Wednesday 21st January 2026 - Excellent Service, Sharp to Smoother and Amaryllis

On Sunday morning we had, what initially seemed to be, a power cut.  However, after checking with neighbours, we discovered it was just us without power!  I phoned UK Power Networks, who went through with us how to check if power was coming into the property, yes it was, and then how to determine where the problem was.  All of this was done in simple easy to understand terms.  With the information provided we located the problem; it was a fault with our tumble dryer which had caused the outage.  Like the Freesat box; it was kaput.  I am impressed with UK Power Network’s service and Peter said he feels confident, if we had a similar problem and he was not around, with their guidance I would be able to sort out a problem of this nature.

We were without a functioning tumble dryer; an appliance I consider to be an essential in the winter months for drying towels and bed linen etc.  I have always been pleased with the service provided by Currys, as well as their prices too.  I looked no further than their website, chose a suitable replacement, booked a delivery for Tuesday and paid.  Again, excellent service with the order confirmed, delivery time slot advised on Monday and I was phoned on Tuesday morning by the driver to inform me of their time of arrival.  The delivery was slick and efficient; the tumble dryer was placed in the laundry room, as requested, and the old one taken away (we paid extra for recycling the machine), plus they took the Freesat box too.

An interesting fact – well, I found it interesting.  In one of Danni in the Wild’s videos she covered holly trees.  I had no idea that holly trees produce sharp leaves at the base, to put off grazers, but further up the tree, where leaves are less accessible, their leaves are smoother and less spiky.  I just had to prove this so, on our next walk I gazed up into the heights of holly’s and yes, towards the top, the leaves are less spiky.  Given how tough holly leaves are, I do wonder whether grazers would be tempted to tackle their leaves – spikes or no spikes.  They would definitely need strong jaws and teeth.

In December, when our family visited, they bought us an amaryllis bulb kit.  This is now flowering with double blooms, just what we need to brighten those grey days in January.