All posts by : janinepaterson

You can’t beat that.

It’s that time of year again.

MOT and service!

I have a Volvo V70, which I love, and have been lucky enough to find a specialist Volvo mechanic who provides an excellent service.

In fact, I have to thank my husband for finding him, as he went to school with his brother!

He’s always busy, and as usual I left it too late to get the car booked in, so the MOT was done last week but I have to wait 2 weeks for the service.

But that’s ok, because he is so good at what he does and I know he will do what’s best for my car.

I hope my clients think I’m good at what I do.

I will certainly always do what is best for them and their business, which can sometimes be difficult if it’s maybe not what they want to hear.

However, there is no other way to provide a service – be honest and work through what’s necessary to find a solution.

I do love a steamed pudding

One of my neighbours who keeps chickens gave me some eggs.

She’s looking after another neighbour’s chickens as well so she is somewhat overwhelmed with the egg production.

And these came in handy as I made my Christmas puddings at the weekend.

I know it’s not Stir Up Sunday til next weekend, but I always think this is too late as the pudding doesn’t have time to mature properly (nor have enough brandy poured over). 😉

In fact I would normally have made them a month ago but I had one problem – the electric steamer I usually use to cook the 2 puddings broke and I’ve not been able to find a replacement.

The steamer baskets need to have removable bases so you can get the puddings in, and I can’t find one.

So it was back to the old school steamer over a saucepan.

Not being able to find the product or service you need can be disappointing.

However when you discover something you really need that you didn’t know existed, this is amazing.

Many people are unaware of the rules for marketing and advertising, and many more don’t know they can get expert advice on this.

Now, you’re aware, and you know where to find me.

Lot less messy 😉

Our puppy is nearly 14 weeks and having a great time being a puppy!

Now  we can take him out, he’s enjoying meeting the people and dogs in our village, introducing himself to the neighbours.

However, he gets rather too excited at times!

This is fine when we’re outside, but my stepson and his girlfriend came to visit.

He was jumping up and then he lay on his back for a belly rub and there was a little fountain sprinkling the rugs in the dining room. ⛲

I realised I should’ve taken him outside when I saw them arrive so he could empty it out.

Another lesson I’d forgotten from last time we had a puppy.

It’s amazing what you forget about when you don’t deal with it every day.

I’m now racking my brains to try and remember any other lessons that may come in useful.

Sorry, no bonus marks 😀

Invigilating session is upon me.

I invigilate at my girl’s former secondary school and the Autumn sees mocks for GCSE and A-levels.

After doing the update training (3 hours of online training videos and tests) I had my first session last week.

There were 5 exams, 2 different levels for French and Spanish, Foundation and Higher, and Physical Education.

We started all the mocks off after explaining the rules, and everything was going well.

Hands went up for help as some had forgotten their calculators, rulers, rubbers and one had their pen run out. Standard requests.

Then one girl sitting the PE mock put her hand up.

She had spotted that one of the questions had been repeated in the paper and wondered whether she needed to answer it again.

No, just ignore it.

Unable to make a general announcement, we had to tell each student the same thing when they reached that point in the paper.

The mocks are put together by the teachers, and it was clear that it hadn’t been checked before being sent for printing.

This was a mock, which means it wasn’t the disaster it could have been, but it is unprofessional and something that is so easy to avoid.

One of my (many) skills 😉 is an attention to detail and anything I create is checked and double checked so this never happens.

… what a difference 7 days makes.

1^st Friday

Rain and strong winds are not the best conditions for driving 200 miles.

But this was Strom Babet, and although we didn’t get the bad conditions affecting Scotland and the North, it made for precarious driving to Norwich.

My daughter is doing a Maters at UEA. She had a reading week, so no classes, and decided to come home. I wonder why. 🐕

Heading up to Norfolk, there were road closures due to flooding. The diversions took me through some lovely villages , which was great fun for the articulated lorries!

A journey that normally takes 90 minutes, took 165!

Conditions were no better coming back. Not quite as bad, but with a road closure due to flooding and an accident, we were on the road for 125 minutes.

2^nd Friday

After a week playing with Freddie, it was time to return to normality.

After what had been predicted to be a wet drive, it was a beautiful sunny day, and apart from ongoing roadworks, both journeys were more normal, allowing me to enjoy some of the best English countryside.

It’s a good job I love driving. I passed by driving test 40 years ago and I will always opt to drive rather than be a passenger. I think it’s because for many things I don’t like relying on others.

