently this year the shops are expecting massive online sales - well its just so much more convenient and it seems that today and tomorrow are likely to be massive for online sales. I'll post more as I check them out.