That’s probably a subject for therapy sometime. 🤔

What great customer service.

I mentioned we’d had trouble with our roof. Rain was getting in and causing damp patches on the kitchen ceiling.

Well, all is mended now and the roofer also spotted a potential problem elsewhere.

After fixing the leadwork, he had a look around while on the roof.

He found 5 cracked tiles near one of the chimneys.

He said it looked like the damage had been caused by someone standing on them, and they had been like this for some while.

Although this was not a problem now, further wear and tear on the tiles could cause a leak in a different place! We had some spare tiles, so he replaced the cracked ones for us.

Thinking back, it probably happened when we had bird guards put on the chimney pots to stop the birds nesting in them. That was at least 10 years ago.

Getting the roof fixed hasn’t been plain sailing – we have had to wait months for the roofer to fit us in – but thanks to him we won’t have a nasty surprise in the future, and a big bill.

This is something I do when working with a client. Looking at all areas of their marketing and advertising and flagging up issues they may not be aware of.

At least they don’t last as long

I am writing this while trying to stop a 9 week old puppy from destroying my office!

He’s being chewing the wood basket and trying to filch paper off the bookcase.

As many of you will know, we lost Archie our golden retriever back in March. It was a terrible blow and took us time to come to terms with.

We loved having him around, he completed our family, and without him, the house was not right.

We knew we would get another dog, so a couple of months ago we started looking for a puppy.

He is cute, funny, sneaky and a little terror.

It’s been 9 years since we had a pup in the house, and it’s gradually coming back to me the hard work it takes to deal with a little bundle of fluff.

What I don’t need reminding of is the love and joy a dog brings. I am looking forward to making great memories with our new addition.

There’s got to be a better way

I spent an evening in A&E last week.

As normal, they were busy, and the place was packed.

But it was the simple (or so I thought) act of paying for parking that caused the most frustration.

I had no cash (definitely not that I think I’m royalty 😉), so I had to pay using the telephone system in the pouring rain. I stood there for over 10 minutes, setting up my account while getting drenched. 🌧️

To pay, you have to use your phone’s keypad, and each key has three letters and one number to choose from. Plus, I had to stay near the parking machine to confirm my location, so there was no escaping the rain!

Finally I managed to pay for 2 hours parking.

However, I should have known that wasn’t going to be enough. Those two hours ticked away, so out I ventured, in the rain, to extend the ticket. 🕒

You’re not In the best of minds when visiting the emergency department, so I don’t know why they have to make it all so complicated.

They really didn’t think through the process, and they certainly can’t have tested it with real people. Perhaps I will have to point out this oversight!

I was only there for 3 and a half hours, which I think was pretty good. Some poor souls had been stuck there since lunchtime!

Shame I can’t return to my early years 👧

On our walk the other morning we met a neighbour and her grandson.

They were collecting conkers.

It was such a delight watching him pick up a conker and put it into their bucket.

They were looking on the verge, and many of the conkers had been squashed by cars.  I mentioned we had loads in our garden that were all theirs, so they wandered back with us.

We have 2 Horse Chestnut trees in the garden and the little boy was excited to see so many conkers on the lawn. He was soon picking them up and adding them to his collection.

They soon left with a bucket full.

Watching that simple pleasure really set me up for the day, and when I think of that toddler enjoying the joys of nature, it still brings a smile to my face.

It’s great being able to provide something that others want or need.

… someone talk to me 🤙

I’m puzzled. 🤔

As you know our roof started leaking. After a few investigations, we realised we needed a professional.

We rang 3 roofers that had been recommended and left messages, but we heard nothing.

I know that not every job is the right fit, but surely it’s not unreasonable to expect a callback.

Similarly, we’re on the hunt for firewood.

We’ve never needed to buy firewood before, but as we have burnt through all the wood we had from the trees in our garden that needed to come down over the last 20 years, we need some to keep us warm during the upcoming winter months.

We thought it’d be a breeze, as we contacted a local business, a farm that supplies our Christmas turkey every year.

However, despite being existing customers, our calls remain unreturned.

I’ve seen posts on LinkedIn about the challenges businesses face trying to connect with potential customers.

It’s said that only 3% are ready to buy at any given moment: we were in that 3%!

It’s surprising that something as straightforward as returning a phone call seems to pose a hurdle for many businesses.

As a one-woman business, I know I can’t always answer every call or respond to every email right away.

But, if you need my help, I will call you back and respond to your email as soon as I can.

Promise.